Flossie was surprisingly tall when she stood up, almost a head taller than Quinn. She briskly walked down the hallway with perfect posture, her heels clicking on the linoleum. Quinn couldn't help but notice the way her pigtails and headgear seemed to bounce slightly as she walked. Flossie stopped and gestured towards a doorway, and Quinn entered.

It was a small room with a single chair. Though it had been given a more modern look since Quinn was a teenager, it still felt cramped with walls of white cabinets and educational posters, a couple of ferns, and the chair, which was a light shade of purple. Quinn took a seat, as Flossie took a paper bib out of a drawer and gently clipped it around her neck. "Dr. Whiteth will be with you in a moment. She's almotht done with a patient, I'll tell her you're here." Flossie left and closed the door behind her.

Quinn nervously tapped her fingers on the armrest and looked around the room. The chair had built in trays and cups stuffed with scary looking metal instruments. The posters mostly seemed to depict normal hygiene tips, except for one which showed diagrams of women wearing different types of headgear, each one looking like more of a medieval torture device. On another wall was what looked like a group of personal pictures. They included a couple of pictures of Pearl's parents, a few showing pets, and a picture of Pearl and Flossie smiling and wearing swimsuits at a beach, Flossie looking naked without most of her devices. Strangest of all however, was one photo of what appeared to be Flossie in a dental chair, a plastic device holding her mouth open to fully show her braces and what appeared to be a rubber strap wrapped around her forehead, with an unusually excited look in her eyes.

While Quinn was processing this, the doorknob turned. "Quinn Moretti! It's been too long!" Pearl had the same round face she always had, though was beaming a jarringly beautiful smile from ear to ear. Quinn could swear she could count all 32 teeth. Her signature pigtail braids from high school had been traded for an almost military buzz cut, and she seemed to have gained some muscle tone on her short, stocky frame. She was wearing a dental uniform similar to Flossie's, with a molded blue medical mask dangling around her neck, and a pair of dental loupes propped up on her forehead.

"Hi Pearl." Quinn said sheepishly. "How have you been?" "I've been good, I finished dental school, Mom and Dad left me the practice when they moved to Florida, and I got married! And I heard you studied architecture? And you've moved back?" Pearl was talking as if they had been friends for years. "Yep" Quinn replied. Before she could answer further, Flossie appeared at the doorway, towering above Pearl. "And you've met my lovely assistant, and wife, Flossie? And yes, that is her real name." Flossie blushed. "Yes, I have." That at least explained one of the pictures. "Anyway, you're here for a regular checkup right? We'll get started." Flossie pressed a button and the chair leaned back.

Pearl pulled up her mask and put on a pair of gloves with a dramatic snap before shining the examination light on Quinn's face. Flossie also put on a pair of gloves, as well as a paper mask, which wrapped around her headgear in a way far too awkward to be practical. "Open wide!" said Pearl, brandishing a mirror. Quinn complied, as Flossie turned on the suction. "You have such a pretty mouth." Pearl muttered.

Pearl and Flossie took some x-rays, gave a quick exam, filled a small cavity. Quinn noticed how gentle they were compared to her dentist in Chicago, and especially compared to Dr. Whites and Dr. Mary. They took on a much more soft spoken tone while working, and Flossie would gently stroke her arm during the more uncomfortable parts. Eventually, Pearl left the room to check the x-rays, and left Flossie to perform a routine cleaning. Flossie didn't seem to judge Quinn on her hygiene and seemed excited to show proper brushing and flossing on a plastic model, and even gave her a jaw massage afterwards. Eventually, Pearl came back into the room.

"Well, looks like everything's checking out fine, we're just about done. One last thing though, have you ever considered orthodontic treatment?" Quinn scrunched up her nose.

Pearl chuckled. "I'm not sure how much you've already heard about this, but even though I work as a general dentist, studying orthodontics is my main passion. Right now, I'm doing a study on women your age, and by the look of your x-rays, you would be a perfect candidate."

"I'm not interested." Quinn replied.

"That's what most people say at first, but the treatment would only last about two months, and be completely free of charge."

"Sorry, still no."

Pearl must have noticed Quinn looking at Flossie. "I wouldn't worry about looking like Flossie, her treatment is a special case. She was one of my first ever patients, and has been wearing some type of braces ever since I've known her. I've learned a lot from moving her teeth around, and her smile has a long way to go, but she's happy being my little guinea pig."

Flossie grinned, showing off her appliances once again. "I've been to lot'th of orthodontith in my life, but Pearl ith definitely the betht. And I'm not thaying that jutht becauthe she'th my wife."

"Not to mention my rates of patient satisfaction, the effect my methods have on facial structure can drastically improve patient's appearances. In fact, some of my feminizing procedures helped Flossie become the woman she is today." Flossie blushed.

"No, I've made up my mind." Quinn said.

"Ah well, if you ever change your mind, let us know." Pearl replied.

Quinn scheduled another appointment six months later and walked home, her teeth feeling cleaner than they ever had before.

Later that night however, she was looking at Facebook. Shamefully, she looked up her ex-boyfriend, as she heard from a friend he had a new girlfriend already. As she grumpily looked through their pictures, something made her stop suddenly. "It can't be." she said to herself. One showed the new girlfriend smiling towards the camera, but it was a smile she had seen before. That one, impossibly perfect smile she had seen so many times, the trademark smile of one of Dr. Pearl Whites' patients.

Without thinking, she dialed the number. Even though it was almost midnight, Flossie picked up. "I changed my mind, I want the braces."