I want to make fake teeth.

Fangs. Like a large cat.

I've learned a thing or two baout about making precision moulds

And so, on a rainy bike ride of a maybe-date, we went to see a denturist.

In Nelson. Which is full of hills.

Your mouth is full of saliva, a watery solution.

Yes, yours. I've checked.

Water is a polar molecule.

This means that it dissolves ionic bonds and other things composed of polar molecules.

Like table salt.

Dentures are best made of a non-polar molecule.

The denturist leant me some supplies with which to make fake teeth.

You use a non-polar powder and dissolve it in a non-polar solution, adding a catalyst. It melts together, the solution evaporates and you have the basic structure.

Acetone is a common solution.

Nail polish is like 3% acetone.

The stuff he lent me is industrial strength.

He capped the open spout with denturist's wax.

Denturist's wax can be used as a seal, but it's not really designed for it.

Which is to say that you should only use it to seal things that are sitting still on a table.

And not, things which are in a backpack on a bicyclist in a city built on hills.

We did not know this at the time.

My backpack now hangs open in the fume room.

I might pick it up tomorrow.

Might.

Everything that was in it, and everything it touched, now reeks of concentrated acetone.

I just took a long shower.