Itzal's gaze followed where Cole indicated and sighed in relief. "Thank the stars." For a second, he forgot about the things prompting them to leave the city, but soon got reminded of them again. "Uh…" He glanced around them again, raising onto his toes to try and see over the crowds. He wasn't that successful, but didn't see anything suspicious. "Not that I can see, so I'm going to say no and hope that's the truth." Itzal looked at Cole, a small smile on his face.
Cole nodded again, handing one of the tickets from his pocket to Itzal and pointing to the opening doors of the train, "Let's get going then." He didnt' want to test his luck and see how long they would go without being spotted. Sqeezing his hand, he led the god to the train, holding out his ticket to one of the conductors to be checked before heading on.
Itzal accepted the ticket and nodded his agreement. As Cole led him towards the train, Itzal once again checked their surroundings for the beings. It was getting almost second-nature to check around everywhere now. It was useful, but he didn't like that they needed to. Glancing ahead of him again, he saw Cole handing the conductor his ticket and did the same. For about the millionth time, Itzal thanked the stars that he had crashed into Cole's yard and no one else's.
He led the way onto the train, keeping an ever vigilant eye out for any of the beings as he found them a set of open seats. "Does here look good? Or should we find somewhere closer to one of the doors?" Cole asked as he pointed at the seats, noticing that they were quite close to right in the middle of the train car seating choices. It wasn't a horrible spot, but in their circumstances, he didn't know how cautious to be. All he wanted to do was find a seat, make sure Itzal and the sword were safe, and finish his nap.
Itzal followed Cole, glancing around as well. "Uh…" He eyed the seats and pressed his lips together. "We should probably find somewhere closer to an escape route, just in case… you know." Itzal sighed, not wanting to say "the beings find us" out loud. "What about those?" He pointed at some seats closer to one end of the train car. Though, if the beings did find them, escaping a moving train would be difficult.
Cole nodded, glancing at where Itzal pointed and nodding again. "Those work," He replied, walking over to them and after checking them for anyone else's belongings, he took the seat closest to the window. "Is there anything we forgot? Before the train leaves the station?" Being a train, the seats weren't terribly comfortable, but he was still worn out, and before he attempted to fall asleep he wanted to make sure everything was taken care of.
Itzal sat down next to him, leaning the sword between their seats. He wasn't sure if anyone would appreciate him putting it in any storage the train had. Besides, he wanted it handy should they need to defend themselves. "I don't think so." Itzal frowned, trying to think of anything else they might need. Nothing came to mind, however. "I think we're good." Now all they had to do was relax— or rather, Cole could relax. Itzal would busy himself with keeping watch.
He relaxed at the assurance that they had everything with them, leaning back against his seat and letting his eyes flick closed as he talked, "Wake me up if there's anything that's concerning you, or if you even suspect that the beings are here." Cole wanted nothing more than to finish his nap from earlier, but he also didn't want to leave Itzal to be the sole watchman for however long he was asleep.
"Alright, I will." Itzal nodded, making a promise that he would only wake Cole up if it was absolutely necessary. The man desurved all the sleep he could get. He shifted slightly, getting slightly more comfortable in his seat, and glanced over at Cole. A soft smile appeared on his lips, and he stared a few seconds longer before realizing that might be a bit creepy. Itzal looked away, eyeing the people across the aisle instead. They looked pretty normal.
Cole nodded once, then settled in, crossing his arms across his chest and tucking his head forward, doing his best to get comfortable in the seat. It really wasn't terribly difficult, and by the time the train finally left the station, he was already quite sleepy. Another minute and he was fast asleep. Leaving Itzal to be on guard on his own.
Itzal continued looking at the other passengers on the train, watching for anyone suspicious. Thankfully, he can't see any. When he checked on Cole a few minutes after the train departed, the man was already asleep. It made sense, given how tired he had been. And based on the non-existant beings, he would be able to get his well-deserved rest. Even so, Itzal kept a hand on the sword at all times.
(Sure! You wanna take it?)
Time Skip
Cole had passed out for a fair while, and by the time he finally woke up, they had been on the train for about five hours. He ended up partially laying his head on Itzal's shoulder, arms crossed and just generally looking peaceful. Even his hair was a mess as he shifted slightly and yawned, waking up over a matter of a minute or two. "I'm back," He mumbled sleeply to the god, then offered a tiny sleepy smile. Already he was feeling much better even with resting while sitting up and in a train.
Itzal had spent those five hours in as a quiet guardian, staying as still as he could to not disturb Cole. It was a calm five hours, though he never once removed his hand from the sword. As Cole started to shift, Itzal looked over at him. The man looked a bit of a mess and he just had to smile. "Welcome back." He laughed slightly. "How do you feel? A bit less tired, I hope?" Itzal shifted slightly in his seat, casting another glance at the people around him before looking back at Cole.
"A bit less. That nap did me good, and it should hold me over for a while," He replied slowly, yawning and doing his best to stretch in the seat he was in, "I still need a good nights sleep in an actual bed, but until I can get that, this will work." Cole's smile seemed a little more awake as he glanced at Itzal again, then out the window. Already the sun was over its halfway mark and it made him bring up the question, "Did they bring by a cart or anything for food? I could use something to drink."
"Good." Itzal smiled. "Ah, yes." He paused, listening to Cole. "Ah, they have gone by a couple of times but I didn't get anything because… well, I didn't know what you wanted." And I didn't have any money, he continued in his mind. "They should be back soon, though." Itzal actually didn't know if they would be back, but he had seen them a few times already and was sure they would be back at some point.
Cole nodded, relaxing back in his seat and blinking slowly as he glanced over at Itzal once more, "Any sign of them on the train?" He was doubtful that Itzal had seen any of the beings since he had been able to sleep for so long, but it didn't hurt to check. After all, he was sure that he wouldn't have woken up Itzal if their positions were switched. He watched the other male silently, almost forgetting that he was basically staring at him.
"Nope." Itzal shook his head, glad that it was the truth. It seemed as if the beings hadn't made it onto the train and hadn't had the chance to make it on either. He quickly glanced up and down the aisle again, but it was the same people he'd been observing for the past five hours. Unless the beings had figured out a way to disguise themselves as normal people, they weren't on the train. Itzal turned back to Cole to find the man gazing at him. He offered him a smile, gazing back at him softly.
"Thank goodness," He breathed out, any of his uneasiness now gone. Maybe they would actually have time for some rest. "If you need, get some sleep. You're probably still worn out from earlier," Cole added, finally snapping out of his stare and looking somewhere else, cheeks barely flushed. "I can get you something if the cart comes by again." He was hoping the cart would come by soon anyway. Walking for so long along with the lack of time to stop and eat or drink was taking its toll on him and he could feel how hungry he was.
"Indeed." Itzal nodded once, still staring at Cole. When he mentioned sleep, Itzal's first instinct was to shake his head and say he was fine. But his common sense won. If he was tired because he'd insisted on staying awake, then he wouldn't be able to stop any beings should they suddenly appear as effectively as he could if he was well-rested. "Alright. Just… wake me up if anything suspicious happens." Cole probably knew that already, but it made Itzal feel a little better just to confirm it. "Okay. Thanks." Itzal gave him a smile, then shifted into a more comfortable sleeping position. That position didn't really exist, but he could find some semblance of it.
Cole smiled and nodded in return, knowing he would do just that and wake him up at any sign of something suspicious. He felt bad for it, but he couldn't hold off the beings by himself. Then, glancing at Itzal once more, he settled into watch mode, glancing out the window every so often but otherwise keeping a sharp eye on the rest of the train car. Every time the door opened he just hoped it was the cart and not anything that was going to try to kill them.
Itzal fell asleep slowly, but when he finally did, it was a disappointingly shallow sleep. His dreams were cloudy but unsettling, and the beings featured prominently in them. Itzal shifted a lot in his sleep, probably because of the uncomfortable seat combined with the dreams. He only slept for an hour or so, waking up just as slowly as he fell asleep. This nap didn't really do anything to make him feel less tired, which was disappointing. Itzal blinked slowly, letting out a slow breath and trying to push the last scraps of his dreams out of his mind. "Did… uh, did the snack, um, the snack cart thing come?" Itzal mumbled, glancing over at Cole with a slightly dazed look on his face. It was clear he wasn't totally awake just yet.
Cole was lost in a daydream as Itzal woke up and it took him a few seconds to register that he was being asked something. Quickly he turned his head to face him and smiled, nodding, "Oh! Yeah, they stopped by…I didn't know what you wanted so I just got you a variety." Digging into his coat pocket, he pulled out several things, handing them to Itzal as he did so. There was indeed a variety too, from a candy bar to a packet of trail mix, a bag of gummi bears, a small bag of chips, and water. "Eat whatever you want. I'll eat the rest."
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