danyellaskyler

Title: To Bell a Cat
Series: Paulie and His Cat
Fandom: One Piece
Author: Danyella Skyler Silverfire
Website: Livejournal, or Fanfiction.Net
Rating: G
Genre(s): General
Pairing(s): Paulie, Iceberg, Blackjack
Summary: Paulie seems to have three constants in his life: Ships, cats, and killers. He doesn't seem to be able to rid himself of any of them. Or the World Government either for that matter.
Prompt: 15. Blue
Beta:

bronzetigress
Warnings: Okay there are a couple of original characters in this, one being the tiger Blackjack, the other is a woman named Iria that acts like a demented sister to Paulie. There will be no Paulie/Iria.
Disclaimer: Checks reality meter (It's remarkably Magic Eight Ball shaped). Do I own One Piece? Nope still the right reality. Go eat a tuna sandwich instead. Damn.
Author's Note: I've decided to try and do a 100 Prompts thingy. It seems like a good way to jump around with this thing. They're Paulie centric, with the occasional Lucci/Paulie ones depending on placement.
Word Count: 521

To Bell a Cat

Paulie stood in bemusement as he took in the scene of Blackjack pinning Iceberg to the ground. Finding no clues to clarify the brief words he had gotten from the messenger sent to get him, he sighed and stepped forward.

"What happened?"

"Nma..." Iceberg began, "Well... can you get her off?"

Grumbling, Paulie reached forward and gave the tiger a hard pull on the heavy fur of her neck. "Off, Jackie," he ordered firmly, as he braced himself and gave her another insistent pull.

Blackjack, with a last displeased rumble, gave in to Paulie's demand, and stepped back to lean lightly against the blond. She sat there keeping a careful, suspicious eye on Iceberg.

"Thank you." Iceberg carefully dusted off his pants once he had regained his feet.

"So the reason Jackie felt the need to pin you?" Paulie asked, taking an annoyed puff off his cigar. That really wasn't like Blackjack. She was a sweet gentle thing, that didn't attack unless provoked, usually by pirates.

"This." Iceberg held up a blue leather belt.

Paulie raised his eyebrows in surprise. "A belt? Why would she pin you over a belt?"

"It's not a belt. It's a collar," Iceberg clarified.

"Why would she need a collar? It's not like I can exactly walk her on a leash," Paulie growled in annoyance as he sank his hand into the fur on Blackjack's head. "If she wants to go somewhere, I wouldn't be able to stop her."

"It's so that people will know that she's owned. And I even chose a nice one for her." Iceberg said, holding the collar so that Paulie could take a better look at the object of discussion.

Paulie frowned as he heard what Iceberg had carefully not said. "There've been problems?"

"Some. I've gotten her officially registered and all the things taken care of, all that's left is getting her to wear a collar."

"Which she took exception to when you tried to put it on her," Paulie finished with a sigh. "Fine, give it here."

Blackjack gave a disappointed whine as she flopped down onto the ground.

"Don't give me that. Iceberg did choose a nice one for you." Paulie blinked in surprise as he took a closer look at the collar. "I can wear this as a fucking belt!"

"Nma. Jackie is rather large," was pointed out, by a now amused Iceberg.

"Here, just wear it for a week, then we'll see, okay, Jackie?" Paulie said, crouching down.

Blackjack huffed in disgust, but allowed Paulie to buckle the collar onto her neck.

"There." Paulie gave the collar an experimental tug. "It does suit you," he murmured as he eyed the blue of the leather over the blue stripes and white fur.

Blackjack gave him a last mournful look before heaving herself to her feet with a long-suffering sigh.

"We'll head back to the shipyard," Paulie said, turning his head back to Iceberg. "I need to take anything?"

"No, go on ahead." Iceberg waved him off. He watched with bemused eyes as the man and tiger walked off. "So that's how you bell a cat. Nma... interesting."