((HELLOOOO EVERYBODY! now.. i did an oop and thought "hey what would happen if butch had a snake fang mutation?" so... I GOT AROND TO WRITING THIS AS MY FIRST FALLOUT FIC AND IM SUPER EXCITED TO SHARE IT!~ 3333 this fic will basically follow butch as he grows up with this said mutation and journeys the capital wasteland with this mutation as well. i hope you guys enjoy this and thank you for reading!~ my writing might be a little rusty... i havent wrote in... god knows how long
"Open wide for me, Butch…"
He did as he was told. Opening his mouth, he could feel his fangs push through his gums, sticking out menacingly towards his caretaker. James eyed them, tilting his head so he could get a clear view of what he was looking at. His assistant, Jonas, also watched.
"Holy shit…" Jonas breathed, his eyes widened in astonishment. "They grew."
Butch felt his cheeks redden.
"Mmm… Yes they have." James answered and he pulled away, Butch closing his mouth immediately out of pure embarrassment. He could feel his fangs throbbing, hiding deep within his gums, his mind screaming at him to ease the pain somehow. To resist this urge, he began chewing on the inside of his lip, his fangs immediately poking as they popped back out once more.
James pulled up a chair and sat in it, watching Butch for a moment before speaking. "Now… Your fangs have grown since the last time you saw me."
"Yeah, so…?" Butch managed.
James smiled. "So… How have you been feeling? Any aches? Any sharp pains?"
Butch wanted to spill everything. The urge to bite anyone that came near, the urge to chew on anything soft. His gums throbbed constantly and he tore the inside of his lip once from how sharp they've become. But the sheer embarrassment of sounding like a baby hung over the boy's head and he glanced away, red in the face and all. "It's stupid…"
James sighed. "Butch, I won't laugh at you. I'm a doctor after all, I'm here to help you."
Butch glanced at him and sighed. "None of the other kids have teeth like mine so… Why me?"
"We… We aren't sure."
"Well…" Butch pouted. "They hurt a little…"
"Do you feel discomfort?"
Butch nodded. "A lot… I just want to rip them out..."
The two doctors glanced at each other for a moment then back at him. "Do you feel irritability?"
Butch shrugged. " It's annoying, all I want to do is bite things!"
"You.. want to bite things?"
He only nodded.
"Hmm… What does your mother think about this?"
"She just sleeps a lot… Her special drink usually has her knocked out. She hasn't… noticed anything." His mother's special drink was something she never lets him touch. He remembered one time finding her stash and sniffing it out of pure curiosity, only to be met with a very bitter smell. He'll never understand how she likes that stuff. All he knew it made her act silly and helped her sleep.
The two doctors glanced at each other once more for a moment then back at him, Jonas spoke. "Okay, let us take a look into this for a moment, okay?"
"Okay…"
And so the two left, leaving Butch alone.
After a few moments, popping his fangs out, he chewed on the cuff of his sleeve, the urge becoming too great. Relief washed over him as he chewed hard, his fangs poking through the fabric. He could hear the muffled voices of the doctors, bickering back and forth. It only made him more embarrassed, these fangs couldn't be a burden, could they? In fact, they looked pretty cool and the other kids seemed to enjoy looking at them, all except for Amata and Lone of course.
They're just big babies.
Even still...
He glanced around the office, x-ray of other patients decorated the wall, and a bobblehead was sitting idly on James' desk. Dull grey walls surrounded him and he felt like he was more in a cave then an actual clinic. A cave… He wondered if snakes live in caves? Releasing his sleeve, he poked his teeth. A snake… Was he part snake? Poking a little too hard he pulled away. A red dot began forming on the tip of his finger and he popped it in his mouth, the taste of his blood filling his taste buds. He still wasn't used to how sharp they were...
James and Jonas returned. Butch pulled his finger out and pinched his fingers together to try to stop the bleeding. His fangs retracted back into his gums.
"Alright… So Jonas and I talked it over and it appears you have a case of teething." James said.
"T...Teething?" Butch asked, Jonas taking his bleeding hand and beginning to wrap a band aid around his finger.
"Have you ever heard of teething?"
Butch shook his head.
"Well.. what you did right there is an example of teething." James pointed to his now worn sleeve. "Teething is generally a term used for baby teeth breaking through the gums. For you, it's a special case. The pair of teeth you have are not breaking through the gums but rather growing within the gums. Already they have grown exponentially since the last time we met."
Butch's face redden once more at the word "baby." "What?! I'm not a stupid baby!"
"I know you're not, I'm just explaining what it is… Generally you would feel your gums are sore and feel the need to reduce the discomfort, just like now."
Butch just stared at him, still red in the face and hiding his word sleeve. He wasn't a baby snake? He was a kid! This was normal right? WAS it normal? The other kids must be having a better time dealing with their teeth then he was.
"Here… Let me see if I can find something that would ease the pain…" James went to the medical cabinet, opening it and began to look around, soft clattering and clinking being heard.
This was normal. It had to be. The other kids think it's cool and they don't see anything wrong with them. This was normal. Due to his mind suddenly racing, he stuffed his sleeve back into his mouth, gnawing anxiously. This was normal. This was normal. This was normal. It had to be.
Suddenly a faucet was running and blinking towards the sound, Butch noticed James cleaning… something? He sat up straighter to try to see what exactly he was doing until James turned off the water and squeezed whatever it was he had in his hands. Then he came over. A shake of a bottle signalled to Butch it was pills… But the other thing…?
"Here, coldness helps with the sore gums." James said and Butch felt something wet fill his hand. Glancing down he noticed it was a wet rag.
"...What the heck is this for?"
"I just told you, for your sore gums." James handed him his medicine. "Painkillers to ease the soreness if this doesn't help. Take one tablet with a cup of water or… Rather, crush it down and mix it with your food..."
Butch was never into pills, it freaked him out. The only way he can take it was by crushing it up and consuming it with his meals. It still worked so it was a win-win for him.
"W-Well…" Butch gripped the wet rag, cold water running down his arm, staining his sleeve. He glared at it in pure anger, anger mixed with embarrassment. He's not a baby. He's not a baby. He's. Not. A. Baby.
"I'm sorry Butch, it's basically all I have… We never had a case like yours before so this is one of the best solutions I can come up with." James said.
This was normal. This was normal. This was normal. He wasn't some lost baby snake inside of a cave, he has his mother. He has his friends.
He has nobody at all.
Butch hopped off the examination bed, rag and bottle in hand.
"How is your mother, Butch?" Jonas asked as he was leaving, Butch already chewing on his new chew toy. The rag dangled awkwardly out of his mouth as he suckled.
"Sleeping." He said through his rag, muffled. The cold was already a huge comfort on his fangs and he could feel the swelling begin to simmer. "She's been sleeping most of the day."
"Special drink?"
He nodded.
Jonas glanced at James, his brow furrowed, in which James said, "We'll discuss this matter to your mother when we see her again. Just…" He paused for a moment. "When she wakes up, let her know that James wants to see her."
Butch nodded. "Okay… Thanks…"
Leaving the office, Butch made his way down the barren hallway, nothing but the hum of the vault filling his ears. Special case… There was nothing wrong with him. They're just plain old teeth right? Maybe they were his adult teeth? Something a little pulling wouldn't fix, right? They're just stupid teeth. His gums were almost numb at the point he reached his dorm.
The door slid open and Butch stepped in, the familiar smell of liqour filling his nostrils. Entering the living room, he saw her. Lying on the floor, a bottle of her "special drink" resting in her hand, she remained. She was passed out drunk, her stomach rising and falling gently.
Taking her special drink from her hand, he went to the kitchen where he dumped the remaining contents down the drain. Then, placing the painkillers in the bathroom, he sat motionless next to his mother, waiting for her to wake. Occasionally, he poked her, in which he got no response.
Eventually, he got up and went to his room, curling up in his bed and suckling on his rag, the cold being his only comfort.