dedication: For Michelle—hi, there, lovely.
prompt: nebula

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all in a day's work

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i.

At a quarter to midnight, Lucy awakens to the sudden tremendous rise in temperature, sitting up with a gasp and a shriek. It takes her ten seconds to notice the familiar tuft of pink hair beside her, and she groans, rubbing her tired eyes.

It takes her five more seconds to realize her bed is on fire.

Three seconds after her scream of bloody murder, in comes Gray stumbling through the bathroom door, followed by a trail of water and frost, as he drags his blanket—or rather, her shower curtain.

And as he shoots Lucy (and Natsu) with a stream of too much ice—far too much ice—Erza breaks down the door, a slice of cake in hand and Happy in tow.

It takes Lucy seven seconds to realize that her bed has been reduced to a frozen chunk of charcoal, Natsu is still sleeping, her door is in pieces, and apparently, Gray has made it a routine to sleep in her bathtub.

It takes her two more seconds to realize that this is pretty normal.

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ii.

At a quarter to noon, they crowd around the request board, hands on their chins, and finally decide on a job (unlike Nab). The five of them prepare for departure, and Lucy prays to no one in particular that things go without a hitch.

They don't.

Three seconds after the team steps out the door, Natsu trips and stumbles into Gray, and Gray shoves Natsu, and Natsu shoves Gray; and then a fist is thrown and some blows are exchanged. But it doesn't get bad until fifteen seconds later, when Erza joins the fray (with good intentions, really), and chaos ensues.

And so, Lucy sits and laments, with her chin in her hands, wondering how this became so normal.

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iii.

Later that day, as they arrive at their destination, all is still and peaceful, not one sign of discord in sight. The quintet pause in their steps, and breathe in the fresh, summer air.

But come twenty minutes later, and that very same humble, little town is almost completely eradicated, reduced to a pile of rubble and dirt. Pillars of smoke rise high into the clouds.

Erza pats her back softly as Lucy cries and cries, because her rent will not be paid. And after eight seconds more of Natsu and Gray's never-ending bickering, she screeches at them to shut up—and also threatens Gray that he dare not reach for his belt.

And two seconds later, his pants drop anyway.

Four minutes pass by, and Erza is scolding the two idiots and apologizing to the town residents, again and again; Natsu and Gray bow their hands to reflect.

Ignoring Happy's comment about how ugly she is when she's bawling and weeping, Lucy sighs because, really, this is quite normal.

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iv.

At a quarter to midnight, they lay face-up in the grass on a hill, gazing up at the twinkling stars and the brightbright moon. Lucy smiles because this is the most peaceful it's been in twenty-four hours, and it all seems so worth it.

It takes thirty seconds of silence for Natsu to finally talk, and when he does, it's to ask her what constellations there are. Pointing a finger at the darkdark sky, she draws invisible lines for them all to see.

And for two minutes, they listen in silence as she teaches them the wonders of the universe, galaxies and planets and nebulae and more. Then Natsu questions what a nebula is, and Lucy explains, describing clouds of gas and dust in space, and he turns over, eyes brimming with wonder.

Erza swiftly kicks him one second after his following comment, and Lucy slaps her forehead and emphasizes, they are most certainly not 'space farts.'

It takes only two minutes and thirty-one seconds after their momentary peace for them to start fighting again, fists, magic, swords, and all.

Then, nine seconds later, Lucy laughs and smiles, brighter than ever, because this is just normal.

And no more time is needed to know that she doesn't really mind.

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notes: Er, yeah—OT4, anyone?