Gray, in heavy contrast to Natsu, woke up a little past noon. He completed his morning routine: brushing his teeth, showering, getting dressed, then making breakfast. Nothing large, since Gray didn't like eating much in the mornings. Well, it was the afternoon, but the point still stands.
Gray was debating whether to go to the guild or relax in his apartment for the day when he heard loud banging on his door. If that was who he thought it was, someone was going to get seriously hurt. Sadly, it was. Gray opened the door to reveal Natsu, Happy, Erza, Lucy, and Loke all standing outside. He immediately slammed the door shut.
"Hey! Asshole! Don't you slam the door on us!" Natsu yelled, muffled by the walls. He waited a moment before delivering his threat. "If you don't open this door, I'm gonna break it open!"
Gray groaned. He opened the door, just because he knew Natsu would very well make true to his promise.
"Shut up, flame breath! You're going to get me a noise complaint."
"It got you to open the door."
"What the hell do you all want from me?" Gray growled. This time, Erza answered.
"We're all going on a mission together, and that's final."
"I don't want to. I'm tired." Gray said this in a stroke of bravery, or possibly suicidality, but immediately relented upon seeing the murderous look in Erza's eyes. "O-Okay Erza, I'll come. Give me a second to grab my things."
"Good."
Gray shuffled around his home, putting clothes, his toothbrush, and a water canteen into his mission bag. He was taking a final look around his home when he was grabbed and lifted by the collar of his shirt. He yelled in shock.
"Erza? What the hell?"
Erza knocked Gray on the head, hard. He immediately passed out. All of the group, besides Erza, winced in shared pain.
"That's… harsh." Loke grimaced. Erza hoisted Gray, entirely limp, over her shoulder.
"Let's move." She ordered. They went down the apartment stairs until they reached the outside.
"Uh, Erza? What's the mission, anyway?" Natsu nervously asked.
"You chose to go on a mission without knowing what it was? Don't you know how reckless that is?" Erza demanded.
"You kind of… just grabbed me. And pulled me with you."
"Same here." Sighed Lucy. "Loke came through his gate because he thought I was in danger."
"Of course, I'm here to protect my beautiful princess!"
"And he refuses to leave." Lucy grumbled. Happy snickered at her.
"Oh." Erza looked embarrassed. "We're going to the coast to investigate a slew of missing ships. The villagers say that a giant sea creature is destroying ships when they're docked, so the city isn't allowing any citizens to enter the waters."
"Wait, BOATS?" Natsu shouted. "Please tell me we're going to swim there!"
"Don't be silly. We are taking a train to the city, then borrowing a small boat to find the supposed monster. You'll be just fine."
As Natsu began to wail and complain, Erza realized that she would have to physically drag two boys towards this mission.