What if I ain't no violinist?

131. Twoset Dentist II

Eddy yawned as he walked down the aisle of his local supermarket. He quickly covered his mouth as he walked past a guy. He then stopped in front of a shelf and eyed out the options available in cereals.

"..Eddy?"

Eddy looked away from the shelf and turned his gaze to the man standing next to him.

"Yes?"

Eddy didn't recognise the man who called his name, but he liked very much what he saw. An Asian man about his age, immaculately dressed in a nice business shirt and tie, wearing dark-rimmed glasses. He was slightly shorter than Eddy, slender build, pitch-black hair, strong eyebrows, kind eyes, impeccable skin... Eddy could go on and on.

"Hi.. Eddy, um... it's Brett."

And perfect teeth when he smiled. ...Teeth?

"..You're...my dentist..Dr Yang??"

"Yes, Brett, please. Oh, yeah, I'm masked up these days in my surgery so my new clients don't know my face, do they.. sorry, I didn't mean to creep you out."

"Oh no, Brett, that's okay, I mean, you haven't"

"I recognised you when you yawned."

Eddy raised an eyebrow.

"...I beg your pardon, Brett?"

"You yawned. I was able to see your teeth. I'm really bad with recognising faces.. but if I see my clients' teeth, I usually recognise them straight away."

Eddy raised his other eyebrow in surprise. He let out a chuckle.

"Brett, are you serious?! That's rather amusing.."

"Well, you actually have a rather characteristic set of teeth."

"...Okay, that's a first."

Brett smirked.

"Anyway Eddy, it's nice to see you again. And that extends to the outside of your mouth, not just your teeth. How are you?"

Eddy furrowed his eyebrows to one of the strangest greetings he had ever received as he replied;

"Um... I've been okay. What about you, Brett?"

"I've been alright, thanks. Hey, I think it's been about 6 months since your first visit? So... I suppose I'll see you coming back soon? Our clinic will send you a reminder text when your next check-up is due, okay?"

"Okay. Sure thing. Yeah, I'll see you then."

As Eddy was about to walk off, Brett called out after him.

"Eddy.. would you need the elephant?"

Eddy turned around, he was blushed beetroot red.

"OMG um..."

Brett smiled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'll just have it in my treatment room with me in case you need it."

"..Eddy"

"Yes?"

"I had decided not to overwhelm you with too much info on your first time you were here but..."

Eddy made the elephant in his arms squeak as he looked up at Brett from the dental chair.

"OMG Brett, you're making me nervous."

"No, no, no, no, nothing to worry about."

"Okay.. what is it."

"Eddy, you have a lot of teeth."

Eddy looked puzzled.

"Um.. okay. That's a first."

Brett chuckled.

"I suppose most people don't notice."

"You mean I actually have a lot of teeth? As in more than normal people?"

"Yeah.. you've got your full set of wisdom teeth that are fully functional as your ordinary molars. You also have a few extra in your row of teeth, I suppose I could call them supernumerary teeth.. though they seem to all fit in nicely and are functioning fine."

"So is that like having a vestigial organ.. or a body part.. like a tail..?"

Brett took a small step back and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you Eddy, a science student?"

Eddy grinned.

"Well, a graduate anyway."

"Well there ya go, you probably know more about this stuff than I do then. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't notice this yourself. Don't you count your teeth? What? What's so funny?"

Eddy kept giggling.

"I don't think I've ever counted my teeth."

"Seriously? I used to count mine all the time in case I'd get a new one popping up somewhere. Man, if I was you, I would've been so excited every time I'd discovered a new tooth... What? Why are you laughing??"

It took a moment for Eddy to stop laughing and successfully gargle and rinse his mouth out.

"Okay Eddy, I think we are pretty much done here... So about these extra teeth"

"Yes?"

"A moment ago, you asked if it was like a vestigial organ? Like having a tail. Funny you said that cos yes I think it's very close to that. Except, the fascinating thing about you is that these teeth aren't vestigial, they're fully functional.  What you actually have Eddy, can be compared to not only having a tail but also have wings on your back and perhaps maybe twelve fingers."

"WTF"

Eddy let out another squeak from the elephant.  He looked at Brett anxiously.  Meanwhile, Brett was looking at Eddy admiringly.

"So Eddy, I'd say you're a pretty darn special biological specimen..."

Eddy gave a wry smile.

"Brett, is that meant to be a compliment or are you actually keen on making a specimen out of me by preserving me in formaldehyde?"

This time it was Brett that burst out laughing.