Work Text:
Jiang Cheng glances down at the GPS one last time just to make sure he’s pulled into the right driveway, and after checking the numbers one, one, zero, five- Yup. This is it.
He could almost laugh.
After the day from Hell, with clients constantly trying to tell him how to do his job, several fresh cuts from a few less than polite patients, and the makings of a migraine quickly creeping in, he had been so eager to clock out. To just call it a day.
But of course the head veterinarian had to come out and say there’s been a last minute emergency call.
And of course it was Jiang Cheng’s responsibility to drive over an hour and a half out into bumfuck nowhere to see this patient.
Of course.
Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath, centering himself to put on his customer-service voice once more, and quickly glances at the clock before removing his keys and stepping out into night-chilled air.
The first thing that hits him is the smell of damp earth, already much more pleasant than the stale, recycled air he breathes in at the animal hospital. If it weren’t so late, Jiang Cheng would be able to take some time to look about the grounds. It’s a shame, really. But he’s here for work.
He begins making his way towards the entrance, appreciating the sound of insects humming and gravel crunching under his feet.
By the time he makes it to the front door barely even a minute later, some of the stress has melted away (some, just some) and he allows himself to relax a bit.
And of course what greets him has got to be one of the most frustrating sights of his (professional) life.
The door opens and out comes Mr. Adonis- a god come to life as the light shines behind him to perfectly reflect off of bronzed skin.
A moment or so passes where he and the man that looks like all of his fantasies combined just stare at one another. Jiang Cheng was never one for art but he thinks he’s finally coming to understand why people admire those western statues- this man’s jawline could probably carve itself out of marble.
It feels both too long and too short when the silence is finally broken.
“Hello,” Mr. Statue says- and goddammit even his voice sounds amazing. It’s deep and rough and warm and if Jiang Cheng weren’t a professional he would have swooned where he stood.
But he is.
A professional, that is. So he promptly reminds himself that this is the person that called him out here thirty minutes before he was supposed to clock out and musters up his best Vet™ voice.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Jiang. Someone at this address called the office due to an emergency with their pet?”
Recognition flashes in Mr. Statue’s eyes, widening just the slightest, and he moves a bit to let Jiang Cheng enter the house. “Yes, that’s right. I’m Nie Mingjue, I called earlier. Just follow me for a bit.”
With Nie Mingjue leading the way, Jiang Cheng lets himself take one of the small pleasures that come with house visits. Judging others’ decor choices.
It’s not rude if he only ever discusses it with his colleagues. And to be honest, there’s not much to criticize once he’s fully inside.
Silently impressed, Jiang Cheng’s eyes roam over the sleek but inviting furniture matched with just enough color to keep things interesting. He’s always preferred cool tones himself, but when coordinated properly, it seems earth tones are also nice.
Jiang Cheng is suddenly brought out of his thoughts when Nie Mingjue stops in front of a door. A door that is very much still inside the house.
“Mr. Nie-”
“Nie Mingjue is fine.”
“Okay,” Jiang Cheng says quickly, “Nie Mingjue. Why have we stopped?”
Nie Mingjue takes a moment to look at him curiously, before gesturing to the door behind him. “I thought I’d explain a bit before letting you see her.”
Jiang Cheng lets that statement absorb in his already frazzled brain, lets it marinate in there for a good few seconds- and nope!
He looks around Nie Mingjue, he looks back behind him, he looks to the side, looks down to the first floor- because apparently that happened while he had immersed himself in admiring the engravings on the molding as a way to avoid accidentally admiring something else- but still, it’s not making sense.
“Nie Mingjue” Jiang Cheng begins cautiously. “Your pet is in the room behind you?”
Said man tilts his head to the side, eyes showing that he’s clearly not understanding Jiang Cheng’s surmounting distress.
“Yeah, why? Is that-”
“Sir, you can’t keep a horse inside your house.” Jiang Cheng can’t help but interrupt.
He’s dealt with a lot of cases, been to a lot of houses, but this isn’t something he’s ever experienced. He didn’t even think it was possible to get a horse to go up standard house stairs.
With all he’s had to deal with today, Jiang Cheng feels like he might have just finally lost his mind.
They’re fucking with him. That has to be it. His boss, the customers, Nie Mingjue, the gods- they’re all fucking with him.
His brain is still processing all of the animal rights abuses being committed just by keeping a horse inside a single room when a voice cuts through his thoughts like a foghorn.
“What horse?”
What… horse? The horse he was fucking called out here to examine, that fucking horse- he wants to say, irrational anger beginning to build once more in his core as his eyebrow twitches. But he stops himself (he’s a fucking professional, okay?) and tells himself there must be a mistake. Nie Mingjue will explain.
Nie Mingjue will certainly explain.
Nie Mingjue does not show any signs of explaining. A twitch and Jiang Cheng has to take another deep breath.
“Sir. You are aware that I was called here to deal with an emergency regarding a horse, correct?”
“No,” Nie Mingjue responds immediately, “I called because there was an issue with my dog.”
He says it with so much confidence there's little option but to believe him. But that can’t be right. Jiang Cheng pulls out his tablet to check the details of the appointment. He finds the appropriate last name within seconds and begins reciting, “Nie Mingjue; lives at xx address; called at 3:33PM with concerns about his pet ingesting something; the animal is a medium to large sized pony-”
“Ah.”
Jiang Cheng looks up at the interjection and raises an eyebrow. Nie Mingjue avoids his eyes. A hand comes up to rub the bridge of his nose, which is flushed enticingly-- due embarrassment? Shame? Jiang Cheng doesn’t know but there are more important things to focus on.
Like why he was called out here for a dog.
Nie Mingjue clears his throat lightly before speaking haltingly. “Her name.”
Jiang Cheng’s waits for him to elaborate, his left hand coming up to further prompt.
“That’s her name.”
Jiang Cheng’s nose scrunches just the slightest, waiting for the punchline, but the red only continues to spread.
“My dog- her name is ‘Pony.’”
“Pony,” Jiang Cheng feels himself repeating.
In a flurry of words, Nie Mingjue begins trying to explain that he had mentioned it over the phone and that he really didn’t need someone to come out this late since it didn’t seem too urgent and he could drive but the Head Veterinarian had insisted so who was he to refuse when someone was offering to make things more convenient, you know-
Jiang Cheng feels tension begin to build behind his eyes as he realizes that he might have to commit homicide when he sees his boss tomorrow. He can’t even muster the energy to sigh anymore.
He holds up a hand to cut Nie Mingjue off from his ramblings before bringing it to the bridge of his nose. He steadies himself for the nth time today and starts again.
“Sir, could you tell me what the problem is with Pony, your dog.”
When Nie Mingjue doesn’t immediately answer, Jiang Cheng lets his hand drop and opens his eyes.
Nie Mingjue looks hesitant. “It might be better if you just hear for yourself.”
And with that said, Jiang Cheng prepares himself. If this is about ingestion, it can get pretty messy and if Nie Mingjue doesn’t actually know what happened, his guesses wouldn’t help any.
Nie Mingjue opens the door to reveal one of the largest dogs he's ever seen sleeping in the center of a pink, frilled doggy bed. Jiang Cheng immediately wants to faceplant into her floof, but he reminds himself that this dog could be ill and he needs to stay alert.
Nie MIngjue lightly calls out to her and the reaction is immediate. Piercing blue eyes shoot open and the large dog hops up to run to her owner.
A few thuds are made before Pony jumps up onto Nie Mingjue, lifting up onto her back paws and coming nearly face to face with the man.
She opens her mouth and there it is.
That unmistakable sound.
A sound that Jiang Cheng hears so frequently it sometimes follows him into his dreams.
A wheezing squeak rings throughout the small room, causing the man beside him to flinch at the pitch.
Jiang Cheng wastes no time. He tells Nie Mingjue how to position Pony and lets her sniff him so he can get closer.
He’s lucky that she seems relatively calm, allowing him to feel around her stomach and open her mouth. After examining her mouth, Jiang Cheng comes to the conclusion that Nie Mingjue was right, she’s not in any immediate danger and he can quickly remove the squeak component without hurting Pony.
He reaches into his bag as Nie Mingjue intensely watches from the side, softly petting Pony and whispering into her fur.
If Jiang Cheng were not trying to remove a squeak toy from a dog’s esophagus, he’d probably have to take a moment to process how cute the two were. But Jiang Cheng is a professional.
He continues to gather his tools silently and efficiently, letting muscle memory take over.
Once set up, it’s less than a minute or so later before Jiang Cheng is proudly handing over a slightly crushed squeaker to a much relieved pet parent.
The rest is business as usual.
He checks over Pony once more before indulging in giving her the petting she deserves because she’s such a good girl, isn't she? He’s caught telling her just as much, cooing in his very specific dog voice when Nie Mingjue returns from retrieving his wallet.
It’s Nie Mingjue’s turn to raise an eyebrow in question, not even bothering to hide his amusement, and Jiang Cheng ignores the sudden raise in temperature he's experiencing.
Coughing slightly into his fist, Jiang Cheng goes over what to watch out for, and the number to call should any other symptoms pop up. After a short pause, he can’t help himself from adding, “And maybe be a bit more careful with her toys.”
Nie Mingjue, for his part, takes his advice seriously. Good, Jiang Cheng thinks as he begins gathering his stuff. Unfortunately, Pony has decided that she’s found a new friend and has made it her mission to stop him from getting up.
If Jiang Cheng were a stronger man he’d refuse her and leave. But he is not. And Jiang Cheng did not become a veterinarian to just ignore affection that is so freely being given to him.
Squishing and pulling on her cheeks, scratching just behind the ears, Jiang Cheng allows himself this moment of true peace.
After several blissful moments, Nie Mingjue’s voice pipes up from somewhere behind and to the left of Jiang Cheng. “Once again, I apologize for the mix-up. You shouldn’t have had to come, but thank you.” He sounds sincere, which is nice.
And to be fair, Jiang Cheng’s face is currently pressed against one of the fluffiest dogs he’s ever had the pleasure of working with, so he can’t even say he’s too mad about the situation anymore.
Yet Nie Mingjue keeps going.
“I don’t know if you have work after this-”
“I don’t,” Jiang Cheng says, forgetting all formalities because Pony has now plastered him to the floor and he couldn’t be happier.
Jiang Cheng hears a few soft footsteps before he sees Nie Mingjue crouching down in his peripheral vision.
“Well. Then would you be willing to stay for dinner?” Nie Mingjue says offhand, like it’s a normal course of conversation. “Pony would really appreciate it,” he tacks on.
Jiang Cheng can feel himself snort as he makes proper eye-contact with Nie Mingjue. “Sure,” he says, “wait until I’m pinned down by the dog to ask.”
“I plan these things properly,” Nie Mingjue nods in complete seriousness, patting Pony on the head with pride.
Jiang Cheng takes a moment, considers.
And you know what? After the day he had, he decides to say fuck it. He’s not even on the clock anymore (or at least he won’t be once he shoots a text over to Dr. Liu).
He deserves this.
“What’s for dinner?”