Art by @CHKN Hero on Twitter
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"And this is how I've poisoned one of Capitano's troupes after he had the nerves to insult me behind my back. But fortunately for them, it was a poor poison which only sent them to bed for a week. At least it was fun to do." You shrug as you lean on your office chair.
Tartaglia's assistant nods at what you say, though he's shaking in fear. He looks like if he's being forced to stay here and listen to your ramblings about dissections and poison.
C'mon, you've only described dismemberment.
It is the second day you are working at the Northern Bank. The first time you went there, you were greeted by the Eleventh who gave you your tasks and an office to use for the work. All the tasks given were about administration and classing files.
Only annoyance.
That's why when someone is passing by, you keep them in the office for as long as you can just to cast your annoyance on someone else and distract yourself. And when there was no-one, well, you were finishing the papers early and take a little nap to catch up with your sleeping schedule.
You were about to speak again when the office door swung open to reveal a ginger haired tall man. The two of you look at the man who dared entering without knocking. He has a smirk on his face.
The audacity...
You were about to get up when he interrupts you.
"Hey buddy, hold still. We don't want someone already hurt to injure themselves even more, do we?"
You sit back down on your chair and cross your arms.
"And wouldn't knock before entering a room be more polite?"
He laughs while you simply glare at him. It's not because he is a Harbinger that he can disrespect simple rules.
"You're extremely funny buddy, but don't get too wild. I don't think all your higher ups would be as tolerant as I am."
You send him a bad look, only to make him understand he is getting in your nerves.
"Putting this aside, I would like to take the files you were supposed to fill." He steps toward your desk and take a pile of paper you had out on the side, "Also Dmitri, I would like you to send some agents for a debt collect. The house is located in the south of Qingce Village."
"Right away My Lord." Tartaglia's assistant bows his head and quickly leaves the room.
After a good minute reading some of the documents, the Harbinger looks up and smiles at you.
"Everything is in order. Good job. I would also ask you to finish the rest of the paperwork for... Let's say in two hours?"
You nod at him as agreement and a silence plans on the room. His ocean blue eyes stare into yours, like if he tries to fill the silence with his stare.
"Can I ask you a question by the way?" You raise your eyebrow at him. What could he even ask you? You've entered the Fatui not so long ago. You nod.
"Does, hum... Does Dottore really fuck his clones?"
You frown at him. What the heck is this question? How are you even supposed to know?
"What the f-"
"Don't tell him I asked you that though!"
"What the heck put that idea into your head?"
"That is rather weird, but I've heard the Ninth saying 'Dottore first and foremost created clones of himself so he doesn't have to do all the dirty work. However few know he also secretly created them because he can't even masturbate by himself'."
You laugh at the statement. Clearly Pantalone's style.
A knock on the door is soon followed and the door opens to reveal a face you know quite well. When we talk about the wolf...
"Good morning (Y/N) and Childe, I hope I don't interrupt anything, hmm?" Pantalone's smooth voice speaks and the eleventh shakes his head.
"I was simply picking some files; that is all. I was not expecting you to come in Liyue though." The ginger looks at the dark haired man.
"Haven't you received the letter announcing my coming?"
The ginger thinks for a second before replying with a light stutter, "R-Right, I may have misread it." He forces a smile and exits the room rather quickly.
Pantalone gives him his signature smile. Once the Eleventh is out of sight, Pantalone closes the door and walks toward you. He sits on the edge of the desk, his mouth forming a warm smile.
"I haven't sent any letter to him. Rather inflated of him to lie like this." He chuckles. "Anyways, how are you doing?"
You shrug, "Got an injury at my shoulder and I have to stay here for three weeks. Otherwise I'm doing well."
"I am aware. Dottore told me the situation, which is exactly why I came here."
"You're so busy that you bother coming all the way to Liyue just to see me?" You sarcastically say, smirking.
"If you're not happy, I will just go back to Snezhnaya."
"I didn't say anything actually. Please stay." You blink a few times and he chuckles at your attempt to make an innocent face.
"So tell me, how do you like the work here?"
You throw your head back on the back of the chair; eyes wide open and inhale sharply.
"Uuugh, it's a pain! Classing those papers is so annoying! I'd rather spend a day locked in a room with that stupid ginger rather than being in that office working here!"
"That is why I have an assistant. To throw the annoying work to them." He smirks with his eyes closed and you roll your eyes. Of course he would just throw the dirty work to them. Doing it by himself would dirt his expensive clothes.
"Please end my suffering and give me better tasks." You say with a fake-pleading tone, to which he only shakes his head.
He looks down at you, his smirk still plastered on his face.
"Don't move." Pantalone says and grabs your chin between his thumb and index.
He lifts it slightly and you frown at what he is doing. His other hand goes near your neck and the tip of his finger tips on the skin. The parcel of the skin has a purple tone with clear bite marks from the little frolics with Dottore.
"My my, someone seems to have had fun." He gives you his closed eyes smirk, "Care to tell me about it?"
You immediately cover the wound with a hand and your face flushes.
"Hey what's with you all asking about my private life?!"
He grabs your cheeks and forces you to look up at him.
"I want to make sure that Dottore is treating you well." His innocent smile is again plastered on his face, but like always, it only brings red flags. "He is always rambling about him being a scholar but when it comes to relationships, there is surprisingly nobody." The banker rolls his eyes while using his dramatic tone.
Somehow, people are always surprised when they hear Pantalone using a dramatic tone for something completely stupid. It is true that it changes from his usual calm and smooth voice, but this man clearly has the face to be a drama queen! How can people be this blind?
After spending times with him, your thoughts were true about him being a drama queen, but he revealed after being also some kind of diva who will get everything by snapping his fingers.
He's nice and extremely hot though, so he's forgiven.
He taps softly your left cheek and let you go, smiling down at you. His head then turns toward the papers on the desk and after a few seconds, he grabs them.
Pantalone gets up from the desk and walks toward the door.
"Wait, where are you going?" You ask, concerned by his sudden change of plan. He opens the door and peek his head from it, looking from right to left.
He says something you don't quite hear and gives the papers away. Once he is done, he smiles at you again.
"No worries, I am just giving this task to someone else. You will then be free from duties for the rest of the day and we will be able to go eat something while you tell me what happened with Dottore." His smile now turns more into a smirk and he chuckles at your annoyed face.
~~~~~
It is near 1pm when you and Pantalone decide to go eat something at a restaurant. He suggested you choose the place; however you had so many restaurants you wished to taste again, but of course, your stomach would not support all the dishes. Seeing you struggling, he eventually proposed to go at Wanmin Restaurant.
It quite caught you off guard. The Wanmin Restaurant is far from a luxurious place. You have seen so many times Pantalone death staring a jeweller when the diamond was not a real one or the metal was not at the very least silver; his tastes have always seemed very raffinate and luxurious.
"Why exactly the Wanmin Restaurant?" You ask, confused.
"The Wanmin Restaurant is a place where you eat very well for a cheap price. There, the food is even better than those luxurious restaurants like the Xinyue Kiosk. What is more, these luxurious restaurants are in a few words a scam: you pay a meal that cost an arm and a leg to _ in the end _ finds nothing on your plate. They are only attractive because of their names; do not think it is because their food is 'absolutely marvellous'." His voice is first calm but soon shows annoyance and disgust as he talks about the expensive restaurants.
Pantalone did mention he earned his wealth by himself. A few months before leaving for the Akademiya, Baizhu told you he was born in poverty but he never went through the details.
Now that you think about it, Pantalone's annoyance makes total sense. If he was born into poverty, he would may have had difficulties to have food at every meal so now, he would refuse to pay a lot to eat nothing.
"I do hope you don't see any problem with this."
You shake your head.
"Not at all. I really like this restaurant as well."
There is a silence for a good moment while walking in the direction of the restaurant. The streets are a bit crowded since it is lunch break.
Once arriving near the plaza, some kids chasing each other almost bumped into you. You dodged them just in time and Pantalone grabs your arm to bring you closer to him. He leans near your ear.
"Be extremely careful with the children of Liyue. The Tianquan is paying them to report everything that is being said between adults in the Harbour." He whispers and you frown. You look a bit behind you only to see the children smiling innocently while one is waving slightly.
"And don't underestimate them about this. This is how I got one of my goods stolen by a member of the Ministry of the Civil Affairs."
He lets go of your arm and you look behind again but to see nothing relevant this time. The children seem to have gone somewhere else since they have been caught. You look up at the banker.
"Have you ever tried to do something concerning that?"
He slightly shakes his head.
"What can you potentially do against those children? There is no evidence against them. And what would you say to the parents? 'Oh hello, your child is spying on people's conversations for the Tianquan. You shall be careful because we, the Fatui, don't care if the spy is a child or an adult'?"
Now said like this, he has a point.
"But if you had to catch these children, would you give them the same treatments as for the adults?"
" I suppose this would depend of the Harbinger. For example, Dottore would surely use them for experiments while The Knave, the Captain and I prefer to send them to the orphanage so we can raise them as Fatui soldiers if they are young enough. If they are older than 10, they would be thrown to Dottore or receive an intensive training to be raised as a Fatui soldier, but if they ever try to rebel, death is assured."
"We are kinda running out of test subjects so I would not mind to be honest."
He rolls his eyes and chuckles. One day he would surely completely stop furnishings funds for test subjects.
The two of you keep walking for two minutes and eventually arrive to the restaurant. The owner, Chief Mao, is cooking the dishes while a young girl, probably in her early tenth, notes down the customers' orders.
"You can go find a table, I will order. Is there anything you would like to eat?" Pantalone says with his gaze on you.
You think for a few seconds and nod.
"I'll take a bamboo shoot soup. I once heard they were delicious here."
He nods with a smile, and walks toward the counter. You watch him until he gets behind the line, waiting for his turn and you start eyeing around for a table or a place to sit.
The Wanmin Restaurant is a bit like a traditional street food vendor, there are no table for the restaurant. You can order takeout or just eat at the counter. The only problem is that it is rather rare when there are free seats there.
You think for a moment, trying to visualize what places Pantalone would like to eat at. While so, you feel something tying up to your body and a hand rests on your shoulder. A hot breath is felt on your neck and you stay still. You try to look behind you but you barely meet the person's face.
"Stay still and don't make a single sound." The woman says in a low and calm voice. Her green eyes go from you to the file at the restaurant, and you immediately understand she's here for Pantalone.
"Now, you will tell me what The Regrator is planning in Liyue."
"Whatever you wish to know is none of your business, even more if it concerns one of the Harbingers' doings." You immediately feel the grip of her thread tightening around you.
"Unless if you want our little interrogation to occur with the Milleliths, I advise you to simply answer this question: What is the Regrator planning? Surely he would not come to Liyue without an announcement."
"I would not give you any information about his plans, but you are interrogating the wrong person. I am not working under the Ninth and I have no clue about his doings here. I thought the Ministry of Civil Affairs was more informed. I would also really appreciate if you remove your hand from my shoulder; I don't want the injury there to become worse than it already is."
You smirk and she removes her hand from your shoulder to put it at your waist and keeping you in place. However she tightens even more the grip she has on you and you hiss at the sensation of burn her hydro thread gives to your skin.
You thought about smashing your heel on her foot to maybe destabilise her and let you go, but since she has you under her control, you cannot really try that.
"Kid, I'm not joking here. Answer and don't waste any more of my time."
"Oh, then is there another reason why you come to me? Because as much as I am aware, I was not doing anything wrong, only on my way eat lunch."
The two of you stay silent and you keep your smirk plastered on your face. She tightens more her thread and you quietly hold your breath to endure the pain. You still remain smiling though.
"Mrs.Yelan, may I know why would you assault my employee in such rude manners?" Pantalone's calm voice says.
You turn your head toward the man to see him smiling, his burgundy eyes shining under the sun light. He stares at the woman deeply, as sending daggers to her.
"Oh? So you are now caring for a simple employee? How suspicious..." Her eyes squint, trying to read the man.
The man chuckles and does a small gesture toward the crowd.
"My my, what a pity would it be if all of Liyue would know about the Ministry of Civil Affairs' doings and how they are assaulting innocent folk."
The woman's gaze eyes around her to see some people staring at the scene. In a second, her thread lets you go and she rapidly run toward a safer place. You take a big breath, rubbing a bit the parcels of your skin that have been slightly injured by the thread. Happily you had clothes to cover the small red scars.
"Are you alright?" The banker asks. You nod and you point toward where the woman went.
"She can fix my mummy issues." You blink a few times at him and he rolls his eyes.
"(Y/N), you say that every time you meet a woman with big breasts and a good looking face."
You grimace.
"That's not true!"
"Can you then explain why you said this about the 4th, the blue haired captain of the knights of Favonius, the captain of the Crux, and her Majesty?"
You roll your eyes and cough a bit before grabbing the bag that contains the food.
"The meals will be cold, we better go eat."
He laughs and follows behind you.
~~~~~~~~
It is now nearly 4pm. Pantalone and you had spent the whole afternoon together, going on some walks or doing whatever weird stuff you came with.
And just like you, he seems to have enjoyed the afternoon. Since it was nearly the end of the days he decided to walk you home in case if Yelan would catch you again.
He told you she was one of the best spies in Liyue and was working for the Ministry of Civil Affairs. She is also the one who stole one of Pantalone's dresses that should have been gifted to the Tsaritsa. From what he said, this dress was extremely expensive since it was made off the fur of a legendary beast. She stole it to compensate the loss of her family's magical bracelet during one of her missions in a Fatui camp.
And now, they're doing everything to annoy each other, which you find it rather funny.
"I forgot to ask you, but where are you staying at for now? I don't think you would always travel from the Qingce Village to Liyue Harbour just to come to the bank." The dark haired man speaks.
"I'm staying at Baizhu's for the time being. He said it would prevent Granny from worrying too much and it would be easier for the change of bandages since he is the one taking care of it."
"How wonderful, I was planning to come say hi to him. It has been quite a while since we last saw each other."
The walk to Baizhu's house was peaceful. Once arrived, you noticed the house was already unlocked so you assumed the owner was already home.
And you were right; he is drinking some tea on his couch, his snake resting on his laps.
Baizhu was usually finishing work near 6pm, but due to his fragile body, he sometimes had to go home sooner to take care of himself. When you have taken the job at Bubu Pharmacy a few years ago, the doctor didn't say a single thing about it.
You, of course, had noticed he wasn't present at the pharmacy some days. And when you asked him, he simply replied he was gathering herbs.
It was only after a few months that he revealed he caught an illness in a rather unexpected way. During his youth, his hometown was affected by a deadly disease, a disease that killed his parents. His master tried to heal the people but no cure was found and he eventually died of exhaustion. Baizhu then made a contract that consists in curing everyone who is affected by the disease, and to compensate this, he bears the disease for others.
You are not sure if he really accepted his new condition. It is true he has chosen to live this way, but you sometimes caught him asleep on his desk after the lack of sleep for his researches on a cure.
And day after day, Baizhu heals his patients; but his ever-present smile hides the numerous bitter medicines he takes and the pain he suffers alone.
However you still don't understand what all of this has to do with eternal life.
Baizhu acknowledge your presence and gives you a smile when you enter the room. You smile back at him, ignoring the bitter stare his snake gives you.
"Good afternoon (Y/N), how was your day?" He asks before taking a sip of his tea. From the grimace he does after drinking it, you assume his tea has some of his herbal medicine in there.
You already experienced his medicine and the rumours are entirely true: his medicines are extremely bitter and disgusting. But they work amazingly.
"Pretty good actually. There is also someone who wishes to say hi." You say and give a follow sign to Pantalone so he comes in.
Once inside, the dark haired man waves at his brother and smiles.
"Hello Baizhu. I hope I don't interrupt anything." Baizhu smiles back and shakes his head. You decide to leave and go to your room to let the two catch things up.
You let yourself fall on the bed, staring at the ceiling. You do not feel like doing anything in particular. There is nothing to do beside reading or drawing some doodles on a notebook, but you don't have the motivation to do so.
Then your mind trails to Dottore.
No special thoughts; just Dottore.
Without noticing, a soft smile carves on your lips.
He's a silly guy, goofy sometimes which makes him funnier to stay with. People see him as someone scary, but to your eyes, he's mainly someone who wants to make himself respected with empty threats.
Or not so empty threats.
His personality is clearly not one many would appreciate. He is arrogant, selfish, complainer; yet, he is capable of being patient, thoughtful and respectful. He does lack morality and comprehension of one's feelings; and his rather sensitive cold blood can make anyone fear him. Yet, you still developed a liking to him.
He had been harsh on you from times to times, but these past weeks, he had become more open to you when it came to some things. For example, you could have been speaking back to him and he would let it slide. Or he would just ignore you when you call him silly.
You silently sigh and look out the window. The sun is setting down and the sky has a orange tone, which is beautiful to see.
Just three weeks and you will finally be able to go back to the comfort of your lab...