Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks for all the supportive comments so far! You guys are amazing individuals. Enjoy the chapter!

- - - -

Gray

The elevator rolled to a complete stop, the glass doors opening to reveal the fifth floor, which looked a lot like a hospital.

Natsu, who had straightened up and looked completely unsuspicious, stepped out of the elevator without looking back at me. I followed hesitantly, surveying the unfamiliar settings. We seemed to be in a small waiting area, with outdated magazines tossed on a coffee table and several uncomfortable-looking chairs.

Approaching the front desk, Natsu cleared his throat to alert the receptionist of his presence. Smiling warmly, he gave her a curt wave. "Hi," He started. "My friend here could possibly have a broken wing; do you think we could schedule a veterinary appointment and an x-ray?"

The receptionist craned her neck to peer at me around Natsu. She took one look at the bruises on my body and my malformed wings and ducked back down to her computer. "Certainly," She nodded, typing furiously into her computer. "What's the name?"

"Gray Fullbuster," I answered, taking a step forward.

"Okay," She mumbled, focusing on keying in the name. "I can't seem to find your information. Are you in the ACFP database?" She stopped typing to stare me down yet again.

"No," I muttered, suddenly feeling self-conscious. An arm flew around my stomach as a defense mechanism, and my eyes flickered downward.

The receptionist heaved a dry sigh, clearly impatient from the inconvenience. "Well, then you'll need to fill out this paperwork to get registered in the database," She pulled open a drawer, rummaging around before grabbing a stack of papers, fastening them under the clasp of a clipboard. She plucked a pen from a jar on her desk and pointed it towards the waiting area. "You can sit in one of those chairs over there."

I took the pen and clipboard, moving towards the chair closest to the elevator. It was uncomfortable to sit in a chair with my wings extended out, so I had to sit up straight. Natsu followed silently, grabbing a magazine to busy himself.

The paperwork was, in short, tedious. It was about ten pages, first asking for my birth information before asking me for every piece of health information I'd ever seen. After I got through that mess of blood types and allergies, it started asking about my mutant abilities, and before scrunching my nose up and seeing all the checkboxes, I found the Flight option and colored it in.

When I finished ten minutes later, my hand cramped. I strided back to the desk and handed her the clipboard, putting the pen back in the jar on her desk. She took the papers without so much as a 'thank you', so I bit my tongue and waited expectantly for her to say something.

She glanced up from her computer a few seconds later, scrutinizing me. "Do you need something?" Her glasses slipped down her nose as she talked.

"Yes, uh," I stumbled over my words, "Can I make the appointment now? It's sort of an emergency."

"Honey, we get hundreds of mutant people looking twenty times worse as you," Her mouth tightened into a thin line. "If you were able to stroll in here and fill out a stack of paperwork, it is most certainly not an emergency." She saw my face of disgust and sighed again. "I'll file you in for an x-ray tonight around 7. Do you think you can wait that long?"

I nodded. "Good," She looked away. "That's that, then."

I turned around, noticing Natsu was staring at me with slightly arched eyebrows. He looked like he was about to say something, but I shrugged one shoulder and shook my head lightly, silently telling him it wasn't worth it.

"I'll survive," I mumbled to him under my breath when he stood up to join me.

"You better."

- - - -

After standing in line in the lobby to get a room, which was a pain in itself, considering it felt like everyone and their mother was trying to check into the ACFP today, we were handed identical room key cards and sent on our way.

"13th floor," Natsu saw the number on the key card. "Thats funny."

Judging by the disgusted expression on his face, I knew he thought it was anything but. "Come on, you said it yourself, Natsu," I reminded him, putting my hand on his arm. "That's over and in the past. On to the next chapter of our lives, right?"

Natsu hesitated, eyes unwavering from the number on the card. "Yeah," He agreed after a moment, but he didn't sound so confident in himself. He blinked, like he was snapping out of a trance. "Yeah, he repeated. "Let's just go."

The elevator ride was quiet, with us leaning on one side of the wall. We were squished in the elevator this time (I quickly realized having an elevator to yourself was a luxury in a place like this), crowded by mutants of all sizes. I was currently with a two-foot proximity from a red-headed girl with a katana held by a strap on her back. Based on the stoic expression on her face, I had the feeling I shouldn't mess with someone like her.

When the elevator slowly rolled to a stop on the thirteenth floor, Natsu and I wedged our way out of the claustrophobic space and breathed in fresh air when we stepped into the hallway. The floor reminded me of a hotel, with ornate carpeting and cream-colored walls. The doors, identical and only distinguishable by the numbers on their plaques, seemed like they went on forever.

"1307... 1308... 1309," Natsu counted off, stopping in front of the door. He inserted the keycard into the electronic scanner and it flashed green, allowing him to open the door. I followed behind, flicking the light switch to illuminate the room, immediately taking in the surroundings of the place we'd be living in until who-knows-when.

Once I stepped in, I noticed a door to the left was opened to reveal a bathroom. On the right was a closet, useless considering the only clothes we had were the ones on our backs. There was a washer and dryer in the bathroom, however, which would be helpful, considering the amount of dirt and grass caked on my clothes. The small hallway-like space opened up into one small room, with two twin-sized beds, a nightstand wedged between them, and in one corner, a desk, two armchairs, and a small table. The curtains were drawn closed.

"Home sweet home," Natsu commented, dropping the keycard on the desk. After pulling the curtains open, he flopped into one of the armchairs, propping his feet up on the cherrywood table between them.

"It beats old concrete subway floors," I replied bemusedly. I gazed back at the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower," I told him, already fascinated about the idea of hot water and getting clean.

"Mmm," Natsu mumbled half-heartedly.

I stepped into the bathroom, shutting it softly behind me and twisting the lock. Stripping down my clothes, I threw them in the washer and poured in the complementary laundry detergent before starting the machine. After starting the shower and making sure it was hot enough, I stepped inside, drawing the shower curtain.

I quickly found it to be incredibly difficult to shower with wings. I had to bend them back - which hurt - in order to even fit in the shower, and even then they were hard to rinse with water in order to get all the dirt off. "Shit," I cursed when the hot water hit my back.

After getting used to the heat, I probably stood under the steady stream of water for twenty minutes, relishing in the feeling of hot water cascading all around my body. When I finished washing myself, I stood in there longer, thinking about everything.

What's next? I couldn't help but wonder. Surely we couldn't live like this forever.

Stop thinking so much, Gray, I berated myself. Just stay alive for right now. That's the most important thing.

By the time I had gotten out, wrapped a towel around my waist, and stepped out into the room again, I saw Natsu had fallen asleep on the armchair, his body at a weird angle from his previous seating. I moved closer, smiling the smallest bit when I saw he looked more peaceful as he slept this time. As I approached the armchair, I was able to see the view outside out thirteenth-floor window.

We were on the side that overlooked the lake, which practically sparkled under the morning sun. I thought I saw people swimming underneath, but we were so high up, it was hard to tell. Eyes flickering back down to Natsu, I realized he'd wake up with a crick in his neck if I didn't move him to the bed.

Blushing the slightest bit, I picked him up bridal-style and moved him towards the bed closest to the wall. He stirred when I moved him, snuggling in closer to my bare chest. His wings too were dirty, but I didn't want to disturb him and placed him on the bed anyway. Wings spread across the bed and dipping over the sides, he snuggled into the pillow, smiling contently.

Fatigue washed over me, and I suddenly felt almost faint myself. I barely managed to move back towards the curtains, shut them, and flop into the other bed before falling asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.