This takes place in Eien-ni-Touko's YinYang!-verse. Where the Tartaros arc never happened, but the guild and all its demons still exist.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Over the course of his relationship with Lucy Heartfilia, Jackal had suffered many an indignity courtesy of Lucy's friends, teammates, extended family, and from Lucy herself.

Specifically, towards his tail.

Sometimes his ears. Or spots.

But mostly the tail.

Jackal didn't understand what everyone's fascination was with the thing. It was just an extension of his spinal column, really. It wasn't even a prehensile tail. And furthermore… it wasn't like he was the only anthropomorphic individual around. Pantherlily (and to a lesser extent the other Exceeds) counted, right?

So why Jackal's tail in particular?

Was it because it was yellow?

Was it because it was so darn fluffy?

Or was it due to the person it was attached to?

Seriously though, that thing had been through hell and back. Literally. What could one little guild full of Fairies do to it?

Apparently a lot.

There was the time Lucy sat on it. Jackal's fur had abruptly stood at attention, an undignified yowl unbefitting a great demon of Tartaros erupting from his throat. Although Lucy had apologized profusely, it had taken some time for the fur to stand down and his goose flesh to fade.

Once, Lucy fell asleep on it, too. Which was worse in the end. By the time Jackal had awoken, it was completely numb from the circulation having been cut off. There was nothing quite like the raging pins and needles that accompanied the return of the blood flow to the appendage. Lucy had found all the wincing and flinches hilarious. Jackal disagreed.

Then there was the day Natsu tried to set it on fire. And Jackal had discovered that his fur was, indeed, flammable. He'd had a bald spot for weeks thanks to that little incident.

Erza had decided, one day, that she'd had quite enough of the Bomb-Curse demon and that he needed to be dragged on a disciplinary mission. By his lustrous, beautiful tail. On said mission, a giant crab had caught it within its pincers. The only reason the tail was still firmly attached to Jackal's rear was due in large part to Lamy and the fact that Jackal was a fairly sturdy demon to begin with. That hadn't stopped the searing agony, however.

Jackal awoken after a nap at Fairy Tail's guild hall, only to discover that, while he was slumbering, someone had tied a bow around his tail. That wasn't all, however. This mysterious, soon-to-be-dead individual had also drawn spots reminiscent of the ones on his face all over his body. Then they had painted his toe claws – radioactive green. The final straw, however, came in the form of whiskers doodled upon his face.

Jackal wasn't even going to go into all the times his tail had been stepped on, slammed in a door, or just plain grabbed.

This was abuse. Pure and simple abuse. And they were all extremely lucky he liked Lucy because otherwise he would have blown them all to smithereens eons ago.

When he finally asked Lucy about it, she peered at him like he had grown a second set of (admittedly rather soft) ears.

"It's because you swish it like a cat."

He stared at her, at a loss for words. "What?"

Lucy shrugged helplessly. "It's adorable. Whenever you feel a strong emotion, you do it. Like right now," she pointed out.

Jackal's tail stilled as he realized that she was right. He'd been whipping it back and forth. "I'm not a cat!" he growled. "I'm a Jackal, obviously! Part of the canine family!"

Skeptical, Lucy snorted. "I thought dogs wagged their tails when they were happy. But you do it in annoyance. Look at your ears! And spots! You are clearly a cat demon, hun."

"I am not!" Jackal continued to protest, to no avail.

"Right," his girlfriend responded. "And your tail is swishing again because….?"

Grabbing his tail, Jackal held the rebellious appendage immobile. "I am not a cat," the demon insisted.

Lucy leaned forward, an impish smile on her face. "Well, I like your tail. And your spots. And your ears," she teased, kissing him on the nose. "Your adorable little kitty nose, too."

"I am not a cat!"

He was adding this to the list of insults against his person. He was.