Work Text:
Lumine was going through domains as usual, it had been a routine for her. Whether a new one popped up, or a familiar one she'd done many times before, it did not matter. Today, like usual, she was in one. An empty dark blue domain with a ceiling, a typical red key floated in the middle. Lumine activated it, preparing to fight enemies as usual.
However, instead of monsters, in front of her, a monitor appeared, with local Teyvat letters forming.
[You have accepted the challenge.]
[The person you hold the most mutual affections for will appear by your side]
"Huh?" her thoughts churned, uncertain of who it could be.
A person materialized in front of her field of view, slightly further away.
It was Dottore.
His gaze flicked to the screen as he easily formed a conclusion to the situation he was presented to. "Oh my, to think I'd hold the affections of the traveler. What an honor."
His words were laced with sarcasm, but he continued while in thought.
"However, the same holds for me, so perhaps the term 'Affection' is incorrect." The word 'mutual' was key here. "A more suitable expression might be... 'interest'. You see, I am very interested in you. In more ways than one."
"So what is it that you've invited me here for?" he questioned.
The traveler was wary of him, she stood on high alert, uncertain of why he even showed up. "I don't--!" Her eyes flickered to the screen, as the writing changed. "It doesn't look like we have any more time for chit-chat." Lumine stated, her head turning towards the monitor once more.
It appeared to have further instructions.
[A quiz will be held.]
[Should the two individual parties score less than 50%, a penalty will be given out.]
The two read the words and mused on their own. It appeared that if Lumine herself could answer the questions correctly, it didn't matter of Dottore's answers. She could go about it on her own without receiving a penalty.
They were locked in here until they could clear this little game, it didn't hurt to try.
"Hmm, a quiz." Dottore voiced.
[The first section will be answered by...]
Lumine.
However, the question was one she did not expect.
"How peculiar, though I suppose it makes sense given the circumstances." He stood there calmly, his hands behind his back.
It was a question about Dottore.
[What's under his mask?]
How would I know that? She cried out in her heart, uncertain. Her gaze unintentionally wandered towards Dottore's face, the mask he had never taken off...
At one point, she had seen a small peek of a mark underneath, however, it was hard to make out what it could be.
She wondered if he had a scar under his face, she wondered if it was just a stylistic choice.
She didn't know.
She considered everything she could.
"Would you like a hint, traveler?" He smiled in calm observance. "Why do the fatui wear masks?"
Should she even trust his words? She thought about what he said for a moment, it was due to anonymity, however, she knew the man before her did not bother for one second, to hide his identity.
"The other harbingers don't cover their faces. Besides Damselette, but it barely covers her." She spoke in a cold tone, making a statement. "I can't see you wearing it for the same reason as the fatui members."
"Hoho, so you know of the other Harbingers? I didn't receive data on this. The only contact you could have made was those three... It appears there has been a leak somewhere."
She didn't bother to respond to that, "To cover a mark." she chose to believe what she saw before.
The monitor shone a red color, with 'Incorrect' written on it.
"Hehe." His laugh was mocking.
So that wasn't it... she grimaced. How would she know something like that, when she barely knew him in the first place, let alone seeing his face,
[Draw one of his segments.]
A paper and pen had appeared on a table nearby, seemingly materializing out of nowhere. The two didn't question it, if a person could materialize, why wouldn't a chair and table?
Unwillingly, Lumine walked over slowly, under Dottore's scrutiny and sat on the chair, staring at the paper. She had heard about the clone that went to Mondstadt some years ago, prior to her arrival. The story was told to her in chunks by Diluc, Kaeya and Amber, but she managed to piece together what happened back then quite well.
Words like "Weird" "Ugly" "Hehehoho Man" were used to describe him, but he too, wore a mask. He only had a small chunk of his face and eyes uncovered.
She began to draw a black and white mask, with messy and short hair, the eyes looked much wider.
Before long, her art piece was finished. It looked rather well drawn, courtesy of Albedo teaching her to draw before.
It looked about 80% accurate, while Dottore went over to look at it, the monitor gave her a point for completing the task. She stood up proudly, it was clear she was proud of her artwork.
"I'm surprised you know of this segment... or any segment for that matter. I don't recall ever meeting you prior to this."
"I heard about him from other people." she tried to suppress a smile, to no avail.
"Hmm." He seemed to lose interest after that, waiting for the next question.
The next few questions were ones she managed to answer due to her reading the many notes scattered about him.
[What is Il Dottore's real name?]
"..." She peeked at him once more, uncertain about the question. There was no proof, only speculation.
"Zandik" She said, uncertainly. It was still one of the things she couldn't confirm, it was a dart thrown in the dark.
"My, oh my." his calm facade didn't fade, even when the lights turned green once more.
"What do you know, my identity has been compromised." He sat on the chair where she drew, his interest growing ever so slightly.
"You seem to have done quite a bit of research on me. Had our meeting left such a big impression on you?" He taunted.
"With all your research notes scattered about, it's not my fault your information is out there, free.for.use." she bit back.
"Yet even after knowing about the dark sides... you still chose me?"
She didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't her that directly chose him. If she had an option to choose anyone she wanted, she might have chosen a Knights of Favonius member, perhaps a friend from Liyue, Inazuma. Even her 'comrade' Childe would be much better.
He wouldn't even cross her mind as an option.
"I didn't 'choose' you."
"That's not what this artifact here stated."
"It might be lying, after all, that would mean that you too, chose me."
"Well I never denied that, did I?"
His grin was frustrating, irritating. She wanted nothing more than to punch him right now. He had been ebbing away at her sanity with his casual remarks this whole time.
She let out a deep, silent exhale.
"Okay."
The next question was up on the screen.
[What is the reason Il Dottore is looking for Aranara?]
What she learned from a fatui member is that he is studying the withering, aranara and dreams. How that correlates to his mission is uncertain...
From what she knew from Haypasia, he was making Scaramouche into a God... but how did that tie into his goal?
Aranara deal with dreams and the Akademiya already used that ability to harvest dreams... he is behind them, so surely he had a part to play in that. The timeloop made a large impression on her.
"He is... trying to" she stumbled, her thoughts still uncertain, she didn't know exactly, but she recalled the medical records she read previously. "modify humans through studying the aranara, in order to freely utilize the power of dreams... and control people through it." she spoke the most reasonable explanation she could muster. Brainwashing, he did so when she first saw him.
She stared at the screen, her heart uncertain. A moment passed and the answer was...
Green.
She heaved a sigh of relief.
"Most commendable, Traveler. You really do know me oh so very well. I might fall for you myself. Perhaps you can even help me with my little experiments, what say you?"
"I refuse." She stated flatly, shooting him a glare.
[What is his favorite food?]
'How should I know that!' she thought in rage, her cheeks puffed up.
If she had an item in her hand, she would have thrown it. If she was alone, she would have stomped her feet on the ground in anger.
"Hahaha. Hehe.. Favorite food... You might stumble on this one, huh, Traveler."
Sumeru dishes.... Sumeru dishes... she chanted in her head, closing off herself from him
"Tandoori roast chicken"
Red! It was red! She stiffened.
He looked at her with schadenfreude. It was clear he wished for her to receive the 'penalty'.
"What is it then..."
"Hehehe... who's to say?"
It appeared that the next few questions were ones that he should answer about her. She could rest for a little bit.
[Would she allow you to experiment on her?]
"No."
Dottore said without even needing to consider it. Naturally, the only people who would allow him to do so are those with strong desires for power or those who are on the verge of death, and have no other option.
The light shone a red color, signifying his answer to be incorrect.
Dottore: "..."
Lumine: "..."
His gaze snapped over at her in shock, one even his mask couldn't hide. But within no time at all, he returned his composure.
"Off to a bad start. It looks like I don't know you as well as I thought."
She couldn't face him, her eyes wandering. "I don't know what you're talking about. There must be a mistake with the machine..."
"Sure there is." he said, smiling. He would be using this information against her later.
[What is Lumine's goal in Teyvat?]
Dottore didn't speak for a while, crossing his legs for a more comfortable position. He was still sitting on the chair that appeared for Lumine to use while drawing. His elbow leaning on the table casually.
"Reunite with her sibling." he stated confidently. It was quite the news amongst the fatui, despite him not being the type to go around, he heard about this a while ago.
Naturally, that answer was correct.
[What vision does she have?]
He didn't know, after all, he'd never seen her in a fight. It didn't appear that she wore a vision on her person. That was unusual as most wore it as a badge of honor, showing it off casually.
He decided to answer... "Not applicable"
The light shone green.
"Ah, a most tricky question. It should have asked whether you had a vision or not, wouldn't that make more sense?"
"You're right... it was worded quite weirdly." she had to admit, it was a trick question. "I'm surprised you..."
"Managed to answer that? Of course, not many will consider that the great Traveler doesn't have a vision. But if the possibility is there, it is worth considering."
He too, did not own one after all. And he was managing just fine.
[What is her companion's name?]
"Companion... it must be referring to that floaty thing?" he recalled a white toned fledgling, he definitely didn't catch its name, however.
"Hmm..."
He was stuck. How lamentable.
"Flying pixie... floaty one... talking sprite..." he mumbled, unintentionally. He could only describe her as she is.
Lumine covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. It seemed that nicknames for Paimon had increased by a couple more. As many ugly nicknames as she'd give out, she definitely got enough back.
"What's so amusing? Let me laugh along."
"No nothing! I wasn't laughing...! PFh.. talking sprite." she couldn't help but find it cute. Next time, if he sees her he should definitely call her that, Paimon would throw a fit.
"Hmm." he considered for a moment, before proposing. "I'll accept a hint."
"Mh... I wouldn't give it out for free."
"Naturally your efforts will be rewarded."
"In that case, I'd like my reward first."
"Hahh... what would you like? Just saying, I do not have information on what you seek."
"I wasn't going to ask about that anyways." Lumine huffed. "I want to know... what your favorite food is."
"You want to know... such a thing? Using this priceless opportunity?" she was full of surprises, he let out a chuckle.
"I was frustrated that I couldn't answer that one! Since you're unwilling to answer, I'll change my question to fatui state secrets then."
"No, of course I'll humor you... It's fish with cream sauce and potato boat." he was still a little dumbfounded, but he spoke of a dish he quite enjoyed back in the day.
"Fish... fish is good..." she mindlessly answered, randomly storing it in the back of her mind. "Ah right, the hint."
She spoke slowly. "Her name starts with a 'P'"
"My, that narrows it down so much, thank you, traveler. I really appreciate the hint." He looked offended at the meager hint provided.
"Is that not sufficient? It's a common hint in such occasions"
"I don't know what 'occasions' you've been in then. But no matter, I won't ask again." disappointment was laced in his voice.
"No, I'll give a better hint." She didn't know why, but she felt the need to do better. "It starts with 'Pai'" she added.
"Mh, that's much better." He smiled widely.
Unknowingly, Lumine had been manipulated into giving more information, in such a subtle manner too.
Il Dottore looked down the list of names that could start with Pai. It wasn't too difficult to come up with the most probable one out of them. He took a second, before answering.
"Paimon." he decided.
"!!" He actually got it right... Lumine was impressed, to guess one's name was not easy, when you've never heard it before. In his position, she definitely would have struggled, even with the provided hint.
After the confirmation, the next question appeared.
[What are all of Lumine's Titles?]
All of them... it was clear that the machine was biased against Dottore, it looked to be giving him a difficult time.
She figured that he was scowling under the mask. Surely with the amount of titles she's had, he couldn't get this one right.
"The Honorary Knight." He started with ones he heard of. "The Traveler." He didn't know any other ones. In the first place, it was impressive for him to even hear of the title she'd been given in Mondstadt.
Red. Of course, it likely wasn't even half of the titles.
"If I may, what other titles have you been graced with?" irritation was laced in his words.
"Too many to count." she sighed, she didn't even keep track of them. "Swordfish II Captain, Golden Nara." she went down the list, "One of them is Outlander." it was probably her most suitable title.
"My, we are quite similar in that sense." he started.
"How so?"
"An outcast and an outlander, isn't it fitting?" His smile was very charming.
"They are quite similar... maybe you're right.” Was he going to say the typical villainous line, 'you and I, we're not so different after all.'? She might want to beat him up if he did.
The screen lit up once more.
[Congratulations.]
They both passed....
"Shame, I'm quite curious what the penalty would have been." Dottore stated.
"Maybe you shouldn't have tried so hard at answering then." She deadpanned.
"Now of course I wouldn't put myself in a position where I have to receive a penalty." He got up from his chair, finally, and stood next to her. "This was quite fun, huh?"
"Mh..." she couldn't agree, nor disagree.
It was strange to have gone through this with the Second Harbinger. To even have a regular conversation with him.
But maybe she did have a little bit of fun...