“Kowalski, don’t you argue with me-”
“Yes, you do! Now come on! Let go of the wall, you’re gonna freak Private out!”
“I am not having my wisdom teeth removed!”
Skipper huffed, letting go of his grip that tugged on Kowalski’s hands. He straightened up, puffing out his chest and arms crossed over his chest.
“Kowalski, they need to remove them one day, just get it done and over with, please!”
The taller man refused, shaking his head as he kept a hold on the turned wall.
Another figure emerged from the opening of the wall- an arch doorway- that Kowalski held on to, carrying a child. He eyed the two down, raising a brow and giving a small laugh. The child whimpered, slightly shaky from all the noise.
“What’s going on here, you guys?” the man, Johnson, asked, running his hand through Private’s short curls.
“Skipper’s forcing me to get my wisdom teeth removed, and I am not going to do that,” Kowalski answered, pressing his back into the wall. Silently, he tried to give Johnson a ‘please help me’ sign as he spoke.
Johnson lowered his eyes, taking a moment to think. He leaned back on the other side of the arch Kowalski was on, gently beginning to bounce his baby brother in his arms.
“Kowalski, look, we know you’re afraid of the dentist, but you’ll be fine. You’re in good hands- they’re acquainted with the North Wind medical crew,” Johnson said.
“Yeah, there’s nothing to be afraid of, they know what they’re doing. What got you to be so afraid of dentists anyway?” Skipper added on, finally getting into a more soothing and assuring approach with the usually nervous man.
Kowalski stared back at them, mouth agape slightly and eyes unbelieving. “I don’t understand how you guys can say that! What about when you had your wisdom teeth removed?!”
Skipper and Johnson looked at each other, both trying to think back.
“Both of you and Manfredi! You all got some sort of infection when you did this! Hell, you ran a bad fever for a week, Skipper!”
Skipper gave an unsure chuckle, hands in front of him as he spoke. “Well, yeah, we did. But that was us! And we’re still alive, aren’t we? We probably just didn’t know how to properly take care of it, but you do! And, we can even get Classified to keep you in their care until you’re okay if that’ll make you feel better.”
Kowalski stood his ground, biting his bottom lip as he kept close against the wall.
“Kowalski, it won’t be too bad. We’ll be there with you if you decide to stay,” Johnson further added, trying to get Kowalski to agree. He looked down upon feeling a gentle warmth on his chest as Private rested his head on him, hands playing with his white tie that was neatly tucked into his vest. He smirked slightly, grabbing the child by the sides and holding him out, in front of Kowalski.
“Look, being bed ridden by your wisdom teeth will give you a good excuse to cuddle with your baby brother for a few days~” he teased, amused as Private played along and made grabby hands and bubbly giggles towards Kowalski.
Kowalski looked at the two adults, eyes squinted as he gave a low and raspy groan. Then he looked at the kid, who continued to grab for him playfully.
He crossed his arms, hands tight, as he slowly lifted himself from the wall. He hummed lowly again, defeated as he took Private into his arms, who immediately wrapped his tiny arms around Kowalski’s neck into a loving hug.
“Fine, just get this crap over with.”
“That’s what I’m talking about, soldier!” Skipper laughed, patting Kowalski’s back.
Before leaving to call the others to go, Skipper peaked back into the room, locking eyes with Kowalski. “Oh, and after this, that’s a dollar in the swear jar for those two curses,” he taunted playfully.
“What? But one swear is a quarter and I only said two! One of them isn’t even a proper swear!”
“Yeah, but it is for Private, haha! And the two extras are for saying them in front of Private!”
