Stein looked in the mirror, his right pointer finger hooked around his lips, his cheek pulled away to expose his teeth. There was a look of disgust on the man's face, his left hand holding a rarely used tool inside his mouth, the small mirror reflecting in the larger one and showing him the exact cause of the discomfort he had felt when he tried to drink his coffee that morning.

The tooth in question was markedly darker than the rest, and the gum surrounding it was slightly swollen. He sat the mouth mirror on the desk beside the larger mirror and paced for a moment, only vaguely aware of Marie's presence in the room, automatically tuning it out as he did so often. He moved over to his operating table and sighed, looking at the array of tools on the stand beside it.

He wasn't a dentist. He could probably remove the offending tooth, but he wasn't trained to do a root canal if that was what was necessary. He would much rather have a root canal performed than lose the tooth. With a shake of his head he moved over to the computer and started to pull up information on how to perform a root canal in addition to a simple tooth extraction when he felt Marie's hand land on his shoulder.

"If you need to see a doctor, we'll take you to one," she said with a smile on her face.

Stein hated that smile. She used it whenever she thought that she was right and was going to do everything that she could to convince him. He just sighed, turning his attention back to the screen.

She left the matter alone for the next couple of days, but he noticed little changes in the way that she cooked. His coffee was warm, not hot. They had spaghetti without meat the next day. The day after that she made beef and noodles; the beef was so tender it fell apart as he tried to eat it. They had oatmeal for breakfast both days.

And she still wore that same smile.

He decided that he would perform the operation after she had gone to bed, and forced a smile on his face when she served him soup with overcooked noodles for dinner. He sat in the kitchen after they had finished eating, a notebook in hand, reading through what he would have to do. His small handwriting covered the page and he stopped a few times to imagine the procedure up to that point, his eyes closed in concentration. He completely tuned out Marie's wavelength.

He finally stood, still absorbed in the notebook, and walked through the rooms that Marie had proclaimed a living room and dining room, down a hallway, and stopped with his hand on the handle to his research lab.

Something felt wrong, and Marie's smile flashed behind his eyelids.

He pushed the door open, the notebook falling from his hand. His tools were gone. His patch-worked chair was facing the door, a smiley-faced post-it note attached to it in plain view. He moved over to it, one hand moving to twist the screw in his head.

You're going to the dentist.

Marie laughed to herself, Stein seething in the car beside her. He could see that smile of hers, pulling at her lips and he sighed as he sat his chin in his hand to stare out the window. He hid the wince as the heel of his hand pressed against the damaged tooth, making sure that she didn't see the discomfort.

He was silent the entire way to the dentist, bristling when Marie compared him to a sullen eight year old. He followed her obediently; his hands were shoved in his lab coat's pockets, fingering the syringe that was in the right pocket, knowing he could sedate her and return to the lab before she realized what had happened. His hand released the syringe though and he followed her silently into the office.

He stood, much like a child would, as Marie checked him in. He glared at the receptionist, well aware of his behavior, and waited sullenly in the waiting area. He stood and walked in front of Marie behind the nurse, his mouth a thin line, and stopped in the door that led to the exam area.

"I believe that only patients are allowed here, Marie," he said, more than a trace of smugness in the smirk that slipped over his features.

"Oh, nonsense. If she's going to be taking you home, she's welcome to come in for the exam, though the doctor will probably have her leave when he starts the procedure," the nurse cut in.

The smirk fell from Stein's face, and Marie smiled. The nurse completed the exam, before leaving with a promise that the doctor would be in soon.

"Doctor," Stein scoffed.

"Behave, Franken. He went to school for this just like you did."

"Hardly."

Stein's head snapped up as the dentist entered the room. "Actually, I have completed 10 years of schooling." Stein's eyes narrowed as the man continued, "I'm an Endodontist. That was an additional 2 years of schooling on top of the 4 year bachelor's degree and 4 more in dental school. I assume that is why your wife brought you to me, Mr. Stein."

"Doctor Stein, and she isn't my wife." Stein almost missed the slight flare in Marie's wavelength.

"Ah, here you are the patient, and my apologies for the mistake." The dentist moved past Stein and pulled down a device from the wall. "I'm going to be taking a small x-ray of your teeth so I can tell whether you do need a root canal or not. If you don't mind, would you wait in the waiting room, Ms…?"

"Marie. Just let me know when I can take Franken home," she said with a smile and the dentist nodded.

After she had left the room, he turned his full attention to Stein. "The screw in your head, it is going to interfere with the x-ray. I don't want to know why it is there, I'm simply warning you."

Stein was silent and the dentist sighed, pinching his nose. "I get it. You're a doctor, you don't want to be here, and you would be much happier if you could do this for yourself. You don't have to like me; I just need you to answer my questions when I ask them."

Stein's responses were minimalistic. The x-rays were taken and developed while he waited alone in the room, and he was silent again when the doctor came back in.

"I'll be performing a root canal. That means I'll need to both numb your gums and administer laughing gas."

"It won't work."

There was silence.

"Excuse me?"

"I have a high tolerance to sedation of any kind. You'll have to use above the recommended dosage."

The doctor just nodded. "We'll see about that, I suppose. I'm not doing a root canal without some type of sedation."

Stein was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Deep breaths."

"I know."

"Don't speak."

Stein was silent, taking deep breaths through his nose, his mouth held open, as a needle was inserted into the offending gum. He felt the rush of anesthetic into the area, but he also still felt the needle. The dentist looked down at him expectantly and he just gave an almost apologetic shrug of his shoulders.

A moment later he felt something tap against his gums. "Do you feel that?" Stein just nodded.

The anesthesiologist looked at the dentist who shrugged. "Dial it up."

Stein took careful, deep breaths of the laughing gas as they injected two more doses of anesthetic into his gum. He blinked slowly, the entire situation incredibly amusing to him even as his clinical mind realized that the dosage of the gas must have gone up as well. A slight giggle escaped him.

"Did you feel that?" Stein's eyes met the dentist's and he almost started to ask what he was supposed to feel before he just shook his head. "Good, not as resistant as you thought, though you were right. It was well over the recommended dose."

Stein felt the smirk pull at his lips as he couldn't stop the laugh. The next hour passed in a blur, as the man worked on the tooth. After he had finished he removed the mask and told Stein to remain sitting while he went to get Marie.

Stein closed his eyes just for a moment, taking a deep breath of air. When he opened them just a second later Marie was standing in front of him.

"Let's go home, Franken."

He spoke before he thought, and she froze. "I like it here. It's quiet." Then he laughed and stumbled a bit.

"I had to give him a higher dose of anesthesia than normal, Ms. Marie, so it may take a little longer to wear off."

"That's alright," she said with a smile.

Stein was leaning against the wall, one hand on it and the other on his knee.

"Do you want some help getting him outside?" the dentist asked, obviously comparing the height difference.

"We'll manage, thank you."

The dentist just watched as the pair left.

Stein stumbled again, shaking his head, trying to clear it, and before he realized it, his arm was draped over Marie's shoulder and he was leaning against her as they walked. He laughed, and she smiled.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Her words slurred a little to his ears, but he just shook his head. "I need to get some of that," he said slowly.

"No."

"But-"

They had arrived at the car and she opened the door for him. "No buts, Franken. You have enough things that you can use to knock people out, and frankly I'm not comfortable with you adding another."

"But-"

"No."

She shut the door after he slid into the seat, and moved over to the driver's side, placing the pile of papers in Stein's lap. His hands wrapped around them, but he didn't bother to even look at it. They drove in silence for a moment, the aftereffects of the laughing gas and anesthetic slowly wearing off.

"I want one." Marie glanced over at him, the man's head leaning back against the headrest. "They're so relaxing."

"They're for people who need to be relaxed before a surgery, Franken, and you're not going to be performing any surgeries."

"Maybe I will."

"No."

"I like performing surgery."

"I don't care if you do, you will not be performing any surgeries."

"I will if I want to."

"No you will not."

"And why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That's dumb. You don't get to boss me around. It's my house."

"Lab."

"You're the one that insists on calling it a house. And it's still mine."

Marie laughed. "You sound like an eight year old again, Stein. Arguing with me over something, and telling me that it's dumb that I said no."

Stein was silent. "Well, it is."

Stein looked into his mouth, the swelling having finally gone down completely, the pain gone as well. He thought back to the trip home from the dentist, bits and pieces flitting through the fog of the anesthesia.

He still wanted a machine that would produce laughing gas, and he decided that it was high time to go shopping for one. From what he remembered of his conversation with Marie, he knew that she would be against it, and he decide to order it without her knowledge.

That was, until he tried to place the order and found that the credit card he carried in his wallet was missing, along with anything else he could use to order something that expensive. He focused his Soul Perception and he could almost feel the smugness in her wavelength, and see the smile on her face.

"That's dumb," he whispered under his breath, a chuckle escaping him.

A/N: This was prompted from the word 'Dumb' and the plotline: "Stein after a dentist appointment, the laughing gas still having not worn off yet. You can take it where ever you want from there." from Greyvss. I hope you enjoyed :D