Futurama

Fry woke with a splitting headache and his thoughts more then a little fuzzy. He heard voices outside and they started to get clearer as he shook his head.

"I'll bet he's fine," he heard Amy say. "After all, when you think about it he only really gets into trouble when there's someone else around."

"Yeah," Bender said next. "Staying out all night is a good sign. If he comes home, it just means he struck out."

Then Leela cut in. "This isn't one of his one night stands, I know it. No one saw him leave the building yesterday, remember?"

The hallway was silent for a few moments. "Okay," Bender started. "Was that the worried 'just a friend' talking or was that the jealousy talking?"

"Yeah," Amy added. "You've been really quiet since the opera. I mean, you and Fry have always been good friends, but at that Saturday meeting you didn't say anything to him; yesterday too. Did something happen after we all left that night?"

"It was the 'worried friend'," Leela told them. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, and no...nothing happened."

Fry got up and walked to the door. She's worried about me. Well, she worries about me all the time but it makes me feel better to hear her say it. I don't even want to ask about...wait, why am I walking on all fours? He looked down and saw two orange paws where his arms should be. Looking back, he spotted his back paws and a long tail. Okay, don't panic. You've been turned into a cat somehow. And your friends have no idea you're in trouble. What's the perfectly rational thing to do?

Being the person (or cat) that he was, he yowled and ran at the door. Finding it closed, he clawed at it like a mad animal. Leela was the first to hear the noise.

"What's that?"

She walked over to the door and all three yelled when a streak of orange went flying past them, up to where the meetings were held. Fry leaped on the conference table with his fur on end, looking for a way out quickly. Wait a sec...I'm in the place I work and there's no one around by my friends. Why am I so freaked out? He turned around when he heard voices coming after him.

"...the most scared cat I've ever seen." Amy said. "Leela, you try to calm him down, you're the best with animals."

"No I'm not. I just like animals."

"Hey," Bender cut in. "I say anyone who wants to adopt a bee can take a cat easy."

She sighed and no doubt rolled her eye in frustration. "Oh alright, I'll do it."

They both pushed her through the door, and then it slammed behind her. She spotted Fry on the table and spoke softly while walking slowly towards him. "It's okay little guy. Just calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."

The tabby perked up. Leela! You have no idea how glad I am to see you! "Meow." He jumped off the table and ran up to her, jumping into her arms.

"So, you can be loving when you want to be. What happened to scare you so badly anyway?" She began to scratch behind his ears and called Amy and Bender in while he starts to purr.

Oh that's nice. I can get used to being a cat if it means I get this kind of treatment.

Leela smiled triumphantly at them. "You two can be such wimps."

"How dare you call me a wimp?" Bender gasped.

Amy shook the semi-insult off. "I told you you're the best with animals. How'd you get him?"

"I just told him I wasn't going to hurt him," she told the intern. "It was so weird; it was like he understood me."

Bender shook his head. "That's crazy talk. Animals don't understand English. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Amy asked.

"Unless the Professor got his hands on them."

"He clones animals," Leela told him. "He doesn't get them to understand us. But watch, I'll prove it." She set Fry down on the table and then they all backed up a few steps. "Here kitty."

When the cat just looked around the room, they all looked a little disappointed. Bender walked to the table and plucked up the animal. "Hey, I've got an idea. If the senile old coot hasn't done anything to him, we can all have rack of cat for dinner."

Leela frowned and took Fry away, causing him to purr again when he was pressed to her shoulder. "Bender, what is it with you and cooking animals?" As she spoke, the cat began to knead his claws into her skin.

"What? No one complained when I wanted to bar-b-que Nibbler."

"I complained."

"Well, that's just you."

Boy, am I glad I wanted to eat Nibbler and Leela didn't.

"Well," Leela said as she rubbed into the tabby's neck. "We might as well find the Professor and ask if he knows this cat."

The crew was sitting around the conference table, making it look like any other meeting. Other then the fact that Fry was nowhere to be found and there was a new feline purring contently in Leela's lap that seemed to have taken his place.

"So, that cat came out of the room with the experiments that don't work?" The Professor asked. "That shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the news.

"All we have to do is throw it into the dark recesses of space and we'll all be okay."

This time, everyone gasped. All the humans at least. Fry was more focused on a thread that had worked itself free from Leela's top. She was the most shocked. "I thought you said it wasn't a problem?!"

"Well of course it's a problem. The room with that sign holds all the experiments that don't work the way I planned them to. I've been meaning to change that sign...Anyway, we have no way of knowing what that cat could have been exposed to or how dangerous it is."

"I don't think it's dangerous," Bender pointed out. "That little fur ball hasn't stopped vibrating since Leela picked him up. He does seem a little scared of me, though."

Hermes laughed. "All animals are afraid of you mon. Remember when we found out what was in 'Bender burgers'?"

"Hey, that was just the cat shelter's way of getting back at me for stealing all that food for Zoidberg. It's nothing but lies to tarnish my good name."

"Look if you guys are so scared of an adorable cat," Leela said. "Then he can just come home with me."

Hearing this, Fry's ears ticked and he let out a quizzical purr. Luckily for him, no one noticed.

"Wait, doesn't Nibbler eat cats?" Amy asked.

"I know he loves puppies..." Leela started. Then she shrugged. "Oh well. If they don't get along, this little guy can sleep with me."

This time, Fry sat up. I'm going to be sleeping with Leela? And it only took me turning into a cat...damn.

"This is all well and good flesh piles," Bender said. "But it's not going to find Fry. And he still owes me...hey, what do you think you're doing, kitty?"

Hearing his name, Fry jumped onto the table and sat in front of his robot friend. He tried to tell him he already paid him back, but all that came out was a throaty rumble. That made Bender smile.

"See? He wants to be part of a burrito." He started to reach out to grab the animal, but Fry scooted back. Then he turned and galloped straight back to Leela. He jumped on her shoulder, then lied down across the back of her neck like a kitty scarf. Acting on instinct, he hissed in the robot's direction.

Leela stroked under his chin lovingly. "Well, at least I know what to call him."

"What's that," asked Amy, already moving over to pet the cat as well.

Yeah, what? Fry thought, pointlessly.

"You didn't notice how he reacted when Bender said 'Fry?'"

Most heads around the table nodded in silent agreement.

"Plus, he's got the same cute spikes on the back of his head."

Everyone had a slightly different reaction to this statement. The Professor did nothing, because by now he'd fallen asleep. Zoidberg, having already seen the animal didn't want to be eaten, tilted his head and gurgled. Bender and Hermes narrowed one eye each and Amy scoffed, ready with a remark.

"Why don't you just admit you like him already?"

"I would...but wouldn't it be a good idea if he were here to hear it? That's the point, isn't it?"

Fry, whose hopes were up slightly, began to nibble on Leela's ear in an attempt to get her attention.

I am here! Why did I have to get turned into a cat now?

The Professor snapped out of his dozing at that point. "Alright, everyone out! I've got to check what's been moved downstairs."

"Does that mean we get the rest of the day off?" Bender asked.

"You heard me! You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

"Why can't all weeks at this dump be like this?"

The crew filed out of the building happily, leaving Bender and Leela (with Fry still around her neck) to their walk home.

"Before I forget," Bender said. "You see how that cat's still munchin' on ya?"

Meanwhile, Leela had to answer him through giggles. "He's not munching on me, he's just being friendly."

"If that's what you want to believe, fine. But I still say eat him before he eats you."

They got to the cross-street and Leela turned right. "Bye Bender."

"Go ahead, just walk away," he yelled after her. "Don't come crying to Bender when you wake up missing a toe!"

Half a block later

"Bender has no idea what he's talking about. You wouldn't eat me, would you Phil?"

Well, it depends on what you mean by...

"I know you wouldn't. Because if you did, Bender would be able to cook you and Nibbler and share you with Fry when he...gets back."

Reality hit her and her last words came sadly. She thought to herself to keep herself occupied.

How could I have forgotten he was gone? Then she got sarcastic. It's not like I yelled at anyone today.

"He's gone one day and I already miss him so much."

Fry murred. What did she say?

Why don't you just say it? Another part of her mind cut in. You'll feel better.

Say what?

You know what. It's not like it's a huge secret anymore.

I have no idea wh...

Oh come on. It's not like the cat'll tell anyone.

I'll tell him when he gets back. No matter where we are or who's there.

Fry meowed in her ear to snap her out of her mental debate. After she asked what was wrong, he mewed at her building.

"Welcome to your new home. Wait, how did you know where I live?"

He did his best to look like he had no idea what she was saying. Um, lucky guess?

Slightly confused, Leela took her new 'pet' upstairs.

Back at P.E.

The Professor had been going through the 'Busted experiments' room made two helpful discoveries. The first was the pile of clothes that Fry left behind when he went through his unplanned change. The other was the machine that caused this whole mess. About ten minutes after the red head passed out, it made a second serum. An antidote to change him back to normal. Farnsworth took the vial and put it in his coat pocket, turning out the lights and calling it a night.

Apartment 1-I

Fry's first furry meeting with Nibbler was uneventful. By the time Leela got out of the shower though, she heard the animal meowing his little heart out and high pitched barks from Nibbler. Fearing the worst, she ran out but was met by the exact opposite sight she thought. It was a rolling ball of black, white and orange fur, but the two were wrestling around rather then trying to eat or avoid being eaten. Fry rolled to his back and began kicking at Nibbler's stomach in a claw-free attempt to make him let go of his ear and she laughed. "What did I tell you guys about teeth?"

Leela sat on her knees by them and they separated. Nibbler jumped onto a chair and curled up with a yawn, watching as she laid one hand on Fry's back and the other on the carpet in front of her. "I was sitting in this same spot the first time Fry played his holophoner for me. Then I made a huge mistake. I threw him out for trying to see if I loved him or just how he was acting. What was I thinking?"

By then the tabby had crawled into her lap, rubbing his head against her elbow. "But he never gave up hope. Those space bees wouldn't have killed him, but he didn't know that. Those candy hearts though...I think they did kill him for a few seconds." She laughs. "Honestly, who other then Fry could choke on love? I don't think he needed the opera...it just sped up when I realized I loved him." She lifted the animal in her lap and carried him to her bedroom. "But you can't tell him that, okay? I want to be the one to let him know I can finally say it." Because of how she was holding him, she missed just how shocked a cat can look.

Yeah, it's only right that you tell him.

After the door shut behind them, Nibbler opened his stalk eye and nodded. Everyone will surely panic when they hear of this. But really, the Other has always taken excellent care of me. Certainly nothing will happen while he's in her care. The small beast closed his eye, yawned, and settled in for the night.

The first thing Fry noticed is a picture on the nightstand. It's the same one that Bender took of the crew on Monument Beach, but this copy had been cut so that he and Leela were the only ones in it. She watched him as she got into bed. "That picture has been staring at me for the past four days. I was going to tell him Friday morning, that way it would sink in all day. And we could have the whole weekend to ourselves."

Fry began to curl up near her arm, mewing at her as he thought a question. And what would be happening over that weekend, exactly?

"I know what you're thinking. 'What could you want to do with him that takes two and a half days?' Well, wouldn't you like to know?" She then clicked off her lamp, gave Fry a goodnight kiss between his ears, and was soon fast asleep.

I've got to find a way to change back to normal by Friday. I've got a date and there's no way I'm standing her up. Even in the dark, Fry's night vision made it seem like the room had only dimmed slightly. And then his other senses only make him want to stay up even longer. After about an hour of pacing the edge of the bed, he lied down on Leela's stomach and was unexpectedly lulled by her heartbeat.