Saving Grace (707XReader)

Vet Visits and Near Panic Attacks

    _____ stood by the sink, washing the dishes from dinner after Zen left. Honey was up on the island, eating his dinner and she was humming a random tune to herself as she washed the dishes. Seven leaned in the doorway and watched her for a while, trying to gather the nerve to try to talk to her about what happened earlier. Finally he took a deep breath and walked up to her, leaning against the island as he absentmindedly pet Honey as he ate.
    "_____," he said tentatively.
    She looked over her shoulder at him. "Seven."
    "Can we talk? About earlier?" he asked.
    Her face fell a little bit as she turned back to the dishes and Seven flinched. She turned off the water and dried her hands before turning to look at him. "Yeah, we should talk," she said and sighed.
    "Yeah," Seven echoed and worried his lip.
    The air around them was thick and he was having trouble finding the right words. Thankfully, _____ spoke first.
    "So how much of my conversation with Zen did you hear?" she asked. It wasn't meant to be challenging, it was more of a curious statement.
    He shrugged. "All of it, honestly," he said and scratched the back of his head. "That's... kind of what I wanted to talk about."
    Panic and fear started to settle over her. Was he going to reject her before they even had a chance? But he was the one who kissed her first, so would he really? She swallowed and nodded. "What about it?"
    He took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'm going to be really honest here," he said and then made a point to look her in the eyes. "I have feelings for you, if you couldn't already tell, but I..." he sighed and raked a hand through his hair, feeling really nervous. "I don't want to pressure you or make you feel like you need to return those feelings or do anything about it really unless you want."
    _____ smiled at him slightly. "Thank you for saying that, Seven," she said and rubbed at her arms. "I... I don't know what I want right now. I know that I feel something for you, I just... I don't know what it is yet. I'd like to find out, but at the same time, I still need to heal. I know that in my head at least," she sighed.
    "But I'm guessing your feelings are telling you something different?" Seven asked.
    She nodded.
    "Look, if you want, I can back off. Switch with Yoosung and we can go back to only talking on the chat room or when we hang out. I'll give you space if you need it," he offered, secretly hoping that she wouldn't accept.
    She sighed again. "No... I'd much prefer you here then Yoosung. He might be overbearing..."
    "Yeah, I suppose you do have a point there," he chuckles weakly.
    _____ smiled slightly. "I don't want you to leave, Seven," she said.
    He smiled a bit and closed the distance between then, pulling her into a hug. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to go," he promised. "Besides, you have our cat!"
    She couldn't help but giggle and hugged him back. "But I swear, if you set up any sort of puns in the apartment, I might take you up on switching with Yoosung."
    "I told you, you'll have to be married to me before I reach that level of meme," he joked and let go of her. "I'll help you clean up."
    "Thank you, Seven," _____ said and went back to doing the dishes while Seven put away the containers of leftovers and put more dirty dishes in the sink.

    "So do we have everything we need?" Seven asked.
    _____ nodded. "Yeah. Honey is in his carrier, we have the papers from the adoption. And I have my wallet and keys."
    "Then we should go before we're late for the appointment," he said.
    "Well come on then," _____ said and picked up Honey's cat carrier and walked out of the door.
    Seven smiled and grabbed the rest of the things they needed before following her out of the apartment. They took the elevator down the stairs and loaded everything up in his car. _____ hopped into the passenger's side while Seven got into the driver's seat and started the car. He drove to the vet, following _____'s instructions and when they got there, they walked inside. Seven took Honey's carrier while _____ went to the reception desk to check in.
    "Checking in or checking out?" The receptionist asked.
    "Checking in," _____ replied. "The name is Honey Choi."
    The receptionist looked at the computer before marking the appointment as arrived. "All right, you're all set. The doctor will call you in when he's ready."
    "Thank you," _____ smiled politely before going to sit down next to Seven.
    He raised an eyebrow at her. "Choi?"
    "That is your last name, right?"
    "Well, yeah, but it's your cat."
    "You got him for me, so his last name is Choi," she stuck her tongue out at him and she could see a light blush form on her cheek.
    She was about to say something more when she noticed a certain someone walking from the back of the vet to the Annex, where they had more exam rooms. He looked exactly the same, though people don't usually change much in the span of only four weeks, and he head was slightly turned towards them as he walked. Their eyes met and he immediately look the other way. _____ felt her heart drop to her stomach and the urge to run away was palpable. Seven noticed and moved his head in front of her field of vision, raising an eyebrow and looking worried.
    "Is everything okay?"
    _____ shook her head and started fidgeting. "He's working today," she said and tried resisting the urge to start biting her nails. It didn't work and she started with her thumb. She had quit but the recent stress had caused her to start up again. Seven grabbed her hands and held them in her lap. Her breathing started to get out of control before Seven started to talk.
    "Hey, calm down, it's okay," he said in a gentle voice. "I'm here. It'll be okay. I promise. We'll go see Dr. Charney and do whatever we need to do with Honey and then we'll go back, eat ice cream and watch movies. Don't let him have this much control over you," he said, looking her in the eyes the whole time. "And if you want to make him feel terrible, to get pay back, then act like you're okay. Act like you're fine and nothing is bothering you. Act like you moved on, make him see that you're stronger then he thinks you are."
    _____ shook her head, not saying anything, not trusting herself to speak right now.
    "You can do it, I know you can. Trust me, I'll help you," Seven promised. "I'll make sure that you get through this. So will you please try for me?"
    _____ focused her eyes on him and held her breath for a second before letting it out. She nodded slowly. "I-I'll try."
    Seven smiled at her and let go of her hands. "Thank you. I promise you nothing bad will happen today."    She nodded again but before she could open her mouth to speak, a voice called out. "Honey?"
    She looked up and saw a nameless kennel kid wearing a green scrub top. She nudged Seven and stood up, taking the cat carrier with Honey in it. "That's us," she said when she neared the kennel kid.
    He smiled and nodded. "This way please," he said and lead the three into Exam Room 4. "The doctor will be right with you."
    _____ nodded. "Thank you," she said and sat down on a chair as the kennel kid left the room.
    She opened up the carrier and pulled Honey out of it gently. She let the little kitten curl up in her lap and play with her hand. It would be easier for everyone if Honey had fond memories of the vet so that it wasn't like pulling teeth to bring him here.
    "So what's this Dr. Charney like?" Seven asked.
    _____ shrugged. "I don't really know what he's like when I'm a client, but when he would pocket me as his vet tech for appointments he was pretty funny and amiable. I also knew when to avoid him when he was in a bad mood, so I only faced the brunt of his anger once when I first started here."
    "Sounds like a nice guy," he said.
    "Yeah, he's pretty cool," _____ said just as the door opened.
    "All right, so what do we have here?" Dr. Charney said as he entered the room with his nose in a chart. "Honey Choi..." he finally looked up at _____ and raised an eyebrow. "_____? I thought your last name was (l/n)?"
    "Heya, Dr. Charney. And it is," she said and stood up, cradling Honey in her arms. "This is Luciel Choi, the joint owner of this precious bundle of joy," she put the kitten on the table and he immediately walked towards Dr. Charney.
    Seven held out a hand, which Dr. Charney took. "Nice to meet you."
    "Likewise, so is this the elusive boyfriend we've been hearing so much about lately?" he asked.
    _____ flinched a bit. "No. That elusive guy broke up with me last month. Luciel here is just a good friend helping me through a rough time."
    "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," he said as he let Honey sniff his hand. "So shall we get this appointment underway, then?"
    _____ nodded.
    "All right, so do you know if she's been spayed yet?" Dr. Charney asked.
    "He hasn't been neutered," Seven corrected.
    Dr. Charney raised an eyebrow. "A male calico? How'd you manage to find one?"
    "I have some connections" Seven said and grinned triumphantly.
    "Impressive connections," Dr. Charney said and started to feel around the kittens body, testing joints and feeling how everything felt. "All right, everything feels normal. I guess you're only here for shots today, then?"
    "Yeah, and to know when we should get him neutered," she asked.
    "Well he's the right weight to be ready for the operation. Do you want to declaw him too?"
    _____ made a face. "I would never."
    Dr. Charney chuckled. "I knew there was something I liked about you," he said. "We'll have to do a blood test though to make sure he's going to be okay with the anesthetic. Would it be okay if I stole him for a moment and brought him into the back to do the blood work and give the vaccines. It'll be the rabies and the distemper. Is he an indoor or outdoor cat?"
    "He'll be an indoor cat," _____ said.
    "All right. Well, then, when we're all done, I'll send one of the kennel staff up with your cat," Dr. Charney said.
    "All right, no problem, thank you," _____ said and handed Dr. Charney the cat carrier and walked with Seven out of the exam room.
    "So Dr. Charney seems nice," he said.
    _____ giggled a bit. "He's 33 years old, Seven, and married. And we're only 21," she joked.
    "No, no. That's not what I was getting at," he said, but his blush said a different story.
    _____ giggled a bit and sat down on the benches. "Relax, Seven. Sides, I don't think you're allowed to be jealous yet," she said in a teasing voice.
    He bumped her shoulder lightly. "I'm always jealous," he admitted but in a playful tone. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
    "It's all thanks to you, Luciel," she said.
    He smiled at her and the two sat in a comfortable silence until _____ saw her ex-boyfriend walk into Reception with Honey's carrier. He looked around and spotted her, his face neutral and walked towards her. _____ took a breath and she felt Seven lean just ever so slightly closer like he was trying to protect her. When he stood in front of them he handed the carrier back.
    "Thank you," _____ said.
    "You're welcome," he replied ever so politely before turning on his heel and fast walking back into the back of the clinic.
    Seven looked at her. "Are you okay?"
    _____ sighed. "He hates me," was all she said before she walked up to the receptionist to pay for the vet visit.