Lucy didn't understand why the sleep gods were conspiring against her.
It wasn't like she was asking for much; she just wanted to relax. After all, it had already been two hours worth of riding the train, so it wasn't as if they were going to find her anytime soon. She could afford a moment's rest. Apparently, her brain didn't agree. She slumped further down into her seat, hoping to alleviate the sharp tingling in her lower back.
Great, she huffed, just great. Now even her butt was getting sore.
Lucy sighed, slowly raising herself out of her seat. The silence in the sitting car was suffocating her furiously busy mind anyway. Maybe, if she could just find herself something to occupy the time, she'd find some peace. Something like that. She grasped her borrowed backpack from the overhang above the seating area. Yanking the zipper open, she fumbled around blindly inside, searching for her cell phone.
Crap. She'd forgotten that she tossed it into the canal.
Considering that when she was escaping, her first priority was to get rid of any trackers, Lucy regretted not thinking of to just remove the battery. After all, it wouldn't be able to ping cell towers if it wasn't powered, right? She slapped her palm to her face, slowly dragging it downwards as she realized that all of her hard work on Neko Atsume was gone. All of it, just gone! It was official. Someone up there hated her guts.
Natsu was feeling like he was ready to curl up and die. Trains, he reckoned, were infernal torture devices that were designed solely to make his stomach travel up into his throat. The concept alone of a metal bucket whirring him in an unknown direction had already sounded bad enough, but when put into practice, was much worse. He just didn't understand why his friends were so hellbent on riding this train when they had perfectly good legs and could walk home. Sure, it was a 4-mile walk home, but they needed the exercise anyway, right? Apparently, they thought otherwise.
Suddenly, his stomach brought him back from his musings with a bitter vengeance. Natsu gripped each side of himself, body quivering from restraint. The damned train cars were shaking back and forth as they passed a particular bend on the tracks. Oh, how he wished he could be back on nice, solid land! It was open, wide, and more importantly- not moving. As another shudder ran through his system, the man vowed to exact revenge- that is, after they got off this godforsaken train. Or, at least until he got to the nearest trashcan.
Lucy sighed, flexing her fingertips in anticipation. Somehow, after leaving the sitting car of the train, her day had only gotten more complicated after being almost trampled by woman in armor who was chasing a terrified and shirtless man. She'd been ready to give the odd duo a piece of her mind, but then her sights set on the proverbial manna from heaven. Oh, what goodness lay beyond those glass shelves of the snack bar. The true salvation of humanity! The only good thing in her life! The one thing that wouldn't hurt her in this cruel, cruel world that threw arranged marriages and impossible fathers her way!
Okay, so maybe Lucy was over exaggerating a bit, but in her defense, she hadn't had any real pastries since stuffy dresses and corsets had overtaken her wardrobe.
On the second level of the observation car, she found a whole row of empty chaise chairs. She plopped herself down on the one closest to her as a self-satisfied smirk grew across her face. Finally, something that she could enjoy in peace.
With a satisfying pop, her cookies appeared before her in all their glorious crunchiness. She took a bite, leaning back into the seat as she took in the view. The landscape was one of mid-winter frigidness; there was not a single living plant along the track. The snow and mountains passed her vision in a whir, whereas the sky seemed to almost stay still. The sun was slowly creeping along the mountain ranges, dipping low enough for pink, purple, and orange streaks to make their way across the sky. She gasped quietly, eyes drinking in the colors that softly reflected against the falling snow. Her regret for throwing her phone in canal came back tenfold, but Lucy settled that the camera just wouldn't do the sky any justice. She sat there quietly, nibbling on her gingersnaps as she contemplated on how beautiful it was. She wondered just what she did in a past life to deserve such a gorgeous sight.
"What are you even lookin' at, ya weirdo?" The weak, gravelly voice broke her from her reverie, albeit ungracefully. She fumbled with the bag of gingersnaps as her body involuntarily jumped at the new sound. Lucy watched, horrified, as her precious pastries fell from her grasp, inching closer to the ground with every second. A calloused hand struck out from beside her, grabbing the bag just before it hit the floor. She jerked her head in the direction of the voice, ready to profusely thank said hand for saving her pastries.
"Hey miss, are you alright?" the Cookie Savior asked, their brows wrinkled in genuine concern. His expression changed quickly, as he dangled the bag of gingersnaps in front of her face, grinning mischievously. "By the way, do you still want these? I haven't had anything to eat for the past half hour."
Oh no, he didn't. Not her cookies. "Uh no, you can't have any, 'cause they're mine weirdo." She exaggerated her voice, deepening it to mimic his low tone. As the words left her mouth, she flushed at the amount of sass that had just come from her. Did she really just say that to this stranger? But rather than looking affronted, his eyes lit up even more devilishly, giving him a look that almost seemed predatory. Lucy gulped.
The sheer embarrassment at her own crankiness was soon replaced by a slight unnatural fear.
"Wanna bet, weirdo?" He shook the bag tantalizingly in front of her, bringing it farther from his person. "I betcha can't get them back from me, and who knows what'll happen, maybe I just might eat them all-" Suddenly, the car jolted as the train traveled over a particularly bumpy part of the track. Lucy gripped the sides of her seat in alarm, whereas the boy next to her yelped. He clutched his midsection, quickly dropping the gingersnaps, and groaned miserably. She quickly snatched up her precious darlings, but soon noticed that he didn't react as fast to her recovery. She glanced over at him, noticing his previously excited face was now screwed up in anguish.
"Are you alright? Do you need anything?" Her tone, soft this time, conveyed her worry over his state of well-being caused by the uncomfortable sensations. The jitters of the car slowly smoothed out to the normal ride, the clicks of the wheels lowered their volume to a subtle tick. He groaned a bit more, but gradually composed himself.
His face still pale, he weakly replied "I..It's alright, nothing I haven't handled before. I just get a little motion-sick from time to time. Don't worry about it."
"Oh..." she responded weakly. Facing the glass window, she tried to not look at him as she offhandedly remarked "Suddenly, I don't feel so hungry anymore. Could you do me the favor of helping me finish these?"
At the end of her query, she turned her head to face him, gauging his reaction. She didn't expect that the pink-haired boy would have such strange -albeit endearing- look on his face, as if he was being offered the moon. He gave her a warm smile, and Lucy noticed that color soon rushed back into his cheeks.
"Whatever ya say, you weirdo."
She laughed happily.