Chapter Text
The lab was always busy. It didn't matter if it was the middle of the night or early morning, there was always someone working. One of the segments was always busy with research.
Since it was the middle of the afternoon, the lab was busier than usual. Pantalone crossed paths with a few segments. 18 was dissecting a lizard, too focused on the precisions of the cuts to notice that the harbinger walked behind him. 65 sat down behind his alchemical sets, slowly mixing liquids of different colours and densities.
As Pantalone crossed his path, 65 lifted his head and nodded in acknowledgement. Pantalone felt a small chill. It was that bloody plague doctor mask, the sign of ill omen it represented. It gave him chills, but he also thought that it really suited Dottore.
Pantalone just smiled softly, completely poised, and nodded as well.
He continued walking towards the farthest of the offices, looking for the omega segment, knowing he would be there.
When he opened the door, both 35 and 8 were there. 8 had his arms crossed as 35 reviewed his research.
"I'll let this one pass because you're young" said 35, "but next time you cannot publish a research without the proper theoretical framework. You need to quote other researchers that support your theo-"
"Dottore, we need to talk." Pantalone interrupted and both of the segments turned around. "The older one." He clarified afterwards.
8 rolled his eyes at the same time 35 chuckled. The younger segment grabbed his papers and turned around, glaring at Pantalone with his eyes half closed.
"It's never me you want to talk with."
As the kid crossed Pantalone's path, the Harbinger ruffled his hair. In other circumstances, he would assure the younger segment that he also liked to speak to him, but right now there were other matters at hand that he needed to focus on.
The kid blushed when he felt Pantalone's hand on his head, leaving the room faster and closing the door with a loud slam.
The room fell silent instantly. 35 was still sitting down, a cocky smirk on his face as he looked at the man before him.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You know perfectly well." Pantalone answered rather dryly. But that only served to widen Dottore's smirk. "You missed our meeting."
"Forgive me, I was busy."
"You were 'busy'? In fucking Sumeru?!"
Pantalone raised his voice, something he didn't do often. And Dottore knew that.
"There's no need to be angry about it. I only left for two weeks."
Pantalone clenched his fists, looking at the man before him completely baffled. He couldn't believe that Dottore was being this nonchalant about the situation.
"Is this a joke? We have a deal. I've honoured that deal to the letter and you-" Pantalone couldn't finish his complaint as he got overtaken by a coughing fit.
He instantly covered his mouth with his hand, closing his eyes as he was hardly able to breath due to the cough. Dottore did not seem fazed by this. He simply opened one of the drawers of his desk and pulled out a handkerchief. He offered it to Pantalone but the man refused it with a glare.
With a bit of difficulty, Pantalone pulled his own handkerchief from the inside pocket of his coat and coughed freely on it. Once he had calmed down a bit, he separated the handkerchief from his mouth and looked at it. There was blood on it, not much, but certainly enough to be concerned.
“I do not know what your intentions are with that… puppet…”
“Aww, are you jealous, dearest Fanya?”
Pantalone acted as if he didn’t care about Dottore’s obvious teasing and he leaned himself on an empty chair to act as support. After the fit he got, Pantalone lost a little bit of strength and needed to support himself with anything he could find.
“I’m not meddling with your experiments, you know I approve of them. But if you want my funds you also need to live up to the end of our bargain.”
Dottore did not answer. He simply looked at the man before him while tilting his head slightly to the side. He noticed the paleness of Pantalone's skin and the small trail of blood that remained on the corner of his lips as he spoke, the way his hair stuck to his forehead as he had begun sweating.
He got up from his chair, completely calm and poised, and walked towards one of the cupboards. From there, he pulled out a small suitcase and from it, a vial, containing a blue, thick liquid.
“I wondered how long it would take you to come meet me after I came back.” He lifted the liquid to show Pantalone while he walked back towards the table. “Another little experiment, if you wish. An experiment on how long it would take you to get desperate.”
Pantalone clenched his fists once more as Dottore walked deliberately slow towards him. And as the blue haired man sat on the desk, he offered the vial to Pantalone. The Regrator hesitated for a moment, but his impatience won. He tried to grab the vial, but Dottore pulled back quickly.
“Zandik-”
“How desperate are you, Feofan?”
Pantalone hated that right now, the blue haired man before him held all the power over him. He hated that without that vial, his life would be over in just a few months, years if he was lucky. He hated that Dottore was playing with him and he was letting him do it. But most of all, he hated that he liked it. He just couldn’t help it, he liked that Dottore was playing with him just as Pantalone had played with Dottore when he was broke and needed his money.
This was a game. And both of them were really good at it.
Pantalone stared at Dottore for a second. He stared at the cocky smirk that drove him insane in more ways that he was willing to admit. And he couldn’t take it anymore.
Pantalone took a step forward and without hesitation, kissed the man before him. He felt Dottore smile against his lips but the man quickly kissed him back. Dottore sneaked his free hand underneath Pantalone’s coat and pushed him by his lower back so he could stand closer to him.
As they kissed, Dottore could feel the impatience and the desperation on Feofan’s lips, on the way they moved against his. Pantalone was always a very poised man, even when they were in bed together; so Dottore adored watching him lose control like this.
Once Feofan separated to regain some breath, still affected by his previous coughing fit, Dottore did not let him go. He used his hand on his lower back and kept him pressed to him as he slowly lowered his lips towards the side of the man’s neck.
Pantalone sighed and closed his eyes, tilting his head to a side to give Dottore better access to his neck. At the same time he tangled his hand on Dottore’s blue hair, tugging it softly and keeping him anchored to the side of his neck.
And right when Dottore was about to let go of the vial and focus solely on the man that stood before him, one of Pantalone’s subordinates knocked softly on the door.
“Sir-”
“What.” Pantalone spoke dryly, annoyed that someone had interrupted this moment.
“The Jester requests all the harbingers to gather at the church posthaste. The Fair Lady has been delivered.”
Pantalone groaned, taking a deep, annoyed breath at the same time that Dottore loosened his grip on his hip.
“We’ll be out there shortly.”
It took all of Pantalone’s might to let go of Dottore’s hair and the man slowly raised his head. He never, ever lost that irritating smirk, not even after being interrupted like this.
“It looks like we need to leave.” said Dottore with a sigh, faking disappointment.
Dottore looked at Pantalone’s lips and noticed a soft red stain of blood still on them. And to Pantalone’s surprise, the doctor leaned it and cleaned it with his tongue, slowly, deliberately.
Feofan tensed slightly and fought with all his might not to blush as Dottore moaned softly at the taste of blood. He quickly cleared his throat to also clear his ideas.
“They can wait until you inject the vial. That would only take a minute.”
Dottore jumped off the table and walked towards the rack where he had left his coat, still holding the vial of blue liquid.
“Your subordinate said posthaste.”
“Zandik, you know this is important.”
“I know, Feofan.” Said Dottore, feigning concern at the same time he hid the vial in his coat. “But we can’t be late to Rosalyne’s funeral.”
“As if you ever cared for Rosalyne.”
“And you did?”
They both stared at each other in silence, both weighing their options. But Feofan knew deep down that Pierro was not a man to disobey. If he had summoned them, they had to rush to be there or be faced with the consequences.
So he just groaned while glaring at Dottore and walked quickly to get out of the office. As he passed the man without giving him a second glance, Dottore couldn’t help but laugh. He found all this situation incredibly amusing. And he would continue to amuse himself until he finally gave in and gave Feofan the vial. Because they both knew that he would. Eventually.
Dottore put on his coat and fixed his ruffled hair while looking in a mirror before stepping out as well, closing the door softly behind him.