Dentist Trip

The moment Clara Oswald walked into the TARDIS, she could sense that something was wrong. The clue was that the Doctor was nowhere near the console. The second, the TARDIS was leading her to the kitchen and finally, the last clue was the Doctor himself. He had a pack of ice pressed against his right cheek, eyes closed.

"Doctor…"

He opened his eyes and stared grumpily at her. "Don't ask."

She looked at him cheekily and said, "Did you hurt yourself again?"

"No," he replied grumpily, walking back to the console.

"Oh?" she followed him and waited for an explanation but he was silent, avoiding her gaze.

That was he when he suddenly groaned, unable to withstand the pain any longer. At this point, Clara became worried. "Doctor, are you sure you're fine?"

He rolled his eyes, pressing the ice pack even harder. One hand then reached for the buttons on the console. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just a slight discomfort of one of my teeth. It will pass. Now, where to?"

Clara couldn't help but grin. "Ah, so a toothache?"

"Time lords do not get toothaches."

"Says the time lord who has a toothache."

He glared at her before whispering, "It's not a toothache."

She giggled before reaching for her phone. "Deny all you want, Doctor but I'm taking you to the dentist."

"The trip to the dental clinic is unnecessary. As I said, it will pass. Now, where-" he didn't get the chance to finish his question as another sharp pain shot through, causing him to wince.

"The dental clinic it is. I'm making an appointment for you," she stated and called the clinic.

Five minutes later, John Smith was booked in. The Doctor leaned against the console, arms crossed and the ice pack discarded after he had set the TARDIS to travel two days into the future. All he had to do now was walk out and enter the dental clinic – something he wasn't looking forward to. He was actually looking forward to spending time with Clara, not a dentist.

He could tell that his companion was finding the whole situation amusing. He hated having toothaches and even more on visiting the dentist.

"Doctor, you're not actually scared of the dentist, are you?" Clara asked, a mischievous look on her face.

"No."

"Ok, then. Let's go," she grabbed his hand and dragged the reluctant time lord out of the TARDIS and into the dental clinic.

"Hello, I'm here with John Smith and he has an appointment with Dr McTavish," Clara said to the receptionist.

She began typing on the keyboard. "Ah yes, the 2:30 appointment. If you and your husband could have a seat, Mrs Smith, the doctor will see him soon."

This had caused both the Doctor and Clara to blush but before either of them could say anything, the receptionist disappeared into the back room.

Both then took a seat in front of a coffee table that was strewn with magazines and a number of comic books.

"I still think this is pointless," the Doctor muttered, placing one hand tenderly on his right cheek.

Clara snorted and grabbed a magazine. "And yet, here you are complaining while in pain."

"How long do I have to wait?" he wasn't one that was known for being patient and sitting still.

"Not for long," was all that she said, eyes glued to the magazine.

And so, the Doctor waited for what seemed like one hour and then two and finally three. He sighed and asked, "How long have we been waiting?"

"About five minutes."

Five minutes?! It didn't feel like five minutes! He was getting very irritated and bored. The next sensible thing to do in order to prevent Clara from bossing him around was to read something. And that's another issue.

There wasn't anything interesting on the magazine side.

The Doctor spotted a Batman comic and decided to read that. He reached for the comic before a small hand on the opposite side held the other end.

He looked up and locked eyes with a grumpy looking 12 year old boy. Both still gripping each side of the comic book, not wanting to lose. They glared at each other, eyes squinted as if it was a game. Blink and the loser loses the comic.

He could tell the boy was about to lose. He was struggling to not blink.

The Doctor smirked. A few more seconds and the comic book will be his. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side as the back of his head came into contact with Clara's left hand, causing him to let go of the comic.

The boy had a smug look plastered on his face as he sat back down on his seat, happy that he won.

"Doctor!" his companion hissed at him as he leaned back and crossed his arms before looking the opposite side, not wanting to face her. He knew he was acting a bit childish but the pain, the fact that he didn't get to read the comic and the pudding brain child sitting in front of him just didn't elevate his foul mood.

The music coming out from the wall mounted speakers wasn't helping improve his temperament either. It only made him cringe.

And all this time that you've been waiting
You don't have to wait no more

Fantastic. As his 9th face would always say. He knew where this was going.

I can love you like that
I would make you my world
Move heaven and Earth
If you were my girl

Alright. Now this was just hitting home.

I would give you my heart

Hearts, actually.

Be all that you need
Show you you're everything
That's precious to me

"John Smith?" a woman who looked to be in her late 50's called out from the dentist's office. "Oh, Clara! What a pleasant surprise!"

Saved by the dentist it would seem.

"It's nice seeing you, Dr McTavish. I'm here with the Doctor – I mean John," she explained, shaking hands with the dentist.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Smith. It's nice to know that Clara has finally found herself a boyfriend."

"Well, we're not… I mean… we are…" the Doctor stammered, his face becoming redder by the second.

Dr McTavish still looked unconvinced. "Yes, well, I've known Clara ever since she was a child so I know you're her type. Come along now."

Clara was initially shocked at the dentist's assumption but seeing the Doctor struggling to say otherwise made the whole situation funny. She smiled to herself and decided to wait outside. He'll be fine.

"Right, so what seems to the problem?" the dentist asked after the Doctor finally lied down in the chair. He could see why children were terrified of this place. It looked like a torture chamber.

"I… erm… seem to be suffering from a toothache as Clara would call it."

Dr McTavish grabbed a mouth mirror and a scalar before she asked the Doctor to open his mouth. Slowly, he obliged.

"Your teeth are all in good condition, except for one of the molars. It would seem we will have to fill in that cavity," the dentist explained. She set her tools aside and the nurse presented a different set.

"So, have you and Clara been together for a while?"

The fact that he had his mouth wide open made it difficult for him to talk. What a pudding brain.

"You don't have to talk – I do this all the time – talking to patients while working on their teeth," she went on and began drilling the molar to remove any pieces of food that got stuck inside. "I can tell that the both of you have known each other for a while now, yeah?"

The Doctor merely nodded. He could feel the tool drilling into his tooth.

"You're lucky to have someone like Clara. I saw how the both of you looked at each other. Believe me, I see lots of people everyday but that look only comes through the door maybe every one in a thousand or two thousand," Dr McTavish put the dental drill aside and grabbed an air tip.

He could feel air being blown into his tooth. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He saw the dentist apply a pink paste to one side of the scalar that she held.

The rest of the process of filling up his cavity was a quiet affair. When the dentist was done, she had told him to rinse his mouth by the small sink next to him. Why did the pink paste taste like metal and strawberry?

"So, how does it feel? Too high? Too much? Do I need to fix it?"

"No, it's fine," the Doctor murmured as he stood up, relieved that the whole thing was over and that the pain he was experiencing all day long was gone.

The dentist took off her gloves. "Well then, do try to reduce your intake of sweets, yes?"

He nodded and walked out of the office with Dr McTavish emerging shortly after.

"Clara, dear, I can see why you two are such a lovely item."

The dentist then whispered to Clara, "He's a keeper," and winked.

The Doctor stood awkwardly behind the two ladies, waiting for his companion to say or do something. All he wanted to do was be in the safe comfort of the TARDIS. He could see from the corner of his eye that the 12 year old pudding brain still had a smug look on his face.

The next thing he knew, they were outside, about to enter the TARDIS when Dr McTavish pushed the glass door of the building and said, "Clara, don't forget to invite me to your wedding! I'm your childhood dentist for God's sake!"

The Doctor was sure his companion would simply laugh and brush it off, tell the dentist that it was a silly idea.

"I'll be sure to send you an invitation!" was a reply he did not expect from Clara Oswald.

He should go to the dentist with her more often.

Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it! :)