It could have been a worse beginning (Gratsu)
Looking back on it, perhaps going backpacking through Spain when he only knew three words in Spanish was a bad idea, but Natsu Dragneel didn't live his life at his fullest by avoiding possibly bad ideas. That's how he ended up wandering the streets of Magnolia city, looking for the borrowed house he would be staying in and a place to eat since his only food that day had been an old and squashed multigrain bar he found in his bag.
When his stomach seemed to start eating itself, the pink-haired man finally found a small restaurant. He sat at a table and waved his hands at a waiter.
"Bienvenido," the waiter spoke and offered him a menu, "¿le interesaria oir los especiales de hoy?"
"Ehh..." Natsu stared up at the waiter and then down at the menu, wishing he had at least bought a dictionary. He tapped the first dish he saw written and gave it back at him.
"Ese...ese es el menu de niños, señor," the waiter looked at him oddly, but he didn't care what he was saying. He repeated the word "si" over and over, trying to hurry him. The waiter rolled his eyes and left.
He returned some minutes later with a plate that had five fried balls and a cup of some kind of sauce. Natsu eyed them curiously before taking one with a napkin and starting to munch on it. The filling was something mushy, it had some small pieces of vegetables on it, and what he thought was potato. It wasn't bad, and when he dipped it on the sauce it improved the taste. Natsu was starting to munch on the third piece when he felt an itch on his throat, he made a sign for the waiter to bring him a glass of water. He covered his mouth with his hand to cough and noticed that red spots had begun to cover his skin.
He tried to ask what was in the food by pointing at the dish when the waiter approached with a worried expression. He couldn't stop wheezing long enough to speak, luckily, the other man understood.
"Son croquetas-It's croquettes of potato and tuna," Natsu's eyes widened.
"D-Doctor," it's all he could say. The waiter yelled something to the cashier and everything just became a rushed blur.
A few hours later, he is sitting in a hospital's bed, being lectured by an elderly doctor about his recklessness. When she finally leaves to talk with a nurse, the waiter comes in, still in his uniform except that his apron is now thrown over a shoulder, and sits in a chair.
"Hey, are you okay?" he has a bit of an accent, but it's barely there.
"Yeah, thanks for the help. You didn't have to stay."
"Well, I wanted to be sure you wouldn't sue the restaurant," he sighed and frowned at the pink-haired guy. "Honestly, you could have just asked if the food had something you are allergic to."
Natsu's jaw went slack, "I didn't know you spoke English!"
"You could have asked that too."
Natsu crossed his arms with indignation, "Now I'm not giving you a tip," then he remembered that he had left everything but his wallet at the restaurant. "Dammit! I forgot my bags."
The waiter stood up, "I can go get them while you're discharged and then if you want, I can walk you to wherever you are staying."
"Why do you assume I need your help with that?" he got defensive. The guy with dark hair arched an eyebrow, skeptically.
"You don't know the language, so I'm sure you don't know the streets," Natsu was going to keep arguing but was interrupted. "My name is Gray by the way," the waiter then turned around and walked away.
"I'm Natsu!" Gray heard the cute, pink-haired guy yell and it brought a smirk to his face.