It was late at night when Natsu awoke. The infirmary room was pitch black. He realized he couldn't see his own hand. It was an odd feeling, not being able to see what he knew was there. It took a few minutes until Natsu woke up enough to remember his injury. The moment he did, he suddenly felt pain. It wasn't horrible, certainly not as bad as it was previously. Natsu checked the bandages. He couldn't see any blood, which was good.
Natsu lit up his hand to see around him. He stood, slowly, making sure to not hurt himself any more. He took deliberate steps towards the door. The main guild hall was slightly brighter, so Natsu extinguished his flame. He saw Mira, sitting on a stool behind the bar. She was taking stock of the alcohol on a small notebook. Does Mira ever go home? Nobody else is even here.
"Hey, Mira." Natsu said, smiling. Mira looked over, matching his smile.
"Hi there, Natsu. Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Still hurts a little, but not too bad."
"That's good! I'll send Wendy to you when she gets here. Do you want to go home?"
"Nah, that's okay." Natsu wasn't sure if he could make it the entire trip home. "Do you need any help?"
"Hm… Well, could you put away these dishes? Or is that too much?"
"I can do that!" Natsu wanted to be useful, even if he was hurt. He began to pick up large stacks of plates, carrying them to cabinets where they were stored. He soon realized that he was draining himself too quickly, as decreased himself to only a few plates at a time, and at a much slower pace. Once finishing the plates, he moved onto bowls: then cups, forks, spoons, knives, and kitchen utensils.
By the time Natsu had begun putting away spoons, people had started to trickle into the guild. He smiled and spoke with the people who came up to talk to him. It was mostly questions on how he was doing, if the work was too much, when Wendy could finish patching him up. He held these pleasantries until he was done with his work. He bid Mira goodbye, filled himself a glass of water, then sat at a table on the edge of the hall.
It was around 10 a.m. when Erza and Lucy came into the guild, Erza with a large carriage of suitcases behind her. Natsu was glad to see them, before remembering how much trouble he was in with Erza before she left. Natsu saw Erza say goodbye to Lucy in her stiff, formal mannerisms. Lucy almost looked relieved. Natsu couldn't disagree. As much as he loved Erza, spending an extended amount of time alone with her would certainly be awkward.
Lucy looked around, and Natsu caught her eye. She smiled, and strode to Natsu's table.
"Hey." Greeted Natsu.
"Hi! Don't worry, Erza has forgiven you. You're not gonna die today." Natsu's shoulders sagged in relief.
"Oh, thank god! That's the last time I make that mistake. One time, when we were kids, she gave me a black eye for dropping a plate with her cake on it."
"I can totally imagine that happening." Laughed Lucy. "By the way, why are you sitting back here? And where's Happy?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you don't know! I got hurt." Natsu lifted his shirt so Lucy could see the bandages. "So I slept the night here. Happy probably went home, but I don't know. Haven't seen him yet today. I just wanted to chill out until Wendy got here to finish up healing me."
"Shit, Natsu! How bad was it?"
"I mean, it's worse than most injuries we get, but not the worst I've ever had. Some magic orb ripped open my side." Shrugged Natsu, dropping his shirt.
"To be fair, the injuries I get are never as bad as yours. You probably deserved it from jumping into a battle without thinking." Lucy observed with a chuckle. Natsu winced because, yeah, that was precisely what had happened. Instead of dignifying her with a response, Natsu sheepishly sipped from his glass of water without meeting her eyes.
"So that did happen!" Lucy laughed hard, bracing herself against the table. "You're always going to be an idiot." Natsu joined in with her laughter. He really was that predictable, huh?
Once their laughter had died down, the pair immediately jumped to gossiping about their guildmates. Unbeknownst to all besides Lucy, Lisanna, and Mira, Natsu was an avid gossiper. Lucy couldn't help but to indulge him.
"So that mission with Levy and Gajeel… Must be fun for them." Natsu said with raised brows.
"I have no idea what she sees in him." Replied Lucy straightforwardly.
"Me neither. They're polar opposites."
"The amount of times I've tried to talk her out of it is ridiculous."
"Oh, come on, Lucy. I wouldn't go that far to split them up. Sure, it's unexpected, but it's cute." Natsu added with a smirk, "Plus, Levy is a lot hornier than she looks. Gajeel might just be perfect for her." Lucy gave Natsu a playful punch in the arm.
"Natsu!" She said in joking exasperation.
"What else would they be doing out there, all alone? They didn't even bring Lily!" Lucy considered this for a moment.
"Honestly, I don't know. You might actually be right."
"See? I'm always right." Lucy rolled her eyes at Natsu's proud smile. "What was the mission, anyway?" He asked.
"Security for a rich lady's birthday party. Chances are they won't get into any action."
"You say 'rich lady' as if you aren't one."
"Not anymore, I'm not. I still need to take another mission this week so I can pay my rent. If only my dad died when he was rich so I could inherit his fortune." Lucy sighed, leaning against the back of her seat. Natsu laughed at her morbid humor.
"Don't worry, there's still hope for you. You're cute enough to marry a rich guy and strong enough to kill him for his money."
"Good idea. Do you know any rich guys?"
"If I did, I wouldn't tell you. I'm getting that money for myself." They both laughed, then smiled at each other. Natsu didn't know when it happened, but Lucy had become one of his closest friends. He really appreciated these conversations.
The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Lucy had brought out a small journal and was scribbling in it, likely continuing that novel she was so embarrassed about. Natsu was reading it in the corner of his eye. She was horrible at keeping the contents a secret, despite how much she tried.
It was about 10 minutes later when Wendy and Carla walked through the large guild doors. They were almost immediately directed to Natsu's table.
"Humph. At least give her a few minutes before draining her magic." Carla grumbled.
"It's okay, Carla! I want to help Natsu!" Said Wendy, patting the white cat on the head. She walked, meekly, to Natsu and Lucy, waving a sweet hello to both of them,
"How are you feeling, Natsu?" She asked.
"Not bad."
"That's good!" She sat in the seat next to Natsu, who promptly lifted the side of his shirt, revealing the bandages around his side.
"Oh, um… it might be best to cut off the bandages first."
"I got it." Said Lucy. She pulled one of her golden keys from her belt and summoned Cancer in a flash of light.
"Ebi!" He announced.
"Cancer, can you cut the bandages off Natsu?"
"Okay, ebi!" In mere seconds, the bandages went from tightly wound to mere shreds on the floor.
"Thanks, Cancer. That's all I needed, you can head back." Cancer disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, back into the celestial world. The wound, now visible, was a stark red gash against Natsu's bronze skin. Wendy hovered her hands over the gash, creating a magic circle over his body. Natsu and Lucy both watched as skin magically grew, mended, and left his side completely smooth. The second Wendy pulled her hands away, Natsu jumped up and tested his flexibility. No pain, whatsoever. He pulled Wendy into a quick hug.
"Thanks, Wendy! You're awesome! Lemme buy you some juice, or cake, or something!"
"Oh, no thanks, I don't need–" Natsu's words sunk in. With a shy blush, she quietly amended herself, "Well, a slice of cake doesn't sound bad."