Virginia grinned impishly, dropping a handful of coins onto the ticket vendor's bench at Midland Station. "Four to Westwood, please." She chirped, in a very happy mood.
Miles smiled bashfully, his conductor's hat pulled downward to hide his blush. How lucky he was to always talk with the pretty ones, drifters or no. "Westwood? Four adults, right?" He wondered if this one was available, but then noticed the somber looking youth standing behind her and eyeing him in a particularly unfriendly way, canceling his train of thought. Miles's hopes fell. Yes, lots of pretty girls, but none of them free to date.
"Yes, I guess so." Replied Virginia. They weren't really sure about Jet's age, but he was unquestionably mature enough to be counted as an adult. "Oh, and I have this too." She flashed her golden membership card at Miles, found in one of the many ruins she had trekked through. It always shaved off a goodly amount of expenses, to her delight. A tumbleweed blew past the station, vacant except for the four drifters and vendor. Most people had decided that travel by the newly rediscovered sea, quickly replacing the tides of quicksand, was much more enjoyable, and the fact that Jolly Roger was a port town in the first place made things even better. The rail lines centered around Filgaia were now the new system in decay, ironically enough.
"Okay then," Miles calculated their fare in his head, drumming his fingers on his bench as he did so. "Four of you to Westwood at an adult's price, your card cutting prices in half, that's fifteen gella each, making for a sum total of sixty gella, please." He drew a few silver coins out of Virginia's pile, pushing the rest back to her and procuring four tickets for them. "Here you go. Enjoy your trip."
Virginia took her spare money back, picking up her tickets and skipping over to Gallows and Clive, waiting patiently at the platform. She almost bumped into Jet, who was standing behind her. She passed him his ticket and ran to the others. He looked down at the piece of paper, smiling bemusedly. She had given him his window seat. How did she know he wanted that? Weird.
Clive glanced up at the large clock standing on the platform. "The train should be here in a few minutes." He said as Virginia handed out the rest of the tickets.
Gallows snickered quietly, holding a hand up to his mouth. "Hey Ginny, what's with the happy mood?"
Virginia cocked her head to one side, uncertain. "What? Aren't I always happy like this?"
Gallows smiled like suddenly all the mysteries of the world had become apparent to him. "I know! Heheheheh… What's-his-face is gonna be here soon, no wonder."
"Who?" Prodded Virginia, having the niggling thought that Gallows was assuming something he shouldn't be.
"That guy you're always with when we're on the rail… Um, Tony's his name, your booooyfriend!" He stretched the word, in the hopes of getting his desired reaction.
"He is not!" Cried Virginia, going red. "I have absolutely no interest in him."
"Oh, so I am right after all," Chortled the Baskar, "Then you do like Jet."
"WHA-AT?!" The two young drifters hollered at the same time. In perfect sync with each other, their eyes met and they forced themselves to look the other way, furious. Gallows had just stepped into a no-man's-land, the poisonous glare Virginia and Jet simultaneously gave him seemed to sign his death warrant. His blood ran colder than ice as the two started to close in on him, hands going to their ARMs…
"You will…" Began Virginia.
"…Die." Finished Jet.
Luckily, Clive ran bravely to the rescue, placing himself between the two sides and thrusting his good arm out to keep both of them away from each other. "Now, let's not be infantile." He warned, mediating. "We are all adults here, please act as such."
Jet 'hmphed', crossing his arms and looking away from Gallows and Virginia. "'Not worth my time, anyway." He said maliciously.
"I advise you don't sleep for awhile, Gallows," Fumed Virginia, "You might just wake up with a nasty shock. Or," She continued, "A few limbs missing."
"Eh heh…" Laughed Gallows, nervously tugging on the side of his jacket.
A whistle blew in the distance, followed by the ringing of a bell, and Clive was eternally grateful that the trains had decided to run on time today. They were, literally, saved by the bell. The train pulled up to the platform, steam from the engine hissing about the wheels and making a general ruckus. A young and pleasant-looking man in a green uniform stepped onto the platform, ushering them onto the waiting rail cars.
"Welcome to Filgaia Rails," He beamed, saluting, "Come aboard and watch your step."
Seeing this as a good way to exit his inopportune situation, Gallows jumped aboard and headed to a car as far away from Virginia and Jet as possible. He had good cause to do so. Gallantly, Tony helped Virginia over the gap in the platform, taking her hand and leading her inside. Gallows stuck his head out the window of his carriage and made uncouth whooping noises, followed by kissy faces. Virginia flushed deep red to her roots and silently swore that she would extract revenge upon her drifting companion, even if it killed her. The sharp edge of Jet's red boomerang sheared by the Baskar's face, delivering him a curt message to shut the hell up.
Clive waited until everybody else was on board before hopping on himself, the vibrations of the train under his feet telling him they were going to depart soon. He walked down the corridor, one of the cabin doors left ajar for him to enter. The other was tightly locked with a 'Do not disturb' sign jammed on the doorknob. The piece of cardboard was still swinging, so it must've been placed there only moments ago. Clive sidled up to the locked door and knocked, smiling distractedly.
"Nobody's here!" Yelled a muffled voice that was undoubtedly Gallows's.
"Indeed? Then to whom am I speaking?" He asked, finding himself quite entertained by this.
"Urrrmmm… I'm- ah, a recording! Yeah, that's it!" Explained Gallows frantically.
Clive raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, it is only me, Clive."
"Huh?" There was the sound of somebody heavy getting up, and a fiddling noise as the locked door was opened. Gallows sighed with relief, knowing he was off the hook. "Oh, thank the Guardians, it's you."
Clive looked Gallows in the eye. "Sometimes you go too far." He said, making Gallows cringe a little.
"It was only a bit of fun," Pouted the Baskar, "How was I to know they'd be so touchy over it? Besides, you know I'm right."
"Maybe," Retorted Clive, "But be quiet about it until they figure it out." He shut the door, locking Gallows in and himself out. Absently, he rubbed his hurt shoulder, heading for the other cabin that was marked on the ticket for his usage.
Virginia and Jet were seated along the same bench, one was staring listlessly out the window and the other smiled as he entered the room. "This trip shouldn't take long, Claiborne isn't that far away." She said, leaning backwards on the bench, staring at the ceiling.
Clive sat down on the other window seat, opposite from Jet. He glanced out the window, resting his chin on his palm, observing the lateness of the afternoon. Similar to that, he was beginning to feel tired once more. He slumped his shoulders, exhaling deeply. "It seems," He murmured, half to himself, half to the others, "That as the day wanes, so too does my health."
"Do you feel sick again?" Virginia asked kindly. Clive just nodded, eyes still looking out at the landscape. There was nothing any of them could do to help him, so Clive just remained quiet, letting the train take him away to their destination. The gentle vibrations also took him somewhere else as well, into a small nap, the tired drifter sinking into a more relaxed position, light snores emanating from his person.
Virginia tapped Jet on the shoulder, getting the boy's attention. His eyes flicked momentarily over to the girl before resuming their position at the window. "What?" He whispered, keeping his voice down so as not to wake Clive.
"I've decided that after we get our money, we're taking him back to Humphrey's Peak until he feels better." She whispered back to him, pointing at the dozing sniper.
"Fine," Replied Jet, "Whatever you want."
The train ride continued in silence.