Because Natsu actually got down on his knees and begged, Gray agreed to stall going home, and what was meant to be a three day trip dragged on for a week. Long enough that they were both broke when Natsu finally resigned himself to getting on a train again.

For as miserable as he felt, Natsu made no protest when Gray picked him up and carried him from the train station to his house. The only time he complained was when Gray set him in the hammock rather than on the couch, which made him curl around his stomach more than was comfortable.

"Should I get Wendy?" Gray asked. "Porlyusica might have something to help with nausea too."

"Wendy," Natsu said. "I want to make sure Troia still works before we go anywhere."

Seeing Natsu so clearly uncomfortable, Gray rushed out the door to find the guild's healer. It wasn't until he was at the doors of Fairy Tail that he realized Natsu was thinking of travel with the team for a job. He'd promised to get Wendy, so he did, but he felt nauseas himself asking her to go and check up on their friend.

-o-

For the next month Gray found himself taking light jobs near town. He tried never to be gone overnight, or even the whole day if possible. Such short jobs didn't pay well, and he had to take more of them, but he managed. More importantly, it let him earn back the money he spent on the beach trip while still being there every evening to walk Natsu home. On the walk they would discuss anything but the fact that Natsu was still under instruction to have an escort home. Upon reaching Natsu's house, Gray would drill it into Happy's head every night that Natsu absolutely had to have his tea. Lucy and Mira, and especially Lucy, received similar reminders to make sure he'd had some with breakfast, or to offer him a mug at lunch.

Three times Gray offered to take Natsu out to buy groceries, and once he helped Natsu go and buy a light jacket.

"For winter," Natsu had said, even though it was only fall. It took Gray longer than he was willing to admit to realize why Natsu, whose magic usually kept him warm, might want anything extra for winter. Depending on how crippled his magic really was, the jacket might not cut it.

But then Natsu would never know how long Gray puzzled over that one, because three times Juvia tagged along when they went to buy groceries, chattering on about what she and Gray should buy for a nice romantic dinner, and once she dragged Gray away while Natsu was buying a jacket so he could watch her try on different dresses.

As the days passed and Makarov continued to hold off on letting Natsu go on a job, Gray felt himself begin to relax over the idea. The less possible it looked, the better he felt.

On the flip side, the less possible it looked to Natsu, the more anxious he became. Even though he had less energy than before, he was getting restless. Two months without a fight. Without even seeing a fight outside of the bar brawls. He hardly even saw the bar brawls, in fact. Whenever one broke out, someone ushered him into a backroom just in case he might give in to the temptation to join. Of course he was getting restless.

It showed, too. His behavior grew more and more unpredictable throughout the month. His temper shortened, and his illness became a progressively touchier subject. The third story Lucy wrote him about a job that she and Erza did reduced him to tears, even though they'd only helped Sabertooth with a performance for which they didn't have enough female members.

The most erratic of his behavior, though, was around Gray. One moment he might argue that he didn't need so much help, only to turn around and lean against Gray's arm, or even ask to be carried. Whenever Gray offered to help him stand, there was a chance he would blush and look away, and Gray couldn't tell if he was angry or embarrassed with his need for such help. One night, when he brought Natsu home, the roset pulled him into the house, made dinner, and made an offhand comment about how he missed seeing Gray in the morning, which took Gray by surprise, since Natsu had hated him showing up every morning. Since it was mentioned fondly, he came the next morning anyway, and Natsu hated it.

At first Gray discounted it as helping keep Juvia from getting too touchy-feely, but the times he noticed the behavior when Juvia wasn't around began to accumulate, and when Makarov finally pulled him aside at the two month mark to ask what he thought of the current state of affairs, Gray couldn't deny the truth.

"Being restricted to town is hard on him. Riding on the train was hard on him too, but he's going stir crazy."

"Maybe it's time we let him leave, then?" Makarov thought allowed. "He's complied with everything Porlyusica's asked of him, and it feels cruel watching him sit in front of the job board and fidget. Your team hasn't worked together much lately but… would the four of you be willing to take a lighter job with him? Something safe? Just to make him feel like he's still a part of things."

Gray's stomach did a flip, and the word no blared in his mind. No. No he wasn't willing to do that at all. Natsu couldn't run and didn't take his tea when no one reminded him. The smallest bits of magic wore him down and he couldn't even keep himself as warm as he needed any more. There was nothing 'safe' for him. Not unless they took a job with no action at all, which he would hate. He wasn't well enough to still be a part of things when they took the kind of job he missed, and the last thing he needed was any more false hope in that regard.

"I'd have to ask the rest of the team," Gray choked out. It would get back to Natsu if he gave a resound no and left it at that, and Natsu would spend the whole next month at least fighting him over everything. Potentially a lot longer. Now that he no longer had regular fights to burn off any negative feelings, Natsu wasn't half as good as he used to be about letting things go.

Makarov nodded and went to ask Erza, and Gray only felt worse. Erza wanted to see Natsu back in action. Lucy wanted to see Natsu smile more. Wendy wanted to help Natsu feel better. They all wanted that, but those three wanted it more than they worried that something might go wrong. If they could all convene to talk over the possibility he might be able to persuade them it was a bad idea. Natsu couldn't be mad if he heard that his team talked it over and was still worried about his safety, but if Makarov checked with all of them individually…

If it was at all possible, Gray didn't want to let that happen. While Erza enthusiastically nodded along to what the guild master was saying, Gray got up too look for Wendy and Lucy.

-o-

"He would only watch from the sidelines, though," Lucy argued. "Part of the deal would be that he can't jump in to any fight. He knows he can't."

"Which is why we trusted him to watch from the sidelines yesterday when Gajeel and Elfman got into a fight," Gray countered.

As the one who had shoved Natsu into the kitchen and insisted that he help get lunch orders ready when the fight broke out, Lucy had no good response to that one.

Wendy, who had never taken part in excluding Natsu from rough housing, stepped up to bat.

"If you give Natsu a chance to prove he has that self-control, then maybe you could see that he does."

"Please. I practically live with him now, I spend so much time tagging along with him to see how he'll handle things," Gray said. "The only way he wouldn't join in is if he physically couldn't move his legs. And even then he might drag himself into the fray."

It was a bit of an exaggeration, recalling Natsu trying not to fall asleep on him as they walked back to the hotel. When his energy reserves ran out, he could no longer 'use tomorrow's share.' Once he was exhausted, he was exhausted, end of story. If he was too tired to move his legs, he wouldn't have it in him to drag himself. He might even tire out well before he lost leg function.

Or he might have another attack and no longer be strong enough to walk, which was why Gray was so opposed to taking Natsu along on a job. They could come up with some other trip to keep him from getting too antsy being trapped in town.

"There's a thought," Lucy said. "For as often as you go over to his house to check on him, maybe you could move in with Natsu."

"Yeah. I'm sure he'd love that." Gray rolled his eyes. "I would love it too, if he keeps acting weird. Yesterday he acted like it burned to touch me."

"And going out with all of us would help him settle down and stop acting that way," Lucy insisted.

"Or, it would give him a chance to make his condition worse. Like the last time he went on a job."

"No one knew anything was wrong with him then. He didn't realize anything was wrong."

"Yes he did." He just didn't realize it was serious.

"Well… now he knows how to be careful," Lucy said. "If you could only back off and give him a chance to prove for himself that he can manage things—"

"Then he would go a week without working on his therapy or taking the tea Porlyusica ordered him to. Like he did when you looked after him," Gray snapped.

For a second, neither girl had any idea what to say, then Lucy's face darkened and she rose to her feet. "You're never going to let that go, are you? Maybe Natsu wasn't on top of things that week because he'd just learned he couldn't fight again. Now that he's had some time to come to terms with that, he can handle things better. And if you didn't try to control him, then he probably wouldn't put up half as much of a fight whenever someone asks him to take it easier."

Struggling to keep his voice level, Gray said, "I'm not controlling him. I'm reminding him to look after himself. Because he can't remember to do that on his own."

"Why not? He's managed that for years," Lucy said. "I'm telling Master that he can come with us. Wendy, find something light for Natsu's first time back."

-x-

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