Act 2
26
Tuesdays with Morrie
"This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work."
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
"Ow son of a b-!"
"Language Natsu!"
"Does he need to be punished princess?"
"No he does not!" Natsu's frantic shout exclaimed from where Lucy had a whip tightly corded around his wrist. He remained where he was, kneeling in a crouch before Lucy and her new spirit.
They were in the middle of training Lucy how to use her newest weapon. One Natsu had gone out of his way to purchase for her when she was back on her feet again. It was a gift that Lucy accepted gratefully, even if she demanded to see his receipt to ensure he hadn't stolen it.
Now he had quite a few scratches decorating his cheeks and arms from where Lucy had managed to nick him with the whip. It turned out she was a very quick study with it, even if she hadn't been using it for more than a couple of weeks.
"I dunno Virgo," Lucy teased, holding onto the whip firmly so it stretched out taut between her and the dragon, "He has quite the mouth on him doesn't he? Especially since I have him on the ropes!"
"Yes princess," Virgo nodded, "Although I would urge you to be cautious."
Confused, Lucy tilted her head to look at her spirit, "What? Why?"
Suddenly the mage found herself being yanked forward, getting dragged directly into the hot arms of her fiercely grinning dragon. His calloused hand closed around her throat, gripping lightly, her back pressed flush against his chest and his arm banding her limbs down to her sides.
"Because I'm stronger than you," Natsu's hot breath grazed against the back of her ear, eliciting a shivering response to slide down her spine. The shift of his growl against her skin, the graze of his mouth against the outer shell of her ear, and the deep tenor of his purr. It made her skin feel electrified.
Perhaps it was impure, but her thoughts plummeted straight into the gutter.
Natsu was just so close.
"W-what?" Lucy stammered, his smoky scent invading her senses and clinging to her. The soft material of his scarf brushed against the back of her neck, only a minor distraction from the feel of their bodies pressing tightly together. With every breath they took, she could feel the contractions of Natsu's hard muscles flexing, pressing against her and-
Oh no. No. NO.
She was not attracted to Natsu.
She was not attracted to the handsome dragon with his hands all over her.
She really was not.
"Need me to spell it out for you?" Natsu's voice purred.
Before she knew it, Lucy was being turned physically in Natsu's arms until she was face to face with the dragon.
And then he smiled. Something sunny. It was a cheerful grin of happiness that reached all the way up to his bright, green eyes. The sight of which made her heart ache and melt into the slots of her ribcage.
"I win!" He crowed in excitement.
Lucy gawked at him, trying to wrap her mind around his oblivious touches, the sweetness in his smile, and the absolute radiance burning off him.
Oh.
One look at that happy smile and she knew.
She was attracted to her stupid dragon.
"Wanna try again Luce?" Natsu asked, his grin turning distinctly lopsided. Slowly he unwrapped the coiled whip from around his forearm, slanting a sly, mischievous look at her.
Her heart thumped when they both stood up, his eyes dark and reaching out for her. There was something there.
Something had been there between them for a while. But Lucy didn't know what it was. She didn't think even Natsu knew. She cleared her throat and put some space between them.
"Would you two like to be alone so you may share another passionate embrace?" Virgo asked, her voice flat, but a small hint of mirth behind her impassive gaze.
Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin at the teasing, and at the way Virgo rolled her tongue as she said it.
"What! No! No more training today! I think that's more than enough thank you!"
-::-
Lucy hummed thoughtfully as she eyed the request board. It was her turn to pick, but she wasn't seeing one that just jumped out and grabbed her.
Ordinarily, she would go for a bandit cleanup or something similar to let Natsu run off his pent up energy, but with her shoulder still a bit tender she wasn't up to something that could see her potentially get beat up.
She wasn't eager to undo all of Chelia's hard work.
"Having trouble picking Lu?" Levy asked as she moved up to join her, noticeably lacking her usual shadows.
"Yeah..." Lucy sighed, "I just don't see one that jumps out at me." She glanced at Levy curiously, "Where are Jet and Droy?"
"They decided to go on a job without me." Levy replied, the faint hurt in her voice audible, "They said something about proving they were just as good as Gajeel. I hope they're okay..."
Lucy winced a little, not envying Levy's love square one bit. She knew her friend didn't do anything to encourage the other two, and only saw them as friends, but that didn't seem to slow down Jet or Droy one bit. She just hoped that when Levy finally formally announced her choice team Shadowgear didn't split.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Was all she said instead, and suddenly brightened, "Hey, why don't we go on a job together?" She suggested, "Erza's on a job with Jellal and Gray's on one with Juvia, so Natsu and I are kind of in the same boat. We could even bring Gajeel and make it a quartet!"
Levy's entire expression lit up at the suggestion, "That's a great idea Lu! And I know just the one!" She grinned and pulled out a flyer, "I was going to suggest this one to the boys originally... It's an artifact hunting and translation job!"
Lucy scanned through it and grinned back, "Oh this is perfect! I bet Grandpa Cross would be able to help with this if we get stuck, and Natsu and Gajeel would be great at digging out artifacts."
Maybe. As long as they didn't go overboard.
Lucy, however, was confident that between the two of them they could rein them in. At least a little.
"Oh that sounds fantastic!" Levy said enthusiastically. She clapped her hands together and grinned at Lucy, "Why don't you go grab your stuff and we can meet back here at the guild in about an hour?"
Her eyes practically gleamed, "Oh an ancient city! Treasure hunting! How exciting!" Levy puffed her cheeks out as she thought about two dragons fighting over it.
"We're going to have to keep an eye on those two." She muttered and walked off in a distracted haze.
Lucy laughed at the expression on Levy's face. It was true though, Natsu was still as selfish and greedy as he was the first day she met him. But she guessed that was just a normal trait amongst dragons.
They weren't big on sharing.
"I'll see you in a bit," She called out to Levy and looked over the paper.
"The ancient city of the Nirvits, hm?" Lucy tapped a finger against her chin as she walked off to find Natsu out of the guild.
The dragon was sprawled out under a tree, snoring noisily, mouth hanging wide open. His shirt had ridden up his waist, exposing his stomach to the air as a leg kicked out crookedly.
He was such a messy sleeper.
"Hey, Natsu," Lucy nudged his side with her toe, watching him roll over onto his belly. Now he was drooling on his arm, "Wake up. Come on you lazy lizard, get up."
"Who're you callin' a lizard!" Natsu half mumbled half shouted as he jerked up from his arm, but was clearly far from awake by the way he blinked sleepily at her and then started to sink back into his sound sleep.
"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, "Get up! We have a job!"
That, it seemed, finally got his attention as when he cracked his eyes open there was actual sense in them, and he yawned as he stretched, "What kinda job?" He asked, already looking bored by whatever Lucy had picked.
"We're teaming up with Levy and Gajeel to help excavate and translate an ancient city!" Lucy grinned triumphantly, "It seems some of their artifacts can't be translated without magic, and they're not sure what else around might be magical in nature."
Natsu had been on the verge of complaining about how boring it sounded when Lucy's words actually penetrated. Treasure hunting? They were actually going treasure hunting?
He leapt to his feet, suddenly completely awake, "Yeah! Let's go treasure hunting!" He exclaimed, "I'm all fired up now!"
Lucy had just enough time to realize she should be wary of the manic gleam in his eyes as he grabbed her and took off at top speed, "C'mon Luce! We gotta get packed!"
Lucy heaved a mental sigh as she was dragged along. Somehow she doubted he'd actually heard her mention Levy and Gajeel. Or at least not Gajeel.
She had a feeling he would be sulking again once he found out.
Sure enough, Natsu's enthusiasm plummeted the instant he caught sight of Levy and Gajeel. Specifically the latter. He growled at the sight of the iron dragon, an action which was promptly reflected back at him. Lucy sighed as they edged around one another, creeping into one another's faces.
If they kept this up, it was going to end in a trip filled with aggravation. Lucy tugged firmly on one of Natsu's ears while Levy attempted to do the same to Gajeel but came up too short.
"They're partnering up with us on this job Natsu!" Lucy gave him an impatient glare, "So behave!"
"What!" He protested, a flush rising to his cheeks as he wrestled his ear from her pinching grasp, "No way! I'm not working with him!"
Lucy grasped his head in both hands, startling the dragon into a moment of stillness. That was all Lucy needed to drag his face down into hers, their foreheads almost bumping together. Natsu's eyes widened at the bold move.
Usually the lack of personal space was his attack method.
Maybe he was rubbing off on her.
His heart flipped traitorously as he met those large brown eyes. Giving him such a pouty look, he almost thought it was sorta endearing. Sorta. Natsu coughed, feeling some of his resolve not to work with Gajeel weaken before she even opened her mouth.
"I'm working with Levy, and she's working with Gajeel, which means you're working with him too!" Lucy poked him on the chin, making his mouth drop open in surprise. He swallowed a bit at her fierce look, protests on his tongue.
"Unless you wanna get dragged behind us!" Lucy bent away and crossed her arms. Natsu followed the motion with his eyes, and felt himself flush as it had the effect of emphasizing her already generous chest.
He'd always been peripherally aware of Lucy's beauty as a whole, but for some reason this time, of all the times he'd looked at her, had him suddenly painfully aware of just how lovely her chest really was, and he had to bite back the absurd urge to reach out and find out if it was as soft and squishy as it looked.
Just the thought had him hastily tearing his eyes away from the display, though he did so with a reluctance that surprised him, and he crossed his own arms huffily, "Fine!" He growled, more out of principle than anything.
Working with Gajeel would be just as much of a pain in the ass as working with the snowcone, but his brain was still tripping over the view Lucy had inadvertently given him and his weird reaction to it, so he wasn't up to arguing about it anymore.
Seriously, what the hell was wrong with him? He'd never cared about women, pretty or not, before and couldn't understand why he was suddenly paying so much attention to Lucy's assets. It was annoying.
Even more annoying was the broad, knowing, smirk curling over Gajeel's stupid face.
The iron dragon looked like he'd just swallowed the biggest, juiciest, bit of meat he'd ever tasted, and was loving every minute of it. He was sure the big drake had spotted his momentary distraction and was going to try and tease him about it. Jerk.
He flashed his fangs and growled at Gajeel, which had that stupid grin widening even more, but otherwise kept his mouth shut. He'd ignore Gajeel if Gajeel left him alone. Otherwise all bets were off.
Luckily the man seemed more content with smirking than actually goading Natsu - which had the exact opposite effect. Natsu was close to lunging at the other dragon when he felt a soft touch on the back of his arm.
It was so gentle, he almost didn't notice it at first.
Natsu swallowed hard in confusion at the strange rush of warmth that ran through him when he saw Lucy's hand, small and slender against his skin.
"We're going to have a lot of fun!" Lucy promised him, with a smile so wide Natsu almost believed it. Almost.
As if any time spent with Gajeel could be fun.
"Yeah. Okay," disbelief practically dripped from his voice, but he made no further arguments.
Especially not when Gajeel flashed Natsu a superior smirk and dropped onto all fours.
His body trembled, like a wave was being passed straight through him. Skin hardened, jagged plates of metal taking shape on his arms as his body began to shift form.
Soon, they had a massive dragon sitting before them, red eyes glaring shrewdly down at them. A fangy smile tore over Gajeel's face, his odd laughter huffing out from between a forked tongue and needle-sharp fangs.
"You all look so tiny from here, especially you," Gajeel's massive head swung down to Levy. His snout pushed lightly into her stomach, causing her to squeak and flop forward on top of the bridge between his eyes.
"Gajeel!" Levy shrieked in protest.
"Gihi!"
The dragon lifted his head, carefully allowing Levy enough time to recover. He reached out, collecting Levy securely in a giant, metal claw. Then he favored Natsu and Lucy a look, clearly telling them 'good luck.'
Natsu just snorted, hooking an arm around Lucy and pushing enough magic into his jump so he could leap up onto Gajeel's back. Lucy shrieked the whole way up, having been taken by surprise from Natsu's sudden movements.
"What's the big idea?" She protested, "I'm not a sack of potatoes!"
"I know," Natsu eyed her with some disappointment. He flopped down between two of Gajeel's spines. His arm was still around Lucy as he dragged her into his lap like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"If you were a sack of potatoes, at least you'd be delicious," Natsu muttered, looking offended by the very thought that he was holding onto her instead of said food.
Lucy shot him an equally offended look, "Well excuse me for being a person and not more food for you to stuff you face with!" She snapped just as Gajeel spread his wings and started flapping.
Lucy squeaked at the sudden lurch, having been too distracted with growling at Natsu to realize Gajeel was about to take off, and reflexively tightened her grip on Natsu.
"Relax would ya?" Natsu's voice purred into her ear, almost huskily, as he curled his arms securely around her and held her close, "I won't let you fall."
Lucy flushed a bit at the sound of it and stared at him in surprise, wondering what had brought it on so suddenly, and was treated to the sight of Natsu grinning toothily at her. Her heart promptly pulled a backflip and then started pounding. It had to be illegal for someone to look that good just by grinning and talking like that. Even if it wasn't intentional.
Now that she was actually looking it was clear his options were purr in her ear or shout over the wind. She was grateful he'd chosen the former option.
Not that it helped her blood pressure or heart rate any.
Did Natsu even know how he was coming across? Probably not.
If he did, he wouldn't be holding her so close. His arms slid along her sides and hooked around her shoulders. He dropped his chin onto her shoulder, his eyes fixated on the horizon.
The bite of the air this high was still cold, but like before, Lucy could feel warmth from Natsu saturating into her bones. She relaxed into his hold, unable to stop how rapidly her heart was beating.
How silly could she be?
Still, his touch was surprisingly gentle. So different from how it had been all that time ago when they first met. Her eyes fastened onto the scarf wrapped around his neck, twisting a bit so she could curl more comfortably on her side.
It was strange to be sitting in Natsu's lap, but she couldn't deny it was more than likely one of the safest places in the world.
She sank her fingers into his shirt and pillowed her head close to him in the scarf. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to go so she might as well get comfortable.
There was almost a clean gleam to his scarf now. It wasn't quite white, but it was certainly much cleaner than it had been before. When she first met Natsu, it was almost black, torn in places and badly tattered. It was dark like the shadows in his eyes and the bitter hatred in his sharp smile.
But now it looked clean. There were still some holes in the fabric, but it looked like many of the more jagged holes were stitched together again.
'I won't let you fall.'
Natsu, for his part, had decided that even if a sack of potatoes would be tastier to hold it wouldn't be a nice.
Lucy was soft in all the right places and tucked against him like they were pieces from the jigsaw puzzle he'd played with as a hatchling. They just seemed to fit perfectly, and there was a growing part of him that really liked that.
He tried not to dwell on it too much though. They were passing through portions of his territory he hadn't laid eyes on since his binding, and as much as he liked holding Lucy his eyes were sharply scanning the horizon, and everything else, for danger.
He didn't doubt that interlopers were trying to muscle in on his territory while he was indisposed, and couldn't help looking for them.
Human form or not he would beat anyone who dared into a pulp.
Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, he didn't spot any from the time Gajeel took off to the time he very carefully landed near the archaeological dig near the Nirvits abandoned city.
That brought Natsu's attention pointedly back to the lovely blond in his lap and he looked down at her, "Looks like we're here!" He grinned brightly at her and carefully stood up with her still cradled in his arms, "That wasn't so bad was it?"
"No..." Lucy started only to yelp again as Natsu leapt cleanly off Gajeel's back and onto the ground.
"Man you do a lot of screaming," Natsu grumbled but set her down without any further complaint. He glanced up at Gajeel, watching as he deposited Levy onto the ground. Not a blue hair out of place.
Lucy ran fussy fingers through her windswept hair, trying to tame the mess Gajeel made with his flying.
She sighed and sunk her head down, "Aw man..." She complained.
Natsu just laughed, shaking his messy bangs out of his eyes, "Ah come on Lucy! It's not so bad!"
He kind of liked how messed up it was on her. Not as neat, like a dragon rider.
As if such things even existed.
Natsu snorted at the thought and crammed his hands in his pockets, eagerly heading towards the ruins, "Come on metal head!" He barked.
A low rumbling came from Gajeel, his snarls sounding like rolling thunder, quelling down into the growls of a distant storm instead.
They lessened as he transformed down, leaning his arm on the top of Levy's head like an armrest, "Watch it flame brain, or I'll leave you behind when I go flying back!"
"And leave Lucy?" Natsu snapped back at him, looking smugly superior, "Fat chance of that happening! Levy would dump your ass out of the guild!" He blew a raspberry at the metal dragon.
"Come on you two," Levy wrapped her arms around Gajeel's middle to try and tug the big drake away from Natsu and the fight he was practically inviting.
"Levy's right," Lucy caught Natsu's arm, "You want to find the treasure don't you?" She goaded.
That had the desired effect.
However, they'd no sooner gotten halfway to the dig site when Natsu picked up the distinctive sound of a child's heart broken tears.
He paused and looked around alertly, concern for why a hatchling would be out here in the middle of nowhere blooming in his chest. He'd never admit it, but he'd always had a soft spot for hatchlings, and had never been able to bear the sound of ones tears. Not since...
He shook the thought off and moved determinedly towards the sound.
"Natsu?" Lucy asked in mingled exasperation and confusion, "What are you doing? The dig is that way."
"Hold on a sec." Natsu replied almost absently, "I heard something."
Lucy blinked at the almost serious tone and followed after him, not noticing Gajeel's own eyes widening behind her, "What is it?" She asked only to gasp as she and Natsu rounded a tree to discover a little blue haired girl in tattered clothes, and with dirt all over her, crying her eyes out.
Lucy's heart instantly melted at the sight, "Aw, you poor thing!" She cooed, startling the girl who cringed back.
"No! Stay back! Don't hurt me!"
That panic filled cry absolutely shattered Lucy's heart.
She crouched down where she was, trying to make herself less threatening, and smiled gently, "It's alright." She murmured soothingly, ignoring the sound of Levy and Gajeel joining them, "No one's going to hurt you. I promise."
"No! You're lying!" The girl cried in distress, pressing further back against the tree, a tiny white kitten clutched protectively in her arms, "Th-they said I was a f-freak, and..." Fresh tears welled in her eyes.
"They pushed you outta the nest." Natsu murmured lowly, almost growling, but still loud enough to cut across the child's tears.
Lucy looked up at Natsu in surprise, "She's like you and Gajeel?"
Natsu's fists clenched tightly, his rage welling up in him at the sight of another hatchling exactly like him, but he managed to nod anyway, "Yeah."
The girl stared at them, holding her kitten close. The little furry thing hissed at them with intelligent eyes, the fur on its back standing on end.
"Begone you filthy people! Leave poor Wendy alone!" The feline spoke in a rich voice, causing Lucy to rear back in shock, momentarily taken aback. Never before had she seen a cat speak before.
Besides Leo.
But she doubted that counted.
"Uhm," She gaped at her but looked helplessly over at Natsu and Gajeel, who both wore similar expressions of bitterness on their faces.
"We ain't gonna hurt her," Gajeel spoke up, leaning forward and dropping a heavy hand on the little girl's head, "Name is Wendy, huh? You smell like the wind and breeze."
Wendy looked up at the drake with puffy eyes, a bottom lip trembling with uncertainty. It was clear to Natsu she was still very young. She might not have even unlocked her ability to transform fully yet.
Along with the scent of wind and breeze, was that distinct hint of humanity. She was like them. A human taken in by a dragon and turned into one.
But thanks to the typical dragon elitism, that meant she was pushed from her nest too. And at such a young age.
"Are you a sky dragon?" Natsu asked her, trying not to let the full force of his rage show in his face. Last thing he wanted to do was frighten the girl. Or her angry little cat.
"Any chance you know a dragon named Grandina?" He asked.
All at once, Wendy's face seemed to transform. Into one of joy, before abruptly one of grief. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and Natsu reeled back at the sight of her fresh sadness.
"Way to go dumbass, you made her cry again," Gajeel muttered.
"You absolute cretin!" The cat snarled, wiggling from Wendy's shaking arms, "Grandina was the girl's mother and she has just recently passed! How dare you, bringing up such bad memories for her!"
"Carla..." Wendy murmured.
Natsu growled at the feisty cat but gave Wendy an apologetic look, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. But my dad is Igneel, he knew Grandina a long time ago."
Wendy's eyes widened in shock, "You're the Fire Prince?" She whispered, hardly able to believe her ears, and snuggled Carla closer, "Grandina told me stories about your dad." She murmured, "About how he was a great drake, and how much he loved his son." She shifted a bit awkwardly, "She said it was what inspired her to adopt me. I always wanted to meet you. So I could thank you…"
Natsu stared at the hatchling dumbfoundedly, "I...you...what? Me?"
He couldn't remember the last time he'd had someone who wanted to meet him. To thank him for anything. Not like this anyway. Not even Lucy had done that.
He shifted a little uncomfortably as Lucy stood back up, red dusting his cheeks, "You know, I didn't have anything to do with Igneel picking me." He muttered in embarrassement that had Lucy giggling a little and earned her a sulky pout that didn't seem to have much effect.
"Maybe you didn't." The maddening blond pointed out with a broad grin, "But it's because of you that Wendy was adopted."
"And then pushed outta her nest." Gajeel spoke up, earning himself an elbow in the side from Levy for the reminder and a hissed, "Be nice!"
Lucy shook her head a little, "You know, the more I hear about dragons the more I think your parents were the only rational ones out of the whole species. Surely there are some nests somewhere out there that don't push kids out just because they're adopted humans?"
"If there are, I ain't seen one." Gajeel grunted, giving Levy a hairy look when she elbowed him again, "You tryin' to tenderize your elbow shrimp?" He grumbled.
"I'm trying to get you to stop being such an inconsiderate jerk!" Levy growled, grabbing hold of his hair since she couldn't reach his ear.
Wendy, meanwhile, was watching the byplay with confused interest. She could tell that the two ladies with the drakes, she thought they were drakes anyway, were human, but they all acted like nestmates. Maybe…?
"A-are you a nest?!" She blurted, wild hope rising in her, and cringed a little when all eyes turned to her again, "I-I mean...c-could I join?" She whimpered hopefully.
Natsu could have been knocked over with a feather at the wild question and rawness on the girl's face. He felt like his tongue was stuck on the roof of his mouth. A nest?
Them?
This girl had gotten the wrong idea about them, and his mouth hung open.
"Oh," Levy blinked, glancing up at Gajeel who looked equally as dumbstruck. They were both drakes and owned their own territories. How would that even work if they were to form a nest?
Gajeel was only permitted into Natsu's territory through extremely grudging means. She didn't think Natsu would kick Wendy out though. She was just a child after all, and he'd already showed how much of a bleeding heart he had for kids.
"A nest?" Natsu asked stiffly, as if faint.
"Me and Ga-" Natsu looked a little green in the fact at the thought.
"Sorry girlie, we ain't a nest," Gajeel grunted a bit gruffly at Wendy, looking a little uncomfortable saying no to the girl who looked so desperate for a shred of hope.
It was like everything in Wendy deflated at once at the awkward response, and her eyes welled with fresh tears. She nodded sadly and hunched her shoulders as if drawing into herself.
"O-oh, I-it's okay..." She looked positively heartbroken, hiccupping her words, "I-I w-would be a bu-burden anyway."
Lucy whirled on the two dragons, who took a terrified step back away from her.
"Look at you two! You made her cry!" Lucy set angry hands on her hips, leaning towards them with a steely glint in her eyes, "You two need to quit being macho for a change! Would it really kill you two if you guys became a nest?"
Natsu squinted over at Gajeel, but slanted his eyes back to the crying girl. He hated to see someone cry like this. For the same reasons he was pushed out, but... with no one to help him.
How could he possibly turn her away?
Gajeel was giving him an unsure look, his thoughts reflecting the same as Natsu.
At once they both sighed, silently reaching some sort of agreement neither dared to voice out.
A new nest... With the three of them? Could it even work?
Natsu swallowed and nodded stiffly to Gajeel, earning himself a genuine look of surprise.
"I guess... we can make a new nest," Natsu allowed and held out a hand to Wendy, "It never occurred to us before because I can't stand metal-heads face over here, but I have a feeling you'll be much nicer to have around than him."
"What's it gonna be girlie?" Gajeel asked her, crossing his arms over a broad chest, "Wanna give it a shot?"
Wendy stared at them, and the blond who had scolded them, in shock before a wide, bright, hopeful smile began to light up her face, "Really? You mean it?!" She exclaimed.
Both dragons nodded at her and she squealed happily as she scrambled to her feet, carefully set Carla down, and rushed over to launch herself at Natsu.
The surprised drake stared down at the new hatchling, not used to being hugged so exuberantly anymore, and felt something within him shift and then loosen as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her as well.
A nest.
Even if he had to share it with the metal head it was still a nest.
And that... felt surprisingly good.
He growled a little playfully as he hoisted Wendy up onto his hip and pressed his forehead against hers, breathing in her scent and imprinting it into his memory. Nest. She was his new nestmate.
He was her big brother now, and he would be damned if he let her get hurt again.
He didn't even growl as Gajeel joined them, though he couldn't resist playfully snapping a little. Something the bigger drake responded to by leaning heavily on his shoulder like he sometimes did Levy's head.
Which, naturally, Natsu ducked out of, cackling when he overbalanced and fell.
Lucy rolled her eyes at their antics and stepped forward with a smile, "Well now that that's settled, it's nice to meet you Wendy. I'm Lucy and this is Levy."
"Pleasure to meet you!" Wendy chirped brightly, looking considerably happier than she had two minutes ago. She wiggled out of Natsu's hold so she could trot back over to Carla and gather her meager possessions.
"So what now?" She asked eagerly, "Carla and I were waiting on Pantherlily to get back when you came up..."
"Who's Pantherlily?" Lucy asked curiously only to yelp in surprise when a very tall, very muscular, bipedal cat man stepped out of the bushes.
"I'm Pantherlily." He growled.
"Holy-!" Natsu yelped at the sight of him and the massive sword strapped onto his back. His jaw hung open and he jerked his finger through the air, "He's huge!"
"Natsu," Lucy elbowed him in the gut, causing all the air to rush out of his lungs as he doubled over, "Manners!"
"What did I do?" Natsu whimpered.
His whines went ignored as Pantherlily nodded in greeting to them, holding a wild bird under his meaty arm and a striped egg in the other.
"I see you found some friends Wendy, that is good," He gave them critical looks, "Who are they?"
Wendy jumped up onto the balls of her feet, smiling broadly at them all.
"This is my new nest Lily," She waved at them and introduced everyone in turn, "I think we're going to be happy with them, right Carla?"
The feline huffed outright at that, but her expression softened and she curled into Wendy's arms, "I suppose."
Ignoring the haughty comment, Lily reached forward and dropped the striped, blue egg into Wendy's arms, "I found it."
"The poor thing." Wendy cooed sadly, curling her other arm around the egg protectively, and smiled, "He can join our nest too!"
Lily chuckled a little and ruffled Wendy's hair, "Exceed don't have nests like you do, but I'm sure he'll be a good friend when he hatches. Which should be any day now."
"I'm sorry," Lucy interrupted, "I'm confused. What's an Exceed?"
Lily looked over at her curiously, "That's what my kind call themselves." He explained, "We're a bit like dragons in that we're magical and long lived, but most Exceed aren't very powerful and keep to themselves so we're not often seen."
He nodded to the egg, "That's an Exceed egg. I found it in an abandoned farmhouse while I was out hunting and brought it back. From the looks of things something attacked the parents not long ago."
"Wow! It's so cool looking!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, examining the blue and white egg closely, "Like a dragon egg!"
Lucy rolled her eyes at his reaction and crossed her arms, "Well, why don't you look after it then Natsu?" She drawled, "Since you're a fire dragon your body temperature alone should keep it nice and warm."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea!" Wendy agreed, her eyes bright as she all but shoved the egg into Natsu's clumsy hands. He just barely managed to catch it before it became scrambled eggs on the ground.
"I hatched Carla here, but it took a really long time because I couldn't keep her very warm," Wendy curled her kitten closer to her.
The huffy cat looked to tolerate it, but appeared slightly smug over the attention.
Natsu blinked and slowly curled the egg closer to him, "Like... this?" He asked, raising his body temperature enough to feel a light tapping against his skin.
An excited smile broke over his face and he gasped, "Whoa!"
Lucy laughed at Natsu's eagerness and shook her head, "Alright then, come on, hang on tight to that thing. And don't drop it!"
She gave Natu a very firm look as he opened up the zipper on his shirt, stuffed the whole egg into it, and then pulled it up to his neck.
"There! It'll be nice and safe in there!" He lightly patted his stomach where the base of the egg was nestled.
Levy was busy chatting with Lily about the exceeds, while Gajeel put Wendy on his shoulders to carry her while they marched off to begin their job as a unit.
Natsu dropped a hand on the egg he was protecting and set his other somewhere between Lucy's shoulder blades as she walked side by side with him.
Not a unit..
A nest.
SAHDHFADFHA I NEED TO THROW ATTENTION TO ALL THE LOVELY ART WE HAVE GOTTEN! I AM CRY. I ALLOWED THE FOG OF SLEEP TO CLOUD MY MIND AND FORGET TO GIVE THE LOOOOVELY TAILFAIL ALL THE LOVE FOR ART THEY GAVE US! So here you are! tailfailXtumblrXcom/post/132026141590/some-doodles-for-the-latest-chapter-from-parallels (JUST REPLACE THE X's WITH PERIODS)
So many lovely questions this time around. Lets see if I can help you all out!
CrimsonLightKey - Oh yeah some of these chapters are super long. Hope you enjoyed this update! Bluebirdeyes - .3 - HAHAHAHAH If I answer this aging question again I'm gonna choke on my own tongue. :'D Lucy is a mage. She ages like a mage. :* Zeref is a fun and popular theory though. - Mo0nyMoon - Natsu will never stop being selfish and greedy. That's human nature fufufu. OgaxHilda - ;D Yes. Yes she is coming. THERE YOU ALL GO. WENDY. *blows kisses* - Animallover - I hope this satisfied allll your cravings - Snavej - YEAH YOU GOT WENDY. - the-clumsy-one - shvartzit - ohhhh yes. We are definite fans of Cobra. Yes. We have over 60 chapters written in this fic. We're currently writing the final scenes now. - NonTimetisMessor - You will have to find out hahaha - panicatthediscofreak7 - That is a wise decision - fanficlove2014 - You have some interesting theories. I would hang onto them. - AJDrakes - Oh it's not that we write fast, it's that we've stocked up on a ton of chapters. Hahaha - Guest - Oh Saggy will not appear for a while yet. - Train 99 - Wow if we got over 2000 reviews I would be SUPER impressed! - Compucles - Yep. Pretty much. All the villains are total drama queens.I hope you got your answer! - SakuraPetal91 - Princessatj - Everyone seems to feel the same way about him tbh. - Angela-the-neko - We all have our crosses. But omg no, thank you so much! - Compucles (x2) - I dunno, Virgo has her benefits too yanno - Twishadowhunter - The-Rosette-Wolf - Thank you so much! *blows kisses* And yeah, here's the next chapter! - Wonderwomanbatmanfan - Sara lovelymusic - omg, no none of the 12 will be making an appearance otherwise this fic would be 1000 chapters long. Dark-Angel-of-Wicked-Chaos17 - Dragodden - ThatOneExoticPotato -which oneshot/twoshot are you referring to? The Gajeel one? Or my side BedBugs one? Because the Gajevy one is up TONIGHT! - rrrrRANDOMmm - thank youuuu - Celtika82 - guest account - Thanks! Kytrin and I work really hard! - Little Red - Well that's a really fun theory! - wishyouweremedontya - Hahaha nah the FT world is pretty barbaric too. I dunno where it would be honestly. It used to be on a giant walking-squid thing. So your guess is as good as mine - thewritersheart - Welcome to the current chapter waiting game hell! Hahaha, I saw that you blew through the last couple of chapters. Now the waiting begins. Good luck! - equastar - kirby42280 - I will say NOTHING - Searching for my Rushmore - Yes Natsu carries the key with him always. Natsu has NOOOO idea where Sagittarius' key is. N-O-N-E. - eternalstarrlight - WHY'S IT GOTTA BE A DUDE? MAYBE THE EVIL PERSON IS A CHICK THAT LIKES TO CALL HERSELF 'LORD', I dunno. Hahaha. Your guess is as good as anyone elses. Oh yeah. Natsu can go pretty far from Lucy now. Innit nice? Hahaha, You get all your reactions today! - Amelia Loves Anime - YOU MUST FIND OUT!
Okay I hope I answered all of those to the best of my ability!
Don't FORGET, the Gajevy companion fic for this story begins TOOOOONIGHT! It's called: Perpendicular
(Yeah. I think I'm hilarious.)