Chapter Text
Lambert tugs their shirt down past their head and shakes their head to move their curls from their face. Pulling a hair tie from their pocket, they reach behind their head to pull the strands into a stubby tail. They hum along to the pop song playing softly over the speakers. Adjusting their scrubs a final time, they go to close their locker before a buzz emanating from their phone makes them pause.
They pick up their phone and can’t help the giddy grin that spreads over their face.
They click on the notification and quickly open the text message.
A picture with just one word under it has them trying to reign in their giggles.
In the picture is Baal looking uncharacteristically irritated, the source of his irritation looking to be the blanket his claws appear to be stuck in. Under it Narinder typed out simply, ‘yikes.’
They move to type out a response with a number of emojis to convey their thoughts before the door behind them clicks open.
When they whirl around with wide eyes they feel annoyingly enough like a teenager being caught by their parents.
Beau raises a manicured brow at them. “…Yes?”
“Nothing.” They answer in response, probably too quick. Definitely too quick.
The caracal narrows their eyes and a smug grin begins to stretch over their features, Lambert groans at the sight, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.
“So… who were you talking to?” they purr, tail waving in amusement.
Lambert turns away from them, lower lip sticking out in a pout.
“I wasn’t talking to anyone,” they insist, staunchly avoiding the cat’s probing eyes.
Beau chuckles, and walks up near them to reach their locker.
“Is it that boyfriend you were talking about with the boss?”
Lambert’s eyes widened. They turn and lightly swat at the cat’s arm, they dance out of the way with a giggle and crinkled eyes.
“Quit it!” They hiss, but there’s a smile twitching on their lips and their annoyance feels more like gentle admonishment than anything else.
Beau holds up their hands in a surrendering gesture.
“Alright, alright, I’ll drop it,” they pause, and then grin wickedly. “For now at least.”
Lambert heaves a sigh and turns away from them and their laughter. They push open the staff room door with a little more gusto than necessary, and that begins their day.
Lambert plucks out a piece of lettuce sticking out of their sandwich and stuffs it in their mouth, munching noisily on the stray leaf. They sit on a stone wall outside the university they take psych classes at, they decide to eat outside considering the warm temperatures and light breeze. It’ll likely be the last warm day for a while, so they plan to take full advantage of it.
Other students mill about, a group of friends chatting and more than a few students running across campus cursing and clearly running late to a class of some sorts. Lambert stifles their laughter in a bite of tomato.
When they finish up their sandwich, they dust off their light purple scrubs, an action more subconscious than necessary considering they aren’t a very messy eater.
They push off the wall and take a moment to stretch their legs before strolling to a nearby trash can and dropping the crumpled paper bag in.
A cold smack of water on their cheek has them blinking in surprise and glancing up. Angry clouds begin to crowd the sky, forcing out blue to make way for gray.
They frown and groan quietly when they remember they “lost” their umbrella. The thought of their umbrella turns their annoyance into seething anger. Their umbrella was not lost. They know for a fact that Agnes took it and is insisting she didn’t, which she definitely did, Lambert saw her take it.
They huff and breath and shake the thoughts of their aquatic roommate away and walk over to a nearby alcove to take some semblance of shelter against the rain that is beginning to pour down.
They consider their options, walk back to the office soaking wet, download one of those taxi apps people are always talking about, or run and try to catch a bus. Lambert doesn’t particularly feel like arriving to the office soaked, they’re also pretty sure that by the time they figure out how to even use the app, they’ll end up late anyway.
They open their phone to check the bus schedule— and the last one just left six minutes ago. The smiling mascot of the bus cheerfully informs them that the next bus will arrive in twenty-four minutes. Great.
Running in the rain it is.
Before they can even move from their spot plastered to the wall, a stranger jogs up to them, bright green umbrella dotted with yellow spots shielding him from the rain.
“Hey, you look like you’re in a bit of a tight spot, need an umbrella?” The poodle grins, eyes crinkling with the gesture and white ears flopping when he tilts his head in question.
Lambert looks at him in suspicion, taking a moment to observe him.
He’s dressed smartly, a dark blue suit paired with a lighter blue tie patterned with gray paisley. His slacks are pressed and his shoes are shiny. They look back up to his face. He looks genuine enough.
They make themselves smile at the stranger.
“Ah, yeah, that’d be appreciated.”
The dog grins wider and shifts closer to them, holding his umbrella just below the ceiling of the alcove.
“I only have this one but I can walk with you if you’d like.” He offers apologetically. Part of Lambert wants to be suspicious at the offer, most people wouldn’t go out of their way to help a stranger. The other, stupider, part of them argued that they really needed to get back to work.
“Alright,” they agree through teeth grit in a smile.
They step under the umbrella making sure to keep some distance between themselves and the stranger.
“You want to lead the way?” The poodle questions, ears flopping yet again.
They startle. “Uh, yeah, yes. Thank you.”
The dog chuckles and holds the umbrella handle out to them.
“I’m Jimmy by the way, short for Jimson.”
Lambert raises a brow and accepts the umbrella. Jimmy laughs at their expression. The two start walking in the direction of Lambert’s office.
“I know, I know, bit of an odd name,” he’s smiling so they don’t think he’s offended.
“Sorry,” they offer an apology anyway.
He waves them off with an easy grin. Lambert feels themself relax at the gesture.
“Nah, it’s alright, I’m told that pretty often. I don’t mind.”
Lambert hums and nods. For a moment they walk in silence. Until Lambert remembers social etiquette and that usually when someone tells you their name, you tell them yours in response.
“I’m Lambert,” they rush out four minutes into the casual silence that had settled over them.
The poodle smiles even wider and holds out a hand. Lambert shifts the umbrella handle to their other hand to shake his.
“Nice to meet you Lambert.” His handshake is firm and businesslike. Not much of a hint to anything, but something they note anyway.
They smile back and stare for a moment.
“Uh, yeah, you too!” They answer belatedly and cringe internally.
This is why you work with children. Children don’t care about social cues or etiquette. Most children enjoy not following social cues or etiquette.
They end their internal rant prematurely when they notice that there’s no hint of malice or annoyance on the poodle’s face.
Lambert flushes with embarrassment and switches the umbrella to their other hand to occupy themselves.
They glance at the dog. “Shall we?”
He gives a blinding grin in return and nods. Lambert’s smile feels a bit more genuine when they give it.
By the time Lambert is starting to near the office, they have made a new friend. Jimmy has proven himself to not be a threat. Loud and boisterous sure, but friendly as well. He’s got a similar sense of humor to them, something they discovered when he cracked a particularly hilarious joke.
“Thank you for this, it was really kind of you.” They feel a bit guilty at taking up his time. Hesitation holds their tongue though and instead gratitude takes its place.
Jimmy scratches a hand through the white poof on his head with a small grin.
“It was no problem at all! my sister is always saying I need to get out more and make new friends.” He trails off with a forced chuckle and an eye roll.
Lambert grimaces in sympathy.
“Yeah, I feel that.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You have a sister too?”
Their mouth opens and no sound comes out. In the far recesses of their mind they hear the distant shatter of clay, smattered with bellis perennis and multicolored dots.
They laugh to sweep away the shards of a brittle memory.
“No, but my boss always gets on my ass about spending too much time by myself.”
At the poodle’s concerned look they rush to explain.
“He’s my friend, really, we have lunch every Thursday, and he invites me to game night along with all the other doctors.”
Jimmy seems to lose a bit of tension at that. Lambert tries not to feel too happy about the concern.
They wave a dismissive hand. “Besides, he doesn’t need to worry now that I’ve started seeing someone.”
“Oh?” The poodle waggles his eyebrows, laughing when they groan in response.
“I mean it’s pretty new, we’ve only been together a couple months but…” They trail off for a moment, mind flashing to moments from the past month, a furred hand brushing over their knuckles, a shy smile, and dark, admiring eyes.
“Wow,” Jimmy remarks, interrupting their thoughts. They smile bashfully and he laughs in turn.
“They sound great,” he says sincerely. Lambert looks down at the ground, it’s littered with puddles that reflect their own giddy face back at them.
“He is. He’s so smart and kind and,” they cut themself off to laugh. “He was so nervous around me when we first met, I was surprised he made the first move!”
“Oh yeah? How’d you guys meet?”
Lambert hums, mentally reminding themselves not to give away any personal information and keep details vague, they have an oath to keep to and they don’t want to mess up doctor-patient confidentiality. Even if the “patients” aren’t technically their patients anymore.
“His kits used to be my patients, after that we just kind of kept running into each other.” They chuckle, scratching at the back of their neck.
Their office starts to come into view, the brightly colored sign swinging in the wind and rain.
They turn to the poodle beside them, about to point it out to him and bid him goodbye.
“He has kids?” Jimmy frowned and his eyes held a considering look in them.
Lambert stopped and turned to him.
“Mhm, they’re just as sweet as him.” They know they’re gushing a little but Jimmy doesn’t seem to mind if his smiles and laughs are genuine.
For a moment it’s quiet and Lambert shuffles their hooves, wondering if they should wait for him to speak. All of a sudden remembering their time crunch, they glance up in a panic.
“Shit, I really do have to get going, my office is right over there,” they point to the brick building and turn back to the poodle. “Thank you again for letting me borrow your umbrella,” they finished hurriedly and push the handle near his chest.
“Yeah sure!” He doesn’t take the umbrella, instead he stares down, tongue poking at the inside of his cheek in thought. He glances up at them, looking nervous for the first time they’ve seen him.
“Do you think I could— could I get your number? Possibly?”
Lambert froze. Part of them was confused, they had literally just told him they were dating someone, but the other side of them that urged them to consider every angle reasoned he might just want their number for totally platonic reasons.
They decide to just ask him flat out.
“Are you asking because you want to be friends or because you want to go out with me?”
Jimmy physically recoil, a good sign in their book, and shakes both his head and hands.
“Oh, no no, I was just hoping to maybe keep in touch? Maybe get coffee or something?” He ends with an awkward smile.
Lambert relaxes and smiles back. They can tell from his tone that he really isn’t trying to proposition them.
“Yeah! That sounds great, uh, how ‘bout you come inside for a second? I have to set up some stuff behind the desk and while I do that you can put in your number?” They end in a questioning tone.
Jimmy grins and finally takes the umbrella they proffered him. “Sounds like a plan!” he chirps.
Lambert turns on their heel and trots over to the office door, holding it open for the dog behind them to walk in. He shakes the rain off his umbrella and closes it before stepping in. Lambert follows close behind.
The office is warm and colorful and a more than welcome sight. The stickers of cartoons on the walls watch over them with their wide grins and bright white eyes, the TV in the corner plays an older TV show, one that aired when they were a child.
Jimmy looks around the room, eyes seemingly taking everything in.
“It’s… very colorful.” He chuckles quietly.
Lambert snorts as they open the next door and get behind the front desk. Jimmy meets them on the other side. Pulling their phone out of their pocket, Lambert unlocks it and selects their contacts. They lay the phone on the counter in front of them and watch as Jimmy types in his phone number and contact information. It’s not that they think the poodle will steal their phone, they’ve just always been protective of their things.
After he enters the information he immediately locks it and pushes it back to them. He looks up at them with a satisfied smile.
Behind them Lambert hears the desk door click open, with a brief glance behind them they meet Beau’s eyes. The look away from the caracal’s widening gaze.
“Talk to you later?” Jimmy offers in a tone that holds no weight of pressure. That’s what convinces them fully that they made the right decision.
They nod with a small smile. “Yeah, have a safe walk to wherever you’re going.” They laugh a little, partly embarrassed and part genuinely humorous at not having asked him where he was even heading.
“Thank you, goodbye Lambert.” He waves briefly and turns to the exit, making his way out and opening his umbrella before closing the door behind him fully.
Lambert hums under their breath, feeling more than a little smug and mentally patting themselves on the back for making a new friend.
Beau creeps up next to them, slow enough that Lambert narrows their eyes at them in suspicion.
They blink slowly before sighing out, “…yes?”
A wide grin spreads on Beau’s face, making the fur on their cheek puff up in barely contained excitement. It reminds Lambert of the time they surprised Aym and Baal with water ice.
“Was that the guy?” They whisper conspiratorially, gold eyes sparkling with anticipation for the answer. They’ve always been a gossip, Lambert thinks fondly.
“Nope, that was Jimmy, he shared his umbrella with me because my rotten roommate stole mine.”
The cat blinks, confusion dotting their features.
“Oh. Alright then.” They shrug.
Lambert turns away, content to move on and focus on sorting the documents in front of them.
“So…”
Lambert’s hands still and they sigh loudly.
“Oh c’mon, can I atleast see a picture of him?”
“No.”
The cat groans and props their elbows on the counter and glances up at them from under their eyelashes.
They pout, “please?”
“Please,” Lambert whines out, fingers tugging at his shirt. Narinder presses kisses to their cheeks, their jaw, everywhere but where they want him.
He snorts a little, they’d be offended at his seemingly blasé attitude if they couldn’t see his widened pupils and feel his uneven breaths against their cheek.
He leans forward and noses at their ear. “Please what?” he murmurs.
“Kiss my lips you bastard.” The blunt statement causes a laugh to burst from the cat’s lips and his head to tilt back. And away from their mouth. Lambert huffs a little, their huff turns into little chuckles, and soon enough they’re both giggling on Lambert’s couch. Lambert rests their head on the cushion next to them and Narinder copies the motion, eyes twinkling with humor and something that makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The cat reaches up a hand to hold their cheek. His thumb traces the skin under their bottom lip. Leaning forward, Narinder presses a slow and lingering kiss to their lips. For a guy that usually seems pretty jumpy, he’s damn good at leaving them breathless.
He pulls away and rests his head back against the couch. His hand on their cheek remains in its place.
“I have to pick up the kids soon,” he murmurs, an apology in his eyes.
Lambert leans forward and presses a short kiss to his nose, making it wrinkle in surprise.
“Tell them I said hi.” It’s ok, no need for apologies.
Narinder looks like he wants to say something further, his mouth gapes for a moment before closing. He smiles instead and his hand drops from their cheek.
He pushes off the couch with a grunt and stretches his arms above his head. Lambert subtly appreciates the curve of his spine. They choke on a snort when he turns to face them and they spot the fur sticking up at the back of his head.
He frowns, head tilting cutely in confusion.
“What—?”
“Wait, wait.” They jump up and run their hands down the back of his head, brushing the fur down gently. Their nail scratches his neck accidently and they go to apologize before seeing the cat’s eyes flutter slightly.
They bite their lip to prevent themselves from smiling too widely.
“Thank you,” Narinder says, silky soft voice wrapping around them like a delicate shawl.
They shove at his shoulder playfully and roll their eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, shoo shoo, don’t keep the twins waiting.”
Narinder laughs but obliges. They walk him to the door of their apartment and try not to look too much like a pining teenager when they wave him goodbye.
They shut the door quietly and lock it behind him. Their roommates— ugh gag— won’t be home tonight so they have the apartment to themselves. A prospect that usually has them whooping in joy is now a little downplayed by Narinder’s absence. The excitement is definitely still there though.
They hum as they walk around the small space, tidying up things as they go. There’s a calendar they bought stuck on the side of their fridge with a piece of tape (their fridge doesn’t work with magnets) that’s still a month behind despite being well into the next.
Lambert considers flipping it to the next page. They open the fridge door instead.
There’s leftover green lentil curry in there somewhere and they’ve been waiting all week for a chance to bust out the leftovers, plop their butt down on the couch, and watch that one show Beau has been raving about forever. They dig through the fridge for a few solid minutes and start getting mildly irritated when nothing turns up. They’re about to get seriously huffy at the thought that one of their roommates has eaten it when they spot the blue-lidded container jammed in the back right corner.
Their grin is wide when they brandish it victoriously and skip around the kitchen to heat it up.
Beau was right… this show is nuts, they think with a sense of giddy hilarity. Today has been a good day overall, they didn’t deal with any horrible patients, they didn’t get rained on, they made a new friend, and Narinder… their face flushes and they take a big bite of curry. The couch is comfortable, their roommates won’t be back until Sunday evening so they’ll have the apartment to themselves for most of the weekend.
Maybe they could have Ratau over. Maybe they could have Narinder and the twins over.
Their mind whirs over the details so thoroughly for a moment that they completely miss what’s happening in the episode and have to rewind. It doesn’t bother them, but they decide to put planning on the back burner for now.