Natsu was a filthy liar. His side ached to high hell as he walked towards the infirmary. It certainly looked better, but he wasn't certain that everything was mended on the inside. Natsu wasn't smart enough to figure out such things. He struggled to keep his face neutral on his walk, as to not scare his guildmates with his condition.
Upon closing the door to the infirmary, Natsu's face immediately broke into a pained grimace, and he collapsed into one of the beds. God, that was a lot worse than he thought it was going to be. His breath was significantly more labored than it should be for walking approximately 20 steps. Natsu closed his eyes as he sank into the mattress.
"I fucking knew it." Said a voice from the doorway.
Natsu bolted upright, then immediately regretted it as he felt his injury reopen and warm blood coat his side. He fell back down with a groan.
"How'd you know, Gray? I thought I did pretty well." Natsu whimpered.
"You did. You convinced everyone. I thought you were fine, too, until I took a second look. You're in pain, Natsu. Let us help you."
"I'm fine." Gray looked at Natsu. His blood had soaked through the bandages. Gray didn't say anything as he strode to a sink to wash his hands. Natsu chose not to fight against receiving help, for once.
Gray bent to open a counter cabinet. He grabbed alcohol pads, bandages, salves, and a box. He precariously balanced all of these items and carried them to Natsu. Gray opened the box, which unfurled to reveal multiple shelves like a tackle box, each stuffed with assorted medicinal tools. He found a pair of medical scissors and pulled at the bandages until he could find a good place to cut.
"Just… Tell me if I get too close to the skin."
"Got it." Natsu mumbled, preparing himself for the pain he knew was coming sooner or later.
Gray steadied his hand, cutting the bandages and peeling them away until the skin was completely visible. He ripped open an alcohol packet wrapper. Gray almost did it with his teeth, before realizing that it would taste horrible and also add bacteria to the pad. The saturated cloth square swept over Natsu's bloodied side. He winced at this, but Gray made it quick. Gray then opened a jar of a green cream salve, applying it thickly and generously to the wound. He took thin, sterilized gauze and cut it into an appropriate size, then securely taped it. Gray pulled a piece of elastic cloth, like a large leg warmer, over Natsu's head. It held tightly to his body, keeping pressure along his entire waist. Gray almost laughed. It looked like a corset. Finally, he wrapped a roll of coarse cloth bandages around his entire body.
"Feel better?" Gray asked.
"Honestly? Yeah." Natsu said. He dropped his head against the pillow with a sigh. Gray began to put all the things away.
"Let me get you some food, okay? What do you want?"
"Hey, Gray?" Natsu called, his words muffled by the pillow.
"That's not an answer to my question."
"Why're you being so nice to me?" Natsu heard Gray's shuffling of objects stop. Natsu looked up for a moment, meeting Gray's eyes. He looked disappointed.
"Dude. We're friends, right?"
"I mean, well, yes! Friends! And rivals. Both." Natsu stuttered out. Gray considered this for a moment.
"Friends and rivals. Yeah. I'm going to help my friend, and I'm gonna make sure my rival can still fight me." The word rival caused something to suddenly occur to Natsu, and he changed the tone of the conversation drastically.
"Wait!" He gaped at Gray. "Wait, wait, wait! Did you beat that robber guild?"
"Yeah? What about it?" Gray realized that what had so significantly wounded Natsu had barely been a challenge for him. A giant grin spread across his face. "Oh, that's right. Those puny guys? Took out their healer and everyone else went down just as easy." Gray watched in pure glee as Natsu's face turned increasingly redder and his eyebrows pressed further down his face.
"That's not fair! I brought down their numbers, you just swooped in for the kill! I won!"
"That hole in your side says otherwise." Gray returned to putting away all of the materials.
"Hmph. You can't accept the truth, ice breath." Natsu jeered, slumping back into the pillows.
"Whatever, flamebrain. Remind me again what you wanted to eat. I'll make it. Anything you want." Natsu's eyes lit up enough to brighten the whole room, and Gray realized that giving Natsu free reign on food was a very bad idea.