The Thermos, The Wings, and The Terrible News

The Tooth Fairy Bureau of Phoenix, Arizona, operated out of a tiny invisible office wedged between a cactus and a mailbox on Saguaro Street. It smelled like bubblegum and, faintly, like chicken soup.

Dr. Pinkie sat at her desk painting her nails a glittery rose pink. Dr. Hearts leaned back in his chair scrolling his phone, completely unbothered by everything. Dr. Mikey spun slowly in his chair, tossing a quarter into the air and catching it.

Then the door opened.

Dr. Skull walked in, black hair falling past his shoulders, heavy bangs hiding his left eye completely. He set a silver thermos on the desk with a firm *clunk* and pulled out a crumpled assignment slip.

"Four kids," he said flatly, not looking at anyone. "Phoenix metro area. All with overbites."

Mikey caught his quarter and grinned. "Sounds like your kind of party, Skull."

Skull didn't smile.

Thermos Weather and Terrible News

Skull unscrewed his thermos and took a long sip of warm chicken blood. Nobody at the bureau said anything about it anymore.

Dr. Pinkie slid a printed page across the desk. It had four names, four addresses, and four school photos clipped to the corner — three boys and a girl, all around ten or eleven, all with the same thing: big, dramatic overbites.

"Collin, Brandon, Will, and Brooke," she said brightly. "They've got appointments scheduled at Desert Smiles Dental next Thursday."

"They're not going," said Mikey, spinning a quarter. "Brooke told her mom her stomach hurt. Collin literally hid in a trash can to avoid the bus."

Hearts looked up from his phone. "A trash can?"

"A trash can."

Skull stared at the photos. Then a drone buzzed through the tiny office window — one of the bureau's delivery drones, boxy and dented — and dropped a second notice onto the desk. It was stamped in red.

FINAL WARNING: FOUR UNCOLLECTED OVERBITE CASES. NON-COMPLIANCE = REASSIGNMENT.

Pinkie's glittery nails stopped moving.

"Reassignment," she said quietly. "That means—"

"Filing," said Mikey. He wasn't spinning the quarter anymore.