Page 23 of Grumpy Pucking Orc
“You have wonderful teeth and gums for someone who claims to have had minimal dental care,” she said with a voice that held more than a tinge of envy. “I had to clear only the slightest bit of plaque, and there are no cavities. Your gumline is perfect, and your gums are so pink and healthy. Everything looks great outside of those few teeth you lost, but I’d still feel better taking some X-rays.”
I nodded, agreeing with anything she wanted. I trusted this female. With my teeth. With all of my body. With my heart.
“Please talk to your teammates about regular dental care while they’re living here,” she continued. “The plaque I scraped off looked fairly recent, which makes me believe that the food here isn’t as healthy for your teeth as the food back home. I strongly recommend you orcs all visit a dentist every six months for a cleaning and a checkup, otherwise Ifear your beautiful teeth won’t be so lovely the longer you remain here, eating human food.”
My eyes widened at that, and I made a mental note to warn my teammates.
“I’ll send you home with a toothbrush as well as some samples of toothpaste and dental floss. It’ll be very important to use those while you’re living here to maintain your teeth. If you have any questions on how to use any of the products, please contact us.”
Her whole spiel felt like…well, a spiel. Once again, my stomach contracted with worry and doubt. Was she hovering on the edge of a decision? Was she going to write me off as just a patient or accept me as a candidate for her heart?
“I need to see a couple of other patients. Is it okay if Makena or Mike comes in for your imaging?”
At my perplexed expression, she went on to explain the procedure. As much as I wanted her to stay, I realized that she’d already taken valuable time from her job to personally provide for my care. To insist she ignore her other clients and remain with me would be wrong.
It was clear this was her job. Her place of business. She had not invited me to her home to woo her, and while other orcs might be discouraged by the professional setting, I wasn’t. I knew what it was like to kiss this female. Her interest in me was beyond the professional care of my teeth. So I’d agree to whatever she wanted and then convince her to see me again in a more romantic setting.
“Are you fine with one of my staff helping?” she asked again. “I promise they are professional and follow the procedures I’ve established.”
“Your employees can do my imaging,” I told her, eventhough I wasn’t sure what the word “imaging” meant. “I will try not to growl at them.”
She chuckled. “Maybe I’ll send Mike then, just in case you growl a little.”
I grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. “But you’ll be back? I’ll see you again before I go?”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw the indecision in them.
“Tusks are important to orcs. I trust you with mine, and I do not trust others.” I was absolutely playing dirty here, but it was kind of true. I did trust her. I didn’t trust many—humansororcs. And I wasn’t above a little manipulation to ensure I had a chance to woo her some more before I left.
“Yes. Absolutely.” She turned her hand to grip mine and smiled. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry.”
I trusted her, so I didn’t worry. Instead, I settled back in the comfy chair, eyeing the metal sticks. This Mike human could take images of my mouth and teeth, but if he so much as picked up one of those things, I was getting out my knife.
Ten minutes went by. I was so bored that I got up to retrieve one of the magazines on a nearby table and sat back down. I’d just gotten to the article about a female named Taylor Swift and her secret vacation getaway when a human male entered the room. Even if I couldn’t have smelled his sweaty fearful aroma, I would have known how terrified he was. His eyes wouldn’t look anywhere near my face. His hands shook. His voice was pitched high and wavered. And he swallowed every few seconds, his Adam’s apple bobbing each time.
I might be a grumpy orc, but I felt sorry for this guy, so I kept my grunts and grumbles to myself and tried to be friendly. Unfortunately, my toothy grin seemed to make the male even more nervous. That meant it took him forever toplace the pieces of cardboard in my mouth in the correct way to get the needed images.
I’d seen Bwat take pictures with the phone device we’d used to learn English, but he’d never had to drape a heavy bib over someone’s body or exit the room before he did so. I was beginning to think that this imaging process involved a possible long-term health risk and was annoyed at the number of re-takes Mike had to do because his hands shook too much to do his damned job.
It made me growl.
Which evidently made Mike realize that all the images he’d taken were sufficient.
I went back to my magazine.
“Ryan Reynolds had a wardrobe malfunction at Petunia’s Hot Dog Shoppe last week,” I read out loud as Jordan came back into the room.
She jerked to a halt, then grabbed the magazine to look at the article and pictures. “Wow. Just…wow.”
“Human pants are not very durable,” I commented.
“Holy…” She turned the magazine sideways. “They didn’t even black that out. I’m impressed. Super impressed.”
Mine is bigger.I clamped my mouth shut before the words left it.
“As interesting as this is, let’s look at these images of your teeth.” Her smile creased her cheeks as she put the magazine aside and started typing on a keyboard positioned on the narrow table along the wall beside me. In seconds, images sprang to life on the huge monitor—images of teeth.
I looked at the pictures with interest. We had nothing like this at home. Not only were my teeth shown in stark white against the black background, but I could also see the roots buried under my gumline and the solid structure ofmy jaw. My tusks looked huge, and in these pictures seemed to be fused deep into the bone of my lower jaw.
