Living With Each Other

First Storm

 They had a routine that worked okay for them. It all broke apart at the first snowstorm.

~~~

Their first two and a half weeks in the mansion were monotonous. They figured out their food system, Gray running down into the city's shops every Friday, they each independently explored the servant's quarters and sometimes ran into each other, but they otherwise never interacted. If Natsu wasn't exploring, then he was probably working out. He spent all of his time in the gym in his sector. He thoroughly ignored all of his soreness and exertion injuries that he would wake up with and simply worked out more. It was wearing on his body, sure, but his mind was being worn down much more. He had found the perfect word to explain his feelings: loneliness! A term Natsu almost never applied to himself, one that was so alien to him it took weeks for him to realize that it was what he was truly feeling. So, instead of having to face that awful, alien feeling, Natsu worked out so hard he couldn't think of anything else if he tried.

Gray had been almost exclusively reading. He had access to a giant library and all the time in the world, why not take advantage of it? Loneliness had not set in for him as it had with Natsu; Gray had always been a solitary man. He loved company but he loved getting away from company just as much. His purpose in being here which he had not been able to find a week ago was suddenly clear: it was not being alone from Natsu, it was being alone from everyone. He relished the quiet, and the freedom to do whatever he pleased.

The days had been getting colder rapidly. They knew this would happen, of course, but they were still surprised at how quickly winter arrived. Back it Fiore, it would still be a good few weeks until the cold and snow really set in. This mountain had a permanent snow cap, but the mansion was placed quite a bit below the snow line. For that reason, the first snow covered the previously manicured lawn in white. It melted later that day, but it set a precedent. It snowed again a few days later, but this did not melt. A thin, soft layer of snow remained on the ground after this point. When Natsu had gone out to explore, he left wet footprints trailing up and around the house.

The temperature dropped suddenly the next day, going from a partly cloudy 35o F (1.67o C) to a gray 15o F (-9.44o C) overnight. Natsu's wet footsteps froze, however it did not snow until that night. The snow started suddenly at 9 p.m, but it took an hour and a few inches of snow before the pair realized that they were in the middle of a snowstorm.

Gray had been watching the storm out of his kitchen window. He grew increasingly concerned about the house as the storm did nothing but get worse. They hadn't prepared the house for winter at all.

As Gray watched the snow flit by outside, he heard a soft thump emanating from the roof. He paused and listened closer, his quick regrets fading into fear as he realized this mission might be over much quicker than they had expected it to. Another thump, a little louder than the first. He rushed to the servants quarters to contact Natsu. It was time to do the mission: they needed to investigate.

He clicked the button to connect to Natsu's gym—having since learned that Natsu was almost always there—and began speaking.

"Natsu! Have you seen the storm?"

Natsu jumped. He had yet to get used to the fact that the intercom might go off at any time. "Storm? Oh, is that what I've been hearing?"

"Most likely."

"Sorry, there's no windows in the gym. What's going on?"

"Snowstorm. I'm worried about the house—we didn't prepare it or anything."

"Oh. Did something happen?"

"Not exactly... I heard a noise from the ceiling, but I am not going to wait around until the roof collapses before doing anything. Meet me in the shared room."