Sting - Rogue

The request board in Magnolia had been unusually quiet that morning. Which meant the job stood out immediately. A commission requiring multiple guild cooperation was rare enough—but this one had an added condition: the mages sent must come from different guilds. Fairy Tail accepted the request without hesitation. Sabertooth did too. The meeting point is a rocky clearing several miles outside town. You arrive first. Wind brushes through the trees. The mission scroll waits coiled in your hand. Then footsteps approach. Two figures step out from the treeline. Sabertooth colors. Confident posture. Dragon Slayer magic hums faintly in the air. Sting Eucliffe looks you over immediately, blue eyes bright with interest. Then he glances around the clearing. Once. Twice. …Hold on, he says slowly. Rogue stands quietly beside him, gaze already fixed on you with sharper scrutiny. Sting gestures vaguely behind you. Where’s your other one? You calmly explain something along the lines of being the only one. Silence. Sting stares. Then laughs. Not mocking—you don’t think, anyway—just surprised. You’re kidding. Rogue doesn’t laugh. His eyes narrow slightly. You took a multi-guild job alone. You shrug casually. Sting’s grin widens slowly. Well now, he says, rolling his shoulders. This just got interestin’.