Blanc ignored the man and cat clowning around and pointed at the request sheet still in Lucy's hands.
Lucy instantly dropped her affected expression, bent into a ninety-degree bow at lightning speed, and offered the request sheet with both hands raised high above her head:
"...Please take it!"
"Damn you two!"
Seeing his allies abandon him completely, Natsu sprang up from the ground and fled deeper into the woods.
"Wood Release: Binding."
The ground split open, and countless vines burst out of the soil, wrapping him from head to toe in a huge wooden cocoon with a whoosh.
"Aye!" Happy stood on Blanc's shoulder and sighed sympathetically. "Natsu, you can't get away."
Now fully dressed, Gray walked over and kicked the wooden cocoon.
"You idiot! Do you have any idea how serious an offense taking an S-class mission without permission is in the guild?!"
The wooden cocoon rolled halfway over, and Natsu forced his head through a gap in the vines with a pop. His face was red with rage, and sparks spilled from his mouth:
"Bastard! You came here too, Gray!"
"I was ordered to bring you back. I'm nothing like you lot, openly breaking guild rules."
Natsu's brain overloaded. Unable to think of what to do, he suddenly craned his neck and declared with absolute conviction:
"Listen, Blanc! We didn't sneak out to do a mission!"
"Hmm?" Blanc raised an eyebrow.
"We just happened to take a walk all the way here, then picked up an S-class mission along the way!" Natsu shouted as though his argument were airtight.
"..."
Silence fell around them once again.
Blanc's expression stiffened. For a moment, he was genuinely at a loss. How had this guy even come up with such shameless logic?
"You're amazing, Natsu!" Happy exclaimed sincerely from Blanc's shoulder.