Chapter Text
Intern blinked. Gunk held its eyes half-shut as it stared at the wall, moving slightly and feeling the blanket draped pretty haphazardly over its body. It was dark, but still light enough to see their own paw clearly. There were… sounds. It focused. Keys. Door opening. Shoes shuffling on tile.
It toppled out of bed and nearly fell over, already preparing to square up with whatever intruder was threatening the safety of it and its-
Agent?
They were fully dressed in some casual clothes that they must’ve snatched from her wardrobe, their work uniform balled up and held in one arm against their side. The other held the door open; it hesitantly creaked on its hinges as Agent took just the slightest step back inside. Their piercing yellow eyes stared unblinkingly, making the environment way tenser than it’d be if it actually were an intruder.
The brisk night wind pushed a plastic piece of trash off of the kitchen counter. Agent’s fur was tousled. They didn’t blink.
“… … … Thanks. I’m going home. …Work tomorrow.”
Agent leaned forward, about to step out, and Intern frantically waved his hands to get them to stay for just long enough to talk. He quickly signed the word for “stay”, then darted back to the bedroom and snatched the mini notepad off of his nightstand, already scrawling some shit in it on the way back.
{ CAm we ;t le^st talk f|#7t?
Abo<t t0day? Iwant toh!nlpyou.
Als= hom nre yəu got |a yet home? }
(TRANSLATION: Can we at least talk first? About today? I want to help you. Also how are you gonna get home?)
The cat stared at the hurried writing, tip of their tail flicking, then leaned back, looking outside. Their ears were half pressed against their head, claws piercing their work uniform.
“I’ll call a taxi. Don’t worry about me. …Please.”
It had to be the fastest that Intern ever wrote in her life; she had to put it on the counter just to keep Agent from leaving, so they could at least hear her out for a minute longer.
{ | dont th𝄽nlc g@ore w:ir+
i prnB*se. anythiog i ca/ / do
for go| i will. j ust stay forabit. }
(I don’t think you’re weird I promise. Anything I can do for you I will. Just stay for a bit.)
The corner of Agent’s mouth pulled into a grimace, even hunching over a little. Their tail hit the side of the counter, coiled around their right leg.
“Your job…” they muttered, sharpened icicles in their voice- “is internship at Animal Hospital. My business… is my… business. Okay?”
Their ears were folded back completely when Agent turned to look straight at the rabbit, pupils narrowed into warning slits. Artificial lights just meters away made their golden eyes glow.
“I hang around the intersection, and I shoot bitches in the face. That’s ALL. THAT HAPPENS. Nothing else you need to stick your snout into. …Got it, bud?”
Intern was hunched over as if Agent was going to take a massive bite out of her face. She nodded meekly, very quickly, taking a slight step back.
Agent looked between her and the outside, sighing a very light sigh and softening their posture.
“i’m sorry. For that, and everything else today. You shouldn’t’ve had to… I can handle it myself. I have before. It’s not fair for you.”
Intern wanted badly to disagree, to tell them he never minded anything they did, that really, he was honored to care for them in such a way. But he was scared now. And… Agent was clearly setting boundaries here. Ears drooping and shoulders sagging, he nodded, and watched in peripheral as they left with their things.
= = = = =
The taxi had taken longer than they were comfortable waiting right then.
“Evenin’. Where’s ya headed, lass?” He’d said. The gender assumption didn’t quite sit right with them, especially from some random man, but they’d remarked on it not, showing him their home address on their phone.
Leaning against the door and peering out ahead, it was as though the orange lights were all queued up to methodically stab them in the eyes, one by one.
They squinted, felt a little uncomfortable. Shifted in the gross backseat cushioning. Tried to think about the day to not think about how many people probably sharted back here.
Everything that Intern did for them, it… clearly wanted to do. Not just to please them, but because it satisfied something within it as well. It was stupid to push it away like that, probably, but… what can you do when everyone you’ve opened up to in that way is just made uncomfortable? Burdened by the responsibility of doing what they think you need in the moment? They just didn’t want to give it the extra luggage. Like everyone else, it has more in its life going on than one will let on about themself from the get-go.
For the entire day, and since yesterday, they kept having this evil, ever-persisting notion that Intern was judging them internally. They worry about it for everyone. When people that care about you judge you, they won’t say it to your face, because they don’t want to hurt your feelings or make you feel like you can't act a certain way around them. …but there’s no way in the world to prove to some paranoid freak that they just aren’t thinking something. Anyone can lie. Everyone in their life has told a lie at some point. Even if not intentionally.
…They shouldn’t even be doing that shit anyway, should they? If not for that dumb “kidcore phase” they had in sophomore year. They couldn’t even remember how they learned about regression as a concept, as a community of people… it’s just a coping mechanism, they tell themself. A lot of people have really unhealthy coping mechanisms that eat them from the inside out, and they go to therapy and they stop doing that shit… they know they could talk to their therapist about it and get help from them, but it’s just. so hard. The fear is so deeply ingrained, it took so much inner battling to get themself to trust Intern and really let go, but now that. wasn’t for anything, was it?
Agent leaned forth to bury their face in their hands, the seatbelt clicking noisily as it was pulled forth. The cab driver surprisingly stayed silent, thankfully, leaving them with their thoughts. This stupid fucking job didn’t let them think. Just stand there and kill monsters pretending to be people. They look so much like ordinary people. It’s so hard. Every day they’d rather turn the gun on themself than blow out the brains of some poor citizen imprisoned in their own body, multiple times a day, as the only thing they do in that stupid hospital. Who even knows why these anomalies are showing up everywhere, anyway? Their running theory is a parasitic force… that’s how the anomalies look so much like your average Joe. because they were, some sunny day ago.
Sometimes they consider calling things off with their therapist. …For one, it’d save them a ton of cash that’s just been going down the drain, and also… they didn’t believe that this was going anywhere. It’s like they’re watching themself get worse, gradually every day, slowly but not imperceptibly. Of course they saw it within themself, every day they look at people that are supposed to be normal, and came to the place to get treatment, but of course they’re just monsters looking to tear the soul out of some poor, undeserving citizen with their own life to live.
The taxi lurched to a stop, then reversed until they were in front of their driveway. Agent was already unbuckling and grabbing their stupid, gross wad of clothes.
“Ey, careful out ‘ere, alright? Heard ‘bout them nasty monstas roamin’ ‘bout th’ place.. Eat ya face right off.”
… Nod.
= = = = =
The uniform was tossed in the wash. Oddly, they’d looked for the pajamas that Intern had dressed them in, recalling that they left them there. Right. Stupid.
Oh, yeah, they were still dressed in her clothes, too. They threw those off as fast as they could, also into the wash. They took time to peel all of the stuff off of their bed, just to fill the washing machine enough for a proper load. The load was run, the bed was soon remade with fresh sheets and pillowcases, and they were pretty hungry.
If they wanted good sleep for work, they couldn’t spend too much time making and eating a whole meal, so they just grabbed some fun-sized chips and flopped into bed with them. They considered watching something as well, but the blue light would definitely interfere with their sleep too.
Great, alone with their thoughts again. Love it! At least they have chips- oh, they’re all eaten already. Okay. Time really flies when you’re killing yourself over and over in your mind.
They already mulled over all the shit steeped in misery in the taxi. All that was left was Intern… what they did together… how much he cared… how much weird and stupid shit he was willing to put up with just to spend time with them. Didn’t he have other rabbity friends? What, aside from Agent’s own existence, was stopping him from leaving them there to make their own food and just go smoke weed or whatever with his buddies?
Agent kicked the chip trash off of the bed, pulling the thick blanket tight over their bare body.
…There’s no way it cares so much about some random, rank-ass, scrappy alley cat like them. No way. It’s like fishing in a pond full of fat fucking catfish and choosing an ugly little crawfish missing its tail for your dinner. They didn’t get it. They didn’t even have much to offer for it. They aren’t even friends… just… acquaintances that go out and get lunch sometimes? And share their deepest secrets with? And let into their house and make food for them and bathe them for them because they’re too dumb and weak to do it on their own all of a sudden?
Agent turned on their side, ripping a pillow out from under their head and strangling it in their grasp like a chokehold.
Intern is stupid for that. It’s going to get her killed one day, how easily she trusts someone like them. They’re putting her in real danger, hanging around her so casually. They only know eachother because of work.
It should’ve stayed that way.
Agent curled in on themself yet tighter, as if trying to disappear. They wanted to cry. Badly. It was like someone was in there fighting for their life to keep the floodgates shut. But they needed it, they just did.
They thought really hard about Intern. How close and warm and soft she felt when she held them to their chest, the way she would wrap her tail around them when they sat next to eachother, the way she managed to make the silence feel peaceful and comforting rather than awkward and oppressive like it was with literally anyone else.
The way she pet their head in the morning. Her limitless patience. Her fondness for physical affection.
The fact that for once in a long, long while, by her side, they’d really felt safe. They’d felt small.
Agent’s pillow hugged them back, soaking in their tears for them.