Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Wake up, Baizhu. You can't sleep the whole morning."

The man shivered at the words, flinching in the bed. Changsheng knew how to abruptly wake him up, and today was no exception. 

Well, except he just wasn't feeling well.

It was never that bad. Those men… it would never be like this.

Maybe because he escaped and tried to hide from them in his own house, where everyone knew he lived, without any line of protection. Even Qiqi was away, as he let her stay with that friend of hers for the night. It was good for her not to be alone all the time.

He was sure that the door was not in good condition anymore. He'll have to change that, somehow.

But now he doesn't really want to do anything.

"Baizhu, get up."

"You know better than anyone I can't, Changsheng."

The snake wasn't going to deny the situation he was in, never. She wasn't the one who could help him when these things happened and was the only actual witness to this. But as stubborn as he was, he didn't want to tell anyone about it. Even if it could've solved everything.

But they were strong. Always outnumbered him. And he rarely saw the same few every time it would happen. Maybe there were too many of them to even stop something like this from happening every time.

"Just give me some more time, alright? Then I'll take care of the doors."

The snake signed. "You can't keep this a secret for too long, you know?"

He knows he can't. He was going to crack one day, he knew that very well.

But there didn’t seem to be any exit for this situation currently. So, he’ll just have to endure it. He was able to until now. Sure, something like this shouldn’t last for over a year, but what was he going to do about it? 

“Let me rest for a bit longer, alright? Then I’ll go and do my job.”

“If you say so.”

Changsheng didn’t want to argue with him more, that was clear. She’s probably had enough of it too, having to watch him struggle almost every day over something like this. It would probably be good for him to have a break that lasted longer, but right now that’s not the option. He could take a day off tomorrow maybe.

As he covered himself once again, another unknown sound was heard. It was the now broken front door, alarming him immediately. 

“Dr. Baizhu?”

Qiqi.

“Are you awake?”

“Hello Qiqi dear.” He was still under the covers, only letting his head be visible. He was too tired (and bruised all over) to let the child know something had happened.

“Qiqi thinks the doors are not okay.”

“Yes, it’s a bit of a problem. I’ll fix them later, I’m just a little tired right now.”

“But work Dr. Baizhu.”

He wasn’t sure how to approach this now. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to it, just a few more minutes.”

Qiqi, while not looking suspicious, was looking oddly… worried.

“Is Dr. Baizhu alright?”

How to assure her there’s nothing to worry about?

“It’s just a cold, don’t you worry. Please, you should make sure everything is alright in the pharmacy until I go downstairs.”

Qiqi only nodded her head, sloppily closing the broken door behind her as she left. He’ll really have to fix that.

“Please, don’t look at me like that Changsheng”, he sighed as the snake eyed him again, shaking her head. “She’s a child, I can’t tell her about anything.”

“You are right on that one”, the snake replied. “That still doesn’t make the situation any better.”

He lay down again and let out a sigh. Today was just not feeling that great.

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a bit more time to relax until he had to deal with the rest of the day.

Baizhu was woken up by a thud of some sort.

As he flinched, he was greeted by an unusual sight in front of him.

“Oh, good morning Dr. Baizhu!”

Yaoyao, the girl Qiqi stayed with last night, was there. Another person, he assumed someone related to her, was moving around the broken door not far from them.

“Dad, Dr. Baizhu woke up!”

The man put the door down and turned towards him.

“Good morning doctor! I apologise for the noises, this door is quite heavy.” He seemed to be replacing it with another one. Baizhu couldn’t see everything, as some things seemed to be outside, but he was very much working.

“It appears I missed something while I was asleep.”

“Ah, yes of course! I’ll keep it short: Yaoyao came to pick up some medicine for her mother while we were in town for some work reasons. She found out from your herbalist and Qiqi that you had a broken door, which caused you a cold since you couldn’t close it properly. I offered to help replace it, considering you always help our community. It would be a shame if our doctor was sick.”

“You really didn’t need to do that”, Baizhu tried to brush it off. “I’d do it myself later in the day.”

“Unfortunately, the door wasn’t in the condition where you could do it yourself easily. You would need too much materials and work you’re not familiar with. This way you don’t get to hurt yourself in the process. I’ve changed many doors like these, so this is just something I’m used to! But, it’s very odd to have a door get broken like this, especially if it wasn’t like that only a day ago.”

It was time to make something up again. He could already feel Changsheng judge him for that.

“It was like that when I arrived last night. I assume someone tried to break in and steal.”

Baizhu never kept most of his earned money in the house, it was all stored away in the bank. He learned from his brother that’s the safest way. While using Northland bank as someone from Liyue always earned him a couple of side eyes, he could trust his brother on the money being safe. True, he’d have to make more trips there than one would like, but safety of the money first. 

“That’s probably the most logical answer”, Yaoyao’s dad said. “So odd, to think of stealing from our doctor. What was that person thinking?”

“Possibly a treasure hoarder”, Baizhu said. “Or maybe a travelling thief. You never know.”

He tried not to talk too much, the man did have to work without distraction in the end. In the meantime, Yaoyao offered to make him some tea, not wanting Baizhu to stress too much. Considering he did say he had a cold, the most he could do was pretend that was true. 

The door got fixed relatively quickly, Yaoyao’s dad also refused to accept any sort of payment for it. He was serious about just helping him because he truly can. Baizhu can make up by not asking for money the next few times they come for medication at least.

But even when the man was done, Yaoyao didn’t seem to want to leave.

“Your dad finished working, you are free to leave with him.” He said.

“Oh no, I’ll stay! I already told him I’ll be here to help you out if it’s needed.”

“There’s no need really. I can get Gui to help me if something’s needed, Qiqi too. You don’t have to-”

“Please, I insist!” The girl wasn’t going to give up. “You always help all of us when we need it! Even if your medicine doesn’t taste very good, it has never failed anyone! The least I can do is help you feel better, just like you always help everyone else!”

There was some truth to what Yaoyao was saying. Even if he wasn’t truly sick, he is the one who helped the sick people of Liyue, but no one really helped him when he was the sick one.

“Alright.”

“Thank you very much Dr. Baizhu!” Yaoyao seemed very happy that he had accepted her help.

“I also told Qiqi that tonight I would be staying with her. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“No, it’s perfectly fine. Qiqi loves it when someone's with her, even if she doesn't really show it on the outside.”

At least she’ll have the little zombie friend to hang out with and won’t be dancing around him all the time. 

“I would appreciate some sleep now though.”

“Of course! If you need anything more, I will be close!”

Yaoyao did in fact stay the whole day, and now night. She was also kind enough to make them a meal, much to Baizhu’s surprise. That radish and fish stew she made for them was quite lovely. And once done, she said she’d sleep with Qiqi in her room, leaving him and Changsheng alone.

“She makes good food”, Changsheng commented. “She does it better than Qiqi at least.”

“Well, Qiqi does try her best, that’s what matters with her. In the end, you always end up eating what I make.”

“That’s true.” The snake then repositioned herself, spending almost all day next to him compared to her usual spot around his neck. Today must’ve been an unusual day for her too.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“I am… fine.”

He wasn’t hunting anywhere anymore. Some amount of discomfort was present, but that thing has been here since this all started. He had gotten used to it, even if realistically he shouldn't have.

Changsheng sighed. “If you say so.” Seemed like she was sick of arguing with him after so long.

He lied down again, as if he wasn’t in bed the whole day, attempting to relax. He had two kids in the house today, so even if they do try something, they’ll be in for an unpleasant surprise. Qiqi was a light sleeper and she could wake up Yaoyao if needed.

The fact that he was relying on children for his protection felt pathetic, but did he really have someone else?

Chapter Text

Another deep breath was let out as soon as Baizhu returned to the Bubu pharmacy the next morning. He had been followed by both Yaoyao and her father who came to pick her up, leaving him and Qiqi as they came down the stairs. He was hoping these fixes were going to keep those people away, at least for some time. 

"Dr. Baizhu, was everything alright?"

Due to his absence yesterday, Gui and Qiqi were left taking care of the pharmacy. With him resting the whole day, it was not surprising to see Gui worried, especially considering his poor health.

"I am alright now, there's nothing to worry about. I am able to proceed with everything as usual."

"I'm glad everything is fine. You should've let me know there was an issue with the door. A cold like that could've been avoided easily."

Ah, yes. The cold. The easiest thing he could make up for why he wasn't feeling well would make sense with the doors being broken. It did save him from explaining so many things, so it was worth it at least, no matter how much Changsheng was against keeping this a secret.

"We also got some mail yesterday. Apparently, some of it had gotten lost and had just recently arrived. There's a chance something might've been missed." Gui informed him.

"Oh dear, that would be very bad if it's the case." He hoped it had nothing to do with patients being sick, it would be very unfortunate if someone didn't didn't get the treatment on time. He was supposed to prevent death in the end.

As he looked through the mail, it was all things that were not up to a tight deadline: invitations for some events, things regarding the next Lantern Rite, people asking questions about certain medicines… nothing that was a problem.

The last one seemed to be the oldest, judging by the envelope. Though, it didn't seem to be local, maybe from Mondstat? Would anyone there be interested in his medicine?

Until he sees the seal.

Snezhnaya.

He frantically opened the letter, throwing the envelope away, trying to find the date of sending and any other number there could possibly be on it.

"Oh my, are we having a visitor?"

"Not now, Changsheng", he said, looking over the whole letter.

"Oh, is it from him?" Gui was familiar with this by now. "Good thing we got that door fixed. When will he arrive?"

As he got to the end of the letter, a sigh escaped him. "Today. It was pure luck the letter got here on time. We'd be greeted with a surprise otherwise."

There was probably some more time until that happened. He was unfortunately not in the condition to go to the harbour and wait for him personally, but he can find his way around the place. He'd been here plenty of times by now.

"Good morning."

"Ah, Mis. Yelan, what a pleasant surprise."

The woman tilted her head. "I hadn't seen you here yesterday. I thought you might've gone out, but no one had seen you at all."

"Just a little cold, nothing to worry about." Changsheng shook her head on that.

"What can I do for you?"

"Your herbalist had taken an order from me yesterday. I am hoping that's all done by now."

"Qiqi finished it." The little girl handed over packs of medicine to him. As Baizhu observed it, he realised what they were for.

"I thought this sickness was seasonal. It's still quite warm for it to happen."

"Let's just say I went to a little… expedition to Dragonspine the other week. I've personally recovered on my own, but Lady Ningguang and the other residents of the Jade Chamber did not. That's a fault of my own."

"Now it makes sense. This would be 3000 mora."

The woman threw a bag of it onto the desk. 

Same as ever, Baizhu thought to himself.

"You guys seem quite calm today. I even saw the herbalist in the shopping district"

"He's doing some supply shopping."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "I find it hard to believe you guys run out of food and those things that quick."

"Well, more is better than none at one point, is it not?"

Yelan became alert as that voice filled the pharmacy.

Baizhu just sighed.

Here goes this again.

Yelan turned, seeing none other than a man dressed in Fatui clothing, standing at the entrance of the pharmacy.

"What is a Fatui harbinger doing here?" She was not that happy about this that much was obvious. "The one that's supposed to be stationed has not arrived yet, from what I know."

"Oh, he'll be arriving soon, don't you worry about that", he smiled at her words. " Quite a coat you have there. I thought whoever took it would've used it as a trophy of sorts, but wearing it works well. Even if it had been completely altered."

“... You were the one who stole the coat meant as a gift for Tsaritsa?”

Yelan’s eyes were on Baizhu again. “And how do you know about that? That was a secret mission.”

“He knows quite a lot of things, you’d actually be surprised.”

“Once again, why are you here?”

Laugh escaped the man. “My, can’t one visit his own family in this nation? I thought the people of Liyue were kinder than this.”

The woman seemed stunned now. Stunned and confused. “Family?”

Baizhu did laugh at this a little.

“Yes, that would be correct.”

As he spoke, Yelan’s attention was on him again as he walked over next to her and stood there.

“Welcome back, Pantalone. It has been a while.”

“Yes, it has. I had expected to see you wait for me at the harbour, yet here you are.”

Baizhu let out a chuckle. “In my defence, mail had been held. I found out you were coming just this morning. I was lucky to even get the mail for that. I wonder, what could’ve been the reason for that?” His eyes went for Yelan, who was still there.

“Everything coming from Snezhnaya has to be investigated thoroughly, mail included.” She said, “Now, if you excuse me, I will need to pass.”

“Of course, be my guest.”

“Get that smirk off your face, fatui.”

She exchanged no other words as she flew next to Pantalone, who was smiling as ever. He really pushed her buttons it seemed.

“I am amazed you managed to anger her. Yelan is quite hard to make express many emotions, anger included.”

“Let’s just say she… lost something while trying to spy on one of my jobs. It appeared she did not take that lightly.”

Baizhu sighed as they were finally alone for a while. Gui should be back sooner or later, but there should not be too much work today. 

“You have been quite busy in the past few months, haven’t you? You missed last year’s visit, you know.”

“I am aware”, he said. “You can thank that outlander that has been going around Teyvat. We had one of the harbingers die due to her. The Electro arcon struck her down. That leaves us with two empty spaces we now have to fill.”

“My, that is a lot. At least write to me next time. I got worried that Tsaritsa got bored of you.”

“I am the richest man in Snezhnaya, I hardly think she would. Not to mention that I am the one funding almost everything in the end. Especially when it comes to his experiments.” Annoyed at whoever he was referring to, Pantalone switched his attention to the little zombie behind the counter.

“Now, where is my Qiqi? I heard from a colleague that someone asked for coconut milk?”

“Qiqi wants coconut milk. Does Uncle Pantalone have coconut milk?”

Baizhu chuckled again, knowing Pantalone was about to get annoyed. There weren’t many things Qiqi could call him, so ‘uncle’ was the thing she stuck with. It annoyed him to no end, but Baizhu found it amusing, to say the least.

“Not yet, but I will get you some soon. These are a little harder to get by where I’m from. You know cold weather and all that, but you’ll get some soon!”

“Qiqi can wait for coconut milk. Qiqi will be very happy to get it.”

Even with that, Pantalone was fond of her. Not to mention he was technically ‘the rich uncle’ as kids sometimes liked to refer to people like him. There always has been a soft spot for her, ever since he started taking care of Qiqi. There was no denying that.

“Now, I think we can catch up on things. Gui went to do some shopping. We can stay here until he gets back. For now I can offer you plants.”

“I would rather wait.”

“Nothing less expected from the rich man of Snezhnaya.”

“And nothing less expected of the pharmacist of the Bubu pharmacy.”

Neither of them couldn’t help but laugh a bit at that. Baizhu did miss him quite a bit.

“Take the medicine twice a day, morning and evening, and you should be in perfect condition in about four days.”

“Thank you Dr. Baizhu!”

By now this was probably the fifth child he had to take care of today. So odd that so many of them have been getting sick these days. He wondered if the situation would be getting worse by Lanter Rite.

Once done with the last patient he had, He could finish for the day, knowing he needed a lot of rest. Smiling when interacting with children was a must. After a while he would get a bit tired of not just that, but working too. His deal with Changsheng would always take a toll on him, even if he wasn’t using his life force to help the patients.

Now, the trip back to the pharmacy on his own, especially with how late it was now, was dangerous. He had learned that in the past year very well, but today, he wasn’t alone.

“Do you always travel this far for your patients? I’m impressed, considering your physical condition.”

Pantalone had decided to spend the day with him since he couldn’t take one off due to yesterday's events. This involved going around Liyue and doing what a doctor would: heal his patients. Today this involved only children, so many of them were sick for some reason.

This meant chances of him being approached, let alone attacked, were close to none. Sure, Pantalone was not a fighter by any means, but he was one of the Fatui harbingers. By now Yelan must’ve let everyone in the nation know he was here, so even people like them would not take any chances of getting into trouble like that.

Of course, this would only last for a short while. Pantalone was not about to stay here for more than a month at least. Once the stay was over, it would all go back to normal… or would it? If he’s seen with him a lot, maybe they’ll assume trying to mess with him would be harmful, so they’d just give up? He was sure most of them weren’t native to the Liyue Harbour, so there’s a chance they’ve never seen him with Pantalone before. This could change things for the better.

“Travelling like this is normal for me. I do wish there was an easier way to go around, but alas, there’s not much I can do about it.”

“You’d think people here had something like that. Fontaine is much better when it comes to transportation.”

“Yea, sure it is.” Maybe things like those wouldn’t be happening to me if we had whatever they had over there. 

“I’m not joking”, Pantalone continued. “Long-distance travel there is much easier compared to here. Maybe if someone invested in it-”

“Which won’t be happening as long as Lady Ningguang is the ruler here.”

“-Maybe you wouldn’t be so tired all the time.”

Baizhu chuckled at that. Yeah, maybe he wouldn’t be.

“You are probably right. But until that happens, you are the one who’ll make sure no treasure hoarders attack us while we go back to the city.”

“Sometimes I wonder how you do this every day when you need my help over this.” The other brother laughed at that. He missed Pantalone. It had been over a year since they had any contact, considering the relationship with Snezhnaya and Liyue Harbour had been damaged when the other harbinger stationed here made a whole mess with that old God. Hopefully, that won’t be happening again with whoever will be coming here next.

Baizhu really hoped he wouldn’t have to go for too long without Pantalone again.

As they returned, it was already dinner time. Gui had made his way home, leaving the two of them with Qiqi who was waiting for them in front of Bubu pharmacy. 

“Qiqi would like to eat.” She said.

“We’ll make something quickly, don’t you worry.” The living quarters weren’t the best equipped for cooking, but making it outside was fine too. Not that Pantalone minded that. They had to eat in a restaurant for lunch since it would be too much to make food and then go see patients, therefore they had to settle for that. At least dinner was homemade this time.

“Can Qiqi have her favourite dish?”

“I’m sorry Qiqi, I don’t have coconut milk on me right now”, Baizhu sighed. She really liked that. “I can make you grilled tiger fish if you’d like that.”

“Qiqi won’t mind.”

At least she wasn’t difficult to deal with when it came to food. Pantalone, on the other hand, only liked high-quality food. 

“Are you sure you cannot make the onion soup?”

“I am not making you that odd Fontanian dish. The best that you get is stir-fried fish noodles today. If you want something else, you are free to order something in a restaurant.”

He was not about to try a completely new dish just for him. Too many opportunities for a mess up. No thank you.

“I guess I do not have a choice tonight”, Pantalone sighed in defeat. “I’ll take the noodles then.”

“And what do I get”, Changsheng questioned.

“You can either get the same as him or you can have a bit of my minty meat rolls.”

“I’ll take the noodles.”

At least having a meal today wasn’t an issue. 

Once done, due to already being quite late, it was time for some sleep. Qiqi had her room, so Pantalone will have to be with Baizhu as usual. Not that he minded it. They used to sleep like that when they were children, though not for happy reasons. Baizhu also wasn’t about to make a construction site on top of the pharmacy for another room. Pantalone can spend a month like this, he always has.

“...The door is different this time.”

“Ah, the front door? It actually got changed yesterday.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s quite convenient. Why so?”

“The door was bad”, Qiqi jumped in before Baizhu was able to respond. “Baizhu was sick last morning. Did not want to get out of bed and covered himself fully. Qiqi then found out about the door and asked Yaoyao’s dad for help.”

“Now, Qiqi, the question was for me. How about you get ready for bed now?”

He didn’t need her to speak too much about the situation. Changsheng was the only one aware of everything, and while Qiqi didn’t realise what happened and bought his lie about only being sick, Pantalone wasn’t stupid. He can figure things out much faster than others he has known.”

“Really?”

“Yes, quite unfortunate I must say. But that’s now fixed. No colds incoming anymore.”

“That door had been there since I first visited, you know.”

That wasn’t going in a good direction.

“I find it hard to believe there was any issue with it, considering that if there was one, you’d notice it a lot sooner than just until you got a cold from it.”

He could already feel Changsheng eye him with her ‘told you so’ look. Nothing good was coming out of it.

“You know I get tired easily. I cannot notice everything that happens here. True, I should’ve seen it coming, but that’s beside the point now. I won’t be getting any colds anytime soon now.”

Pantalone still didn’t look happy over this, but decided to let go of the conversation.

“I’m tired. I do have to visit the Northland bank tomorrow for some things early in the morning.”

That’s a sign to sleep then.

“Ah, you mentioned another harbinger will be stationed here soon. Care to tell me more about that?”

Baizhu never kept up with anything Fatui related, unless everyone was talking about it. He had met Childe at the same time as that traveller during the rite of parting, but he had no other knowledge of him besides that initial meeting. 

“Uh, that.” Pantalone didn’t seem that delighted to talk about it. As both him and Baizhu lied down, he continued talking a bit about it.

“He was in Sumeru until recently. Worked on some sort of project if I’m not wrong. Not sure what exactly it was though, some sort of robot? It doesn’t matter now anyway. Most people would describe him as cruel, dangerous, cunning… I get a headache every time I even have to think about him. He’s not a person one would want to be around, that’s all you need to know. Good night.”

Pantalone turned away, determined to go to sleep now.

“And what would you describe him as”, Baizhu asked out of curiosity.

“Annoying.”

Chapter Text

It was quite an experience to have a big commotion in the harbour the very next day of Pantalone’s stay here. The harbinger he mentioned the night before was here.

By the first visitor to the pharmacy, the way Pantalone described him was accurate: people seemed to be wary of him, a bit scared even. 

Even after so many years, Baizhu never directly asked about other harbingers. Truth be told, he was a bit worried it would get him on Fatui agents' radar if he knew more than he should, so he never asked Pantalone questions about them. On occasion, he’d let a comment or two slip through, but they were mostly vague and usually about that woman who died last year or Childe. So whoever it was, those small slip-ups weren’t going to be helpful today.

“Hello again, Dr. Baizhu.”

“Yelan, how nice to see you again.”

The woman didn’t seem as glad to be here as last time.

“Here’s the second round of medicine. How are things at the harbour? I heard there’s a bit of commotion down there.”

“The harbinger we were anticipating is here”, she said, her words dry. “He’s not the one I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on. The man from last time feels like a little kitten compared to this guy.”

Even Yelan seemed wary of him. He has got to be someone dangerous then. Pantalone was not joking when he said most would fear him here. Maybe that’s why he was sent to replace Childe, considering that guy was a lot nicer. Tension would be built that way.

“Good luck with keeping an eye on him then.”

“I guess I’ll need it for him.”

She walked away as fast as she came, leaving him with Qiqi again. Now back on his work, Baizhu did not need to leave the pharmacy today, which was good. Once Pantalone was done with whatever he had, they could maybe have a walk or even do something that wasn’t going for lunch to spend their time on. He thought of taking him to see Yungin’s opera performance as that was a magnificent thing to witness.

But until then, he’ll just stick with being in the pharmacy.

And until the commotion in the harbour went down. Loud places weren’t his favourite.

By now, he was sure Pantalone should’ve returned. It was at least noon by now, but still no sign of him. Maybe something came up? He could go to the Northland bank and check. Not like they could stop him from entering it.

Before he could make that decision, some footsteps were approaching the pharmacy. It sounded too slow for Pantalone, so it must’ve been another customer or a person in need. For a moment, he didn’t pay much attention, that’s until Changsheng started acting weird.

“What is it Changsheng? Is something the matter?”

“I am not fond of this guy.”

It did take a moment for him to look up and meet an unfamiliar face.

Well. Not a face, considering he wore a mask, but he could see the way he was dressed.

This was probably the harbinger Pantalone was talking about.

“Welcome to Bubu Pharmacy, how may I help you?”

“Have you by any chance seen another one of my colleagues? You can’t miss him.”

“Pantalone is in the Northland bank. He was supposed to be back by now, but I’m not sure what kept him busy.”

The man tilted his head in amusement, seeming interested in Baizhu’s knowledge of where the other harbinger was. “You know him then?”

“I am his brother”, he simply replied. “He’s staying here for the next month, though I suppose you might already know that.”

“I indeed do know he would be staying in  Liyue Harbor. Though, I was not aware he had family here.”

That did seem like Pantalone, not telling everyone everything. Baizhu didn’t particularly need to be known to them, as they’d probably be flooding the pharmacy everytime something is needed, and while traffic is good, too much of Fatui can drive locals away. It was better to lay low with that. One of them being aware, however, shouldn’t be an issue.

“If you need him for something, you can wait here.”

“I do need to have a little talk with him, so better to wait.”

Baizhu hoped this wouldn’t alarm anyone who decided to come here. A harbinger like Pantalone, while a bit intimidating, was usually just minding his business, but the stationed harbinger, whoever this man was, might not be the prettiest sight here, especially with the history the previous one had here.

The backroom door opened, revealing Qiqi who was carrying some herbs needed. Some had run out due to previous customers so she had to restock them. The child carried on with her duties until she noticed the man standing. As Baizhu didn’t react to him in front of her, she most likely assumed she was to say nothing, just going on with her job.

This made the harbinger tilt his head a little. He observed Qiqi, but the girl paid no mind to him.

“She’s a zombie”, Baizhu said. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“I can see that.” The man replied. “She also seems... Oddly calm.”

“She’s just like that. Well, unless there’s a certain funeral director around.”

Was the man amused by Qiqi? Or maybe he was used to people being scared of him or even uncomfortable with his presence? Qiqi was relatively hard to upset and he himself wasn’t one to show uneasiness easily, especially if he did know Pantalone was around to keep his coworker in place if something did happen. Only Changsheng was the one unnerved by his presence, but she was barely noticeable by the man.

As more footsteps were heard, Baizhu did recognize them this time. Their wait was over it seemed.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here?”

The man turned towards Pantalone, who had an unamused look on his face. 

“What an interesting way to welcome your work partner here. I thought you’d at least wait for me when I arrived.”

“I had some… business to take care of. Took longer than I thought it would.”

He then looked over to Baizhu and then back at the man. “I’m guessing you already met my brother then?”

“Indeed I have. Quite an interesting place this is.”

“It’s a pharmacy, there’s hardly anything interesting here.”

The man chuckled. “I beg to differ. Do you have some time? I have something I want to discuss with you.”

“I guess I have some time. But make it quick, I have things to do.”

Pantalone pulled the harbinger outside so that they could have some privacy, leaving Baizhu not to worry about the pharmacy getting too crowded and full of Fatui.

"Is he always like that?"

"Like what?"

Once Pantalone was done with his talk, they decided to eat out once again, leaving Gui and Qiqi to take care of the pharmacy.

"He seems to get under your skin quite well. It's not something you see every day happen to you."

"Don't get too used to it. He's the only one who has that ability, considering he treats me more like a wallet than a coworker."

Baizhu chuckled. "The claim he was annoying seems to apply only to you."

Pantalone sighed. "Most people don't notice it. The other harbingers notice it because of how much we are around him, but an outsider won't."

He took a bite of his food. "He's going to be staying here for a while then?"

"Until he's moved elsewhere, yes. If you're worried about him making a mess, considering his actions in Sumeru earned him a warning from Tsaritsa herself, I doubt he'll be making any problems. As long as he has something to do, that is."

"And what would that be?" He never questioned Pantalone about anything work-related, but this man seemed to be very close to him. Especially with the way they talked to each other.

"Tinkering with machines, being on good terms with the Mililith, just having something to do. Let's just hope he won't do any human experiments this time…"

"...That is quite a thing to leave for the last point."

"He's not allowed to. That doesn't mean he won't try though."

Baizhu looked around, just watching people pass by. "He seems quite troublesome. Was it a good idea to send him here?"

"I can't say I agree with our leader's decision to do that, but you can't argue with him. Considering he is now aware of you being my brother he won't cause you any trouble, that I can assure you."

"You really think so?"

Pantalone smirked. "I'll cut his budget if he does so."

"How convenient."

As they ate, Baizhu seemed a bit more at ease. Knowing there wouldn't be any real trouble with this harbinger was a good sign, even if he might seem more dangerous than the previous one.

"On the same note, what's his name? We didn't have that much time to chat before you came."

Pantalone put down his utensils, calling for the waiter so they could pay for their meal.

"You just call him Dottore. We all just use that."

Dottore huh? What a strange name. It's probably not his real one.

Once done, Baizhu decided it was better to return to the pharmacy, since there were no patients that needed visiting. He was already feeling a bit worse, so they'd leave any sort of sightseeing or other activities for another day.

He was left to just work until evening, then continue his updated routine with Pantalone added, pretending as if everything was fine. Just like he had been doing in the past year.

Chapter Text

“Qiqi? Qiqi!”

Baizhu swore she was there just ten minutes ago. He went to look for some materials for the next medicine and then she was gone.

It appeared Hu Tao was doing her thing again.

He wondered if he was ever going to get a restraining order against her. Considering Qiqi was a zombie, probably never because her whole situation was a loophole, but it was still annoying to do this every time. It just meant he had to make another trip to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to get her back. This is making him rethink on giving her proper medicine once she does become in need of one, though perhaps that would be too cruel. 

With Pantalone away for some work related things again, Baizhu took a walk towards his destination, knowing it might take a little while for that. Using too much of his energy right now would not be a good thing in the end, considering he had to visit patients later. Maybe he could assign Pantalone to be around Qiqi more so that the funeral director can’t get close to her. That would be a good idea, yes.

“What’s the doctor doing out today?”

He’s not completely thrown off by this, but still a bit surprised none the less.

“Hello, Dottore. I have some business in the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Don’t mind me going out. I’ll have to visit patients later anyway.”

It had only been a few days since Dottore had been stationed to stay here. He’d only seen him on the first day, Rest of the time he’d mostly been working or with Pantalone doing something else. His brother had seen him a couple of times since then (they were not only coworkers but also partners on some sort of a project. That’s why he referred to himself as Dottore’s ‘wallet’ as he’s the one who funds it.). Whatever they were working on could only go slowly here in Liyue since they were limited in what they could make. Probably for the better considering the couple of stories Pantalone had told him about the doctor in question.

“What does a doctor have to do in such a place?”

He sighed. “I have to get Qiqi back. Again.”

“Does that… child get lost that easily?”

He seemed quite amused by Qiqi. Baizhu wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing, considering the track record this man had on human experimentation. 

“She was taken by the funeral parlor director, due to her status as a zombie. That woman often tries to bring her to the afterlife, so I often have to get her back through these means. It has become a habit by now.”

“How peculiar…”

“That’s a funeral parlor director for you. I should truly keep going, I can’t have her away for too long.”

Dottore didn’t seem to mind his sudden leave, in fact he seemed to be fine with it. People usually try to stop him and ask more about Qiqi’s situation. How interesting. Maybe he could think about that some other time.

“How long do you have to wait here?”

“Until they have people who can talk to us, Changsheng.”

Waiting in front of the Ministry was not something he really wanted to do, but today was busier than usual for them. The first assumption was due to Fatui’s new departure here, so more paperwork to fill from both sides, making them short staffed. This is something he should’ve expected.

“Can’t you just send them a notice?” The snake was not enjoying waiting here.

“That’ll take days for them to sort out. I need Qiqi back now before Director Hu buries her.”

This situation couldn’t have become more stressful for him. He’ll run out of time and won’t be able to visit his patients. And if he does get to that, it’ll be very late into the night. That would not be ideal for him at all. All he was getting from this was stress.

“Dr. Baizhu?”

Distracted by his worries, he hadn’t even realised that someone was near him. 

“Qiqi?”

The little zombie was there, standing right in front of him, no Hu Tao in sight. He was about to ask how she got here, before looking behind her.

“Dottore?”

“I found her in that Funeral Parlor. It appears that the Director Hu you mentioned was a little too stunned by my presence there, so I was able to take the child before she realised what was happening. And by then it was too late for her to even say anything.”

That was rather convenient to Baizhu. Not to mention they barely knew each other. Maybe since he’s Pantalone’s brother he was being nice about this?

“Thank you for bringing her to me. I would’ve been stuck for who knows how long here until they found time to listen to my situation.”

“You are very welcome.”

With that, Dottore didn’t seem to be interested in him anymore.

As they came back, Pantalone seemed as if he was about to leave, but stopped when he saw them.

“There you two are. I was starting to get worried.”

“We’re back. You can thank your coworker for taking Qiqi away from Director Hu. Who knows how long I was going to wait for them to finish with whatever they had in the Ministry.”

Pantalone didn’t seem to find Dottore’s action odd. Maybe he was used to it?

“I wonder what made him want to pick up Qiqi for me.”

To that, Pantalone chuckled. “You know, there’s a saying in the capital of Snezhnaya that people say to kids: If you behave badly, an evil Fatui harbinger scientist will take you away and do experiments on you.”

…That was quite a way to tell him that Dottore might be more than just a little bit insane.

“Are you trying to tell me to keep her away from him or something of the sort?”

“No, on the contrary”, he said, looking at Qiqi who had already started sorting some herbs. “He’s amused that Qiqi isn’t scared of him. Kinds generally are afraid of him, so to see one who’s not is not something Dottore is used to.”

That was making a lot more sense. Qiqi rarely reacted to things, even when strangers were in question. Director Hu was the only exception for that, but she would show no fear in front of various monsters or even treasure hoarders when she’d encounter them. To her, Dottore was nothing more but some person she just saw more often now. 

“That’s not changing the fact you just told me he used to do experiments on kids.”

“Hey word used to”, Pantalone replied. “He’s not allowed to anymore.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“It should a little bit.”

Baizhu did not have the energy to argue now. It’s not that Pantalone was going to lie about things like these, but even so, he can’t help but be a bit worried. True, he sort of expected his coworkers to be a little bit weird, but Dottore definitely takes the cake here. Well, as long as he wasn’t causing him trouble, it should be fine.

“I have some more work to do and patients to visit. Would you like to go do that with me again?”

“I’m not sure about it this time. I would enjoy my time here while present you know.”

Uh-oh

This wasn’t that great.

“I’m sure you can manage it. Last time you didn’t have an issue walking on your own.”

“I didn’t, true. Still, it would be nice to have you around.”

Pantalone still shook his head. “Next time maybe.”

That was… great. Just great.

Maybe if he was fast enough, he would be back before the sun went down?

The moon already up high, Baizhu quietly walked down the streets of Liyue Harbor. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish everything when he was hoping for, meaning he had to walk in the dead of the night home. Alone.

Maybe if he ran, no one would attempt to harm him?

He wasn’t alone in his home now. Pantalone might not be the most amazing fighter, but he has influence. One could look at him and tell he’s a Fatui, so there’s no way they’d try anything. But then he’d have so many things to explain, which would not be good.

But he still didn’t want that to happen again.

“Maybe you should speed up”, Changsheng said. “You’ll get home faster. Are you feeling good?”

“It’s not bad, I’ve had worse days”, he quietly said, hoping it wasn’t audible enough for anyone else to hear it. Maybe he could run. He could just tell Pantalone he wasn't feeling that great when he was back and said that was why his breath was that fast. Climbing stairs did take a lot of his energy on some days.

"I'm not sure how long I'll hold up though."

He was sure he could hear something not too far away from him. Trouble, that’s what it was. He could consider speeding up a bit, or alternatively, attempt to enter one of the restaurants that were still working. The second idea could have some problems though, since he didn’t bring money with him and it was so late that they should be closing soon.

“Think fast.”

He couldn’t think at all. Knowing someone was there was already making this too much for him, what was he supposed to do? Even if it was a single person, he was not strong enough to overpower them, even if they were on the weaker side. 

Maybe he should just give up. That’s how it usually went. Even when attempting to fight, there was no such thing as luck on his side. What a shame it had come to this point, but what could he do?

He braced for whatever was to come.

"What's a doctor doing out so late?"

The initial shock was enough to make Baizhu freeze on the spot. It took him a few moments to get out of it, he had to in the end. The course of the situation had changed.

"My, I had not expected to see you here, Dottore."

What was the harbinger doing here at this time? Baizhu's first thought was something work related, but should he really ask for that. What mattered was that it was Dottore and not someone else. No matter how weird that sounded, Baizu felt a lot safer now.

"I'm returning from work, had some patients further away."

"Ah yes, you do that", Dottore commented. " Is it not a bit too dark? Do you need someone to bring you back? From what I've heard, you're not really… physically well."

"Yes, that is true. I get tired very easily. I wouldn't mind helping."

To think he'd be asking him out of all people for help, even if it was just following him home. But that was better than getting attacked, so he'll take it.

"Thank you."

Dottore seemed to just smile at him.

Neither of them really said anything while they walked. On the side, it was obvious someone was close, trying to follow them, but the closer they were to the pharmacy, the less those footsteps were audible. Baizhu truly got lucky there.

"Thank you for helping me out."

"It's nothing really. It would be a shame if something bad happened to my coworker's brother now, wouldn't it?"

This being his motivation didn't surprise Baizhu and knowing it was only that, did oddly make him feel more relaxed. Quite odd.

Dottore was gone as soon as he appeared, leaving him and Changsheng in front of the pharmacy.

"You got lucky there."

"I am aware. We should get inside, it's late."

Changsheng seemed rather on guard even now, but who was he to blame her? The small snake was only used to one harbinger around, two must be a bit too much for someone like her. Baizhu was fine with just allowing her to adjust to this for a bit longer. Not like one month was too much for anyone.

Now it was time to rest, tomorrow will be filled with things to do in the end.

Chapter Text

The next day, Baizhu was approached by his brother again.

“You came quite late. What was that about?”

“It's not like I can come that fast with how my body is”, he said. “ It's not like I was alone anyway.”

To that, Pantaline raised an eyebrow.

“Your coworker just so happened to have been passing there. I guess we just went a bit slower because of that.”

“Huh.” He didn't seem too surprised by the encounter. He was probably trying to figure out why Dottore happened to be encountering him so much.

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do. I'm sure you can find your way around if you want to go sightseeing again,” he said, returning back to his work. There were many medicines he had to make today. Quqi couldn't do all of that on her own.

“Have a good work day then. I'll be back for lunch.”

After the brother’s departure, he got some quite unique visits.

The first one was the angry director Hu.

“You!” The woman pointed at him. “Seriously? Sending a Fatui harbinger at me to get your little zombie that should've been led to rest!”

“Ah, you got that wrong,” he responded, now allowing himself to smirk. “He did that on his own accord. So if you want to complain, you might just go to him for that.”

It was not like she could respond to that in any way. He was not responsible for anything that happened then, he wasn't going to say anything about it now either. He did still question why Dottore did that, but that was something for some other time.

“Now, if you don't need to get anything, I will kindly ask you to leave.”

He watched as the woman stomped out of the pharmacy, anger radiating off of her.

The next notable visitor was Yelan. She came in for a headache medicine of all things.

“Are you having some other trouble too? This is often accompanying a cold.”

“No, it's not a cold”, she said. She seemed very focused on something, probably work-related. “ I'm just… having a headache on my mind. Troublesome situation.”

Yes, that was probably work-related.

“Take it every five hours and don't take more than two pills.”

“Thank you.”

The woman didn't say any longer, already on her way back. 

Next notable vision was, and at this point, he wasn't surprised this already started happening, a fatui member. Someone placed a very large order a few days ago to be ready for today, to which Qiqi, Gui and he have been working on these past few days. There weren't many places where this amount of medicine would be needed, so Baizhu was able to narrow it down for the most part, most likely the answer being the fatui. 

If anything, the man didn't make too much of a fuss when he came. Just asked for everything, patiently waiting for him and Qiqi to pack everything up. No passerbys seemed alarmed at his presence either, so people must not be too worried about the fatui at the moment, or at least not one who's just getting medicine. Maybe Pantalone's presence has started to make people question fatui a bit less when he's around. 

He wished it would also affect those people too, him being left alone would help him a lot with not feeling despair all the time Pantalone wasn't here.

As the day went on, there wasn't anything else notable happening. A few visitors here and there, some sick people to look at, yes, everything was going peacefully.

In the afternoon, Pantalone came back for lunch.

“How nice of you to bring us something.”

“You've been working the whole time, I've also seen that order Fatui made. That was a lot of work.” Pantalone grabbed some food in the Wanmin restaurant on his way back, so they didn't need to make anything today. Qiqi was happily eating her chicken-mushroom skewer on the side, while the two of them ate at the table. Qiqi preferred to sit in a lower place, so he'd often let her do as she pleased.

“So, how long will you be staying still?” Baizhu had been on the edge in the past few days, knowing in a couple of days Pantalone usually staying time would be reached and he might pack up and leave because of his work. While he understood this, it meant he would be alone for a whole year before he came back again, and that's only if nothing went south. 

“I'll be here for a few more days, then I'll have to go back.”

Not good. 

Baizhu wished he could allow himself to speak up on this situation he had. Even Chansheng was looking at him, knowing that he could do it, but somehow, he couldn't. Even if he knew it would save him so much suffering, he couldn't.

“You know”, Pantalone started. “ If you need to, you can send me letters faster through Fatui. Just ask Dottore and he'll send it, it will come faster than by using regular mail.”

Ah yes: he might be seeing the harbinger a lot more than he thought he would. If Pantalone wanted him to make his life easier, Baizhu would listen. There were always perks of fatui knowing he and Pantalone were brothers, so many things that otherwise would have been hard to obtain or near impossible became a reliable option. He had even shortened some wait times because of it.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t save him from his main problem. But what could he do about it now? At least other things were going to be easier.

“I’ll consider doing it if he doesn’t have a problem with that.”

Pantalone chuckled. “Oh, he won’t. Don’t you worry about it”

He didn’t particularly understand what he was trying to say by that, but brushed it off as something unimportant. Little did he know that maybe, he would find the reason for that soon.

Once they were done, Baizhu and Qiqi returned to work, letting Pantalone spend the little time he still had here relaxing. The afternoon went smoothly, nothing truly too different or too complicated from before. Baizhu even thought it was too calm at one point, to which Changsheng complained to him for overthinking about something like this.

He sighed, knowing worrying won’t bring him anything good. At least today he didn’t need to go anywhere, so he was safe in that regard.

As he was about to take a look at another order, Changsheng seemed to be upset by something. Him being the only person to notice the likes of that, observed the surroundings, realising someone was coming. Heavy footsteps reached them, Dottore once again here.

“Good day.”

Baizhu decided to just nod at him. “Are you looking for Pantalone? He went out a bit ago.”

“Not today. It appears one of my workers forgot to bring the whole prescription last time.” To that, Dottre showed him a piece of paper, everything neatly written down on it. As Baizhu took it, he realised it’s the one order they had yet to deliver and that he was supposed to prepare now. They must’ve forgotten it when they first came.

“I’ll be done with it in just a moment.”

As he looked to collect everything, he noticed Dottore was paying attention to Qiqi. She was putting something together, another order, but she didn’t pay too much attention. Her memory must’ve been doing its thing too.

“Well, aren’t you a hard-working girl?”

He eyed them, then seeing Qiqi looked at him with one of those expressions. He couldn’t help but chuckle at it.

“Hi, my name is Qiqi.”

As Baizhu gathered everything in the order and hurried to give it to Dottore, he tilted his head, curiously looking at the little zombie.

“I work here.”

“Qiqi, I think that’s enough.”

The girl then got back to work, Dottore looking over at him.

“It’s not something we can change at the moment,” Baizhu said, looking at Qiqi. “Her memory is not good. Sometimes she even forgets what I look like. Because of it she has to keep a notebook for herself if anything happens and she doesn’t remember me or Pantalone. Though, so far she had not forgotten about him.”

Dottore listened to that with a curious expression (as much as one could show with a mask like that on) and then took the order that he came for.

“Thank you for coming to Bubu Farmacy.” 

“Have a good day.” As he turned, Baizhu was able to overhear one more thing 

“How peculiar…”

True, Qiqi’s condition was peculiar. Baizhu wished he could understand it more so that he could solve her memory problems. Maybe one day.

Until then, he had other things to take care of.

Chapter Text

The time flew too quickly for Baizhu’s liking. Those few days were done so quickly, now standing at the docs, seeing Pantalone go back home. To think he was going to be alone again, just like that, it was maybe a bit too much for him. He’d gotten used to his presence, both during the day and night, knowing nothing could happen to him.

“Too bad you couldn’t stay longer. I don’t think this was enough time considering your prolonged absence from last year,” Baizhu said.

“I might be able to make some time in a few months. And if my calculations were correct, I might even be able to come for Lantern Rite. I’ve heard your stories about it, but never saw it myself in the city, even with how many times I’ve been here.”

It was true. He’d never had the free time at that time of the year, meaning if he did make it this time, it would be a first. It would be nice to spend it with him.

“At least write a little. Pretty sure postal services aren’t that expensive for you,” he joked.

“Yes, yes, I will. Might take longer since your ruler likes inspecting anything from Snezhnaya a little too long.” He remembered the timing of the letter. It would’ve been quite a surprise to see him if it didn’t arrive at all.

“Farewell then. Oh, and one more thing,” Pantalone had a smirk on his face. What was that about?

“I made sure some… additions will be made soon. That pharmacy of yours need a little bit of an upgrade I think.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Now what did he mean by that?

As the said their last goodbyes, Baizhu started making his way back, but oddly, Changsheng seemed alarmed, though not in a negative way, meaning it was nothing threatening.

“She’s hiding there.” The point of interest was storage boxes.

“Who’s hiding?”

“That snake of yours sure has good senses.”

Yelan emerging from there was a bit unexpected, but considering her line of work, it was probably a necessity. But what was she doing here?

“Odd to see you in a place like this. I’m guessing you’re digging for something, aren’t you?”

“It’s nothing that concerns you, I assure you of that.” Her way of speaking was a bit off, a lot more than her usual self. As if she’d been caught in a situation she wasn’t supposed to be seen. Truth be told, if it wasn’t Changsheng, no one would’ve noticed her. Just what was she looking for?

“Alright then, I’ll leave you be.”

It was all he could do in the end.

Not to mention he had more important things to do, like coming back home. He was glad that the boat was leaving during the day so he didn’t need to worry about much happening to him if he were to take a shorter route, as people would be present there.

Still, it didn’t help that he was sour from Pantalone’s departure.

Well, what to do now.

Not even twenty minutes that Pantalone has been away and Baizhu understood what he was referring to by “upgrading the pharmacy”.

Except it wasn’t the pharmacy being upgraded but his and Qiqi’s home.

He came there to a sight of construction work, herbalist Gui telling him that Pantalone arranged this a few days ago. He’d been asked to keep quiet about it, but all their things had already been moved away to where he and Qiqi would be staying until this was done. That palace also happened to be the same hotel the fatui were staying in. Not that he minded it, but maybe it would’ve been better if he stayed in a regular one.

Even so, he couldn’t help but be thankful. This also meant the whole house will be secure from now on. Breaking in will be a lot harder, if not impossible. While he couldn’t say ‘thank you’ to Pantalone for the actual reason he was thankful for this, on the inside, he did feel just like that.

Changsheng must’ve felt what he was thinking and sighed. “Things would’ve been much easier if you just spoke up,” she whispered.

There was a reason he didn’t do that. Because when he did that last time, when he tried to get help for it, it got someone killed. That is the last thing he needed. Another person dead because of him and his situation.

“I’ll be fine.”

“...You know you won’t.”

“Now, Qiqi, let’s go to our hotel then!” He’d taken a day off, mainly due to Pantalone leaving, so now he could be with Qiqi for a bit and make sure she’s familiar with the place she’ll be staying for at least a month. If it didn’t go as well as he hoped it did, he could still walk her there every day. That would add a layer of protection, since who’d want to attack him when a child was present, especially if it’s a little zombie like her? And while she didn’t look like it, she can put up a fight too. Not to mention her physique and ability to fight were better than his. Sometimes keeping her around had a lot more perks than one could think of when seeing a zombie.

It was afternoon by now, and they had walked to the hotel they’d be staying in. While being here might give him some odd looks, most people wouldn’t question it too much. If anything, they might think he was doing some playing around, considering it was known that he would upcharge fatui for a ridiculous amount of money when they’d get something from the pharmacy, mostly as an ongoing joke with him and Pantalone. While the fatui soldiers probably didn’t find it funny, Pantalone didn’t care too much on this one, as the money was going towards his brother. Unlike with his colleagues, he knew exactly where that money would go since he did know Baizhu a bit too well sometimes.

So, his stay here might be seen as some sort of a funny thing to locals, as him playing around with fatui was known. 

On their walk, he had noticed Dottore once again. He was talking to one of the soldiers, not noticing him. To be fair, he was on the other side of the street, so paying much attention to what was going on around him while working might’ve been unnecessary at that moment. 

While he knew the Harbinger wouldn’t cause him any harm, the information about his experiments was still something he held in his mind very close. While he doubted Qiqi would fall into something like that, he couldn’t help but still be a bit uneasy about the whole thing. Even knowing he’d been banned by their arcon wasn’t helping too much. 

Though, the way he’d reacted when he realised that Qiqi’s memories weren’t that great seemed somewhat interesting. Baizhu didn’t doubt that if he could, he’d take the kid away and try to find a way to fix her memory problem. If he wasn’t known as ‘the story parents tell their children so that they are good and not misbehaving’ he might not have an issue with considering something like that. With how Qiqi would forget how he looked like, it would be rough on some days. Removal of that would help quite a bit.

But enough about that. It was time to make sure Qiqi knew her way around the hotel since they’ll be staying there for a while. He could think about Dottore and his antics some other time.