Chapter Text
"You need to quit that smoking habit of yours."
Dottore changed the topic from their early conversation, something about his funding getting denied for lack of specifications on the new experiment. Of course, Dottore knew it would be denied. He didn't put many details on purpose. He needed to talk in person with Pantalone to explain it.
He won't admit it, but he had done it so he could run away from his… other selves. Dottore has learned over the years, even before the old man Zandik died, that living with yourself all the time can be… draining.
He uses Pantalone to escape the lab sometimes for this reason. However, after a heated debate over finances, debts and funds. Pantalone has lit up a cigarette, Dottore couldn't help but scowl at it.
"Oh, really?" Pantalone is used to it, Dottore has said this exact same phrase over 100 times.
"Brat. I went to a lot of trouble to replace those lungs. You should be a little more grateful for still being able to breathe."
Pantalone giggles. Dottore made a mental note to hit him next time. Although it might not be worth, he would need to fix him up afterwards.
"You say for me to stop it, but what would I gain from that? I would be the only one experiencing loss of something." Pantalone looks at Dottore from the corner of his eyes. The Doctor's back was turned to him while the soft notes of the piano where playing. "I'm all about a fair exchange, Doctor."
At that, Dottore has finally looked at him. He was used to their conversation always getting a little dull after some time, so he would always play the piano to kill time, however, this was a first time he has heard Pantalone suggest an exchange.
"What do you suggest then?"
"What about… We make a bet." There's a smile in the corner of Pantalone's lips. Not a soft or genuine one. But one filled with… Something Dottore isn't too sure what it is. "I will go a week without smoking."
"In exchange for?" Dottore crosses his arms. He is very interested.
"You will go a full week without your mask, living as you would normally with it."
Dottore laughs.
"And are you going to stop this insane habit of yours if I do this?"
"Allegedly, yes. However, you need to win first. I will also fund your next project without getting anything back."
Dottore is looking at Pantalone. Staring, actually. He can't see his own eyes, but if he could, they'd sure be sparkling with the idea.
"And what if you win? Not that you would. But theoretically, what would you want?"
Pantalone closed his eyes and seemed to ponder for a bit. Around 30 seconds after, he slightly open them, tilting his head, looking at Dottore. This is something he usually does when he is up to no good, Dottore has learned that, but that much was obvious by his smile alone and the… implications of this exchange of theirs, it's not like Pantalone to want to make these bets.
"I will think of something." Pantalone finally says. "I'm sure that since you're so sure of yourself, you will win without problems right?"
Dottore is more than sure he is up to something. But he can't deny that he is pushing the buttons right to make him agree.
"Alright. Should we start it today already?"
His answers comes in the form of Pantalone picking another cigarette from his pocket. Of course the bastard won't start it today.
"Tomorrow, my dear Doctor." Pantalone does a small giggle, still looking at Dottore.
Dottore doesn't like how the adjective 'dear' sounds when directed to him. This man is definitely up to something.
"And since you're so eager…" Pantalone gets up from his seat, walking up to The Doctor and lightly tapping his mask with his free hand. "I suppose I can stay with this to make sure you will stay the entire week without it, right?"
Dottore wants to protest. Pantalone is sure pressing the right buttons right now, his pride would never let him deny that. He said that he would win. He cannot back down now.
Slowly, Dottore sighs, signaling to him to take off the mask. Even with only one hand free, Pantalone succeeded in taking it off.
Slowly, his eyes were lightened with the room lights, it made them blink a few times, maybe from the discomfort of the light, maybe from the way Pantalone was too close.
Which remembered him of the actual issue in the room.
"Tsk, this place reeks of smoke now. I'm leaving."
Dottore got up from the stool, waving his hands to get the smoke away. Pantalone moved back to his initial position, having Dottore's mask laying nicely on a small table next to his chair.
The Doctor walks away from the room, catching a glimpse of Pantalone before he left, the bastard was again giggling to himself for some reason. Dottore paid him no mind and kept walking back to his lab.
It was late at night at the Fatui Headquarters, so no one was around. Maybe if he were unlucky, he would end up running into Columbina haunting the halls.
Luckily, he didn't.
Unluckily, he did run into his segments when returning to the lab. 18 was the first one to see him.
While they usually ignored each other's business, unless stated they need to pay attention, 18 almost jumped while seeing him.
"… What happened?" 18 begun, unsure.
"To what exactly?"
18 stopped for a moment. Then analyzed 35's face, carefully.
"You. Your mask mainly, but… why do you look like you're off to killing someone?"
35 froze in place, he raised a brow and the expression in 18's face immediately changed to even more confused.
"The mask. Is a long story, but it's a bet, I cannot use it and need to live normally without it for a week. Pantalone's doing." He sighed. He sounds a bit stupid to his ears saying it for some reason. "When I win, he will fund my next project without complaint. And quit smoking."
18, who was listening to the whole explanation, seeming more surprised each time. 35 started wondering why.
"Why do you look so surprised?" He questions.
"I don't think you are noticing. If by the way you're asking me is of any hint." He does a small snort. 35 will hit him. "I think using a mask 24/7 made you… very expressive."
That can't be true. 35 is the Omega build. He is sure most of his facial muscles are dead.
Or so he hopes.
And by the look on 18's face, his hopes have failed him, again.
He left the lab trying to find a mirror, 18 was by his side, staring at his face… intently. It took a moment before they were able to find one, they never really have uses for it, so he had to borrow it from one of the stronghold installments.
So finally, 35 looked at himself in the reflection. Starting to wonder if the younger segments reactions were actually accurate or if they were just being dramatic over something. Wouldn't be the first time.
10 seconds was enough.
He could see clearly: He always knew he had a bad habit of making some expressions and sometimes start giggling, but being able to see his entire face… it's… negatively impacting it. His pride, he means. Maybe his dignity too.
If his shocked face is anything to go by.
18 is beside him, he is giggling to himself. 35 hits him. Which helps him to soon find out he also makes faces when angry. Or anything.
"You're going to die in less than a week." 18 is laughing, even after being hit.
"I just need to live normally-"
"35, you are the most prideful and selfish segment. You're going to want to put the mask back on in less than a day! You hate people knowing how you're feeling!" 18 laughs even harder.
35 sighs. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. He… stayed with the mask."
A moment passed, then another.
18 has been laughing non-stop, and after hearing these words, his stomach started hurting from it, he almost drops to the ground.
35 thinks: it can't be that bad. His expressions, he means. The mirror proves him wrong once more. His annoyed face is even more… expressive.
This is going to be a long day. Week. He corrects himself mentally.
The first day of their exchange begun in a terrible way. Of course, Dottore wasn't able to rest at all, he blames all the segments for it.
He made sure to disband all the segments from the lab after what 18 liked to call 'The Incident'. Of course, it worked like talking to wall. Except the wall is himself in different ages and maturity.
45 and 65 abstained from commenting anything after giving him a deep and long sigh. Which 35 was glad about. He didn't have that much luck with 8, 18 and 25.
8, even being the youngest, was one of the most annoying about it, mostly because 35, being the epitome of 'perfect', was now showing many 'flaws'. It made the little segment enjoy himself a lot.
18, who was the first to see him in this state, has finally begun to calm down after hysterically laughing almost all night, the reason being: 35 tried to learn how to control his facial expressions all night long, no need to comment he didn't succeed.
25, who was the most similar in appearance to him, only gave him a single phrase: "I'm glad I do not have anything under the mask". No need to say that it made him inexplicably angry.
It was only 7 AM.
To his misfortune, he had to go out of the laboratory and into Pantalone's office.
Deliver paperwork would usually be entrusted to the other segments, but because of the 'Incident', they all collectively agreed to make 35's life miserable, more than it already was. So all of them denied taking these documents to The Banker.
You're the one who made a bet with him, I'm sure he would be very pleased to know that you're following along with it. 25's voice echoed in his mind. As much as 35 would like to retort, it also meant he could see for himself if Pantalone was also following his part of the deal.
It was the first corridor out of the lab and he immediately regretted his decision. Both in leaving his facility and making that stupid bet.
Needless to say, every single worker in the headquarters was staring at him. Pantalone jokingly said once that he only uses the mask to intimidate his subordinates, which, in fact, wasn't all wrong. It worked wonders with low level Fatui.
So when these same people, who were so intimidated by that, see the same man walk a corridor without his mask, they have the urge to look at it. Some are still a little afraid to look over, but do get some side glances here and there.
It was only in the second corridor that the people ,who were intently looking, stopped suddenly. Dottore couldn't help but wonder why: so he did what he would possibly regret all day, he looked at his reflection in a nearby window.
He finally understood what 18 meant when he said 'you look like you're off to killing someone'.
His brows were extremely furrowed, deep lines forming in a way you cannot describe as other than extremely stressed or, as 18 would say: wanting to kill someone. He let out an extremely deep sigh, that sounded more like a growl, and kept on walking.
At the very least the common Fatui agents stopped looking at him, and if they did look, they would immediately turn away. Whispers flowed here and there, Dottore didn't really have the patience to try and understand none of that.
After a long walk (Dottore didn't remember their facilities being so far off), he finally got to Pantalone's office. He unceremoniously opened the door and for the first time was graced with: Pure air, no smoke, no nicotine smell.
"I see you are honoring your part in this exchange." Dottore says flatly, he expected it, even if part of him still doubted it a little.
"And I see you're honoring yours. I thought you would have at least 5 more spare masks hidden in your Laboratory."
"I am a man of my word. Contrary to what a lot of people think." He closed the door behind himself, approaching Pantalone's desk.
When approaching, Dottore notices right away: Pantalone's desk was slightly unorganized, which was a high contrast from his usual workplace, his fingers were lightly tapping the wood on the desk, a sign of restlessness. The withdraw of Nicotine in Pantalone's system should be starting, Dottore mentally notes, he is a doctor at the end of the day, he knows better than anyone what abruptly stopping something you've been doing for years can cause.
"How are you?" Dottore questions without noticing, his voice much more softer than he intended.
"If you're wondering about my work, it's fine. If you're wondering about my health, it is also fine." Pantalone gives him a faint smile. "I'm honored The Doctor has come all this way to check on me." He does a little giggle at the end.
Dottore really wishes to hit him right now. But the complications of his addiction should be his main concern, he should think of some way to help-
"Is that expression something you use normally?" Pantalone teases.
Ah. Right. He doesn't have his mask. Dottore almost forgot this detail. And by the way Pantalone giggles a little harder, it also showed on his face. He feels his face heat up a bit. Clear signs that he is possibly blushing and Dottore would rather face 10 gods than let Pantalone have this image of him. He places the documents he'd been holding in his hand this entire time on Pantalone's desk, making sure to not just throw it at his face and turns away, opening the door to the office.
"Going already?" Pantalone almost hums.
"I only came here to deliver those, it's from the previous experiment."
"How amusing, wouldn't it be better to send your segments to deliver those?" Pantalone slightly tilts his head. "Maybe you really wanted to check on me subconsciously."
Dottore slams the door to his office while leaving.
Dottore felt his head ache. He isn't used to this much stress anymore. First his segments, being insufferable because of this insane bet, then Pantalone, who is the sole source of his current problem, he should've thought better about the consequences these actions would have.
He is tired. The whispers got even worse after he left Pantalone's office, because now his face is even more threatening. He swears the next person that makes some sort of comment about this situation is going to drink Hydrofluoric Acid as a punishment.
"Dottore? Good morning." A soft voice spoke behind him, it flowed through his head like water, he is sure who this is by the lack of awareness in danger.
"Hello, Miss Columbina." He turns around to meet her, only to be graced by her head slightly tilting to the side. This isn't good.
"You're different." She states, before continuing "Is it your mask that is missing? I almost didn't recognize you." Her voice was soft and free from any sarcasm, she was really just curious, in a weird way that screamed 'Columbina'.
"… Yes." Dottore suddenly felt a little small. He can't really explain it, but there's something about the haunting lady that… unsettles him. Especially now.
Columbina didn't say anything else, which is already expected, she was never one to really talk much, but she was still intently look at Dottore's face, her head was still slightly tilted while observing The Doctor, whom in return, probably had a discomfort expression in his face. In a small movement, Columbina brought her hands to her face, slowly undoing her lace mask, and when the piece fell down, she looked at Dottore again, a small smile on her face. "Do you feel better now? Your face had a weird looking." She gently talks, tilting her head to the other side now. "So I thought you would feel better this way."
Forget making someone else drink Hydrofluoric Acid, he will drink it himself. He isn't even sure what face he is making right now and he is too afraid to look at his reflection in the window, he only knows that: whatever expression he is wearing, he can feel the tips of his ears and face burn.
Only 11 AM. Of the first day.
No more words were spoken with Miss Columbina, but the latter insisted on following him around. Dottore still can feel a faint blush on his ears, but his heartbeat has mostly came back to normal, he might need to do a checkup on himself to see if anything is wrong, besides his entire day.
The only problem with walking around, especially with Columbina by his side, being 2 Harbingers that usually wears masks, is that: Now that they are both without masks, people are looking at them, twice as much as when it was only Dottore. And Dottore knows, at some point, whenever Columbina goes, they sure are to fo-
"COLUMBINA!"
He mentally sighs.
Sandrone approaches quickly, her steps alone tells she is in a foul mood, Dottore only hopes she doesn't pay any attention to him, it would make his headache worse than it already is.
"Sandrone. What is it?" Columbina looks at her colleague.
"You are THIRTY MINUTES LATE to our APPOIN-" As if on clue, Sandrone's eyes slowly follow to the person standing next to Columbina. "What are you doing here?" She looks back at Columbina. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HIM?" Sandrone's shouting is clearly doing wonders to his head pain.
"I saw Dottore walking by, he seemed displeased with something, so I decided to accompany him." Dottore wanted to be able to merge with the walls.
"HUH? What are you saying Columbina? AND WHERE IS YOUR MASK?!" Sandrone's eyes immediately follow to Dottore. "Wait. WHERE IS YOUR MASK?" Sandrone's eyes are completely surprised "This is unsettling. Put it back."
I wish. Dottore thought, but his pride would take the better of him. "For reasons, I cannot use it, Sandrone. As for Columbina, I didn't do anything, she decided to follow me on her own."
"Why are you making that face? It's disgusting, please stop." Sandrone retorts. She is staring at The Doctor's face.
"Which face?" Dottore asks, highly expecting Sandrone to just walk away and ignore this.
Sandrone stopped talking, her brows slightly furrowed, analyzing The Doctor.
"You're doing it again" Columbina points out. "It's that weird face you had when you were walking by yourself.
Ah, disgust, anger and stress? Dottore thinks.
"This is interesting, you're not usually one for… First, walking around. Second, walking without your mask. Third… So you do have other expressions besides Nonchalant and Smirk. What an intriguing discovery, I'm almost in to discover what else can your face show from what you're feeling, Doctor."
Sandrone is surely testing him. His patience and his pride. "I'm afraid I'm not-"
"Is that displeasure on your face? Oh! I won the Lottery! THE DOCTOR, is displeased with something?" Sandrone interrupts him, certainly enjoying herself. Columbina giggles a bit on Dottore's side.
Dottore is on the verge of snapping. He is certainly taking notes of all of this. When this bet is over, he will be paying Sandrone a visit to make her life absolutely insufferable, maybe he will even send 8 to her laboratory. He remembers how much she was foaming from her mouth from the mess of their last collaboration. 8 will surely be an amazing addition to her place.
"Sandrone, what was that you were gonna talk to me?" Columbina suddenly seems to remember whatever Sandrone was shouting at her for.
"Hm? AH! YES! COLUMBINA! WE ARE NOW FORTY MINUTES LATE TO OUR SCHEDULED… Meeting."
"Meeting? Isn't it just a tea party?"
Dottore suddenly feels the urge to giggle. He is doing his best to hold it so he can possibly slip out of this… place.
"Urgh, call it whatever you want! Arlecchino can't come to this one, she is busy in Fontaine. Which only makes you available! And then I find you with this man! What in-"
Dottore takes it as his time to slip out. He slowly moves towards the other way they're in, trying to make sure he is not perceive-
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!" Sandrone immediately shouts, taking Columbina by her arm and dragging her along until where the Doctor stands. "You can't expect to show me something interesting and then run away, Doctor! Now, come here!"
Dottore is a loss for words, and if the way Sandrone is holding her laughter while coming his way is anything, he can also say his face is at a loss for words. He probably should make a run for it, however, there's anti-gravity-Laws5000 and Puppetfreak9000 here, he doubts he will be able to escape their grip in a place as compact and straight as this. "I need to get back to my research, if you excuse me." He tries an excuse anyways.
Sandrone laughs extremely loud at it "WOW! Your face tells exactly when you're lying like this! Amazing!" Dottore's next big project will be a teleportation device, he is clearly in need of it.
"We could come along, that way you could continue your research and Sandrone can continue hers." Columbina calmly exclaims, like it's the most normal thing in the world.
Sandrone looks a bit disgusted at the thought, Dottore hopes she remembers what happened the last time they shared a space together.
"Tsk, what I don't do for the things I'm interested right…" Sandrone sighs. "LET'S GO COLUMBINA!"
"You are already dragging me" Columbina points out, hearing a faint curse from Sandrone.
Dottore suddenly feels the urge to join Old Man Zandik in Hell.
To his happiness, Sandrone's curiosity got sated not even an hour in, as it turns out, sharing a space with One Dottore was enough to make her mad, sharing it with 5 Dottore's, made her insane. This is the only time he will ever be glad his segments are insufferable. Not that he will ever tell them.
She left his place cursing every single Dottore segment she passed by, Columbina following her up close, giggling as they walked.
As expected, this was more than enough social interactions for the day, and it was only 1 PM.
45, who was, until now, absent from any type of involvement suddenly came closer. "You look terrible, and I don't mean only your face."
They were both standing in front of a large table, full of all kinds of projects, papers, blueprints, notes, really everything that could go in there. 35 felt more tired than any other moment in his life. "And you look fantastic." His sarcastic tone was on point.
"I was talking to the others, about your… Small change." 45 eyed him from head to toe. "It seems this is a problem even the original had, being too expressive, I mean."
"Was it supposed to be a good thing?"
"Depends." 45 coldly answered. "Lady Sandrone made an observation about you: your mannerisms and reactions are more human than the average. Maybe having your mask taken off made you more like Zandik, and less like Dottore."
45 never expects an answer or a retort of any kinds, he simply states the facts. After he was done, he retreat to his side of the laboratory, leaving a message before completely shutting himself in work. "Don't forget the Harbinger meeting today. 5 PM."
35 was questioning going to Pantalone's office again to retrieve his mask, save the little bit of dignity that was left of him. If any at all. However, there's nothing that will make him more mad than to lose this. One for the possibility of Pantalone quitting smoking. Two, for his next funding.
And speaking on the devil, Dottore remembers their earlier encounter, although he left in a foul mood, the symptoms for the nicotine withdraw were already showing off, on the Doctor's knowledge, it will be getting way worse in the next 3 days, normally. However, Pantalone did not 'Normally' smoke. He smoke almost every hour. Sometimes twice per hour. Sometimes once every 10 minutes, depending on what he was doing.
Following his already bad symptoms… He is probably way worse now. His cravings are probably reaching their highest.
"What a problem…" He murmurs to himself, finally getting a small notebook and a pen, from the mess of table in front of him.
With his messy handwriting, he begins to formulate a clinical report.
Current time: 1:35 PM.
Supposedly that his last time smoking was at midnight, and he is already well used to having, at least, 6 hours of sleep (Something that Dottore already snapped at him about, his sleeping times are a mess.), considering that he would normally smoke first thing in the morning, 6 AM would be the beginning of the cravings. The time Dottore went there was around 9 AM. A 3 hour gap from his waking and the symptoms he has observed.
In 3 hours, patient has already start experiencing restlessness and irritability. Pulse and blood pressure should have come back to normal. Expected carbon monoxide drop is, approximately -at current time, 6 hours later- 35%, oxygen levels should be recovering.
Dottore starts reminiscing on the memory, Pantalone's breathing seemed normal. He couldn't measure his pulse, he should bring him to the lab later for a checkup. Now, the withdraws vary according to people, peaking at the first three days. Excessive cravings, irritability, restlessness, anxiety. Should be the starting point 3 hours ago, next are trouble sleeping and concentrating, alongside headaches and increased appetite. Concentration seemed to be already failing him. Trouble sleeping is already part of him. (Dottore made a mental note to make something to help him with this.)
"18, are you still here?" 35 elevates his voice subtly, 18's part of the lab is actually very close.
"Yeah?" A voice comes from the other side of the wall.
"Have you had lunch yet?"
"…Huh? I mean- Yes, but why?"
"Have you seen Pantalone there?"
"I- Not really, I went a little earlier than I usually go, let me ask 8." 18's voice fades away, as well as his footsteps.
After a few minutes, 18 and 8 come by his part of the lab, 25 follows them.
"I asked them, they haven't seem Pantalone. And we went in 3 different times, so if I were to say, he hadn't had lunch yet." 18's voice sounds, 8 and 25 nods. "Is there any problem with him?"
"He is probably experiencing withdraws from nicotine, since he hasn't smoked yet. I'm making a report on what could I do to possibly help it out, and at the same time, see if he isn't cheating. " 35 points out, showing the notebook for the others.
"Hm. It is weird, he usually goes earlier than the others so he can go back to work. Usually he goes the same time 18 goes." 25 speaks, a hand on his chin, in a pensive manner.
They all look at each other. Then, the 3 segments focus on 35. No words were needed.
35 sighs. Of course it's him who will need to see how he is doing. "Fine" He says at last and the other segments disband.
On his way to the cafeteria, Dottore looked around to see if he would spot Pantalone anywhere.
He went to all sides of the cafeteria and didn't find any traces of him, at some point he even went to ask Pulcinella about it, who looked at him like he was wearing the most scandalous outfit ever, except it was the exact contrary of it, it was the lack of wearing the mask. Everyone at this point has the same reaction, but Dottore doesn't have time for it right now.
He almost flew out of the Cafeteria, long strides towards Pantalone's office. Dottore swore on himself if he already broke the bet, he would cut out his arms. The humiliation he had to undergo was not just for this.
When on the corridor leading to Pantalone's office, a single Fatui Guard was stationed in front of the door. Dottore looked at it. Pantalone don't usually have any guards outside his office. He approached even quicker. Just for the guard to do a step closer to the door the moment Dottore came close by.
"S-Sorry! Mister Pantalone demanded that… No one… Disturbs… Him…" The young guard almost cried, Dottore was giving him the most deadly stare he has done in his whole life.
"Move." Dottore commanded.
The guard flinched. Tears were threatening to fall, but the young man did not move. Dottore took it personally.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Y-Yes… I'm sorry. The Ninth orders were to keep everyone outside… You included…." A tear begun to trail down, the poor soldier was almost pissing his pants.
Dottore did one step closer. Then two. Then three. Until his face was millimeters from the guard. He could see him crying, of course the poor creature was talking the true, but on the case like this… He did not falter, even if he was scared. Dottore had to give the young man this.
He let out a sigh and moved away.
It was already 3 PM.
By the time he got back to the lab, every segment present gave exactly one look to him. Noticing the extreme foul mood on him, they quickly went back to their own projects. 35 almost threw the notebook across the entire room, which earned him another look from the segments.
Dottore was inches from punching every single piece out of his view, until 65 entered the room. "I have talked to Miss Columbina and Miss Sandrone. They have seen Pantalone on the cafeteria around an hour ago and around 2 hours ago, respectfully." 65 sighed "It was the exact gap between our schedules, it would do well to ask others beside yourself."
35 looked at the segment on the door and gave him a small nod. 65 left in sequence.
So it has been confirmed that his appetite has increased, which meant he was still… following their bet. A good sign. Amazing, even.
35 left out the biggest sigh ever.
What he still don't understand is the guard in front of his office door. That made him angry. Pantalone never declined him on anything. Even when he rarely used guards, they were always told to allow his entrance. Something must be up. And he will find out what.
Only an hour left until the meeting, whatever that must've happened, he will show up to the meeting, Dottore can question him after it.