"Eat up, Scarlet." Bruce said. He noticed his daughter had hardly touched her food...
"I'm not very hungry, Tati." Scarlet said calmly. "Can I be done?"
"Scarlet, you didn't eat anything but the mashed potatoes." Bruce said, looking skeptical. "You sure you're feeling alright?"
"Fine." Scarlet tensed up slightly at what he was insinuating. Bruce studied her fr a moment longer, noticing she'd paled slightly, before nodding. "Fine. But I want you t eat a good breakfast tomorrow..."
But she'd already run upstairs...
Bruce sighed. "I wonder what's gotten into her."
Dick shrugged. "Whatever it is, Bruce, she didn't tell me." he assured them.
"Brush your teeth, Scarlet, and I'll come tuck you in." Bruce called upstairs.
"Okay, Tati." Scarlet crept into the bathroom, dreading the process of brushing her teeth. She yipped slightly as the brush made contact with her teeth and grated against her teeth, and she jumped back...
Of course, Bruce heard it. "You alright up there, Scarlet?" Bruce asked.
"Fine, Tati!" Scarlet said, trying to keep her cool as she hurriedly brushed despite the pain, biting back the pained noises and only whimpering slightly, before spitting hurriedly spit into the sink...
She could hear Bruce mounting the stairs, probably coming to make sure she was alright, and she stared at the normally white toothpaste, surprised to see it red and her tooth brush bloody...
"Scarlet?" Bruce asked, and Scarlet quickly washed the bloody mess down the drain, hiding her bloody tooth brush behind her back...
"Scarlet, are you okay?" Bruce asked, looking concerned. He could've sworn he'd heard her yelp in pain...
"Fine, Tati." Scarlet said. Bruce didn't look convinced, and she flashed him a smile, remembering to hide her slightly bloody teeth with her lips... Even eatting dinner had hurt, which was why she'd only eatten mashed potatoes...
"Tati, I have to go to the bathroom..." Scarlet said, and Bruce nodded, allowing her to close the door and going to wait for her in her bedroom. Scarlet stood on the little aqua stool Bruce had bought for her and stared in the mirror, smiling and grimacing as she looked at her bloody mouth, scrubbing away at the blood with her hand before flushing the tolite, ran the water in the sink, and then walked out to bed...
"Goodnight, Scarlet."
"G'night, Tati." Scarlet said, allowing Bruce to tuck the covers in around her and turn off the lights, before leaving her alone... Ugg. She could taste the blood in her mouth, bitter and metallic, but there was NO way she was telling Bruce her mouth hurt. Then he'd take her back to the awful dentist... (remember chapter 12, people) She grabbed a tissue from her nightstand, pressing it to the loose tooth and ending up soaking it with blood before grabbing another tissue and finally stopping the blood... She was scared. Very scared.
Dick's teeth had fallen out, of course, she'd seen it, especially while they'd traveled through France and Russia with the circus. And the little mouse in france had come at night and taken the tooth from under the pillow, replacing it with coins... In Russia they'd throw the tooth away in the hopes the little mouse from France would find it and give them a new one... And when they were settled down with other gypsies and Dick lost a tooth, an older gypsy had insisted they burn it, so it wouldn't be used in magic, since gypsy belief stated things like human teeth could be used in black magic...
She remembered how sad Dick had been to see his baby tooth burned away, but their father had placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, promising him that the little tooth mouse would be able to find it in the ashes...
But that wasn't what she was worried about. She was worried that if her tooth fell out, Bruce would make her go to the dentist to get it put back in or something, because he'd said the dentist was good at fixing teeth, and she hated the dentist...
She fell into a worry-filled sleep... She was up early in the morning, when she clenched her jaw in her sleep and choked on some blood. She sighed, grabbing another tissue and staunching the blood with it. Maybe it would be good if the tooth DID fall out, and maybe she could hide it from Bruce...
Either way, she was hungry. The mashed potatoes from last night had left her hungry, and she went downstairs, wondering if she could heat some left over potatoes up before Bruce got up so she wasn't questioned about her meal choice...
Bruce heard her get up, though. It was before dawn, and it was after the fourth of July, summer break, so he wondered what she'd be wanting this early...
Bruce strode out of his room- he'd done patrol last night with Dick, since Scarlet had willingly gone to bed, and he noticed something disturbing in her room...
Three blood covered tissues sat on the nightstand, not just spotted, but literally still damp with the blood, his baby's blood, he realized with horror. He was hurrying after his daughter a moment later, feeling his heard in his throat...
"Scarlet!" he wanted to demand where the blood came from, if she wasn't still bleeding and possibly able to cry out for help...
Bruce's yell startled Scarlet, who was at the top of the stairs, and she jumped back like a cat, ending up tumbling down the stairs...
"Scarlet!" Bruce yelled, running to the banister, now totally freaked out...
Scarlet ended up sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, and she spit her tooth onto the rug, along with some blood, startled and upset now that Bruce would see the gap in her teeth and take her to the dentist...
"Scarlet!" Bruce ran downstairs in his grey sweatpants and sleeveless t-shirt, feeling utterly helpless since he'd seen her fall...
"Alfred!" Bruce called, moving to kneel beside Scarlet. "What hurts, sweetie, what hurts?"
"M-my mouth..." Sparrow said, and Bruce slowly sat her up, hands expertly feeling for broken bones and checking for a concussion...
"Open up for me." Bruce ordered, as Alfred rushed into the room. "Alfred, I need a first aid kit." Bruce said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbing at the blood that dripped from her nose and mouth. For once he was glad for the posh society rule that insisted upon always having a handkerchief...
"Looks like you lost a tooth, Scarlet..." Bruce said, finding the small baby tooth in the rug. Scarlet cried even harder. Bruce was probably going to drag her to the awful desntist again...
"What's wrong, birdie?" Bruce asked, feeling fearful still.
"My... my tooth's gone. You're gonna take me to the awful dentist to get it fixed!" Scarlet cried, burying her head in her father's chest.
Bruce looked utterly confused as Alfred entered with a first aid kit.
"Might I ask why you believe you will be going to the dentist, Master Scarlet?" Alfred asked, seeing Bruce was utterly clueless.
"C-cuz Bruce said the dentist fixes teeth... and mine's gone..." Scarlet hiccuped.
Bruce's eyes lit up with recognition.
"Scarlet, no, you don't have to go to the dentist. Those teeth are supposed to fall out, a new one grows, it's normal... Didn't Dick's teeth fall out?"
"Yeah, but Mamica and Tati never took us to the dentist. I figured it you took us to the dentist for no reason, you'd definitely take us for a missing tooth..." Scarlet said, sniffing.
"Scarlet?" Dick asked, bleary eyed fro, upstairs.
"Hey Dickie, my tooth fell out!" Scarlet said, suddenly excited.
"Really? So the tooth mouse is coming tonight, then?" Dick asked, and Bruce stared.
Dick's eyes pleaded for him to play along, so he did. "Right, the tooth mouse..."
"Sweet! And now I can actually eat! I can't wait until the tooth mouse comes! I'll go put it under my pillow!" Scarlet said, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Bruce shot Dick a desperate look.
"The tooth mouse is the French version of the tooth fairy- they believe a little mouse leaves coins in exchange for your tooth under your pillow." Dick said. "We were on tour in France when I lost most of my teeth, and sometime in Europe and Russia... She believes it."
"So, I have to be the tooth MOUSE?" Bruce asked, shocked. He hadn't even considered having to be the tooth fairy for Scarlet, let alone the tooth MOUSE.
Dick nodded. "Well, yeah. She's six, she still believes in those things, Bruce..." Dick said. Bruce nodded, still slightly shocked. What had he gotten himself into?