HELIOTROPES
pairing: dottore x fem!reader & segments
summary: the gods were sick and twisted. for five hundred years, he believed he was fated to be alone. he had long accepted itâembraced it, even. that is, until a midwinter night when that elusive red thread finally appeared on his finger. but as much as he wants to ignore it, the pull of a soulmate simply cannot be ignored.
genre: soulmate au, canon compliant for the most part.
warnings: fem!reader, worldbuilding for snezhnaya & fatui & fontaine, theta hurts reader but only a little, this was not edited sorry for mistakes đ
notes: alrighty guys, this is officially the last chapter of the regular scheduleâafter this one, updates are going to be sporadic but they will at the very least be monthly. wish i could keep up the schedule but its not going to be feasible considering i start law school this upcoming wednesday </3 i'll update the masterlist to reflect the change too
SPIT IN MY FACE
âExcuse me?â
The masked manâhad Gamma called him Theta?âkept a tight grip on your wrist, holding it up in front of you so he could look at it himself. He was stronger than he looked, you tried to rip your wrist out of his hold but failed. His nails dug into your skin in response to the attempt, drawing blood. You grimaced as you watched a thin line of red seep down your forearm.Â
âYou heard me.â Thetaâs smile didnât budge as his other hand came up to grab your chin, turning your head away from where Kappa was still buried in the crook of your neck to face him. âWas he trying to keep you hidden away or were you trying to hide from us?â
He wasnât looking at your hand. He was looking at your finger or more specifically⊠where your thread was hanging from it, leading off somewhere to the left of you wherever Dottore was. You remembered how Kappa had looked down at your hand curiously before deciding to come over to you, the way he was so at ease with you for no reason. And Gamma. Gamma had looked at your hand before he started panicking and ran off.
Could they⊠see it?
âHm?â Thetaâs nails dug into your cheeks now, just like how he had with the aristocratâyou didnât even know where they went, if they had taken the opportunity to flee or if he had done something to immobilize them, you couldnât turn your head to check. You grimaced as you felt his nails break skin again. âAnswer me.â
How was that possible?
You could all but taste the poison in his words, the impatience and the frustration. You were at a loss as to how to proceedâyour arms were tied up with Kappa, one of your hands was stuck in his and he was forcing you to look at him, and that unhinged look in his red eyes was causing your brain to fog with fear.
Think. You had to think. You had to free your wrist from his hand. You had to get back to your room, or to Pantaloneâs.Â
Where was Pantalone? Livid, you realized that the man was probably still listening in on the show, not getting involved, leaving you to deal with this unstable bastard.Â
Think. What did he want to hear? What would make him settle down at least enough to loosen his grip on you?
But how the hell were you supposed to know what he wanted you to hear? Even with just the way he spat out those two questions, you knew both answers were wrong and would set him off more. But you had to say something, the longer you went without answering his question, the more his eyes flamed with impatienceâyou didnât want to know what would happen when that thin thread of patience snapped.
âI came here, didnât I?â you asked quietly. You tried to relax your shoulders and upper body, exuding a type of faux-comfort with the man. âI came looking for you.â
Thetaâs red eyes narrowed with suspicion, watching you carefullyâhis grip did not waver, much to your distress.Â
âYou donât even know who I am,â he said coldly, speaking the one truth youâd hoped he wouldnât. His grip on your wrist tightened and his nails dug deeper into your cheeks. âI hate liars.â
âIâm not lying,â you told him, grimacing as his nail dragged against your skin. Kappa shifted in your arms, bristling, you couldnât tell if he was watching or not. âYou can see the thread, no? I may not fully understand how you can see it but the fact that you can speaks enough.â
Theta hesitated, the corner of his lip dipping in doubt as he tried to decide whether or not he thought you were lying. You watched with bated breath, tongue kissing the inside of your teeth, as a flurry of emotions rushed through his eyes ranging from anger to hesitancy and hope. Then his eyes hardened, decision made, and your heart sunk to your stomach.
âLiar.â
Again, his grip tightened but it was painful now and your body begged you to pull away or do something but he was stronger than you. He forced you closer to him, turning you so that if Kappa wasnât between you, you wouldâve been chest-to-chest with him. You wondered if you should let him go, let him flee somewhere safe, but he was still clutching your shirt.
Theta leaned in close, you could feel his breath hot against your cheek and the cool ceramic of his mask nudging against your skin where his nose would have been. You grit your teeth together as you felt something warm and wet press against the skin of your cheek where his nails had broken through, lapping at the blood.
Your face felt hot, anger and humiliation curdling your blood as Theta let out a puff of amused laughter against your skin.
âYou taste like a liar too,â Theta crooned. âLambda thinks youâre a fake sent to distract us. Are you a fake, little liar?â
Us. He kept saying us but you donât know what that meant or how it was possibleâthey could see the thread but as far as you could tell, they did not have a connecting one. You had never seen anything like that before, nor had you ever read about anything like that.Â
You thought you should say something but your mind was reeling as you tried to piece together the puzzle and figure out what was going on.
But before you could do or say anything, Kappa squirmed and twisted in your arms, hanging over you to whack his small fist hard against Thetaâs maskâwith more strength than you expected from the boy.Â
Theta grunted stumbling backâhe wasnât hurt but the force of Kappaâs swing had partially knocked his mask off, revealing thick scars similar to the ones you had seen on Gamma. He fumbled trying to straighten out the mask and as he did, you whirled around to rush to your room.
You didnât get far.Â
Not because of Theta, who was cursing as he fastened the mask back on, but because you slammed right into someone elseâs chest, broad and dressed in dark clothes. You glanced up as a pair of gloved hands grabbed your waist, irritation rising at Pantaloneâs thin, close-eyed smile. You wondered if you had passed or failed whatever test he expected from this situation.Â
The pads of his fingers pressed into your waist as he shifted you over to the side and behind him, leveling his attention on Theta as the man straightened back, narrowed eyes still trained on you instead of the Harbinger.Â
âTheta.â Venom dripped from Pantaloneâs words as he spoke his name. âI suggest you make your way back to the Doctorâs labs instead of bothering my guest.â
âYour?â Theta spat out, taking a step forward. His eyes were wild again now, far gone from the hardened look he had directed toward you after he made his decision. You stiffened, watching as Pantalone lifted his chin, raising his eyebrows, challenging Theta. âShe is not your anything, banker. Go back to counting your coins and sucking noble cock to get further in the world, stay out of our business.â
Pantalone, to his credit, did not look bothered by the digâthe only sign of anger was the way his lip twitched before he spoke: âTake it up with your maker, fraud. You have no authority here, you are not the Doctor.â
âI am-âÂ
Sharp and loud, Thetaâs voice rang up and down the hall as he took two long steps forward as if to attack Pantalone but the Harbinger only let out a huff of amusement as he cut Theta off mid-shout.
âI am not one of the subordinates who you can fool into believing you are him. You are a rabid dog running a thin line between life and death. It is only a matter of time before youâre put down, I again suggest you leave before I make that day come sooner.âÂ
You thought that you shouldnât feel anything for the man standing a few paces away but something deep in you clenched when Theta drew back as if heâd been physically slapped, red eyes wide with shock. The feeling did not last long though because as quick as the hurt appeared, it was gone, twisting into something far more sinister as a wide smile spread across his lips, teeth bared much like the rabid dog Pantalone claimed him to be.Â
âYou think you can kill me?âÂ
Something manic stained his words, deranged and challenging as if he meant for Pantalone to back his words right then and there. Theta did not have a vision, not one that you could see or feel at least, but you knew in your bones that he was far, far more dangerous than he lookedâhe was strong and he moved faster than any visionless human youâd ever seen. Briefly, you wondered if he even was hu-
Pantalone stepped forward and the air around the four of you crackled with an energy that made your skin crawl. You let out a shaky breath, eyes widening as you took a step away from the man, unconsciously trying to get away from the source of the energy, an unnatural and uncomfortable feeling spreading through you.Â
What is that?Â
It felt sick. Corrupted. The air tasted stale and rotted as it seeped down the halls like poison. Your vision was reacting in response to it, the purity of the hydro energy trying to repel the new, malefic energy but it was curling all around you, trying to find chinks in the thin shield your vision was providing you from the decay.Â
You had to get away from it but your feet were rooted to the ground, watching the scene play out before you. Neither Theta nor Pantalone looked bothered by the energyâin fact, Theta looked thrilled, eyes alight as his impossibly wide smile widened even more, a giggle slipping from his lips as he raised his hand as if to summon something, but before he could snap his fingers, his eyes dulled and his knees hit the ground hard. Almost like he had been turned off, just like that.
What-
At once, the energy around Pantalone dissipated and you could move, confusion riddling your mind as you tried to figure out what happened to Theta and what that disgusting energy was. You took a step forward, eyes wide and trained on Theta firstâwas that Pantaloneâs doing? But as you turned to look at him, your gaze caught sight of a figure down the hall.Â
Dottore.Â
You were bleeding.Â
Dottore could feel his cheeks stinging but he hadnât been sure what it was until he got to the hall in Pantaloneâs wing where Gamma had left you. Theta was on the ground, empty-eyed and still, turned off courtesy of Dottore, and Pantalone was standing to the side of you, seemingly unimpressed by the whole situation.Â
But you were looking at him, and only him, and he could only focus on you, eyes tracing the blood as it dripped down your cheeks to your neck, dribbling down your skin. With creased brows and lips pressed together tightly, he couldnât tell if the look you were directing toward him was suspicion or anger or something else entirely. The only thing he could feel from you was what he assumed were the remnants of the confrontation with Theta: fear, anxiety, skepticism, confusion, disgust.Â
Disgust, was that directed toward him or Theta or both of them? It didnât sit well with him. He wondered how much Theta had told you, and he wondered how much youâd been able to piece together from what he had. Dottore had been hoping to keep the existence of the segments a secret from you.Â
The last thing he wanted to have to do was get into depth about what they were because if he knew you even half as well as he thought he did, he knew it would turn into an interrogation of all that heâd been up to with his research. Even when you were young, when the third phase of the bond had first manifested, he had to be careful about what he was thinking about so that it wasnât transcribed to you. Countless times he received words from you that could have only been originally given by him: the names of the segments, residue, deactivate, and Dottore knew that you must be taking every word he sent you to relentlessly research into them.Â
âDoctor,â Pantalone finally drawled as Dottore came to a stop in front of them, forcing his attention away from you just for a second. âItâs about time that youâve leashed your mad dog, Iâm quite tired of dealing with him.â
Dottore didnât acknowledge his words. Instead, he focused his attention back onto youâthe only apparent wounds were the deep scratch marks on your cheek and wrist, painful but mostly superficial. It would heal in a few days at most, he would pass along an ointment to Pantalone so he could give it to you to speed along the healing process.Â
The issue for Dottore laid in the boy tucked neatly in your arms, hiding his face against your skin.
The Kappa segment.Â
Dottore exhaled. That would be trouble trying to handle. The Kappa segment was skittish and nervous. He usually only stuck around Epsilon, Iota or Gamma, he even tried to avoid the other segments if he could. Dottore had a feeling that it was because they reminded him of their father but he couldnât be sure.Â
Either way, he had never latched onto someone like this before and Dottore had a feeling it would be an issue trying to get him away from you. He didnât like shutting down the younger segmentsâor any of the segments for that matter because it tended to mess with their wiringâbut he thought he might have to in order to get the kid back to the estate without alerting the entire palace to your presence and relationship to him.Â
His eyes lingered on you, only for a few more moments, watching the way you held Kappa close, arms wrapped around him tightly as if to shield him from danger. Kappa seemed like he was on the verge of dozing off, his shoulders rising and falling steadilyâheâd never seen him so comfortable with someone that wasnât Epsilon before. Something unfamiliar tightened his chest. Longing? Desire? Whatever it was, he didnât like it.Â
He looked away sharply, finally turning his attention to Pantalone.Â
âRegrator, donât act as if you spend all of your free time reluctantly handling my segments. You are usually asking for them, in fact,â Dottore said dryly. He barely spared you another look as he said: âIâll handle this. Go back to your room and rest.â
Your face twisted and Dottore bit back a sigh, realizing that round three of his war of words with you was about to begin.
âI am not a child,â you shot back, voice tight. âYou canât just send me to my room. I have questions and you will give me answers now. Iâve waited long enough.â
Dottore had a feeling that you were not just talking about the past few hours. You were talking about the decade he had spent ignoring your existence. Unfortunately for you, he had no interest in answering your questions, not now or ever.Â
He turned his attention back to Pantalone, ignoring the furious look that spread across your face at being blatantly ignored. Luckilyâor unluckily, time would tellâEpsilon stepped in. He watched as your brows dipped in suspicion, looking between Epsilon and Dottore warily. If you hadnât put together something was very, very wrong with the existence of Kappa, Gamma and Theta already, he had a feeling that Epsilonâs appearance just sealed it.Â
Dottore turned away as Epsilon took your hand in his to press his lips to your knuckles before he gently led you in the direction of the door on the left. Gamma and Iota followed behind, the latter far more excited than the former. Gamma cast one last pleading look in Dottoreâs direction just as Iota slammed the door shut behind them.Â
Dottore, as he turned his attention to Thetaâs still body, thought this might just be the worst case scenario. All three of the children. Theta. Epsilon. The last segments Dottore wanted meeting you all somehow managed to do just that within hours of you being in Zapolyarny. This would spread to all of the rest of the segments in no time and then he would have Zeta demanding to see proof of your existence and Rho lurking about curious; heâd have Delta bashing down the palace door to get Iota away from you, convinced by Lambda that you were only here to deceive them. And heâd have Lambda doing god knows what to try to remove your existence from their lives so they could continue their research without distraction.Â
He needed a plan of action and he needed it fast but first, he had to deal with this.Â
âWhat happened?âÂ
âTwo aristocrats came up looking for the Kappa segment,â Pantalone said off-handedly. âYour soulmate interfered.â
âInterfered?â Dottore demanded. âWhat was she doing wandering around?â
Pantalone raised his eyebrows. âWas I meant to lock her in her room?â
Dottore looked at him coldly, silently telling him yes, he should have. They could not afford to have any of their subordinates run into you, much less any of the Harbingers and he knew that some of them would be searching for you. He remembered Columbinaâs cryptic comment about you a few months ago, Sandroneâs fury at your presence in Snezhnaya, Arlecchinoâs odd interest in youâand if Arlecchino was interested, it was only a matter of time before she sent her attack dog after you to find out whatever she wanted to know. Keeping you isolated from the rest of the Fatui was paramount.
âWhat happened with Theta?â Dottore asked after Pantalone let out an exaggerated sigh of agreement.Â
âWhat always happens with Theta,â Pantalone said dismissively. âHe gets set off and lashes out. Was going on about her faking the bond, apparently Lambda is going around convincing them sheâs lying.â
Of course, Dottore thought bitterly. He knew that Lambda had been talking to Zeta, Delta and Rho but he thought the segment knew better than to get Theta wound up about this.Â
He took a deep breath, taking a step away to calm himself down. Well, that made that decision: the first thing he had to do was talk to Lambda, he couldnât have him turning the segments against you, least of all Theta, who was very liable to attack those that he thinks did him wrong. After that, he would figure out what to do with the rest of the segments because in stopping Lambda, he would have to admit to them all that you were his soulmate, that this was all real.Â
That this was all real.Â
Dottore shut his eyes briefly, unconsciously looking in the direction of where you, Epsilon and the kids had disappeared behind the dark door that led to your room. His body itched to follow them in thereâthe bond in work, surely, but he could feel it was getting stronger. It was stronger than it was while he had been dancing with you, and even stronger than it had been while talking to you outside of the washroom. He should just grab Theta and drag him back down to his lab, leaving Epsilon to deal with your interrogation, but his feet werenât cooperating.
âYou should speak to her,â Pantalone said as he turned to go back to his own room. âIf youâre going to have me confine her to this wretched place, you should at the very least, explain to her why⊠lest you have a very unhappy soulmate on your hands. I doubt that would be conducive to productivity.âÂ
Dottore hummed dismissively, glancing back at the door once. He supposed should, he didnât want to deal with your turbulent emotions, especially when he was going to be dealing with the segments.Â
Distantly, a part of him wondered if he was just using that as a logical excuse to give in to the pull of the bond.Â
âAnd Doctor, do get me that prototype by the morning as promised.â
You felt overwhelmed. The older boy, Gamma, was sitting in the corner of your room, knees tucked to his chest as he watched you with the younger two. Kappa was fast asleep now, tiny arms slung around your neck as he sleptâyou had tried to place him down on your bed but whenever you tried to pull him away from you, his arms tightened and he started stirring awake. The other one, you didnât know his name yet, was kneeling on the floor next to the bed where you were sitting, big red eyes peeked above the comforter, watching you with varying degrees of suspicion and distrust and longing.
He had the same scar on the upper half of his face that Gamma did, you couldnât help but notice, down to the burn patterns and wrinkles. And they were identical, if Gamma was a few years younger, heâd be the spitting image of the kid. It was impossible. Not even brothers can be so similar as to be identical down to the wrinkles and patterns in scars.Â
So, what were they?
You had to have been onto something when you thought it was some sort of experimentâKappa was too young to have been born eight years ago, Gamma and the new kid were too similar in appearances, if you saw correctly when Kappa partially knocked off the mask even Theta seemed to have some scars on his face, and Theta and Kappa both showed a strength that did not reflect in their body.
A throat being cleared knocked you out of your thoughts, your eyes drew up from the kids to where the man was standing near the door. He gave you a small, apologetic smile as his eyes met yoursâred and gentle.Â
Who was this?
You watched the man with thinly veiled suspicion. He looked just like Dottore, silvery blue hair styled the same way and even wearing a similar dark button-up that he did.Â
Except unlike Dottore, he was not wearing a mask.Â
His skin was smooth compared to the scars of the children and instead of the ever-present frown of Dottore, the corner of his lips were turned up. You had grown used to the cold aloofness of your soulmate over the years, it unnerved you how someone could look so much like him and yet feel entirely different.Â
You raised your chin as Epsilon came to sit on the edge of the bed next to you, keeping your expression stony, studying him to try to figure out what he wanted from you.
âPeace,â he murmured. âIâd just like to make sure youâre okay.â
âIâm fine.âÂ
He had a white handkerchief between his fingers and you were acutely aware of the blood still dripping down your cheeks and arm. He raised his eyebrows, but sighed when he realized you werenât going to budge, placing the handkerchief back in his pocket.Â
âVery well,â he said quietly. âIâm sure you have questions. I can answer them if youâd like.â
Of course you had questions, but could you trust him to answer them?Â
He didnât appear as if he was trying to deceive you, his eyes were warm and his lips were lax, he had none of that tightness that Dottore usually had. Was he faking it? Or was he wanting to help you? You couldnât tell, his demeanor was throwing you off.
âYouâre really her?â a new, young voice said softly, voice hesitant but tinged with the slightest bit of hope that had your heart aching. You looked back toward the kid as he peered up at you through thick curls of hair cautiously. âOur soulmate?â
Our.
Your ears rang, distantly watching as the boy reached out for your hand, thin fingers playing with yours until he reached the one your thread was looped around. From the corner of your eye, you looked at the older man, who was watching you with a knowing expression.
Our.
How was that possible? He could clearly see your thread, trying to play with it and tug at it in the same way you used to as a child, but he had no connecting one, like the Doctor did. Did that make you his soulmate but he was not yours? Was there such a thing as unrequited soulmates? But you didnât think it was that simple, there was a critical piece of information you were still missing.
But the kid was looking at you again, anxiously awaiting your response, and you didnât have the heart to deny him. Even if you werenât sure what was going on, he could undeniably see your thread.
âYes,â you finally said, watching as he lit up, red eyes pooling with tears and lips trembling as he flung himself forward, burying his face into your lap. He jostled Kappa, who kicked his foot out instinctively, but the kid was unbothered.
âI knew you were real.â His voice was muffled into the cloths of your dress. âEveryone said you werenât but I knew you were.â
Your throat tightened and your now free hand twitched from where it was laying on the comforter of your bed, coming up to pat his head.
You let out a shaky breath, lifting your gaze to focus on the man still sitting on the edge of the bed, watching you with an indecipherable expression.
âIâve never seen them take to someone like this before,â he said softly. âI suppose itâs just further proof that you are who you claim to be. Some of the others thought it might be a ploy.â
Others, you wondered distantly but you were more focused on the last thing he said, face twisting.
âI would not fake a soul bond,â you said tightly, mind turning to your stepfather and your mother, your dead father and your destroyed family.
âI insulted you,â he realized. âMy apologies, it was not my intention. I was not one of the ones that thought that way but I figured it was best for you to know and prepare, some of them might doubt you when they meet you.â
âHow many of you are there?â you asked, but the more important question that you just couldnât push out was what are you?
âExcluding the Doctor, there are nine of us. Iâm called Epsilon. Kappa is the youngest, then Iota, who is on your lap, and then Gamma, whoâs sitting over there,â he explained.
You looked back over to where Gamma was sitting. He wasnât looking at you anymore, staring out the window into the dark night⊠or maybe he was. Amused, you realized that he was still watching you carefully through the reflection of the window. As soon as he realized that you noticed what he was doing, he turned his head away quickly.
âHeâll warm up,â Epsilon said quietly. You looked back toward him, watching as his lips turned up, red eyes glittering, as if sharing some secret with you. âHeâs nervous.â
You couldnât help the way you let out a puff of amusement, studying Gamma and the way he was digging his nails into the palm of his hand and tapping his foot against the wood of the window nook incessantly.Â
âI donât⊠really understand all of this,â you finally admitted, relaxing a bit with Epsilon. You let yourself lean back against the large, decorative pillows set up on the bed, watching the man that looked eerily similar to Dottore, wondering if this was what he looked like beneath the mask as well.
âThis is new for all of us too,â Epsilon told you, âso I canât really explain to you what all of the bonds might be or mean⊠but Iâm sure that is not what youâre asking right now, is it?â
âNot entirely, at least. First Iâd like to understandâŠâ
What you are. What they are. Why you can see the thread and why the children think that Iâm their soulmate too.
âWell, Iâll do my best at explaining then. You deserve that much at least.â
The heavy weight on your chest lifted, if only a little. You thought that this might be the first time in weeks, months, that someone was actually giving you answers. Your father passed and left you with only questions, the masked person from the inn gave you even more questions and not a single answer, and now even Dottore refused to answer your questions, he just sent you away for Pantalone to deal with.Â
âThanks,â you said softly, eyes meeting his again.
Epsilon gave you a small smile, lips parting to speak but before he could say anything, the door to your room opened again. Your gaze shot up, eyes falling upon a familiar masked figure standing in the frame, lips pressed together tightly.Â
âEpsilon,â Dottore said coldly. âBring Theta down to the lab.â
Epsilon sighed heavily, shooting you an apologetic look before rising to his feet. âAnother time,â he offered, and you nodded, disappointed, ignoring how Dottoreâs lips turned downward.
Epsilon made his way out of the room, slipping past Dottore, and Gamma threw himself off the nook and scampered after Epsilon, fleeing the room without another look toward you.Â
The door slam shut behind them, an eerie silence sweeping over the room as he left you with Dottore.
Dottoreâs already sour mood worsened when Epsilon flung him a triumphant look as soon as his back was turned to you. He wondered what he said to you in those few minutes he was in here alone with you but for some reason, he doubted that you would tell him and he by no means wanted to add more fuel to the fire by appearing interested in you. Narrowed eyes followed Epsilon as he left the room, shutting the door harshly behind him and the Gamma segment so he could speak to you without unwelcome ears listening in.
The Kappa and Iota segments made no move to leaveâone being fast asleep and the other now watching Dottore suspiciously, shifting behind you to peek over your shoulder at him. Dottore could see the boy clutching something in his hand, knuckles white around the object and arms tensed as if ready to throw it. Dottore raised his eyebrows, albeit knowing neither of you could see the action anyway.Â
He ignored Iota and drew closer to the bed, taking a seat on the opposite side of the mattress that Epsilon had been sitting on as he observed you. You looked exhaustedâyour eyes looked heavy and tired, they didnât have the same spark in them that they had earlier in the night, and the blood from the scratch marks on your was smeared messily, staining your skin and dress.Â
Irritated, Dottore wondered why Epsilon hadnât cleaned it up, pulling out a cloth from his jacket pocket and shifting a little closer. He grabbed your arm first, ignoring that tingling sensation as it reappeared as soon as the pads of his fingers were pressed against your bare skin, and especially ignoring the red thread tied around your finger.Â
He could feel your eyes on him as he carefully wiped away the blood, distantly noting that Iota had shimmied out from behind you and was darting to the opposite side of the room.Â
âHe will not bother you again,â Dottore finally said, sparing a look to the side as Iota approached from the side, this time with bandages. He eyed the boy curiously, wondering if this room was one of the places he fled to those rare times he was stuck in the palace and got overwhelmed by the amount of people. Iota turned his head away pointedly and Dottore just shook his head, taking the bandages and wrapping them neatly around your wrist and forearm.Â
You didnât respond to him and Dottore glanced up at you, waiting for you to say something. You looked away, Dottore bit back an irritated sigh, tying off the bandage and moving a bit closer to look at your face.
âThought they just called you a doctor for the irony,â you snipped half-heartedly, keeping your eyes averted as his fingers grabbed your jaw, turning your head to the side to see just how deep Theta had cut you.
Dottore let out an amused puff of air. âThey do,â he drawled, âbut Iâm usually presented as one to acquire more willing test subjects. I must at least know the basics.âÂ
You gave him a withering look from the corner of your eye, bottom lip pushed out. He was grateful for his mask hiding the way his gaze lingered on it, focusing back on the scratch marks. They werenât too deep but he didnât have an ointment with him to spread over them, so instead he just pressed the handkerchief to the skin, cleaning up the blood.
âWhat are they?â you asked, eyes steeled for an argument.Â
Dottore sighed heavily, considering briefly trying to avoid the subject but you did not seem keen on letting this slide and he was not in the mood for an argument. He wanted to get this done and get out of your room as soon as possible, even if his body was betraying him by allowing his fingers to linger on your cheek as he wiped away the blood.Â
âThey are me.â
Concise and to the point, as he always was, Dottore waited for the explosion of questions and demands to come from you but you only stared at him, studying him. Again, Dottore was grateful for his mask because he did not like the way he felt beneath your gaze.
âHow?â you finally questioned.Â
âExperimentation,â Dottore said dryly, your eyes narrowed as if that was an obvious answer. His lip unconsciously pulled up into a smirk. âI was able to isolate and extract my consciousness at specific periods of my life after years of study into-â
âIrminsul,â you finished for him, voice little over a breath and eyes darting down to your forearm.Â
Dottoreâs lips pressed into a thin line, watching you carefullyâhe did not like that, or did he? A part of him was impressed that youâd managed to put it together so easily just from the little he said and the words that had been transcribed to you through the bond. But on the same note, he thought that the fact that the bond had given you enough words to so easily string together how he had gone about his research was unnerving.Â
Not for the first time since the bond appeared, Dottore felt distinctly violated.Â
âYes,â he said slowly. âStudy into Irminsul. All I had to do was create vessels for the consciousnesses after extracting them.â
âAnd they are⊠you?âÂ
You were looking at Kappa with a different expression now, Dottore couldnât figure out what it was but it made him uncomfortable, vulnerable. There was a reason why he made sure to keep all of the younger segments far, far away from people. Dottore let his hand drop back to his lap, folding the handkerchief and placing it back in his pocket.Â
âYes.â His voice came out colder and sharper, and you caught the change in tone, looking up at him quickly with furrowed brows. âIâll be taking them back to the labs.â
You didnât look pleased, frowning as you looked down at Kappa, who was still fast asleep. Behind Dottore, Iota let out a noise of protest but Dottore only had to turn his head to the side to stop the boy from speaking his complaint out loud.Â
âSo what? Youâre just going to leave again?â you asked harshly.
âDid you think I was going to stay?â he quipped back, sarcasm dripping from his words. âThat you and the younger segments and I were just going to be one happy family?âÂ
To your credit, you didnât look too perturbed by the harsh words but he knew it affected you, if the way your grip tightened on Kappa had anything to say about it.
âYou canât just keep me here,â you spoke through gritted teeth. âIâm not-â
âYouâll find that I can do whatever I want,â Dottore corrected, rising to his feet.Â
You didnât hesitate, shifting Kappa down to lay on the bed next to you as you moved forward, fingers wrapping around his wrist to hold him in place. A commendable effort, but all it would take was one quick snap of his wrist to free it from your holdâŠ
But he did not snap away his wrist. As easy as it would have been, instead he just stood there, staring down at you, waiting for you to say whatever you wanted to say. He tensed as if to pull away but his body didnât cooperateâhe blamed it on the bond but he wasnât so sure that was the case.
âIâm not done,â you said. âI have more questions.â
âAnother time,â he dismissed, finally forcing himself to pull his wrist back. Again, he felt a strange void as soon as the pressure of your fingers was removed from him. âIâve wasted enough time tonight.â
Wasted?
âWasted?â you echoed his very thought, scoffing loudly before shaking your head. âYou know what, I donât really care. What I do care about is knowing what that energy was around Pantaloneâwhat was that?â
Dottore looked at her steadily from beneath his mask. âThat is none of your business,â he said coolly. âDo not go sticking your nose where it doesnât belong lest you find yourself a guest here forever.â
The look you gave him was nothing short of murderous. âAs if I wonât be already,â you spat, rising to your feet to take a few steps closer to him after he moved away. Dottore remained rooted in place, looking down at you. âI will not be kept here like a caged animal.â
âThen maybe you should not act like one.â
âExcuse me?â Dottoreâs words held no weight, but he did very much enjoy goading reactions out of you, watching as your face twisted in fury at the insult. âI came here for a reason, Doctor, and that reason was not to be imprisoned by you. I have information I need to find and one way or another, I will acquire it. You can either-â
âYou will do as I say so long as youâre in this palace,â Dottore said, cutting you off by pinching your cheeks between his fingers and tilting your face up to look at him. âJust because we have a bond forced on us by Celestia does not make you untouchable, control that tongue of yours before it lashes at the wrong person. Once I get the information I want, I will consider getting you what you want. Then, we will never have to see each other again. Until then, you have reaped what you sowed and it is no oneâs fault but your own that you were not adequately prepared for the consequences of your actions, do you understand?â
Just for a second, he watched as a helpless expression spread across your face, eyes glassy and lips pressed together tight as you stared up at him. His tongue itched to say something else but no words formed on it before you snapped your face out of his hold, looking away.Â
âGet out.â
A part of him wanted to refuse just to be spitefulâwas it spite? Or was it something else, that heavy feeling weighing at his chest? That was a question he was not ready to answer, so instead, he smiled thinly:
âGladly.â
i promise theyâre going to start warming up to each other soon more than just in their internal narration <.< soon as in very soon wait til you see the scene i have planned
RBS APPRECIATED!
947 notes
·
View notes
Hii, I hope your day/night is going well! I donât think youâve ever been asked this from what Iâve seen; but do you have any idea how the NRC school system works? my pea brain I cannot figure it out for the life of me đ I know that they have magical subjects ofc (magical history, alchemy, etc.), and they also have the more practical ones like math (unfortunately), but they also mention having electives. I know Azul and Ace have mentioned sharing elective(s) with others, which just leaves me to wonder how many periods they have or if they rotate classes around each day if that makes sense? And on top of that, the lesson chat things of the characters (including upperclassman/people not in 1A with ADeuce?) saying theyâll go along with the schedule we [Yuu] have in mind for the day.
Sorry this got to be so long and you donât even have to answer at all, just a question thatâs been in my mind! :)
As far as I'm aware, we are not told much about how class schedules work at Night Raven College. We don't know how many classes there are in a day, or if the students take the same classes every day or have them on rotation (for example, Magic History on Tuesdays and Thursdays only). We can, however, do our best to extrapolate from what we have!
We have a partial schedule shown in the Episode of Heartslabyul manga (volume 2, chapter 8). In it, we follow Adeuce, Yuuken, and Grim through the school day and right up until lunchtime. They seem to have 3 classes (Alchemy/Potionology, Magic History/History of Magic, and P.E.) and then a lunch break. In book 7 of the game, Ace is having lunch and mentions his "next class" being in the lab, though it's not said what course that is. That line (assuming the "lab class" is Alchemy/Potionology) could imply the schedule is shuffled around depending on the day, but it's at best an assumption.
We also have an idea about a decent chunk of Azul's class schedule, if you can believe that. In 3-7, we get to see his first three periods (Music, Animal Linguistics, and Potionology/Alchemy, in that order). He then goes to lunch. This would seem to imply that all students have three periods and then a lunch break. We don't know how many periods follow after lunch, but I think a safe guess would at least another 3.
In Jamil's Lab Wear vignettes, we learn that class 2-C (Azul and Jamil) take Alchemy/Potionology after Riddle's class, 2-E, does. This means Riddle and Jade take Alchemy/Potionology or some other labwork for second period. We additionally learn in Jade's P.E. vignette that he and Riddle have P.E. for fourth period, which must be after lunch. This implies that required courses are likely taken with students in one's grade level and maybe homeroom, as this is true of Jamil/Azul and Riddle/Jade combos. This doesn't appear to hold true for electives like Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles and Poison Making/Poison Refining, which receives a mix of students.
I would be hesitant about treating Lessons as 100% canonical, as the gameplay elements of TWST sometimes contradicts the lore we are given in the story and voice lines. For example, you as the player are able to put first years, second years, and third years in the same Lessons when, in reality, this would not be feasible. Some courses would require prerequisites that the first years have yet to complete, and not everyone would realistically be choosing to take the exact same electives. Additionally, second years and third years would have to be taking different sections for some subjects which cover entirely different content than what is given to first years. (For example, students don't learn about the Righteous Judge until Magic History II, which you take in your second year. This is why the first years don't know who the figure is when asked about him in Glorious Masquerade.)
I'm sure that some of the information dropped in Lessons are true (ie lines from the characters' Chats and the lines they drop during the actual Lessons/when they're gaining stars). However, the things directed at Yuu are dubiously true in my eyes since the pre-Lesson lines are directed as much at the player as they are to Yuu. They're lines meant to make the player themselves feel like they're forming friendships with the boys and participating in learning with them even though this (again) wouldn't make complete sense in-universe. Yuu can't use magic, so they wouldn't be able to participate in upper-level classes which require the use of magic. They wouldn't be following second and third years to those classes. It's also nonsensical to think that the school would allow for any student to just make up whatever schedule they feel like doing on the spot for the entire year. I believe the wording is like this ("Oh, I'll do whatever you want to do, Yuu!") for Lessons to, again, give the player a sense of freedom, and feel like they're taking initiative to bond with their favorite characters.
That being said, here's what else I could find regarding NRC's curriculum:
Crewel heads the Science department, Trein the Humanities, and Vargas Physical Education.
Students are not allowed to use UMs/signature spells during class. They are, however, allowed to use general magic if directed to by the instructors.
First year students focus more on concepts and theories. The older students have classes which involve more use of magic than theory.
There are sometimes joint lessons, or classes running concurrently with one another with students of different year levels involved.
History of Magic/Magic History seems to be a required course; its materials are divided up into different sections and taught based on your year in schooling. The Righteous Judge, for example, is covered in year 2.
Flight/Flying is described as an elective class; not many Pomefiore students take it.
Alchemy is another required course; it seems to provide the base knowledge for potion making before students qualify for other more complex science electives. For example, Crewel berates the first years for touching equipment in the manga and instead has them identify plants.
Potionology (or Magic Pharmaceuticals) seems to be a potions making class.
All students must take Physical Education.
Some students remark on sharing electives with others. For example, Ace and Sebek are in Enigmics/Magic Analysis together, Deuce and Epel are in the same Flight class, Vil and Cater and Lilia take Poison Making/Poison Refining, Silver and Kalim share Astrology and Practical Magic, Jamil and Azul have Potionology, etc.)
Though all 22 NRC students have/will have an Apprentice Chef card, we don't have confirmation that they all took the elective in the main story canon. The exception is Sebek, who has a line in book 7 stating that he's glad he took the Master Chef course.
NRC offers electives like (Visual) Art and Music/Musicology, which encourages and expands one's imagination. This is important because spellcasting is enhanced by having a strong imagination.
The TWST 4koma shows us that third years are able to infuse their artworks with magic, thus bringing them to life. It seems that first and second years do not attempt this magic yet.
There is an elective called Animal Languages/Animal Linguistics, but the name is broad and doesn't specify which animals you're learning to communicate with. This appears to be similar to a real-life foreign language course.
Practical Magic involves using spell formulas in order to achieve a practical goal, such as autocleaning. This is a required subject; failure to pass means you are held back one year.
Enchanting objects is described to be a "basic, rudimentary magic" that even first years are capable of performing.
Physical Training and Swimming seem to be P.E. electives.
Electives we don't have much information about: Protection/Defense Magic, Summoning/Conjuration, Biology.
Master Chef/Culinary Crucibles is an elective designed to give the students the practical skills to provide nutritious meals for themselves. This and P.E. are meant to help keep the mages healthy and in good shape to perform their magic.
Enigmics/Magic Analysis is a mathematics-based course. Ace describes it as solving logic questions using formulas.
Ancient Magic involves reading old texts and deciphering their meaning.
Astrology involves reading the stars and using them to make predictions.
Third years must choose between Poison Making/Refining and Changes & Comparisons of Abbreviated Spells in Ancient and Modern Magic History as an elective. The latter is a lot of writing and making chronological tables.
To graduate NRC, students must complete mandatory off-campus internships in their fourth and final year. Third years attend an orientation meeting in the springtime to prepare them for the application process.
Internships begin in September, around the same time classes start. There are three periods for the internship; students can choose to remain at the same site or take up to three different internships, each lasting 3 months.
A student's internship site options will vary depending on the individual's electives, class credits, and grades.
Some internships require special technical exams and/or interviews. It is also possible that some internship sites will scout desired students in advance. This was the case for Idia, who was given several internship offers after his presentation at a cultural fair.
Each quarter, fourth years must receive an evaluation of B or higher, as well as submit a written report about their experience. A student must receive credit in at least 2 out of 3 internships in order to qualify for graduation.
There is a final exam you need to pass for graduation.
151 notes
·
View notes