Lucy panicked. "I don't want to get high. I don't even like getting drunk." She paced around the guild, stopping in front of Bickslow. She clung to his arm. "What should I do? Should I go to the hospital? Am I gonna die?."
Bickslow watched her with an amused expression. "Relax. If you think bad things are going to happen, you'll have a bad trip." He patted her hands. "The secret is to think happy thoughts."
Lucy glared at him. "I'm about to start seeing pink bunnies and you are quoting Peter Pan at me?"
Bickslow laughed. "Yeah, and if you're lucky you'll get to fly."
Lucy let go of his arm and started walking towards the door.
Bickslow stopped laughing abruptly. "Hey, where are you going?"
Lucy didn't answer him. She was breathing hard, fighting back tears. The door slammed behind her. She wanted to run back to her apartment and try to sleep the effects of the spider bite off.
"Hey wait up."
Lucy heard Bickslow jogging behind her. "Can't you just leave me alone?" she snapped. She picked up her pace and kept her eyes on the ground.
"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot." Bickslow caught up to her and tried to make eye contact but Lucy continued to march forward. "I'm sorry if I was rude earlier. I was just playing around." He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked embarrassed.
Lucy kept walking in silence.
"Look, Laxus would probably be pissed if I just left you like this. Let me keep an eye on you until he gets back."
Lucy stopped walking and Bickslow took that as a good sign. "Do you know what time he'll be back?" he asked.
Lucy was staring at her hands intently. "Oh my god," she whispered.
"What?" asked Bickslow. He whispered back also although he wasn't sure why.
"My hands. They look so old. Did I get really old all of a sudden?" She looked up at Bickslow with terror filled eyes.
Bickslow laughed. "No gorgeous. You're still as cute as a button." He took her hands and rubbed them as if she were cold. "There is nothing wrong with your hands. The venom from the spider bite is kicking in."
"Oh." Lucy dropped her hands and started walking again. She made it about two steps before she stopped again.
"Oh wow, this is beautiful." She knelt down and picked up a rock and showed it to Bickslow.
Bickslow looked at the rock. It was just a rock. Nothing more, nothing less. "Yes, that is very beautiful," he said with deadpan sincerity. He fought the urge to start laughing again. Lucy seemed to be the complete package; sweet, beautiful, and smart, but right now she seemed to have the intelligence of the rock that she was admiring.
She stared at the rock for a full minute and then put it in her pocket. She looked back up at Bickslow. "Where are we going?"
The question stumped him. "I guess I don't know. I was just following you to make sure you were okay. Do you know where you were going?"
Lucy thought about it and answered him slowly. "I think I was going back to my apartment."
"Okay, well that sounds like a good plan." None of the other pedestrians were looking at them, but Bickslow was worried that Lucy's behavior might start to attract some attention.
Lucy looked around at the buildings and shops. "I don't know where we are though. Everything looks different." She chewed on her lower lip.
"We're just a couple blocks from the guild. You've probably walked past these shops a hundred times. Take another look."
Lucy walked up to one of the shops and ran her hands over the stonework. "I don't remember any shop that looked like this. This material feels like cotton."
Bickslow rolled his eyes. "Alright. You're completed stoned." He took her hand and started to lead her in the opposite direction. "I have a key to Laxus's apartment. We can hang out there until he gets back."