The boys slept deeply. They hardly changed positions across the entire night. Despite this, Gray had managed to remove his shirt both while sleeping and also with another man wrapped around him. Natsu's head had remained between Gray's head and shoulder for many hours and caused a crick to form in both of their necks. Additionally, Natsu's ear, having been pressed into the side of his head, was red and sore.

They woke with a start as Erza pounded on their hotel door.

"Good lord…" Natsu mumbled, his breath on Gray's neck.

"Mmrhm…" Gray garbled in response.

"Natsu! Gray! Open this door!" Erza yelled from outside their room.

"Yes, ma'am…" Natsu pulled himself off Gray and rolled out of bed. He stumbled towards the door, head slumped and rubbing the side of his neck. He fumbled with the handle before finally creaking open the door to reveal a serious looking Erza.

"What's going on?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"Get dressed. We have to contact the master."

"Why?"

Erza turned on her heel and returned to her room. Natsu sighed loudly.

"Gray, get up."

"Mm!" ("No!")

Natsu half-turned towards the bed. "C'mon, you idiot. Get up."

"Phmk uoo." ("Fuck you.")

Natsu stalked back to the edge of the bed. He ripped the covers off of Gray and grabbed his ankle. He activated his magic a little and sent waves of heat into Gray's body.

"Wah! No!" he cried, flopping around the mattress.

"Get up!"

"No!"

Natsu pulled on the ankle he was holding. Gray clenched onto the mattress in a feeble attempt to keep himself on the bed. However, in his sleepy stupor, Natsu easily managed to toss him. Gray thudded against the wooden floor with a grunt.

"Asshole," he grunted, but he got up.

"Get some clothes on."

"I will not." Gray pushed Natsu towards the door. "I'm up, so let's go."

"I'm not dressed!"

"You're dressed enough, sweetheart, c'mon."

"I'm not dressed at all!"

"I see shorts, I see a shirt; you're dressed."

"They're so ratty!"

"Shush and go!" Gray continued to push Natsu. Natsu dug his heels into the floor, "Let me change, brush my hair, anything!"

Gray ignored him and pushed Natsu all the way out the door and into Erza and Lucy's room.

"Arrival!" he announced.

Erza barely looked over. "The communications lacrima is set up over here."

Gray pushed Natsu towards the lacrima and parked him in front of it. Natsu crossed his arms stubbornly. Happy picked himself off from one of the beds and landed in Natsu's lap.

"Who are we calling?" Gray asked, sitting down beside Natsu.

"Where's Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"We're calling the Master. Lucy is in the bathroom." Erza answered robotically.

"Why do we have to call the Master? I thought the job was over," Gray thought aloud, looking up at Erza.

Erza did not answer, but Lucy came out of the bathroom before Gray could question her again.

"Hey guys," she greeted. She curled up next to Natsu. "How did you guys sleep?"

"Well, but my neck hurts." Natsu made space for Lucy.

"Same here," Gray said, watching the pair closely. Natsu noticed this and glared at Gray for a moment, discouraging him. He looked away and rubbed his jaw in embarrassment. Lucy and Happy remained oblivious to their interaction.

Erza stalked in front of them to turn on the Lacrima. She was acting unusually cold.

The orb began to flicker with green light until an image of the guild hall solidified. Their guildmates milled about the limited view the group had, sitting at tables, eating, talking, doing whatever. It wasn't long before Mira's happy face popped into frame.

"What's up, guys?" She asked, perky as ever.

Erza spoke for the group. "I need to alert the Master that—"

"Hold on, he's right over here." Mira leaned back from the lacrima and looked off to the side. "Master, Erza wants to speak with you."

Mira moved to the side to allow for both her and Makarov to fit in the frame. Makarov did not appear to be entirely sober. "Why, hello children!" he greeted them.

"I do not know if you got it, but I sent a letter to inform you that we had completed our mission."

"Yes, I saw it."

"The situation has changed. We have more work to do here."

"Wait, what?" Natsu yelled. "I thought we'd finished it!"

"Another attack happened last night. Fati rushed to tell me at the crack of dawn."

"Another ship was attacked?" Lucy jumped.

"No…"

"No?" Gray asked.

"A few vacation homes on a remote island were destroyed. The appearance of the damage reflected that of the beast we reported."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Natsu asked.

"I did not wish to explain it multiple times."

Natsu muttered petulantly, "You could've at least told us to wait or something."

"I'm sorry, Natsu, but you got it eventually."

Makarov chimed in. "Do you know how much longer it will take? It's already been, let's see…"

"Three days," Happy supplied.

"Four, if you count today," Gray added.

"Oh yeah, four!"

"Have we really been here that long?" Lucy sighed and rubbed her arm.

Happy recounted the days on his fingers. "We were on the train for a day, the next day we were on the ship, then we came back yesterday, then today."

"It went by so quickly!"

"Not really," Natsu said, "It took, like, 152 pages to get this far."

"What?"

"What?"

"I don't want you gone too long," Makarov brought them back to the conversation at hand.

"We're not sure how long it will take. Maybe another few days of work, then half a day of travel on top of that," Erza said.

Gray muttered to himself, "If that beast wasn't it, then what's causing the attacks?"

"It sounds like the beast is still behind the attacks, but maybe without the man's direction," Lucy responded.

"How could it have been summoned without the man?"

"Maybe he can do it remotely."

"He can summon it remotely, but can't control it remotely? That seems weird."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure you kids will be just fine," Makarov said. Good luck."

"Good luck, guys!" Mira repeated. Everyone waved at the lacrima. She briefly held her hand up to the screen to turn off the connection. The image froze before the magic faded into blankness.

Erza stepped back from the lacrima. "That's that."

"So, what now?" Natsu ruffled his unbrushed hair.

"I'm… not sure."

"Do we do the same as last time?" Lucy suggested. "Y'know: get a boat, try to bait it."

"Fati said the ship we used needed to be repaired before it could be used again."

"It's a shipping town, they've got to have more boats," Gray scoffed.

"You forget that they were all being destroyed prior to our arrival."

"It didn't even attack a ship last," Happy added.

"True," Lucy thought through it again. "It was probably being ordered to attack ships. If it's not being ordered, then it might just be attacking anything now."

"I wouldn't be fooled by the same trick twice," Happy said proudly. Natsu laughed to himself, obviously in disbelief.

"We know where it was last," Gray reasoned, "It shouldn't be too hard to find where it went next."

"Fati said she was trying to keep a location on it but failed," Erza clarified. "It moves very fast, apparently."

"She's not a wizard."

"What difference does that make? We don't have any tracker wizards with us, anyhow."

"Still, can't we try? I don't have any other ideas."

"We don't have to do anything right now. I believe the best course of action is to wait until Fati has something new for us."

"We don't know how long that might take!"

"Correct."

Erza's blunt answer coldly ended their discussion. Gray crossed his arms in annoyance but didn't push any further. If she didn't want him to do anything, then he'd accept the paid leave and just rest. Still, he couldn't help but feel that they were throwing the mission somehow. Gray glanced over to Natsu. His expression conveyed a similar thought process: reluctant acceptance.

"Okay, Erza," Gray finished.

"Okay?"

"I'll wait."

"Good." Erza stepped towards the doorway. "I'm going to speak with Fati. Do whatever, just be back by night." Erza left the room. Her sabatons and greaves clanked against each other all the way down the hall.

The four remaining in the room waited until they couldn't hear her footsteps anymore. They shared a particular look, but Happy was the first to vocalize their feelings.

"Was Erza mad about something?" he asked quietly.

"It kinda sounded like it," Natsu affirmed.

Lucy rubbed her brow. "I think she was really excited to go home."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure, I just picked up some vague references to something waiting at home. I don't know what."

"That's odd. She usually loves missions," Gray thought aloud.

"She must like whatever it is at home more than missions," Natsu said.

"Whatever it is, or… whoever it is," Lucy giggled, a conspiratorial note to her voice.

"'Whoever'?" Natsu repeated. "Lucy, there has been exactly one man in Erza's entire love life." He raised one hand in innocence. "Now, I'm not saying that's why she wanted to be home; but if it is because of a person, it would be Jellal."

"Damn, I was just saying that maybe she wanted to be with a friend," Lucy laughed.

"No the hell you were not!"

"Maybe I was!"

Gray rolled his eyes at them. "Guys, who the fuck cares?"

"We do!" they said in unison.

"You two are weird," he snorted. Gray met eyes with Natsu and said pointedly, "Anyway, what are we going to do with our free time?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "I would have fun exploring the city more."

"I want to see the nightlife." Lucy interjected. "I haven't had a good reason to dress up in too long."

Natsu cringed. "Like, nightclubs? Hell no!"

"I know what you mean, Natsu, but the few I've been to were actually pretty fun." Gray shifted to face the pair, making a triangle formation.

"I can't go to those!" Happy said.

"You could… honestly it wouldn't be that hard to get you in," Lucy said.

"I didn't know you went to clubs, Gray," Natsu realized, trying to spark a conversation about it.

Gray shrugged. There wasn't much to tell. "A few. One of my friends would go, invite me, and I'd accept."

"What are they like?"

"Dark and loud."

"That doesn't sound fun."

"It can be fun, but it's also very easy to be unfun."

"Maybe we shouldn't do one, then…" Natsu trailed off.

"Aw, come on!" Lucy egged him on. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

"Both Happy and I cannot handle loud noises," Natsu pointed out.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, nodding.

"We don't have to go out partying," Gray said.

"No!" Lucy wailed, "I wanna go!"

Gray fully ignored her. "I'm sure there's an upscale restaurant around. A concert, parade, festival, something like that, too."

Natsu chuckled, but likewise ignored Lucy. "Sure! How does that sound, Happy?"

"Good!" he smiled.

"Alright. I'm going to get ready." Natsu chuckled again. "Good luck with the nightlife, Lucy."

"Girls would have been absolutely over you," she said remorsefully.

Natsu and Gray met eyes. "I wouldn't have liked that."

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

Gray smiled secretively to himself.

Natsu stood, adjusting Happy from his lap to his arms. He waved a temporary goodbye and left the girls' room in favor of his own. He didn't have that long to choose his outfit, and he was going to use every possible second.