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The first time Alejandro had ever went to the zoo, the lions captivated his attention immediately. He could have spent hours admiring them, if José hadn't been so adamant about going to the penguin exhibit. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he proudly proclaimed, "lion tamer!", which had earned him amused chuckles from his parents, who just thought it was a silly child's dream.
It hadn't been.
Years later, after obtaining his degree in ecology and evolutionary biology (that had gotten him promptly disowned by his parents, like they had done with Carlos when he ran off to play football professionally), interning at the Toronto Zoo, and being offered a position the week after he had graduated with only Carlos, Courtney, and Heather at his side, Alejandro is now one of the zookeepers who takes care of the lions, Lemon, Fintan, and Makali, and Makali's cubs, Gus, Hank, Oliver, and Harrison.
Currently, Alejandro is standing next to Zoey, one of the newest interns, in the Wildlife Health & Science Center, impatiently waiting for the zoo veterinarian to arrive. "Dios mío, how long does it take to get here?" he murmurs to himself, agitation starting to rise as the zoo veterinarian continues to be late. "He was supposed to be here ten minutes ago."
"Maybe he got lost!" Zoey suggests, trying to keep Alejandro from getting annoyed. "I mean, I did during my first day here." She giggles awkwardly, managing to coax a small smile from her senior.
"I suppose that's true," Alejandro hums, trying to bite back his annoyance. It was the lion cubs' first year checkup, and he just wanted everything to go smoothly. He goes to check in on the cubs, who are playing together in the off-exhibit holding room, and he can't help but grin at the sight. It reminds him of all those years ago, when he was small and seeing his first ever lion.
When he returns back to Zoey, she's talking to Mike, who is one of the vet technicians, twirling a strand of her red hair around her finger. Alejandro recognizes the sight; she definitely has a crush on Mike. He decides to store that thought away for later, and instead of interrupting the two, he stands off to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
The two let him join in the conversation, and they talk about the new zoo veterinarian that was hired. Dr. Mclean, who is also Director of Wildlife Health, had sought out this particular veterinarian, and there were rumors going around the staff that the guy used to intern under Chris, and that the mysterious vet was a genius who graduated early.
"I hope he doesn't make tardiness a daily habit," Alejandro scoffs, before he hears the door open, followed by quiet footsteps. He turns on his heel, debating on whether or not he should berate the bastard for being so tardy, but the sight of the man puts those thoughts to rest as quickly as they had appeared in his head.
"Shit, sorry I'm late," the admittedly handsome man apologizes, carrying two heavy gear bags into the room. He sits them down on the ground, looking up to look at the three, a wince on his face. "I'm Dr. Mudaliar, but you guys can just call me Noah."
Noah, Alejandro now knows, is on the smaller side, his scrubs incredibly baggy on his lithe form. He has long, dark hair that is pulled away into a ponytail that is longer than Alejandro's own, and a stethoscope is thrown half-haphazardly around his neck, like he was in a rush.
Mike and Zoey introduce themselves, and when it's Alejandro's turn, he nearly falters, tripping over his words. After this slight blunder, he looks at Noah and gives him a polite, strained smile. "Alejandro Burromuerto. I must say, Dr. Mclean has spoken high praises about you."
"Of course he has," Noah sighs, grumbling to himself as he slips on a pair of gloves, looking around the room until he stares at the anesthesia machine. "Have any of the cubs been under before?"
"No, this is their first checkup," Alejandro reminds, trying to stop himself from getting distracted by melted chocolate brown eyes. He shoots a quick text to the work group chat, asking if anybody else is available to help handle the cubs.
Noah hums quietly to himself, before explaining that he was going to have the cubs brought in one by one to be examined. Since they would all be put to sleep, they shouldn't be too stressed out or anxious, and he would try to finish the examinations as quick as possible so they could go back to their enclosure.
"Sounds good to me!" Zoey agrees, happy to be of help. "The cubs were sedated a while ago, so they should be good to go."
Noah smiles slightly, thankful that at least he doesn't have to worry about sedation. "Perfect. Once everybody else gets here, we're good to go." He turns to face Alejandro, giving him a subtle up-down and raising an eyebrow. "Are you a lion tamer?"
"Not in name," Alejandro answers with a grin, chest puffing out slightly from being proud. "Though, you could say that. If anything goes wrong with them, I'm the first one to respond."
"Awe, how cute." Noah fakes a coo, but Alejandro accepts it anyways, feeling his cheeks go warm. He hopes that the veterinarian decides to stick around at the zoo. Not only because he'd be a good addition to their staff, but he seems like Alejandro's kind of person.
True to Chris' bragging, Noah is nothing short of a miracle worker. He works fast but intently, instructing the team whenever they have to move a cub. He spends forty minutes examining each cub, noting no dental or bone abnormalities, and once they're given their vaccinations and boosters, they are carefully taken to a holding room to let the anesthesia wear off.
During Harrison's dental examination, Noah's glove tears on a canine tooth, and he mutters a curse under his breath, turning only to be met with Alejandro handing him a spare glove. "Thanks," he says quickly, sliding it back on and tossing the broken one away, continuing the examination.
Afterwards, with all the cubs resting in a holding room, the group feels giddy, knowing that the cubs were happy and healthy. Alejandro in particular is happy, because he's been worrying about their one year examination for the past month. He would never forgive himself if he didn't catch anything that harmed the lions.
"I believe Dr. Mclean was right about you," the Spaniard compliments afterwards, when Noah is cleaning and sterilizing all his equipment. "I was impressed with your work ethic and your skills."
Noah hums in acknowledgment, probably used to the compliments. He doesn't voice that, though, instead replying with, "you have to work fast, or you'll get torn apart. Besides, vet school wasn't so bad."
"Maybe you're just too smart to see the challenges." Alejandro's mouth seems to be working faster than his brain, and he goes to apologize, but Noah cuts him off with an amused smart.
"Charming," he quips, though his lips are quirked in the slightest smirk. "Maybe you should've been an actor, or a TV host."
Alejandro stares for a moment, eyes locked onto that smirk, but he shakes his thoughts away, shrugging his shoulders. "The zoo called to my heart first, I'm afraid. Though I do get to talk about lions, so I can charm the general public that way."
"I bet you'd love the Madagascar movie," Noah says, putting his last tool away in his bag and straightening his back out, looking up at the taller man amusedly. "Ever heard of it?"
"Can't say that I have," answers Alejandro, and he barely misses the way Noah bites back a laugh. He frowns slightly at it, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not the biggest fan of movies. I barely have the time to watch them."
Noah looks absolutely appalled, and for a second, Alejandro worries he's going to cuss him out, but he doesn't. "Seriously? Damn, dude, you have to watch it. I'm sure you'd love it."
And then once again, because for some reason today his brain and mouth will just not cooperate, he proposes, "perhaps we could watch it together sometime."
The shorter man's eyes widen a tiny fraction, and Alejandro is downright petrified that he just messed up a potential friendship, all because of his stupid brain. "Actually, you can forget that, I don't know why I said that—"
"Uhm, sure dude," Noah tells him, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, you can't work at a zoo and not have seen Madagascar."
Well, maybe his brain is good for something after all. After reeling from the shock of his offer actually being accepted, Alejandro grins widely, probably manically to the average person. "That sounds wonderful! We can exchange numbers, if you'd like, and arrange something that way?"
Noah agrees, and after swapping numbers, Alejandro offers to carry his bags of supplies to another room at the Wildlife Health Center. Noah agrees, because fuck, they're heavy, and the two talk along the way, bantering like they have known each other for years. The conversation is easy, and Alejandro wants to scream at Mclean for hiding Noah away for so long, or maybe hug him and thank him for employing him here.
Eventually, Noah has to check on a few different animals, so he bids Alejandro farewell, and the Spaniard feels oddly giddy as he makes his way back towards the lion cubs, eager to check in on them. After a few hours of getting used to being awake again, they are let back into the enclosure, just in time to be fed.
A week later, the two have the same Saturday off, and Noah sends the address to his townhouse, messaging Alejandro to bring some snacks if he wants.
5:37 P.M.
Noah Mudaliar
dinners on me. hope you like chicken stir fry
5:39 P.M.
Alejandro Burromuerto
That sounds wonderful. I can bring some snacks.
Anything in particular you like?
05:42 P.M.
Noah Mudaliar
if they have peanut butter crackers, grab those
please
05: 44 P.M.
Alejandro Burromuerto
I'll look for them for you.
True to his word, Alejandro manages to find a box of peanut butter crackers, as well as a few snacks Courtney had suggested for a movie night when he had called her earlier that morning. She had been excited for him, already beginning to plan triple dates. He promised that she could meet Noah soon, hoping that the other wouldn't be too opposed to the idea of meeting his best friend.
Pulling up his GPS, Alejandro drove along the Toronto streets, arriving at Noah's townhouse in twenty minutes. The building is tall and brick, featuring a bay window and steps leading to the front door. There's even a driveway and a garage! Before he can start to dwell on how Noah is able to afford such a place, Alejandro instead parks the car, grabbing the bags of snacks from the back seat and holding them with one arm.
After giving himself a small pep talk, Alejandro knocks on the door, and he hears quiet, padding footsteps heading towards the door, and when its opened, Noah looks up at him with a fond grin. "Taking your sweet time, hm? It's rude to keep a guy waiting, you know."
"Well, allow me to apologize by providing you with your peanut butter crackers," Alejandro says, his own grin forming at the teasing. It widens when he sees the way Noah's eyes light up, and he's soon led inside, taking his shoes off by the front door.
Walking through the place, Noah gives him a small tour, which mostly consists of him gesturing at spaces and saying what they are. When the two make it to the living room, Alejandro is surprised to see a giant fish tank taking up an entire wall, though it looks empty.
Observant, Noah notices Alejandro looking into the fish tank, and he explains, "I keep eels as pets. They're nocturnal, if you didn't know." He continues to explain that he's had the eels since an internship, when he'd found them injured.
"You're very kind, aren't you?" Alejandro teases, and Noah rolls his eyes but smiles anyways.
They eat together on Noah's couch, the shorter explaining that every week or so, his best friend brings him enough food to last the week because he has a bad habit of not eating when he's supposed to. Alejandro makes a mental note to keep snacks on his person just in case he bumps into the veterinarian at work, and he'll see if he can take later lunches so they can eat together.
After dinner, Noah puts on the movie, and Alejandro wasn't expecting it to be catered towards children. He voices that, which earns him a laugh from the other.
"Did you seriously not search the movie up?" When the Spaniard shakes his head, Noah snickers, leaning back against the couch. "Such a rookie move."
They eat the snacks and watch the movie, and halfway through, Alejandro is invested. He's so invested, he doesn't realize that Noah is half asleep and leaning against his shoulder, until he looks down at the smaller man.
He decides to keep quiet, knowing that Noah was probably exhausted from the week. Zoey told Alejandro on Thursday that one of the zebras had given birth, and it almost went downhill. Noah had been the one to stabilize the baby, Mike had apparently confided in her, though he was stressed about it.
Madagascar, Alejandro decides, is his favorite movie. His favorite is Alex the Lion, obviously, though Marty is a close second. He looks down again at the sound of snores, and sure enough, Noah is dead asleep, body limp against the other.
The second Madagascar movie begins to play, so Alejandro lets the smaller man use him as a pillow while he continues to watch the TV. It's peaceful, he realizes, and he wouldn't mind doing this again sometime.