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☆ Disclaimer: This chapter is separate from the main storyline ☆
You walked down to the lab with a cup of coffee in your hand. When you reached the bottom of the stairs, you heard loud laughter from the other side of the door.
You knocked harshly, and Prime opened the door, he took the coffee from your hand, "Well if it isn't, my lovely assistant." He ushered you in.
Many Dottores were waiting for you, some of them you recognised, others who waved at you, and a few gave you a genuine smile, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Prime placed his coffee down before turning to face you, "My dear," He said gently taking a hold of your hands, "It is a tradition that on our birthday none of us work, we leave everything to our assistant and even try to stop them from doing the work. However, we do give you two hours to prepare yourself,"
Your mouth fell agape, it was his birthday and you didn't have anything to give him. Thankfully he gave you two hours, but you had no idea what to get.
"When does my time start?" You questioned.
"As soon as you step out the door, however, you must take those two hours before midday."
You decided to sprint up the stairs immediately and run to Pierro's office. Once you arrived at the office you caught your breath and knocked on the door.
The door opened to reveal Sidwell and Pierro both discussing some paperwork, but they stopped as soon as they saw you. You took a step forward and stood at attention, saluting The Jester before your arm returned to your side.
"Apologies, My Lord, I was wondering if I could borrow Sidwell for a few moments?" You watched as Sidwell stood up and nodded at Pierro before following you out of the room.
"His birthday?" Sidwell asked, seemingly bored.
"Yes, I haven't got him anything and he's talking about this tradition? I don't know Sidwell, I just need your help."
He nodded before digging in his pocket, pulling out a small booklet, "That should cover all of him, but a little tip, only buy a present for those you are close to, no point in buying something for a clone you've never met."
"Thank you so much, Sidwell." You left him with the booklet in your hands.
Without looking in the booklet, you decided on your first gift, Prime had a massive sweet tooth, as did Ténèbres and so you assumed the other clones did as well. You left the Palace heading for the nearest bakery.
When you walked in, the place was empty, aside from the waiter who was there when you and Prime came not long ago.
"Good morning, I take it your Dottore's new assistant?" He threw a tea towel over his shoulder and laid his hands across the counter.
"Yes, actually I am. I know it's such short notice and I normally wouldn't do this, but could you box up around a hundred and twenty-five muffins for me please,"
"What's the occasion?" He laughed grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.
"Dottore's birthday," You laughed taking a look through the booklet you were given, trying to figure out a path you could take that would take the least amount of time.
"The Doctor's birthday. Hm, so these are for all of his clones?"
"How do you know about them?"
"My grandfather used to work in the Fatui kitchens, after five different Dottores came in within an hour, he pieced things together. When I first opened shop here he would tell me all of The Harbinger's favourite foods, so I always made sure to throw a free one in whenever I could."
"Woah, that's nice of you,"
"What sort of time frame are we working with,"
"We have roughly two hours,"
"Alright then, come back whenever and they will still be warm for you," He smiled as he went into the back and began preparing your order.
He quickly came back into the room, "Would you prefer to use Childe's account or Pantalone's?"
"Either is fine," You said before dashing out of the store and heading to the jewellers.
The jewellers you were going to was very esteemed and had many branches across Teyvat. The booklet named sweets was best for all of the clones, however, there were a few other options for a handful of the clones.
One of the alternative options for Ténèbres said he liked jewellery, anything blue, green or pour, preferably animal themed.
You opened the door and walked to the 'Matching Sets' cabinet, hoping to see some snakes or maybe a Rishboland Tiger-themed set.
You saw a ruby necklace with a matching set of rings, a noctilucus jade bracelet with a matching necklace and ring. You scanned over the other items and couldn't find anything you thought would suit Ténèbres.
Sighing quietly you walked over to the lady sitting behind the counter, "Good morning, do you happen to have some jewellery with green, blue or pink gems, preferably a matching set?"
"Well, I really shouldn't considering it's not out on display yet, but somebody brought a necklace and two rings in yesterday, they were originally from Sumeru and are in perfect condition, they might be just what you are looking for." The woman grinned at you.
"Yes, that would be wonderful, could I see them please?" The woman nodded at you and grabbed a walking stick from beside her, using it to make her way into a room behind the counter.
You waited patiently for her to return and when she did, she held a quaint box, it was white and teal and had a royal blue ribbon tied around it.
She placed it down and took her seat, carefully undoing the ribbon with shaky hands. She lifted the lid from the box, revealing an Aranara's face, its eyes replaced by a sapphire, and the rings tear-shaped gems on them of a slightly lighter blue colour. The two of you admired them silently, in awe of the blue hues.
"How much?" You questioned, your eyes never leaving the gems in the Aranara's eyes.
"Well, I haven't had the chance to examine them yet, so I can't be sure the gems are real, but the craftsmanship and their condition are more than enough to tell me they are. Shall we say five hundred thousand mora?"
You thought carefully, Childe did owe you a lot of favours so you were sure he wouldn't mind if you used his account to purchase these.
"Yes, that's quite alright, could you put those in a gift bag, please? Send the bill to Lord Harbinger Childe's account."
"Of course," The woman placed the lid back on top and wrapped the ribbon around it once more. She took a small gift bag from under the table and placed the box in there before handing it to you and waving as you left.
You decided you would buy Petit Loup's gift next. Snow fell softly around you as you walked down the path to a toy store. The booklet said he likes snow foxes, so you looked around and eventually found a rather large snow fox. Its fur was so soft and the colours were beautiful, it was in a sitting position with its head held high, and the paws of the toy were incredibly detailed and seemed to have pellets of some sort concealed within the wool and felt exterior. It was relatively cheap and only cost you two thousand mora. You were given a large box to put it in and you walked away from the store to your next destination.
This time you were on your way to a back alley shop.
As you walked through the lop-sided door, colourful light cascaded from the chandelier onto your figure and a black cat brushed against your legs. Walking around the shop revealed many oddities and mystical items that left you unsure of what to buy for The Doctor. You decided to pick out a few jars of strange liquids, some preserved flowers, a book of anatomy, a Rishboland Tiger's teeth and a butterfly display case.
As you walked to the counter, you couldn't see anybody, but the black cat from earlier jumped up and grabbed the curtain draping over the counter with its teeth, moving it to the other side. Beneath the curtain was a glass window, behind it was a candle that had black smoke dancing from the flame. You watched carefully as the cat tapped the counter three times and the smoke trickled from the display case and formed words behind the cat.
"One thousand mora, please."
You placed your items on the floor and pulled a bag of mora from your pocket, there was roughly a thousand mora in there, and you poured the coins onto the counter for the cat to inspect. After the cat had finished counting them, it pushed five mora back towards you and pointed over to the door where an assortment of bags was hanging up.
You grabbed your things and nodded at the cat walking back to the door and placing your newly purchased items into one of the bags.
Prime is going to love this.
You were only very close to those three clones for the moment, so you decided it was best for you to leave with the items you had bought and grab the muffins you bought from the bakery earlier.
"You've been busy," The waiter laughed as you walked up to the counter.
"You have no idea," You sighed, placing everything down to give your arms a rest.
"I'll bring everything out for you now," The waiter said before he left for the backroom again.
You stretched your arms and legs while waiting, hoping the clones would go easy on you after running around for them so early in the morning, but it was Dottore you were talking about, he is unpredicatble.
The waiter came back with a box in his hand and passed it to you over the counter. As you picked all of the bags and boxes up you realised you didn't know this waiters name.
"What's your name by the way? I don't think I asked you before,"
"Kieran Solace, pleasure to meet you...?"
"Luitenant Y/n L/n, and the pleasure is all mine. I would shake your hand, but mine are slightly full,"
Kieran laughed before waving you goodbye. As you stepped out of the bakery, you realised the snow had picked up quite a bit. You weren't sure of how long it had been, but you needed to get back soon.
The cold wind brushed against your cheeks, but you carried on walking despite the stinging sensation spreading across your face.
You arrived at the Palace and dodged through agents to get down to the lab. As you walked down the stairs, you realised the door was open.
"Twenty seconds until they're late," a voice said.
"Imagine they have just left," another spoke.
"Don't say that. They'll come back,"
"They only have ten seconds,"
You walked at a quicker pace, but you were careful not to make too much noise, so you didn't reveal your position.
Eight
Seven
Six
Five
Four
Three
Two
One.
You jumped down the last two steps, landing on both of your feet and quickly hiding everything behind your back, well as much as you could.
Thank you training for letting me pull that off.
The Dottore's around you were all surprised at your landing. The two standing beside the door jumped back a bit before regaining their composure and looking ar you curiously.
You bowed slightly trying to hide the gifts behind your back, "After you," You waited until the went in to follow behind them.
You placed the gift bag and the bag filled with oddities down carefully along with the box hiding Petit Loup's toy, and presented the sweet treats to the clones.
"I didn't know how many of you there are or what most of you would like for your birthday, but I wasn't going to leave you with nothing."
An older clone stepped forward taking the box from your hands, thanking you sincerely.
"No fair Upsilon! They are for all of us,"
"I'm well aware Delta, I'm merely keeping an eye on them whilst the Luitenant continues."
Once Delta had shut up, Upsilon gave you a nod, signalling you to continue talking.
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and it's lovely to see some of you again, but I only got three of you actual presents."
Ténèbres stood up straight and straightened his bow tie.
Petit Loup got up from his seat and stood on the counter.
Prime crossed his arms and leant back into the wall.
"First," You said picking up the big box from behind you, "Petit Loup, this is for you!" You walked over to the boy and gave him the box he scrambled to open it before looking at you for approval.
Once you nodded the boy continued to open the box, revealing a snow fox plush that was almost as tall as him. The boy hugged it tightly and began to proudly show it off to the other clones, they all seemed amused by the boy's reaction and a few were petting the toy and asking him questions about the species.
Omega scoffed and everyone gave him a dirty look before he nodded at you, you were waiting paitently albeit awkwardly in the centre of the circle the clones had formed.
"Sorry, you really didn't need to do that but um, thank you anyways?" You picked the gift bag up and showed it off to the clones surrounding you, "This is for you Ténèbres!"
He walked forward and took the bag from your hands, taking the small box out of it and handing the bag to you. He admired the box for a moment before he carefully undid the ribbon, he took a deep breath before opening the lid and gasping at the contents.
"They're... exquisite, thank you Y/n." He said placing one of the rings on his finger and passing the other one to you.
"I couldn't possibly, it's your present,"
"I insist, it would make me very happy," He pleaded, and you gave in and put the ring on.
He took the necklace out and held it out to you, "Will you put it on for me?"
"Of course I will," You said as you moved behind him, he moved his hair out the way as you draped the necklace around his neck, clasping it together.
He turned around to face you, a bashful look on his face, "It suits you," You smiled at the clone and he rubbed the back of his neck before returning to stand by the other clones.
"Finally," You said, "This last gift is for none other than the man himself, Prime." You held the bag out to him and he looked confused.
"For me?" He said walking forward.
"Yes, for you,"
He cautiously took the bag from you, he opened it and his eyes fell on the butterfly display case, "I've never been able to preserve a butterfly like this, it's extraordinary," He mumbled.
"There's more," You whispered.
He handed the display case to another clone before looking again, this time he picked out the anatomy book, "I used to study this religiously in the Akademiya," He mused.
He looked at you, you wore a smile on your face, "There's more isn't there?" You nodded.
He passed the book to the same clone from before and looked in the bag for a final time, he took out the preserved flowers, strange liquids and Rishboland Tiger teeth.
A grin formed on his face, "This is fantastic, where did you get all of this?"
"I couldn't possibly tell you, afterall if you knew you would probably buy the whole place out, then what would I get you next year?"
"I have a few ideas," He handed the items to the same clone he had passed his other gifts to before grabbing your hand and leading you to his office, "You all enjoy the rest of your day and your present," He said as he closed the door.
He let go of your hand and walked around he desk to his chair, which he turned towards you and motioned for you to sit down. You were slightly confused, but sat in the chair nonetheless.
Dottore walked infront of you, placing his hands on the arm rests, trapping you on the chair.
"You spent two hours gathering presents for me and my clones," He said leaning closer to your face.
"It's really not that big of a deal, it's your birthday so I got you all a little something, plus most of it came out of Childe's pocket."
"You used Childe's money aswell? You are... perfect." He sounded breathless as he complimented you.
You blushed slightly, turning your head to the side, but Dottore moved one of his hands from the arm rest to your chin, and gently moved you to face him once more. He moved his face close to yours, barely an inch away, his lips parted and you felt as if he was miles away, even though the only way you two could be any closer was if you were to-
"May I?" He spoke softly, so softly you weren't sure if he spoke at all, but his words pulled you out of a trance. You were sure nobody else could hear, and even if they did, it wouldn't have mattered, for at this moment it seemed you were the only two people in the world.
You nodded, and your lips connected and your eyes closed and for a moment you doubted what you were doing, but your thoughts were washed away as Dottore's body pressed against yours and his hands trailed up your waist. Your hands moved to his hair as his lips worked wonders against yours, your head was filled with him and only him. Time seemed to stand still as the scent of his cologne wrapped itself around you and you tried to pull him closer, kiss him deeper, but he was already leaning ontop of you and kissing you as passionately and as deep as his mask would allow.
He pulled away from you to catch his breath, he was panting heavily but his hands never left your body and there was only a small gap between the two of you.
"If only we could do that outside of this dream," He whispered.
"What?" You panted, missing the feeling of his lips on yours, "What do you mean?"
"Don't tell me you are so in love with me you haven't realised it yet," He let out a shaky laugh, "This is a dream, my dear. Its quite concerning you can't tell reality from your desires, don't you think?"
His hands left your waist and he removed his mask. There was nothing there, it was an empty space behind it, the uncovered parts if his face had turned to static and your heart raced as he trapped you once more. Cold enveloped you and the smell of his cologne was replaced by the suffocating smell of blood. Your chest heaved up and down as you leaned further back into his chair.
And it felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown over you as you jolted up.
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You sat upright, holding your chest.
It took you a long while to calm yourself down before you laid back down, covering your face with a pillow.
"Fuck."
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A/N
HAPPY 100K READS
I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER
IM SORRY IF THE KISS SCENE IS VERY AWKWARD ITS MY FIRST TIME WRITING 9NE 😭
HOPEFULLY THIS WASNT TOO EVIL OF A CHAPTER
ALSO I ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED THIS ON THURSDAY OR FRIDAY AND IT WAS LIKE 3 PARAGRAPHS LONG SO THANKS WATTPAD FOR GLITCHING ON ME
this also hasn't been proofread so please excuse any mistakes 😋
ANYWAYS TAKE CARE EVERYONE AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING I LOVE YOU GUYS 💙💙