Deirdra had been in the dentist's office since 8 that morning. It had been so busy until about noon. It was now 2 in the afternoon and everything was winding down. There were two more appointments for the day and then soon it would be time for the woman to go home and relax. One was for an elderly woman who came in almost every week with some sort of new tooth problem. The other, she wasn't sure about. Van Sanders-Adamson. The father had called it in or at least she assumed it was his father.

Sitting behind the desk in her pencil skirt, she bounced one leg slightly. She had on 4 inch heels and a shirt that showed her chest off if the person was standing above her desk and she was still seated. Deirdra tapped a pen absently against her desk's surface. She dropped it and went over to the window. Her blue eyes looked around before she opened. It looked decently nice outside and the woman couldn't stand being stuffed into the office any longer. She thought that at least this way some fresh air would circulate through and maybe keep her sane.

The dentist, Dr.Stevens, walked out and glanced at Deirdra, who was looking out the window. "Feeling cooped up, are we?" He smiled when she turned and looked at him. She smiled back, or at least pretended to. "I hope you don't mind. The air conditioning wasn't on, so I thought it would be okay." Deirdra leaned against the wall slightly and batted her eyelashes. The man's face turned red and he cleared his throat. "Well, uh, yes. Yes that's fine. I'm going to go back into the other room. Just send the patients back, will you?" The woman nodded and then sat back down in her office chair. She spun once in a circle and then sighed with boredom.

There were several things in this world that Van Sanders-Adamson was not a huge fan of. Two of those things are facial hair and dentists. It just so happened that his family dentist had both a degree in tooth science (or whatever) and a very healthy, happy, and bushy mustache. Ever since he was little, Van hated going to see Dr. Stevens. As he got older it got easier and easier to duck out of his appointments. Until of course, the office called and asked his father if he was going to attend his yearly appointment--Mr. Adamson had no mouthy ailments so he decided to send his son along to his appointment instead.

Oh, and he threatened his son with a few horrible fates if he didn't attend said appointment. He also mentioned that he'd call the office, just to make sure Van arrived there safely. Grumble. Grumble. Death inside. Sob. Sob.Sob.

So there the boy was, more or less. The idea of someone sticking their non-shaving-of-the-face hands in his mouth freaked the crap out of the young mutant as it so happened and on the trip across town to the dentist office he'd daydreamed about all of the terrible things that could go wrong when your dentist had poorly groomed facial hair. Eventually all of this had melded together until in his mind he was going to see a giant moustache doctor that was going to rip out all of his teeth.

Needless to say, Van was nervous when he walked into the building. To make matters worse the waiting room was devoid of anyone but an old woman who was talking to the muted television. Dammit, he's finally done it--he's sent me to the loony bin. Tricky, tricky. The boy thought to himself as he slowly made his way inside of the door. Now, the problem with Van being freaked out was that sometimes his body got the better of him. His left arm was trying to inch out the door, becoming perceptibly longer the more the boy walked towards the reception desk. By the time he made it to the (very very very not unattractive receptionist) it was decidedly longer than his right arm, not that Van noticed in his anxiety.

"Um, I uh," His eyes rapidly shifted about from nerves and the whole teenage male thing brought on by being across from a pair of boobs with blond hair. "I have an appointment..."

Deirdra looked up to see a teenage boy. He stuttered when he tried to talk and she realized he must've been distracted. She always loved watching people's reaction to her appearance. He finally managed to spit out that he had an appointment. The woman smirked and glanced down at the patient list. "Van Sanders-Adamson, I'm guessing?" Deirdra took in the boy's looks and couldn't help but notice that he was pretty attractive for a teenager. She pulled out his file and looked to check his age. Hmm, he should be 17. The woman took another look at Van before putting the file away. Jail bait.

"It seems you don't come to your appointments often. Naughty boy. You want to keep those teeth looking nice, right?" Deirdra gave him a smile and made a 'tsk'ing noise. "Trust me, everyone likes someone with nice teeth. A lot of people get turned off when they make out with someone who's tooth falls out." The blonde gestured to the seats. "If you'd wait a few minutes, it should be your turn. Mrs. Gibbons' appointment isn't for another half an hour. I think she just likes Dr. Stevens." She gave him a wink.

A nod when she told Van who he was. For a moment he'd been distracted by the receptionist but now his mind was whirring with possible escape routes. Two doors and several windows. Worse case scenario he could throw a chair out and run--since he was trapped he would probably chew his own arm off to get out the dental appointment. For a moment the boy wondered if chewing his arm off would keep him out of the tiny room. Probably not, a hospital would have to be called and then Dr. 'Stache would have to stitch up the gaping wound with floss or some other equally gross mouth dentist thing. In fact, he may decide to stitch him up and carry on with the appointment anyway, getting his facial haired face all up in Van's business and talking to him like he could respond as he passed in and out of consciousness with the man's fingers in his mouth.

No, there was no gain is chewing his own arm off. Sad.

A part of Van's brain had a slight fizzle at the words and the tone coming from the woman behind the desk's mouth. It also fizzled and fried at the wink. The rest of him was in panic mode as he turned from the desk and walked near the groupings of chairs, the magazines, and the elderly woman talking to the TV. Mrs. Gibbons looked up when she saw the boy nearing and screamed and jumped up on the chair she was sitting on. "Young man, your arm!" In its fear, Van's left arm had stretched to almost full capacity and was inching along the floor back towards the door at a slow and steady rate. "What? Oh--" He finally realized what was the matter. "Ma'am, I'm sorry I'm just--" The boy stupidly took a step closer to the woman on the chair, who's voice rose to a shrill pitch as she screeched: "Ms. Sykes! Help! Oh help he's some kind of freak!"

And that, dear children, is why Van Sanders-Adamson avoided the dentist at all costs--dental offices were a primordial den of good hygiene and awkward situations. Case. In. Point.

The teen walked away without saying anything and Deidra laughed a little, shaking her head. The old woman, Mrs. Gibbons, seemed to be having a panic attack. The blonde wasn't sure what the problem was until she noticed Van's arm stretched out. She glanced quickly at the old woman. Walking over, she gently covered the woman's mouth and made a 'shh' noise. Mrs. Gibbons pulled Deirdra's hand away, pointing at the stretching boy. The younger woman's response to this was, "Mrs. Gibbons, I think you should go home."

The elderly woman narrowed her eyes at Deirdra and yelled at her again. "Don't you see it!? Ms. Sykes, don't you see it?!" The blonde bent over and looked Mrs. Gibbons in the eyes. "There's nothing to see. I think you may be hallucinating. I'll reschedule your appointment for tomorrow. I think you she go home and rest, alright?" She gave the old lady a fake comforting smile and then Mrs. Gibbons nodded back to her. "Yes, yes. I must be tired. I..." A look at Van. " Thank you." She glanced once more at Deirdra before hobbling outside.

When the woman was gone, Ms. Sykes turned to the boy and sighed. "You should be more careful about your mutation. You could've gotten caught by someone who wasn't senile and I would've had to hurt them." She slid back behind her desk and looked at her chart, crossing out the woman from the schedule. She then jotted her in for the next day. Dr. Stevens peeked out at Deirdra, concerned. "What was all that yelling?" The blonde glanced up at him and smiled. "Oh, I think Mrs. Gibbons hasn't been sleeping well. I sent her home and told her to come back tomorrow." The dentist nodded and stared at the woman a moment. He didn't seem to notcie the boy at all and once he walked away again, Deirdra smirked and shrugged.

It was strange, Van had no idea what to say to the old woman, he just sort of stood there--gaping like a fish out of water. Thankfully, the receptionist had enough air in her lungs to cover his deficiencies socially at the moment. It was stranger though, that she didn't seem freaked out by the boy's appendages, far from it actually. Was she--was she helping him? There was some cooing and some pushing and after a moment the blond woman managed to convince the elderly one that she was imagining the whole thing. It didn't make any sense, why would she do something like that? Most people freaked out and kicked him out. It was like being a mutant made him a leper, but the receptionist totally lied to the old woman's face to help him and she didn't even flinch.

Cue more fish-like gaping and some staring at the chair the woman had been standing on. This staring was intensified when Ms.Skyes(?) told him to be more careful with his mutation and that she'd have hurt someone less senile over the situation. What. The. Hell. Van was suddenly reminded of the woman with the clawed feet and he felt a shiver run up his spine. Before he could close his mouth or respond, a door opened. This made the boy jump, his arm flinging about wildly as his whole body convulsed. It was always kind of disgusting to look at when his body was stretched, his arm looked like a fleshy colored snake on the floor when it finally landed and settled itself after his fright.

The doctor stuck his head out of the door and his mustache winked at the young mutant but the rest of him didn't seem to notice anything off. It was kinda gross the way he stared at the woman who had returned to her post behind the desk. Van looked from doctor to woman until the door was once again closed and the facial hair had retreated from view. He tried to bring his breathing to a normal rate so that he could focus on bringing the wayward arm back in. This was more than a bit difficult, as his mind was whirring with other things. Turning on his heels, Van looked at the receptionist. "What did you mean that you'd have had to hurt them?" Confusion and anxiety were etched in the boy's face.

This is why he hated dental offices--they were dens of discomfort full of tortuously uncomfortable small talk and apparently mutant hating old women and hot secretaries that lied and said cryptic things. Van could have gotten this treatment in your average crappy science fiction movie, why did he need to go across town?

Deirdra turned and looked at the teenage boy. He had been flailing in the background and now he was staring at her and he looked concerned. She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “What?” The woman took out a few files and began to sort things into them, not even looking at Van anymore. "You're wondering what I meant when I said I'd hurt someone?" She picked up a paper and read it before putting it into a blue file. "I thought that was a bit obvious. What does it mean when most people say they would have to hurt someone?" Deirdra looked up at the boy and with cold eyes she said, "If someone had realized you were a mutant, I'd have had to kill them."

Looking back down at her work, she sighed. The woman acted as if what she had said was no big deal. "My kind comes before those pathetic...humans. Better I save you, than let them rat you out for all to know and spread." There was a straight-forward, intense loathing in her voice. "Especially since you're only a kid." Memories of her childhood flooded into her mind and Deirdra angrily shook her head. After a moment of some quiet thinking, the blond glanced back at Van and gave him a smile. "Are you curious about my mutation at all?" A pause. "If you are, I can show you it, but we'll have to wait until later unless we can get Dr. Stevens to go out for some reason."

The Blondie scribbled something on her notepad and wiggled her pen between her pointer and middle finger on her right hand. "I can't wait until I get done with my schooling so I don't have to work in this dump anymore. Believe it or not, I'm not a very social person." She laughed. "Well, I guess it depends on the person." Deirdra was a fan of the male gender and loved to flirt. She didn't care if they were human for a while, but when she got bored with someone and knew they were a human, she'd usually leave or hurt the person. On rare occassion, she'd do something worse. This wasn't a frequent occurence or a fact known by anyone. This was because she had become quite skilled at pretending and her method of getting rid of people was by toxins was hard to trace. Not to mention no one would suspect a dental assistant of having access to poisonous creatures. Of course no one knew she was the poisonous creature.

Ouch. She'd made him feel stupid in less than ten words. Why were older, attractive women so good at doing that to Van? Did he wear a sign on his forehead or something? Did he smell pathetic and like an easy target to these ladies? Seriously, it was a wee bit insane how the boy seemed to attract to him all of these strong, intelligent, beautiful, scary-as-hell older women in seemingly average situations. I'm never going to get married. The young mutant decided just as any stupidity he felt was overshadowed by some disbelief. Did she just say she'd kill someone if the found out he was a mutant? Cue another flash of the woman with the clawed feet. Van wondered if they had book club together or something.

She was just so honest about it--like it was no big deal.

Before Van could respond verbally (physically he tensed up and his slowly inching back arm stopped it's inch to quiver in fear), she went on to make an anti-human comment. Her tone this time made the boy tense up even more. Hot,crazy, anti-human receptionists were not something you expected at a dentist's office. He just stood there for a moment as she seemed to be thinking with a slightly shocked look on his face. What.The.Hell?

She smiled a moment later and told the boy that she'd show him her mutation later, if he wanted her to. This lady was just so...Van couldn't find the words. Random, maybe? Bi-polar? She just changed her face and mood so quickly that the young mutant in front of her got the distinct impression that it would be in his best interests not to make her face darken or cause that tone to emit from her mouth. "Uh, sure. You've already seen mine..." Van trailed off, watching his fingers brush the carpet as his arm became closer and closer to normal length.

The next turn in the conversation was almost a normal one. Ms. Sykes was talking about things your average college girl would say--but she was definitely not a normal college girl. Van was nervous, but he'd already decided to just roll with the situation. "I wouldn't want to work in a dental office either..." For different reasons, but at least he was making an effort to seem normal and cool with the whole appointment.

Damn dental offices for existing and curse his father for making him go in the first place.

The young woman glanced up and noticed that Van looked a little nervous. She laughed and shook her head. "Don't worry, I have no desire to hurt you and I probably never will. That's even more true now that I know you're a mutant. I don't make a habit to hurt kids either. That's just cruel." Deirdra picked up a file and turned it over, trying to figure out what it was for and her brow crinkled. After a moment of searching, the blond sighed and threw it to the side. "It must not be that important if it has no label. The woman here before me wasn't very organized and Dr. Stevens fired her. I ended up having to apply so I could afford to attend college." Another sigh, but this time it sounded more irritated.

The teen seemed like he was making an effort to converse and Deirdra appreciated it. "If possible, do something more interesting with your life. I'm going to school for illustrating." She gave a normal smile and this time it was authentic. "I love to draw. It keeps me out of trouble." The blonde winked at him and grabbed another file. She opened it and tossed in a few papers before placing it back into the cabinet. "I'm not sure why Dr. Stevens is taking so long. I know he's in there with a patient, but I was pretty sure it was supposed to be routine, hm. You aren't in a hurry or anything are you? I could go check back there if you are. I don't mind getting out from behind this desk once and a while." She fidgeted in her chair for a moment. "I get stiff." The blond sighed. "Man, that makes me sound old. 22 isn't that old."

She turned and looked at Van. "So can you stretch your legs and torso too? I bet that could come in handy." Deirdra pictured the boy stretching out to reach something that normally couldn't be attained by normal arms. She also thought it would be convenient if you were in a store and they put something you really wanted all the way at the top. The woman had always hated that. It always had a sign that said to ask for assistance, but that seemed a little silly to her. Why not just put it where your customers could reach? When she had finished thinking to herself, she smiled at the teen. "I can turn my lower half of my body into a scorpion. Now that's a useful mutation, am I right?"

This woman went from hurting people to mutant rights to filing all in one breath it seemed. It was majorly freaking the boy out. She was just so--so cavalier about everything, as if it were obvious that hurting kids was a no-no and that it was okay to hate humans and work with them all the time. Van didn't know if her employer was human or not--but still, she was a freaking human-hating secretary! What. The. Hell. The boy's mind was still spinning with their conversation. "I work at a bookstore." He finally managed to croak out to contribute at least a little bit to their conversation.

Every couple of words she seemed so normal. Van supposed that was why she could keep a job at such a social place. When she smiled, really smiled, she was gorgeous and so normal seeming. How did someone hide their...views so freaking well? He almost relaxed into their conversation for a moment but then he remembered the woman's scathing words from before. And the way she'd handled that old woman with such simple finesse.Van was no good at finesse, he was too honest in his thoughts to be sneaky in his actions. "I'm sure it does..." He meant keeping her out of trouble. The boy doubted his mumble could be heard.

Van wanted to tell the woman that he was in a big hurry and that he'd show up for his appointment another time. He wanted to throw a chair out the window and gnaw his arm off and run. Sadly, he did none of these things, just smiled and laughed nervously when she said she was getting stiff from sitting behind the desk. Instead of exclamations of 'please tell him to hurry up' he even found himself saying: "Don't bother." What's ten more minutes in the place?

She asked him a question about his power. "Yeah, I can stretch most of my body...my legs more than my torso." He didn't really feel like any demonstrations since it had taken so long to get his arm back in order. "Very useful, way cool." This was a genuine statement, Van had never seen someone with a mutation like that before and all the implications of scorpion legs were vaguely fascinating.

Van stated that he worked at a book store. The blond raised an eyebrow at him. “Really? Sounds more interesting than this, but I think this makes more money. I can’t be sure though.” She smirked. “Who knows? Maybe you’re raking in twice as much as me.” It seemed like most people her age were already doing something they wanted to, or at least getting closer to it. Deirdra still felt at arms length from her dream job. Like Van’s extended, freakishly long reach. The woman doodled on a notepad that was used for taking down appointments.

Deirdra couldn’t help but notice that the teen seemed very nervous. Well I can’t blame him. I did say something a little scary. She set down her pencil and smiled at the boy. "I know that just saying it won't put you at ease, but I don't go around hurting people. It's not something I do on a regular basis." The blond paused. "I only you violence when I see no other way out or just don't care to find one. Sometimes humans only respond to violence. It's unfortunatre, but true." She shrugged and looked back down at the pad. Scrunching her eyes, she tilted her head, trying to see if every aspect was correct in the quick sketch.

Dr. Stevens walked out with a woman who appeared to be in her 40s. "Okay Sharlene, you take care. Why don't you make an appointment with Ms. Sykes for about 6 months, okay?" He gave her a friendly smile and patted her on the back in a gentle, friendly manner. The dentist turned and made eye-contact with Van. "Sorry to keep you waiting, young man. Come on back and I'll take a look at those teeth of yours. I'm sure Ms. Sykes kept you good company though. She's a pretty and the best secretary I've ever had." He nodded at Deirdra and she waved at him.

The dentist walked back into his office, expecting the teen to follow. The blond smiled at Van. "By the way, that's a very interesting ability you have. I'm glad to hear that someone else believes what I can do is useful." She was hinting at their mutation discussion, but wouldn't say it directly sense the older woman was now with them in the lobby. " Have a nice teeth cleaning."

She raised her eyebrow at him and Van resisted the urge to wince. Instead he just smiled politely and said: "I doubt I made more than you do." The Full Circle was fair in the payment department but he highly doubted she was making minimum wage or less. She seemed good at her job so the boy could find no reason for her not to be making a decent paycheck--although hers seemed to be going to schooling and...Van's money wasn't going anywhere near a school at the moment--it was all for his camera and whatever bills his dad needed just a little help with.

It seemed she could tell he was freaked out. The boy mused on beautiful women having the super-human ability to smell fear, they seemed really good at picking up on his at least. He didn't say anything in reply--he didn't want to get into an argument about humans and mutants at the dentist, it didn't seem appropriate.

The good doctor and his facial hair and a woman walked out of the office, they were both smiling. In a moment of sudden Van-ness, the boy leaned closer to the receptionist and whispered: "They are totally having quickies in his office. Just wait, she'll be back next week with 'tooth pain'." He smirked and then turned to face his Doom.

He barely heard what she was saying to him as he stared at the dentist's mustache. It was just so...bushy and loooong. Van was creeped out just imagining it hanging down over him. "Yeah, later." He murmured, as he took one hesitant step towards the door to the room and then another. Oh god that this is so gross. A moment later, it seemed, the door was closing behind him.

Van HATED the dentist.