Prompt : Write a fic (can be fluff, hurt/comfort, whatever the author sees fit) where a character has crooked teeth because of their cleft palate (lip is optional) and needs to get braces.
Fred showed up at the press one day, unusually quiet. While Nancy appreciated that she didn't have to listen to his usual pestering about her relationship with Jonathan, it was still a tad bit concerning that he suddenly seemed to go mute. As annoying as she may have found him, he was still a sort-of friend to her, so she couldn't help but feel at least a little worried over his silence.
"Fred?" she asked, only feeling more concerned as he simply looked at her with a small nod of acknowledgment. "You haven't been talking all day. Why?" she questioned, only receiving a head shake in response. "I'm not gonna judge you for whatever it is, but it's kind of hard to work with my editor when he won't actually talk to me"
The editor exhaled through his nose, seeing as he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of this interaction, and he turned to her with a self-conscious expression. "I got braces" he said simply, revealing his newly braced teeth. Nancy's expression softened at this admission. "I look silly, so I just thought-"
"You don't look silly, Fred" Nancy assured him. "Why did you need them?"
"Part of my... Disfigurement" he responded, vaguely gesturing at the scars and slight malformation of his upper lip. He didn't talk about it much, but from what little he did, Nancy had pieced together that he'd been born with a birth defect that'd been fixed when he was young, which had affected both the appearance of his upper lip as well as a number of other things- Including his teeth.
"Okay" Nancy replied with a small smile, wanting to get across that she didn't judge him for this medical intervention. "Can we get back to work now?"
"Of course"
