Gajeel groaned as Juvia came to a stop in front of the pet store.

"Come on, Gajeel! Look, they have puppies!" Juvia squealed and ran inside. Gajeel rolled his eyes at her excitement. He had nothing better to do today so when Juvia asked him to accompany her while she did some errands he agreed.

Gajeel followed her in and headed toward the direction of her squeals. He found her in the adoption center, strangling a puppy to her chest.

"GAJEEL, LOOK HOW CUTE! JUVIA WANTS TO ADOPT THEM ALL!" She cried, squeezing the poor pup.

After she was done smothering the puppies, Juvia grabbed Gajeel's arm and dragged him to cat adoption center.

He stood beside her as she determinedly pet each kitty. He eyed them over, disinterestedly. He stepped away, ready to wander around the shop when something caught his eye a few stalls over. Sulking in the corner of his tiny home was a dark gray kitten with a scar over its eye. Gajeel walked over and squat down. He stuck a finger through the bars and stroked his little head. Immediately, the kitten started to purr.

"Wow, he likes you." a voice said from behind him.

Gajeel half turned to look at the source.

A girl with bright blue hair beamed down at him. Her name tag read Levy. Gajeel noticed that she was quite… short. She wasn't much taller than his kneeled height.

"That's Pantherlilly," she said crouching down next to him. "I'm surprised he's letting you pet him. He's been really antisocial to all the other cats and has been scratching us workers."

She smiled at him and Gajeel's heart definitely did not stutter a bit at it's brightness.

"He seems to likes you, though! He's even purring! That's the first time I've heard him do that" She commented, while watching Pantherlilly rub his face against Gajeel's finger.

"How'd he get that scar?" Gajeel asked.

"He was a stray, brought in by a couple. They said his family was attacked by a wild animal. Pantherlily was the only surviving member."

Gajeel watched as Pantherlilly rubbed his whole body against his cage, his purrs vibrating the bars.

"Can I hold him?" He looked up at the girl.

Levy grinned and grabbed the set of keys that were hooked onto her uniform. She inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. Hesitantly, Levy reached into the cage and lifted Pantherlilly out. He wriggled around in Levy's grip and practically leapt into Gajeel's arms. A smile grew on Gajeel's face as the kitten cuddled into his arm and yawned contently.

Levy cooed at the cute sight.

"I didn't know Pantherlilly could be such a sweetheart! You must be really good with animals." She looked at him. "Have you owned a cat before?"

Gajeel shook his head. "Nah, not really an animal person." But even as he said that his heart filled with warmth for the little fuzzball in his arms.

"You know, this little guy doesn't have a loving home. And he's taking quite a liking to you." She said, rocking on heels.

Gajeel lifted his eyes to hers. The glint in her eyes hinting at him.

"I don't know the first-"

"Gajeel! Juvia lost you but -" Juvia eyes widen at the sight of Gajeel holding the kitten. "GAJEEL THAT IS THE CUTEST KITTEN EVER! Look, he's a tough guy like you! Look at the scar! Juvia sees the resemblance!"

Gajeel watched as Levy's smile wavered.

In a professional voice she said, "Oh, is this your girlfriend?"

"No," Gajeel said quickly. Probably too quickly. "This is Juvia. She's a friend of mine."

Juvia stuck her hand out to Levy, who accepted it and shook. "Nice to meet you! Juvia already has a love, so this one is available!"

Heat rose to Gajeel's face as he glared at Juvia. He saw Levy's smile grow from the corner of his eye. "I wouldn't exactly call stalking a guy around campus 'love'."

Juvia smacked his arm, causing Pantherlilly to shift and hiss at her.

"Heh! I like this one." He grinned and rubbed Panthelilly's head.

"Well!" Juvia huffed. "Juvia can see that's she's not wanted here!"

She stalked off towards the bunny section. Gajeel shrugged and continued to scratch behind Pantherlily's ear. Levy reached out a hand and stroked the kitten's silky fur. Pantherlily didn't protest.

"He needs a loving home…" She looked up, begging Gajeel with her big brown eyes. "He's awful to everyone else. Every time someone tries to pet to him, he hisses at them. No one is going to want an aggressive cat. The hardest part of my job is watching animals waste away in their cages, never getting adopted."

Gajeel's gaze fell back down to the kitten in his arms. Nobody will want him, huh? Gajeel was all too familiar with that feeling. After his old man disappeared when he was young, he jumped from family to family until he turned 18 and decided to live on his own. It was a hard life, and it toughened him up considerably. But still, he can't take in a cat. A cat takes time and money, both of which Gajeel didn't have a surplus of. Not to mention that damn cat smell-

At that moment, Pantherlily looked up at him and squeaked out a tiny meow.

Goddammit.

That was it. All hope was lost. Gajeel looked up at Levy and tried to put on a face of indifference.

"So if I was going to adopt, what would I-"

"Oh its really easy, you just sign a few papers and that's it! You get a loving companion and Pantherlilly gets a home!" Levy said brightly.

Gajeel let out a sigh of defeat. "Alright. I'll take him."

Levy squealed. "I'll get the paperwork! Let's put him back, for now."

Gajeel placed Pantherlily back in his cage and lingered his hand atop of his head in hopes to communicate his promise to return. Levy closed the gate and locked it, smiling brightly.

She hurried down the aisle towards a counter near the entrance of the store. Gajeel followed at a more steady pace, amused at her excitement.

"Do you have any pets?" He asked, as he approached the counter.

"No, my roommate is allergic, but I love animals. I'm studying to become vet!" She answered as she dug through the files behind the desk.

"Guess that means you're really smart. Having to read all those textbooks."

"Well, I like to read so it's not that big of a deal. I spend most of my time at the library, anyways." She waved her hand dismissively.

Levy stood up and placed a piece of paper on the counter. "Here's the first application. The next one is…"

She trailed off as she turned towards the cupboards behind her. She walked over, opened them up and extended her arm for the top shelf, where another stack of papers lay.

Or rather- she tried to. The length of her arm only reached the middle shelf. She tried hopping, but to no use.

Gajeel snickered from the other side of the counter. "Need a hand, shorty?"

Levy turned and glared at him. "No!"

Gajeel snorted as she disappeared under the counter again. She popped back up a second later with a stool.

"We have a stool for the taller shelves." She mumbled as she placed it in front of the cupboards.

"Does anyone else use it?" Gajeel grinned.

Levy answered in a quiet voice, "No…."

Gajeel laughed.

Levy grabbed the paper from the shelf, then hopped off the stool and smacked down the sheet to the counter in front of Gajeel. Her face was pink.

"At least I don't…" Her face scrunched up and she studied Gajeel for something to retort with. Gajeel met her eyes with a smirk.

"At least I don't set off metal detectors every time I exit a store!" She finished, grinning triumphantly.

"That only happened once!"

Levy burst out laughing. "Oh my God! Really? I wasn't being serious!"

"Yeah, s'not my fault malls have sensitive metal detectors." Gajeel tried to act annoyed, but it melted away at Levy's smile. They both grinned at each other before Levy turned away with a blush.

She coughed. "Go ahead and fill out those forms, I'll get Pantherlily ready."

As Levy hurried back to the cat section, Gajeel filled out the paperwork. He could overhear Levy trying to coax out Pantherlily, and then shriek when he hissed at her.

Levy returned with a cat carrier in her arms and carefully placed it on top of the counter. Gajeel looked up at the kitten, who was huddled in the corner of his carrier.

"Hey, buddy." Gajeel said, as he stuck a finger into the bars. Pantherlily hesitantly stepped towards his finger and sniffed it.

He handed the completed forms to Levy, then ltook out his card from his wallet and handed it to Levy, who ran it through the cash register. After she gave it back, Gajeel rubbed the back of his neck and pointedly didn't look at her.. "So I ah, don't know the first thing 'bout raising a cat…. I was wondering if I could call you sometime, for advice?"

Levy turned away and Gajeel's heart sank. Idiot. Like some girl would really just-

Levy whipped back around and held out a piece of paper, with a big smile. "There's my cell phone number and the store number. You're also welcome to come in. I'm here Friday through Tuesday."

"Right, thanks." Gajeel said, trying to sound casual. His grin gave it away, however. He took the paper and shoved it in his pocket, then grabbed the handle of the car carrier. He raised his hand in a goodbye gesture.

"Don't forget to tell me how Pantherlily likes his new home!" Levy called while waving.

Gajeel could feel a stupid grin spread on his face and he walked out of the pet store with a kitten in his hands and his pocket heavy with a cute girls number.

"So Gajeel got the kitten huh?." A voice said from besides him. Gajeel looked over.

Juvia appeared by his side, eyes twinkling. "But thats' not all Gajeel got."

Gajeel snorted. "Shut it, Lockser."

"Gajeel must be so happy he went to do errands with Juvia this morning even if he complained before hand." She smiled.

Gajeel rolled his eyes and lifted the carrier to look at Pantherlilly. He was definitely not thinking of all the questions to ask Levy when he called her tomorrow.