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"Move out of my way before I make you!" The words were yelled through the waiting room as a man rushed towards the reception desk, hair a mess and sticking up wildly in all directions as he frantically pushed his way through the people waiting. Clutched within his arms was a large (perhaps overly so) cat, crying and releasing pitiful pained noises as its tail flapped back and forth against her owners arm.
"I'm here for Dr. Black, I made an appointment on the phone," the words were rushed and harrowed as he continued to pet the animal within his arms, attempting to sooth the hurt pet as it continued to mewl. The receptionist began to click away at his computer, completely used to hearing and witnessing panicked owners with their injured pets making their way into the veterinary clinic on a daily basis.
"Of course, can I ask for the name please?"
"James, James Potter," the receptionist looked up, eying the man dressed in fireman turnout gear, his helmet just barely being held under his arm. He had never met a pet owner who had given their animal a full name before, especially one that sounded so human.
"The cat's called James Potter?"
"Oh no, that's my name. the cat, well the cats called…" The words were muttered, and the panic had been taken over by the clear embarrassment of having to vocally announce his animal's name, clearly a name that he regretted ever using.
"I'm sorry sir I didn't catch that, could you repeat it for me?"
"I said that she's called Princess Sparkle," there was silence as eyes began to flicker between the overly spoiled looking cat, and the ruggedly handsome man holding her within his large and well-toned arms, "my son named her. He wouldn't hear a negative word against it, so it stuck." The receptionist nodded his head slightly, still slightly baffled at the outrageous name, yet somehow still not the worst one he had come across in his line of work.
"Okay, well if you take a seat in the waiting room, Dr. Black will be out very shortly for, um, Princess Sparkle." The man nodded and shuffled his way towards an empty seat, the cat clutched within his arms as he attempted to avoid eye contact with the other customers and their abundance of pets.
~oOo~
"Next patient, Princess Sparkle?" There was a slight questioning tone to Regulus' voice as he looked up from his clipboard and gazed around the waiting room for his next patient. He had clearly been looking for a small child who may be the owner of a pet with such an extravagant name. His eyes widened as the owner, a ruggedly handsome man dressed in full turn out gear, a fireman's helmet precariously tucked under his arm. Regulus was shocked, unable to stop the grin that tugged at his mouth, the contrast between owner and animal had never been so vivid within his job.
With a slight gesture of his hand, Regulus made his way back to the examination room, the patient and his admittedly stunning owner following right behind him. Regulus tried to ensure that he remained professional, especially when faced with owners that he found himself attracted to, he couldn't flirt with every owner that walked through his door, so he tried to ensure that he ignored the attraction as best as possible. He wasn't sure if that would be possible today.
"I'm Dr. Black, but you can call me Regulus. What seems to be the problem with Princess Sparkle today?" As he spoke, he noticed the softness in the man's gaze as he gently placed the spoiled cat upon the examination table, stroking her head and scratching under her chin as she continued to mewl and let out tiny whimpers of pain.
"I'm James, this is Princess Sparkle, as I'm sure you're aware of by now," a slight smile stretched at James' lips as he looked up and made eye contact with Regulus' charcoal eyes, "my son named her, and I can't tell him no for the life of me. I'm not sure what's wrong really, I was headed home from my shift when my son called and said that he found her lying on the counter. She cries out in pain whenever you touch her stomach or move her really."
Regulus nodded his head and began to inspect the feline as she stretched out on the table. Noticing that her stomach was rather swollen, he reached for the stethoscope, intent on checking for the possibility of multiple heartbeats. Not every owner was aware of whether their animals had become pregnant, so it was the first idea to check.
"Is your son at home with his mother? You can use the reception desk to check in with them if you'd like, let them know I'm working on figuring out what's wrong with his pet," Regulus had felt his heart drop slightly at the knowledge of a child, knowing that usually also included a wife or partner, but wanted to test the waters first. If he was single then Regulus would absolutely be making a move on the man, it was worth trying at least.
"No wife, I'm a single father. It was back when I was questioning myself, and my sexuality. She wasn't ready for a child, and I knew that I probably wouldn't ever have that opportunity again. I'm also gay if that was where your questions were heading, and I think they were," they both chuckled slightly, cheeks red as they realised, they had both been caught.
"Ah, well apparently I wasn't as subtle as I had planned then. That was the direction I was heading in, I'm also gay if you wanted to check. Now Princess Sparkles is not pregnant from what I can tell you, but I think we should do an ultrasound, just to double check." Quickly readying the tools and wheeling the machine over, Regulus readied himself for the worst case scenarios. It was always possible that something else could be the cause for the distending stomach, but Regulus had a slight feeling that he already knew what could be wrong with the lounging cat.
"So now we both know that we're interested and available, we should probably find out what's wrong with Princess Sparkle before taking the next step, I somehow feel it's a bit unprofessional to ask your vet out for a date when you're their patient," there was a wry tone to James' voice as he made the remark. Regulus couldn't help but to chuckle as he began to move the ultrasound wand across the lounging cats stomach. Finally, it was clear to Regulus what the problem was, and it wasn't even that big of a problem. Regulus struggled to maintain his professional tone as the laughter bubbled within him, he hadn't seen a situation like this before and the feeling of relief was overwhelming. For once he wouldn't be handing out any bad news.
"I'm not going to lie to you, at first I was rather mystified. Everything pointed to your cat being pregnant, but she isn't. From what I can tell, she's just eaten a lot of food, and is struggling to digest it all. Your cat is just a bit greedy to be honest with you." James blinked rapidly, unable to comprehend that all of the fear and panic he had felt, was over something so miniscule. His cat, his son's treasured pet and best friend, wasn't dying or in severe pain. She was just fat, and full on too much food.
"I can't bloody believe this," the frustration and feeling of ultimate relief was clear in his voice as he exhaled heavily, slumping slightly against the wall in utter relief. "I was so scared it was going to be something really bad. Looks like I'll have to monitor how much this chunky beast manages to eat, and maybe make sure Harry stops feeding her bread." A wry grin tugged at his pale lips as he gazed down at the now sleeping feline with affection in his eyes. Clearly, he was just relieved the cat wasn't in pain and was going to be okay, something that appealed to Regulus' adoration for animals and the way their owners treated them. He was a firm believer in the way people treated animals saying a lot about their true personality, and James was only showing positives.
"I'm definitely thinking that bread should be vetoed from her diet, she might become a full loaf if you keep that up. Otherwise, just make sure she drinks some water and the bloating should pass," Regulus handed the cat over to her owner and watched as he clipped an emerald green collar around her neck, a small jingling bell in the centre and a copper tag hanging in the shape of a crown. A matching emerald green lead was looped around James' shoulders as he cradled the feline in his arms, gently stroking her back to sleep as she shifted from her relaxed state.
"I'll definitely keep an eye on her, and on Harry. Thank you for seeing us Dr. Black, it's been delightful," they both lingered as they shook hands, Regulus felt his own tremble as the handsome man before him allowed his thumb to gently stroke at his wrist before pulling away. The moment passed and yet the tension and temptation for more still continued to linger, with a flash of pearly white teeth and a grin upon his lips, James turned and began to saunter away.
Regulus watched as he headed towards the door, a happy and rather fat Princess Sparkles nestled within his arm. He couldn't just let him leave after such a connection; Regulus had never met someone who made him feel that way before, surely it was a sign of some kind. Filled with insecurity and anxiety, Regulus chose to take a leap of faith and make a move. Surely it was better to go for it and have it potentially fail, as opposed to not even trying in the first place.
"I'd like to take you up on that offer you made earlier, to go on a date. If you were serious about it that is?" Regulus called as James began to open the door, he turned to look at him before grinning and sauntering back towards the flustered veterinarian. Leaning in, he placed a gentle kiss upon Regulus' cheek before turning and sauntering away again.
"Darling, I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't up for it. I left my number on your desk by the way, I hope you'll call," he cheerfully called over his shoulder before leaving the room. Regulus' was frozen, in shock and confusion, he hadn't expected the kiss placed upon his now bright and rosy cheeks, burning from embarrassment, and yet he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his lips. Reaching across the table, he scooped up the little card upon his desk, a phone number scrawled across in blue ink. Slipping into the pocket of his scrubs he grabbed his clipboard and made his way into the waiting room, wishing the day would speed by so he could dial that number and speak to James once again. The day couldn't go fast enough for him.