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The soft noise of my car’s signal clicks rhythmically as I turn into Akso hospital’s passenger pick-up area. Green, yellow and orange trees lining the roundabout sway against the gentle breeze and warm mid-afternoon sunlight beams through pockets between their leafy branches. I step on the brake, bringing the car to a crawl as I stretch my neck out to quickly scan the various people bustling around the area.
There are nurses in black scrubs beelining towards the main entrance, clutching cardboard trays piled with steaming white coffee cups against their sides as they push open the glass doors with their shoulders. There’s a small old man seated on a bench by the large fountain, looking down at a newspaper that’s almost half the size of his body. There’s a frazzled looking woman in a pants suit, speaking loudly over the rushing sound of falling water into the cellphone pressed against her ear.
There’s a young girl in line at the bus stop, looking over her shoulder with a curious and somewhat bashful expression. Actually, there are multiple people in line at this bus stop, and they’re all looking in the same direction. I laugh to myself, knowing the man I’m looking for is probably… right…
There.
I bring the car to a stop and pull the gear into park as the car reaches the man that’s gaining everyone’s attention. I roll down the tinted windows and open my mouth to call out to him, but another laugh escapes me instead.
He’s still in his white lab coat, albeit unbuttoned and splayed open, spilling every which way on the bench beneath him. The first two buttons of the clean white shirt underneath it are opened as well, his black tie hanging loosely under the collar, giving the autumn breeze access to cool the skin of his neck and clavicles.
I can see that his eyes are softly shut, chin tilted slightly towards his chest that slowly rises and falls with every deep breath. Despite obviously being asleep, he’s seated perfectly straight and perfectly still, and to anyone who can’t see his closed eyes, he probably looks like he’s sitting awake and at attention. His unmoving posture somewhat matches the solid golden statue of the fountain behind him. Even with a backdrop as mundane as the white outer walls of the hospital and the layered black marble fountain, even in his dishevelled white lab coat, Dr. Zayne looks resplendent. My cheeks warm at the thought until I remember exactly why I’m here - and why he’s gaining so much attention from everyone around.
Yes, Zayne is infuriatingly handsome on a regular basis and having people turn their necks in a double-take to sneak another glance is not an unusual thing. Yes, he’s taller than most and clearly well built by the way his solid body fills out his white work shirts in the most flattering (and distracting) way. And on a normal day, I don’t think I’d be surprised to find people gawking at Akso hospital’s highly-acclaimed cardiac surgeon taking a nap on a passenger-pick up bench. But I know that’s not the reason, at least, not the main one.
My eyes travel upwards towards the black strands of hair falling around his face, and further up to the fluffy pointed cat ears sitting on top of his head. They twitch as a young boy holding hands with his mother passes by, yelling excitedly, “Mama, look! Is that doctor cosplaying or something?”. She whispers a stern response while tugging him away.
Zayne startles at this, his eyes snapping open as he sits up even straighter than should’ve been possible. It takes him one second to reorient himself, another for his sleepy eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight and a third to finally make eye contact with me. The straight line of his lips turn up at the corner, almost microscopically, before the contact breaks and his attention snaps to the group of people at the bus stop, who quickly look away. Though his facial expression barely changes, I can tell that he’s horrifically embarrassed.
“Good morning, doctor!” I tease loudly from the driver’s seat as he looks back at me with reddening (human) ears. He clears his throat as he stands and confidently, quickly walks over, like he wasn’t just caught sleeping in public and like his dark haired cat ears and tail are nothing strange at all.
I laugh again, though I can’t help but feel my ears redden too as the sight of him walking towards me sinks in. I’ve always, guiltily, loved seeing him in uniform, especially after a hard day at work where he looks perfectly dishevelled. But today feels like a treat . As if his tall stature and stupidly beautiful face wasn’t unfair enough, the combination of his tie lying loosely around his neck paired with his sleepy expression and the fluffy tail peeking out from behind him, makes my heart race in a way that would definitely concern him. Not a treat, I think, A Dessert. He’s so tall that I can no longer see the upper half of his body from my angle as he approaches, but instead of opening the passenger door when he reaches it, he disappears around the car until he’s standing right by my driver side window.
I roll down the window and he leans over, ducking his head inside. His clean scent takes over my senses as he surprises me with a quick peck on the cheek. “It’s actually 2 o’clock in the afternoon.” He says blankly, in that seriously unserious tone of his. I’m about to retort that I was obviously joking about him obviously taking a literal cat nap outside, but he leans back out, reaches for the unlock button beside me, and then pulls the driver’s door open. “Let me drive.”
I shake my head, “No way. You’re literally exhausted, get into the passenger seat.”
He moves around the door to duck his head back into the car and reaches over me, pressing slender fingers into my seat belt buckle so that the strap slides off my chest. “I’m not exhausted. You get into the passenger seat.”
I sigh, knowing he won’t back down, and swing my legs out the side as he moves back. I face him with my arms crossed and he braces his hands on either side of me, one on the dashboard and one on the back of my chair. “Thanks for picking me up, darling.” He holds my eyes with his for a second, those deep hazel green eyes so close to mine that I almost forget to breathe, before he pushes away and gives me space to exit.
As we settle into our newly assigned seats in the car and he closes the door, I watch as he buckles in and takes a second to tuck his tail between his back and the leather driver seat. He blushes. “I haven’t learned how to control this tail yet, I don’t want it getting in the way while I drive.”
“Poor Dr. Zayne,” I coo in a babying voice as I reach over and pat his head, gently moving to stroke the fluffy black feline ears that almost perfectly match his hair. He initially flinches at my touch but relaxes as I continue petting him. “Sent home from work because he’s just so eepy sleepy.”
He laughs and leans away, leaving my hands empty. “I was not sent home.” He puts the car into drive and looks over his shoulder before pulling away from the curb. “I just had no surgeries scheduled and all my patients are currently stable. There’s another doctor on call as well. My team just thought I deserved some time off.”
He glances over at me, his microscopic smile replaced by a look of slight concern. “I’m sorry that Greyson asked you to pick me up. We carpooled to work today and when I was told to leave early, I insisted that I could call a taxi for myself. But he said you were already on the way.”
I don’t bother telling him how Greyson’s phone call requesting that I pick Zayne up also included him laughing about how he caught Zayne nodding off in his office five times in just under two hours. “I thought he was being extremely overworked but after looking at his relatively calm schedule, I think it’s just the cat situation,” Greyson said once his laughing ceased. “Cats love their midday naps, I think Dr. Zayne can’t help it.”
His left hand remains on the steering wheel as his right reaches across the console to find mine. His fingers feel as cool as always, but they slowly warm as they slide between my own. “I hope you weren’t busy.”
I let his fingers gently rub against mine before I squeeze them in response. “Don’t apologize, Zayne. I wasn’t busy today. Besides… ” I look down bashfully at my lap where our hands are intertwined. Sure, I cancelled my Friday evening plans to meet Tara for shopping and dinner, but… “I’m obviously going to take any opportunity to see you.” Especially when you look like that , I think to myself.
I feel my embarrassment spreading quickly and decide to change my tone to one of exaggerated annoyance while I peer out the passenger window at the blurred buildings we pass. “Since you’re always so busy, I have to jump at any chance to see you, even if that means cancelling plans last minute. You should be grateful! Tara’s going to give me an earful next Monday.”
I glance over at him with an embarrassed smile. His eyes appear forcibly glued to the street in front of him, but his ears are that warm shade of red again, and his tail is starting to rise from where it’s tucked behind him, wagging slowly, as if pleased. He makes a turn at the intersection with just one hand on the wheel and I wonder why everything he does is just so damn attractive.
“Then,” He finally says, “I guess I should thank Greyson for calling you. And thank Tara for letting me have you today.” He flicks his gaze over to me for a second, before returning his attention to the road. He lifts our intertwined hands to his lips without taking his eyes off the road. Pressing a light kiss on the back of my hand, he replies in a low, gentle voice, “I wanted to see you too, darling.” His smile turns up one centimetre more.
-
We walk through the brightly lit hallway and stop at my apartment door as I dig through my purse for my key card. I push past my cell phone, the lip gloss, and some faded receipts, before I feel Zayne lean over my shoulder. The soft fur of his tail brushes against my elbow as he taps a key card against my door and the clicking sound of unlocking gears indicates that the door is open.
He looks at me with a satisfied smile. “I haven’t had the chance to use my copy in a while,” Proudly holding up his copy of my apartment’s key card, he pushes past me and saunters in, like it’s his own apartment and not mine. I observe him placing his neatly folded lab coat on a side table by the door and slipping his socked feet out of his shoes before heading towards the living room. I would’ve been melting at how at home he looks and how perfectly he fits, but I can’t stop my chuckle as I watch his tail happily raised behind him, bouncing with each of his steps.
“You coming in?” He calls without looking at me, already getting comfortable in his spot on my sofa. I shake my head in disbelief and enter, closing the door behind me.
By the time I’m settled in the sofa beside him, his tie is lying on the coffee table, his shirt unbuttoned a little more, and his eyelids are hanging somewhat heavily again, even as he flicks intentionally through the channels on my television. “Do you want to take a cat nap?” I tease, curling my legs up towards me.
He settles on a cooking channel and puts the remote down before reaching out an arm, a wordless invitation to get closer. “Hmm,” He ponders as I slide over, pressing my head into the space between his neck and chest where I fit just right. His arm wraps around my shoulder and he holds me firmly against him, running his fingers slowly through my hair. As if I’m the cat here. “Only if Miss Hunter wants to nap with me.” His low voice is almost enough to convince me. But I shake my head.
“Sorry, Doctor, I’m not feeling sleepy.” I pull out my phone and look at the screen. “It’s literally 3 in the afternoon. But you,” I reach for one cat ear and pull gently, “may be feeling the urge to nap and that’s totally fine, considering you’re literally a big cat.”
He sighs, glancing out my window at the afternoon sun pouring in. “The cats’ Evol effects are really becoming a hindrance.” The hand that’s not currently combing through my hair reaches up to pinch his nose bridge and his two feline ears droop. “I barely did anything this morning and I kept nodding off. I think Greyson even said I fell asleep standing at some point, which is just a silly exaggeration, I’m sure.” Greyson did indeed mention that to me too, but I kept my mouth shut.
Zayne looks down with a smirk and grabs one human ear of mine in return. “If somebody wasn’t such a sore loser the other day, I wouldn’t be succumbing to a cat’s nature to nap in the middle of the afternoon.”
I recall the night a few days ago, right before Zayne’s cat ears and tail appeared. We had gone to Meow’s Cafe right after work, on my request and against Zayne’s protests, and played Kitty Cards for 5 hours. We left only when the OTTO worker came by to inform us that they were closing. I won 4 times that day, but he had won 9. The cats had been meowing incessantly at us by the 5th or 6th game.
And then the following morning, in the orange sunlight creeping into his bedroom, I woke up to Zayne staring at himself in his full length mirror, wearing only those cat ears and that big fluffy tail.
My face heated. “I was NOT a sore loser. You’re just… just insanely evil and unfair when you play kitty cards and I wanted to bring justice to the world.”
He chuckles and smiles down at me. “Evil and unfair are the wrong words, I think you were trying to say very skilled at Kitty Cards, but I know how hard it is for you to admit that.” I tug at his cat ear with a pout and he laughs some more. “And for someone who supposedly cares so much about justice, you definitely didn’t care about those poor overworked cats that evening.”
I remember the way the cats meowed at us from their cups on the table, some seemingly annoyed, some seemingly begging for mercy.
“I wonder why they cursed you instead of me.” I murmured, feeling guilty.
Zayne shrugs and slides his hand down from my ear to my cheek, cupping it softly. His eyes look apologetic. “Maybe they blamed me for being too good at the game. They were probably rooting for you to win so that we could finally call it a day, but the big bad doctor just kept on beating her over and over again. It was a massive defeat, if I recall.”
It takes me a second to process the sarcasm before I push him away with an eye roll and he laughs again. He gently grabs my wrist and pulls me back towards him until I’m settled once again in that perfect spot against his body.
I see his eyes roam my living room thoughtfully, landing on the shelves neatly lined with the various claw machine plushies he’s gotten for me over the past few months. I shift my gaze to our matching coffee cups on the counter, and his leftover pieces of chocolate and wrapped mints from the hospital sitting in a glass bowl. This apartment really might as well be his too.
“It’s fine.” He reassures me, bringing my attention back to him as he resumes his slow strokes through my hair. “It’s much better that I’m the cat.”
I tilt my head and lean back to see his face. “Why’s that?”
He looks away with a deep blush, suddenly interested in the cooking channel once again. “I…” He starts after a while, still without looking at me. “I don’t really know what I’d do if you had the ears and the tail. You’re just so cute already.”
-
An hour passed since Zayne fell asleep, despite his insistence that he wouldn’t. He’s lying comfortably against the plush sofa cushion and I slowly unwrap myself from his arms.
The first time I tried to leave was almost 40 minutes ago, but his solid arms tightened around me and even his tail wrapped over my waist as if to tell me to stay put. I had no choice but to continue scrolling through my phone and watching whichever show was on as Zayne slept soundly. There’s no resistance as I pull away this time though, and I tiptoe over to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.
A little before the clock shows 5, I softly shake Zayne’s shoulders. “Zayne,” I whisper. “The food’s almost ready.”
His ears twitch in response to my voice but his eyes remain shut. “Just a little longer,” he mumbles and I sigh. I run my hand through his hair and down my neck and his little purr of happiness has me smiling. I guess I can wait until the table’s set.
At 5:30, I push on Zayne’s shoulders again. “Alright doctor, it’s time for dinner.” He murmurs something incoherent before his breathing settles back into that deep rhythm. I push a little harder. “Hello, Dr. Zayne? I said it’s time for dinner!”
He slowly opens his eyes, blinking against the dim living room light before he meets my own. “Dinner?” He mumbles. “Already?”
“You slept for quite some time.” I laugh as he sits up to get a better look at me.
“Did I?” He covers his mouth with a hand as he yawns and reaches upwards in a big stretch. His tail extends along with his back, like a big, big cat. “It feels like I didn’t sleep at all.”
And he wasn’t exaggerating. All throughout dinner, I caught his eyelids shutting and his head nodding forward more than a handful times. Each time he’d catch himself and focus intensely on the food in front of him, desperately trying to stay awake. It was so, so unlike him, and so, so endearing.
“You are one sleepy, sleepy kitty.” I laughed from across the small dinner table and reached out to scratch his chin. Despite his annoyance, he leaned into my touch.
“I really can’t help it.” He sighs, nuzzling his cheek into my palm. I blush as he turns his lips to brush sleepily against my fingers. “The food is truly delicious, but I can’t…” He sighs, and trails off. He doesn't continue. After a moment, I feel his head growing heavy in my hand. My laugh wakes him up and he sits back with a start. “I’m so sorry, I just keep falling asleep.” He pushes back from the table and scratches the back of his neck, embarrassed.
I put down my chopsticks and walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders from behind him and placing my chin on top of his head, between his cat ears. “Stop apologizing." I let his hair and fur tickle my face as I rub it against him. "I’m partly to blame for all of this. Let the best cat caretaker in the world do what she has to - take care of you.”
I stand up and start clearing the table. Zayne starts too, but I take the dishes from his hands. “I’ll do that. You go freshen up. Maybe a nice shower will help keep you awake.” He opens his mouth to reply but I continue, hands firmly placed on my hips. “I know you’re sleepy, but if you sleep all day, your sleep schedule’s going to get all messed up! You’re lucky it’s the weekend tomorrow, but you’ve got to try to stay awake for the next few hours.”
After a moment, he nods. It's not everyday Dr. Zayne's on the receiving end of orders. “You’re right.” He passes me the remaining dishes before placing a quick peck on my forehead. “I’ll do just that, Miss Caretaker.” He doesn't forget to scoop up a chocolate from the glass bowl before heading to the bathroom.
After the dishes are cleaned and I hear the shower turning off, I return to my room to find Zayne in the extra pair of pyjamas I keep only for him. I can’t help but wish I walked in just a few minutes earlier. He’s slowly tousling a dark blue towel through his dripping black hair, moving more gently as he wipes his cat ears.
I excitedly rush over. “Let me do that!” I snatch the towel from his hands, continuing the circular wiping motion over the backs and insides of his cat ears. He laughs but lets me take over, tilting his head slightly to guide my hand to different spots and his approving hum comes out more like a purr. I find myself enjoying every second.
“Such an excellent caretaker,” Zayne chuckles, “So dedicated to her job and definitely not taking advantage of the task just to touch my ears.” He looks over his shoulders with an accusatory look.
I smile from my spot behind him and turn his head back away from me. “Nonsense! Taking care of a big, big cat is such tiring work, I have no time for ulterior motives.” I continue until his hair and ears seem dry enough before bringing my attention down to his big fluffy tail, covered in droplets of water.
I reach out towards it but Zayne stands before I can grasp it. He takes the towel from my outstretched hand with a smile. “Well, Miss Caretaker, you deserve a break from your services. I can take it from here.” I pout in reply and he gives me a playful smirk before heading back into the washroom.
The next few hours are more challenging than I thought it would be.
No matter what we do, Zayne keeps falling asleep.
We tried playing a silly word game, a complex and strategic board game, a loud and flashy video game, and even switched to trying out a short horror film to keep him up. But no matter what we did, and how interested Zayne appeared, his eyes would slowly shut and his head would loll to the side in a matter of minutes.
“Zayne ,” I would whine, waking him again and again. “Zayne, you need to stay awake!” And he would open his eyes, nod in agreement, and be back to sleep in another few minutes.
By the time the clock read 9, I decided there was just no use in trying anymore. It was already night time, after all, and even I was getting sleepy.
I sighed and got up from my spot on the floor in my bedroom, surrounded by the abandoned board game pieces and various console’s controllers. Zayne laid amidst them all, currently stretched out under a blanket, the tip of his tail occasionally fluttering as he slept. Like this, he really reminded me of the little boy I knew from my childhood, who moved away before we could get much closer. I'm filled with so much overwhelming love as I think about how thankful I am that we've met again and can now make up for all that missed time.
“I guess we can just go to sleep,” I whispered to myself, turning off the ceiling light and flicking on one of the lamps near my bed before heading to the bathroom to change and get ready.
When I return to the room, I kneel down and pull on Zayne’s shoulders until he’s up in a seated position, eyes squeezed shut the entire time. He’s half asleep as he wordlessly lets my hand help him to stand on his feet and I lead him towards my bed. I watch him slide under my heavy blanket and his slow breathing tells me he’s immediately fallen back to sleep again. It's kind of like putting a toddler to bed, and I can't help but imagine how cute Zayne's kids will be.
I crawl in beside him and snuggle in close, embracing his warmth and looking up at his face from my position slightly below him. Here, peacefully tucked into bed in the dim light of my room, is my favourite version of Zayne. It’s even better than seeing him in uniform after a busy day at work, and even better than him sporting the cutest, fluffiest cat ears and tail, though they’re definitely a plus. Here, he's just my Zayne.
I gently run a hand along his cheek, and pat his head softly, avoiding the cat ears so as not to disturb him. “Good night, Zayne,” I murmur, before turning off the lamp light on my bedside table and closing my eyes too.
I must have slept for no more than 20 minutes when I felt the bed shift and the table light turn on from Zayne’s side of the bed.
I rub my eyes and look over at him, now sitting up on his side of the bed and looking at me with a small smile.
“Good morning, Miss Caretaker.” Zayne says, using that same teasing voice I used this afternoon in the hospital's pick-up area.
The clock behind him shows that it's definitely not morning. “Good morning?” I scoff, incredulously. “You realize it’s almost 10 at night now, right?” I push up from the bed to lean against the headboard and give him a glare.
He shrugs and shifts over until his knee is touching mine and his face is close enough for me to count his eyelashes. “Strange,” He runs a hand through his hair, between his cat ears. “I feel extremely well rested.”
I let out an exasperated sigh, grabbing my pillow and chucking it at him. He laughs as he blocks it with a lifted forearm. “Of course you do!" I scold, "I kept telling you to stay awake because I knew this would happen!” I throw my hands up and shake my head at him. He hugs the pillow to his chest and rests his chin atop it, tilting his head with a smile, like a truly mischievous cat. His expression makes me look down at my hands. “How are we supposed to go to sleep now?”
I can’t help but hold my breath as I anticipate what he’s going to say next.
“We don’t.” He states, matter of factly. Like the doctor he is. I blink at him as his cat ears perk up and his tail sits up a little straighter.
“We don’t sleep?” I repeat. He shakes his head. I suddenly remember that cats like to hunt at night.
“Nope,” He leans in, and that same mischievous smile spreads slightly wider. “I have all this energy now. I’m going to need my caretaker to keep me company all night.”
And so I do.
-
After an endlessly long night of Zayne refusing to let me stay asleep for long enough periods of time to feel like I actually slept at all, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. I reach for my cell phone and squint at the numbers on the screen. I groan.
“I cannot believe it’s already 9AM. We barely slept at all.” I turn back towards him and roll my eyes at his somewhat proud-looking smile. I swat his chest in annoyance.
He leans over to pull the curtains closed, blocking out the morning light slipping through and shrouding my room in shadow again. As he settles back in, he brings his head down to press a tired and tender kiss on my lips. I have no choice but to return it. When my hands slide up his neck and into his hair, I make sure to tug on the fluffy cat ears to remind him that I'm still annoyed.
“Well,” He whispers, laying his head back on the pillow beside me. “It’ll soon be afternoon.” He reaches down to find my hand and entangle my fingers with his own once again. In the darkness of the room, I see his beautiful hazel eyes shining with a sweet expression. “Perfect time for a cat nap, don’t you think?”