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It wasn’t that Ian disliked animals.
If anything, he was rather fond of the practically endless amount of cute cat videos that naturally drifted across the internet. He just never really saw himself as a pet owner with his heavy workload, let alone managing something as mysterious and fickle as a cat.
Yet despite all of this, he was staring down his partners in the hospital break room after clocking out, both Ada and Inny huddled around what looked like a hairless cat and stared at him pleadingly. He wasn’t even sure where they got it from, but it was purring up a storm as Inny swaddled it in a blanket.
“I- where did..?” Ian muttered, his hands falling to his sides in disbelief. “Please don’t tell me you stole that animal.”
« I found this little guy while walking River home! » Inny tapped against their knee, the sound carrying across the break room. « He asked me to walk him home because of a feeling of dread, so I did. And then we found two little cats! »
“There’s two?”
“Apparently River took home the other one,” Ada reassured him, smiling fondly at the small beast that was monopolizing his partners’ attention. “Inny almost had a heart attack realizing cats could be hairless, and just, scooped this thing up. No complaints on the little guy’s end, from what I can tell.”
As if to emphasize her point, Ada reached over and gently scratched the hairless cat beneath the chin, the creature making a noise much like a rumbling car engine.
« Ian, can we please keep it for the night? Please? It’s already way too late to go to the vet to get it scanned for any ID chips, and River said he would take me with him tomorrow to get them looked at. »
The radiologist couldn’t help but sigh, looking at his beautiful partners with hearts too big for their own good. He knew how this would go: they’d keep it for one night, and then one night becomes one week, and then one week becomes a whole year, if they actually end up getting rid of it.
He wasn’t fond of the idea, really. Ian had never had animals to look after before – especially not after being startled by big dogs – but cats in particular were nuisances. It felt like with every heartwarming internet story about a stray finding a forever home, there were five horror stories about stir crazy cats chomping through important cables and making messes.
And, well, again, he’s never looked after an animal before. Ian especially didn’t have the chance when living with his mother again after college. He wasn’t certain if hairless cats meant they were actually hypoallergenic, but he didn’t want to find out.
Unfortunately for him, the little beast wrapped oh so gently in Inny’s arms made a slow, deliberate blink up at Ada, and she let out a small noise of delight. “Look, I think it’s tired after the day it’s had. If you’re against the idea, we can keep it at my place, alright?”
Ohhhh no, he was doomed.
He almost wanted to ask if they had a name in mind yet, but knew he shouldn’t ask such a thing just yet. It would just be cementing his grave further. But, despite how viscerally against the idea he was, Ian couldn’t help but nod. He wasn’t blind; he could tell that the cat especially liked how warm Inny’s systems were, and it had been a rather cold and brisk week weather-wise.
And, well, it was admittedly really cute seeing Ada and Inny holding it so gently. They were treating it like an infant they needed to nurture, and it was unfortunately a critical hit to his heart.
Ada cheered, quickly enveloping Ian in a tight hug. “Yaaay, thank you! We can probably shuffle something temporary together at my place, but you don’t even worry about a thing. Got it?”
She pressed a kiss to Ian’s cheek, quickly making his ears hot.
“I-I mean, I-! It looks cold, it’s only natural!”
He was making excuses, and he knew everyone in that room was aware of it.
With a quiet hiss of steam, Inny stood from where they had been sitting and carefully stepped over to Ian, holding the cat in their arms.
« Do you want to give it your hand so it can sniff it? Get familiar with you? »
The little beast wrapped up in their partner’s arms was staring at him, brilliant blue eyes studying him. Ian bit back a sigh, carefully holding his hand out to its nose.
It waited for a second, but never once seemed to be distressed. Realizing he wasn’t moving anymore, the cat leaned forward a bit and sniffed Ian’s hand, the sensation lightly tickling him.
A distant part of him was reminded of the day the Intern had become sentient, and how they had been comparing with their own hands. How he had squatted at the supply closet’s doorway, letting Inny take their time getting acquainted with their situation.
Before long the inspection was complete, and, making a huff of satisfaction, the cat nudged its head under his palm, as if expecting a pet.
Ian’s face reddened as he watched it leaning into his hand, the reaction not what he was expecting in the slightest! He wasn’t exactly an animal person, what was he supposed to do?!
Inny’s pulse squeezed horizontally in delight, their monitor nodding enthusiastically. He already knew what they were going to say, so Ian carefully brushed the hairless cat’s head back, watching as the wrinkled skin moved with his hand.
The rumbling emanating from the cat was becoming louder and louder, and Ian briefly wondered if that was normal before the beast suddenly wriggled out from Inny’s gentle hold and leapt onto him. He made a squeak of alarm – and judging from the tea kettle noise, Inny hadn’t expected it either – before quickly wrapping his arms around to support the cat.
“I-I- What do I-?”
« Oh oh! Hold on… » Without missing a beat, the Intern unfurled the abandoned blanket, wrapping it around the cat.
Blissfully unaware – or perhaps far too aware? – the cat tucked its head into Ian’s neck, nuzzling into the fuzz of his sweater. He struggled a little as he shifted his arms so Inny could wrap the cat up properly, apparently more than happy to share the little beast with him. Quickly enough, the hairless cat was secure and purring up a storm, tucking its head in on itself.
Ohhhh no Ian, don’t get attached-
“You ready to go home?” Ada asked, a clear giddiness in her voice. When he looked up to meet her gaze, he realized she had her phone out and had more than likely taken a photo.
Ian huffed, feeling his face warm up even more. “Yeah, let’s get home. I’m exhausted and my back hurts.”
There weren’t any further complaints or remarks as Inny wordlessly took Ian’s bag, a heart-shaped pulse flicking across their monitor. He already knew where this was going…
“Guh.”
He could feel an odd weight on his chest as Ian began drifting out of slumber. He blinked groggily, the view of Ada’s bedroom ceiling fuzzy without his glasses. Did he have a heart attack in his sleep or something? Why did his chest feel so heavy-?
There was a trilling mrrrrp noise emanating from further down his body, and Ian craned his neck to squint at the source.
Oh.
His sight was a little blurry without his glasses, but Ian could tell what it was. Body planted firmly on the center of Ian’s chest sat the hairless feline that Inny found. He was honestly surprised that the cat had gotten into the room. They had set the poor thing to rest by the fireplace, so how did it get in?
Ian shifted slightly, trying to crane his neck to squint at the door. The little trespasser didn’t complain as its bed shuffled.
The door to the hallway lay open just a crack, but it was evidently more than enough space for the currently nameless cat to weasel its way into the bed. Ian sighed and set his head back down onto the pillow, mumbling under his breath. He was going to need a lint roller if this would be a regular occurrence at Ada’s house for the foreseeable future. Even if the little cat didn’t have hair, Ian could already see that his dark sweaters would not last long with such an affectionate creature in his girlfriend’s home.
The cat made another trilling sound, before cozying up and getting comfortable nestled within the folds of both blanket and borrowed sweater. Ian couldn’t help but run a hand over the cat’s skin, gently scratching beneath its chin.
He was, admittedly, astonished at how velvety the cat’s skin felt – soft, almost like peach fuzz. It was like petting smooth leather, and judging from how the beast was purring up a storm, Ian figured that it liked this and wasn’t simply tolerating it.
“Hmm… you’re a little bit of a troublemaker, aren’t you?” Ian murmured to the little intruder, scratching behind its ears. The cat mewed softly, turning its head into Ian’s touch. “Maybe that can work as your name – or, at least, somewhere to spring off of.”
Oh no, he was naming the cat. Some part of his brain – the only part that wasn’t already charmed by the nameless cat – begged Ian to get up and get this cat off of him. If he sat here any longer, he would absolutely end up signing his savings off to this critter, and-
And, well, while it did sound nice, he was still unsure about all of this. There would have to be a lot of shopping for the usual necessities, and Ian absolutely knew that Ada and Inny would want to spoil their new addition. There wasn’t even any guarantee that the three of them would be able to handle leaving a cat alone for hours at a time.
He was about to sigh and pull himself up into a seated position when the door to the bedroom creaked open further. “Ian, hon, have you seen-? Oh!”
Hands clasped together, Ada was standing in the hallway as she took the scene in. “Ohhh my goodness! Awwwh, is this little kitty bothering you, Ian?”
The radiologist could feel his ears turning red as he sputtered aloud, though didn’t retract his hand from the cat’s ears. Honestly, he doubted that the cat would let him go now, given how the little beast was beginning to knead the blankets. “Um- I, uh.”
“If she’s really bothering you, just say the word. I can pull her off,” Ada said, a warm smile on her face.
“No, she’s- she’s fine.” Ian mumbled, smoothing back the cat’s head. It rumbled happily, which only made Ada’s eyes light up even more.
“Oh my gosh, that’s so cute. I was wondering where she wandered off to when I didn’t see her in the box we had her sleeping in last night.” Ada reached over to gently scritch the cat beneath the chin, giggling when it immediately pressed its head further into her hand. “I think she really likes you, Ian.”
“I don’t even know why,” he wheezed out, feeling the cat press a kneading paw between his ribs. “O-ow- troublemaker.”
The beast made a small noise, as if responding to Ian’s protest.
“Troublemaker,” Ada repeated, watching as the cat made the same noise. “Huh – she kinda likes it. But ‘troublemaker’ is a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?”
« What about ‘Treble’, then? » came the tapping of metal against metal. Inny stood in the doorway, watching the scene with what Ian could only describe as love in every sense of the word.
“Treble?” Ian asked the cat, who flicked her ears alertly. “Oh, she likes that.”
« Oh, yay! » Inny clasped their hands together, a puff of steam escaping their head. « I’m glad she likes it… she’s a very cute little kitty. »
“Yeah, she is.” Ian grinned as the cat – as Treble – yawned and curled up on his chest, eyes squinting closed at him. “I, um. I don’t think I can move.”
“Oh dear, she’s already got him wrapped around her little paw,” Ada murmured, to which Inny nodded with fervor.