Thomas was standing at the reception desk, going over billing policies with Strawberry. Out of the corner of his eye, he kept an eye on the clock above the door, which was now five minutes past when the new employee was supposed to start her shift.

  Another five minutes passed before Tabby came bolting in. “Sorry,” she said breathlessly, joining them at the desk. “I accidentally left out a vial of fairy dust last night, and this morning I had a whole fairy convention-shindig-whatever going on in my living room, and Othello tried to clear them out, and it was this whole thing…” She shook her head slowly. “So, what are we doing today?” She looked at Thomas expectantly.

  “Well,” Thomas said, realizing that he would likely be treated to many more stories of this nature now that they were working together, “to start with, there are these new employment forms to fill out. Why don’t you take a moment to get that out of the way?”

  “Here they are,” Strawberry piped-up helpfully, sliding some sheets across the desk.

  “Oh, you know everything about me, Straw,” Tabby said with a careless wave of her hoof. “You can fill them out.”

  “No, Ms. Fershund, I want you to do it,” Thomas said firmly. He recognized in her nature a certain disrespect for authority, and knew he was going to have to fight to keep the upper hoof with her.

  “And I want you to remember my name preferences,” Tabby said sharply, “but, here we are.” Still, she pulled the proffered sheets of paper toward her and picked up a nearby pen,

  Seeing genuine annoyance in her eyes, Thomas judiciously decided not to pursue that topic. “When you’re finished, come and see me in the exam room,” he instructed. “We’ll start going over procedures, and maybe we’ll have a walk-in or two by the end of the day for hoofs-on practice.” With a curt nod, he excused himself.

  * * *

  "Weren't you wearing glasses yesterday?" Thomas asked when she entered the exam room.

  Tabby eyed him warily. "Yes."

  Thomas waited for her to elaborate, but saw that no explanation was forthcoming. "Do you need them to see?" he asked, a little impatiently.

  "No." She looked at him with an unnaturally steady stare.

  "Were they just for the interview?"

  "No," she said with an equally unsettling look as if she didn’t quite understand eye contact. "They're a fashion accessory."

  "Fashion."

  "Yes."

  "For your interview."

  "I wear them occasionally." Her voice was carefully neutral. "When the mood strikes."

  "And the mood struck yesterday."

  "Apparently."

  Thomas waited. Tabby's stare didn't waver, but her ears flicked back slightly.

  "Well," he said. "They looked very... professional."

  Something flickered in her expression—relief? irritation?—but she just shifted her attention to an open file folder on the desk.

  He made a mental note: Tabitha Fershund was capable of strategic deception when it suited her purposes.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  * * *

  Tabby turned her face aside and rolled her eyes. She had needed to release her frustration somehow. Thomas was droning on about wound management. He acted like she was an absolute novice.

  “I’m sorry, am I boring you?” Thomas asked sharply, seeing that her attention had drifted.

  “Well, kind of, yeah!” Tabby huffed. “Tiny follows standard medical procedures, and I know the difference between an open and closed wound! You assume I’ve just been throwing magic around willy-nilly. Anywhere we went, there were cultural observances that don’t allow for magic healing, so I do have a firm working knowledge around these sorts of things!”

  Thomas looked taken aback, but before he could respond, Strawberry poked her head into the exam room, and it was a welcome distraction. “There’s a walk-in, a puppy with a cut paw. Should I send them in?”

  “Yes, go ahead,” said Thomas, seemingly relieved at the distraction. Tabby simmered silently to herself.

  “Tabby! Hi!” Foxglove, a blue pony with purple hair, pranced into the room with her black Labrador puppy.

  Tabby grimaced as discreetly as possible. Foxglove had been a sort of fan-girl of Tabby’s since junior year in high school, when Foxglove had ended up with a broken leg after an ill-advised dare, and Tabby had healed it. It had been on the sly, of course, or Tabby would have faced ramifications for performing magical healing without a license. Since then, Foxglove had followed Tabby’s career with interest, and Tabby always seemed to be running into her shopping, at the ice cream shop, or at church. Tabby honestly didn’t know what to do with the attention, and so tried to avoid it.

  “It’s great to have you back in town!” Foxglove enthused, ignoring Thomas.

  “I do live here, Foxglove,” Tabby pointed out, taking the lively black puppy and holding him down gently on the exam table. “I’ve just been commuting.”

  “What happened here?” Thomas interjected gently, beginning to examine the wound.

  “I dropped a glass at breakfast and it broke, and he ran through it before I could clean up the mess,” Foxglove explained. “It looks pretty bad, doesn’t it?”

  “It is a deep cut and could use stitches,” Thomas agreed.

  “Oh, but Tabby, you can just patch him up with magic, right?” Foxglove turned a beseeching look on the pink unicorn.

  “Sorry, that’s not in my contract,” Tabby said, shrugging. The movement allowed the puppy to wriggle away, earning Tabby a frown from Thomas who was trying to wash out the wound. Tabby quickly recaptured him and kept him in place.

  “We’re not licensed for magical healing,” Thomas clarified Tabby’s statement. No doubt Foxglove had been a past recipient of illicit magical care. “Tabby, the monofilament.” She hoofed him the supply.

  Foxglove looked sharply at the veterinarian. “Who are you supposed to be, anyway?” she asked, frowning. “I thought Tabby was the doctor.”

  “I’m Dr. Fairfax,” Thomas introduced himself. “This is my clinic.”

  “Oh.” Foxglove looked taken aback. “I just assumed… well, at least it must have been nice to get a job closer to home,” she chattered as the two unicorns got down to the business of stitching the wound. “You know, instead of running around through the woods all the time.”

  “You don’t know my motivations--gahhh!” complained Tabby as the puppy nipped at her. She was trying to focus on the work, not make chit-chat! And now she looked ineffective, bested by a mere pup.

  “Oh, no, of course not.” Foxglove’s voice oozed respect. “I just mean, it’s nice to see you again!” She was unflappable!

  “Tabby, note that this calls for the broad spectrum antimicrobial topical agent,” Thomas reminded her.

  “Yes, I know!” Tabby snapped, picking up the tube from the drawer. Honestly, if he kept explaining everything in minute detail… But, not wanting to cause a scene in front of Foxglove, she pasted a smile on her face.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Thomas said to the client as the appointment wrapped-up, holding out a hoof.

  Foxglove looked at the veterinarian askance and reluctantly took his proffered hoof for a hook-shake. “Well, thanks… I guess,” she said, and turned back to the assistant, instantly brightening. “See you around, Tabby!” she said enthusiastically. “Hey, stop by the salsa shop sometime! I never miss karaoke night. Bye!” Then she was off to see Strawberry about payment.

  “You have a fan,” Thomas observed dryly when they were alone.

  Tabby cast him a baleful look, spraying the counter with disinfectant before Thomas could issue the directive. “We were in high school together, and she thinks we’re lifelong buddies,” she replied shortly.

  "That's not the right disinfectant for the counter," Thomas said.

  Tabby paused mid-spray. "What's wrong with willow bark extract? It's antibacterial."

  "We use quaternary ammonium compounds here. Hospital-grade." He gestured to the correct bottle.

  She threw up her hooves in exasperation. "They do the same thing!"

  "One is standardized with documented efficacy. The other is—"

  "Natural and effective?"

  "—inconsistent," said Thomas with a frown.

  Tabby huffed, but reached for the other bottle.