The Dentist: Chapter 10

"We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by the men on high."- Don Corleone from The Godfather.

-

Piccolo watched in embarrassment as his brother and diminutive friend raided his closet. Sarah popped her blonde head out every five seconds, commenting on the lack of color.

"For the love of Pete, Piccolo, did you clone all of your clothes? I feel like I'm having déjà vu. Only with suits." She said, shaking her head. "Got anything else?"

Piccolo shook his head. "Not really. I've never had the need to. Lila always said that black was a neutral color and matched my quiet reserve."

"You could fertilize that lawn with that bullshit." Sarah scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. "I think dark colors could suit you very well, Piccy. Maybe a deep red or blue… Stay away from bright colors, though. No offense, but you would look effin' stupid."

"Thanks." Piccolo sighed, resting his cheek in one hand. "I'm just not used to this kind of thing. It still doesn't feel like it's happening."

"Oh it's happening, all right." Nail said, grinning sinisterly. "And you WILL like it. So get your green ass up, and we'll go get you fitted for some new suits."

Piccolo glowered at his brother, angry at being ordered around. "Nail-"

"He's right, green-go. Let'smake like a baby and head out." Sarah shoved him roughly from his chair, letting Nail drag him the rest of the way to the door. The kid grinned, rubbing her pale hands together. "You'll thank us later. Ow, SHIT!" She winced as she ran into doorframe with her knee, and hopped on one leg to the car, holding the injured part in the air. She caught Piccolo's 'I told you this was a bad idea' look and scowled. "It's not like it's an omen or something."

-

"Hurry up, bro, we haven't got all day." Nail muttered in agitation as he checked his watch. "It can't be that bad, get out here."

Piccolo had done through numerous different suits, none of which matched him. The fitter was a little too friendly with his tape measure, causing Piccolo to be reluctant to come out of the safety of the dressing room.

"Hey, I'm counting to three before I drag you out!" Nail said loudly, approaching the door. Piccolo growled audibly and turned the knob, stepping out.

He looked much different now that he wasn't dressed in a black suit. Sarah pondered that this was the first time she had seen him without the color on. Piccolo sighed and allowed the kid to poke the material and smile broadly.

It was a sleek silver color, the hue common to steel. It was a matching three-piece suit, with the vest a deep crimson shade, and the tie a deep charcoal tint. Piccolo felt humiliated as Sarah wolf whistled, while still nursing her hurt fingers. She had accidentally shut them in the car door, making Piccolo further assert that these were signs. She had scoffed and told him she was clumsy, that's all.

"Damn, Piccolo, you are lucky I'm not a few years older…" The kid smirked, winking jokingly. "Mm-hmm! I might have to get me a piece of that ass!"

Nail roared in laughter, clutching his stomach. "Ahahaha…that's rich. It does sort of suit you… Get it? SUIT!" Both Nail and Sarah burst out in hysterics, though Piccolo didn't see the humor in the corny pun. He turned around to change out of the clothing, hearing Sarah yell at him that they weren't finished.

"I don't want to look anymore." Piccolo said in an almost whiny voice.

"Don't care. We'll get you some shirts to try on, ok? By the way, don't even TRY sneaking out. We still have your house keys." Nail reminded him. Piccolo groaned and followed his brother to go find some more articles of clothing.

-

"Why aren't you in school again?" Piccolo asked Sarah dully as she cheerfully carried a bag of shirts they had just bought. Nail was grinning as he carried the new suits they had purchased as well.

"It's Christmas break, stupid. The big day isn't very far off, you know. Better get me something good, too." She added as an afterthought. She stubbed her foot on a niche in the sidewalk, stumbling forward. "MOTHER- Gah!" Nail laughed as they reached the car and piled everything in. Piccolo glared at his brother over his shoulder.

"Weren't you going on a cruise for the holidays?" He asked grudgingly, frowning in the sulky way of a pissed off teenager.

"I was, but I figured, 'What the hell? Maybe I can help my favorite brother get a special gift this year.' Hey, what! I was only kidding, geez." Nail rubbed the place on his head where Piccolo had slapped him. "You had better acquire a sense of humor before your date, you know." Sarah nodded solemnly and got in the car.

"If the night goes well, you have to get her a present!" Sarah said, looking out the window at the cold gray sky. "It has to be nice, too. Like a really expensive brand of perfume or jewelry…Of course, jewelry can mean that you are getting serious, and you haven't even gone out yet… But then again-"

"Shut UP. Please." Piccolo said, making the kid go silent.

"I was just trying to help, Piccolo." She said Piccolo very coldly, and her eyes didn't hold the usual cheeriness that made them light up. "Why don't you quit acting like an asshole and appreciate the help?"

Piccolo felt guilty instantly. He had panicked after he had asked Iris out, and who had helped him? The very people he was being surly to. He felt like a jerk, and made up his mind to be patient with them. He knew they really did only want to help. He smiled apologetically and bowed his head slightly.

"I'm sorry. Thanks for the advice." Sarah seemed to accept this apology and grinned, tilting her head slightly.

"Hey, no problem Piccolo. We all act like little bitches sometimes." She dismissed his apology with a wave. "But seriously, let's talk about your conversations."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Piccolo asked, confused.

Nail put on his seatbelt as Piccolo started the car and turned towards his brother. "She means what are you going to talk about."

"Well no shit, Nail. What the hell does that mean?" Piccolo said in exasperation.

"I recommend that you keep the topic on a common subject. Since you are both doctors, something medical perhaps? Or, if all else fails, talk about HER. Most people LOVE talking about themselves. Well, I don't really because people call me crazy and stuff, but most people do. And this lady seems pretty normal. I hope she's not a complete hooch." She muttered, looking at her fingernails. "Then again, she can't be as big a whore as Lila. Oh, sorry. Well, you know what I mean." She quickly covered, smiling goofily. "It's just that fast girls aren't, well… It doesn't matter. I bet she's really nice." Nail turned around in his seat to look at the girl, his green lids half covering his dark eyes.

"Do you listen to yourself, kid?" He asked in a monotone voice, making her shrug.

"I come in and out." She said nonchalantly, making Piccolo wince.

'Reassuring' was the word that ran through his head.

-

The kid had gone home a long time ago, leaving only Piccolo and his brother at the house. Nail was talking on the phone to his girlfriend, who had given him hell about the cruise. She really didn't want to go alone, from what Piccolo could gather. Nail had left Piccolo to go outside to talk, since it was getting loud. That was fine with Piccolo, who hadn't had a spare moment to himself for a while.

He sighed and ran a hand over his head, thinking of the good old days. He wondered if he was ready for this date, no matter how casual or unimportant. It was his first one since Lila.

Lila.

He stood up and checked to make sure Nail was still outside before he quietly went upstairs to the room he used for storage. He had saved one thing of Lila's. He didn't know why, but the effort and love put into it reminded him that the years he had been with her weren't a complete waste of his life. He opened a small dresser drawer and pulled out a thick photo album.

The book was a hefty one bound in a deep red cover. Piccolo ran his hands over it, a floral scent reaching his nose and making dormant memories churn in his mind. His eyes moved past the cover to the pictures on the first page. He and Lila were on a hammock, fresh into their honeymoon. He closed his eyes as a particularly poignant reminiscence forced itself upon him.

"Where are the pictures of the beach? Pic?" Lila called, making her husband stick his head in the doorway in inquiry.

"You put them in the drawer to your left." He said, coming in and shutting the door behind him. "You always put the pictures there, remember?" He admired his wife's silhouette, and the way her deep lips were pursued as if deep in thought. A lock of raven hair fell over her eyes as she fumbled through the white cabinet, finally finding the pictures she was looking for.

She smiled and pulled them out, waving them at him. "I was just making sure you knew, silly. I wanted to know that you cared that I enjoy this stuff." Piccolo stood behind her as she sat in her chair, leafing through the pictures while picking out ones she wanted to put in the photo album.

"Which ones do you like?" She asked him, handing him a stack of pictures from their last vacation.

"Hmm… How about this one…and this… and oh, thisone is nice." Piccolo grinned and held up the last one of Lila posing in her bikini for the camera, a saucy look on her face. Lila slapped Piccolo's arm and tried to get the picture, but the tall man easily held it out of her reach.

"You know, I think this is the picture I needed at my desk in the office…" Piccolo murmured in amusement, making Lila blush.

"Don't you dare, Piccolo Damioh! Give me that picture right now!" She tried reaching it again, but when Piccolo held it out of reach again she pulled his shirt collar down so that his face was at her level. She smirked and kissed him hard on the mouth, making the picture slip from his grasp. She took off his tie and tossed it aside, never letting Piccolo away from her tight hold. She unbuttoned the first two clapses on her husband's shirt and allowed her hands to run freely along his chest. Finally she had to break it off to let the man get a breath of air, but stood soon after, making a pouty face, knowing he couldn't resist her anything when she did that.

"Piccy, my chair is too hard. Be a dear…" Piccolo playfully rolled his eyes and sat on the chair, allowing Lila onto his lap afterwards. She snuggled up to his chest, smiling softly.

"That's better." She whispered, burying her face his the fabric of his shirt.

"It sure is." Piccolo said gently, stroking her soft, thick hair. Her perfume always made him think of fields of roses, with soft petals tenderly covering the ground.

'Roses always have thorns.' He thought bitterly as he snapped out of his daze and shut the book sharply. That was the past, and he didn't need reminding on how happiness felt. He had that now. He had a high paying job, lived in a nice house, drove a new car…

He sighed and threw the book back into the drawer, and covered his eyes with the palms of his hands. He had forgotten what true happiness felt like. He had been living in a strange hell-like dream for the past five months. A lonely existence, really. He hadn't allowed himself to ponder too long over that until now. He looked at the drawer again before his forearms collapsed on his knees for support, keeping him from completely falling over. He missed having a companion with a passion. It wasn't fair that he had been fooled into thinking that he had found the woman for him, only to have her cruelly snatched away from him. His shoulders racked with a lone dry sob as he wondered what he had done wrong to deserve such torment. He wouldn't allow himself to be weak like that, though, and sat up calmly. He methodically breathed in and out, slowly. He closed his eyes and merely let his mind wander for a while, oblivious of the dark figure that slowly retreated away from the door and into the hallway.

Nail rubbed the back of his neck as he recalled how much Piccolo had really been affected by Lila's infidelities. He wished desperately that his brother could have been spared from the pain that the woman had brought him. He scoffed and shook his head as he looked out of a large window in the den. The snow had begun to fall again, and made the ground almost phosphorescent in the moonlight. Nail smirked ruefully as he thought of how odd it was that a night could be so beautiful and yet cruel at the same time. It looked sparkling and magnificent to two people who knew they had someone to watch it with. But to one lonely person, the endless fall of the frigid powder appeared a desolate reminder of their own isolation.

Nail watched the swirling bits of frozen flakes for a few minutes before he went back upstairs to check on his brother. The room he had recently occupied was empty, and the lights had been shut off. Nail frowned and went down the hall to where Piccolo's room was. He found his brother splayed across his bed, already asleep. His bare chest rose and fell in rhythm as he slept on without notice of Nail.

'He must have been worn out from all this crap.' Nail pondered to himself as he walked back to his own room. He kicked off his shoes and threw his clothes in the hamper by the door, getting under the covers in his boxers. He frowned sadly as he recalled the conversation he had just ended a few minutes prior.

He rolled on his side and looked at the empty side bed with contempt. His girlfriend had expressed her feelings about his frequent absences lately. She had told him that she couldn't wait for him forever, in more or less words. Nail had patiently explained that Piccolo had needed him for the past five months, and he hadn't lifted a finger to do anything. However, the woman couldn't see why it was taking so long. That was when Nail made his decision. His flesh and blood required his help and he would stick with him until he got on his feet again.

Nail smiled wryly and closed his eyes. He listened to the clock's hands tick away seconds of his life, falling asleep soon after shutting his optics.