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~from 'take my hand (take my whole life, too)'
take my hand, take my whole life, too for i can't help falling in love with you
Natsu frowns at Gray, who ignores him, digging a trench in the dirt by his foot instead. His fingernails are dirty, and the back of his hand has a stripe of blood across it. A silver bracelet that's a bit too big for him hangs off his wrist and Natsu wants to ask about it, but he doesn't.
Instead, he pulls the crumpled map out of his pocket and spreads it out between them. "I'm not dumb," he says. "I just got lost."
"It's because you're going the wrong way," Gray says, peering at the map. "North's that way." He points back to the direction that Natsu had come from.
"Nuh-uh," Natsu says, shaking his head. "North is up. See?" He points to the arrows on the map – the one labelled 'N' is pointing toward the top of the paper.
"That's not how it works," Gray says, rolling his eyes.
"Oh yeah, where's the north star?" Natsu demands, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Gray.
"That's not—"
"It's up," Natsu insists. He tips his head back and looks up into the sky – it's getting dark and he should probably get home before his dad gets worried. "I'm gonna climb that tree."
"That's not north," Gray insists, but Natsu ignores him, standing up and studying the tree. It's a big one with sturdy limbs that are good for climbing, and Natsu easily wriggles up onto the lowest branch.
"Bet I can climb faster than you," he says, turning back to Gray and sticking his tongue out.
"No way," Gray says, and he finally stands up. He's a little taller than Natsu and his jeans have a hole in the knee.
"Race ya," Natsu says, grinning and pulling himself up onto the next branch. He's small but quick, and by the time he gets as high as he can, Gray's lagging behind him, having covered only half the distance. When Gray gets close Natsu reaches out a hand to help him, but Gray stubbornly ignores it.
"No fair," Gray grumbles when he finally makes it to the branch Natsu's on. "You had a head start."
"I still would've beat you," Natsu insists, but he shuffles over to make room for Gray. The branch is thick enough to hold both of them, and the leaves in front of them part just enough to give them a view of the sun setting over the mountains in the distance.
