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"It's not that bad."
"It's not that bad?"
"Yeah," Connor said, rolling from the balls of his feet to his toes. "I don't need to go to the denist."
Batman's eyebrows furrowed into a stern look. "You chipped your tooth, Connor."
"So?" Connor asked. "It's not the first time."
Batman went deathly still. Slowly, he turned his eyes down to Connor. "You have other chipped teeth?"
Connor suddenly felt like he'd stepped into a tar pit. "Um," he said. "No?"
"Connor."
"What?"
"Don't lie to me. Do you have other chipped teeth?"
Connor rolled across his feet again. "No."
"Connor."
A flash of ice bit his nerves. "Okay, okay, yeah." He said, crossing his arms. "It's not a big deal."
Batman sighed. "We could've taken care of them sooner if you'd told us."
Connor stepped back, looking away to trace the dark patterns of the rug they were standing on instead. "They don't need to be taken care of. It's fine."
"When was the last time you went to a dentist?"
Now it was Connor's turn to freeze. The chandaleir glittered above them with brilliant traitorous light, drowning any shadows he might've otherwise cowered into. "You don't need a dentist."
"Answer the question."
Connor shifted on his feet, ants squirming under his skin. "I can still eat fine, it doesn't hurt —"
"Have you ever been to a dentist?" Batman asked.
A swarm of wasps latched onto Connor's bones. "Um." He said. "I never needed to?"
Batman sighed and pinched his nose. "Everyone needs to go to the dentist, Connor." He said. "Would you skip your yearly doctor appointment because you aren't in pain?"
Connor ignored the twinge between his shoulder blades that had been there since he ran away. He ignored the way his wrist ached since a night spent handwashing dishes until morning. He ignored the thrumming headache in the back of his brain that never quite seemed to completely fade after someone knocked him over in the halls.
"Um."
"Connor."
Okay. Official decree?
Connor hated it. Every minute of it.
He kept being told to bite on stupid things, to not move an inch or they'd have to do it again, they kept sticking things in his mouth and telling him not to gag.
At some point he'd convinced himself it was torture tolerance training. It was the only way he was going to get through it without slipping out a window the second the staff turned their back.
He was a little grateful, at least, for the fact Batman wasn't allowed in the room for the x-rays. Connor didn't need to see him struggle with basic instructions because everything in his body recoiled at the idea of putting that stupid thing in his mouth for another x-ray and seriously how many pictures of his mouth did they need?
Eventually, the dentist finally came in. He and Batman talked over their options, and when they were all laid out, Batman asked for a minute alone.
He waited until the dentist's footsteps faded and the only sound accompanying them was the buzz and beeps of machines.
"I think sedation is a good idea," Batman said. "They can get everything over with and you won't have to be awake."
Connor faced the wall, covered in pictures of did you knows? and pictures of rotten x-rays. "That's exactly why it's a terrible idea."
He didn't look behind him, but Batman's stare burned his back. "Why?"
"It's Gotham." Connor said. "What if they're — I don't know, evil dentists or something?"
The tinge of amusement on Batman's words was not lost on Connor. It sent centipedes crawling beneath his skin. "Evil dentists?"
"Yeah," Connor pulled his knees to his chest, then immediately dropped them again. "They could steal my teeth or slice off my tongue or something and I couldn't even stop them."
A long silence hung in the air. Connor's face burned. He was sure Batman was going to tell him how stupid he was being, how paranoid and overdramatic and overall sensitive he was.
"What makes you think that?" Batman asked, in a voice even and devoid of the previous amusement.
"What?"
"Why do you think they'll do that?"
Connor didn't answer right away, replaying the question in his mind until he could register it.
No criticism. No judgement. Just why.
At least for now.
"…It's stupid." Connor looked at the flecked white tile benath his feet.
"Not if it's making you this worried." Batman said. "Are you sure you've never been to the dentist? Did one hurt you?"
"No, that's not — um." Connor swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. He hated this. "Okay. Um. It's — well, in those…I don't know what…um."
Connor curled his fingernails into sweaty palms. If he got so shaken by something so small…what if Batman decided taking him in was a mistake? That he couldn't be Robin, or in the Manor at all?
"Take it slow." Batman said. "Take a deep breath."
Connor closed his eyes. Right. Okay. Deep breath. He knew where the exits were, he remembered the fire alarm on the wall. Everything would be okay.
"The, um — I used to — when I was, well — um —" Connor swallowed. His lungs squeezed. Worse days.
"The cartoons — they, um, they played on the weekend?" Batman hummed in acknowledgement. "The — the dentists, when they showed up. They — they stole their teeth, or —" his breath hitched — "or they'd — they'd strap them down, and — and it just always —" he closed his eyes and exhaled softly, his last words coming out a whisper — "terrified me."
"I see." Batman said.
For a long moment, suffocating silence hung in the room. A centipede squirmed under Connor's back. He was sure if he clenched his jaw any tighter another tooth would break.
"I'll have Tim hack the cameras during the operation." Batman said. "If anyone tries to do anything that wasn't agreed upon, we'll know. We won't let them do anything to harm you."
"…Really?"
"I promise."
Connor risked a glance over his shoulder. A light, reassuring smile had settled on Batman's face, missing the sharp edges and hard lines he'd gotten used to from him with soft wrinkles resting in their place.
Connor swallowed. A cool wave of relief washed down his spine. "…Okay. Yeah. Thanks."