barton (awcoffee) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-08-02 23:27:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, clint barton (hawkeye), leonard mccoy |
WHO: Clint Barton & Leonard McCoy
WHERE: Bones' vet practice
WHEN: Aug 2nd
WHAT: It's time for Lucky's vet check up! Finally. Clint is responsible owner.
WARNINGS: PG13 (mentions of past animal abuse)
STATUS: Complete
Saying that Clint hadn’t gotten Lucky checked over would be false -he had, once. Right when he’d found the dog, back when he was called Arrow and looked like shit and never wagged his tail. It was obvious that he’d need to take the dog somewhere at the time and he’d found a little place out of the way, gotten the dog treated and checked out, tossed out that collar and renamed it.
But in the five months that Lucky had been living with Clint, they hadn’t seen a vet, and it was one of those days that Clint was being a responsible adult and figured why not. It helped that he had some spare cash for the first time in forever, given that he’d finally just caved and dipped into some somewhat illegal funds to pay off his hospital bills from the fucking start of the year.
Stupid fucking medical coverage.
Finding a vets wasn’t that hard. And ultimately Clint picked from random before heading out with Lucky, appointment made and walking part way just to get some exercise in with his oblivious dog.
Vet offices didn’t seem to bother Lucky any, and he sat happy with Clint, leash loose in Clint’s hand and Lucky’s tail just sweeping back and forth on the floor while things happened around them both.
---
Bones’ day had been pretty busy but he always liked to keep busy because boredom was and would always be something he hated. Beyond reason. Maybe partly due to the fact he was dreaming now and apparently having a friend like James Tiberius Kirk meant you didn’t function well without some sort of shot of adrenaline on a daily basis.
He was down to his last few appointments of the day and Bones collected the next file from the receptionist before sweeping his gaze over the waiting room.
“Lucky?”
---
Clint had never been too surprised that Lucky just went with things; given the state he’d been in when Clint found him, it seemed like everything was a party and sunshine in comparison. So the fact that Lucky just trotted into the vets room when they were called didn’t shock Clint.
“Yeah, that’s us.” Obviously.
Lucky just sat by Clint’s leg, tail still swishing on the floor and his tongue lolling out, happy grin on his face even with his messed up eye and lopsided jaw.
---
Bones glanced down to regard Lucky and placed his file to one side as he met the dog in a crouched position, greeting him with a distinctly friendly and welcoming rub of his ears. “Hey boy,” he said with a genuine smile, the rarest of things to ever be seen on one Leonard McCoy’s face.
With Lucky greeted he rose back up to greet his owner.
“So, tell me about Lucky, anything you’re worried or concerned about?”
---
Lucky already had his tongue lolling out, tail going a mile a minute at the attention. It was actually amazing how friendly the guy was, all things considered. “Nothing massively pressing, but I haven’t really been in one place long enough to get him checked out properly.”
And really, Lucky wasn’t his. But it wasn’t like the assholes that beat him were going to come back to claim him, even if they were out of traction by now. “He limps sometimes, but I think that was from when his leg was broken, and obviously there’s his sight, with just having one eye.”
There was a reason Clint changed the dogs name after all. “We’re just looking to make sure he’s doing good.”
---
“Fair enough,” Bones said with a nod of his head and his brow furrowed a moment later at the mention of the limp. He definitely wanted to check that out. “Which leg is it?”
He shifted to gently lift Lucky onto the table so he could do a thorough health check starting with the state of his gums and teeth. Some tartar but nothing too horrific. A quick check of the ears and they were all clean and free of mites. The one eye he did have also looked good so for a dog that seemed to have had a bad run of it Lucky was doing pretty damn well.
Bones clearly had a love for animals, evident in how he was careful with Lucky.
---
“Back left, the hip was kinda cracked and his upper leg was broken at the time.” His files probably weren’t as complete as they could be, but Clint hadn’t exactly taken the time to get him somewhere that they’d take a good record of things, just somewhere they’d fix Lucky.
But all in all, Lucky never really fussed. Clint was lucky that this was the dog he ended up with, karma could’ve kicked his ass and landed him with a fussy, needy, boisterous dog that tore his place to shit. Instead he got the most laid back, affectionate and forgiving dog on the planet.
“It’s pretty much only after a while it shows signs, that’s why we stick to short walks but often.”
---
Bones made a mental note of the injuries that Clint had noticed, being careful when he reached Lucky’s back legs and in particular the left one. It sounded like a nasty break and Bones wouldn’t be surprised if it hadn’t healed right which explained the limping but it would be something they’d need to keep an eye on the older Lucky got.
Thankfully Bones had some very forward thinking innovations when it came to caring for his patients human and otherwise, his use of prosthetics was well in advance of the other vets around him.
“He all up to date with his shots?”
---
“Oh, yeah,” Clint had taken care of that shortly after he’d acquired Lucky, “I don’t think his previous owners had really been all that good about taking care of him, so he got his shots just after I got him.”
Once Lucky’d pulled through the initial treatments, gotten his eye seen to and his bones mended and he was well again, Clint had done the responsible things with dog care -neutering (sorry buddy), shots and microchipping, because fuck those other guys, Lucky was his dog.
“I think we’re due in maybe six months for boosters.”
---
The irony of pet owners or so Bones had observed was that they tended to take better care of their animals than they did themselves, Clint was no exception to that it would seem.
“Good, good, I’ll make a note of that on his file. Assume the same can be said for his flea treatment and worming?”
He felt along Lucky’s stomach carefully and paid careful attention to his legs and hip area, just feeling it out, getting an idea of what the break might have been as he didn’t have any x-rays to refer to but if needed he could get them from whatever vet Clint had seen prior.
---
“Yeah,” Clint reached out to give Lucky a quick scratch on the head, his ears flopping back as the lug moved towards Clint for more, tongue lolling around. “They said there wouldn’t be much harm in boosting him early since no one knew how safe he was.”
Once the furball had made it through the worst of it all, Clint knew he was keeping Lucky, so making sure they didn’t need to avoid grass or other dogs in case Lucky got sick was for the best.
“We just need to get a little more regular with visits I think.” Because really, he’d put more into Lucky’s care than his own. For sure.
---
“Well luckily for you I have myself a real persistent receptionist who is all about making sure folk get their dogs booked in for regular checkups. No way you’ll be able to forget about them with her on my payroll.” Once he was satisfied that Lucky was in as good a shape as he could be given his poor start in life he gave the dog a proper stroke which apparently he enjoyed.
Bones smirked a little at the reaction.
“Course that only applies if you decide to stick with my services and not take Lucky elsewhere.”
---
“Eh,” okay, so Clint wasn’t the best at following through with things, his private life was a total mess on the regular and frankly that wasn’t likely to change in any fashion. It seemed that his dream life was the same, which meant he was probably doubly screwed.
He could fight world invasions and shoot down Doom Bots with a bow and arrow, but apparently he couldn’t tie his shoelace on a good day.
“I’m not really the type to go above and beyond to find someone else when there’s a perfectly good option right here.” And shopping around to meet people wasn’t Clint’s thing either. “Y’know, so long as I’m not bankrupted.” Which was only half true, most of Clint’s money would go on Lucky or coffee anyway.
---
"I think you'll find yourself reasonably surprised," Bones assured Clint with a further smirk before he made a couple more notes against Lucky's file and reached out to rummage out a biscuit for Lucky to munch on because he had been very well behaved.
Bones not only ran a veterinary clinic out of his ranch but he'd also been giving serious thought to opening up his stables for people who wanted to learn how to horseback ride but he still hadn't gotten round to that, busy at the clinic and also volunteering.
"I'd like to see Lucky in another three months."
---
It wasn’t like Clint had a baseline for vet bills, not really. He’d thrown money at the first vet visit, primarily because of all the broken bones and Lucky’s terrible condition. But then, it wasn’t like it was Clint’s money, since he’d beat the shit out of and robbed the people who’d put Lucky in that state.
“Sure, sure. We can count on your persistent receptionist to make sure I remember.” Even as scatter brained as Clint could be, it wasn’t like he’d forget with someone pushy calling up to make sure he remembered his dog needed a check up.
“Looks like Lucky is happy enough here anyway.” But then, this big loveable ball of fluff would likely be happy anywhere he got treats and scratches.
---
“Oh, she will definitely be a right royal pain in your ass, but it’s one of the reasons I pay her.” Bones lips tugged into a smirk before he passed over Lucky’s records to Clint now that he’d created them. “Pass them to her behind the desk and she’ll settle up the bill for today and also get you booked in to see me again in another couple months.”
He gave Lucky’s ears one parting rub for good measure.
“You take care now, alright, buddy?”
---
It was like they just knew what Clint needed to stay focused. It might be a pain in the ass for some people, but it was exactly what Clint needed to keep his shit in order. “Great, thanks.” At least he could pretend to be a functioning adult and responsible dog owner for a while.
At the added attention Lucky’s tail kicked up in the wagging before he started to trot towards the door, like he knew Clint needed to get his ass in gear -or, more likely, Lucky needed to use the little doggy facilities.
“Thanks again,” although this technically was an appointment, it was good when Lucky was at ease with getting checked out, “see you in a few months then.” He’d totally remember. He’d set a reminder, and answer the phone when called.
Totally.