Day 1: Defect

It was a beautifully warm day, cool breeze filtered through the forest playing with branches and leaves gaily, birds were chirping, the adorable pink goblins scurried around happily, but all of that was lost on the irritable celestial spirit mage as she angrily trudged through the undergrowth because she was having one of the worst days of her life.

Ok, that was exceedingly exaggerated considering the life she's led up to this point, but in the moment that was how she felt.

Her current mood was more the work of the days just prior and many things happening rather than this seemingly peaceful afternoon but even being aware of that Lucy didn't care. What she did care about was this was the final straw, her last "I give a damn" had just been cashed in, after today she was going to go to the club Heaven's Gate down in Hargeon with Cana, like the card mage has been begging her to do for years now, until she was so drunk she blacked out.

The upset mage continued her march through the thick foliage arms aching from her heavy burden that had fallen out of nowhere earlier that day and hit her on the head. She'd just finished a job request to clear out a group of bandits from the forest where the Exceeds from Edolas had established themselves and watched the Rune Knights take them away when she was struck. Loke had to pop out and take her to the Exceed's village along with the blastedly large egg thinking it somehow might belong to someone there. It didn't and apparently while she was still oblivious to the world the Exceeds determined she had been "chosen" to care for it. What the hell did that even mean?

Princess Shagotte was now on her hit list if she ever decided to become a homicidal maniac.

"'This creature's future is tied to yours,' she says," Lucy grumbled. The pounding headache and lower back pain really not helping her mood nor was the fact that she couldn't call on any of her spirits today to carry her, it or both back to town because either she already had for the job, they wouldn't be strong enough to, or they had the day off according to their contract. Loke had offered but she really didn't have the patience to deal with his brand of obnoxious flirting right now.

Why was it the men closest to her aggravated her the most? Gray was always getting naked at the most inconvenient times and Natsu…He was the reason Lucy had to leave on this job by herself.

The fire dragon slayer had not only cleared out her fridge and pantry for the second time this week but after that he'd also delightfully managed to catch her small table on fire which led to her bed catching flame since he thought beating her blazing table with it would put out the fire. The bed spread to the drapes, a wall then the ceiling…

When all was said and done not only did Lucy lose all of her savings paying for damages caused by her irresponsible so called best friend and partner because after a simple "Sorry Luce" he was gone faster than she could blink, but she also lost all her furniture including said poor once comfortable bed, book collection, current manuscript, most of her clothes, the letters to her Mom and, oh yeah, her apartment.

There was little Lucy could argue against her landlady's decision of kicking her out; the poor blonde didn't even fight it after this last disaster. She did, however, think it was going too far to warn every person that owned property within a 20 miles radius not to rent so much as a room to her.

It's not like she was even at fault; Natsu had broken into the building and caused the damage while she'd been with Levy talking about books at their favorite bookstore. She was the victim here and yet it was her that was now broke and homeless with still around 1,200,000 Jewel of debt to her old landlady because Natsu is a permanent exception on any renter's insurance policy within the greater Magnolia area and none of damage caused by him was covered.

She knew, deep deep deep deep deep deep down, it had been nothing more than an accident, that he could be thoughtless when it came to things like this. Natsu wasn't always the best friend to have around unless circumstances involved him fighting someone, she knew that, accepted him quirks and all like he did her…but everyone had a breaking point and she had finally reached it.

It was safe to say that they were no longer partners; he'd used his one and only chance at forgiveness for something so epically hurtful, as unintentional as both acts were, already when he returned after Tartarus like he'd nothing happened. She knew loss better than he did, that excuse was unacceptable for leaving a damn note instead of at least saying goodbye in person.

This, though, almost equaled that in devastation and she couldn't stand the constant injuries and emotional pain he and Happy dished out daily in the form of their teasing anymore.

So now, Lucy was camping out at Levy and Gajeel's place - it was one of the few places the fire slayer was sure to stay away from – on their couch, working only solo missions for the foreseeable future until she paid off her debt and had enough saved to buy or build a house. She even planned to hire Freed to work his Rune magic into every surface and object in and around the place to ward against all her friends. He'd probably do it for free but Lucy couldn't, wouldn't ask him for that.

That had been her week preceding today. She had still somehow managed to smile and laugh on occasion around the guild, even if only just, but now she was saddled with the duty to care for another creature's life when she was still trying to rebuild her own.

An idle thought floated in her frazzled brain. There were 2 dragon slayers in Fairy Tail currently without an Exceed of their own, both had a roof over their heads and were more than capable to take on this responsibility. They could both be arrogant assholes on occasion but they were both good men and a better option than a homeless girl with nothing to her name. She'd even help them raise the little guy or girl, if it came down to it, until it could mostly take care of itself as a sort of incentive to either man. But which one?

Honestly neither mage screamed mature father material and she was loath to enable another Happy from being raised but that was unlikely given both men's personalities. She also knew at least one of them had had an animal friend they'd raised before.

"Cobra, I hope you're ready to be a daddy," Lucy said with relief at her new plan ignoring the knot tightening in her stomach. This was one problem she knew could be lifted from her shoulders quickly and that hope helped her mood improve exponentially. Everything suddenly came into clear perspective again.

Lucy still had her life and health, the rest would just take time to sort out. This poor creature was alone and since she didn't have the resources to care for it herself she'd make sure it had the best home she could come up with.

The typically thoughtful woman decidedly ignored all the more normally acceptable options for parents in her guild and went with her gut. The maroon haired man just seemed right for this.

Miles away a deeply tanned slayer shivered suddenly. Pulling the collar up on his white coat Cobra eyed the guild closely and opened up his hearing to its limits trying to catch a hint of whatever calamity had the hair on the back of his neck standing but there was nothing. Still he knew something was coming and he felt deep in his bones there was no way he could avoid it. Another shiver went down his spine.

-CoLu 2018-

He never saw or heard her coming. That was a flat out lie to himself and he knew it. He'd heard her coming alright but the bright sound of hope and relief playing in her soul for the first time in a week had him so caught up that he completely missed the way she walked directly over to him with a large egg held out in front of her like some weird sort of offering.

Mindlessly he took the proffered item dazed by her warm chocolate depths letting the restorative healing nature of her soul sooth him again. The burst of happiness at his unconscious action was unexpected, especially since it was directed at him, and brought his rational mind back forward.

"And why am I holding your massive egg?" He kept his voice even, a feat only achieved because it was her and her soul's song had him wrapped up in the warmth it had been previously lacking just earlier that day.

"Not my egg. Your egg." She smiled brilliantly making his poor heart skip a beat much to his chagrin. It wasn't the first time nor would it be the last but the easy way this woman affected him always pissed him off just a little mostly because she seemed so unobtainable.

He wasn't a self-denying bitch, readily admitted he liked her; would like her even without the damned bit of dragon soul in him clambering for her. There was just an honest innocence she held that he wanted to protect, covet, horde.

It had nothing to do with the fact that she was a virgin, which she somehow still managed to be with the sexy figure she flaunted daily, but everything to do with the fact that she was able to see goodness in everyone on some level. He would have to disagree with her views because after years of hearing the thoughts and souls of so many degenerates and scumbags he knew better. Still, that lightness, typically only found in children, was precious and fleeting in humans as they gained more experience in the world. Lucy, after everything she's been through still managed to exude it and he wanted to keep her that way.

It's why he'd been so pissed at Fire Balls for what he'd done to the woman and tracked his inconsiderate ass down and poisoned him with something that had the slayer even now writhing in pain in the infirmary. Only he or Wendy could cure him and since Wendy was out on a job and he sure as hell wasn't going to take the poison out Natsu was in for the long haul.

Glancing at the object in his hands it didn't take long to "see" what had happened to her today as her thoughts automatically went to her story readying herself for questions nor to hear the very thin blade her entire soul was balancing on between life-crushing grief and hope for the future.

"Our egg," he finally said decision made. He knew he couldn't outright say no, not because everyone in the guild would hate him for making her cry - he couldn't care less about them - but because he couldn't hear that darkness return. Plus this way he would get time alone with the woman and maybe get the bitch of a lizard soul he housed to calm the fuck down and maybe just even catch himself a star straight out of the heavens.

"Our egg?" she questioned.

"Neither of us can afford to go without work for any significant period of time to take care of this…"

"Exceed," she supplied.

"Exceed. But between us it should be manageable. You can crash in my spare bedroom for now," until I get you in my bed, he thought, "and we can work out a schedule."

Tears brimming Lucy audibly gulped at her overwhelming emotions. She could have her own space, sleep in an actual bed again that she knew would not be invaded and take care of this initially unwanted responsibility.

The knot in her gut finally loosened. There was a part of her that hadn't liked the idea of passing this off to someone else, especially since it was a baby. It was what her father had done and it would have been unacceptable, something she'd have hated herself for emulating.

Not trusting her voice Lucy nodded and let the happy tears fall but not without thinking clearly to make sure Cobra understood. I will be paying rent and half of everything else.

Cobra rolled his singular eye then focused on the large egg still in his hands. "We'll see."

-CoLu 2018-

Three weeks and an intense negotiation later saw both "parents" settled to the satisfaction to only a handful of people. The majority of the guild was completely confused and more than a little wary of Lucy's move but since Cobra couldn't care less and Lucy was incredibly happy they ignored any nay sayers and comfortably traded off taking jobs and watching the egg.

Lucy had just gotten back from making her final payment to her ex-landlady and depositing the rest of her last reward into her account when she found her normally calm and collected roommate freaking out and pacing across the entryway.

"Starshine!" he exclaimed before bodily moving her toward the small area they had set up in the living room with a blanket nest. They'd splurged earlier in the arrangement for a small area heater so they didn't have to light the fireplace in the middle of the summer or constantly carry the egg around providing body heat. "It's starting," was the only explanation Lucy got before she saw what had Erik freaking out.

The large deep purple egg had a huge crack down the side and it was shaking as whoever inside tried to get out.

"Oh my Mavis," Lucy squeaked before joining the man in panicking. The egg was a no brainer to care for but now it was hatching. Was Erik and she ready to care for a new life? The similarities to their behavior to an actual couple starting a family wasn't lost on her, her stomach even flipped at the thought.

Over her time with the poison slayer Lucy finally got to know more about the man. She appreciated his dark sense of humor, the cockiness he played up only around the guild just to piss people off, and his skills in the kitchen that surpassed her own. It was a fact, the celestial mage was ignoring, that she had started to grow feelings for the man she was currently living with because she doubted he reciprocated them. She'd been burned before by making assumptions like that in the past so it was better to not dwell on them now.

"What do we do?"

"You're the woman. What do your ovaries tell you to do?"

"My ovaries are silent bitches that only cause me pain once a month. FYI, that starts in 2 days so we need to stock up on chocolate ice cream."

Just then a minor explosion of light and wind blinded the pair. Blinking rapidly and listening intently Cobra tried to get the white spots from his eye and hear the newest resident to this world but everything outside the normal white noise in the city was quiet.

When his sight finally cleared the only thing he saw was a dark purple striped blob lying in the nest. It was decidedly not an Exceed.

"It's defective?" he said equal parts confused and, he would deny it to his dying day, disappointed.

"It can't be." The quiver in her response was enough to move him into action. Lucy was boardline on tears the red alert in his head jarring him out of his shock. Maybe the blankets hid the cat likeness into looking like a blob? Maybe he just couldn't hears its heart beating?

Tentatively he reached into the bundle for confirmation one way or another but quickly pulled his hand back at the sharp pain. A tiny thorn stuck out of his middle finger and he could feel a weak poison enter his blood stream.

"What the…" their eyes met briefly before they looked down to the now shifting purple striped mass.

Before their eyes the, what both could now identify as a, plant stood up. Its stalk was a pale purple that darkened into a deep amethyst at the bud on the top. It looked smooth, completely free of leaves, so the mystery of the thorn was unknown but it slowly moved from the blankets using its thick roots like they were legs and feet to Lucy's leg wrapping around her ankle, the bud rubbing her skin gently.

"She's beautiful!" the celestial mage exclaimed.

"How can you tell?" Cobra asked more than a little surprised.

"She…," Lucy wracked her brain for an appropriate word but settled for, "hit you when you insulted her."

An arched eyebrow was all the answer Cobra gave. The plant looked happy so he wouldn't argue with her about gender.

"Little one," he kneeled down to make sure the plant understood he was talking to it. "These," he held up the thorn from his finger, "could kill her," he pointed at Lucy then at the dead bloom on his nearby Oleander bush he hadn't had a chance to dead-head yet.

It was frustrating the plant didn't have a soul so he had no easy way of understanding it but the way the large bud dipped he felt it understood. Letting his fingers run over the elongated bud and lifting the tip to "look" at him he couldn't help smiling reassuringly. Fuck living with Starshine was making him soft.

"So be careful." The plant's body shivered but tightened its grip on Lucy's leg. The blonde was immediately on the floor kneeing awkwardly cooing at their "adorable girl", the pronoun not lost on the slayer quirking his lips into a smirk. Worth it.

He honestly thought this plant was a much better alternative to an Exceed; there was only one of those creatures he could stand and that was Lily. Plants, on the other hand, he loved. His house was full of rare and poisonous plants of various types. The garden outside was one of his favorite things he liked to take care of in his free time. He was comfortable with caring for a plant, plus this one had "teeth" and was mobile. Maybe when it matured it would be able to communicate or be able to do other things. The unknown species was exciting.

"She's perfect," he finally answered the beautiful blonde, her face so close to his he could lean forward and kiss those pouty lips.