Dr. Dragmire's Dentistry
My first story, I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave feedback! Beta read by AriTheDoggo, check out Ari's stories!
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"Higher!
"HIGHER!"
"I'm trying! I don't want you to fall off!" a little girl called from below, furiously pushing on a swing.
"I'm not gonna fall off, Zelda!..." the girl shoved the swing again, "...I'm gonna jump off!" the boy shouted from the swing before throwing himself off at the highest point.
Zelda screamed while he was airborne. The flying child's arms and legs flailed and let out a shout of delight before landing on his feet. Losing his balance, he toppled over in a heap.
"Link, you IDIOT!" Zelda scolded as she ducked out of the way from the returning swing, which jolted wildly from the sudden dismount. Link giggled as he got back up.
"That was awesome! You next!" he shouted.
"No way!" Zelda said firmly.
"Why not?"
"Because I am not an idiot like you who's gonna get their legs broken!" She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. Link mirrored this action and took a few steps forward.
"I think someone's just a scaredy-cat," Link pouted.
"Am not!" Zelda gasped.
"Then jump!" Link persisted while Zelda turned away.
"I don't wanna," she said dejectedly.
Link frowned. Silence filled the air, neither of them willing to give in. Eventually, Link walked over in defeat, plucking nervously at his green shirt.
"Well, I guess you don't have to, it's just fun," he mumbled.
Silence.
"Princess," Link teased.
Zelda looked up and gasped.
"I am not a princess!"
Link ducked his head and snickered. Zelda narrowed her eyes.
"And even if I was, I wouldn't be afraid to do anything! I would be fearless!" she looked him over, "Unlike you."
"Me?" Link asked incredulously. "I'm the one who jumped off the swing!"
"Yea, but you can't even talk in front of the teacher!"
Link blinked in surprise, then blushed and looked away. Zelda frowned at this action.
"I don't get it, Ms. Ashei isn't that scary you know, even though she looks kinda mean."
Link simply shrugged. A large cloud passed over the warm sun, blanketing the yard in a dark shadow. Zelda, realizing she won't get much more out of the topic, turned toward her house and thought for a moment.
"I'm kinda hungry, are you? Maybe Dad will let you stay for lunch!"
Link shook his head.
"No, um, Mom says that I have a dentist appointment today, she'll probably come soon."
Zelda gasped loudly, snapping Link's gaze back to her, which was filled with confusion.
"You have a DENTIST appointment!?" she exclaimed, "OH NO!"
Link looked at her, puzzled.
"Is that bad? Mom says that it's a good thing since I might have a cavity," he explained.
Zelda fretted, waving her hands around in a panicked manner.
"Oh, this is TERRIBLE, LINK! You're gonna go see the EVIL Dr. Dragmire!"
"Who's Dr. Dragmire?" Link asked, concerned lacing his voice.
Zelda took a deep breath.
"Dr. Dragmire is the EVILEST man you will ever see! He lures you into his dentistry and steals your teeth! Everybody says that he's not an evil man, but I can see it in his eyes! He reaches into your mouth with that EVIL metal poker stick..." she picked up a small stick laying the grass and began to jab it in the direction of Link's face, "...and he stabs your mouth and sees if he wants to take your teeth or not!"
Link's eyes grew wide with terror.
"And then his assistant person will talk to him about other things that they have found in your mouth, and they all nod very seriously, deciding what to do with you. Then he looks inside your mouth with his X-RAY VISION!" Zelda held up her hands in front of her eyes with thumb and pointer fingertip together to look like goggles. "He wants to see if you have any teeth for him to take in the future. He steals teeth to gain power so he can... can take over the world!" Zelda flailed her hands dramatically.
"For real?" Link asked in horror.
"For real. But nobody believes me Link, you have to believe me! Or else he'll take over ALL of Hyrule! We can't let that happen!" Zelda fretted.
Link nodded and opened his mouth to say that he believed her, but was cut off by the sound of a sliding glass door. The two children turned to see a blond-haired woman walking through, with a man standing behind her. Link's stomach dropped at the sight of the woman. It was his mother.
"Are you two having fun?" his mother asked.
Zelda vigorously nodded her head, with Link standing next to her, staring at his mother.
"Good! Well sorry to break it up, but it's time to go Link. You have a dentist appointment today, remember?"
The man walked out from behind Link's mother.
"Zelda, you should come in too, don't you have a room to clean?"
Zelda groaned loudly at this.
"Ugh, come on Dad! It's a nice day! Besides, Ms. Ashei told us to never let a minute pass by, and I'd be letting LOTS of minutes pass by if I did that!"
This earned a hearty laugh from both parents.
"Seriously Link, it's time to go," his mother said again.
At this, Link crossed his arms and shook his head vigorously. His mother's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"You can come and play with Zelda later. But we gotta get some food in you before we go, so we'd better hurry, okay?"
Link shook his head again.
"Link," she said, her tone taking on a warning edge.
Noticing the mood change, Link reluctantly trudged across the yard to the back door where the adults stood. Zelda, who suddenly remembered where he was going, cried out and ran after her friend.
"WAIT! Link can't go! You're taking him to see Dr. Dragmire aren't you!? You can't do that, he's EVIL!"
"Zelda, Dr. Dragmire is not evil," her father said tiredly.
"But he is! Why doesn't anybody believe me?"
"Because I know he's not," he sighed loudly as Zelda whispered frantically to Link.
"I'm sorry Uli, somehow she got it in her head that the dentist office is an "evil" place, specifically that Dr. Dragmire is "evil". I don't know why, but I just feel bad for the man when I have to take her there." he sadly chuckled.
"That's alright Rhoam, he's never had any issues going before. I think as long as he isn't scared too badly..." she trailed off as she looked down at the two children.
"..and EVIL red hair and EVIL yellow eyes! You'll know him when you see him."
Uli sighed as her son slowly nodded with wide eyes at Zelda's warnings. She patted Link on the head and led him to the front door.
"Bye, Link," Zelda called.
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A quick lunch and a few protests later, Uli's little blue two-door car sped down the dusty road towards town. Uli checked her rearview mirror to see Link sitting quietly in the back, with arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Next to him, his little brother Collin sat strapped into a car seat, kicking his legs and looking out the window in fascination. The car came to a stop at a light, and she turned in her seat to look at her eldest. Link looked up.
"Link,"
He looked down. The light turned green.
"Hey, whatever Zelda told you about Dr. Dragmire, I'm sure it's not true. I've been going to that place for years, and I've never had any issues with him. He's never done anything bad to me, and he's never going to do anything bad to you!"
She turned a corner, and Link shrugged.
A few stoplights later, the car pulled up to a small building surrounded by tall trees. The two stepped out of the car, unbuckled Collin, and made their way to the door. A little bell jingled as the door closed, and Link eyed the dreaded waiting room. It was void of anything interesting except for a fish tank sitting kitty-corner in the back and a stack of children's books.
Uli gestured to the waiting area, telling Link to sit down. He grabbed Collin's hand and watched as she walked up to the front desk. Link led his brother over to the fish tank and stared into the water with mild interest as a small pink fish floundered in and out of a faded hollow elephant figurine. Collin separated himself from his older brother and went over to the books, messing up the pile and sorting through the various front covers. He opened up a thin paperback that showed some snowmen dancing around at night, each page detailed with snowmen doing something outlandish that people should be doing. Sledding, dancing, ice skating, even drinking hot chocolate. Link looked away from the fish and sat down beside his brother, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Collin noticed this and pointed to one snowman who was spinning in circles comically fast. This made them both giggle. Uli sat down by the fish tank, overcome with relief that Link had found a distraction.
As they sat there for a while, a person would come in now and again to bring someone to the back. Then, the door opened again.
"Link?"
It was not his mother's voice.
The boy froze in place, his grip tightening on the book. He peeked up to see a very short lady with large round glasses resting low on her nose. She squinted at a clipboard in her hand.
"Link Villmark?"
Uli stood up and ushered Link to do the same. The small lady looked over and smiled.
"Are you Link?" she asked him.
Link nodded and timidly made his way over to the lady. She smiled at him.
"Well come on back Linky! My name's Purah."
Link looked reluctantly back to his mother.
Uli sighed and grabbed Collin by the hand, muttering something about never having an issue with this before. She then took Link by the hand and practically dragged him back to the room. She sat him down on the chair and went back out to the waiting room.
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.
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Link was very confused.
Is Dr. Dragmire not coming? He wondered.
The little woman with round glasses continued to look inside his mouth, wondering to herself. She did a few things on the computer and tried- and failed- a few times to make conversation. Eventually, she just began talking out loud about her two dogs back at home. When she began to very aggressively brush his teeth, she continued about her boyfriend Symin and his dogs. Link only half listened, preferring to contemplate on the fact that Dr. Dragmrire was not there! It only made him worry more.
Where is he!?
Is he coming later?
Is this Purah lady filling in?
"...I just can't see why Symin wants another dog! Seriously, he has too many. Well, I guess I can see why. His dogs are really cute and..."
Was Zelda lying?
Was she even talking about the same dentistry?
What was that about her Great Aunt's dog?
"Do you have any dogs Linky?"
No, I want one though.
Link wanted to cry. Partly because of the frustration of it all, but also because Purah had moved onto flossing.
Why doesn't Collin have to do this too?
What if somebody discovered that he's evil, and kicked him out?
He winced as she aggressively jammed the floss between his front two bottom teeth.
Watch it, lady, jeez!
I bet Dr. Dragmire trained you personally. You're hurting me.
Besides, why else would she be here and not some other Dentist office?
Purah balled up the floss string in her hands and stood up.
Maybe he got all the teeth that he needed here, and moved onto a different place because-
"Dr. Dragmire will come in to see you in a minute, okay?"
Link's mind came to a screeching halt.
"WHAT?!" he shouted.
Purah turned around in surprise.
"Well, yes! He has to take some X-rays and check over your teeth one more time. He'll be in in a minute. I'll be back afterward, okay?"
Then she turned and left. Link sat frozen as his stomach began to sink with dread.
He's here, he's here! He's not gone, and he'll be coming in here any second!
He looked around the room frantically, wondering if he should get up and leave before the doctor came into the room. The black bed-chair that he lay awkwardly on squeaked as he shifted to his side, rolling off of it. But just as his feet touched the ground, he heard footsteps at the opening of the room. His heart stopped.
"Hello, Link! I'm Dr. Dragmire."
No.
The child slowly looked over, the color drained from his face. In the opening, a behemoth of a man stood, with greying red hair, slight wrinkles, and yellowish eyes. He walked over to the sink and began to wash his hands.
"Would you sit down, please? I have to take some X-rays on your teeth today."
Link's mind went blank, causing him to slowly nod and struggle to take in the situation on hand. He climbed back onto the dental chair, obediently laying back. The child watched as Dr. Dragmire dried his hands and reached into the cupboard to take out a box of disposable gloves, and a light blue mask that he put over his mouth. Then, he plopped down in a rolling chair and spun around to grab a little mirror on a stick and a sharp-looking metal rod. Link's eyes went wide at the sight of the tool.
Did the doctor lick his lips in anticipation to take his teeth? Were his pointy teeth showing through his EVIL grin? They had to be, but his mouth was covered by that darned blue mask.
Two can play at this game. Link thought and closed his mouth tight. Dr. Dragmire looked at him patiently.
"I need you to open your mouth, please."
Link shook his head.
"I won't hurt you, I promise. It's not even all that sharp, see?" He said as he poked his gloved finger with the metal stick.
Link looked away and nervously picked at his thumbs, his mind whirling with contradicting thoughts. Unfortunately for him though, laying down at this angle had caused his nose to plug up, and couldn't breathe through his nose. In a desperate attempt, he opened his mouth for a quick breath and tried to snap it shut quickly. However, the doctor took advantage of this and put his mirror right in front of Link's tongue to stop him from closing his mouth. Link whimpered.
"Please Link, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can both go home." the doctor pleaded.
Link stared for a moment, but shakily he opened his mouth, accepting his fate.
Zelda was right. Dr. Dragmire has won. He'll take all my teeth and gain even more power to take over all of Hyrule!
He closed his eyes to avoid seeing his enemy for the last moments of his life. The mirror and poker came down and...
Dr. Dragmire gently prodded at Link's teeth, humming a soft tune. After what felt like the shortest two minutes of Link's life due to his utter confusion of the gentleness ended, Dr. Dragmire sat back and smiled.
"Well Link, I'm very impressed with how well your teeth look today!"
"...what?" Link whispered.
That was it? Is he … is he not going to take my teeth?
"One last thing okay? Can you open your mouth again?" the man said with a smile.
Link did, and Dr. Dragmire shoved in a cold hard object between his back teeth. Caught by surprise, he bit down hard and screamed. The Doctor's hand barely made it out in time, the child's teeth only grazing his fingertips.
"Hey kiddo calm down!" Dr. Dragmire quickly attempted to calm the squirming child, who surely thought his life was ending there and then. "It's only part of the sensor that is used for the x-ray!"
This did nothing to ease his panic, so the doctor turned toward the hallway and called for Purah. A few moments later, the small lady came rushing into the room.
"Linky, my goodness, what's got you so worked up?!"
The said child whipped his head towards her.
"Help me..." he choked out with wide, terrified eyes.
At this, Purah chucked.
"Oh Linky, didn't he explain it to you? These are the X-Rays that will show us all your grown-up teeth hidden under your gums! Don't you want to see them?"
Link furiously shook his head, spitting the sensor out onto his lap.
"No! You just want to see if I have any good teeth to take when they come in so you can use them to take over the world! I won't let you-!"
Link was cut off from his speech when he saw a familiar figure walk in. His eyes widened as he met his mother's disapproving gaze. No further instruction was needed, for Link reluctantly settled down and allowed Dr. Dragmire to finish the X-rays without verbal complaint. All the while, Uli stood there with Colin in her arms who stared at Purah with mild interest. Finally, the painful sensor was removed from his mouth, and his mother stalked back to the waiting room.
"Good job Linky, thank you so much for cooperating," Purah smiled, before leaving as well.
Now alone, Link wrung his hands in nervous anticipation for what could happen next.
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Dr. Dragmire turned to the counter behind him and grabbed a little plastic bag. "Here's a new toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste for you to take home. Just remember to floss every day with the floss I put in there as well.
Link stared at him with skepticism.
"You're all done now, you can go back to the waiting room with your mother," he explained.
Link slid down from the chair, then bolted out of the room to where his mom and Collin waited for him. Link's mouth contorted with discomfort from the painful X-rays as he hurried over to his mother, where she sat with a difficult-to-read expression plastered on her face. Collin sat miserably on her lap, wanting nothing more than to go home.
I'm with ya there, brother. Link thought in frustration.
Uli stood, and made her way out the front door without a word. While she helped Collin into his booster seat and as Link buckled himself in, she gave him a look. One that he knew would come with a scolding later.
But despite the inevitable, Link smiled to himself. To him, he had won. Dr. Dragmire didn't end up taking his teeth, and Link had gotten away with giving a warning to the red-haired man:
Back in the dentist's office before he left the room in the dentistry after the X-rays, Link's thoughts were focused on his dear friend and how scared she had been earlier that day. Looking up at the red-haired monster who was quietly examining the X-rays, Link mustered his courage through his racing heart and sat up forcefully.
"S-sir, I want you to know that if you lay one wrong hand on Zelda, I-I'll never forgive you!"
The doctor looked back with mild surprise. "Oh?"
Unsatisfied with the lame reaction, Link steeled himself and clenched his fists.
"B-but not only that, I'll personally come here and make sure that you never h-harm her or anybody else again! Okay?"
This got the doctor's attention a bit more. "Are you making a threat, kiddo?"
Link shrunk back a tiny bit from the warning tone, but vigorously nodded his head.
"If it needs to be a th-threat for you to stop gathering people's teeth so you can use their power to take over Hyrule, then yes!"
Dr. Dragmire sighed. "Listen, kid-"
"Don't call me a kid! I'll be an adult one day, and then you'll have to worry!"
The doctor didn't say anything to this, but simply sagged a little and turned back around to the monitor. Link's heart stuttered as he thought about what that reaction might mean, but still, he relished in the accomplishment of standing up for what he thought was right.
The car jerked through the speed bumps of the parking lot. Link held his head high, happily oblivious to the fact that he will inevitably return in six months to the place filled with dread, and most surely embarrassment from the fateful day when he stood up to Dr. Dragmire.
Thanks for reading!