The Storm Giants by Pearce Hansen

He wanted to see the receptionist again, if only to sneak glances from a safe distance.
    He reclined in the dental chair looking up at Doctor D's backlit face as that insectile drill descended to bite. Pain blossomed inside the tooth Doctor D picked for that day.
    It was , if anything, worse than before. Everett writhed in the chair, the whine of the drill stabbing into his ears as he reached deep into self for the place the pain called home. He found the crimson root of it, studying it as if it belonged to someone else and didn’t matter.
    The tortured nerves inside the tooth expanded to become Everett’s whole world. He visualized grasping them with the mind like a handful of jangling piano wires and – sent them away again. The pain was no more than a balloon bobbing on a string, distant and separate from him. He had controlled it.
    Doctor D’s breath came in hoarse gasps as he focused on his drilling. He became aware of Everett’s smug gaze and pulled the drill away. "So. The puppy believes he is stronger."
    He stuck the drill in Everett’s mouth and dug it deep into the root of the tooth's exposed nerve, pressing deft and hard. The pain came back to stab Everett like a bolt of storm lightning, and his body convulsed with the thunder of it.
    Doctor D withdrew his tool. "That is all the drilling for today."
    He filled the tooth and Everett left the room.
    The blonde was waiting to the side of this door this time, as if having learned from experience. She beckoned to him, then turned and walked away. Everett looked all around, and then followed her.
    She led the way down the hall and around the corner. She took his hand and pulled him into a broom closet. She dropped to her knees , fumbling hungrily at his pants and pulling them down to his ankles.
    Everett was mortified for a moment, every boy’s nightmare of being naked in public flashing before his eyes. Then her nails were digging into his buttocks and her mouth surrounded him to become his entire world. Sensation crashed on sensation as he stared at the mops and soaps and cleaning supplies until he finished with a loud cry.
    He leaned against the wall, pulling up his pants with a feeling of emptiness. She wiped her mouth and repaired her lipstick, and then adjusted her coif in her pocket mirror without looking at him. She left without a word, making him feel like he wasn’t even there. The closet was cold, so very cold.
    After a bit Everett peeked out into the empty hall and crept to the empty waiting room. He heard a woman’s moans behind the closed door to Doctor D’s work station, rhythmic and repetitive. He slunk out of the office.
    N o vomiting on the walk home this time. Everett engaged in lustful wonderment regarding the receptionist. It had happened so suddenly, out of the blue. It was over so quickly. Had it even been real?
    Alternating with his confusion and horniness , Everett was enraged with himself. This was a trial of wills, and he had failed. Doctor D had gotten the better of it once again. However, it was the receptionist he dreamt of that night.
    The next visit Everett spent the entire session staring into Dr. D’s eyes as he dug and probed and twisted with the drill. Everett put the pain inside a well lit little house this time, with himself outside looking in.
    He could see t he pain through the windows. Its lights throbbed and pulsed in the middle of that imaginary room like some obscene Christmas tree, but it couldn’t touch Everett where he stood out there alone in the dark.
    It was nothing at all.
    Doctor D gave up and put away the drill. He filled Everett’s tooth with a brusque minimum of motions. Standing to leave, Everett hazarded a smile at the dentist. Was this man’s approval being sought?
    Dr. D did not smile back. He clicked his heels and inclined his head in a miniscule bow, which made no sense to Everett.
    When Everett exited the room the receptionist stood at the end of the hall, waiting comfortably. She walked around