FSE

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Chapter 11: Bonding

Thurston slowly opened his eyes and yawned, stretching slightly and rubbing his eyes as he started to wake up. As his focus started to come back to him, he felt something pressed up against his side. "What the...?" He muttered as he looked over, he was shocked to see Nathan cuddling up against him. "W-What...?!" He said as he rubbed his eyes again and blinked a few time, confirming that he wasn't just seeing things. "Why...?" He muttered.

He was just staring at Nathan in pure shock, he had NO idea how to react! He simply sat there in silence, slowly processing this.

"...this is kind of nice..." Thurston muttered under his breath. Although he quickly pushed this thought away, shaking his head a tiny bit as he sat up fully, inadvertently stirring Nathan from his slumber.

"hm...?" Nathan mumbled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking over to Thurston. "Oh, Good morning Mr. Thurston!" Nathan greeted with a smile.

"Good... Morning..." Thurston slowly said back, still taken aback by this. "Might I ask... Why you came to my room after I said not to be disturbed...?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms.

"O-Oh... Well, I..." Nathan looked down and twiddled his thumbs. "I just... Felt bad for you. You looked so sad n all... So I wanted to try and make you feel better!" He exclaimed with a bright smile.

"I..." Thurston was at a loss. _He... Really did that just to make me feel better...? _He thought to himself. "Umm... Thank you...?" He said, rubbing his arm awkwardly.

"So, what are we gonna do today?" Nathan asked, tilting his head curiously.

Thurston finally recovered from everything as he started to think. "H-Huh? Uhh... Well, how about we eat something first? I think I have some leftover carrion somewhere..." He said as he got out of bed, Nathan nodded and hopped off the bed as well, following behind Thurston. "You don't have to follow me so closely..." He said as they walked. Nathan didn't really respond though, he just stayed close. "Alright then... Go wait on the couch, I'll be a minute." He said. Nathan nodded and went off to the couch, hopping onto it and waiting patiently.

He... Seems to be in a better mood. At least I think... _Nathan thought to himself, rubbing his chin for a moment. He thought he had Thurston figured out, but this was unexpected... From what Nathan gathered, Thurston always came off as smug, arrogant, and overall jerkish in the time he spent with him so far. And yet here, he was like a completely different person... Err, dinosaur. He seemed to be a lot more mellow and slow-going when he wasn't working, although whether that was normal or from the events of yesterday, he couldn't say. He also noted that; from what he observed, Thurston and Mr. Conductor seem to have history. _Maybe I can ask about it...

"Nathan." He was taken out of his thoughts by Thurston, he had some carrion that he had divided into two. "Here, I'd imagine you're hungry as well." He said. Nathan nodded and took the carrion as Thurston sat on the couch as well, they both soon started eating the carrion.

"So..." Nathan began. "How do you know Mr. Conductor?" He inquired.

"Well, Sonny boy and I used to go to conducting school together, we were... Rivals, so to say. His mother was the one teaching us." Thurston explained as he took a bite of his carrion.

"So you two really go back, huh?" Nathan asked. Thurston swallowed his food and nodded.

"Indeed." He said. "We would compete in a lot of things back in the day. And even nowadays we compete on occasion." He added as he reminisced a little.

"What did you do back then...?" Nathan asked. Thurston rubbed his chin as he thought on this.

"Uhh... Lots of things." He said.

"Liiiiiike...?"

"Well... Back then it was mostly things that were rather childish... Who could hold their breath underwater the longest, or who could stand on one foot the longest... Stuff like that... Occasionally we would do things beyond that, such as who could find the most fossils." He listed off a few things.

"And... Who won in those competitions?" Nathan asked.

"Well... I could hold my breath longer and stand on one foot longer... Although..." He stopped for a moment. "Sonny boy beat me at fossil hunting..."

"That makes sense... Mr. Conductor did say that paleontology is one of his hobbies." Nathan commented, nodding a little. "And your rivalry is still going on?" He asked. Thurston nodded in response.

"Yeah, nothing's gonna really stop it." He said.

"Is that why you always call the dinosaur train old-fashioned...?". Nathan inquired. Thurston looked away awkwardly upon hearing that.

"I... Suppose that's part of the reason..." He said.

Nathan tilted his head at that. "Part of the reason? What else is there?"

Thurston hesitated a little. "Well... You see..." It seemed like he was about to start opening up more, but he clammed up rather quickly. "It doesn't really matter!" He exclaimed as he started to eat his carrion again, ignoring the question entirely.

"Why are you ignoring my question...?" Nathan asked.

Thurston laughed nervously as he swallowed the carrion in his mouth. "Anyways, did you have anything in mind you'd like to do?!" He continued trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I'd like to know why this topic is making you so nervous." Nathan replied, standing his ground on this. "Is there something wrong, Mr. Thurston?" He asked.

"N-No! Nothing of the sort! Everything's fine, in fact!" Thurston insisted, rubbing his neck sheepishly. Nathan folded his arms and pouted slightly.

"Why won't you be honest...?" Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Thurston did start to feel kind of bad. He looked away slightly, still rubbing his neck. He didn't seem like he wanted to say anything. Nathan didn't really wanna press him too hard though, he didn't wanna make the same mistake like he did before with Mr. Conductor.

Nathan was quick to change the subject so that things didn't end up escalating further. "So... Did you wanna go somewhere? We can ride on the rocket train!" He exclaimed, making Thurston even more shocked.

"You... Actually _want _to ride the rocket train...?" He asked, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Mhm! It'll be fun!" Nathan exclaimed with a bright smile as he finished his carrion.

"But, why? Don't you prefer the dinosaur train over the rocket train? Why do you wanna ride my train...?" He asked, cupping his hands together sheepishly and looking away. Nathan rolled his eyes and took Thurston's hand as he started to try and drag him towards the front door, and although Nathan wasn't strong enough to move Thurston very well, he was still able to put quite a bit of strength into this, and the action was still quite surprising.

"C'mon! Let's go!" He said excitedly.

_G-Goodness, this kid is surprisingly strong! _Thurston thought, he quickly got up to his feet so he didn't end up falling off the couch. "W-Woah, e-easy there!" He exclaimed.

"Let's go to the rocket train, come on!" Nathan said excitedly. Thurston was still really surprised. Nathan was actually... Excited to get on the rocket train.

Thurston stood up straight and put on his usual grin. "Well, how could I say no to a potential passenger?" He said. "Just let me change into my uniform!" He added as he eagerly went off to change. It didn't even take him a minute as he walked back over, adjusting his hat. "Okay! Let's go!" He exclaimed. He was about to head off, but Nathan stopped him. He looked down at the young troodon in confusion.

"U-Umm..." Nathan looked up at Thurston. Nathan's child side was crying out to be held by someone, and it was really bothering him. Reluctantly, Nathan made grabby hands towards Thurston. "Up...?" He asked. Thurston had no idea what Nathan meant by that though. "...Do I really have to spell it out for you...?" Nathan asked him, a slight blush creeping onto his face. "I... Wanna be held..." He said, twiddling his thumbs in embarrassment. Even though he knew this wasn't too out of the ordinary for someone of this age, Nathan's adult mind couldn't help but get embarrassed by asking straight out. Thurston's eyes went wide for a moment.

"O-Oh, that's what that means..." He said. He felt really reluctant, seeing as he's never dealt with kids that often. Heck, Mr. Conductor definitely deals with kids more on a regular basis, he'd probably be way more experienced in something like this. After all, Thurston's experience in parenting was next to nothing. After a bit of internal conflict, he reluctantly agreed, slowly and carefully lifting Nathan up to carry him. "U-Umm... How do I...?" He muttered, trying to figure out the best way to carry Nathan. "Err..."

"You could always let me sit on your shoulders if you don't wanna carry me in your arms..." Nathan suggested.

"So..." Thurston slowly set Nathan on his shoulders. "Like... This?" He asked.

"Mhm! Now I can see everything from up here!" Nathan exclaimed, giggling a little.

"But... This must look so... Ridiculous." Thurston said, cringing a tiny bit. "Maybe I'll just hold you in my arms instead." He said, taking Nathan off his shoulders and going back to carrying him normally, he settled on just cradling Nathan for the time being, although it took a moment before he got cradling Nathan right. "Anyways!" He exclaimed, putting his same grin back on. "Tooooo the Rocket Train!" He announced as he jogged off with Nathan.

---

Once they made it to the rocket train, Thurston set Nathan down on his feet before going to the controls. "So, where would you like to go today?" Thurston asked.

"Uhh, nowhere in particular! We can just ride around for a while!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Very well!" Thurston exclaimed as he started the train, soon they were chugging along. Nathan just scurried off to a seat and hopped on it as he began to stare out a window watching everything pass by. Thurston looked back to where Nathan went in curiosity, he never usually left the controls much, but the rocket train was advanced enough to let him know if something was amiss. Nodding to himself, he left the controls as he walked to Nathan and sat down with him. "So you... Really like watching the scenery, huh?" He asked.

Nathan nodded in response. "Mhm! Why do you ask?"

"Oh, well..." Thurston began, rubbing the back of his neck. "No reason really, it's just a bit strange. From what I've seen, kids are usually loud, excitable, and in a few cases, obnoxiously annoying..." He said, saying the last part in slight annoyance.

"Do you... Not like kids?" Nathan couldn't help but ask.

"Not really that, I'm moreso... Indifferent, towards kids. I can handle them just fine, but I don't find tons of enjoyment in dealing with kids either." He explained. "Now, that's not to say I never enjoy it sometimes. There are times where being around children is a fun time." He added. "But, y'know, sometimes I just don't ever feel like dealing with kids."

_God... That's actually extremely relatable. _Nathan thought. He definitely agreed with that thought process. Back in his old life, he was pretty indifferent about kids too, never really liked, nor disliked being around em, and much like he said, there were kids that were fun to be around, so he understood how Thurston felt.

"Regardless of that..." Thurston continued. "I find it odd you aren't one of those kids, sometimes you aren't as excitable, or loud. I dunno, you just feel a little more... Methodical in comparison." He pointed out.

Nathan never really realized it before, but yeah, his attitude, and overall way of going through life was kind of methodical. _Probably because I'm a 20 year old... _Nathan thought, nodding to himself slightly. It wasn't a surprise he found it odd... "Is that... Bad...?" Nathan couldn't help but ask.

"H-Huh? Well, uhhh..." Thurston stumbled over his words a bit, not expecting Nathan to ask that. "Of course not! It's not a bad thing in the slightest!" He reassured Nathan.

"Really?" Nathan asked, tilting his head a bit. Thurston was quick to give a firm nod to him.

"Again, It's odd. But it's not something that I consider to be bad." He replied. Nathan gave a small nod in response as he went back to watch the scenery.

Nathan soon decided to try and change the subject. "The scenery is so pretty." He commented. Thurston just did a passing glance at the scenery, not paying much mind to it.

"Yes, very pretty." He said in a dismissive tone, not really paying attention to the outside scenery. He soon stood up from the seat, heading back to the controls for a moment to check on things before looking back to Nathan. "By the way, we're approaching a time tunnel, Nathan." He mentioned.

"Where's it gonna take us, Mr. Thurston?" Nathan asked, tilting his head a little. Thurston's eyes seemed to light up a little as he walked back towards Nathan.

"Excellent question, Nathan! You see, the time tunnel will be taking us straight to Elasmosaurus Reef Station!" He exclaimed with a ton of energy as he pressed a button nearby and a screen slid down, it reminded Nathan of a TV screen of sorts. It showcased a variety of images. "It's an undersea station located in the western interior sea," The screen showed an illustration of the undersea station. "This place is home to many species of fish, as well as the Elasmosaurus!" He explained as the images swapped to show off the Elasmosaurus; a big amphibious looking creature that was orange with greenish spots. Thurston seemed to be having a bit of fun explaining everything, and he was definitely putting a lot of energy into it.

Having Thurston do the explaining was a pretty different experience compared to Mr. Conductor. One thing Nathan also noted was that while Thurston had about the same enthusiasm as Mr. Conductor, he also put more... Energy into explaining things from how it felt. He just seemed a lot more spry and excited about it. On the other hand, Mr. Conductor; while enthusiastic, and always having fun when explaining things, seemed to take it slower. Still, it was a nice change of pace.

"Wait, there are undersea stations? Woah..." Nathan commented in surprise. Thurston nodded in response.

"Indeed! The Troodon had them built so us Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, any creature really can explore and learn about the world under the sea!" He exclaimed, grinning as he spoke.

"They did all that?" Nathan asked in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock. He knew Troodon were believed to be one of the smartest dinosaurs, but THIS was on another level!

"That's right! Troodon ARE the smartest dinosaur after all, m'boy!" Thurston added, beaming with pride.

As they approached the time tunnel, Nathan couldn't help but start shouting. "Time tunnel! Time tunnel approaching!" He exclaimed playfully, mimicking how Mr. Conductor would announce a time tunnel.

"Hah hah, hilarious." Thurston said sarcastically, rolling his eyes a small bit. Soon they entered the time tunnel as Thurston walked right back to the controls, Nathan hopped off his seat and followed behind him closely.

"Hey, Mr. Thurston? You think we'll be able to see an Elasmosaurus?" Nathan asked.

"I can't say for certain, but I suppose it's possible." Thurston replied, rubbing his chin as he thought.

Once they exited the time tunnel, they pulled out to the station. Although Thurston didn't really bother announcing the station, considering it was just Nathan and him. There probably wouldn't be anyone else coming aboard.

As the train came to a stop, Nathan noted that the troodon there to maintain the undersea station looked surprised to see the rocket train. As the pair got off the train, one troodon spoke up.

"Thurston? What brings you here? You never usually go to stations with the rocket train that often, much less coming to one of the undersea stations." He said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know, you're shocked to see me." Thurston said in a dismissive manner. "I'm not really here on any official business, I'm simply..." He hesitated for a bit. "Watching over a child for Mr. Conductor..." He explained. Nathan looked over at Thurston slightly widened eyes, a little surprised to see him calling Mr. Conductor anything other than Sonny boy. Then again, it made sense, considering he probably had to seem at least a little more professional when talking to other troodon.

The Troodon glanced at Nathan. "Oh yeah, I heard about Mr. Conductor taking in a young troodon." He said as he looked back to Thurston.

"Indeed, and after his break from the train due to stress, I've taken the liberty of watching the child until he's done getting back into the swing of things." Thurston explained. The troodon seemed a bit skeptical.

"Really...? I didn't take you as the kind of troodon who'd do something like that." He commented, scratching his head a bit.

"W-Well, that's why you never judge a book by it's cover!" Thurston replied quickly.

"Riiiiight..." The troodon looked away awkwardly, before he changed the subject. "Funnily enough, the dinosaur train was just here. Mr. Conductor was working as hard as ever too. Although he seemed to be getting lost in thought from time to time." The troodon said. Disregarding that last part, Thurston let out a small sigh of relief, glad that he didn't have to worry about Mr. Conductor coming by while he was here. After the last time they talked, he didn't wanna have another awkward confrontation so soon.

_As much as I love bothering ol' Sonny boy, I doubt he'd be in the mood to deal with me... And after our last chat, I think I actually might be a little afraid of him... _Thurston thought to himself, remembering that interaction. Now that he thought about it, he'd never seen Mr. Conductor act like that, not even during their time in conductor school. Regardless, he made a mental note to tread especially lightly around Mr. Conductor should they run into him again, he didn't want to take a misstep and make him mad.

"I see..." Thurston said with a nod. Nathan soon wandered off towards one of the nearby windows in the undersea station. He started staring out of it, looking at all the fish swimming around.

He simply stared out into the deep blue sea, he remembered always seeing fossils of prehistoric fish when he would check out museums in his time. Now that he got to experience it, he couldn't believe how breathtaking it was. He could never get over how pretty the mesozoic in general was. No loud cities, no cars driving constantly, no planes. Just plant life and sea life. Sure, there were the trains that were causing some noise pollution, but it wasn't awful enough to really be concerned about. Plus, he got to learn first hand what it was like living in the mesozoic. He couldn't help but nerd out on the inside.

Thurston soon walked over to Nathan after a minute of talking. "So, are you enjoying yourself?" He asked. Nathan glanced over to Thurston and nodded.

"The ocean is already so nice to look at from the surface, looking at it from in here is even better!" Nathan exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Thank you for bringing me here, Mr. Thurston!" He said happily, giving Thurston a big smile.

"Huh...? U-Uhh, yes! Y...You're welcome!" He replied, not really sure how else to react. He cleared his throat awkwardly for a moment before continuing. "So! Anywhere else you'd like to stop by?" Thurston asked, rubbing his chin in thought.

Nathan looked up at Thurston. They weren't even here for five minutes. "I wanna stay a little longer!" Nathan exclaimed. "Pleeeeeease?!" He begged. Thurston sighed a bit and nodded.

"Very well, I'll be-" Thurston was cut off by Nathan grabbed his hand and pulling him to the window he was looking out of.

"At least watch the scenery with me for a bit!" He exclaimed. Thurston gave a look of reluctance.

"E-Err..." Thurston darted his eyes around for a moment, he didn't really know what to say.

"You're always rushing from one station to the next, you need to learn to slow down and take everything in, instead of processing it like a robot with a set of tasks..." Nathan replied, narrowing his eyes at Thurston.

He looked away and sighed. "V-Very well..." he gave in as he stood next to Nathan and watched the scenery. He saw the sun shining down from the surface of the ocean, fish swimming by, and a few other ocean creatures swimming about. He couldn't deny that it was beautiful to look at, but he was rather dismissive of the scenery. "Yes, it is quite beautiful, but we can't stay here forever, Nathan. There are many other places we can go see after all!" Thurston exclaimed. "So tell me, is there anywhere else you'd like to go?" He asked.

_Did even listen to what I said...? _Nathan thought to himself, narrowing his eyes and sighing as he thought about it.

"Uhhh..." Nathan folded his arms and hummed in thought as he wondered. He never really had anywhere he wanted to go in mind, although exploring the mesozoic is something he was enjoying. Suddenly, he had an idea, he looked up at Thurston with a bright smile. "Why don't we go somewhere you wanna go!" Nathan exclaimed, leaving Thurston shocked.

"W-W-What...?! M-Me?!" He asked, stammering over his words severely. "B-B-But, I'm a conductor! I-I have to worry about where passengers want or need to go! N-Never about where I want to go!" He exclaimed, he clearly wasn't expecting something like that.

"But it's just us, Mr. Thurston! You only gotta worry about the two of us!" He exclaimed.

"But it's my job! I can't just go wherever I want! I have to prioritize passengers!" Thurston replied.

_So you're prioritizing your job over self-care... Sounds like another troodon I know. _Nathan thought, narrowing his eyes. Fortunately, since Thurston didn't get nearly as many passengers as Mr. Conductor, the worry of him getting way too stressed from work is pretty low, although he might get stressed for a different reason... Still, Nathan didn't like seeing this kind of mindset. He eventually thought of a counter-argument as he put on a grin and began to speak. "Well, Mr. Thurston, I'M one of your passengers." Nathan began, folding his arms. "If you don't pick a place that you want to go to, it won't make me happy. Oh wait! Isn't it a conductor's job to make their passengers happy?" Nathan said, the grin never leaving his face. Thurston was just staring at Nathan in shock. He was trying to think up an excuse.

Thurston looked away and cringed slightly. "It...it doesn't work that way...!" He exclaimed.

"What do you mean it doesn't work that way?" Nathan asked, pouting.

"It's more than just making a passenger happy, it's ensuring that I can take them wherever they want to go, making sure they're comfortable, things like that! Besides, I doubt passengers wanna hear about the places _I _want to go to." Thurston explained, folding his arms and looking away sadly.

Nathan looked down at his feet, twiddling his thumbs "I wanna hear about it." He said, narrowing his eyes. Thurston's eyes widened as he rubbed his arm awkwardly, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "Please?" Nathan begged slightly.

"W-Well..." He began, rubbing his chin as he thought about it. "Y'know, I've kind of always wanted to go to the North Pole...!" Thurston said, his eyes filling with a slight child-like wonder. Although he cleared his throat relatively quickly to recover.

"The North Pole? Why's that?" Nathan asked, tilting his head.

Thurston started to explain his reasoning in more detail. "I've never actually had the opportunity to visit the North Pole, back then I hated the idea of the cold. I mean, temperatures so cold it could freeze water? At the time that sounded torturous!" He said. "But as time went on, I've thought more and more about it, heard a lot of fun things you could do at the North Pole, stuff like that." He added, smiling a bit. "And one of the things I hope to see one day, is the Aurora Borealis itself!" He put his hands on his hips and gave a grin.

"But... You run a train nowadays, wouldn't you have needed to go there since you take passengers around?" Nathan asked, tilting his head. Thurston sighed a bit in response, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, not really. The dinosaur train is still much more popular than the rocket train. Because of that, I hardly ever get passengers when I do go out with the rocket train, and the few I do end up getting don't really need to go to the North Pole." He explained, looking a little depressed while he talked about it.

"Oh..." Nathan replied, rubbing his arm a little. Thurston still looked like he didn't want to go through with this. At least, he didn't want it to just be for him. _Y'know, he may have a less than desirable attitude, but he's actually a really good conductor... _Nathan thought. He rubbed his chin for a moment before speaking up again. "What if... _I _wanted to go to the North Pole too?" He asked. Thurston's eyes lit up for a moment as he looked over to Nathan. "It sounds kind of fun after all! And y'know, I'm a passenger. So shouldn't you be worried about taking your passengers to the places they want or need to go?" He asked.

"Nathan..." Thurston said, surprised by what Nathan was saying, soon he put a smile on. "Right you are, Nathan! As the conductor of the rocket train, it's my job to ensure that passengers are always happy!" He exclaimed, he was about to lead Nathan to the train, but the young troodon stopped and looked back, gasping as he saw an Elasmosaurus swim by.

"Ooo! Mr. Thurston! It's an Elasmosaurus! See?!" He said excitedly, his inner prehistory nerd flipping out as he saw it. Combining his inner prehistory nerd with his child side meant that he basically was the equivalent of a kid waking up for Christmas and getting exactly what they wanted. And after getting used to all the talking creatures, he's gotten less freaked out knowing they talk, and more excited to actually see prehistoric creatures with his own eyes.

Thurston looked back, he seemed slightly confused as to why Nathan was so excited, but he shrugged it off.

"Yes, I see it, Nathan." Thurston said. Watching Nathan bounce around excitedly, he couldn't help but smile a little. Thurston's seen an Elasmosaurus before, so it wasn't anything too special to him. But even so, Nathan seemed REALLY excited to see an Elasmosaurus, even he had to admit that it was kind of cute to watch.

"I got to see an Elasmosaurus! Yay!" Nathan exclaimed happily.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it." Thurston replied as he led Nathan back to the train. Soon he got on with him and started chugging out of the undersea station.

_I actually got to see an Elasmosaurus in person, oh my god. _Nathan thought to himself. It's not like he thought it was impossible. It's just he never actually thought he would see one so soon. He unfortunately couldn't get the chance the talk to it, but he was satisfied enough seeing it for now.

Thurston soon started to speak up. "Once we get on proper land, there should be a time tunnel that'll lead us directly to North Pole station." Thurston said as they took the time tunnel out of there.

---

As they were chugging along, Nathan started thinking about the North Pole, the only thing he dreaded was the cold weather, but aside from that, he was excited.

_Now that I think about it, I never really got to experience snow properly... Guess that's the downside of living in Texas... _He thought to himself, sighing a bit. _Heck, the only time I remember dealing with snow was during an awful blizzard, since I; nor anyone else was prepared for that, we all just stayed inside because of it..._Nathan reminisced a small bit. He looked over to Thurston, noticing that he looked a little excited, but he was probably more excited than he let on.

"Hey, Mr. Thurston? Do we have any... Warm clothing for the North Pole?" Nathan asked. Thurston looked over for Nathan as he thought about it, humming to himself quietly.

"I believe I do have something!" He exclaimed as he walked away from the control panel as he opened a nearby compartment and started rummaging through it. "Hmm... A-ha!" Thurston exclaimed as he pulled out a nice looking winter jacket that was Thurston's size. "Perfect!" He said with a smile on his face.

"What about for me...?" Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes a bit. Thurston's pupils shrunk for a moment as he heard that.

"Uhh, err, lemme check..." He said as he rummaged through it again. After a minute he stopped, turning up empty handed. "I...don't think so..." He said, cringing a little and laughing nervously, looking down at the jacket and narrowing his eyes as he let out a sigh. "The one time I didn't come prepared." He said in slight frustration. He looked like he was beating himself up over this.

"...It's alright! You can have the jacket if you want! I want you to have a good time, after all!" Nathan exclaimed, smiling brightly. Thurston remained silent. "Really, it's okay. I'll be fine." Nathan reassured him.

"I-If you insist..." Thurston replied, as they entered the time tunnel to North Pole station, Thurston put the jacket on. Soon they emerged from the tunnel as Thurston soon put on the breaks, the train coming to a halt. He was the first to step out, he took a deep breath as he enjoyed the cold, winter-y air. A gust of wind came by, causing Thurston to shiver slightly. "Oh my, that really is cold..." He commented. Nathan walked out after him, the cold air hit worse without a jacket. He soon started shivering.

"C-C-C-Cold...!" Nathan muttered, folding his arms as his teeth chattered. Although he quickly recovered, trying to hide his shivering as he took a deep breath. His eyes wandered off as he looked at a pile of snow. "Maybe getting active might warm me up..." Nathan said as he walked over and formed a quick snowball in his hands before throwing it at Thurston. It hit him on the arm as he turned his head, Nathan gave a giggle as he formed another snowball. "You ever had a snowball fight before?" Nathan asked. Thurston simply shook his head. "Me neither!" He exclaimed as he tossed another snowball at Thurston. He side-stepped and dodged the snowball completely.

"A snowball fight, hm...?" He said, rubbing his chin in thought. "I don't know..." He added, a bit hesitant.

"Think of it like... A competition!" Nathan exclaimed. Thurston's eyes lit up at the mention of competition, he seemed to be putting on his "game face".

"If competition is what you want, then I shall give it to you!" Thurston announced as he started forming snowballs and throwing them at Nathan. He couldn't help but squeal a little and jump out of the way, giggling a bit.

_I've only ever seen snowball fights in cartoons, but I didn't think it'd be this fun! _Nathan thought as he tried to throw snowballs at Thurston, and vice versa. This continued for a roughly fifteen minutes until Thurston managed to hit Nathan with a snowball.

"Haha! I got you, Nathan!" Thurston exclaimed, grinning with pride.

Nathan giggled and nodded. "Mhm! You did!" He exclaimed. Another gust of wind caused Nathan to start shivering. Thurston noticed his shivering and walked over, kneeling down.

"You okay, Nathan?" He asked.

"Y-Y-Yeah! N-Never b-better!" Nathan exclaimed, smiling nervously as his teeth chattered.

"You... Don't look okay." Thurston replied, folding his arms.

Now that Nathan wasn't moving anymore, he started feeling... Cold... REALLY cold. He could barely move from his spot. "i-i...i'm f-f...fine...!" Nathan insisted, his voice growing weaker and his vision grew blurrier. He tried to take a step forward, but the moment he moved his leg, he started to wobble, practically being forced to his knees.

Thurston's pupils went small in shock. "N-Nathan...?!" He called out but got no response. Thurston scooped Nathan up, yelping in surprise with how cold he was. "O-Oh goodness... I gotta get you inside!" He exclaimed. He knew that the station here had a heater, well, that's what he heard anyways. It made sense since this was the North Pole.

He quickly made his way over to the station door. I can't_ exactly barge in if someone else is there... _He thought to himself. He knocked on the door, checking see if anyone was there. Someone did answer the door, but to Thurston's surprise, it was a Northern Troodon.

The Northern Troodon looked a bit surprised. "Um, hi?" He asked, unsure what to say.

"O-Oh! Um, hello! Is it okay if we come in? It's... Urgent." Thurston said as he looked down at Nathan. The Northern Troodon's eyes widened and he nodded, letting the two in.

When they walked into the station, Thurston was met with a blast of heat as he entered. Once the door was closed, he scanned the room for the heater, when he spotted it he went over to it and placed Nathan near it, then he took his jacket off and placed it over the young troodon like a blanket. "I shouldn't have let him stay out for this long without a jacket... He was even playing in the snow for crying out loud!" He scolded himself, whacking his head in frustration. Nathan was still shivering quite intensely. "Knowing my luck, he'll get sick..." He added, folding his arms.

Nathan had pretty much fallen asleep at this point, so Thurston simply had to watch over him.

"So..." The Northern Troodon spoke up. "What's your name...?" He asked, feeling a bit awkward.

"Thurston." He said, more worried about Nathan to really be too invested in the conversation.

An awkward silence filled the room as The Northern Troodon cleared his throat. "My name is Tobias Troodon. Although, you can call me Toby..." He introduced himself, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Right..." Thurston said in a dismissive tone. Another awkward silence filled the air. "I... Didn't expect to find a Northern Troodon working at this station... Usually all the stations are run but normal Troodon's..." Thurston pointed out.

Toby looked around awkwardly, rubbing his arm. "Ah, well, since Northern Troodon's are more accustomed to this climate, we seemed to be the best choice for these stations..." He explained.

"Ah... I see." Thurston replied, rubbing his chin in thought. "Well, I suppose it makes sense..." He commented, looking back at Nathan again. He wasn't really thinking about making small talk with the state Nathan was in right now. _If Mr. Conductor finds out about this... _Thurston thought. He quickly discarded this thought, he'd worry about that later! Right now he has to make sure that Nathan recovers!

Toby looked around awkwardly and cleared his throat to break the silence. "A-Anyways, if you need anything, just say the word and I'll try my best to help. I'm sure I'll be able to find what you need." He said as he walked off to tend to something else.

Thurston sighed a bit as he watched over Nathan, he could feel a pressure in his chest. For a second he didn't know what it was, but it didn't take long for him to recognize the feeling...

He was worried... Really worried. He never recalled feeling THIS worried about someone before. He'd only ever reach this level of worry if it was about himself. That's not to say he didn't worry about others either, he did. But not to this extent.

"Calm down, Thurston..." He told himself, putting a hand to his chest and taking a deep breath. "He'll be fine..." He said. Slowly, he laid onto his back and stared at the ceiling while he waited.

He at least hoped that Nathan wouldn't be out for long...

---

And bam! Chapter 11 is done! And I got to introduce a new character too! So that's a win-win!

I've never done a dynamic like this before, so I hope that it's turning out well! I think it is!

Anyways, that's all I have to say, I'll see you guys in the next chapter!