Missing!
Ch 1
A story about Levy's cats… and the guy who returned one of them. I know there's a lot of exposition but enjoy, and please keep an eye out for updates.
Levy McGarden had several things she loved in life.
Books, obviously. She could spend hours in the library or bookstore, getting absorbed into book after book. Her apartment was crammed full of them.
Tea and coffee – she loved her caffeine. She liked black tea, green tea, herbal tea, fruit tea, white tea, red tea, chai tea. She liked dark roast, light roast, cappuccino, espresso, lattes, mochas, and coffee from all over the world. And her favorite place to get it was Lily's Café.
And, finally, her cats. A 2 years earlier, she had found a tiny blue kitten – the exact same color as her own hair, strangely – abandoned in the rain in an alleyway that she passed by on her way back from the Café, mewling pitifully, its ribs showing through its dirty, matted coat. She had taken it straight to the local animal shelter to check if the poor cat had a microchip. It didn't. So she cleaned the kitten up – carefully cut out the mats, washed the dirt out, paid for shots at the shelter – and brought the kitten, who they discovered was a girl, home with her. She and her friends named the kitten Gail.
A year later, the blue cat – now larger, but still tiny – was well fed and groomed, and very adventurous. No matter how hard Levy tried to keep Gail inside, the tiny blue cat would squeeze out and go exploring. One day, as Levy was cooking, she heard a terrible screeching sound from the sidewalk and ran outside in a panic, almost crying at what she saw. Gail had been driven into a corner by the neighbor's aggressive rottweiler – a dog heavier than levy herself – and was trapped against a high stone wall, shrieking in fear as the giant dog advanced, snarling.
Before Levy could even move, however, a large black blur launched dropped down on the dog from the top of the wall. The blur – which was actually another cat – wrestled with the dog as levy looked on in shock. The mysterious cat kept scratching and yowling in rage at the dog, despite getting bitten several times, until the dog finally turned tail and ran, yelping.
Now that the black cat was still, Levy could see that it was a large, long haired cat with dirty, tangled fur, scars all over, and several fresh bites from the altercation with the dog. The cat's eyes were narrowed and lips pulled back into a snarl. All in all, it was an impressively scary cat, though obviously a stray. Levy was so busy staring at the black cat that she didn't even see Gail stand up from where she was crouched and approach the stray. As soon as Levy noticed, she was terrified that this cat would attack her baby too – but her fears were unfounded. The moment Gail pushed her head against the larger cat's flank, the cat's face softened, and it bent to lick the top of Gail's head.
Levy thought her heart was about to melt. The book lover in her was going insane over the sheer adorable-ness. A rough-and-tumble bad boy protects the tiny, weak girl he has a soft spot for and has come to love!~ The sound of a pained hiss suddenly snapped her out of her daydream, and she looked over at the black cat – only to discover that it had a huge bite on its back leg! Without another thought, Levy scooped up the black cat and carried her protesting bundle off to the animal shelter for a repeat of the events of a year before. She named the large male cat Jeel.
Fast forward to present day…
Levy was in a conundrum. It was the day of their monthly movie all-nighter – something which required massive amounts of snacks, caffeine, and, in one person's case, booze. Everyone had a job: Lucy brought the movies (Pitch Perfect, Sherlock, 300, and Aladdin), Juvia brought soda (Sprite, Fanta, and Dr Pepper), Mira and Lisanna brought salty snacks (Sour cream & onion potato chips, Doritos, and Chex Mix), erza brought the sweet snacks (Strawberry cake, Strawberry fields ice cream, and strawberries & white chocolate cookies), and Cana brought the popcorn (and alcohol for herself, of course). Levy's job had 2 parts. Part 1: provide the house and tv. Check. Part 2: provide everyone with the hot, caffeinated drinks she adores so much. Everyone was in the house, the movies were queued up to play, everyone was in their pajamas, the hot water was ready… there was just one problem.
She had no drinks
No coffee beans, no tea bags, no loose tea leave, nothing. Not even instant coffee.
NOTHING.
She stood in frozen silence staring at her empty cabinet. I know I haven't been shopping in a while but…
"Levyyyyyy~ where's our caffeeeeeeine~!" Cana called from her spot of the floor in the other room.
When they received no response. Erza frowned and set down Gail from where she had been trying to balance the smaller cat on top of the sleeping Jeel. Standing up, she walked into the kitchen, and poked the frozen Levy's shoulder. "Something wrong?" she asked, worried.
Levy slowly turned her head, towards Erza, eyes wide open. She whispered, too quietly to hear. Confused, Erza bent down to listen.
Levy took a deep breath.
"IT'S ALL GOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE" she shrieked, practically busting Erza's eardrums and startling the cats, who fled. She dashed out of the house, grabbing her wallet, and was gone. Leaving the door hanging open behind her.
As Erza tried to determine if her ears would ever work again, Lucy turned to the others with wide eyes.
"What just happened?"
Cana casually took a swig from her flask and shrugged.
"I guess she's gonna go buy more drinks."
No one saw the tiny blue cat slip out the front door and off into the night.