Fairy Tail Characters & The Romantic Gestures That They Do
Multi Fandom: Romantic Gestures That They Do
Sting Eucliffe is the type of guy who wants to be the "Main Character" of your life. His romantic style is a mix of high-energy flashy displays, surprising sensitivity, and a bit of that Sabertooth competitive edge.
The "Grand Entrance" Surprise: Sting won’t just meet you for dinner; he’ll arrive on the back of a literal dragon (or have Lector announce his arrival with a megaphone). He loves the idea of everyone knowing you’re with the Guild Master.
The Signature Accessory: Sting is big on branding. Expect him to give you a piece of jewelry—like a necklace or a ring—that subtly mimics his own earring or has the Sabertooth crest integrated into the design. He wants you to carry a piece of his pride.
"Top of the World" Dates: Being a White Dragon Slayer, Sting loves heights. He’d take you to the highest point in Crocus or a secluded mountain peak just to watch the sunrise, claiming the light looks "almost as good as him," but then getting flustered when he tries to say it looks better on you.
Protective Training Sessions: Sting's competitive, but he’d use "sparring" as an excuse to spend time with you. He’ll go easy, teach you some flashy moves, and then boast about how "the two of you are the strongest power couple in Fiore."
Lector as a Wingman: Sting often uses Lector to deliver flowers, notes, or gifts when he’s too "busy" (read: too nervous) to do it himself. If Lector shows up with a gift, you know that he spent hours picking it out.
Public Displays of Affection: Sting isn't shy. He’ll throw an arm around you in the middle of the guild hall or lift you up in a bear hug after a successful mission. He wants the whole world to see how much he adores you.
Sting x Reader
Stardust Inspired
Word Count: 3371
MASTERLIST
RULES
All things must come to an end. That is the one truth across the whole universe. Inescapable and absolute. The knowledge seared itself into you at the moment of your formation. Time was borrowed, and your time was running out. Your cosmic heart beats its last, each pulse weaker than before.
For billions of years you had burned away in the universe, silently witnessing the cosmos unfold. This was always your life, all you had ever known, and now it was your death. Although, a choice presented itself to you. Your first choice ever. How would you die?
You could slip away quietly, allowing yourself to fade into darkness, becoming a cold hunk of rock. You could burst and scatter yourself across the void, or you could collapse inwards and pull everything into nothing. None of the choices felt right. In the end you fell.
The planets and stars merged into one around you as you fell through the galaxies. You let it happen. Gravity seized you in its grip as it pulled you through the endless expanse, leaving a blaze of burning fire behind you, painting your path. Only a planet could break your fall.
The first thing to grace your ears was a chirp. A high pitched, shrill chirp that cut through the silence like nothing you had ever experienced. It was the first thing that you had ever heard and it was beautiful - but confusing. In all your existence, all of the billions of years alone, silence was all you had ever known. The universe was vast and void of music and noise. More sounds followed, linking and weaving together into a peaceful melody. Your facial muscles contracted, forming a frown. It was unfamiliar. Something wasn’t right. There were no sounds in death. You cracked one eye open, only to immediately shield yourself from the bright white light with an arm. The simple motion sent a shiver up your spine.
Your body had moved.
With a sudden sense of urgency, you bolted upright. Soft blades of grass cradled your skin . The cool earth grounded you. Slowly, you lowered your arm, letting it rest beside you. Turning your head, you started to drink in the sight around you. Trees stretched up to the sky, aiming for the sunlight. Grass fluttered in the soft breeze, painted with bright flowers in a multitude of colours. Sounds filled the air, melding together. Chirping birds, running water, crunching of leaves and twigs. Scents seeped into your nose, tickling at all of your new receptors. You sneezed. It caught you off-guard.
“Bless you,” a voice sounded. Your head whipped around, trying to find the source of it. Boots crunched closer and then froze. “You’re naked.” Your eyes widened and you looked down at your new body, the body that defied what should have been your death. The figure spun on his heels, clouding his ability to view you. “Shit. Put some clothes on,” the man insisted.
Your body did not embarrass you - it defined you. It carried your existence, gave you form and life. It made you tangible and real, not just some hunk of blazing rock and gas. Your new skin was soft and smooth. It protected you, shielding your spark within. Your old form had been marked over all the billions of years of life you had lived, and you were excited to see how this new form would be marked. What indicators would your body form to tell the story of the life you lead? It was so unfamiliar, but so exciting.
Your vocal chords hummed and twitched, churning out sounds to form words - “I do not have any.”
The man grumbled slightly and briefly looked over his shoulder at you. “What are you, a nudist or something?”
“A star.” You responded. Your tone was flat, although you didn’t realise it. Ultimately, you were just stating a fact, there was no way to put it any differently.
“As if,” he responded. Despite his dismissive approach to you, he shrugged off an item of clothing and tossed it to you. It was a long white coat with a white fur trim around the neckline. “You can put that on.” Cold pinched at your skin, feeling the temperature for the first time. The man still stood with his back to you and waited for you to shield your body from his eyesight. Rocking forward onto your knees, you inched forward to grab at the coat that had landed on the green grass. The material was soft and welcoming, creating the illusion that you weren’t actually wearing anything once you slipped it on. Warmth still lingered on it, coating your skin. He gave you a few more seconds. “Is it on?”
“It is on,” you stated.
As soon as your words left your lips, he spun around. His full figure came into view. He stood with his arms crossed, looking over at you with a frown of caution. On his upper shoulder was a black symbol, something that piqued your interest. Branches still obscured him slightly, causing him to step forward closer towards you in the clearing.
He was close now, and whilst you sat on the grass clutching the coat around your form, he crouched slightly and brought himself down to your eye level. “What happened to you?”
“I fell.” You weren’t lying by any means, but you just had no clue how to fully convey what had happened, or at least how to get him to believe you.
His bright blue eyes ran up your figure, narrowing slightly at certain cuts, scrapes, and bruises. “I can see that. Drunk?” You shook your head. Truthfully, you had no idea what that was. “What’s your name?”
Of course you had a name. It was grand and commanding, scary and yet graceful at the same time. You opened your new mouth, trying to force the sounds out but they just wouldn’t form. There was no way to conceive of the sounds used to utter your true name. You had to shrug in response.
“I’m Sting,” he spoke, trying to prompt you into speaking. When you didn’t add anything to the conversation except a few gargled noises he spoke again. “What happened to you?” His tone was firmer now, more concerned for this strange, naked person he found out in the woods. He could tell that something just wasn’t right but he couldn’t put a finger on it, and he had completely glossed over the fact that you had told him the truth.
“I fell,” you repeated. This felt arbitrary. Did humans often repeat themselves with no other outcome?
He started to believe that there might be something horrendously wrong with you. His concern only grew, and he straightened himself back to his full height. Holding out a hand, he gestured for you to grab it so that he could pull you up. As soon as your skin brushed against his, a jolt ran through you. Coursing up your arm, it travelled to your very heart, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Sting felt it too, it was evident from the look in his eyes.
“That doesn’t usually happen,” Sting spoke. Even though you were now fully standing, his touch still lingered. The connection of your bodies created a warm and crackling sensation. Maintaining intense eye contact, mixed with curiosity, confusion and caution, he slowly removed his hand from yours. “What did you say you were?”
“A star.” You repeated.
Sting didn’t want to believe it. The idea that a star could suddenly become human was laughable to him; rock just couldn’t and shouldn’t become human. But he had experienced strange things in the past that turned out to be true; members of Fairy Tail returned un-aged after seven years, and he was raised by a dragon. Besides that, there was something about you that he just couldn’t place. The touch was a mixing of two powerful energies and he was certain that there was nothing else magical about you. He’d just have to take you back to the guild to be sure that you are actually what you say you are.
“And you have no name?” He asked once more.
“I do,” you bluntly stated. This question angered you. Obviously you had a name, it was just inconceivable to the human ear and tongue. “I just cannot pronounce it.”
“Then what do I call you?”
A frown formed on your face, all of your new muscles contracting in frustration. You wanted him to call you by your name of course, what kind of stupid question was that? The frown fell from your face. He studied you intently, watching you present all of these emotions but not expressing them verbally. “I do not know.”
“Little Star?” He suggested.
“I could just call you Average Human,” you countered, clearly unamused by the suggestion.
Sting aimed to suppress a laugh. The comment had pleasantly caught him off-guard, he didn’t expect that from you. Of course, he still didn’t know you that well. Clearly you were going to be full of surprises. “Okay, not Little Star.” He thought about suggesting other names and then quickly countered himself. “We can think of things to call you later. Come, we’ll go back to where I’m from.”
He started to walk back through the woods, expecting you to follow along behind him. Walking was a strange new sensation, but so was a lot of forcing your body to live and move. The journey stretched far longer than intended as you trailed along behind him, coat wrapped tightly around your body. Every few steps something new caught your eye, and you couldn’t help the temptation to stop and investigate. The gentle ripple of a stream gliding over rocks, twisting, turning, and tumbling down through the woods. Vibrant fungi clung to the damp ground and trees. There was even a fleeting glimpse of a fox as it dashed across your path. Each new sight filled you with a curious wonder for this new world, and a sense of confusion for how Sting could be so used to it all.
The trees thinned and you moved out onto a smaller, but more obvious path, into a city. The small path turned into a cobblestone road, winding deeper into the heart of the city. Eventually, it led you to a grand building. Throngs of passers-by slowed to admire the architecture (as well as the residents themselves), and individuals dressed similarly to Sting slipped in and out of the building.
He stopped walking, noticing that you had also stopped to admire the building, a look of awe on your face. He took a few steps backwards, stopping just by your side. “This is Sabertooth.” He watched you soundlessly repeat the words as you continued to look, eyes flitting now to different buildings and different people. “Sabertooth is a magic guild. For wizards.”
“What is that?” You asked.
Sting started walking again, slower this time, towards the doors of the guild. He was a few strides ahead, so his head craned ever so slightly behind him to keep an eye on you. “Wizards? Wizards can perform all sorts of magic. And we come together in guilds, it essentially makes it official.”
“What does it look like?” You were so caught up in trying to wrap your head around a new concept every two seconds that you had barely noticed the people stopping just to look at Sting. It was almost like he carried some sort of status that you were just unaware of.
He stopped once more, just in front of the doors, one hand resting against the wood ready to push it open. “What does magic look like?” At the nod of your head, he raised his free hand and balled it into a weak fist. A ring of bright white light glowed violently around his fist. You didn’t look away, you couldn’t look away. To you, it looked like starlight, it reminded you of home. The light dimmed and he lowered his fist.
“All wizards do that?” You asked.
“No,” Sting shook his head. “That magic is unique.” He pushed open the doors to the guild, showing you even more new sights and sounds. As you walked into the building, many people greeted him under a different name ‘Master’. “Most magic is different. Lots of variations. It’s rare to find people who use the exact same magic but some types are very rare and unique. Can you use any magic?”
Keeping the coat wrapped around you with one hand, you raised the other and tried to mimic Sting’s actions. Nothing happened. Closing your eyes and straining, you tried to muster all of the power within you but nothing happened.
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Star,” he spoke softly. “You can stay here until you get settled.”
Days spun by in a blur of new sensations and constant learning. You kept experimenting with magic, practicing mostly when you were alone. Trying to summon even the smallest flicker of magic was unsuccessful but it didn’t fill you with disappointment or dread. Everything in this world was still very new, and everyday you were learning something new about your body, so you weren’t so quick to rule out the possibility of magic never working for you. Despite your setbacks, you still found yourself a place within the guild. Your inability to use magic wasn’t forcing you to leave the guild as you had originally feared but Sting had offered you the position of barkeep. It felt exactly where you were meant to be. Bonds grew in the weeks that passed, growing steadily closer to all the members that were a part of the guild. You would listen to their stories behind the bar and always felt included.
Human existence and condition was still unfurling itself in front of you. People became sad when their drink spilled even though you could quickly remake it, other’s became angry that one particular person would even speak to them. Humans were complicated albeit interesting. Although sometimes, you did just miss your simple existence up in the universe. In the dead of night when the clouds were sparse, you would find yourself up on top of the roof of the guild, just sitting quietly looking up at where you used to live.
“Watching the stars again?” Sting asked, sitting himself down beside you on the rooftop. Your shoulders briefly brushed as he shuffled to get comfortable. His presence had taken you by surprise as you didn’t even realise anyone knew that you came up here at night. Sting was surprisingly perceptive.
You moved your head slightly, chin resting on your shoulder to look over at him. He offered you a soft smile but quickly moved his head upwards to look at the stars. “I am,” you responded, moving your gaze back to the sky.
“Tell me about them.” It wasn’t a question, more like a very soft command.
Knees pulled up to your chest, chin on your knees, you gazed up at your old neighbours. Sting remained sitting casually, legs outstretched in front of him, leaning back and using his arms as props. “It was lonely sometimes, but I miss it.”
“You miss being lonely?”
“No. I miss being able to look everywhere and see everything. I was starlight and life for planets. But they died, and I got too old.”
“Do you like it here?”
Warmth spread through your body as you smiled. “Oh, I love it. Everything is amazing. Your star really did a good job at keeping you all alive. I’ve never felt this before. This community, this friendship. I knew the stars up there, I knew their names, but I didn’t know them.”
“I’m glad you’re settling in,” Sting spoke. He groaned as he moved himself around, crossing his legs. “I used to be lonely once.”
“Did you?”
Sting made some sort of prolonged noise as he mused over his thoughts. “Briefly. It was right after I lost my dad.”
“Did you find him?”
“No. No, he died. Well…I killed him. He wanted me to.”
“Humans are strange.”
“He was a dragon.”
“Are you a dragon?”
“No. But I did miss him. I know how it feels to feel lonely. You’re doing well.”
“Thank you. I am still trying to understand emotions mostly. Some of them confuse me,” you admitted.
“Like what?” He moved his eyes away from the sky and they settled back down onto you.
“Sadness for one. Why do people get sad when their drink spills?”
Sting let out a short, carefree laugh. His nose scrunched and his eyes wrinkled. A soft glow seemed to accumulate around him. “That’s complicated, Star. Some people have had a bad day and that makes it worse. What other emotions confuse you?”
“What other emotions are there?”
“Happiness,” he suggested. You nodded your head at that one. “Anger?”
“Orga?”
“He can get angry,” Sting agreed. “Better than a few months ago. Okay…disgust?” At your look of confusion, he began to explain. “A few days ago you had to pick up some wet food out of the sink. The face you made. Yeah, that was disgust.”
You made the same face again at reliving the memory. “That was horrible,” you slowly agreed.
“Right,” he sighed. “What else? Love?”
“What does that feel like?”
“I think it’s different for everyone.” He mused over his words as if he wasn’t quite sure of himself for that one.
“What does it feel like to you?”
Sting took a deep breath. “I think love feels fuzzy.”
“Fuzzy?”
“Fuzzy,” he repeated. He moved his eyes back up to the stars with some wistful faraway look. “I think love feels like coming home after a long time away. I think love feels like laughing until your sides hurt. I think love feels like taking the first mouthful of your favourite dinner.”
You chewed the inside of your cheek as you mulled over his words. “It all sounds very simple.”
“I think love is simple when it’s right.”
“Now you are confusing me.”
Sting laughed at your blunt statement and jumped up to his feet, taking you by surprise. “Apologies, my Star,” he grinned playfully, lowering a hand, indicating for you to take it. There wasn’t any hesitation present in you as your hand reached up for his. Skin brushing over skin, warm tingles running through each of you. His fingers curled around your hand, thumb resting over the back, softly locked in place. “May I have this dance?”
Before you could answer, he had pulled you up to standing. His free hand came to rest at your waist, fingers twitching slightly—tentative, unsure of their place. Even more unsure than he was, your unoccupied arm remained by your side, prompting him to move it to where he thought it ought to be - resting around his neck. He started a slow step sequence and you eventually followed. You kept your head down, eyes fixated on where you were stepping.
“What is this?” You asked.
“Dancing,” Sting replied. “It’s just something humans do.”
A frown formed on your face. His eyes widened briefly at the speed you whipped your head up at him. “Really? Why?”
His eyes remained on you for a moment. Taking in your frown and generic confusion. The faint glow returned, dusting his outline in a white light - strangely much like a star. He hadn’t noticed, not until this moment, just how deeply your presence had woven itself into his life. His days would feel strangely cold, almost empty, if they weren’t lit up by your persistent curiosity and the never ending affection you held for everyone in his guild. It filled him with a warmth he didn’t expect, reminiscent of the sensation felt when you had first touched. The fuzzy feeling bloomed in his chest and spread throughout his soul. He shrugged, “it’s just something to do for fun. You can make all of your old neighbours jealous.”
The frown morphed into a smile, becoming deadly infectious to Sting. He found himself smiling as you grinned up to the sky, once again finding another reason to be thankful that you fell in the first place.
THE 4TH 'TIMES OF CHANGE' LINEART I COMMISIONED FROM @zai-doodles IS FINALLY HERE!
I present to y'all Sting Heartfillia, I have 2 versions for him, color wise, which was done by me, as always.
A lot of his design, is based around the specific people he is around, and then there is also the trauma aspects, like his scar. But so far I'd say he is my second favorite design, behind Erza. But now we are just down to Gajeel and Natsu, and we will have finished the 6 main characters of the fic.
As always if you would like to check out 'Times of Change' you can find it on Ao3 under the user ChaoticKori or here on tumblr at @chaotickori though I don't think tumblr is up to date.
