Title: Fluffy

Pairings: ?

Summary: Dragon Slayers, a couple of council members, and Lucy Heartfilia. A litter of cats and magic. Just when she thought there was nothing wrong with bringing in the abandoned bundle of kitties, there were two very naked men in her bathtub.

"It's not fun being naked." — Natsu Dragneel

And for some weird reason—not that the fact of cats turning into naked men had to do anything—Lucy still wanted to believe she was dreaming. The belief always happened to appear whenever she would wake up, whether it was from fainting or a simple hours of sleep. It was preposterous and silly, a major immeasurable amount of silly.

"Stop it," a small, husky, grumble erupted from her as she tried to kick away the ticklish feeling at her foot. It was soft, but wet and rough as it slipped in between her toes and heels. Occasionally it even nibbled whenever she would groan in protest. Never was she a fan of someone touching her feet, especially after the awkwardly soothing foot rub Loke had given her. Never.

"I said stooooooop," she complained, drawing out her 'o's while trying her best not to chuckle. The unwanted laughter was something she despised from the invading touch they called tickling. It was so annoying—

The intruder of her personal space then popped her bubble. What seemed like a furry ball was now slipping in between her legs, raising the fabric of her pajama pants in the process.

With quick dexterity and instinct, Lucy flipped over, careless of whatever was inside her sheets, and pulled the blanket to expose a small gold cat.

Right, reality, not a dream.

Laxus-kitten purred innocently, sitting in between her stretched legs. She scowled and vigorously rubbed her right eye. If the creatures weren't so darn cute, then maybe she would have literally kicked the animal out of her bed. But knowing herself, it was hopeless to even try. The gold cat with blue eyes was just so pretty, despite it being Laxus, she was in love with its sleek fur and mischievous cat eyes. It was hard to get through her head, that the intimidating guild member of Fairy Tail, S-Class Mage, Laxus Dreyar, was the prettiest of cats she had ever seen.

"What do you want?" She asked harshly, still trying to keep her façade of i'm not affected by your cuteness on.

The gold cat yawned then short after licked his lips. His tailed gracefully swished, back and forth behind him as he sat quietly, eyes blinking once. She continued to fight the urge to squeeze him, to appease her need of growing affection towards something so cute.

Then it meowed softly.

"Aww," it came out muffled as she tried to shut herself up. But she failed miserably as the golden kitten was now being suffocated in her hugging arms. Surely, without a doubt, she was going to hear this from him. Or in a subliminal manner with cocky grins and teasing lines. What the heck, he couldn't do anything about it when he was a cat. Might as well indulge it... or deprive him of baths so he was unable to do those things...

"Miss Heartfilia," the voice quickly broke her from her sketchy trance.

Turning her head and halting the cradling of Laxus' kitten form, Lucy looked up at a shirtless man. Doranbolt stood, towel dipping dangerously low as he tried to catch her attention. Unaware, attention fully caught. She nodded slowly in acknowledgment.

This was reality for her.

"I assumed you slept well."

She raised an eyebrow at his concern. "Yes, why?"

"Well, it's nearly afternoon. Not to be rude or anything, we are quite hungry. I was thinking that—"

"IT'S AFTERNOON?!" She yelled, making Laxus-kitten jump out of her hands and give a kittenish glare.

"Yes, but I was thinking that—"

Quickly, Lucy pushed aside the blankets and brushed passed Doranbolt. She hurried to her closet, careful not to step on all the other cats trailing after her feet. Shoving the felines softly with one foot, she grabbed any type of clothing suitable for a small visit to the guild. Her schedule was already messed up. Wake up in the morning, shower, get dressed, breakfast at guild, then maybe a job with Natsu. Except that Natsu was now a prisoner in her own apartment... What was she supposed to do now? What if they asked her about Natsu and Gajeel? Or Laxus? No, she could say they were still out together. And she highly doubted that anyone would ask her about Laxus. But what if they did?

Groaning out loud at her predicament that possibly couldn't get any worse, Lucy trekked into the bathroom. Praying silently that she could at least get a peaceful shower.

She bit her lip unconsciously as she turned the faucet of the shower head. Maybe she could skip the shower and just run to the guild? Someone from the guild would at least have the common sense to think something was off a little. Isn't the absence of herself at the guild a little suspicious? Unless Erza hasn't been yet, then she would have an excuse.

"I was looking for Erza," Lucy said out loud as she stripped down to nothing and entered the steamy curtains. No, because then she would have looked and waited at the guild first.

While scrubbing the suds and soap down her slender legs, she cursed incoherently. She'd just have to wing it, better yet, pretend that nothing had happened. It was obvious anyway that she had to do that. That wasn't even the main concern. Finding Freed was her objective. The rune user would surely be able to aid her—them in this situation.

Running her shampoo covered fingers in her scalp, the water all of a sudden became very cold. It made Lucy hitch a breath and shiver, but being too caught up in her thoughts, she paid no heed to the familiar aura that pulsated cooly, regardless of the humid air.

"Miss Heartfilia," there was that damned Miss Heartfilia. Lucy was more appropriate and less offending to her. Adding a Miss and using her last name was too formal and it made her feel—

Realization then settled discomfortingly in her stomach and in her slow mind. She had to blink and wait for the water to wash her hair free of bubbles until she turned around. To a sight not so appealing for her at the moment. Especially since he covered his dangling bits too late for her to know he was having a budding erection right in front of her.

Sighing into a fitful cycle of many deep breaths, Lucy managed to hide herself with the shower curtains. The slippery fabric only continued to make her form more flattering while outlining her curves, but as long as her woman parts were neatly put away. She counted in her head, saving her breath as she closed her eyes. This guy was completely dense, or he was just being an ass by pretending he didn't know what a vagina was.

With furrowed eyebrows and her lungs working properly again, Lucy did not falter to scream: "GET OUT!"

When he slowly complied, carefully inching out of the bathtub, and still covering his now not dangling bits. Lucy was more than happy to kick him out herself.

o0o0o0o0o

Dried up and dressed, Lucy managed to frown at herself in the mirror. Not that her appearance was disappointing, it was the skin tinged red on her face she could not dispose. She was blushing madly, not in a flattering way a girl would do when complimented. But blushing in embarrassment from the previous episode. She has seen a naked man before, thanks to Gray and his superfluous stripping habit. But she had never witnessed a man gain an erection in front of her.

Did she not close the door?

Scoffing out loud and giving her wet hair another brush with her fingers, she finally decided to face the stupid cats that brought karma.

The door creaked loudly, regardless of the fact she wasn't trying to hide her entrance. Or was she?

To her appreciation, all men were present in their cat forms. She thanked her lucky stars out loud with a relieving sigh.

But she did not falter to glare openly at the black cat who was now being pounced by a grey one. And she swore she could hear little kitten laughs from the golden Laxus-kitten as she scooped up Siegrain's cat persona.

Quickly she sauntered into the bathroom once, blue kitten in hand as she dumped him into the tub she filled after her bath. The blonde closed the door behind her, fear of anymore human transformations taking place when one was only needed.

She never got used to the glittering scene of the men anatomy taking place in mere seconds before her eyes. The blue outlined, man silhouette was appealing in some way before a nude man appeared, open legged, head resting on the blunt edge of the tub, and body sprawled out awkwardly in front of her. Unfazed from the boldness of his slender form, Lucy sat on her shins, hands gripping the side of the tub, eyeing him.

Siegrain only cocked an eyebrow, not bothering to move or hide his modesty as she began to spoke.

"I'm going to find Freed at the guild today. I thought I'd tell you before I left."

The blue-haired man moved, sitting up right while sloshing waters hit his legs. This time covering his manhood.

"It's useless, Lucy. Lahar is more advanced than this Freed you speak of."

"Don't underestimate him. I'll bring him back here to see if he can reserve this Justu Shit-ki."

"Justsu Shiki," he corrected with a mocking tone. "As much as your willingness to help is radiating and appealing. I'm telling you, it won't work."

Avoiding his ignorance, she got up, reaching over to his side to drain the water from the tub. "Don't touch my stuff. Don't wet the others. I'll be back soon."

"Bye-Bye." Siegrain echoed while she departed, leaving him in the bathroom.

o0o0o0o0o

The familiar ruckus of the guild scuttled a wave of ease over her as she entered the hall. Avoiding every chair being thrown in her direction, unintentionally of course, she made her way towards the bar safely without a scratch this time. She plopped herself onto the bar stool, watching the back of Mirajane's physique waddling to appease everyone's order.

The blonde female looked around the guild, the absence of certain members were noticeable but no one seemed to pay a heed. Regular brawls, horribly synched drunk singing, and awful hangovers in every corner were at its place. No body missing their mark at all. Surely, they wouldn't notice that she was hiding something at all. She couldn't be that clear.

"Lucy!"

She flinched, quickly turning in her seat to face an awestricken Mirajane whose façade changed into a worried one. Akin to a mother, the white-haired mage's senses were never wrong... most of the time. She would never guess that she had seven naked men in her apartment. Would she?

Going into a relaxed plight, Lucy coaxed her facial muscles into a warming smile of greeting.

"You look tired. I bet going on that job with Erza was tough," she set a beer mug down, grabbing a tall glass instead. "Did she work you out?"

She only nodded in a futile attempt to act weary. The request was tiresome, but it wasn't the thing sitting on her shoulders. Rather seven little kittens cursed with turning into glorious, destructive, naked men... Did she just think glorious? Yup, very tired.

"I can tell. You came rather late. I was upset, Lucy," the Takeover Mage faked a frown while she threw some things into a blender. "I was excited to see you this morning. I had your regular out only to see it go to waste. You made me eat it!"

Shaking her head at the older woman, the blonde couldn't help but laugh at her silly antic. The fake charade of acting tired working plenty beneficial without having to say a word at all. The fear of slipping and telling the whole story into a large process of venting was always a problem in the relationship she had with the elder sister Strauss. Not today though, definitely not today. Yet, there was always the issue of what she would think if she asked for Freed. After all, the cupid was bound to have a lover of her own.

"But I see why you like that stuff. The morning smoothie really packs a punch," The mother figure closed the lid of the mixing machine. She clicked the button, one hand on top to keep it stable while the other stayed on a curvaceous hip.

The sound of the blender blocked the loud cheering from behind her. It was low and quiet, almost enough to keep her from listening to herself think. But the annoying sound of it still kept her faltering to do so.

After a short while, the blending ceased. The Spirit Mage watched as the elder women poured a thick substance of pink into the tall glass. She stuck a matching straw into it and slid the drink towards Lucy's hands who fumbled to catch it. Successfully, there was no spillage, only a nervous wreck with her digits as she grabbed the straw, drinking and humming in thankfulness.

The white-haired lady rested her chin in the palm of her hands. She batted her eyelashes in a languid manner as she stared directly into Lucy, as if trying to read right passed her. Which in Lucy's defense, scared her while she nervously tongued the straw.

"So, Lucy. What are you going to do today?"

The blond gulped quietly. "Uh, nothing really. Just decided to pay a visit to the guild to keep some people from worrying. Uhh, Erza didn't pass by did she?"

She nodded. "She already gave me a debrief on the mission."

To keep her cool and to cover up her discrete scheming, the blonde asked: "Has Natsu come back already?"

Like a light bulb, the Strauss' face quickly lit up with amusement and surprise.

"Aha! I knew it was Natsu! Why did you not tell me any sooner? Oh this is so exciting!"

Lucy gave a sheepish smile. She'd rather have this than have her find out about the seven naked men stowed away in the confines of her domain. Oh the embarrassment and assumptions that would bring up.

From the slack smile and nervous laughter, she must have been able to tell right off the bat that: "Oh, I'm wrong aren't I? Then who is it?"

"Nobody, Mira. Nobody. I was just wondering when, so I can get back to the usual grind," she licked her finger then started tracing the rim of her glass. More like seven somebodies.

"When are you going to let me set you up? I have this really cute waiter in mind... He reads books and everything," she continued to list the strangers traits while counting them out on her fingers. But Lucy paid no attention at this as she shrugged her off. It was normal to hear this and with no doubt it was the same waiter she described every day, an act to stray away from setting her up with other guild mates.

To quickly avoid the subject, she found that she made it even worse when she asked: "Do you know where Laxus is?"

"Laxus?" The elder woman raised a perfect eyebrow while giving Lucy a mischievous knowing look. Except it wasn't like that... Sort of. She just needed a distraction to throw her off a little, of course she knew were Laxus was. In her room. With several other men. Just a little something to direct her to Freed. And that she wasn't hiding anything. Though she was afraid she had created something a lot more risky.

She nodded.

"Well, he's out on a request with his team," Mirajane slowly approached her from behind the bar. She leaned over, giving a sly grin. "Why?"

"I was just wondering... So that means with Freed... And the others?"

She hummed lightly, "With the whole Thunder God Tribe. They won't be back until next week according the flier, if you're wondering." Oh yea, she got herself into something a lot worse. But on the more important note, Freed wouldn't return until next week! The cursed Laxus-kitten couldn't have at least told her?

With a slick wink and small purr, the white-haired woman distanced herself. She tucked her hair behind her ear, returning to her sink duties by grabbing a rag and a random beer mug. "So, Laxus, huh?"

"It's not like that." Almost.

"Then what's it like?"

"The guild just seemed empty."

"Ahuh... Not like their presence really made a difference. They're so quiet."

Lucy scoffed, more like snorted out loud. Oh the irony.

"What?"

"Nothing, I think I should head out now."

The coy smile on Mira's face fazed into a small frown, but she nodded her head in approval.

Spinning herself around on the bar stool, the blonde jumped out of the seat. After a couple steps towards the exit, Mirajane had shouted out loud: "Can never keep men waiting."

Lucy flinched, stopping in her trek, and then turned around to face the elder women again. "Excuse me?"

"For the man your in such a rush for, right?"

Blinking once, twice, the Spirit Mage finally processed what she was trying to say. She rose her hands in defeat and playfully retorted: "Caught me."

Her sense were never wrong... most of the time.

o0o0o0o0o

With a disgruntled groan, Lucy made her way through the market. The bustling streets and stands were not exactly her kind of thing at the moment. What she wanted was to be buried in her bed with all of her blankets and pillows and just sink into a heavy slumber without acknowledging the existence of the seven felines. It sounded doable, if only there was no water supply in her apartment so they wouldn't come to bug her about things. Like being hungry. For the person she was, she thankfully remembered Doranbolt—goose bumps noticeable and images that cannot be unseen—mentioning the kittens' starving.

Softly pushing her way through the crowd, the blonde finally made it to a satisfactory food stand. One without such a long line to be exact.

"Well if it isn't a Fairy Tail member," the vendor propped his glasses. "And a lovely one at that. What can I help you with today, ma'am?"

Without making eye contact, she busied herself looking at the products for display. "How much for a pound of fish?"

o0o0o0o0o

With a couple pounds of fish and chicken, along with some assorted fruits and other grocery goods, Lucy was once again found in front of her apartment. She scowled at the closed door, knowing what awaited her was akin to the biggest problems of the world. The apartment was already small as it was, adding seven large men just made it all the tinier. But she could not bring herself to believe it, despite one of them hugging her in her bed, invading her in the morning, intruding her shower, and not bothering to cover up the nakedness, it still would not settle in. Then again... Maybe if she opened the door slowly, they would be gone. And it was all just a figment of her imagination.

Erza hitting her hard on the head during the mission surely affected her tons if this was really happening.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy slid the key into the hole with proper ease. It clicked as she turned it then made a soundless creak as she pushed it open.

But something stopped her, the small creak barely giving a scene as their distinct chatter was now so was the slamming of her drawers.

"Man, you wouldn't think these sweats would fit me. Would they?" It was Sting rummaging through her clothes. Right, she had to get them clothes. There was no way she was going to get used to them naked, other than Gray, it was exceptional for Gray in some odd universe. Virgo would do just the job.

There was a flipping of paper and sudden realization that they were also looking though her writing desk. The blonde slowly gripped onto the doorknob.

"No. She's smaller than you," Rogue possibly the one searching with him said. Where was Natsu to stop them?

"She writes," Doranbolt murmured.

"So she does," Siegrain responded and then flipped through a page once more. The bastard who was suppose to keep the felines dry was silently reading her book! She gripped the doorknob harder. Though she still could not bring herself to open it.

"What is this?"

Sting chuckled. "That, my friend. Is a thong."

Oh, Mavis have mercy, no... A man as himself wouldn't be so vulgar.

"Oh, I see it now. It looked like a hair band at first."

A hair band? Unconsciously, the blonde reached for her own bottom.

"As expected from a Fairy..." What did that have to do with a thong? "Hey, Ricegrain— How are you reading when you have access to this?"

The sound of snapping elastic, probably the thong being flung across the room, was heard.

"I don't think Miss Heartfilia would appreciate that," no surprise, Doranbolt had spoken.

"You can't be talking. You burst into her shower and showed poorly of what an erected penis looked like," Sting retorted and made a rather loud raspberry. "Pfft, I don't think Miss Heartfilia would appreciate that. My ass."

"It's Siegrain by the way," Siegrain gave a quiet snort before shutting the book. Which caught her attention more. If he laughed at where she left off or if he just wasn't interested in reading it. Either way, she still was going to pummel him over the head for reading her stuff. As well as not following direct orders.

"Whatever," Sting rejected. "Just come over here and try the thong on. It's blue."

"What does that have to do with me trying it on?"

"It matches your hair, duh."

"It's small though. I don't think my junk would fit in there."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bi—"

"Alrighty, all of you shut up before I show you what a real man's dingaling looks like."

Gajeel? Did he really just—he didn't. He just used dingaling.

"Dingaling? Just because you said that, it must be the size of those bolts in your head."

"Watch it before I put one in yours, Sparkle."

"Sparkle? Are you okay?"

"It makes sense. Because your the light—holy Dragon—"

"You guys are giving me a big headache," Laxus' voice rumbled through the apartment, reverberating towards the apartment door. "Just shut the hell up, will ya? If you idiots haven't noticed already, Lucy has been standing at the door listening."

With an audible gulp and sigh of relief—from someone finally stopping the chaos—the blonde opened the door, revealing herself and the bag of groceries. She gave a coy smile, watching the Dragon Slayers stare with wide-eyes. Yet, you'd expect a lot from a bunch of them with their keen eyesight and ability to sense others quicker than an average human. But, here, they stood amazed. Sting holding the said blue thong, Rogue with one hand in her dresser, Siegrain ready to whip off his towel along with Gajeel, and Doranbolt still towering her writing desk.

All the while, Laxus the only one helping her with the bag of goods, A.K.A. their breakfast/lunch/dinner.

"We knew that," Sting scoffed, putting the thong away like he hadn't been caught. "Just giving her a show."

The blonde female shrugged him off, quickly directing her attention and glare towards Laxus.

"You didn't tell me you guys were off an a mission when this happened."

The elder blonde shrugged, placing the bags onto the table and giving her a stoic face. "You didn't ask."

"You knew I was looking for him."

Soon the others came, crowding around the plastic bags.

"You didn't bathe me," he rose his shoulders then dropped them while scavenging the food with the others. She didn't relent in arguing though.

"Touché... BUT now I have to wait," she hissed and then slapped his hand that was traveling towards the Dango. "That's mine."

"Hey—share!" he took one. "They should return sooner. They'll report i'm missing."

The blonde female opened her mouth to say something but shut it. Whatever. He was right, they'll come sooner, flier finished or not. Then she'd be free of this tiresome burden. They were all like children to her. Big, grown, varied children... Who had no clothes or the right to leave her domain. Which saddened her... and meant more jewels going into food than she would usually buy.

While she stepped back to relish the sight of the men, tugging on their towels to keep them up with one hand and using the other to look for food, she couldn't help but feel a little happy. It was like a large family... with the loss of one member.

"Hey, where is Natsu."

With a stuffed mouth, Laxus walked up to her, force feeding a piece of pink Dango and patting her head.

She cocked an eyebrow, struggling to chew the large sticky ball.

After a couple chews and a swallow, he answered: "They locked him in the bathroom so he couldn't stop them."

It was then she noticed the chair tilted back, tucked underneath the doorknob of the bathroom to prevent it from opening.

A/N: I got carried away writing it. But it's fun doing so.