Chapter Text
The throbbing on his jaw came back near the end of his shift. He’d been testing the device for hours, looking for an optimal version. After a few more tries and adjustments he decided it was enough for the day. The zing when he got while chewing earlier had settled into a deep ache that made it hard to focus on anything that wasn’t the pressure behind his teeth.
He drove home tapping the steering wheel to the beat of an old rock song. The drum fill came and he landed every beat, even finishing with a slap to his car hanger as the crash.
God, that reminded him of his high school days.
When he arrived, his husband, Eijirou was plating what looked like pad thai, a container with mango sticky rice set beside it. It was from the Thai place they loved. When Katsuki would arrive late, like today, Eijirou would order takeout rather than cooking. He burned food more often than not.
When his husband’s red eyes spotted him he smiled and stepped forward to hug him as Katsuki dropped his bag on the couch. “Hey, Kats. How was your day?” He asked with a smile. Katsuki nodded and grunted a “Fine”. Eijirou looked at him a second too long as he touched the sore spot with his tongue.
They sat at the table. Eijirou dug in immediately; he must’ve been hungry. Katsuki was too, but he hesitated before taking a small bite. He moved food to his right side to chew. Eijirou was looking at him again. His husband had one “flaw”. He was a dentist, a good one at that. He specialized in anxious patients and had done countless courses in pain-free dentistry. Katsuki knew if there was someone he could trust with dental work, it was him. But shame and pride always managed to win.
He took his eyes back to the plate, he pushed the peanuts aside and had another bite of noodles. Right side chewing again. The silence barely lasted, before Eijirou started telling him about a case he had today. No names, he was always ethical. Katsuki was barely listening, muttering an “mhm” when he thought it was appropriate. He had a headache now, his temples throbbed just as his jaw did. Even while chewing on the other side he still felt a sharp zing on the first bite.
“Katsuki”, Eijirou finally said, stopping mid-sentence “are you listening to me?”
Katsuki had muttered an “mhm” in the middle of a sentence for the third time in a row. He met Eijirou’s eyes, there was a hint of annoyance but mostly concern. His brows were furrowed and he had stopped eating. “Does it hurt when you chew?” Katsuki’s brain stopped for a second then quickly reacted once it realized what was happening. “It’s not a big deal, just sensitive” He said, taking his eyes to the plate again and having a bite as if to prove his point.
“Sensitivity shouldn’t make you unable to focus on anything else, y’know?” Eijirou says gently, setting his empty plate aside and taking a spoonful of mango sticky rice. Katsuki sighs, “fine, I’ve got a headache. Device was loud as hell today”. Eijirou nodded like he believed him, he didn’t. Because just yesterday Katsuki had said ‘It’s a noise-reduced cooling system, I’ll be working on it the whole month at least, good thing we’ve got it almost silent by now’.
Dinner stayed silent after that, only the clinking of metal cutlery could be heard. When they were done, they cleaned the table and did the dishes before heading to their bedroom. Katsuki took a shower while Eijirou did his skincare. He insisted he didn’t want premature wrinkles. Katsuki thought it was pointless.
He stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist, blond hair looking darker from being damp. His hand touched Eijirou’s as he reached for his toothbrush. They started brushing almost at the same time,Eijirou did circle-like motions across his molars while Katsuki faced outward and brushed with sharp, firm strokes. He didn’t look at the mirror the whole time, avoiding his husband’s gaze. Instead, he brushed the right side firmly and did featherlight strokes on the left. He scrubbed his front teeth, side to side then up and down. He could feel Eijirou’s eyes on him the whole time. He spat in the sink and quickly rinsed out his mouth.
Just as he was about to leave, Eijirou held out the floss. He stopped dead in his tracks before nodding. “Let me change first, I’m cold”. He dried himself and put on his pajamas. He glanced at the bathroom, Eijirou was baring his teeth and opening his mouth wide in front of the mirror. His husband was obsessive when it came to his teeth, pearly white and perfectly straight.
He laid down in bed, scrolling mindlessly through his phone waiting for Eijirou to get into bed. Barely two minutes passed before the bathroom lights were turned off and he felt the warmth of another body lying down on the bed. He placed his phone on the nightstand and closed his eyes as the lights went off.
He woke up in the middle of the night with a deep, relentless ache on his jaw. He winced and looked to the side. Eijirou was asleep, fortunately for him. He pressed his palm to the aching spot and moved his tongue to touch it. Even the lightest poke sent an electric shock all the way to his temple. He squeezed his eyes shut and his breath hitched, coming out in choppy chunks. He turned to his side taking a deep breath in through his nose. He forced himself to sleep, breathing slow and deliberate until his body would finally decide to relax. Eventually, sleep came and he silently thanked whatever gods were listening that his husband hadn’t woken up.
On the opposite side of the bed, Eijirou sighed. Why wouldn’t Katsuki trust him?
The alarm rang, loud and obnoxious; it was barely seven am and the whole left side of his face had decided to ache. Jaw, ear and all the way to his temple. He turned to see Eijirou sitting against the headboard, rubbing his eyes and letting out a big yawn. He had to hold the urge to do it too. “Morning! How did you sleep, babe?” Eijirou asked, getting closer to Katsuki and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Fine” Katsuki grunted, rummaging through their bedside drawers to find painkillers. Eijirou made sure they were always stocked. “Head still hurting?” Katsuki nodded, taking out a blister pack of ibuprofen. “Let’s have breakfast first, it’s not good to take medicine on an empty stomach”
Breakfast was eggs with ham along with coffee. Which Eijirou barely tried. He’d never liked coffee much anyway, said it stained teeth. Katsuki drank a whole two cups, sleep had been shit. He showered and got dressed, then brushed his teeth, avoiding the left side. He grabbed his bag from the couch, making sure everything he needed was there. Just as he was grabbing the car keys Eijirou hugged him from behind, pressing a kiss to his cheek and then one to his lips. “Have a good day at work, Kats!” He waved goodbye as Katsuki opened the door. “See you, Ei”
His shift went awfully slow. It was a bad day too. There was a power out that lasted nearly an hour, and this made their progress stepback. He was tired despite the caffeine running through his bloodstream. His temple and jaw were unbearably sore, he clenched through the pain and ended up making it worse. There were no rock songs in the car that day, drums were too much for his awful headache. Even the traffic lights managed to make the pain flare.
He didn’t even kick his shoes off properly before flopping on the couch. He closed his eyes to avoid the bright lights. He heard footsteps approaching. Eijirou. “Bad day, babe?” Katsuki nodded. “Is your head still hurting? That device must be super noisy” Katsuki nodded again.
He hadn’t taken the painkillers in the morning, after breakfast he barely had time to do the bare minimum before leaving for work. “I’ll bring you some painkillers, alright?” Katsuki nodded for the third time, he really wasn’t in the mood for speaking. The pain was becoming unbearable. He pressed his fingers to his cheek and hissed in pain. Eijirou was standing near the kitchen, glass of water and blister pack in hand; he was looking at him. Katsuki’s eyes widened and he paled. “I-it’s just a pimple” He hated himself for how stupid it sounded. “Kats… babe, that’s not a pimple, and not just a headache either” Eijirou sat beside him, giving him the blister pack. Katsuki popped one in his mouth, avoiding his husband’s gaze.
He took a sip of water and was unable to hold back a flinch when the cool liquid touched his bad tooth. Eijirou took the glass from his hands and looked at him, pure concern and love in his eyes. “Can I take a look?” Katsuki hesitated for a moment. “Just don’t make it a thing” Eijirou nodded and grabbed his phone, turning on the flashlight.
“Alright, I’m not being your dentist right now, just your husband who happens to know teeth” He says and pats his lap. Katsuki shifts until his head is laying on top of his husband’s thighs. “Thank you, babe. You’re doing great. Can you open your mouth once you’re ready?” Katsuki takes a deep, slow breath before parting his lips. “That’s it. Just a little” Eijirou shines the light into his mouth. Katsuki closes his eyes as the light moves through his mouth. “Mhm… can you look at me for a sec?” Katsuki opens his eyes, finding his husband’s. “I’m going to get something in the bathroom real quick. Hold on” Katsuki sat up in the couch with a tired sigh.
Eijirou came back a few minutes later with a flat wooden stick. “Why do you have those in our bathroom?” Katsuki asked. “I check my teeth an embarrassing amount of times a week, it’s habit” He sat down again. “I want to tap on your teeth with this, you can say no. I know it can feel overwhelming.” Katsuki hesitated, elbows on his knees. “Okay, do it before I chicken out” Eijirou gave a small smile. “Before we start, if the tapping doesn’t hurt you give me a thumbs up, if it hurts you give me a thumbs down, sound good?” Katsuki nodded and Eijirou shifted slightly, patting his lap again.
Once Katsuki’s head was on his thighs he turned on the light again. “I’m gonna need you to open a little wider than before, just as much as you’re comfortable with”. Katsuki closed his eyes and opened his mouth. “That’s great. I’m going to start on the other side first” Katsuki felt a light tap on the right side of his mouth.
“Okay or not okay?” Eijirou took the stick out of his mouth. “Okay” He gave a thumbs up. His husband smiled softly. “Great, can you open up again?” He closed his eyes and parted his lips. The next tap came on the right side again. His thumb went up. “I want to take a look at our problem tooth on the other side before I tap; so I’m going to push your tongue to the side a little, might feel weird but it shouldn’t hurt.” Katsuki felt the stick moving his tongue, and his tooth suddenly felt way too exposed. Kirishima didn’t make a sound. “I’ll tap now, alright?” The tooth next to the sore one pulsed sharply as it was tapped, not as bad as the other but still painful. He held his thumb up for a second before finally putting it down.
“I’ll tap the sore one now. In 3… 2…” Katsuki tensed, thumb hovering uselessly in the air. An electric shock went through his tooth all the way to his temple, he sat up, breath hitching.
Eijirou patted his back, rubbing his hand up and down to offer comfort. “Break?” Katsuki sighed and nodded. “There’s more?” He clutched a cushion to his chest, bending his knees so his feet were above the couch. He looked like a sulky child. “I’ve got the important stuff but I would like to have a look around the top too, are you alright with that?” Eijirou asked as Katsuki rested his chin atop the cushion. He nodded, tossing the cushion aside and stretching his legs.
“ Just stay sitting down and tilt your head back” Katsuki did as instructed and Eijirou tipped his chin back a little more. “That’s it, perfect. Open up when you’re ready”. It took Katsuki a few deep breaths before opening up his mouth. The light shined on his top teeth. “I’ll tap, same thumb system” Wood against enamel produced a small click sound. It didn’t quite hurt, but it wasn’t painless either. He put his thumb on the middle. Eijirou nodded and slid the stick out of his mouth.
Katsuki returned his head to it’s normal angle and looked at his husband. Eijirou had a proud smile on his face before pulling him into a hug, whispering sweet nothings into his ear.