When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils
Ethan and Rory sat on the edge of Ethan's bed, staring silently out of the window.
"I'm sure he'll be here any minute," said Ethan, for the sixth or seventh time.
Rory nodded. "Mmm."
They lapsed into silence.
"So…" started Ethan.
"Hmm?"
Ethan shook his head, distractedly, and then, after some stuttering, decided to continue, out of the sheer awkwardness of it, if anything.
"The Spanish Inquisition? Really?"
Rory nodded absently. "It was something to do." He looked at Ethan and smiled faintly. "It's not like I tried it out on anyone."
"Good," said Ethan, relieved.
"No, I just bite people and move on."
Ethan grimaced. "Thanks for that insight, Rory…"
Silence fell again, broken only by the ticking of the clock on the wall. Then the doorbell rang.
Ethan was on his feet like the bed had just exploded, and was almost out of the door before Rory had even registered the sound. He flashed after him.
Ethan stopped suddenly at the door. Rory frowned at him. "Are you OK, Ethan? You've been really jumpy all day."
Ethan didn't reply, instead opening the door.
"Benny!" he said, beaming.
A stiff-faced Benny looked back. "He'o Efan. Wowy."
Ethan frowned. "Pardon?"
"He'o Efan. An' he'o Wowy."
Ethan snorted. "Yes, I thought that's what you said. I just wanted to get you to say it again." With a sly smile, he gestured for Benny to come in. Benny scowled.
"Not a good time at the dentist, then?" said Ethan, lightly.
"-'o."
Ethan frowned. "What was that?"
Benny rolled his eyes, and went to try again, before thinking the better of it, and just shaking his head wearily. He opened his mouth gingerly, showing them the cotton wool stuffed into his cheeks.
"Come along, then," said Ethan, kindly, "and you can tell us all about it."
Benny rolled his eyes at Ethan's patronising tone. "I'm 'ot a' infali'" he protested as they went up the stairs.
Ethan laughed. "I don't think many people are 'infali's, Benny."
"Infali'!"
"No, still haven't got it," said Ethan cheerfully, sweeping back into his room. "Care to say it again, say, slightly louder and more indistinct?"
Benny closed his mouth with what he had hoped would be a dismissive snap, but due to the stiffness of his jaw, it actually remained half-open, making him look slightly gormless.
Ethan smirked. "It's OK, Benny, we know you're not an invalid." He hesitated, and then couldn't resist. "But you still want me to ask Mum to mash up your food for you, right?"
Benny gave him a withering glare, and then, blushing, nodded. Ethan and Rory burst out into hysterics, leaving Benny to flop down onto Ethan's chair, fuming, as he waited for them to finish.
Eventually, the pair of them stopped finding Benny's condition quite so funny, and, wiping their eyes, recovered themselves enough to look at him without dissolving into giggles.
"Are 'ou fi'ished?"
"Yes, Benny, we're quite fished." Ethan's mouth twitched a little. "For now, at least."
"What happened?" asked Rory. "I've not been to the dentist for ages, and –" (here he looked a little wistful) "- I probably never will again."
"–'s a 'oo 'ing, Wowy."
"You think…?" mused Rory, after a brief moment of translation in his head. Maybe it was a good thing. But it would, at least, have been normal…
"-'es" replied Benny, as decisively as he could manage. "Tha' 'en'ist 'ook ou' th'ee o' 'y 'eef."
"They enlisted thee of your eef?" said Rory, screwing up his face in confusion. "Where did you go, some kind of cult? And what's an eef?" He looked thoughtful. "Do I have one? And what do they enlist in?"
"Th'ee o' 'y eef!" spluttered Benny, gesturing wildly at his mouth and also counting on his finger. "'un, 'oo, th'ee!" Out of his top pocket, he produced a little brown paper packet and waved it exasperatedly at them.
"Oh, I see!" said Ethan, laughing again.
Rory frowned. "Uh, I don't…"
Benny crashed his hands into his head, letting out a small moan of despair.
Ethan decided to step in. "They're his teeth, Rory."
"Oh." Rory looked disappointed. "No cult, then?"
Ethan shook his head. Rory suddenly perked up. "Did you know that, in the fifteenth century, the –"
"Yes!" interrupted Ethan, quickly.
Benny frowned. "Wha' –"
"You don't want to know," said Ethan, an edge in his voice.
Rory looked a little glum. "I was only going to tell you about what the Spanish Inquisition did…"
"Yeah, well, you've already shown me the pictures…" muttered Ethan.
Rory's clouded expression suddenly disappeared again, and he searched around in his bag. In a slightly muffled voice, he carried on talking to them. "Anyway, now that you're here, Benny, there was something I wanted to show you. It's a present I'm going to give to Erica. Do you think she'll like it?"
Falling silent, he straightened up, presenting them with his little plant.
They stared at it for a while. Eventually, Ethan said something.
"What on earth is that?"
Rory shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. I think it might be a type of zinnia. Or, at least, that's where it was in the shop."
"It looks pretty – predatory," said Ethan, nervously.
"Jus' ri' fo' Eri'a!" said Benny, essaying a strained smile.
Rory nodded happily. "I thought so."
Ethan looked at it warily. "Are you sure it's not … dangerous? I mean, what does it eat?"
"Plant food…" said Rory, slowly, not grasping Ethan's point.
"What sort?"
"Well, if I remember, light, water and carbon dioxide."
"Nothing else? I mean, it looks carnivorous."
"No!" said Rory, shaking his head. "There's no way you'd get a fly-trap or something for a dollar ninety-five anyway."
"Oh. It's just a regular plant?"
Rory nodded, putting his bag on the floor. With a clink, something fell out and rolled across the floor. Benny picked it up and looked at Rory quizzically. It was the vial, and it still had dregs of the red liquid in it.
"Wha's this, then, Wowy?"
"Just – just some plant food. I've been keeping it in the dark at school, and it needed a boost to keep it healthy."
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "What kind of a boost?" He took the vial from Benny, unstopped it, and let a little dribble into his palm.
Rory's eyes widened. "You think – I – I've been feeding it blood?"
Tentatively, Ethan dipped his tongue into the droplet in his hand. He spat it out again, immediately. "Euurgh!"
"No' 'lood?" asked Benny.
Ethan shook his head, pinching at the tip of his tongue, trying to wipe away the taste. "Definitely plant food…" he said, eventually, grimacing in distaste.
Rory looked a little hurt. "You didn't believe me!"
"I'm sorry, Rory," said Ethan, "but we know what trouble plants can be. Even if it was just an accident, we'd have to check."
Rory nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still…"
He remained downcast for at least a minute, before brightening yet again. "So do you think she'll like it?" he said.
Benny nodded. "I thin' so, yeah. Ewica" (here Rory and Ethan couldn't help but snigger) "Ewica a'ways li'ed plan's, e'n fo' she was a wam – fam – 'ampire."
Rory frowned briefly, working out what Benny had said. "Yeah. Thanks! I think…" He stood up, taking the plant under his arm. "I'll get it to her right away!" he said, zooming out of the door.
"Does he even have any idea where she might be?" asked Ethan, shaking his head.
Benny shrugged. "He a'ways fin's her ewentuawy."
"Eventually, yes." Ethan smiled. "It's quite sweet, really."
"Pafetic," said Benny, derisively.
Ethan laughed. "Maybe." He looked thoughtful. "I missed you today."
Benny shook his head. "Ge' a gwip, Efan."
Ethan stuck his tongue out at Benny, and leaned over to kiss him.
"No' the 'ouf!" cried Benny, urgently.
After a brief moment of confusion, Ethan understood. "Oh, right! Not the mouth." Leaning in, he quickly kissed Benny on the nose instead. "You've really got to get speaking as normal again, or this is going to get really tedious."
He flung open the door. "Come on, B. Let's find you something that you can eat with a straw!"
That night, Benny lay down heavily on his bed. The injections were starting wear off now, and, though his mouth was less stiff, his jaw was aching. Tentatively, he pulled out the pieces of cotton wool. He didn't want to choke on them. He set them down on the bedside table, next to his little packet of teeth. Despite his sore mouth, once he'd turned out the light, he fell asleep almost instantly.
He didn't see therefore, the packet begin to glow after an hour or so – blue, and green, and purple, with the lights constantly shifting position between the three teeth. Neither did he see the dark figure standing by them, or the same shape picking up the packet and taking out each glowing tooth in turn. As Benny slept, the person standing behind his bed slipped the teeth and bag into their pocket, replacing them with a seemingly identical set - except, of course, that these didn't glow.
With a low laugh, the figure disappeared. But Benny didn't see that either.
