"C'mon, hold still."

Garbled gibberish follows in response to my complaint.

"Yes, we do have to do this. Now open wider; I can't get my fingers in yet."

More mumbling.

"I'm no happier about this than you, but if you refuse to do it yourself, you leave me no choice."

Grunting in concentration, I try to work a strand of dental floss deeper into Peridot's mouth. I'm only trying to help her, but she keeps fighting me every step of the way. I had to lay her down so that her head is in my lap, but even with a better vantage point, I still have to contend with saliva, gnashing teeth, and a tongue that won't stop moving. I only managed to get this far by refusing to kiss anymore until she starts taking personal care more seriously.

"If you hate this so much, you could cut down on the soda and junk food."

"Buh hi ike horihoes," Peridot mutters around my fingers.

"Well I like you, which is why I want you to be healthy and happy," I explain like I'm talking to a child. "And I'm sorry to say that Doritoes don't make your body happy."

I emphasize my point by extracting a finger to poke her in the belly. While I wouldn't exactly call her chubby, the feeling is sorta like poking a soft pillow. And even though I don't care that she isn't fit like I am, I do care about the effect her body image has on her. Due to the stress her upper-level classes put on her last year - and the weight she gained as a result - Peridot has seemed unusually morose throughout summer break. Being a computer science and engineering double-major has taken its toll on her; as her girlfriend and room mate, the late hours and neglected meals have certainly worried me. I believe taking care of yourself and living a healthy lifestyle is key to staying happy, so I've been on this intense personal care kick lately in an attempt to restore some of Peridot's self-esteem.

My playfulness seems to work when Peridot grins around my remaining fingers, so I give her another light jab. This time, however, her mouth clamps down around my fingertips, making me yelp and yank my hand free.

"You bit me!"

"Your fingers were in my mouth; what did you expect?"

"I expected you to not make a snack out of me when I'm trying to help you."

"Hey, you know I have a sweet tooth."

I begrudgingly crack a smile at that, but lean away when she sits up to follow it with a kiss.

"Nuh-uh, I told you I'm not kissing you anymore until you make this a habit."

"Please? I promise I'll keep at it."

"I'll believe that when I see you do it yourself."

"Ugh, flossing is so annoying though."

"Tough."

Ignoring her pout, I press on her shoulders to make her lay back down and move on to her upper teeth. This angle makes it even trickier to see what I'm doing, so I take it slow and keep up the gentle prodding.

"Physical exercise would be another alternative if you absolutely won't kick the unhealthy heating habits."

Peridot just rolls her eyes at that notion, but I press on.

"You could... oh, I don't know, go to the beach with me on weekends."

Just as I had hoped, this idea seems to make her at least consider the possibility of exercise. She shifts her gaze away and up as she weighs the pros and cons of swimming, and judging by the faint color rising in her cheeks, seeing me in a bikini is one of the pros. I pretend not to notice as I continue working the floss between her upper teeth.

"Ohay," comes her reply after a few minutes of deliberation. A small smile curves my lips and I cheer inwardly. I guess Peridot really wants to see me in swim-wear.

Well, if she isn't mature enough to take care of herself yet, I guess I don't mind taking care of her until she is.

Hey all, I hope you enjoy this short fluffy one-shot. It was inspired by last dentist appointment where I was treated similarly to Peridot - though without the Lapis love, unfortunately. ^^" I also recently graduated from a university where I knew a lot of engineering majors, so I know well the kind of pressure it puts on you and I kind of want to dedicate this to those people. Remember to work hard but also take care of yourself~

In other news, I'm probably going to take a break from Drowning Azure while I gather my thoughts on how to proceed with it, and work on something for another fandom in the mean time (probably Korrasami, so if you're on that ship, look forward to it!)

-yurImperial