lemonheadd
"Open your mouth," Robby says.
It's always simple. Dennis opens his mouth.
His eyes stay on Robby's. They don't waver, and they don't look away. They don't do anything except remain. He brings the full attending quality, the whole-body presence, and the decided quality that Dennis brings to everything he's decided when he finally has.
"I'm going to spit in it. So you know what my words taste like when I say them with you on my mind."
Dennis lets out a breath. Not a reactive or theatrical gasp. Nothing like that. He lets out a breath, steady and short, like something released that has been held for a while. Like a dam being broken. Like relief, palpable and clean.
"Yes, sir."
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Doctor Michael Robinavitch dreads staying in one place for too long. Seeking a more pastoral experience, he sets up a private practice in the flat, private fields of Nebraska. Upon hearing of a new doctor's arrival near town, a bright and eager young man with an aptitude for medicine and peculiar scars begins to show up at his doorstep. First for treatment, then for training. All kinds of training.