𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜'𝙨 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙬 // scaramouche x oc

Chapter 28 - Old Acquaintances

Scaramouche's Perspective

"How sweet of you to help out a comrade in need~" Dottore mused, making himself at home on the couch beside me.

"Although I wonder . . ."

I stacked my sixth shot on the counter, my cheeks flush.

"If you're quite alright yourself, Balladeer."

Rolling my eyes, I poured myself another glass, swishing the amber liquid around. "How about you mind your own business, Doctor?"

We sat in silence for a while, and after my tenth shot, the Doctor grabbed me by the wrist.

"That's enough, Scaramouche," he said sternly. "She's just a girl."

He was right.

She was just a girl, and here I was, about to get wasted over the thought of her.

I glared at him. "Don't you have any more crazy experiments to be doing? Any more abductions you need imperial funding for?"

"How could I not want to be a part of this fairy tale that's unfolding between my own colleagues?" Il Dottore laughed. "You visited brothel after brothel, and yet your affections never wavered from power. Tell me with honesty, Balladeer. Are you falling in love?"

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Curling up behind a marble pillar, I caught my breath, hiccupping between shallow, sharp inhales.

I really was a fool.

Regaining my composure, I rose to my feet, swearing under my breath in Inazuman.

"Miss Rin? Is that really you?"

I turned around slowly, covering my mouth in disbelief.

"Alyona?"

Without thinking, she rushed towards me, the papers in her hands fluttering to the ground, and pulled me into a tight embrace.

I hugged her back, wishing that this moment would last forever.

Of course.

How could I forget the countless gentle hands who had hoisted me up when I was down? How could I forget the countless kindred spirits who had come to my side in my darkest times?

She pulled away, giving me a radiant smile. "I look different, don't I?"

It took my mind a moment to process Alyona's new appearance. A mask rested atop her dirty blonde curls, and her hazel eyes were speckled with sage. Instead of the Cicin Mage uniform, she wore the dark violet robes of the Intelligence Company.

"You got promoted!" I exclaimed excitedly, grabbing her hands. "You should've written to me, Alyona!"

"All my letters got filtered out by security, Miss," she sighed. "I completed training top of the Lady Signora asked me if I wanted to undergo surgery to extract the Cicin genes from my body. I agreed, and after that was done, I got accepted into Intelligence."

Wiping away the tears in my eyes, I smiled. "You deserved it, Alyona. You really did."

"You deserved it too! I can't believe you're really a Harbinger, Miss!" Alyona leaned in coyly. "By the way, are the rumors true?"

"What rumors?"

"Are you really courting Lord Childe?"

I flushed, swatting away the comment like a pest. "Of course not! I told you I would never even consider courting anyone outside of my homeland!"