Author's notes: Hi everyone! I'm back with a NEW chapter of The Unforgettable Train Mix-up!! Have fun reading it and please R&R (I love reading comments :D).
Chapter 3
"Nice shirt," started Natsu as he glanced over at Gray. "Got to thank the thieves," he thought interiorly while heaving a sigh of relief. If those burglars hadn't showed up, Natsu would have had to find a way to tell Gray he was fine without sounding suspicious…which was VERY difficult.
"Thanks, nice hat," replied Gray, offering the fire mage a comical wink. "Those bandits sure have good taste," figured Gray with a smirk in the corner of his mouth.
"I know. Nice gloves you've got there," returned Natsu, flashing a large grin on his face.
"Yeah, nice boots, they match your hair color," said Gray as he smiled back. "…the hat matched too," he added in his head.
"Really? Nice…umm, shirt?" struggled Natsu to find something he hadn't mentioned. "Oh crap, did I already say that?" pondered the red head with a small frown out of concentration.
"You said that already, you lose," Gray pointed out as he snickered evilly beneath his breath.
"I did not!!" protested Natsu desperately. "Ok, maybe, but I'm not admitting it!!" claimed the teen, as stubborn as ever for he hated losing, especially to a certain ice mage by the name of Gray Fullbuster.
"Now don't be a sore loser and just hold on to this huge bag they left behind," ordered Gray, still giggling at the expression on Natsu's face as he handed the shorter boy the sack. The latter pouted as he grabbed it, throwing his partner a wrathful glare. "Finally got rid of that ridiculously heavy bag," yawned Gray as he stretched his tired arms, ignoring the baleful stare Natsu was casting.
Clothe was not the only thing the Dumbbell siblings discarded while escaping: they also neglected the existence of a huge pouch carrying within it various objects ranging from junk to…well, more junk. The boys had tried treasure hunting in it, but soon lost interest after a couple of minutes. Nonetheless, they still hauled it along with them as a pastime, just in case they got bored and felt like digging inside. However, there was one problem: no one wanted to lug it and so the guys constantly came up with odd contests. The loser received the wonderful punishment of having to yank the bag around until someone thought of another interesting challenge. Currently, Natsu had lost the duel dubbed the compliment-your-friend-as-long-as-possible face-off. The rules: never repeat the same speech and ALWAYS smile, which explained the unusually numerous grins the boys were flaunting at each other.
"Hey, what time is it?" asked Gray, lazily raising his hand up and resting it on Natsu's shoulder. "I seriously want to sleep," he thought as he soughed, waiting for his rival's answer.
"Nine thirty at night," retorted Natsu, still sulking. "I'm not letting you win this time! What the heck is in this freaking bag anyway?" he complained in his mind as he began moping.
The two mages were now playing a new game denominated the don't-sleep-until-midnight battle. The rules: the first to sleep before midnight loses, anything is allowed from sleeping powder to punching your opponent unconscious and finally, if none of the two falls asleep before the given time, the one presently transporting the package will be forced to continue doing so.
"Piece of cake," had thought the fire mage as his sniggering converted to uncontrollable laughter, but reality wasn't all that simple. After a few hours of violent bickering, both contestants were still up and fighting.
"What time does your watch say now?" inquired Gray as he tried to catch his breath. "I bet it's around 11 by now," he presumed as he wiped the sweat off his face. "One more hour and it's my victory," he concluded as he sneered at his partner.
"Nine thirty," said Natsu, checking his timepiece. "Something seems odd," he suspected for some reason he himself hadn't any idea of.
"Didn't you say that the first time I asked you?" grumbled Gray, a questioning look on his face. "It isn't 11 yet?" he thought as he sighed out of disappointment.
"No…I said, umm, six thirty," rejoined Natsu, sounding quite confused. "What DID I say a couple of hours ago?" he asked himself, but gave the question up for he just couldn't remember. Yet another hour passed until Gray's next fit of impatience.
"Hey, can we sleep yet?" he whined, huffing for air.
"No, it's not midnight. We made a bet; you lose if you sleep," fussed Natsu as he too struggled for air.
"I bet it's past midnight," complained an exhausted Gray, now laying on the ground.
"No it isn't. My watch clearly states it is…nine thirty?" responded Natsu as he rubbed his eyes, for what he just said couldn't have been correct, right?
"Nine thirty? Isn't this around the third time you said it was nine thirty?!" noticed Gray as he connected his eyes with the red head.
Suddenly, the two mages froze. Gray quickly grabbed Natsu's watch and examined it thoroughly, making a major discovery: the batteries were missing…
"Well, I guess that means I won, right?" announced Gray, displaying one last weak grin before flopping back down onto the ground with Natsu following his example soon afterwards.
"Don't…get…too…cocky," mumbled Natsu as he dozed off, leaving himself completely defenseless in front of Gray, which was pretty rare.
"Hey, Natsu?" said the ice mage, noticing that his partner was already slumbering. "Don't just go snoozing off, you idiot," he thought, slightly blushing. "You look too vulnerable," he continued, trying to ignore it but to no avail…Natsu was just too cute. His messy hair seemed so soft, his skin appeared so touchable, his lips seemed so inviting, Gray's heart skipped a beat every time the red head moaned in his sleep and the more he watched, the more he had the urge to do just one thing: kiss him. "Just one innocent little kiss, it's not like I like him or anything…" he cogitated, his face flushing the more he thought about it. "Must be all that fighting, I'm just tired…" he assumed as he threw a discrete glance over at Natsu's sleeping face. Before his conscience had the chance to attack him again, he placed his lips onto Natsu's, giving him a light and gentle kiss. Just as he was about to pull away, he felt Natsu kissing back…
oOoOoOo
"I can't believe I lost again," thought Natsu as he dropped down beside Gray. He closed his eyes and stayed motionless, taking in many deep breathes as he finally calmed down.
He then felt something soft on his lips, something he didn't dislike, something so gentle it was tempting him for more…a kiss, maybe? "Mhmm…so I guess this is a kiss…" he supposed as he nibbled on Gray's bottom lip, enticing his partner. "…wait a minute, who's kissing me?!" wondered Natsu as he awoke with a start, looking up and realizing his position: Gray was on top of him with his hands on either side of his head! Startled, he suddenly pushed the ice mage off.
"W-What was THAT?!" asked Natsu as he tried to hide his conspicuous blush.
"Umm, an accident," muttered Gray, utterly embarrassed and looking away. An awkward silence soon followed…
"I found the thieves!!" yelled a distant voice.
"Yeah sure, you found the…thieves?" said Natsu, faintly raising his eyebrows as he saw a group of people from some village, all holding lethal weapons, head towards them. Their entrance had left the two boys dumbfounded, yet they were still a little flushed. "What the heck?" was probably the only thing they could think of before the intruders interrupted their train of thoughts.
"We have the rights to suspect you two of stealing our belongings?" declared the leader, furiously glaring at them. "We don't care about the clothes, give us back Diamantina-sama," he explained, unsheathing his sword.
"Diama-what?" contemplated Gray before realizing that this was all a misunderstanding: they weren't the one who stole all this, it was the Dumbbell brothers!! "I have to clarify the matter!" thought Gray as he stood up and faced the chef.
"We didn't steal this…ok, well, we stole it from the people who stole your things…which means…CRAP, RUN!!" shrieked Gray as he yanked Natsu who grabbed the huge bag, all in one synchronized movement. "Drop that damn bag!! It's freaking heavy!!" shouted Gray, for he was the one dragging everything.
"No way!!" Natsu screamed back, getting up and starting to sprint too. It took the villagers a while to comprehend the situation: the culprits were escaping! Shaking off their confused expressions from a while ago, they began chasing after the two mages. It was the start of a long game of tag…
"Shit, we went on the wrong path!! Where the heck is the train rail now?!" screeched Natsu as he continuously tugged on the absurdly voluminous pouch with quite a lot of difficulty.
"Who cares!! Run, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!" squalled Gray, dashing as fast as he could.
"Why? We could just beat them senseless," suggested Natsu, still lugging the massive sack.
"Of course…NOT!! If Erza finds out we stole something and then beat up the innocent ones, she'd kill, no, TORTURE us to death!! Think about it!!" shrilled Gray as if it were the most obvious of things. "I don't even want to think about it!" decided the ice mage, shivering.
"They're persistent!! What could be so precious about these crappy…" said Natsu, stopping in the middle of his sentence, frozen from shock. "Oh shit…" his blank stare seemed to say. Nevertheless, his legs fortunately didn't cease to gallop.
"Why'd you stop talking?" questioned Gray as he looked back at his accomplice.
"Diamond" uttered the red head, his voice barely audible.
"What?" said Gray, slowing down and closing his distance with Natsu, for he was unable to understand his partner's words.
"THERE'S A FREAKING BIG DIAMOND IN THIS BAG!!" howled Natsu into Gray's ear once the ice mage was near enough.
Gray froze.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?!" he yelped.
"FOUND THEM!!" proclaimed a villager, pointing a spear in their direction.
"WHAT?!" yelled the boys in unison.
Soon, they were captured, carried back to the village and tied to wooden poles. It seems they weren't the only ones, for there was a third pole between theirs. "Another unlucky victim?" considered Gray, sighing out of pity for all of them. "We're so screwed," thought Natsu in the meantime.
"Hey guys, what are you doing up here?" asked the unknown stranger on the third pole.
"Lucy?!" they both shouted out of surprise.
xXxXxXx
Wow, almost 2000 words of text XD So what did you think of chapter 3?
