Hey sorry for the wait, inspiration to write just wouldn't come to me. But I did it! This chapter was meant to be longer but I had to cut it short.

Enjoy! (It gets pretty cheesy whoops)

'Lucy thinks like this.'

Gray thinks like this.

Later, Lucy had fallen asleep and Gray was dozing off, leaving Erza and her finished book . They hit a turn on the tracks, the inertia made the sleeping Lucy slide onto Grays shoulder from her upright position. Gray only opened his eyes in a blurry haze, but soon closed them again and slouched over. Erza smiled at the two. Blissfully dreaming up what could come from this new development she's discovered.

They finally arrived at the Riba station, Erza packs her book up and goes to wake up the team. She dragged Natsu up, one arm over her shoulder, and jostled Gray a little.
"We're here." She states, hoisting up a few bags. Gray wakes up with a sharp intake of air. In a daze he looks over to the sleeping blonde beside him currently using him as a pillow. It took him a second to understand that this was in fact Lucy, his Lucy, Lucy-Lucy, the Lucy on his team.
For the first time in a while, Gray openly blushed.
"Hurry up!" Erza orders harshly as she starts to exit the train with a smirk. Gray stammers and attempts to wake up the celestial mage.
Fuck fuck fuck! Erza knows! There is no way she doesn't know! FUCK! The worst person to know, knows. Damnit all! Alright, alright, fuck, alright. Wake Lucy up. Damnit she's cute, I really don't want to disturb her, but we have a job to do. She'll get plenty of sleep at the inn, it's already sundown.
"Hey… Luce. We're here in Rida. Gotta go kill a giant snake." He gently shakes her with his shoulder.
"Mnh…Wha?" She grumbles. Grays blush remained as he hears her sleepy moans. Ignoring his thumping pulse, he jostles her a little more. Her eyes flutter open and she takes in a slow breath. "We're here?" She mumbles slowly raising her head from Grays shoulder. He nods, pressing his mouth into a line while trying to keep his cool. Lucy rubs her eyes and glances up to the stiff Gray. Realizing her previous position she breaks out in a mad blush.

Flustered, she jumps back and avoids eye contact as she gathers her things, mind spinning.
'Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! Did I fall asleep on him?! Oh my god! I did! Did everyone see? Did he see my blush? Does he think I'm weird now? Just get your shit and leave—pretend it never happened—don't even act like you know. Play it off and you'll be fine. Maybe they'll think it didn't even effect you, like Gray is just a brother. No biggie. Not at all… Does this mean we've slept together -SHUT UP LUCY!'
Lucy's mind reels at what happened. With a light blush she gets up from her and Grays seat, the ice mage following behind with a lowered head. Distracted by 'playing it cool' the spirit mage forgets there is a small set of stairs that lead off the train, her foot goes straight out and falls down, missing the step she comes tumbling down after it. A surprised squeal escapes her mouth as she heads straight for the stone ground. Acting on instinct, Gray grabs a loop on her back pack and holds her steady with one hand. He quickly sets her back on her feet and looks away.
'Just when she needed to play it cool, Lucy Heartfilia-the clumsiest girl in Fiore-goes and trips on some steps… Smooth.'
She mentally scolds herself.
"Thanks." She says cooly as she too looks away.
"No problem." Gray responds shortly.
The two mages exit the car, both determined not to look at the other. Natsu, now conscious and not about to barf anytime soon, quirks an eyebrow at his teammates.
"The hells got their panties in a bunch?" He asks Erza.
"Rough trip?" She plays dumb. Natsu wouldn't understand what the two were going through, at least she didn't think he would. Plus the two would undergo ruthless teasing from the loud mouthed dragon slayer. Natsu shrugs and soon forgets about it, too excited to kill a giant snake.
"Weirdos…Anyway, LETS GO KILL A SNAKE!" He shouts as he takes the lead, unaware of where he was heading to.
Erza sighs and overtakes him, she knew where the inn was after all. Gray and Lucy keep Natsu in between the two of them to make the walk more bearable.
As Team Natsu walked through the small town they saw many people trying to make shoddy repairs to their homes and businesses, the children looked sad and forlorn, the people all looked thin and tired.
"Man, this snake is real problem isn't it?" Gray remarked, completely forgetting the train ride, now focused on the mission.
"It looks like these damages are recent." Erza adds.
"These poor people…" Lucy puts her hand to her chest in empathy.
"Fuckin' asshole snake…" Natsu mutters.
"Let's get to the inn, we'll find the Mayor in the morning, we don't have much light left." Erza directs. Everyone nods in understanding, suddenly serious about the mission. The team makes their way to the inn to check in for the night.

"I'm sorry ma'am we're currently undergoing repairs, many of our rooms have been destroyed, others are being used to house those whose homes have been demolished. All we have is one room, with two full sized beds. Is that alright?" The clerk explains. Erza nods in understanding at the inns position.
"It's fine, we'll take it." She says kindly. Natsu and Gray scoff at one another.
"I ain't sharing a bed with no stripper pervert!"
"Who the hell would even want to share a bed with a retard like you?"
"What did you say to me asshole?"
"You heard me squinty eyes!"
"You'll pay for that!"
"Come at me!"
*WHACK!*
"Guys! Get along! We have a job to do!" Erza yells. The two rub the knots on their heads and grumble bitterly. The woman at the desk looks on in shock as she hands Lucy the key to their room.
"So sorry about that." Lucy apologizes on her teammate's behalf. They find their room on the second floor and Lucy unlocks the door. The team heads in to settle down for the night. Natsu flops onto the bed closest to the door while Gray jumps onto the bed by the window. Erza and Lucy look to each other, annoyed, arms crossed, hips popped. Lucy comes up behind Natsu and kicks him onto Grays bed.
"Stay on your side idiot!" She hollers at him. She sits down with a huff and they all begin to unpack, getting ready for tomorrow.

.o0O .o0O .o0O .o0O

The morning comes, shining light into the small room where the four Fairy Tail mages slept. Natsu lay snoring in the starfish position, one arm over Grays face. While the ice mage lay, one leg dangling off the bed his hands behind his head clad in nothing but his boxers. Erza lie snuggled up to Lucy who seemed to pay it no attention as she lay in the fetal position, both in the center of their mattress. All was peaceful between Team Natsu.

"FAIRY TAIL MAGES!"

A voice bellows as the door slams open. The team all sit up with a start, collectively screaming at the sudden intrusion, brutally torn from their sleep. They see in the doorway a stout old man with a hastily put on suit and untied tie. What little white hair he did have was a frizzy mess, his mustache not yet waxed. Behind him is a very flustered clerk, telling the old man not to disturb the guests.
"Who are you!?" Screams Natsu from his bed still in a confused daze. Erza blushes and pulls the sheets to cover her nearly bare body, as she only sleeps in her underwear. Gray looks on, mouth hanging open staring at the old man with a bit of dried drool on his face. While Lucy just focuses on trying to see through her blurry eyes.
"I heard of your arrival and I had to see you immediately!" The old man explains.
"That doesn't answer my question! Who tha hell are you?!" Natsu asks again as he begins to get out of bed, his fist aflame.
"O-OH! I'm very sorry! I am the Mayor of Riba, Mayor Yuu. I sent the request to your guild." Mayor Yuu stammers as he puts his hands up in an 'I'm innocent' way.
"Oh." Natsu says as his flames go up in smoke with a small sizzle. Mayor Yuu relaxes and tries to smooth his frazzled appearance.
"Yesterday morning the snake attacked again. Things are getting bad, you need to act fast!" He says in distress.
"Don't worry Mr. Mayor, we were just about to head out and survey the land." Erza says diplomatically despite being half naked.
"The snake usually dwells in a large cave just downstream of the river. It came by yesterday to devour one of the few shipments we've been able to receive, destroying much of the town in it's rampage. It won't stay there for long; our hunters have reported that it sits to digest for about half a day before leaving to find more. We figured it'd be easier for you to catch it while it's cornered rather than go out searching for it." He says. Erza nods in confirmation.
"Mayor Yuu, I know this is an urgent matter, but please… give the guests some privacy." Says the clerk.
"O-Oh! My apologies! Sorry for the interruption, carry on! Good luck!" The Mayor says cheerily as he heads out and waves them goodbye.
"I'm so sorry." The clerk mouths as she closes the door. When the door clicks shut the team all let out a sigh. Lucy lets out a long yawn as she stretches her arms up in the air above her. Gray can't help but notice the arch of her back and how her thigh sticks out of the sheets. He quickly averts his gaze when Natsu turns around to get his clothes.
"Alright! Showers! Breakfast! And we're out of here!" Erza commands as she gets up to head to the showers. Natsu never bothers with bathing too often, after all he bathed the day before yesterday, he'll be good for a few more days. Gray and Lucy were both adamant in bathing and planned to follow in Erzas footsteps. Lucy got up from bed and ruffled her silky blonde hair.
"I call dibs after Erza." She states as she gets her toiletries from her bag. Natsu struggles with his pants as Gray sits there still trying to wake up. Even after the rude awakening, it's still difficult to fully come to.

'He's so cute when he's sleepy.'

Lucy shamelessly mused through a perfect mask of collected calmness.

He rubs his face and combs his hands through his hair, after staring at the floor for a few minutes he looks up to see him and Lucy left alone.
"…Where's the pink idiot?" He asks after looking around the room.
"He went to get food… I don't think he realizes this town is starving…" Lucy responds without looking at Gray, she occupies herself with finding the right outfit for snake tracking.
Damnit so she is pissed about the train ride. Maybe she's embarrassed…I mean it's not like I did anything. She was laying on me. If the tables were turned she'd have every right to be pissed.

Gray thought as he stared out the window into the gentle morning light. Coffee sounded good right about now. Gray didn't think there were any active coffee shops in this town, famine and all.
He looked over to the object of his affections to find her holding up a rather small tee shirt and observing it. She caught his gaze for a moment as she looked passed her shirt, he looked away at the wall facing his bed.
Was she looking at my mouth?

"Gray." She says. He wanted to smile at her saying his name.
"Mm?" He grunts.
"You have something on your face."
Gray jumped, slapping a hand to his face trying to detect a foreign substance.

That wasn't what I anticipated…
She chuckled at his reaction.
"Its on your mouth dummy." She says with a smile in her voice. Gray wipes the sides of his mouth and looks at her for confirmation. She rolls her eyes. "The left side." She gestures to her own mouth.
"Damnit, is it gone?" He asks frustrated. She sighs and walks over to him.
'Am I really gonna pull one of the oldest tricks in the books?'
Lucy puts one hand on the side of his face and tilts it up towards her, she takes her right hand and rubs off the dried drool on the corner of his mouth with concentration. Gray can't help but stare as she intently stares at his lips.
She's close. Damn Lucy, you know how to pull one over on me huh?

'Am I really this cliché?'
She looks back up to his eyes. He's closer than she anticipated. He met her big brown eyes with his dark blue ones. Even though they both knew what she was doing, they broke into a blush. Gray felt the urge to get closer, but fought it.

Maybe she's just being nice… You don't know what her intentions are. Don't assume things and fuck everything up! Lucy's too valuable to just screw around with.

'Why do I do this to myself?'
The two mages hear the door creak open and they swivel their heads towards it. From the bathroom door peeked out a certain red headed knight with a wicked look on her face. She had caught a rather interesting scene of her teammates closely looking into one another's eyes with prominent blushes on their faces. The one standing was nestled in between the spread legs of the one sitting. The two deadpanned and shoved away from one another. Lucy 'casually' whistled as she collected her things and pushed passed Erza to shower. Gray decided he didn't need a shower and proceeded to dress to find Natsu, and avoid Erza at all costs.

.o0O .o0O .o0O .o0O

Later the team set out towards the river the Mayor had spoken about. If the snake was habitual it'd be much easier to track. They were traversing through the woods on a long wide path leading towards the river.
"What do we do if the snake isn't in the cave and we missed it?" Gray asks to no one in particular. Natsu was in front, Erza and Lucy to the sides and Gray in the back. The path was wide enough to where about twelve people could stand shoulder to shoulder.
"I suppose we'll have to lure it back to it's cave." Erza responds while looking through the brush.
"How exactly would we do that? The snake wants food and the town doesn't have much." Lucy asks.
"Maybe the towns people could pitch into a last ditch effort to slay the beast?" Erza suggests.
"And if that doesn't work, they all starve?" Gray added pessimistically. That earned him an evil look of anger from Erza, how dare he say she was wrong? He shut up after that.
"Maybe we could catch a bunch of river fish and use them as bait…" Lucy wondered.
"Does this river even have fish?" Erza thought.

That was when Natsu stopped them all to look at what exactly they were using as a path.
"Guys… this path wasn't made by people…" He states after a long period of silence on his part. His nose is twitches up and down as he halts his team. After sniffing around for a more defined scent he turns to them with a glint in his eye.
"This is the snakes tracks." He states.
Come to think of it, this path is rounded off at the edges… and goes on for far too long. Damn this is a pretty big snake.

'Holy shit! This is where the snake was?! It just plowed through here! So if roughly twelve people can fit here… and most peoples shoulder width is like… Sixteen to nineteen-ish inches wide… Nineteen times twelve is two hundred and twenty eight inches. That in feet is nineteen, nineteen divided by two is like…No way… This things is…'
"Nine and a half feet in diameter!" Lucy suddenly screams with her hands on her head in shock.
"…What?" Erza asks truly confused at her teammates reaction.
"The snake! The snake is like nine and a half feet in diameter! The thing can swallow us no problem!" She exclaims.
"Well… yeah Luce… The title of the request was literally "Giant Snake!"… What did you expect?" Natsu says oddly matter of fact.
"I guess it puts things into perspective…" She shrinks, embarrassed at her sudden out burst.
"We'll be fine Luce, the real issue is finding the damn thing. Now that we've got it's tracks it'll be a sinch." Gray assured her with a confident smirk. She felt a little more at ease. Lucy had never seen a snake that big before, and to be totally honest they scared her a little.
"Lets follow this trail!" Natsu says as he points forward.
"This must have been from when the snake retreated back into the woods. It comes from the town" Erza concludes.
"Or it could lead to where it came into the town?" Gray suggests, earning another death glare.
"Nah, scents too fresh, it pooped a little ways up." Natsu states as if it were a remark on the weather, while his teammates cringe at the thought.

A few hours later Team Natsu arrived near the river. The rushing sound of water could be heard a good while away. They followed the path to a cave just as Mayor Yuu had said. But, upon closer inspection, the cave was empty and another nineteen foot depression led into the river, disappearing from sight.
"Damnit! The thing hopped in the river! I can't smell it now…" Natsu lamented.
"Alright… sooo… fishing anyone?" Gray recommends.

Sorry it ends so abruptly. :/

Anyway, stuff gets more exciting in the coming chapters, these are kinda like preludes.

Thanks for reading~!