Mind the Bleep

15 | Hypothetically, Of Course

Caliana exuded a breath of relief when she saw there were no cages in sight.

Instead, she and Isaac were introduced to rich earthen hugs of brown intermingled with viridescent foliage hues carrying all the essence of a rainforest. The only thing in omission was the fresh river water and the woollen grey sky of the late winter. The air was heavy with the pitter-pattering of several monkey infants roaming around, feasting on a wide spread of seeds, legumes, and nuts.

Perhaps the smallest infant of them all scuttled forth, gazing up at Caliana impishly, with soulful honey-glazed eyes amidst sombre brown fur. Still, he tentatively manoeuvred further on prehensile hands and feet. Between his teeth, he held the teat of a sippy cup containing fresh milk. Caliana inclined forward, a strand of chestnut-brown hair tussling down in front of her eyes, as she widened her stance and held her arms out. "Aw, he's well cute, isn't he?"

She peered over her shoulder watching for the Zookeeper, but quickly averted her gaze back to the monkey when she realised that he had long gone, leaving her alone with Isaac once again.

The monkey nuzzled against her chest, causing the plastic-linen protective drape that she'd worn over her scrubs to rustle with the motion.

"Very."

The infant-monkey who had been gaping up at Caliana in soundless contemplation as he continued to suckle from the bottle, now raised his head up from his supine position, catching Isaac stood behind them. He waggled his tail out, crashing it against Isaac's arm. "Really? You've got to hit much harder than that to have any real impact." Caliana jokingly whispered to the monkey, as she coasted her hand over his mane in a pacifying manner.

As though the monkey was able to apprehend her words, he wagged his shaggy tail once again, this time making contact with Isaac's abdomen (but still much more gently than Caliana had silently hoped for).

Isaac emitted a chuckle. "He clearly likes me more than you do."

"Yes, well, I suppose you can be cute and still be a bad judge of character."

"Actually, studies show that animals – monkeys in particular are excellent judges of character," Isaac argued back. "Which explains why they all tend to like me." His large hand scooted around Caliana's shoulder as he petted the monkey's mane, the animal coddling against his hand. "I have a dog, actually. And, unlike you, I've never had any thoughts of dismembering my dog."

Caliana side-eyed him. "Let me guess; a Rottweiler?"

Isaac raised an eyebrow, a crease forming between the two brows at the insinuation. "A beagle. He's called Fleming."

"Fleming?" She reiterated slowly, glancing up at him, incredulously. "Please tell me you didn't name your dog after –"

"Alexander Fleming. The forefather of antibiotics. Of course, I did."

"Of course, you did." She murmured under her breath. The monkey perked up within her arms, clambering up her forearm, leaning towards Isaac, eyes enlarged as he analysed the man. "Maybe he thinks you're his daddy."

Isaac rolled his eyes, as he allowed the monkey to clamber onto him, the animal draping his arms around his neck.

Caliana leaned forward, standing on her tiptoes as she glanced between the two. "Aw look, he's even got your ears."

"Behave, will you?"

--

With only thirty minutes remaining until the completion of the scans (and until the end of this shift), Caliana and Isaac found themselves back in the cloakroom.