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The antiseptic tang of the office was usual.
The flutter in Alex’s stomach when he saw the name Hauri, Matthew pop up on the schedule?
That was becoming an unavoidable occupational hazard.
"He's baaaaaaack!" Will sang, leaning over Alex’s shoulder at the computer screen in the small staff room. Hasan, as was typical when Will screamed out (whether it be a rare figure in an online auction or a spider) materialised beside him, grinning and clapping the smaller man on the shoulder. "Break out the good nitrous, Alex! Your number one fan requires exceptional service today."
Alex adjusted his glasses, fighting the heat creeping up his neck. "He's here for a root canal, guys, which isn’t surprising considering the number of fillings he’s already had this year. Dr Kezian thinks it's the sheer volume of sugary cereal he admits to consuming daily. His fucking concert videos are a disaster - he literally turns his fans into a bowl of the stuff using sweat as the milk."
He twisted his neck, wincing at the cracking noises that emerged. "Seriously, how does a grown man live off of Fruit Loops?"
"There are a lot of things about Matt that are just fucking weird, man. You know how them popstars are." Hasan snorts, waggling his eyebrows. "Plus, I’m betting that Fruit Loops aren’t the sweetest thing he's chasing at the moment, Lex."
"Shut up." Alex muttered, grabbing Matt’s chart and brushing past them. He could still hear their snickers echoing as he headed towards Room 3, trying to push the rising feeling of heat in his cheeks and ears as he did his job, unlike either of those two, even if prepping the room felt like preparing for a very tall, very blonde hurricane.
He meticulously laid out instruments, checked the anesthetic equipment, and took a deep breath once everything was in place, settling into his stool nearby and swinging his legs as he watched the clock tick down.
It wasn’t like he was nervous, despite what Will and Hasan would believe. Matt Hauri, professionally known as Yung Gravy, was undeniably charming - 6'8" of Minnesotan swagger - and when awake and lucid, he was manageable, mostly head bumping doorways, awkward glances, maybe a slightly-too-long handshake here and there, typical professionalism and media training on display.
Under anesthesia? He became Alex’s personal, embarrassingly honest hype-man, which the latter had no doubt would happen once again. (At least no one had gotten the last time or any of the others on recording - Will had tried once when bringing in paperwork, but Alex had valiantly gone full Captain America with a steel dental tray and not only blocked the phone, but pushed him out the door with a shove that they still talked about.)
Speaking of the devil, the door finally swung open and Dr Kezian, followed by a much taller figure as Matt ducked his head to enter, flashing a dazzling, slightly pained smile that didn't quite reach his strikingly blue eyes. "Alex! My man! Looks like Dr Kezian is digging for gold again." He patted his jaw gingerly, wincing a little as his nails dug slightly into the flash of red Alex could see between the hairs of his beard. "Said this one's a doozy."
"Mr Hauri, good to see you." Alex said, his professional shield firmly in place, though he couldn't help but notice how Matt’s broad shoulders filled the doorway. "Hop on up. We'll get you comfortable." He gestured to the chair in front of him, already mentally bracing himself for what was most likely coming, trying not to lean into the thought about possibly garrotting himself with the dental floss nearby as Matt reclined back.
The procedure started routinely. Dr Kezian checked all his tools that Alex had put out, swapped out one ream that Alex had sized down to the correct one, all while discussing the plan of how he was going to basically pull the insides out of Matt’s tooth in not so graphic detail.
Before Alex could even blink, Dr Kezian nodded to the nurse on duty (thankfully neither of Alex’s two pains in his ass) and the IV line went in swiftly before she hung the bag of goon juice (as Will so helpfully called it) and exited, entrusting Alex with Matt’s care from that point.
Of course, Alex tried his best to focus solely on suctioning and handing things over to Dr Kezian, but the second the sedative cocktail – tailored stronger than usual due to Matt's notorious resistance – took hold, the sharp focus in Matt’s blue eyes softened into a hazy, affectionate warmth. He blinked slowly at Alex, who was adjusting the overhead light.
"Alex," Matt murmured, his voice thick and syrupy, clearly already buzzing from the high. "Did you... did you know your glasses are really nice? Like... smart. Super smart."
"Thank you, Mr. Hauri," Alex said briskly, avoiding eye contact. Professional. Professional. Professional.
"Matt.” Matt corrected dreamily. "You should call me Matt, you know. Alex... Alex... sounds like a superhero name. Are you a superhero?" He offered a loopy grin despite there being not only fingers, but expensive instincts in his mouth.
Alex felt his cheeks burn while beside him, Dr Kezian chuckled softly, focused on the tooth he was meant to be preparing and not the unfolding soap opera that was playing in front of him as Alex responded. “Not a superhero Mr Ha- Matthew. Just doing my job.”
“Word, that’s cool as shit.” Matt’s gaze wandered lazily around the room before snapping back to Alex with unnerving intensity. "You do it good. Like... real good. Your hands." He clumsily gestured. "Gentle. Not like that butcher in McFarland I had to visit cause it was an emergency who pulled my wisdom teeth... ugh."
Alex prayed the suction hose would malfunction and swallow him whole. “Sounds rough buddy, can you open your mouth a little wider, please? We’re almost done scraping your tooth out.”
“Really? Don’t even feel a thang.” Matt’s slurring twang made Alex’s heart flutter a little (and his stomach clench up) as he continued speaking lowly under the drill whine, eyes still centered on him. "Bet you could fill it yourself instead of doc here, if you wanna."
He followed that startling sentence with a languid wink that made Alex fumble the air/water syringe.
He was going to burn the CCTV system to the ground after the practice closed tonight, mark his words.
As if things couldn’t get any more mortifying, Hasan popped his head in to deliver a file. He caught Matt, eyes glassy, but fixed adoringly on Alex who was meticulously wiping Matt’s chin and his grin widened into something positively diabolical before he vanished, Alex letting a groan that he smothered under his surgical mask, knowing retribution via relentless teasing was imminent.
Maybe he should just skip lunch today…
Back in the room, the root canal was getting to its final stages as Dr Kezian made up the material needed to pack the canal. As Alex moved to retrieve him a filler apparatus from one of the drawers as the other proved a little on the big side, Matt reached out clumsily, his large hand landing heavily on Alex's forearm where he was holding onto the elevated dentist tray.
"Hey," Matt slurred, his voice dropping an octave, suddenly less playful, startlingly sincere. "Alex. You're... you're just... really nice. Like... too nice for this place. Wiping spit... dealing with my nonsense..." He squeezed Alex’s arm faintly. "Should be... like... making beats...beats are fire. Beats are life, man."
Alex sighed. It wasn’t like he didn’t share his side job with anyone; quick searching his name online would bring up SoundCloud and some of the shitty songs and gig videos he had up there, though it hadn’t made him as much money as his current day job was providing.
It also wasn’t like he hadn’t searched up half their clients either on occasion - Matt included. The guy was quite popular, so to get that from someone like him was…well, it was a lot to say the least.
"Thanks…uh…your beats are pretty awesome too," Alex murmured, the words escaping before he could stop them, his voice softer than intended. He gently patted Matt’s hand, avoiding the IV. "Now, please stay still for this next bit, okay? Dr Kezian needs to finish filling the tooth and buffing it down and then you’ll be back eating your chasers in no time.”
Matt’s dopey smile returned, wider than ever. "Okay, Alex. Whatever you say. You're the boss. You taste like mint..." He mumbled something indistinct about brushing teeth before his eyes drifted shut.
Thank fucking god. Alex finally took a breath and carefully detached Matt’s big hand from his arm as Dr Kezian finished the packing and sutures. As Alex then began cleaning up the used tool and discarding all the medical waste for the truck coming at the end of the week, Matt groaned, fighting his way back to consciousness.
The sincerity was gone, replaced by groggy confusion and Alex felt a little sad as he slipped his professional mask back on. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Matthew.”
“Feels like a truck hit me.” Matt groaned, but he seemed to be a little less out of it as Dr Kezian helped him up into a sitting potion on the bed, though still slightly reclined.
"Alright, Matt, we’re all done here-“ Dr Kezian announced cheerfully. "I’ll leave you and Alex to get you on your feet while I update my notes and pull up my next patient.”
“You’re the best, doc.” Matt mumbled.
Dr Kezian just chuckled bride he strode his way out of the room, Alex already reapproaching Matt from where he had busied himself in a corner, trying to distract his hands from sweating as he sold an arm across Matt’s mid back, curling it to provide leverage. “Okay big guy, up and atem’, hopefully your ride’s not too far.”
As Matt swayed a little, Alex instructed him on his post-op care, his voice back to kind and knowledgeable (“This isn’t like a filling and do not treat it like a wisdom tooth. You’d be surprised how many people we treat who have decided to pop some saline solution into their mouth and have ended up buying new teeth before their root canals erode and crack open.”) as he explained everything Matt needed to do for the next few weeks step by step, even handing Matt a cup of water before settling him in a chair in the hallway for recovering patients, Matt blinking up at him owlishly. "Thanks, Alex.”
“Like I said to you earlier when you were barely with us; just doing my job.”
"Oh. Yeah. Kind of remember that. Only a little though.” He looked momentarily worried for a second. “Did I... say anything weird to you again? Like last time?”
Alex’s mind flashed, all the silly and stupid little compliments that Matt had thrown his way:
Your glasses are super smart-
Are you a superhero or-
Your hands are gentle-
Bet you could fill it yourself-
You’re really nice-
Beats are life, man-
Instead of saying anything, however, he kept his expression neutral, shaking his head before shrugging his shoulders a little. "No, not really. Just standard stuff for people going under local anaesthesia. No dark secrets came out I can assure you.”
“Jesus, I hope not.” Matt tilted his head back on the armchair cushion. “I can really put my foot in my mouth some days. Friends say it’s a talent I have other than rapping and attracting moms.”
“Sounds like some very…specific talents you have.” Alex had to practically fight off a smile as he could feel Will and Hasan lurking near the doorway, undoubtedly taking mental notes that he didn’t want to give more writing power to as he arranged a blanket over Matt’s legs with a few brisk, efficient motions, his water cup being moved to a nearby small table before Matt clamped down on his wrist again, looking him in the eyes.
“For the record, I did mean it, that your hands were gentle. Bet they would be gentle in other places than just my mouth.”
Alex paused for a whole second before just tightly smiling and snorting through his nose, shaking his head before he extricated himself quickly, ignoring his colleagues' smothered laughter and the way his heart was pounding against his ribs. He snapped off his gloves with excessive force. "Focus on healing for right now instead of activities I would recommend you do not participate in for a while yet, Matthew. Someone should be around to check on you shortly and advise when you can go home.”
As soon as he walked out of that hallway, feeling Matt's hopeful, drug-addled eyes follow him as he left him in the care of the recovery team. Will and Hasan pounced instantly, surrounding him by the in house sterilizer.
"Okay, spill!" Hasan demanded. "What epic Gravy confession did we miss this time? Did he propose? Serenade you via suction tube?"
"Dude, they’re already at like, second base! I saw hand holding in there!" Will gasped dramatically. "Matt looked at him like he was a pilot going off to war! I ship it! I ship it so hard!"
Alex just groaned, burying his face in his hands.
He couldn’t wait to go home.