Work Text:
It was a rather cloudy day outside the hospital walls. Nothing too unusual, the forecast had mentioned rain, but most of the time the forecast does tend to be innacurate. Perhaps that's why Intern forgot to bring their umbrella…Sort of..
Who could blame them? They were in a rush to get to work on time. They are an intern afterall!! And the hospital is overrun with patients on a daily basis, mostly due to the anomaly attacks, but that doesn't matter!!
So yes, Intern forgot their umbrella, but atleast they're here for their shift! That's better than anything, right? And the forecast could be wrong. They nod their head at their thoughts as they sign in for the day. Perhaps they take a bit of time signing in as they notice Clerk's handwriting. 'He's here today?' Intern thought with a flick of their ear.
You see, Clerk is an interesting character to them. He is a beautiful lean black cat, a recent hire in fact. Yet somehow they're far more competent than Intern..Guess they were working somewhere else before the world went the way it is.
'I wonder what job they did before..' Intern shakes their head, bad intern. You're not supposed to wonder about that! That's literally in your contract!!
A shady contract, but nevertheless it's in the fineprint.
Intern sighs, their ears flopping..They really shouldn't be getting stuck here like this over Clerk..But they can't help it either, can they? 'He's so pretty and the way his fur glistens in the light..So, so cute..' their thoughts run as they bring a paw to their cheek thinking about their co-worker until the door opens, completely scaring them out of their thoughts "Intern—-" Nurse starts as she notices the bunny freeze for a bit, their nose twitching. "Oh my goodness! Did I scare you? Oh, I'm so sorry!!" Nurse panics a little as she slowly walks over to not scare Intern more than she already has, her already droopy ears somehow drooping even more.
Intern takes a few breaths and shakes their head "It's my fault for daydreaming." they reply, scratching their head as one of their ears flops a tiny bit, a sheepish smile on their face.
Nurse sighs "I'm still so sorry, oh—Right, I need you in the medical triage." she replies, her ears slightly standing as she remembers why she even went looking for Intern. "There's some patients that need taking care of, I have to help out Head Nurse." She smiles explaining.
Intern in turn nods, and the two of them walk out of the office.
Perhaps its better that Intern was interrupted..They were very close to giggling..They place a paw on their face to compose themselves from embarassment before opening the door to room 3.
"Hello, I'll be taking care of you." Intern says with a soft smile as to not scare the patient laying on the bed, they walk over taking the patient's DNA sample. As they wait for the DNA machine to do it's thing, Intern and the patient engage in small talk that's only broken by the ding of the machine. Intern's ear twitches as they do a few clicks on the old computer to see the analysis. "I'll be right back." they say as they walk out into the hallway and gather the needed items from the shelves.
This hospital is quite strange, DNA machines, vending machines with medications, yet they have old computers and printers? Intern shakes their head 'You're not supposed to question this.' They sigh as they head back to room 3 and do their job.
Atleast for now, their mind is preoccupied with anything but Clerk. And maybe that's for the better. Intern nods, agreeing with their own thoughts and they ignore the way the patient looks at them.
"And done, please rest for the time being." Intern says as they finish up taking care of the patient, who nods, taking it as a cue, Intern leaves them alone.
Their ear twitches a little as they remember that the shelves seem to be needing a restock. They immediately jump at the opportunity to work some more as all the patients seem to be taken care of.
And that's perhaps what they did their entire shift, restocking all of the supplies while sometimes taking care of patients when Nurse seemed a bit panicked running around.
When everything seemed to be a bit more calm, Intern looked at their watch and noticed how low their sanity has gotten. "Oh sheesh, I should really go drink coffee." they murmur.
The coffee is the only other way to up their sanity afterall, and perhaps they should be more mindful of paying attention to their sanity. Intern isn't a normal animal afterall and it would be an absolute disaster if they revealed their identity now. There's no chance they'd want to when they can finally figure something out. Or attempt to anyway..
They hold a paw over their mouth as they yawn and open the door to the office.
To Intern's surprise, the only animal other than them is Clerk— Who is leaning on the counter, their black tail with a white tip lightly twitching every now and then. Intern's smile softens as they walk over to Clerk "Heya" they wave slightly, noticing how Clerk's golden eyes look at him. "Hey," he responds stopping for a bit as if hesitating, "good job taking care of the patients, bun." he continues as he pats the bunny's head. Intern chuckles "Please, I was asked to help out" they say with a brighter smile, lightly leaning into the headpats as their ears cross lightly. Intern doesn't notice the way Clerk's gaze softens, or the way his tail curls closer to the other. Afterall, their beady eyes are closed as they tilt their head to make it more accessable for Clerk.
This might be one other way to increase their sanity, but in all honesty- Intern enjoys the praise. It feels good to be useful, afterall. And they feel the sanity returning to them aswell.
After a bit, Clerk's semi white paw dissapears from Intern's head, who actually remembers that they should probably compliment Clerk's work aswell—
"Though, I should be saying the same to you. You're checking the patients in, you're actually way better than Secretary!" Intern exclaims, trying to forget how much they enjoyed being pat and how awkward it must have been for Clerk. 'Good job Intern, who stands and gets headpats???'
Thankfully, Clerk seems to catch on 'Why are you so observant..' and chuckles with their semi white paw infront of their mouth. "Why thank you." he looks so softly at Intern. 'Stop being so adorable-' Intern thinks, ignoring how fast their heart beats as they softly poke Clerk with a paw "Aren't you being too old fashioned?" they say in a joking way.
"You—" Clerk seems to be about to say something, but the door opening interrupts him. Intern's ear twitches in confusion and interest but they decide to turn their head to the door instead.
Nurse came in, happy to see Intern and immeaditely pleads "Ah Intern! Please come help me out!" her ears droop. Intern nods, waving a goodbye to Clerk as they turn around and head out with Nurse, leaving Clerk all alone again.
His tail flicks as he sighs. 'Ah..I should do this later.' he thinks as he turns back to his job, ignoring the way he feels. He's at work right now anyway- Shouldn't confessions be done after work hours?
Or flirting— He shouldn't flirt while actively working, it's not professional.
Secret Agent looks sideways, it's not like he isn't being professional. He does his job as he's supposed to. So what if he sometimes jokes about or even flirts with his coworker? Scratch that. He sighs, he leans over the counter defeated. 'Is it even flirting?..I doubt Intern caught on..'
He lays his head on the counter, his ears pinned as he grumbles. Intern is cute, yes- They're the only coworker that Secret Agent can even let his guard around so easily. He caught himself nearly purring just being near them so many times already.
It's not like he cares if he does purr—But, there's a slight fear. A tiny voice at the back of his mind telling him that Intern simply sees him as a friend. Or that if he purrs he'd be made fun of— Actually, Intern might just try petting him too instead of making fun of him.
It's not like it's a direct saying of 'I love you'! It's just purring. But gosh, Secret Agent really doesn't want to be so vulnerable.
He's here on a mission in the first place, a mission to investigate the hospital and protect the staff. Although when he originally got the full list of the employees in this Animal Hospital that's owned by the Animal Corp, he hadn't seen Intern then. Only when he received the updated list, which means that Intern had joined recently and didn't necessarily fall under the "protect the staff" rule as the other staff did. Afterall, new hires to the hospital are expandable, but Intern isn't. Not to Secret Agent. They're irreplacable.
And honestly- The bunny seems extremely capable. It's strange— One would think that such an experienced worker would move up the ranks, yet Intern is still well..an intern.
That's his to go lie as to why he even protects them way more and tends to look at the cameras when there's no patients to check in just to see if Intern's okay.
And yes—There does seem something strange on the cameras whenever he does see Intern. And yes, Secret Agent will ignore it and instead keep others away from the cameras.
He can't believe himself that he loves an anomaly, but perhaps it's alright. He's never seen the bunny be anything but docile. They're very different than your typical anomalies, and he wonders why.
That's something he'll try to figure out eventually. Not that it matters, he's only here to eliminate non docile anomalies and see if there's any corruption within the hospital. That's his job.
Or well, what's written in his job description. There's nothing written about—
Secret Agent's tail flicks with annoyance, as he hears the bell ring and sees a familiar face as he looks up.
"Barney." he murmurs, fixing his posture "Hello, Clerk." the white rabbit says, emphatizing 'Clerk'.
Secret Agent's ear flicks, and he catches himself before his ears pin to his head. He's not very fond of Barney, but like Intern, he's docile enough and doesn't pose a threat to the hospital.
"Coming for coffee again? Aren't you tired of constantly begging." The last part wasn't a question, to his discomfort the rabbit smiles "This coffee tastes great, how could I miss seeing you being frustrated over your coworker?" they reply.
This time, Agent's ears do pin and he might have hissed "Oh jeez, calm down will ya? I'm just statin' the obvious." Barney quickly replies, waving his paw.
Agent knows that the rabbit is right, but that doesn't stop him from being annoyed by it. However, he can't do anything. They reached a partial truce, Barney gets coffee and Agent gets to talk about his struggle with his feelings. As much as he dislikes the rabbit, he's a great listener and sometimes gives great enough advice. Not that Agent would ever say that out loud, this anomaly doesn't deserve praise like Intern does.
Secret Agent sighs as he slides the coffee mug over to the rabbit, leaning on his arm as he watches them drink it. "Y'know, you should definitely confess already. How long are you planning to pin over them anyway? They seem to be kinda oblivious." Barney says between sips.
Agent tails swishes as he looks sideways, slightly rolling his eyes "It's not like I don't want to."
"So what's stopping you?"
"I feel like you're only asking to annoy me." Agent replies, annoyance clear in his voice. Barney nods "You're right bout that. Anyway, you should still do somethin before it's too late, ya know?" He says as he places the mug down. "Thanks for the coffee, pal." they reply as they leave, opening their umbrella once he exits the door.
So much for talking about his issues, huh. Secret Agent looks at the door, rolling his eyes. Then he realizes something. 'It's raining already?' he tilts his head, walking out of the office towards the door.
There's not a single drop of rain on the ground. 'Was that a hint or something?' he ponders, sighing, he returns to the office. The rabbit is just weird, must be that. His ear flicks as he returns to his job as another animal comes through the door.
After a few hours, their shift is over. 'Finally' Intern thinks as they sigh, placing a paw infront of their mouth as they yawn. Today was tiring, if not borderline exhausting. Though, Intern was happy to help out to the best of their abilities afterall! Though, there was always something. Head Nurse had to clock out early, so Nurse took over the emergency ward, which left Intern with the medical triage.
Not that Intern would complain, they're happy that they got to work rather than going to the office. They like Clerk, but being near them for so long would really lead to them patting their fur. Which might make Clerk mad..Which Intern doesn't want! Obviously.
Intern walks over to the clock in/out sheet and notices that Clerk is already clocked out. And Nurse had already left too, leaving a tiny note 'I've restocked everything in emergency and triage!' with a smiley face. That's very nurse of her, Intern chuckles.
Guess that leaves only them to go home, they sign out on the sheet before placing it back in the holder and turning the lights off. They're not really the only one left here, Dr.Harlow is still in his office as he stays behind till all the staff had left.
Something about that makes Intern uneasy, though they ignore that feeling as they push the glass door open, a humid air hitting their beige fur.
They stretch "Huh, surprised there's still no rain." they murmur, flopping their ear to the side once they finish stretching. Their ear flicks as they hear a hum beside them "Mm, yeah" a familiar voice says. Intern turns their head, their eyes locking onto Clerk's golden irises as tiny embers from his cigarette dance around his dark fur. Their ears flick to Clerk's amusement "I-I thought you went home already." Intern quickly collects themselves. "Was about to, but remembered you were still clocked in." Clerk replies, tilting his head as he puts the cigarette out.
"You waited for me?" Intern squeeks out, surprised! Clerk nods "There was a news report earlier to be careful at night. Couldn't let you go home alone."
Intern definitely doesn't blush "Oh, thank you, that's really kind of you." they smile, their beady eyes closing.
Clerk pushes off the wall he was leaning on, his tail flicking lightly "Let's go then?" he says with a slight flick of his ear. 'Cute!' Intern thinks as they nod.
The two of them walk together, engaging in small talk with playful pokes every now and then. The night is beautiful, although cloudy. And it was beautiful till more than a few droplets fell, turning into a huge onslought of rain. "Holy—" Intern swore under their breath as they grabbed Clerk's paw who meowed in surprise, and dragged him under a lonely tree, seemingly the only tree in their vicinity. Although the two of them were lightly wet, they didn't need to be completely soaked and surprisingly the tree blocked out most of the rain. The only sound being the wind and rain drops hitting the leaves above them.
Each droplet made Intern's ear flick, reminding them of unpleasant memories. They shook their head, ignoring the way their ear flicked regardless.
Intern fidgeted with their hoodie for a bit "Erm, sorry for dragging you—" they start, Clerk shakes his head "No, thank you for doing that. I didn't even notice the rain." he sheepishly smiles. Oh how adorable..
Intern's smile somehow becomes brighter and softer as they nod, to which in turn Clerk purrs.
They stare, surprised. "Oh—shi—Uh, pretend you didn't hear that— That was nothing—Oh hey the rain stop—" Clerk started explaining away, tripping over his words until the rain picked back up and he swore under his breath even more surprising Intern.
Who's paws reached out and held either side of Clerk's cheeks. "Did—you..purr?" they ask in a murmur, their smile somehow turning into a surprised expression, their ears completely up.
Clerk looks to the side, trying really hard to not purr—But he does. He purrs louder. "Oh my god. You're so adorable!!" Intern exclaims, completely interested in the loudest purr they've ever heard and it's coming from Clerk of all animals! Clerk!
"Oh, this makes me want to just smother you with kisses!!" They continue, realizing what they said, Intern freezes.
Clerk freezes aswell, before collecting himself "You—Want to kiss me-?" he asks, his voice low and soft. Intern looks at Clerk "I—Uh..Yeah.." they murmur. They wanted to confess completely differently, maybe with treats- or invite him out—Not this. Not like this.
Clerk notices the way Intern looks and smiles, taking Intern's paw in his as he drags them out of their shelter beneath the tree "Do you know how to dance?" he asks softly, to which Intern nods hesitantly "A little..Why are you—" they start only to be shushed "Cuz I love you." Clerk says with a smile as he takes the lead, twirling the two of them around as he looks at the flustered bunny.
He wanted to confess in a different way, but this works too. Secret Agent thinks as his tail twirls around Intern's leg, the two of them slow dance haphazardly, the rain creating a bubble around them where only Agent's purrs can be heard as he leans in, softly licking Intern's forehead.