Chapter Ten – Crocus
"Wow!" Wendy breathed, pressing her hands against the glass.
"I don't see what's so interesting about girl clothes," Natsu muttered under his breath, groaning when Erza smacked him.
"Be more considerate," she scolded sternly before turning to the Sky Dragon Slayer, who was shifting on her feet awkwardly.
"Would you like to go in?" the scarlet-haired mage asked kindly.
"Um, it's okay, Erza-san, we can come another time, right?" Wendy stammered.
"No, it would be more convenient to take a look around now, since we'll be training as soon as we reach the hotel," Erza replied, "besides, I'd like to look for some more outfits for me to ex-quip into."
She ushered in the flustered bluentte, craning her neck around to glare daggers at Natsu, who cowered from the force of her glower as she warned, "you better make sure our luggage is in one piece when we return."
He nodded quickly and swiped his brow in relief when the terrifying swordswoman disappeared into the store.
"This is boring," the Dragon Slayer complained, plopping down on the ground next to the large wheeler of baggage (which attracted a lot of attention, but he ignored their questioning glances) that was situated beside the shop (though it occupied at least half of the street due to its bulkiness in size).
They had only just arrived in Crocus, where the Grand Magic Games were taking place in, and immediately after stepping out of the train (Natsu had stuck his head out the window, trying hard not to puke out his guts for the second time that day—the first was seeing the old jii-chan's swimming trunks, or rather, lack of—he shuddered, not wanting to remember the repulsive details of his near encounter with death caused by spontaneously barfing his entire system out), Juvia had once again latched onto Gray's arm (she seemed to have recovered quite easily after his outburst of annoyance. The unlucky chap's appendage was close to dislodging from its socket after being pulled and fiercely tugged at by said water mage) and dragged the protesting Ice-Make wizard towards some random edifice that was selling suspicious-looking trinkets.
Natsu's usual furry companion had decided to tag along with Gajeel and Levy, who had chose to travel to a remote area to train (the Fire Dragon Slayer had a sneaky misgiving that the blue Exceed was hoping for some time alone with Carla, who also—surprisingly, since the white-haired neko almost never left Wendy's side after declaring that it was her duty to protect her—joined the three).
Laxus and the Strauss sisters (minus Elfman, who announced that butterflies were not, "manly"—although what the flying insects had to do with being manly, Natsu had no idea) had gone hiking in the rough trail that lead to a secluded mountain.
Natsu had wanted to join them, but one pinch from Erza was enough for him to squeak out a, "no thanks," to a smiling Lisanna.
The rest of the guild had gone ahead and checked into the inn along with Master.
That left the three of them, and the scarlet-haired S-Class mage proposed a stroll within the crowded avenues of Crocus (while carrying their own suitcases—Erza had deemed it a good "physical exercise," but Natsu dryly remarked that the only person who would really be receiving any "exercise" was her—he was only shouldering his usual knapsack and Wendy was rolling a small, pink suitcase—, which then lead to the giant bump on the back of his head), then of course, stopping at nearly every store they passed, the azure-haired female had voiced her appreciation for a girl's "fachin" (at least, that's what it sounded like to him; the Dragon Slayer didn't bother to read the sign that hung from the door) shop.
The pink-haired male sighed, and upon realizing that the two females who had entered the store previously would not be appearing any time soon, Natsu decided to explore a few stalls ahead of them (he was certain no person would as brain-fried as to steal Erza's luggage—no idiot was stupid enough to try and nick such an outsized carriage without getting caught the minute they attempted to move it).
He continued to walk with his hands behind his head, glancing around briefly as he surpassed each retailer.
Abruptly, Natsu came to a sudden halt when something shiny caught his eye.
He backtracked and stepped closer to the stall and inspected the item that had drawn his attention.
His eyes widened when he recognized what it was.
It was a necklace, accented with a dragonfly of vibrant tanzanite; this diamond key pendant in platinum lay on a cushion of velvet, looking extremely fragile. Silver wings drew from the sides of the gold-studded heart, a ribbon of metal trailing down the length.
But the thing that aroused his interest was the object that gleamed from the centerfold of the crystal heart—a jewel designed as a flame, and when the sunlight hit its surface, it glowed a blazing red, making it appear like the tips of the flare were burning, almost as if it were alive.
"Ah, young man," the merchant noticed Natsu's intense scrutinizing of the article.
"This necklace just echoes the romantic sensibility that flourishes in the garden, does it not?" the salesperson went on dramatically when the mage said nothing to acknowledge his presence.
"2 inches long, round brilliant diamonds, carat total weight 0.67; marquise and round tanzanite, carat total weight 0.25—" the retailer droned on.
"I'll take it," Natsu interrupted him suddenly.
The shopkeeper was taken aback by the pink-haired male's concentrated stare.
"Er, it's 900,000 jewels—"
"I'll take it," the Dragon Slayer repeated.
"O-of course!" The trader said quickly, accepting the bills that were shoved to his chest.
Natsu picked up the small box, checked to make sure the necklace was fit snuggly in the silk lining, snapped it shut, shoved it in his pocket, and began trudging back after checking the sun's position in the sky, hoping that he wasn't late (and that Erza wouldn't bash his head to the brick walls again).
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The merchant counted the wad of bills he'd received startlingly and realized that the fellow from earlier had given him ten million jewels. That's seven freaking zeros after the one!
"Um, excuse me?" he said weakly, looking up, but the pink-haired man was nowhere to be found.
The shopkeeper promptly fainted.
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"Ah, Natsu, there you are," the Re-quip mage spotted said Dragon Slayer jogging towards them with a big grin on his face.
"Did something happen, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked curiously when she stepped out from behind Erza and noticed his pleased beam.
"Nothing, why?" the Salamander couldn't contain his smile as he thought of the gift he had bought while thinking about a certain blonde mage and her reaction.
"So, did you get anything?" he changed the subject hastily.
"Yep! I got a new swimming suit!" the blue-haired girl said excitedly, showing him the plastic bag she held in her hand.
"That's great!" Natsu patted her on the head, grinning when she smiled widely.
"I couldn't find anything. It was quite disappointing," Erza said distractedly as she inspected her teammate's suspicious manner with narrowed eyes.
But then Natsu whined, "can we go now? We've been doing this for more than six hours! I wanna eat something!" and the S-Class mage chuckled, brushing away her skepticism.
"Alright, let's head to the hotel," she called, taking the handle of her baggage cart (which Natsu was delighted to see still standing).
"Okay!" Wendy followed her, wheeling her suitcase in one hand and her new belongings swinging on the other.
Natsu sighed, almost inaudibly, in relief. With his hands deep in his pockets as he fingered the velvet cover, he hurried to catch up with his friends.
