(Untitled)

[nevergrowsup]

There was something seriously wrong with Peter Pan's mouth.

One of his teeth was loose. It felt like it was going to fall outHe didn't know when it had started getting loose, but he was almost positive that it wasn't his fault. Peter hadn't bumped into anything or got hit in the mouth or anything, but his front tooth was still wiggling and loose

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[little_moons]

"Trying to eat the whole damn island outta oranges?" I ask the kid sitting at the table as I walk past toward the coffee maker. Never met him, but I seen him around before, and I know who he is. Hanging 'round Eostre so much, it's kinda hard not to at least know one of her kids on sight.

[nevergrowsup]

"I hab' scurby," he said though a mouthful of orange. After swallowing, he wiped a sticky hand across his sticky face, then opened his mouth to show the man, who was one of Eostre's.

He wiggled his front tooth with his finger carefully. "See?"

[little_moons]

I snort out a laugh, grinning crookedly and leaning over to get a better look.

"Keep wiggling that, you can probably put it under your pillow tonight," I say, arching an eyebrow at him, 'cause whatever the fuck he just said was so garbled I didn't understand a word.

[nevergrowsup]

Peter gave him an incredulous look. "Why'd I do that?"

If his tooth fell out, he would definitely go to Eostre. That would mean it was a very serious case of scurvy.

But he stopped wiggling his tooth, so it wouldn't fall out right then.

[little_moons]

"I don't know. 's just some story parents fed their kids to make that part of growing up into a game," I shrug, remembering knocking one of my baby teeth out on the playground when I was ten, and tossing it into the garbage instead of taking it home to show Mom. The tooth fairy was bullshit... I thought pretty much everything was bullshit.

"You never heard of the Tooth Fairy?"

[nevergrowsup]

His brow furrowed as he shook his head. Never heard of any fairy so boring as to only want to collect teeth, though they might look nice as jewlery.

Peter glanced at the man as he pulled the peel off another orange section. "Would she be able to help with my scurvy, you think?"

[little_moons]

Pulling out a chair next to him and plopping down in it, I pick up one of the orange wedges, tearing off the peel and shoving it in my mouth.

"'m not a doctor, but I'm pretty fucking positive you don't have scurvy," I say, one corner of my mouth lifting in amusement, "You just got a loose tooth, man. Your baby teeth fall out to make room for your adult teeth. Just happens." I shrug, tossing another orange wedge to my dog sniffing around the rungs of the table.

[nevergrowsup]

Peter shook his head. "I'm dying. My teeth are gonna start liquefying and running down the back of my throat, like the pirates talk 'bout." He ate another piece of orange, though he was sure that if he ate anymore he would start turning orange. "It's cause they didn't have enough vitamincee."

[little_moons]

"That's... really fucking gross," I say, pulling a face, "But I'm telling you, when I was your age, exact same thing happened to me. And I think if you have any more Vitamin C, you're gonna puke."

[nevergrowsup]

He paused and glanced up at him, fingers still stuck in the peel. "Really? Your teeth just started getting loose and wiggling around?

[little_moons]

"Yep," I nod, wondering how the fuck I got stuck explaining this kind of shit to a kid, "And then bigger teeth came in to take their place."

[nevergrowsup]

He reached his foot out under the stool and touched the dog's side gently. "How big are the new teeth?"

[little_moons]

"'Bout as big as mine, I guess," I shrug, flashing my teeth at him.

[nevergrowsup]

Peter bared his teeth, looking hard at his mouth as he thought that over. It wouldn't be so bad to get new teeth, he supposed.

"You promise it's not scurvy?"

[little_moons]

I look at his tooth again, obviously one of those tiny little baby teeth, and give him a nod. "Yeah, sure, I promise."

[nevergrowsup]

That seemed to be enough to satisfy him, and Peter nodded. Made a point to push the orange peels away from him, as the smell of them was making his stomach sour.

"Okay. But if I die, you've got to tell Eostre about it."