Natsu did not know what time it was when he woke up. He thought briefly about how weird it was that Fati hadn't come to pick them up yet. As his vision focused, he realized that most of the ice encapsulation had dissipated. Only small sheets of dark ice survived, coating the corners of the room. Happy was awake, sitting on one of the desks and eating a leftover fish from last night's feast.
Happy noticed Natsu stirring. "Good morning, Natsu." He said cheerily. Natsu gave a groggy greeting in return. He rolled out of bed, falling right onto the ground with a muffled groan. Nothing like a broken nose to get you out of bed in the morning!
Natsu wasn't awake enough to get off the ground, so he simply crawled. He moved slowly to the bathroom, closing the door behind him with his foot. Upon reaching the toilet, he realized that it wouldn't work properly should he remain on the floor. Annoyed, Natsu dragged himself upright using the sink counter. He did all he needed to do within a few minutes.
Natsu felt significantly more awake as he left the bathroom. Happy was unchanged, still eating, but he saw Gray sitting up in bed. They acknowledged each other with a terse nod. Gray went into the bathroom after him. Natsu tried not to look too hard, considering Gray's complete nakedness. How did that happen while they were sleeping? He swore Gray was wearing pants last night. Natsu wasn't completely decent, either; he was only wearing a pair of little, worn, cloth shorts. They were shorter than his boxers, so his underwear stuck out a solid inch and a half past the hem of his shorts. His hair was messy, more than usual, and the red imprint lines of the rumpled sheets hadn't yet faded from his stomach.
Natsu heard the shower running, so he decided to get dressed while Gray was out of the room. He figured he would have to fight during the mission later, so he chose his typical work outfit. The hotel minifridge was nearly bursting with food and Natsu had no problem finding something to eat. He settled next to Happy to eat alongside him.
It took approximately fifteen minutes for Gray to finish showering. By this point, both Natsu and Happy were done eating, and were leisurely chatting with each other.
"Have Lucy or Erza come in yet, today?" Gray asked.
"No, and I don't know why." Happy replied. "Fati said she'd be coming today with the decoy ship."
"Gray, do you mind putting on some clothes? A towel, at least?" Natsu added, his eyes averted, staring hard at the floor as if he might find something there.
Gray looked down, just now realizing that he really was naked. "Oh." He said, simply. He turned sharply, back into the bathroom.
"You didn't have to do that, Natsu! It's not like it would've been the first time he's been naked around us. Far from it, actually." Laughed Happy.
"I'm not speaking about business with a naked man."
Gray returned to the room, a towel wrapped around his waist. "So, what's the deal? What are we doing?"
"Get ready. I'm gonna go check on Erza and Lucy." Natsu said, already turning towards the door. He left and closed it with a solid slick.
Outside, Natsu knocked on Erza and Lucy's hotel door. Once, twice, thrice. No response. He thought about just breaking the damn thing down before, uncharacteristically, realizing how bad of an idea that was. With a sigh, he pounded loudly on the door. He pressed the side of his head against the smooth wood, listening intently for any signs of activity. He heard nothing. All his investigative work led him to believe that, truly, the girls had left without them.
He went back to his own room, angry. Instead of the door clicking behind him, it slammed. Happy jumped at the sound.
"They ditched us." Natsu announced.
"Are you sure? They could just be out for a bit." Gray asked calmly.
"Why would they go out?" Natsu said sharply. He threw himself down into a sofa chair next to the window with an exasperated sigh. "Dunno why they even forced us along if they weren't going to take us with." He muttered.
Gray rolled his eyes at Natsu's petty, juvenile behavior. "Happy, c'mere. Go out and find them, please. At least to shut Natsu up." He requested. Happy complied with a nod, flying past Natsu and out the window. Gray watched as Happy's body grew smaller and smaller, until he was simply a dark blue dot across a light blue sky.
Natsu didn't seem to want to talk, so Gray chose to continue looking out the window. The weather looked nice, only a few wispy white clouds broke up the great expanse of the sky. The now-open window allowed a cool sea breeze to waft into their room. To be honest, it didn't smell great, like most oceanside cities. It wasn't horrid, but it wasn't entirely pleasant, either. Oceans hold a particular scent, typically due to their mass amounts of decaying matter and high salinity levels, factors which are not found in most other areas of Earth. The large population of the city didn't help the smell, either. At least the breeze felt nice across Gray's face.
He couldn't see the ocean from their window, but there was a nice park connected to the hotel. A tan dirt trail cut and winded through the green. A few large trees spotted across the open lawn, but most of the space was taken up by flower beds and small nursery trees. Gray thought it might be fun to walk through later. Not if that idiot continued to sulk over not being able to fight.
Gray turned from the window, settling onto the bed. He resigned himself to wait until Happy returned. He looked at Natsu in the corner of his eye. He was leaned back in the sofa chair, arms crossed and his eyes closed. God, this boy could overreact. Gray put his head in his hands, grumbling and scrubbing his face. Natsu looked at him curiously.
"Natsu." Gray said sternly. He met Natsu's eyes. "Do you wanna go explore the city?"
Natsu looked shocked for a split second before considering Gray's offer. "Are you trying to trick me?"
"Sadly, no."
Natsu seemed convinced. "Then, sure."