Affection | Reader x Cat!Levi (AU - One shot)

Just to let you know, there is some cursing.

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You looked at the long rows of small cages on the walls, as you stepped into the room with the shelter worker. The room was filled with different sounding meows. You took slow steps forward, looking at the cats inside each cage. Most of them were just sleeping in their small beds, while a few of them showed curiosity as you came closer to have a better look at them.

"Are you looking for something specific?" the worker asks me kindly.

You look at her, giving her a warm smile. "Not really, I usually trust my instincts with this kind of things." you say, stepping over the next cage.

"You've had a shelter cat before?" she asks.

"Yup. When I was a kid, I got my first kitten from a place like this, and my previous cat was from a shelter too. She was already an old lady... the sweetest little thing she was." you smile to the memory of your beloved pet.

The shelter worker smiles warmly, watching you quietly as you gave a couple of scratches through the thin bars to the cat, which was pushing it's head against the door. You stepped over the next cage, seeing a dark and shiny fur ball being curled in the bed. It's eyes were closed, facing towards you. You lean closer to the cage, having a better look at the beautiful animal inside of it.

"Who's this?" you ask.

"Oh, he's been here for a while... he has some issues with his behavior." the worker says, crossing her arms.

You look at her from the corner of your eye, taking a hint from the way she glares towards the cat, that she's probably not best friends with the animal.

"A male, huh. Hmh, gorgeous thing." you hum as you look at the small little note on it's cage. "Shorty?" you giggle at the name which the shelter had given to him. You looked at the cat again. It really seemed a little smaller than an average cat. "How old is he?"

"No idea, but he sure is not a kitten anymore. He was found from the streets, where he's probably lived for his whole life." she says.

"May I?" you ask, gesturing to open the door.

"Sure... but, he doesn't like to be touched, so watch his claws." she warns me, adjusting her glasses. "To be honest, he's one little devil."

You nod and carefully push the lock open. The cat flinches to the sound of his door being opened. He opens his eyes and turns his head towards the person who had woken him up. You look at the cat, noticing the mixture of bark blue and grayish color in his eyes, thinking that you've never seen eyes this beautiful.

"Hi there, handsome" you said quietly.

The cat stares at you, staying completely still. You lower your head on the same level with the cat, slowly reaching your hand closer to him. The shelter worker is looking at the scene a little worried, remembering all the damage that the cat had done to her every time she had to be in contact with him.

You slide your hand against the floor of his cage, until you reached the edge of his bed. The cat stares at your hand, slightly leaning towards it. You watched as his cute little nose sniffed the air above your knuckles. The cat pulled his head back, closing his eyes again, not showing any interest in you. You looked at his paw, which was resting against the pillow only few inches away from your hand.

You carefully reach your index finger closer, carefully touching the silky fur on his tiny paw. The cat responses to your touch by waving his tail furiously a couple of times. You took your hint and slowly pull your hand back.

"Too much, huh?" you said to him softly, having this weird feeling inside of you.

"Wow... that's a first one, I thought he would try to rip your eyes out after you touched him." the worker says with an arched eyebrow.

You smile at her comment, not taking your eyes off the cat. You had a feeling, that he's definitely not like the others. He would probably be a true challenge for you with all his trust issues, but you trusted your feeling.

You back away from the cage, closing the door. "I'll take him."

"Whaat? A-are you sure? He's the most vicious creature I've ever seen in my entire life." she talks worryingly.

You look at the shelter worker, being a little amused from her reaction. "I take him." you repeat with a bright smile on your face.


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Poor shelter worker. She got to taste the mightiest power of this small feline when she was trying to move the cat on the carrier. I hope her face doesn't hurt as bad as it looked.

You sit on the floor of your apartment, placing the carrier on the carpet in front of you. You looked at the pissed off looking cat inside, who was making a low growling sound from his throat.

"I'm sorry." you chuckle. "I'll get you out of there." you open the door, backing away a little to him space to come out and look around his new home.

The cat steps out of the carrier, smelling the air near the floor, giving you a few suspicious looks while doing so.

"I think I should give you another name. I'm sure you don't want to be called Shorty, even if it really fits your figure." you talk softly to the cat, who walks around you from a safe distance.

You look at his dark and silky fur, the small cute paws that move silently against the floor, the long whiskers that wiggle slightly as he sniffs the air around him. You notice a few clefts on his ears, thinking that he might've had a rough life in the streets. The cat looks at you, like he was sensing your stare, and he glares at you with his unique looking eyes, making you chuckle.

"How about... Levi?"

The cat twitches his tail in the air a few times, staring at you for a while, before he continues his expedition.

"Levi it is." you smile.


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Your hunch wasn't wrong, this cat really was a handful. You tried your best to be patient with him, giving him space and making sure to do everything to make him happy. You soon realized, that he had a weird habit of avoiding messy places. You knew that cats were very clean animals, but he was taking it to a whole new level. Hell, his highness wouldn't even use the cat box, unless you didn't clean it up properly for his standards. He would just sit there next to it and keep making noise until you came and cleaned it up.

You did everything, always thinking about his best, but the cat just didn't seem to get used to you. He wasn't that much of a trouble otherwise, as long as you let him be. He didn't destroy your furnitures and he didn't act aggressively towards you, but he didn't show you much affection either. Not once did he let you touch him, he barely even let you be next to him, which made you a little sad, but you didn't want to push him

A few exceptions happened though. During these few quiet nights when you just relaxed on the couch, sipping your favorite tea and watching TV, Levi often jumped on the arm rest and he could just stare at you for the longest time. Sometimes you carefully reached the teacup closer to him, and he sniffed the sweet scent from the hot beverage. After that, he just relaxed to lay there next to you, and you just watched his calm sleep. You really enjoyed these little rare moments.

Perhaps he would never end up letting you pet or lift him up, but you accepted him as he was. You wanted him to be happy, but you were afraid that you wouldn't be able to succeed in that. You often found him staring out of the window for hours, and he was scratching the front door, a lot, especially during nights.

You felt sorry for not letting him go out, but you knew that if you did, he would just run away and never come back. You did consider buying him a harness, but how on earth would you be able to get him to wear it, since it was nearly impossible for you to be inside arm reach away from him without making him just run away.

Three weeks passed.

Levi was once again scratching the front door, making it impossible for you to concentrate on your work with your laptop. His behavior had come more and more annoying. You barely had quiet moments anymore. Most of the time, he was either meowing by the window or abusing the door frames with his claws.

You sigh, leaving your seat. You walked towards the door, and Levi quickly ran under the couch away from you. You opened the door. You kept it open, while you looked at the spot under your couch where he had disappeared. You saw his head peeking curiously under it.

"Go." you spoke to the cat, sounding a bit sad, which you were. "I can't force you to like it in here. If you really want to go, then go." you crouched, looking at the big eyes that stared at you under the couch.

He slowly stepped away from his hiding place, walking towards the open door next to you. You didn't move from your spot, you just watched as the cat gave you few suspicious glares, before he carefully walked past you. As soon as he reached the door, he took a quick sprint over the lawn, diving through the bushes that surrounded your front yard. You took a deep breath through your nose, slowly standing up and looking at the direction where the cat had disappeared.

"Goodbye, Levi." you said quietly, before you closed the door.


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You sipped your morning tea in your -once again empty apartment. Your eyes moved to the small pair of bowls on the floor. You felt a big lump in your throat, and you swallowed it away with another sip of your tea. You looked out from your kitchen window, seeing the mailman passing your house. You took a bite from your sandwich and stood up from the table, walking lazily to the door and getting your flip flops on. Perhaps you could get your mind away from the sadness for a moment, while you read your paper.

You opened the door and stepped on your porch, feeling your foot landing on something soft. You looked down at your feet, and your heart skipped a beat. There was a big-ass rat under your feet.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!" you gasped in terror and backed away from the disgusting animal.

You held your hand against your pounding chest, trying to recover from your slight heart attack. You looked at the rat, realizing that it was dead. The corner of your eye caught something moving from your right, and you turned your head. Your eyes moved down, seeing this small black cat sitting on your porch, watching you with those gorgeous eyes, which you fell in love from the first time you saw them.

"Levi?" you said quietly.

The cat just kept staring at you. You looked at the rat in front of you, then slowly back to Levi.

"Did you bring a fucking rat on my porch!?" you widened our eyes in anger.

The cat stood up from his spot, taking small steps towards you, not giving a shit about your scolding. You stood still, staring the cat suspiciously. He made his way to your feet, and for your biggest surprise, he rubbed his head once against your leg, before he continued his way to step inside through the open door. You stared after the cat speechless, not believing what he just did.

A wide smile grew on your face, as you watched him just casually walking towards the kitchen with his tail pointing up to the ceiling. He jumped on the counter, next to your tea and started shamelessly eating the ham from your sandwich like a boss. You looked at the rat once more, not feeling the same disgust anymore.

He cares about you after all.

You chuckled and shook your head. "Bring something less huge next time, OK?" you spoke to your beloved little devil, as you closed the door to join him in the kitchen.