Fairy Tail: Journeyman

Chapter 5: Audience of One

My keys rattled as I slid them into the front door.

Before I had even registered that my door had been unlocked, I felt a strong arm barrel past me.

"Oh wow this is awesome!" Natsu exclaimed as he plopped down on my sofa, Happy still comfortably sitting in his arms, and his shoes promptly finding their way onto my coffee table.

Agitation clearly marked my face.

"Hey! Get your feet off my table!" I pointed accusatorily in his direction.

He laughed. "Aww come on lighten up!"

I growled slightly before sighing. As irritated as I was by the disruption it felt comfortable somehow.

Natsu stroked Happy's fur slightly as I noticed his expression slowly drift to one of more solemnity.

"Hey, are you okay?" Concern marked my voice.

I slid into the seat next to him.

"I don't like it." His tone was soft, but firm.

"You don't like what?"

My breath caught in my chest as Natsu's brow furrowed and his brimstone eyes intensified.

"His fur is just way too dirty!" He lifted up Happy to his eyeline as he pouted at the state of his new pet.

'Of course' I thought, my hand coming up to meet my forehead.

"Yea I guess he could go for a bath..." my eyes focused once again on the caked mud and burrs that were caught in his coat. "I can draw up some water. I'll be right back."

I let the water fill the tub, my eyes eyeing the ripples as they formed across the bottom of the white porcelain.

What was I doing? I sighed. Levy would have more than one thing to say about letting practically a complete stranger into my house. Even despite good feelings, soul connections or whatever you wanted to call it, she would never want me to be unsafe.

The roar of the faucet dulled my mind.

My reflection danced back and forth across the water, the blonde hair and brown eyes warping ever so slightly as the waves shifted back and forth. As my eyes adjusted to the motions, I noticed that the reflection peering back at me seemed to be...slightly wrong.

As I looked closer, I noticed how my blonde hair suddenly looked blue. And then there was a circlet crowning my forehead. My eyes... those weren't my eyes. The deep hue of bright blue stared back at me, shining with resounding irritation...and yet worry at the same time.

I shut my eyes tightly, rubbing them vigorously with my slightly damp hand. When I opened them again, the blue figure was gone, and deep brown eyes once again greeted me.

I shook my head. I must be more tired than I thought.

With the tub halfway full, I promptly turned off the water. I then dipped my hand slightly into the tub to check the temperature. Warm but not scalding.

"Okay! Water should be ready if you want to bring him in!" I called out while shaking the excess water from my hand.

There was no response.

"Natsu?"

There was nothing.

With an anxious heart I walked out of the bathroom and back into the living room, desperate for the view of rose pink hair and feet on my table.

My eyes widened. He was gone. They were both gone. But how? Where had they gone? Where had he-?

"Hey, you got any mustard?" Natsu's voice came out muffled between half eaten bits of food. My food.

There was a slight 'meow' and a tug on my right pant leg as a small blue freak of nature looked at me pleadingly. He was still hungry too?

"You know its rude to go snooping around in someone's fridge without asking right?" I tried to make myself sound irritated but the truth was...I was just glad he was still here. Between having weird lapses in memory and seeing crazy blue goddesses in the bath water I was pretty much zero for three on sanity checks.

Without waiting for his response I knelt down into the fridge and pulled out a bright yellow bottle from the bottom shelf.

I shoved It in his direction. "Here."

He smiled brightly. "Hey thanks!" I watched entranced as he spread out a thick layer of mustard on a cracker that he had packed with salami and green olives. I eyed the snack suspiciously.

"MEOW!" The cat scratched at Natsu, and I could've sworn that his expression said the words 'Come on you have to share!' almost exactly. Apparently Natsu thought so too because he promptly threw Happy the next olive which he scarfed down gratefully.

Their appetites certainly were something else.

And as if Happy's strangest characteristics weren't that he was blue, or that he seemed just as obsessed with food as Natsu, it was that he didn't seem to have a problem with baths. In fact, it almost seemed as if he liked being pampered.

No sooner had we dried the cat off though then did he make a beeline for my sofa. The cat lay comfortably on the middle seat, his chest rising and falling with the blessing of sleep.

"Thanks again for keeping him here! I promise I'll take him back once we get an apartment." Natsu rubbed his head slightly as he watched his new friend sleep.

"No worries. He's actually kind of cute after all so I don't mind." Natsu chuckled in agreement.

"Oh shoot." I saw Natsu fiddle with his pockets before pulling out his phone. Even with the short distance between us I could see the missed call notifications. A lot of them.

Natsu grunted. "I really gotta go, if I don't get back soon he's sure to freak and that won't be good for anyone." Natsu made a beeline for the door. I did my best to follow but he was still twice as fast.

"Thanks again! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yea no problem I'll see you-" The door slammed shut. "Tomorrow." I finished the sentence pointlessly to the audience of none.

"Meow." Happy rubbed against my leg softly.

Well okay...an audience of one.