"Natsu works at an animal shelter and Lucy comes in looking for a puppy and ends up getting Plue? idk it's not much but I'm sure you could make it into something"
Lucy hummed with joy as the overhead bell jingled, signaling her entrance. She came to the shelter at least once every two weeks. Her father had never allowed pets, no matter how hard she had begged. So, she would come here to play with the animals instead. She had wanted nothing more than a companion to keep the loneliness at bay.
And finally, she was getting one.
She'd searched high and low for an apartment that allowed pets and after a month, she'd finally found one. The rent was cheap, too.
"Hi there, Lucy!" Mira waved before turning back to a grumpy blonde with a scar over his eye. Halfway through a sentence, he paused. His eyes cut towards Lucy and she quickly turned away, cursing herself for staring. She knew better than that.
She scrawled her name on the sign-in sheet and sanitized her hands, immediately rounding the counter and heading for the back room.
She peeked through windows of the rooms along the way. She nearly took a moment to go play with the cats, but stopped herself just as her hand was reaching for the knob.
At first, she had decided on just getting a small dog, since a large dog wouldn't work in her small living space. She quickly changed her mind. She wanted, no, she needed, a puppy.
She peered inside the window on the door, making sure none of the dogs were preparing to make an escape.
She didn't see any dogs when she looked down. She did, however, see a head of untamed pink hair. She huffed out a sigh. Out of all the places, why would someone sit against the door?
She knocked on the glass and the man's head shot up and she caught a glimpse of his face.
Her heart thudded.
How could a guy with pink hair be so damned good looking? He quickly scooted out of the way, giving her room to open the door.
"Hey!" He greeted. He had a puppy in his hands and he laid on the floor, placing it on his stomach. As soon as his back hit the tile, three more of the dogs rushed towards him, attacking his face with licks and nips.
He laughed, murmuring half-serious protests, turning his face this way and that.
Lucy could feel the heat in her cheeks.
This guy had just become ten times more attractive in less than thirty seconds. Even more so when he wiggled, causing his shirt to rise just enough for her to see that his jeans were slung low on his hips, giving her a nice view of his tanned skin.
Sweet Mavis.
When he rolled away from one of the puppies, laughing as it jumped towards him, she caught sight of the lettering across his chest.
Magnolia Animal Shelter
"Do you work here?"
He nodded, stifling the last bit of his laughter. "Yeah, did you need help with something?"
"I was actually hoping to adopt one of them." She gestured towards the puppies. Two of them had stumbled across a rope toy and were now playing tug of war, jerking their tiny bodies back and forth.
"You came to the right guy." He grinned.
He introduced himself as Natsu, then proceeded to call her Luigi three times in a row, ignoring her irritated corrections.
Lucy listened as he told her about each and every one of the puppies. Some of them were from bought in after a client's dog had given birth and she'd been unable to take care of them. Others had been born in the shelter. He spoke with a smile on his face and she could tell that he loved working there. It was odd that she had never seen him before.
"What about him?" Lucy pointed at the small dog in the corner. It was resting in one of the dog beds, though it wasn't asleep. Natsu went and snagged him before sitting back down on the floor. Even from where she sat, Lucy could see the dog shaking. When Natsu set him on the ground, the white dog stumbled towards her awkwardly, almost as if walking was a something it had never tried before. Lucy squealed in delight. He was the cutest thing!
"Ah, Mira found him, actually. She said he was just wondering down the street with no tags. We put up signs, but no one claimed him."
Lucy frowned cradling the puppy in her arms. He whined quietly.
"What's his name?"
"He doesn't have one yet."
Lucy hummed in disappointment.
Then she perked up.
"That just means I get to name you!" The thought for a moment, staring long and hard at the small dog. "Oh, I know! How about Plue?" She grinned, clearly satisfied with her choice.
Natsu scratched his head, making a face. "Plue?"
"I think it's just the cutest name ever!" Lucy hugged Plue closer to her chest.
Natsu raised a brow, but he was happy for her all the same.
Twenty minutes later, Natsu held onto Plue while she filled out all the right paperwork. She had just signed her name on the last document when Natsu spoke up.
"So, do you have everything you need for him?"
Lucy blanched. In her excitement, she had forgotten to pick up anything! She groaned. She wasn't even really sure what all he needed.
Natsu chuckled at her expression. "Well, I get off in an hour, so I guess I could help you out."
Though she hadn't asked for his help, she nodded her thanks.
And year later they found out that Natsu's cat Happy, who generally hissed at every dog he saw, was perfectly fine sharing his space with Plue.