Chapter Text
“Katie, come on. I promise, Rover’s going to be fine, you don’t have to worry,” Matt said when he heard sniffling in the back seat. He dared to look back in the rear-view mirror so he could check on his passengers. Katie was clutching the family dog to her chest, her eyes looking a little misty, while Rover just snuffed sleepily in her arms. “You don’t remember this because you were too little at the time, but Rover got sick like this all the time when he was a puppy. He bounced back within a week every time. He probably just needs some medicine.”
“I know, I’m not stupid,” Katie huffed, trying her hardest to appear tough. “I’m just mad. I told mom and dad we should have been taking him to the vet more often! Maybe he wouldn’t be this sick if we actually took him for his check-ups!”
Matt stayed silent, because he knew that nothing he could say would make her feel better. She was right, of course, they should have been taking Rover to the vet regularly. But between Dad’s job with NASA having him work long hours, Mom’s new business taking off, and Matt being overwhelmed with trying to get his Masters, they just never seemed to have time. And now poor Rover was paying for it.
The rest of the trip was silent, aside from Katie’s angry sniffles in the back seat. Matt nearly sighed in relief as he turned the corner and saw the vet’s office come into view. Maybe once Rover was in capable hands, Katie would calm down a bit.
When they climbed out of the car, Katie didn’t even bother letting Rover down to walk. She just carried the dog in her arms, even though he wasn’t exactly a small animal. But when Matt tried to say something, she just shot him a nasty glare that could peel paint, and he wisely backed off. She stomped up the steps to the front door with Rover in her arms, and Matt barely got in front of her in time to help her open it.
“Hi there, welcome to PetVet,” the man at the counter greeted them warmly. His nametag identified him as ‘Hunk’, and he was wearing a polo shirt over scrub pants, with his shaggy hair pushed back with an orange bandana. “How can I help you?”
“My dog is sick,” Katie announced. She held Rover up a bit higher so he could see. “He needs to see a vet right away.”
Hunk’s smile immediately shifted into a serious expression. “What’s his name? Have you been here before?” he asked, already typing away at the computer in front of him. “Do we have your phone number on file?”
“This is Rover. We have been here before, but…it’s been a while since our last visit,” Matt admitted reluctantly. He could feel Katie’s anger and indignation radiating off of her. He quickly rattled off the home number, tapping his fingers absently on the counter as he waited for Hunk to pull up Rover’s profile.
Hunk let out a small hum. “Hmmm, it has been a while since your last visit. It says here that you used to see Dr. Alfor, right?”
“That’s right,” Matt confirmed. Rover had started whimpering, and Katie was trying to shush him with scratches behind his ears.
“Unfortunately, Dr. Alfor retired over a year ago,” Hunk told them. Even though there was absolutely no judgement in his voice, Matt still felt a pang of guilt. God, they really should have brought Rover in sooner. “But we have a new vet in who has taken over most of Dr. Alfor’s patients. He’s new, but he’s already really good, I’m sure you’ll like him. Can you quickly give me the gist of what’s happening to Rover? I’ll make a note for the vet and he’ll see you as soon as he’s done with his current patient.”
At this point Katie stepped forward, shoving Matt out of the way with her elbow. Matt grunted in pain, but she just ignored him, all of her attention on Hunk. “Yes, I can. He threw up this morning, and he didn’t eat his treats even though they’re his favourite, and he always eats his treats, and…”
Matt wandered off towards the waiting room area, confident that Katie had everything well in hand and that she didn’t need him anymore. With a sigh he sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs, picked up a pamphlet to read, and settled in to wait. After a few minutes Katie joined him, Rover still clutched tightly in her arms. When Matt glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, he could see her straining a little.
“Want me to hold him for a bit?” he offered.
“No,” she said firmly, holding Rover a little bit tighter. The dog sighed, used to her manhandling, his tail wagging weakly. “I’m fine.”
Matt let it go. If she said she was fine, she wasn’t going to let him help. She was stubborn like that.
They waited for about ten minutes, Katie staring resolutely at the far wall and absently stroking Rover’s silky ears, Matt working his way through the information pamphlets they had on display. Then, they heard the sound of a door opening, the sound of a conversation as two people stepped out of a far room. The first to come into view was a little old lady clutching a cat carrier in one thin bony hand, the cat inside a dark smudge peering out of the side. The lady was smiling warmly, reaching up to pat someone on the shoulder.
“Thank you doctor, for all of your help. I must say, you certainly have a way with animals! I’ve never seen Romeo so well behaved at the vet!” She patted the top of the carrier.
A warm rich laugh answered her, and Matt absently perked up a little.
“Well, I’ve never seen such a well behaved cat!” The vet had a deep voice, but he spoke gently to the old woman. Matt instantly felt at ease just hearing that voice; it was so soothing. It was a good voice for a vet, for someone who had to keep scared animals calm and had to talk to upset pet owners, he thought. He would probably be able to handle Katie without trouble.
That was the only reason he was paying such close attention, Matt told himself firmly.
But then the little old lady was walking over to Hunk to pay her bill and the vet walked into the waiting room, and Matt felt his eyes go wide and his heart rate speed up.
The vet was the most beautiful man that Matt had ever laid eyes on.
“Rover?” the vet called out, even though they were the only ones in the waiting room. Katie immediately jumped to her feet, nearly dropping Rover but managing to catch him at the last second by adjusting her grip.
“Here!” she said, rushing over to hold out the dog. Matt followed much more slowly, mostly because he was still feeling a bit stunned. He knew he was staring, but somehow he couldn’t find it in himself to look away. The man was absolutely gorgeous! Young, for a vet. Probably just recently graduated. But he was also built like an athlete, with a broad chest and shoulders that Matt could see even under the white lab coat he wore.
The vet was inspecting Rover in Katie’s arms with a frown, his brow slightly wrinkled in concern, but the expression only made him seem more warm and inviting. When the vet looked over at him, Matt nearly swallowed his own tongue.
“Well, why don’t we head into the exam room so I can look at Rover. I’m Dr. Shirogane by the way, nice to meet you.” He held out his hand for Matt to shake. Matt brought his own hand up on autopilot, hoping it wasn’t visibly shaking, and took Dr. Shirogane’s. The vet had a good strong handshake, his palm warm and dry against Matt’s own, and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he gave Matt a smile.
“Nice to meet you too,” Matt said faintly, feeling dizzy. Was he blushing? It felt like he was blushing. Oh god, please don’t be blushing, he was pale as a ghost after spending so much time locked up in his room working on his thesis, and it would be so incredibly obvious if he was.
But just then, Rover and Katie came to the rescue. The dog let out a low whine, and Katie impatiently stepped in. “Hi, I’m Katie, that’s my brother Matt, and this is Rover. Can we please look at him now?” she urged.
“Of course,” Dr. Shirogane said smoothly, probably used to people being edgy when their pets were sick. “Right this way.”
He led them into an exam room and had Katie set Rover down on the table. Once she did, she finally stepped back, taking her place beside Matt so they could watch Dr. Shirogane as he worked. The vet was impressive, handling Rover easily and checking him over quickly and confidently. By the time he was done, Katie seemed to have finally relaxed, ready to believe that Rover was in good hands.
“Seems to me that it’s just a case of eating something he shouldn’t,” Dr. Shirogane explained once he’d finished his exam. “Maybe he got into the garbage or stole some food from your plate when you weren’t looking. Did you leave any food unattended that might have gone missing?”
Both Matt and Katie paused for a moment, trying to remember, before Katie’s eyes lit up. “Wait, then it wasn’t you that ate my ice cream!” she exclaimed, staring at Matt.
“Wait, that’s what you were mad about, yesterday?” Matt groaned, momentarily forgetting his shyness in the face of his indignation. “Of course I didn’t eat it! I hate rocky road!”
“Heathen,” she spat.
“Sounds like that could be it,” Dr. Shirogane smoothly interrupted their argument, making them both duck their heads and blush. “You said he’s only thrown up twice, right? I’m not seeing anything too concerning at this point, so I don’t think you should be too worried, though I’m going to do a quick x-ray to be sure there’s nothing stuck in his stomach. He’ll most likely be fine.”
Katie practically sagged against Matt’s side in relief.
After Dr. Shirogane had taken Rover for the scan and come back, he led Rover back into the room on the leash, a comforting smile on his face.
“Everything looks fine,” he reported to them happily. “I saw nothing in his digestive tract, so whatever he ate he successfully expelled. He should recover quickly, so long as he doesn’t get into anything else. Still, I should probably see him again within the next couple of days, just to make sure he’s recovering well. And,” he glanced down at Rover’s chart, raising an eyebrow, “it looks like it’s been a while since Rover had a proper check-up. Why don’t we kill two birds with one stone here. Can you bring him in again next week?”
Matt had two midterms and a paper due next week. He couldn’t bring Rover back next week.
“Sure,” he said immediately, his voice squeaky and high-pitched. “We can do that!”
Katie shot him a look.
“Okay,” Dr. Shirogane gave them a warm smile, absently scratching Rover behind the ears, somehow finding Rover’s favourite spot right away even though he’d never met Rover before. The dog’s eyes closed in pure bliss.
“You can set something up with Hunk at the counter, he’d be happy to help you find the best time. As for you,” he addressed Rover affectionately, shaking his finger at the dog’s snout in admonishment. “Stay out of human food, okay? It’s not good for you.” Matt melted at the sight. If he hadn’t already fallen hard for Dr. Shirogane, this would have been the moment that doomed him.
Dr. Shirogane led them back to the counter where Hunk was waiting for them, chatting Katie up about Rover and giving them instructions on how to make Rover feel better and how to prevent this from happening again. Matt was very glad that Katie was doing all of the talking, because he was pretty sure the only noises he would be making right now if he dared open his mouth would be an embarrassing smitten giggle. So he carefully kept his lips sealed.
Matt and Katie waited as Dr. Shirogane leaned over and murmured something into Hunk’s ears, and then he left them with a wave and another of his stop-your-heart smiles. Matt watched him go helplessly, his heart pounding in his chest.
“All better?” Hunk asked, breaking through Matt’s daydreaming. Matt jumped a little, and turned back towards the counter guiltily.
“Yeah,” Katie answered. “Or, well, he will be in a day or two.”
“That’s good,” Hunk said sincerely. He tapped away at the keyboard for a bit, presumably filling out Rover’s profile and ringing up the bill.
While he was working, Matt noticed an absolutely beautiful Siamese cat jump up onto the counter, stalking towards them with a regal air. It was followed by the fluffiest long-haired orange tabby that Matt had ever seen.
“Oh, hello Allura, Coran,” Hunk greeted the cats with a grin. “Come to say hi to our visitors?”
The two cats stopped and sat on the counter in front of them. The tabby was watching Rover, who was finally standing on his own paws, with a suspicious look, but the Siamese was staring at Matt with the most beautiful blue eyes he’d ever seen. Enchanted, Matt held out his hand for the cat to sniff.
He’d always wanted a cat.
“Who are these?” Matt asked, holding as still as possible as the Siamese inspected his fingers. He felt a thrill of satisfaction when it seemed to find him acceptable, and started rubbing its face over his hand. He took the opportunity to stroke its sleek pale fur.
“That is the lovely Allura,” Hunk told him proudly, “And her shadow there is Coran. Don’t worry, he seems a bit mean, but that’s just because he’s really overprotective of Allura. As long as she likes you, he’ll like you too.”
Sure enough, when Allura grew bored of him and started walking away, Coran paused to lick Matt’s fingers before taking off after her.
Katie watched them go curiously. “Are they patients?” she asked.
“No, they actually belong to Shiro. He brings them into work with him every day, along with his dog Champion, because they get up to too much mischief if he leaves them alone at home.”
“Shiro?” Matt blurted out, focusing on only one thing in Hunk’s explanation.
“Oh!” Hunk ducked his head a little, looking a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, I meant Dr. Shirogane. He jokes that his name is too long, so we should just call him Shiro. But I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean in front of the patients. That’s a bit unprofessional of me, sorry.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Matt quickly reassured him, while rolling that over in his mind. Shiro, huh? That was kind of cute.
“Yeah, we don’t mind,” Katie added. “We won’t say anything.”
“Thanks,” Hunk grinned, and then got back to work. A few seconds later he held out a printout to them. Matt took it, knowing that Katie definitely couldn’t afford Rover’s vet bills with her part-time job at the library. Not that he made much more than her working as a TA, but at least he had a credit card. “Here’s your total for today. Now, would you like to book your follow-up now? Or would you like to call back later?”
But Matt was too busy staring at the total amount for the bill in shock. “Wait, is this right?”
Hunk blinked, pulled the paper back to check it over, and then handed it back. “Yup, everything looks right to me. What’s wrong?”
“This is way too low,” Matt said, looking at the number again, as if he might have read it wrong the first time. “I was expecting to pay double this.”
Hunk shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, Dr. Shirogane asked me to give you guys a bit of a discount. Kind of a ‘welcome back to the practice’ thing. It’s just for the one time, though. I mean, if you want to pay more, I can – ”
“No, no, that’s okay,” Matt cut in quickly, realizing he was complaining about paying less. “I’ll just, ah, put this on my credit card.” He held up his card, blushing.
He thought he was going to escape the vet’s office with no further embarrassment, but then the moment they stepped outside into the sun, Rover plodding along beside them on his leash, Katie turned to him and grinned. Matt immediately felt terror, because that was Katie’s evil grin. That grin was the sign of pain and suffering to come.
“What?” he said cautiously.
“You like the vet,” Katie announced, triumphant. Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she was practically skipping.
“What? No I don’t!” Matt tried to deny it, even though he knew that she knew. There was no way she’d missed the way he’d been looking at Dr. Shirogane.
“Yes you do, don’t even try to lie to me,” she immediately shot him down. “Come on, I’m pretty sure even Rover could tell, and he was busy trying not to puke his guts out. You think the vet is hot.”
“Well…yeah,” Matt grumbled. “He is.”
“But you don’t just think he’s hot. You like him,” she continued, her voice taking on a sing-song tone. “You wanna kiss him. You wanna ask him out.”
“No I don’t! He’s cute, that’s it!” Matt clapped his hands over his ears, trying to block out her laughter, but she just barreled on, on a roll now.
“You’ve been whining for days about those midterms next week, and I saw your schedule. You’ve got like a million things going on. That’s always been your excuse when I’ve tried to convince you to take Rover to get a check-up before. But the second Dr. Sexy bats his eyelashes at you, you’re ready to drop everything to bring Rover back.” She laughed at him.
“Shut up! That’s not it at all.” Matt angrily dug the car keys out of his pocket so he could unlock the car. Katie opted to sit in the back again, though this time Rover sat next to her rather than being held. “I felt bad that I let Rover get sick, that’s all. I want to be a better pet owner.”
“Yeah, and you want to see Dr. Sexy again. Or should I say Shiro,” Katie smirked, relentless in her teasing. But suddenly her expression turned serious. “But really, Matt. I saw your schedule; you’ve got a crazy busy week ahead of you. Are you sure you can make it? I can always ask Dad to take us. Or Mom.”
“Mom and Dad are even busier than I am,” Matt pointed out tiredly. “It’s okay. Honest. The one midterm is in astrophysics, and you know that’s never really been an issue for me. I’m a little nervous about the programming midterm, but I’m sure I’ll be okay. Rover needs to be seen, and that’s more important. I’ll make time.”
Katie absently chewed on her lip for a moment, thinking. Then she reached out across to the front seat and placed a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Do you want my help at all with that programming midterm? You know I get this stuff better than you.”
Matt didn’t bother feeling insulted at her blunt tone; he knew she was right. Katie had always been a brilliant programmer, showing talents even when they were children, and it had never really bothered him. He would rather be proud of her than jealous.
He smiled at her in the rear-view mirror. “That would be really appreciated. Thank you.”
“No problem, bro,” she said, and then she leaned back and snuggled with Rover for the rest of the ride home.
+++
Matt yawned as they pulled up to the vet’s office the next week. It was disgustingly early in the morning, the sun barely up, but this was the only time he could squeeze into his schedule to take Katie and Rover back to the vet. He was honestly kind of shocked that they were even open this early. But when he pulled on the door handle, it opened easily, and he gestured Katie and Rover through with another yawn, sipping at the coffee he’d picked up on the way.
When they walked in, he expected Hunk to be waiting for them, but instead he found two new people behind the counter. The one was standing with his back to him so that all they could see of him was short brown hair and deep brown skin above his uniform collar, but the other young man was facing them. His long dark hair framed his pale angular face and bright eyes that were currently fixing the other employee with a death glare. Allura and Coran were on the windowsill, though only Coran seemed to be paying any attention to what was happening. Allura was asleep, basking in the sunlight.
“For the last time, Lance,” he growled. “Nyma can’t be pregnant. She’s been spayed!”
“Well, then,” Lance snapped. “How do you explain the weight gain? Her belly getting bigger?”
“She’s getting fat because you feed her too many treats!”
Lance gasped, affronted. “No I don’t! If anything it’s you who gave her too many treats! She’s your rabbit!”
“No she’s not, she’s yours.”
“I could have sworn that she was – hey!” Lance yelped as the other employee finally seemed to notice Katie and Matt, shoving by so he could take his place at the counter. “Keith! Watch it!”
“Hi, welcome to Pet Vet,” Keith greeted them with a monotone, showing none of the warmth that Hunk had. “How can we help you?”
Lance finally caught on that they had visitors, because he immediately straightened up, giving them a sheepish grin. “Hey guys! Sorry about that, didn’t see you there!” He actually pushed Keith out of the way, chair and all, so that he could lean across the counter and grin at them. “How can I help you today?”
“Lance!” Keith shouted, hopping out of the chair angrily.
“Um, actually,” Matt cut in before the two could start fighting again. Was this normal behaviour for people working at a vet’s office? The cats certainly didn’t seem to be bothered, as if they saw this kind of thing all the time. “We’re here for a follow up appointment with Dr. Shirogane? We’ve brought Rover.”
“Oh yeah?” Lance leaned a bit further over the counter so he could look down at Rover. “Awww, look at that cutie!”
Keith joined him, and the two of them stared down at Rover, Lance cooing while Keith offered his fingers for a sniff. Rover, pleased with all of the attention, gave them a huge doggy grin, his tail wagging madly. Matt silently sighed in relief as the two of them seemed to focus on the dog rather than each other. It was too early to be dealing with confrontation.
“Okay, let’s get you checked in,” Lance said as soon as he’d given Rover a good scratch on the head. Keith offered him the chair he’d pushed away, fight forgotten, and leaned over Lance’s shoulder to watch him as he worked. Matt was surprised and how closely Keith was pressing into Lance’s space. It seemed oddly familiar of him, considering how loudly they’d been fighting earlier.
“Just giving you the heads up,” Keith said, the bored monotone gone and an actual personality coming into his voice now that he’d warmed up to them a bit, “Dr. Shirogane is actually running a bit late today. He just got here right before you, and he’s still getting set up. He shouldn’t be long, though, maybe another five minutes? I can do the preliminary stuff while you wait.”
“Why you?” Lance immediately asked, offended. “Is it because you’re supposed to be better than me? We both know I’m better with dogs!”
“No, it’s because you’re doing the computer stuff, genius.”
Matt wanted to groan. Couldn’t these two go five minutes without fighting? Who thought it was as good idea to schedule them together if they were going to act like this ? But the moment Keith led them into an exam room and started checking Rover over, he took on a calm, professional attitude. The sudden 180° in personality threw Matt for a loop.
After he was done, he instructed them to wait, and then took his notes into the back. Katie and Matt shared a look.
“What is up with them?” Katie asked, voicing Matt’s thoughts exactly.
“No idea,” Matt admitted with a shake of his head.
“They’re dating,” Dr. Shirogane said as he entered the room. Matt and Katie both jumped; they hadn’t heard the door opening. “I swear, they’re both excellent techs. Couldn’t ask for a better set of hands. But sometimes…” he trailed off with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry, usually they don’t fight in front of the patients. I’ll have to speak to them about that.”
“No, no,” Katie interjected. “It’s okay. We don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
Matt would have agreed with her, but he was too busy struggling to remember to breathe. In the days since they had last visited, Matt had managed to convince himself that his imagination had just exaggerated how handsome Dr. Shirogane was. That Dr. Shirogane wasn’t quite the glowing specimen that his memory seemed to recall. But oh no, it was worse. He was somehow even more beautiful than Matt remembered.
Matt was so screwed.
Dr. Shirogane was thankfully distracted by Rover pretty quickly, who yipped and bounced in excitement when the vet greeted him with a good rub all down his sides and across his shoulders. Matt caught himself feeling jealous of his own dog when he started wishing that Dr. Shirogane would rub him down like that, and he quickly bit the inside of his cheek to knock himself out of it. It didn’t help that he could practically feel Katie’s smug amusement as he watched Dr. Shirogane work.
At one point Dr. Shirogane briefly stepped out of the room to grab some paperwork he’d forgotten, and the moment he was gone, she leaned over and hissed in Matt’s ear, “Bro, you have got it bad.”
“I know,” Matt whispered back, his shoulders slumping.
The rest of Rover’s check-up went well. The dog had recovered completely, back to his usual friendly self, and Dr. Shirogane was happy to report that he didn’t have any concerns about Rover’s health at this point. He just needed a few booster shots and vaccines to make up for the ones he’d missed in the years he hadn’t been brought in, and then he’d be able to go home with a clean bill of health.
Pathetically, the highlight of the visit was when Dr. Shirogane got them to hold onto Rover while he got his injections so he wouldn’t pull away, and Matt’s arm brushed against the vet’s for a whole two seconds. Matt felt like he was floating on air, the place they touched tingling.
Dr. Shirogane led them to the counter and spoke to Lance briefly, but he didn’t have time to linger with them for long, as the next patient was already waiting. Still, Matt couldn’t help watching him leave, waiting until he’d stepped back into the exam room to turn back to the counter.
“All set?” Lance asked, watching Matt curiously. He already had the bill printed out and waiting on the counter.
Once again, Matt stared down at the number on the page in shock. Even though Hunk had said the discount last time was a one-time thing, the vet bill was still less than he’d expected. He glanced up at Lance, debating about making a comment. It didn’t feel right to let it slide, though.
Thankfully, Lance seemed to anticipate his question. “Hey, man. I just type up what Shiro gives me. Uh, Dr. Shirogane.”
“Okay, then,” Matt said, confused but pleased. “Um, I’ll put this on credit again?” Ugh, even with the discounts, Matt’s credit card bill this month was gonna be a doozy.
He was just finishing signing the paperwork when Katie suddenly lunged across the counter, grabbing a flyer off of the top of a pile. Matt startled, leaving a long stroke of ink across the page. “Katie!”
“Hey!” she thrust the flyer in Lance’s face, “what’s this?”
“Dude, watch it!” Lance leaned back from the sudden attack, his eyes going crossed as he tried to stare at the paper so close to his nose. “What, our volunteer animal hour?”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“Uh, well, it’s in association with the local shelter,” Lance explained, carefully pushing the flyer away from his face so he could actually breathe. “It’s something Shiro – sorry, Dr. Shirogane – started up. Basically on Saturdays, he goes to the shelter to give the animals check-ups and help out and stuff, and he invites people to join him and give him a hand. They can play with the animals for an hour to help socialize them, or help with odd tasks that need to be done around the shelter. It’s supposed to be really good stress relief, and who doesn’t like hanging out with animals?”
“And can anyone go?” Katie asked. Matt squinted at her. She was up to something, he just knew it, but what? Was she hoping to bring home another animal? He hoped she remembered what Mom said; no more pets. Otherwise he would have adopted a cat ages ago. He loved Rover, Rover was such a good dog. But he’d always wanted a cat too.
“Yeah, anyone can show up. It’s walk-in,” Lance said. “I go whenever I’ve got a day off, it’s a blast.”
“And Dr. Shiro goes?” she pressed.
“Um, yeah? It’s his thing, so of course he does.”
“Cool, thanks. Can I keep this?” she asked, and then before he could answer she shoved it into her bag. Without looking back, she walked out the door, Rover trailing faithfully behind her. Matt and Lance stared after her in shock.
“Um…thanks,” Matt said once he’d recovered his wits. Then, grabbing up his paperwork and leaving the signed sheets behind, he raced after his sister. “Katie, wait up!”
“What the hell?” he asked the moment he caught up to her. “What was that all about?!”
“After today, you’re not going to have an excuse to see Shiro anymore,” she explained casually, “unless Rover gets sick again. Which had better not happen.” She gave the dog a pointed stare. “So, you need a new way to see him. When I saw the flyer, I knew it was perfect.”
“Katie,” Matt sighed. He was torn between being annoyed at her meddling, and touched that she was trying so hard to help him. “Really. I don’t have time to go to this shelter thing. You know I’ve got too much going on.”
“Yeah, but Shiro’s there,” she pointed out. “And you don’t have to go every week. Just think about it.”
She held out the flyer to him. In the sunshine, the fluorescent orange paper was almost painful to look at. It was covered in bold letters and cheesy clipart of animals, clearly put together to make the event seem as fun as possible.
Matt groaned, but took the sheet from her. “I’ll think about it,” he said, even as he folded the paper and carefully tucked it away in his back pocket. Katie just laughed at him, before racing towards the car, Rover running alongside with his tongue lolling out.
+++
Matt told himself he was just humouring Katie. He just pinned the flyer to the corkboard above his desk so that she wouldn’t demand to know what he’d done to it. He just kept his Saturday morning open in case something came up or he needed extra study time. He had no intention of going to the shelter event. And even if he did feel like going, just so he could hang out with cute animals and get a little stress relief, and for no other reason Katie, he certainly couldn’t afford to go this week. There was too much to be done.
But after the third day in a row he woke up with a steamy dream featuring Dr. Shirogane fading from his mind, he had to admit defeat. He needed to see Shiro again.
When he got up bright and early Saturday morning, despite it being his one morning off this week, Katie smirked at him from across the breakfast table. But Matt just continued to shovel corn flakes into his mouth, ignoring her.
+++
Matt pulled up to the building, staring up at it in trepidation. He hadn’t been here since they rescued Rover when he was a kid, and he hardly recognized the shelter anymore. It had been renovated in the past few years, the sign above the entrance bright and shiny, and the front door was open wide in invitation. Still, Matt couldn’t help but feel nervous.
But he could already hear Katie mocking him in the back of his head if he dared to turn back now, so with a deep breath, he got out of the car. He walked into the shelter slowly, blinking at the change in light between outside and indoors. Once he had adjusted, he looked around for an information desk.
“Oh hey!” he heard someone say behind him, and he turned around. Lance from the vet’s office grinned and walked over, clapping Matt on the shoulder. “Wasn’t expecting you to be the one to show up! I thought your sister was the one interested.”
“Oh, um, no. Just me,” Matt admitted nervously, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “I’m stressed a lot with school so I guess she thought this would be good for me?” Ugh, why did he have to sound so uncertain?
Thankfully Lance didn’t seem to notice. “That’s cool. And yeah, she’s right. You basically get to hang out with a bunch of animals for an hour, it’s so much fun. Do you have any allergies? I’m assuming you’re cool with dogs ‘cause you have one, but how do you feel about cats?”
“I like them, though I’ve never had one,” Matt confessed. “I’ve always wanted a cat.”
He blinked as he suddenly found himself pressed to Lance’s side, an arm slung over his shoulder. Lance guided him past the shelter’s entrance, waving to the person on duty at the info desk, and breezed into the bowels of the shelter. Instantly they were bombarded with the scent and sounds of the animals and cleaning chemicals, dogs barking and howling, cats meowing, cages rattling, and a single bird chirping away. Matt stared around at all of the cages with soft eyes, his heart going out to the animals.
“That’s good,” Lance said, cutting into Matt’s thoughts. “Because I’m pretty sure Shiro said they just got a bunch of cats in, and he’s gonna be focusing on them today. Apparently someone brought them in after they found them abandoned on the side of the road.”
“Oh god, that’s awful,” Matt gasped, horrified.
“Yeah. It’s pretty bad. But hey, they’re safe now! And they’re in good hands with Shiro. Here we are!” Lance announced as they came to a stop in front of a door. Through the glass window, Matt could see a large examining room, not unlike the one at the vet’s office, just much bigger. There was a box sitting on the counter, and Matt could see a tiny gray head poking out the top.
He made a little squeaking noise, completely unashamed.
“Oh my god, you didn’t tell me they were kittens! They’re so cute!” He couldn’t resist pressing his face against the glass window as more tiny faces came into view.
“Oh lord,” Lance muttered under his breath, so quiet Matt wasn’t sure if he was supposed to have heard. “He is screwed.”
“What was that?” Matt asked, forcing himself to look away from the kittens in the room.
“Nothing!” Lance said, suspiciously fast. “Nothing. Just…need to make sure we go over the rules! First, you gotta wash your hands. Make sure you don’t touch any other animals without washing your hands first, because we don’t know what bugs these little guys are carrying. Are you okay with getting a little dirty? We don’t know if these kittens are sick or if they’re litterbox trained, so you might get covered in shit if one of them has the runs, or they might throw up on you.”
Matt screwed up his face. “Ugh, there’s a lovely picture. But it’s fine. Between Katie and Rover, I’m sure I’ve seen worse. Besides,” he gestured to himself and his dirty jeans and threadbare shirt. The jeans were old and worn, covered in paint blotches, just a smidge too big so that they hung low on his hips. He kept them for doing dirty projects like painting or gardening. The shirt had actually belonged to his Dad, the NASA logo on it worn and faded after years of wear and tear, and it had shrunk after going through the wash one too many times. It clung to Matt’s torso a little uncomfortably, but that meant he didn’t mind if it got ruined. “The flyer said don’t wear nice clothes. I came prepared. I’m good.”
Lance gave him a once-over, his eyes lingering on the tiny strip of belly exposed by the loose jeans and the tight top, and he smirked. “I can see that,” he said strangely.
But before Matt could ask him what that was supposed to mean, Lance was squirting some sanitizer into his hand and leading him into the room.
“Shiroooooo! We got some fresh meat!” he shouted, poking his head into the back room connected to the exam room. Matt heard something drop with a crash, followed by a muffled curse. “Come meet our new guest!”
Matt, however, immediately bee-lined for the box of kittens the moment the sanitizer dried on his hands. He didn’t dare touch the kittens yet, waiting for someone to tell him it was okay, but he peered down into the box curiously. He practically squealed when he found six tiny balls of fluff inside, all staring up at him and mewling. They were all tabbies, as far as he could tell, but they ranged in colour from a dark smoky grey to a pale cream. They pawed at the lip of the box, reaching out to him with tiny paws. Matt cooed at them, making kissy faces.
“Uh, hi there.”
Matt looked up mid-coo, his lips still puckered. “Wha…? Oh my god.” He went bright red as he realized that Dr. Shirogane had arrived, and had caught him using baby talk on the kittens. He must have looked so stupid. He ducked his head, hiding his face behind his bangs.
“Um, hi,” he choked out, his eyes focused firmly on the ground. Oh god, this was so embarrassing. Maybe he should just leave. “I’m, um. Here to help?”
There was a pause where no one said anything. Feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Matt dared to look up just in time to catch Lance elbowing Dr. Shirogane in the side. Hard.
“Ow, Lance! Uh, sorry,” Dr. Shirogane cleared his throat and held out his hand. His face was a little pink, probably embarrassed on Matt’s behalf. “Matt, right? Sorry about that, I just got held up with paperwork.”
Matt shook Dr. Shirogane’s hand shyly, grateful that he seemed willing to pretend that he saw nothing. And he couldn’t help but feel very pleased that Dr. Shirogane had remembered his name, even though they’d only met twice and he must have seen hundreds of people every day at his job. He took the opportunity to check the other man out as subtly as he could. Dr. Shirogane was missing his usual white lab coat today, though he still had a stethoscope hanging around his neck, and instead wore nothing but jeans and a tight black t-shirt that clung to his biceps nicely. Matt approved of the casual look. “It’s okay, Dr. Shirogane. I was um, just…”
“Please, call me Shiro,” Dr. Shirogane said quickly. “Dr. Shirogane is just for the office.”
“Oh, uh, okay. Shiro.” Matt couldn’t help the little thrill that raced through his gut. He was already on ‘Shiro’ basis with the man! “So what should I do?”
“I trust Lance went over the rules with you?” Shiro asked, glancing over at Lance for confirmation. Lance was watching them both with narrowed eyes for some reason, but he instantly pasted on a cheerful expression when he noticed Shiro was looking and gave him a big thumbs up.
“You know it!” he declared proudly.
“I don’t think we’re going to be getting anyone else joining us today, so why don’t we get started. Matt, Lance and I are going to work on giving these kittens their check-ups, make sure they’ve got all their vaccines, and run some tests. Can you keep them entertained while we work? We might also need a spare pair of hands for some things, but we’ll let you know.”
Matt’s smile was brighter than the sun. He got to play with kittens today.
“Sure!” he said brightly, already reaching into the box and scooping up a kitten in each hand. They were so soft, squirming against his fingers as he set them down on the table. Once they were all out and exploring, Lance directed him towards a box of cat toys in the corner, and then he and Shiro got to work while Matt kept the kittens from straying too far.
Shiro and Lance talking quietly to each other became Matt’s background noise as he played and cooed and chatted with the kittens. They were good listeners, and they didn’t mind him explaining his thesis to them. It was nice to talk to someone about it who hadn’t heard it a million times before, even if they were just kittens.
The time flew by. When Shiro finally declared that they were all finished, Matt looked up at him with a distraught expression. He’d been having so much fun!
“Really? Already?” he asked sadly.
“A-ah,” Shiro seemed to be caught off guard by Matt’s reaction. He cleared his throat again, scratching the bridge of his nose. “Um, well. It’s, uh, actually been almost two hours,” he pointed out.
Matt stared at the clock on the wall in shock. Two hours?! He hadn’t been paying attention at all! He cursed as he realized he was going to be late for the tutorial he was supposed to be leading for the undergrads today, unless he skipped lunch. Or didn’t go home to change. He glanced down at his clothes and grimaced. Starvation it was.
“Sorry, I have to go now,” Matt said in a rush, “I wasn’t paying any attention to the time, I’m so sorry!”
“That’s okay, we can take it from here,” Shiro quickly assured him, holding out the hand sanitizer bottle for Matt to use. “Thank you for all of your help.”
“Same time next week?” Matt asked, rubbing his hands clean and digging around in his pocket for his keys. He cursed again when his baggy jeans slipped down his hip a bit.
When Shiro didn’t respond, he looked up, confused. Shiro was staring at him, mouth hanging open slightly.
“Uh, that’s right!” Lance cut in, startling Shiro and drawing Matt’s attention. “Same time next week. You should totally come, you’ve been a huge help. We’d both love it if you came back, wouldn’t we Shiro?” He gave Shiro a heavy stare.
“Um, yes. Always happy to have more help,” Shiro agreed. For some reason, this made Lance stare at him harder.
“Cool! See you guys next week!” Matt promised, and then he was out the door.
It wasn’t until he was back on the road, in a change of clothes and a granola bar shoved between his teeth, that he realized he hadn’t actually checked if he was free. Katie would have laughed her ass off if she were there.