Birds of Feather

Chapter 8: Page Turner

You took it easy Saturday morning. Simple breakfast, nice long shower, and you really did keep your work time limited.

Most of it was because it was hard to focus in the first place.

Marco had asked if it was okay to "pester" you with some images, and you said he could. You got a glimpse into the day of the life of the animal hospital, at least as it was on a Saturday. The receptionist gave you a little wave as Marco took a selfie with her. They both had cups of coffee from Sanji's in their hands.

There were quite a few pictures of sleepy and cuddly cats and dogs. Marco's hand was in almost every shot, as he seemed to be going through and giving all their discharges a final overview. Complete with extra scritches for the animals. One of the pictures was Chopper "in jail" on charges of being too nice.

His fake tears were quickly replaced with a smile as Marco took another selfie. He was wearing red-rimmed glasses in the picture, and you had to admit he looked good in glasses. The big, almost cheesy smile on his face certainly brightened your morning.

But it did make it really hard to focus on work.

One o'clock rolled around and Marco let you know he was on his way home to change and he'd be at your place by three. You packed your laptop away and got out of your pajamas, cleaning up a little bit before you got into your outfit for the day.

Nothing too wild; you wanted to stay true to your agreement, but you weren't going to dig the chains and belts out of your closet from your college days and go all in. A pair of dark baggy jeans with enough holes and wear in them that you wore black leggings under them. The front pockets could hold a 2-liter, but it was a pain to dig your wallet or keys out of the deep pockets. You grabbed a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie to complete the look.

A small shoulder-strapped purse, over your t-shirt, but under the hoodie, gave you a safe place for your keys and wallet, and the black leather strap certainly didn't take away from the aesthetic.

You mis-matched your socks because you were an adult and no one was around to stop you. Between the jeans and your creepers, no one was going to know about the socks anyway. The creepers were the closest thing you had to actual emo fair, so hopefully it made up for slouching a little on the rest of the look.

The last few years your outfits had been either professional for work, pajamas for the rare lazy day around the house, and a little flirty for the few moments could grab with whatever partner you had at the time. But now you were on your couch in comfy clothes, finding yourself oddly nervous.

If he'd been joking then, well, then you were still at home and hopefully you'd have the time to spare to change before you headed out to wherever you were going. But your larger concern was that you were going to be far too under-dressed, and the good doctor was going to show up with black hair and dragon-eye contacts or something.

You couldn't picture it though. You could barely picture him in anything other than those scrubs. Scrubs that fit just snug enough you didn't have to much wonder what he looked like under them.

The sound of SEL pulling into your drive got your attention, and you were already on your feet when there was a knock at the door. It's like you were sixteen again, going on the first date Ivankov was officially aware of.

Opening the door you almost laughed. It wasn't because he looked silly, it was more of a relief than anything else. Marco smiled back in return, seemingly just as relieved to see you wearing what you were.

The veterinarian was in oversized black cargo pants and combat boots. There was a chain twisted around his belt that dangled off to one side a little, and he wore three silver rings across both hands. A long-sleeved shirt was under the faded t-shirt, the text was battered, but it was a retro print shirt with a dusty blue color and gold lettering. Over top all of that was a faded flannel with the sleeves rolled up. The layers were warm enough he didn't need a coat or jacket, but you were grateful he hadn't dyed his hair black for the occasion.