Ch. 9: Sunset Café

Sorry for taking a bit to update, I had a crazy week.

I received some unexpected news last Friday that took both my hubby & I by surprise. We had to talk for a bit about how we should handle this upcoming school year and work because of it. I should be able to update to finish this out, so do not worry too much. It will most likely be more than 10 chapters for sure.

Alright songs that inspired this chapter:

Say A lot by Moonlight Matters

Wait Another Day by Uh Huh Her

Remember all of Fairy Tail belongs to the Great Hiro Mashima

"So why'd you bring us along?" Natsu asked

"Now that I think 'bout it, why did I?" Gajeel stopped to really think about it

"Second opinion?" Gray said

"Oh yea, that's why. You guys need to help me find a tough looking cat." Gajeel said

"Why a cat? Why not a dog?" Natsu asked with his hands behind his head as they resumed walking towards the shelter.

"I don't like 'em. Too much work." Gajeel shrugged

They approached the animal shelter named Strauss Animal Veterinary and Shelter, it was one of the most popular animal shelters for well taken care strays and any injured animals. It was also the first one on the list that Levy gave Gajeel. Hopefully he could find his kitty cat here instead of having to search any other places. Apparently the second one was a bit far off which was called Mermaid Heel Animal Shelter.

"Good Afternoon!" A pretty woman with short white hair greeted them, "How can I help you guys?"

"I am lookin' for a cat to adopt" Gajeel said

"Oh great! We just received a few abandoned kittens and we also have a few older ones if you wanted to see those too."

"Yea that'll do fine." Gajeel nodded, surprised more that the clerk did not seem phased by his intimidating presence. Most people would be nervous around him.

"Alright, let me get my brother and we will get the visiting area ready with all of them, my name is Lisanna." Lisanna smiled and turned to the microphone," Hey big brother, I need you to get the petting area ready with all the felines."

"Thanks" Gajeel said

"No problem, you guys can have a seat and I will get you when the area is ready." She left from behind the counter and headed out a door to the right.

"What if I see a cat I like and you like it too?" Natsu asked out of nowhere

"Me and you are gonna fight then," Gajeel narrowed his eyes with a smirk

"Pfft like you would win, Metal face!" Natsu grinned

"You guys, we are gonna see a whole bunch of them, I doubt you guys would like the same cat." Gray drawled.

Before either could retort, the door where Lisanna entered was wide open now.

"Ok guys, you can come along, just go down the hallway and it's the large room to the right." She said as she placed the door stopper at the bottom of the door.

Natsu practically ran to the petting area. Gajeel and Gray merely sweat dropped at the idiot's action.

"Welcome! I'm Elfman and I'll be helping you guys out." A large mountain of a man greeted them and Lisanna's lack of reaction towards Gajeel made sense now. He also had white hair, but had a scar from the bottom of his right eye that went towards his chin," The kittens are over there against the wall to the left and the older cats are over to the right. Just let me know which ones you guys want to look at and I'll let them out their kennel."

"Thanks man!" Natsu grinned

"Some are already adopted but usually we let people still view them until the new owners come to pick them up, it's to get them used to people." Elfman explained

Natsu went towards Gajeel," so which ones are you gonna look at first?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, imma go look at the older ones." Gajeel huffed

Gajeel went to the right and looked at each cat, none of them seemed to really stand out to him until he got almost to the end. At first he thought the kennel was empty, but then he saw the animal move and turn around to look at who disturbed its sleep. The cat was black as coal with a white muzzle, small red eyes and what looked like a scar across it's left eye. It eyed Gajeel with intensity in an attempt to unnerve him, in hopes that the Human would leave.

Gajeel just grinned and knew he had found his kitty cat.

"Oi, I want to see this one here, big man."

"Oh wow, you want to see that one, he is a feisty one. Manly choice." Elfman said as he opened the kennel and slowly reached in to grab the cat. He then brought it to the ground and it just stretched.

"His name is Panther Lily. He was found by a girl named Coco when he was a kitten, but her grandfather prohibited her from keeping him any more. Old man kept mumbling something about cats being evil, so they brought him to us." Elfman explained

"Is that right?" Gajeel hummed. The cat stared at him again and Gajeel went to reach for him. Panther Lily tried to swipe at Gajeel's hand but Gajeel had expected it from the cat and avoided getting clawed, instead he reached for the cat's neck and lifted him," you're a sneaky one ain't ya, I'm definitely makin' you my cat, Gihihi."

"I'll let Lisanna know, she'll be happy that he will be getting adopted. He is 3 years old but a tough one that people don't warm up to easily." Elfman grinned

"What you guys think?!" Natsu shouted. Gajeel and Elfman turned to look at him and nearly wanted to facepalm at Natsu's expression. He slowly brought up a small blue kitten towards the side of his face with the biggest grin," isn't he awesome! You guys think Lucy will let me have him?"

"If you don't make that face when you try to convince her, probably." Gray snorted, he was currently petting a small green kitten who someone made a pink frog outfit for.

"Shut up Snowcone!" Natsu growled as he further hugged is new found friend

"Well if you want that one, sure you can adopt him, there is a 24-hour period if things don't work out with the cats. Except for yours," Elfman said and pointed to Gray," That one is already adopted, his new owner is coming tomorrow."

Gray frowned but handed the cat back to Elfman, he continued to look at the kennels, convinced that he must get a cat as well.

"This one is pretty cute, hmm how about that one there?" Gray pointed to a tan kitten that had dark brown spots on its fur."

"Ah that one is a Ocicat kitten, she was abandoned up front here. She was in critical condition for a while. So far she is doing real well though. She acts more like a dog though since it's in the breeds nature." Elfman said as he retrieved the kitten and placed it in Gray's hands.

The small kitten stirred and opened its eyes to look at Gray and laid back down on his lap. When Gray pet the kitten it immediately began to purr. Causing the usual blank faced man to smile.

"Man, Gray can be gross sometimes," Natsu blanched

"You're making a real creepy face, frosty," Gajeel smirked

"You guys are idiots. I'm taking this one." Gray huffed

They all secretly had somehow ended up feeling as though they needed to prove who can have the more well taken care of cat amongst them.

All three were about to head out, when all the sudden the blue kitten Natsu was holding jumped out of his arms and ran to one kennel at the bottom. It began meowing but the kitten inside didn't even stir. Natsu walked behind the kitten to look in the kennel and there was a white kitten with a pink ribbon at the end of its tail.

"Is this one adopted?" Natsu asked knowing that his new found little buddy didn't want to say goodbye to that kitten.

"Yup, the new owner should be coming in soon actually. The older brother adopted that one as a present for his sister." Elfman grinned

"Aww, sorry lil' buddie looks like I can't help ya out." Natsu pet his little kitten. The kitten seemed to have gotten the message and let Natsu pick him up and seemed to sulk on Natsu's shoulder.

They filled out paperwork and paid the small adoption fee. Luckily at the shelter they also sold pet supplies and veterinary care. So the cats had their shots up to date and now all three men had the needed supplies. Gray was the only one who bought a leash since his cat would love walks. Finally, all were done and started heading back to their places to drop off their new pets.

Gajeel arrived at home and opened the little kennel he bought with his new friend in it. The cat immediately walked out and slowly looked around. Deciding to explore the new area.

"Welcome home, Lily, it ain't much but this'll be yer new home." Gajeel said and went to prepare the litter box and bowls that would hold food and water.

'I'm going to ruin all your furniture.'

"What makes ya think I'll let ya" Gajeel looked at the cat who stopped exploring and looked up at Gajeel

'D-did the human just hear me' Panther Lily wondered

"I did, short stuff" Gajeel smirked

'How is that even possible!' Panther Lily said

"Well imma werewolf, Lily, so I can speak to other creatures. So don' go gettin' any ideas ya hear. Or yer gettin' fixed." Gajeel grinned as he went to go sit on his couch and watched his cat have a terrified expression.

'Touché. I've never met one of your kind before. Coco used to read stories during my short time with her about legends and myths. So I am familiar with your history.' Lily mentioned as he hoped on the couch next to Gajeel.

"You seem pretty mature for a cat," Gajeel said as he pet Lily," If you want more knowledge, I know of the perfect lady who can help ya with that. I can see if she don' mind having ya at her bookstore."

Just then Gajeel heard light knocking on his door. He caught the faint scent of the one he was just speaking of and went to open his door. There stood Levy with a plastic bag that seem to contain two boxed lunches.

"Hey Gajeel, Natsu and Gray came by my bookstore. They mentioned that you got a cat." Levy said

Gajeel at that moment regretted bringing those two idiots with him. Those bastards set him up!

"Well yea, come on in." Gajeel sighed and moved to allow her passage.

Levy walked in and noticed that his apartment looked rather simple, except a few metal sculptures that were around. It definitely looked cleaner than she expected.

Meow. Levy jumped at the cat who was rubbing against her calf.

"Oh! Hi there cutie." She bent down to pet Lily

"That's Panther Lily. He seems to be nicer to ya, he tried clawing my hand when I went to adopt him." Gajeel huffed

'That's because unlike you, I'm a gentleman' Panther Lily huffed

Gajeel only rolled his eyes and went to lean against the counter.

"Sounds like someone is jealous," Levy giggled and stood up," I brought you some lunch to celebrate you adopting this handsome cat."

Levy went over to the counter and opened the lunch boxes that were filled with a Curry and rice. It smelled heavenly to Gajeel.

"You didn' have to do this, Shrimp," Gajeel said as he sat on the stool in front of his lunch. A bit happy that she went and bought lunch for him.

"Well, I only did it last minute when the guys told me and I was curious in seeing what cat you would get." Levy explained as she shoved a spoonful of food in her mouth," Natsu also mentioned that you didn't want to go get lunch with them and said that maybe I could bring you some."

'That pink haired punk is so getting his ass kicked' Gajeel thought but tried to remain calm in front of Levy.

"Well I was gonna order pizza, didn' want to be with those jerks any longer." Gajeel mumbled as he began to eat.

"Hey Gajeel, can I ask you something?" Levy asked looking at him curiously

"Uh, sure." Gajeel answered still eating

"Well, I didn't get a chance to ask you the last time you visited and I was wondering…what type of creature are you?" Levy asked with a hopeful look

"Are you sure you want to know, Shrimp?" Gajeel said questioningly, he wasn't sure if she would take off if she knew. Even though she knew about Natsu, there was still a chance that she could get scared from other types of creatures.

"Yes!" Levy excitedly said

"Well, Imma werewolf." Gajeel said as he shoved another spoonful of the curry. Then he realized that Levy didn't say anything right away. When he looked back at her, she had the cutest happy face he never thought he would get to see," Ah Shrimp…. are you ok?"

"Oh-my-god! So do you transform into a huge wolf like monster? Or a giant wolf? Do you turn only on full moons? Do you randomly howl at the moon? Do you show up naked at random places after the full moon is over? Do you remember anything after you transform?" Levy shot every single question at Gajeel without pause causing him to stare at her wide eyed.

'So this is what Bunny Girl meant when Levy would question us….' Gajeel sweat dropped

"S-sorry, I can't help it. Sort of the researcher in me wanting to learn more." Levy nervously giggled," I'm sorry if that was a bit inappropriate."

"Nah, just took me by surprise, is all." Gajeel mentioned still taken aback by the small blunette," Well I don' hafta to wait for the full moon to transform, I just can do it anytime. Imma oversized wolf if anythin' but I keep my consciousness."

"Oh" Levy nodded and seemed to now be in thought while she finished her lunch. Gajeel just glanced every once in a while, as they continued eating in a comfortable silence.

'I can tell you both like each other, it's kind of cute.' Panther Lily said and noticed Gajeel glare at him knowing that he couldn't answer in front of Levy.

"So how do you become a werewolf?" Levy asked out of the blue

"Yer either born one or made into one. But it ain't like them movies, you would have to be bitten by one and drink the blood of the werewolf who bit you. All of that has to be done during a full moon, which is the only thing ya really need a full moon for." Gajeel explained," an' if ya wondering, I was born one."

"Hmm, well I definitely learned more now." Levy smiled towards Gajeel causing him to have a light blush

"Uh, Levy, do ya wanna have lunch again tomorrow?" Gajeel blurted out

'Smooth, Gajeel.' Panther Lily said, but came out as a drawled meow

Levy stared at him with widen eyes, caught off guard from his unexpected question. Gajeel started to feel a bit of panic not realizing that he just told her about what type of creature he was, for all he knew she may not even want anything to do with him after today.

"Yes! I would love to." Levy answered shyly with a blush. In all honesty she was the one who thought he wouldn't want to see her because she was just a regular weak human. She had always been teased for being petite and not strong. For Gajeel to actually want to spend more time with her, made her incredibly happy.

"Great, Are ya headin' back to work?" Gajeel said, relieved that she said yes to his offer of lunch.

"Yea, I still need to finish packing some more deliveries." Levy sighed, not really wanting to go back.

"I'll walk ya over there then, I don' hafta do much today at work." Gajeel mentioned

"Okay, I would like that." Levy smiled and got off the stool

'Make sure you open the door for her.' Lily smirked

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the irritating cat and opened the door for Levy as they both headed out.

'Him and I will definitely get along just fine. I'm glad he was the one who adopted me.' Lily smiled as he laid near the window soaking in the rays of warm sunlight.

Lucy sat at her writing desk staring out the window thinking about how to properly write the next chapter to her novel. It was about a quarter done and she couldn't figure out how it should play out. She then heard the front door open and figured it was Natsu. Natsu was called by Gajeel earlier that morning to come help him with something.

"Natsu?" Lucy called

"Hi Lucy!" Natsu shouted a bit nervously

Lucy would never tell Natsu, but she was a bit relieved Gajeel had called. She loved Natsu but he was a pain in the butt when all he did was try to sneak a peek at her novel, that he was hungry or ask for 'meal time'. Lucy would have to yell at him that Levy had dibs on reading it first, she had no problem with making him food, but for the latter she asked for at least a one to two-day break. He also started working at the Craft store that his brother's owned, so it would give her a chance to relax and focus on her novel.

Lucy got up from her desk, not before she hid her work in her drawer and locked it. She walked into the living room and stopped suddenly when she saw a small blue kitten with a red ribbon around it sitting on her couch. It stared back at her with curious eyes. She got startled when it meowed but what was odd, the sound it made sounded like it said 'Aye'.

"Natsu!" Lucy yelled

"Yea," Natsu peaked from behind the couch.

"Why is there a blue cat sitting on the couch," Lucy crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor.

"Well…Gajeel wanted help on picking a cat, then I saw this lil' guy and I couldn't help it, Lucy. Look at him." Natsu explained as he still was hiding behind the couch.

Lucy heavily sighed and went over to pick up the kitten. She cradled the small kitten in her arms and it began to rub its small face against her. Lucy couldn't help but think that the odd colored cat was sort of cute.

"Did you name it?" Lucy asked.

Natsu stood up and sighed in relief," Well I thought to name him Happy, since he seems like a cheerful kitten and did you hear his meow? I think it's so awesome!"

Lucy giggled," Well Happy, looks like you'll be staying with us, don't go being a bad kitten."

"Hell Yea! Thanks Lucy!" Natsu grinned and hugged his favorite woman and cat.

Aye

So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to leave a review. I always welcome it, even the "Update" ones lol.

For Gray's cat, during the tartaros arc, Juvia and Gray were riding a feline mount. I used that as the reference of the Ocicat he ended up adopting.

I always imagine Elfman and Lisanna being great animal care employees. Especially Elfman since he always seemed the teddy bear type too.

Also I find it possible for a cat to make strange sounds. My cat Kuki barks/yaps like a dog and howls when she wants your attention. My husband's cat Zannah cackles when she is annoyed or plotting, she even sheds tears when she is upset or scared. There was a time they were both pissed at us for putting them at a Pet Hotel for 4 days, they wouldn't even look at us.