Work Text:
Jerry Lawler was minding his business, once as always, agonizing Bret Hart and the rest of the WWF roster, when he realized he had a slight problem. His mouth was killing him. Specifically his right, bottom pre-molars. With a laugh, he realized that he might have deserved it from all the trash talking he does on a normal basis. Pain can humble a man real quick.
Once in the sanctuary of his hotel that morning, Jerry found a Yellow Pages in the drawer of his nightstand next to his bed. Nursing his jaw while thumbing through the pages, Lawler found an intriguing entry for a dentist office in Decatur , which was about 45 minutes from Springfield, IL, where tonight's show was. The entry read Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS. The name caught Lawler's eye and he couldn't help but smile as he thought how cleverly I. Yankem read as a dental professional. He didn't think there was a chance it could be fake as it had an entry in the Yellow Pages. The worst thing that could happen is that he could get stood up. Jerry thought to himself, why the hell not, and picked up the phone.
"Yankem's office, secretary speaking, how may I help you?" The receptionist spat out at Lawler through the phone.
"I am currently traveling and have a really bad toothache, would it be possible for me to come in today before 2 pm or tomorrow after 9 am ?, I know it's last minute but I'm really in pain and-"
"Yes, come in anytime today, Dr. Yankem has some appointments that were cancelled this morning. Could I get your name?"
"Oh that is fantastic, thank you, my name is Jerry Lawler. I'll be there in about an hour. See you then."
Jerry hung up the phone, and sighed in relief. He would be able to go to Decatur and be back by curtain call, as it was only 8 am. Jerry finished getting ready and headed out on the road.
~~~~~~~
Isaac Yankem was shocked. THE Jerry Lawler was coming to his office? He knew that there was a WWF show tonight in Springfield but he did not expect this at all! The reason why he got into wrestling back in the day from when his childhood friends in Minnesota would set aside tapes of Lawler with the American Wrestling Association. He especially loved to watched Lawler in high school when won the NWA Mid America Championship against Randy Savage. Isaac got into the business on a local level with Pacific Northwest Wrestling in once he started his undergraduate studies around 1985, but quit when he started to study dentistry full time in early 1989. Since then he moved to Decatur to settle down, thinking his wrestling days were behind him.
He paced back and forth in the office wondering what he should do. His secretary said he'd be there in an hour. She didn't know that he used to wrestle, and he used to look up to Lawler. Even though Lawler was often a heel, he couldn't help but find him charming with his beautiful smile and charisma that of which he graced the T.V. screens. Now in the year 1994, freshly in his own office practicing independently, he sometimes struggled with business. Apparently he didn't have the best bedside manner, which made him sad. He is really passionate about dental hygiene and tries to spend all of his time educating the public and doing outreach, which leaves him hardly any time to himself.
He had more than ample time to prepare since his 8:15 and 8:45 timeslot had cancelled. At this point, he had only one hygienist in his office, and she only came in when she felt like it, since he didn't need the help anyways. Business was so slow he could handle everything himself, including cleanings. He paced around and decided to go to the bathroom. He was a mess. He managed to drag a comb through his blond curls and tried to arrange them so that they weren't all over the place. He sighed and then went to go clean up his inventory and get ready for his new patient. Lawler said he had a toothache, so he imagined that he had a cavity or two-How unfortunate...such a pretty smile marred with decay.
Isaac attempted to clean up the office in the hour that he had until his appointment with Lawler. He watered the plants, opened the curtains, dusted the lamps, cleaned off the chairs in the waiting room, and organized the magazines. He made sure to put out the new copies of National Geographic that he received this past week. He tried his best to make the dark carpet and wood paneling of his office to look somewhat bright and welcoming. He knew his office wasn't the best looking but he tried to make it look the best that he could. He changed out of his wrinkled dress shirt he sometimes wore, and put on his custom periwinkle zip up scrub top that his mother made him. She said it flattered him "more than those rags you call a shirt".
Yankem was in the process of starting a new batch of tools through the autoclave when he heard the door to his practice open. He quickly took his gloves off and checked his hair in the mirror again. He thought he looked alright, but maybe he should have brushed his teeth beforehand... He decided to grab a mask instead, and shoved it into his pocket. He heard talking in the waiting room and decided to wait a few minutes before going out there, to make it look like he was busy with something important. When the talking died down, Yankem made his way down to the waiting room and entered in the main door.
"Lawler? I'm ready for you, you can follow me" Yankem said as he made eye contact with his new patient.
Jerry looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. What in the hell did he get himself into??? Fighting a blush, he looked up at his dentist for the day, and responded with "Yes, that's me". His eyes trailed up to the face of the 6'10" man standing in the doorway that was between the waiting room and the exam area. His bulging muscles were exposed through the short sleeves of what appeared to be a modified scrub top. His confident face and his strong jaw made his features striking. However, his golden curls that halo'd his head gave him a somewhat softer appearance overall. Jerry could tell that he "scored" with this giant dentist. Boy was he thankful for Yellow Pages today!
Gulping with nervousness, Lawler got up and smoothed down his t-shirt and followed his dentist into the exam room.
"You can sit here please...." Dr. Yankem told him. Jerry slowly sank into the seat, trying to make sure his shoes or arms didn't squeak on the vinyl. How embarrassing. When he got settled, he saw Yankem getting his supplies ready next to him, and was putting on gloves, or attempting to. His hands were absolutely massive and the size XL gloves that he saw on the wall apparently just were not cutting it. Eventually he got them on , and placed a bib on his neck. The perfect accessory to a dreadful morning filled with hopefully miniscule pain.
Dr. Yankem got settled down in his rolling chair and began to adjust Jerry's chair. Since the dentist was so tall, he had to raise Jerry pretty high in the air so that his knees would fit under the exam chair. Only feeling slightly exposed, the back of Jerry's chair began to tilt backwards, laying him flat. Yankem reached for the light and aimed it right at Jerry's face. "Alright, so what is going on today? I was told from my secretary that you are experiencing pain on your bottom right premolars?" Yankem asked Jerry, who was sweating.
Jerry confirmed this was true and added "Yeah, it has been hurting me for the past two days, but I have had non-stop shows, and haven't been able to get into anywhere until this morning". Yankem nodded, "I'm sorry to hear that..... Could you open please?" Jerry opened his mouth and Yankem started to probe around his sore teeth with his scaler. "Yeah, I can see that you have a couple cavities here in the area you mentioned..... What do you mean by non-stop shows?" Yankem asked feigning complete ignorance. Jerry responded with the truth saying "Yeah, I am uh ow! a professional wrestler and we have a match in Springfield tonight" at this he sucked in a breath as Yankem pushed right into the worst spot in his mouth.
"Oh that's fun, I used to wrestle too, when I was a youngster, I haven't paid too much attention to the current wrestling affairs since becoming a dentist, have to focus on my patients, you know? Also, I'm gonna have to fill those cavities, but I'll clean you up first if that's okay?" Yankem asked. Jerry nodded and Isaac could see all the blood drain from his face. Jerry's internal thoughts were running wild, 'A DAMN WRESTLER? My sexy-ass dentist used to be a pro wrestler?!!!' Jerry couldn't breathe, and his throat was closing up. That would explain how large and strong he is, and his rippling muscles. Jerry was kind of relieved that Yankem didn't recognize his name, it made things a lot easier for him personally. Or maybe he is lying. Not trying to be self-conceited, but he knew his name was pretty large in the wrestling world... so it would be a surprise if he didn't know his name, so he asked : "Before we get started with that though, where did you wrestle, I don't think I've heard of you either".
"Oh me? I wrestled back in Portland from about 1987 until 1989 under the name "The Destroyer" while I was in undergrad. It was pretty casual because I could only manage matches on the weekend. I quit when I started dental school."
This did not help Jerry's situation in the slightest. He never wrestled in Pacific Northwest Wrestling as it was out of his territories that he fought in. It was just too far away. However, he DID know who The Destroyer was- a looming, masked figure who wore a body harness, and never revealed his face. He was scary, huge, didn't talk much, and was downright hunky. He had no idea that Isaac Yankem was The Destroyer, or that he even left the wrestling world entirely.
Jerry's breathing got faster, not knowing what to do or say. He managed to squeak out "Yeah! That's nice, I do know who the Destroyer was, his identity was always a mystery and I can't believe that I found out who it was, and that he is my dentist right now".
Now it was Yankem's turn to get flustered, "Really? You know about The Destroyer? That amazing, I can't believe that Jerry Lawl-" he cut himself off and took a breath. "Actually Mr. Lawler, I'm sorry. I have to come clean about something". Yankem put his scaler down and took the light off of Jerry's face. "I actually do know who you are, but I didn't want to seem creepy whenever you introduced yourself. There was a reason why I wore a mask when I wrestled, I wanted to keep the normalcy of my everyday life. I have been a fan of you since I saw you wrestle in the NWA when I was younger. You actually inspired me to study wrestling once I graduated high school. If this creeps you out I'm sorry....you can leave."
Jerry was beaming at this point despite the pain in his teeth. "I'm not creeped out at all! In fact I'm honored that you went into wrestling because of me, and I respect that you tried to keep things normal for me so that I wouldn't feel like I couldn't come in. I can't believe that you're The Destroyer though! That's amazing! I wouldn't leave even if I-OW!" Jerry had talked so much that it made his teeth hurt again. "Shh Shh! I think I understand now, now let's get back to your teeth before things get worse here..." Yankem said to Jerry gently. Jerry nodded, "Sounds like a plan".
With a different, more comfortable, but still exciting air now around the pair, Yankem got to work. He cleaned Jerry's teeth and eventually got to the part he wasn't looking forward too... actually dealing with the cavities. Yankem was drawing up a syringe and sighed, "Okay Lawler, this won't be fun, but I'll do my best to make it painless. You just let me know if you need a break." Jerry nodded and Yankem got to work, only slightly cringing whenever he felt the needle enter the soft tissue around his cheek. Yankem cleaned up his work station while the medicine was kicking in, then got to work with the actual cleaning up of the cavities with the drill. During the procedure, Jerry's machismo seemed to be running out from earlier where Yankem was cleaning his teeth. Unfortunately now he was VERY much aware that The Destroyer was , for a lack of better words, was professionally and medically necessarily destroying his mouth. The mystery of The Destroyer that haunted the wrestling world for a long time, was in fact a big hottie who was serious about his work and - currently very sexily focused on him, gazing down intensely right at Lawler. God he was melting.....
Yankem eventually broke the silence after he was done drilling the first cavity. "Jerry, you're being so good, I know this must have been bothering you for a while, especially since you have beautiful teeth that I can tell you take care of well". Jerry somehow managed to get his jaw to move to respond, "Well thanksns, I try" Jerry garbled out from where his mouth was numb. Due to the effort of this, unfortunately a bit of drool spilled out from Jerry's mouth. Yankem, not seeming to be grossed out, (as Jerry was worried about) wiped away the drool with a piece of gauze. Jerry's heart rate quickened and rushed out "Sowry!". Yankem looked down at Jerry, "Don't worry sweetheart, it happens all the time; I'm not a stranger to drool". Jerry couldn't about take it and shifted in his seat trying to dislodge inappropriate thoughts that were haunting his mind.
Yankem turned to change out his drill head and said, "I know you can't talk much right now, but would you be alright with me coming down to Springfield tonight to watch the match? Maybe we could talk a bit of business once your mouth feels better, huh?" At this he booped Jerry's jaw.
"Yeah, uh, thachs fine wish me! Maybe we could get drincks tonight out wish the boys, or jucht us...." Jerry attempted to swallow, and Yankem adjusted his suction tool before he responded. Yankem, obviously knowing what effect that he was having on Jerry decided to toy with him a bit. "Oh just us? a little non-traditional to invite your dentist for a drink.... but I think I'll have to oblige, how could I pass up such an enticing offer? Getting a drink with The King himself..... Could you open again please?" Yankem effectively shut him up for a bit while he worked on his second cavity, letting the man stew with his thoughts.
Yankem didn't talk much after that, just letting the comfortable silence rest over the pair, knowing that they had plans later, letting the peaceful sound of muzak wash over them. Boy was Jerry glad the pair weren't sitting in absolute complete silence. He didn't think he would be able to take it. A little too soon for Jerry's liking, Yankem announced that he was done with his work. "Okay Mr. Lawler, I am done with the main part of the procedure I just need to check your bite now." Yankem removed all of the equipment from in and around Jerry, and examined the symmetry of his teeth with his mirror. "Okay could you bite down for me?...... Good boy...." Yankem said softly as he stood up to get a closer look. "How does that feel, does it feel even?" the dentist asked as he sat his mirror down.
"Yeah, it feels pretty good!" Jerry ran his tongue along his new teeth, "I don't think anything is off, feels great".
Yankem smiled, "I'm so glad to hear it Jerry, I think that finishes us up here! I don't want you to be late towards call time". Yankem stood above him, and raised up his chair to a sitting position. Jerry finally able to think straight now that he was no longer horizontal replied, "Thank you so much for this Doctor, I was so worried I wouldn't be able to see anyone before the show".
"Oh it's no problem, I'll see you later tonight." Jerry made his way to the receptionist area, trying to calm his thoughts. He was going to get drinks with this bombshell tonight! Bret Hart stands absolutely no chance with Jerry's newfound secret motivator. He HAS to look good in front of Yankem tonight.
~~~~~~~~
Isaac Yankem could hardly wait for the events of tonight. Once he finished closing up the office at 6 pm, he immediately headed home. He picked out the coolest outfit he could think of, which was an acid wash denim pair of jeans and jacket to match. He also picked out a chunky stripe shirt to go underneath. He headed over to Springfield to hopefully get a ticket before the Raw taping began.
Thankfully he was able to secure a ticket before the show began. The time it took for the match to begin seemed like an eternity. Somehow it was time for it to start and Isaac could see the announcers come through. Tonight happened to have Vince and Jerry joining the table. Yankem's heart skipped a beat when he saw The King coming through dressed in his partial ring attire. He wondered if he was going to have a match tonight.......
~~~~~~~~~
It turned out he had a match against Bret Hart, as usual it seems, and fortunately Lawler won, only due to a disqualification when Bret started to put Jerry in an illegal hold (it wasn't a no holds barred match). The match took place towards the end of the taping, so when it was over Yankem immediately bolted out of his seat and went to the bathroom to freshen up. He hoped he could find Lawler before he got too far backstage. By the time Yankem went back out to the stage area, he saw Lawler beckoning towards him near a backstage door towards the gorilla area.
"I was hoping to catch your eye before you disappeared from the face of the earth! Come follow me, I gotta get cleaned up." Lawler said. Yankem followed Jerry through the annals of the backstage area until he came to a private dressing room. Thank goodness, It would make sense that one of the voices of WWF, along with one of their biggest stars would have his own personal, dressing room.
Jerry gestured to an arm chair that was in the lounging area of the dressing room. "You stay there, I'm gonna shower.... You look fantastic by the way. I love the denim". Jerry gave Yankem a wink and headed off to the adjoining bathroom.
Hopefully Jerry wouldn't take too long, so he looked around at the dressing room, taking in the old memories of from when he wrestled and had to travel on the weekends.
Next thing he knew, Jerry came out from the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed in black pants and a patterned Versace shirt. Yankem thought he looked expensive, while he was dressed like some himbo....
Lawler was putting up his belongings from his shower, "I'm gonna swing by my hotel before we go out, if you want to come with, I'll just be a second".
Yankem, catching a bit of a hint said, "That sounds fine to me, whenever your ready. "
The ride to the hotel was a short one in Jerry's rental car. The pair made their way up to Lawler's hotel room, Yankem helping with Jerrys bags, ever the gentleman. Jerry was putting his bags up on the luggage rack when he said, "You know, I was a bit unsure of going out for drinks after having dental work done this morning, I know that's probably not good for my teeth, what is your opinion doctor?". Yankem looked at him in a somewhat surprised way, knowing that the bare minimum for drinking was just to make sure that your mouth wasn't numb anymore.
"Of course, let me look and check. You never can to be too careful". Yankem stood up and went to the sink to wash his hands. "Why don't you have a seat next to the lamp?". He went back into the bedroom and saw Jerry somewhat anxiously sitting there.
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine, I just wanted a quick look over it" Yankem said to assuage Jerry. Yankem stood in front of Jerry's knees, the former slightly parting them so he could get closer. Jerry's breath quickened as Isaac prompted him to open. Yankem grasped Jerry's jaw with his right hand and moved his head around until the light hit his mouth right. Yankem leaned down to peer at his teeth, his hulking figure imposing over poor Jerry. After holding this position for a while, Isaac let go, wiping his hand on his pants.
"My work looks like it held up good, and there's no problems, but I want to test your sensation and motor control since I gave you local anesthesia earlier. It has probably wore off by now but it doesn't hurt to check. Could you smile?" Yankem mimed what he wanted Jerry to do by smiling at him. "Can you purse your lips?" Yankem did his own instruction as well. At this point, Yankem leaned down and softly kissed Jerry on his lips. A sweet, chaste, teasing moment between the two men.
Jerry was embarrassed but not leaning away from Yankem. "Yeah, I think you're fine". Yankem said, smiling softly at Jerry. "Are you ready to leave?" Yankem still smiling at Jerry, extended his hand out as a symbol to advance the path they were going down, metaphorically and literally. Jerry took it, still bashful. "Yeah, I'm ready to go now, thanks for 'checking' my teeth" he said with feigned annoyance, albeit with a smile of his own.
The pair headed down and out to their rental car where they headed to a more upscale bar in Springfield. Jerry headed out with Yankem following, putting a hand on his shoulder, a sturdy reminder of his good luck he had today meeting him, and what was to come tonight if the evening went well. Jerry caught Yankem's eye while waiting for entry to the bar and in that moment he knew that he made a companion for life.