"Don't worry Pearls, it's going to be fine."
"Bur Mr. Nick! You've never gotten braces before so you wouldn't know!"
"Pearly, just think about it! After this, you can eat all the ice cream you want!"
"Well, alright..."
Phoenix sighed gratefully. Maya was a life saver when it came to Pearl. Sometimes.
He looked around the orthodontist office. It looked nice with a couch and a table, the reception counter a few feet away with a nice looking lady sitting there. And then pictures of people with the very thing in their mouth as Pearl was about to get.
Braces. Pearl feared them. But they were for her own health, so she had agreed to get them. That was before Larry told her how he had gotten them when he was little. According to him, they had hurt as much as one of Paula's slaps. Now she wasn't so sure she wanted to get them and it was up to Phoenix and Maya to help her get through it.
"Pearl Fey? You can come in now," said the lady at the reception counter.
The little girl gulped and took her cousin's hand. This could even potentially be as bad as getting reruns of Children's Educational Workshop, or -gasp- The Steel Samurai canceled!
The man waved at the two receding figures before absently flipping through a magazine. Now, what's this about Franziska wearing a thong...?
Not an hour later, the two Fey's came out of the office. Maya seemed to be wringing her right hand with a grimace of pain written all over her face as Pearl smiled broadly.
"Mr. Nick! Look!" Pearl opened her mouth and showed off her teeth. The covers were a soft lilac color, similar to her thin coat.
"See Pearls, it wasn't that bad, was it?" He ruffled the little girl's hair affectionately.
She shook her head. "Not a bit! I could barely feel it. But, I held Mystic Maya's hand a bit hard the entire time..." She bit the end of her thumb and looked at her honored cousin.
"Its fine Pearly! Doesn't hurt a bit," she lied. She held her hands up and waves them around for emphasis, smashing them against the wall in the process. "Oooow..."
Phoenix held back the urge to roll his eyes at his almost 20 year old assistant. She might have about 20 years under her belt, but her mind had stopped growing at age 10. Or younger.
They walked out of the orthodantist's office and Pearl remarked, "I wonder how it's like eating with braces on."
Maya's stomach growled loudly. "We should go eat! I'm starving!"
"Maya, is there a time when you're not hungry?"
"I don't think so."
He sighed.
Half an hour and a cab drive later, the trio found themselves in front of one of LA's best noodle shops. If by best noodle 'shop' you meant traveling hand-pulled cart.
"E-L-D-O-O-N... Eldoon's Noodles?" Pearl attempted to read the writing on the cart.
"Yup! Pearly, you're going to love it. The noodles are soooo good," Maya, ever the expert food guru, gushed.
She hopped up to the counter and was joined by her companions. "Hey there Mr. Eldoon! I'll have my regular."
"Well if it isn't my little Maya-Doll! I was getting lonely here." the old man said in a gruff voice.
He seemed to be getting along in his years, crow's feet and wrinkles starting to appear on his face. He had yellow hair that Phoenix thought looked rather fake, like a wig. He also couldn't help but question his style. That bowl on the man's head was really bothering the attorney.
"Who are your friends here?"
Maya beamed. "This is Nick. He's my boss, I guess. But really all he does is clean the toilet. And that's Pearly. She's a spirit medium just like me and really good at it."
He inspected them for a minute. "An' what would you two like?"
"Just a bowl of normal ramen please."
"Do you have a kid's size?"
"Of course we do, Pearly honey. So, a normal, a small, and an extra large for you," he recited, looking from Phoenix to Pearl to Maya.
He put his hands together for a moment and whistled into them, creating a sound not unlike a harmonica. He turned to make the meal. Phoenix questioned the man's sanity.
Shortly after, he turned around and displayed the bowls. "Enjoy," he said. He dissappeared quickly.
"Alright, let's eat!" The overly eager girl-lady-baby picked up her bowl and started devouring her food.
Pearl was cautious. The braces didn't hurt too much right now. She bit down and contemplated the feeling. It didn't hurt too bad, but there was a feeling of slight soreness.
Hesitantly, she picked up her chopsticks and brought a mouthful of food up. She slurped it into her mouth and chewed. The food was sort of salty, but that could easily be overlo-
She winced as her front tooth smashed against her bottom ones. That hurt. A lot.
"Pearls, you alright?"
"M-Mr. Niiiick! It hurts!" She wailed.
"Try chewing with your molars," Maya suggested. Of course, because of the food in her mouth, it sounded more like 'Twy fooing wif yo moars'.
She did try. The pain was less sever, almost gone.
"That's much better," she said with a sigh. She turned to the heir of the Fey channeling technique but stopped.
Maya was too busy ordering more food.
Phoenix watched her and wondered how salty one bowl of ramen could get. Maybe it was an acquired taste.
By the time the trio got back to the office from their lunch break, Phoenix was sure that his 'trusty' sidekick had gained 15(+) pounds.
Pearl yawned suddenly. "Mr. Nick, Mystic Maya, I feel sort of tired."
"Whats wrong Pearly? You not sleepin' well?"
The brunette nodded. "I'm going to take a nap on the couch, alright?"
The man nodded. "Take as long as you want Pearls."
She flopped onto the couch in the office's backroom. Yawning into her hand, the little girl got comfortable and let the calming feeling of sleep wash over her quickly.
When she woke up, she could hear the TV showing a rerun of the Pink Princess and the cry of, "You go! You can win this!" Typical Maya.
She swung her legs off the side of the makeshift bed and checked the clock. 4:30.
She went into the main part of the workplace and waved to her friends.
"Hey Pearls, how are you feeling now?" Phoenix opened the door to the bathroom where he had been cleanig the toilet. Again.
Pearl walked over to Maya and picked up a chip from the bag she had been holding. The younger of the two questioned her cousin's tastes. Chicken burger chips seasoned with garlic? She popped it into her mouth thinking it couldn't be too bad. And it actually kind of tasted good.
And then she brought her hand up to her face and clutched her jaw. "Oooow!!!"
"Huh? Pearly, what's wrong?" Maya looked half looked at the girl, and half at the tv. It was very creepy and Phoenix was going to have nightmares of that.
"It hursh when my teetsh touch each otsher..." She spoke in a slight lisp from the pain.
Maya guffawed before saying, "Aw Pearly, that sucks!"
"Yeah, ouch," Phoenix agreed, placing a hand on the mini spirit medium. He held out a glass of water and aspirin for the girl.
"Thank you Mishter Nick." She took the pills and swallowed them down with a hearty helping of water obediantly.
The older girl moved over on her seat on the couch and patted the area around her, signaling for the others to sit next to her.
They obeyed and lived the rest of the day perfectly watching The Steel Samurai. Atleast, until Maya threw the remote at the TV when the Evil Magistrate tried to destroy Neo Old Tokyo and Pearl started to cry when she hit her hand against her mouth.
Phoenix got out of it unscarred. Atleast until he stepped on a particularily sharp chip that Maya dropped and had to nurse it on the couch all day.