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“I bet they will be a couple one day”
At that sentence, Delta raised his head to watch the speaker of that while the voices in the lab were starting to get more and more louder. He took a little break from his task to respond :
“Are you serious Omega ? Don’t you hear how they’re already arguing. And it’s only the first day of the 9th harbinger…I bet he will only stay a few weeks before he already throw up trying reduce the funds”
Omega decided to stop paying attention to what he was doing and relied on the desk to watch them more comfy. What’s caused Delta to sigh.
“What are you doing ? Focus on your work…”
“I’m focused… On the beautiful show they made. Look, it looks like they have finished already.”
Indeed, there was only five minutes that the new harbinger was in the lab when he decided to leave, without forgetting to mention that he will not let Dottore use so much mora. After the loud sound of the door being closed, the focus of The Doctor was redirected on the two segments :
“ What are you both watching ?... Go back to work !”
Dottore watched them with intensity. They probably saw what happened and he didn’t want to hear any commentary about that. He was already too angry because of the banker, in this state it was not a good idea to annoy him. Hopefully they understood it and went back to their tasks without any complaint. Which led Dottore to have the occasion to go back to his office and finally have the silence again. It’s been a long time since the last time someone was able to get him angry like this. This Pantalone was definitely very annoying and already probably one of the harbingers that he hates the most. He wants to reduce his funds ? Well he will understand that he doesn’t talk to one of his random clients…
Only a few days later, the 9th harbinger showed himself again in the lab to discuss again with Dottore. Sadly he was in his office and all the segments knew that you don’t disturb the second harbinger when he is working in his office.
“ Pantalone, that’s right ? I would not open this office door if I were you.”
The banker decided to stop to correctly understand the meaning of this sentence and watch the one who talked to him.
“ I guess it’s because no one should open this door except him ? Or something like that…”
“ Yeah it’s correct”
“ Hidden behind a door to avoid a conversation with me… What a stubborn man. And may I ask who you are ? One of his segments I presume.”
“ Yes, Delta.”
“Thanks for the information, but I will still enter this office.”
The Doctor didn't even give a glance to the new incomer. It was the first time that someone risked entering this office without being authorized first. First time, seeing someone almost as stubborn as himself. This conversation was about to be very exasperating again.
“Dottore.”
The man decided to ignore him, too busy in his notes. This annoying banker shouldn't be there, in HIS office while he was working. He didn't have the right to impose his presence like that.
“Dottore. For the second time…”
He will definitely not leave… Time to make him understand that it was his office.
“Regrator. You are in my office. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
The ninth didn’t move and was still watching him…
“ And I want to talk. Yes you are the second harbinger but your title will not scare me. I need to talk about the funds. I've checked this year's profit and loss statement and even though the organization made a profit, most of the expenses recorded came from you and your experiences. You spend some mora far too easily…”
The banker started to explain a lot with his accounting words, leaving no time for Dottore to interrupt him. It’s only in the end that the Doctor got up and decided to walk to just stop in front of Pantalone.
“ You have a lot of good arguments, Pantalone. But I will not let anyone destroy my funds. I hate you. And I think you know what I’m capable of doing to the people I hate…”
“And I don’t care about that. My dear Dottore.”
In these words, the banker left the office without looking back. Dottore stayed at the same place for a few minutes before finally going back to his desk. He can’t believe that this little annoying accountant was not scared of him. Probably this man was able to hide his fears, it was the only rational explanation. But another thing was also annoying the Doctor. The fact that despite hating this man, he still hadn’t done anything against him. Why ? It looked like he couldn’t ruin this beautiful banker. Wait ? What ? No, forgetting this thought, that was way too confusing for him. Why does this man can’t leave his mind alone, he hates him…
A few days later, the funds of the Doctor were reduced. The next day, someone had made a huge mess of Pantalone's office. Which caused even more arguments. Every end of the month it was the same thing. To a point where the segments became accustomed to the noise of the arguments, which had become routine. But one day when the banker decided to show up again in the lab…
“Where is Dottore ? Delta, answer me.“
“ In the other lab behind, he's doing experiments. I guess you will still go there even if I say you should not…”
Pantalone simply smiled while he was walking towards this lab. Yes, he will still go there. He wanted to talk about funds but now he was also curious to see what were these experiments that need a lot of funds. By curiosity, he then entered and without saying anything, he stood in the corner of the room to watch.
Focused on his experiment, the Doctor didn’t see the new incomer and continued to proceed. Pantalone then had the occasion to see Dottore doing experiments and taking a lot of notes. A whole hour passed, Dottore moved to watch something when he noticed the banker. It was a very unpleasant thing to see that man here…
“Not you… I’m busy… Come talk later…”
“I’m not here to talk, I’m watching… For an hour… But apparently you didn’t know…”
Dottore took that as a joke, of course this annoying man will not stay here a full hour watching him. He then let a little laugh come from his mouth. Pantalone only likes his boring numbers. Right ?...
“Very funny… Now let me alone.”
“I’m not joking Dottore”.
The Doctor decided to move his chair to watch him more easily. By the stand of the banker, he could clearly see that he wasn’t lying… Strange thing. He needed to know what brought him here and some proofs of what made him stay. The two men started a conversation without screaming where Pantalone was telling him what he saw during an hour while Dottore was explaining him in detail. The two of them were still staying quite far away from each other in the room.
“So you were really watching…”
“Yes… Why didn’t you explain all that when I had asked for the reasons for your funds?”
“Because first I hate having to give you administrative papers to justify myself. Second, I don’t want people interfering with my research.”
“And if I just stay to watch here ?”
Dottore stayed silent for a few minutes. His brain was running way too fast, thinking about all the possibilities and questions. Why did Pantalone ask him to watch ? Should he say yes ? No. Nobody is allowed to stay in this room with him, why would he make an exception especially for him ? This wasn’t logical to accept him to stay so why did he not feel good when he thought about saying no ? He decided then to follow as usual his logical and rational thinking and was prepared to say no. But at the moment of opening his mouth to say no, an other thing overtook his logic and changed his answer :
“Then just watch and I don’t want to hear a single word of accounting coming from you.”
Meanwhile in the main lab, the segments started to wonder why for once they hadn’t heard any argument. Omega then tried to approach the door leading to the other lab.
“I won’t go there. It’s still dangerous, you know.”
“I know Delta but Pantalone is still there no ? That’s crazy. It's been 4 hours now, Prime will finish his experiment soon. And they never had an argument for 4 hours ! I’m curious…”
He didn’t have the time to open the door because suddenly, Pantalone left that room followed by Prime… Quietly? And Pantalone headed for the exit of the main lab.
“Thanks Dottore, goodbye for today.”
Dottore stayed in the silence until Omega started speaking again.
“Is it just me or did I hear him saying goodbye to you ?...”
Without an answer, Dottore went into his office. Still wondering what happened. How… How ?! How an annoying banker who only thinks about money could be interested in his experiments…
He knew how his segments found it probably strange that he spent the whole experiment letting Pantalone see it. And honestly he found it strange too. He doesn't let anyone see himself doing experiments when it's in his secondary lab, even the segments. So why? Why did he let him see? Why is Pantalone so different from the others? It's just a banker who is annoying him. It's actually the most annoying person he knows... So why did he find it so peaceful and nice to spend time with him like that without talking about finance and money. That's not how it should be... To stop thinking about it for the evening he has just decided to sit at his desk and write about his experiment.
The next weeks were strange too, everytime he was doing an experiment, he found the banker ready to watch him. Everytime he couldn't say no and ended up talking to him every week now about his experiments. And started to enjoy his company... Finally someone seemed interested in his research... But of course it couldn't stay like that forever... The subject of funds had to be put on the table once again at a moment. And it happened one day when Dottore was in his office, writing down some notes.
"Dottore."
Of course once again he decided to enter the office without asking him... It could only mean one thing... He stared into the eyes of the banker :
"I don't want to talk about funds."
"I know"
He knows? How could Pantalone know that he doesn't want to start again like the beginning. It was like erasing the few weeks where they were talking peacefully together. He clearly didn’t want to start this topic again. The Doctor was about to raise his voice when a light sound came from the desk causing Dottore to watch what it was : a bag of mora. Wait what?
"I need some explanations for that Pantalone..."
"I can't favor you with the funds of the fatui but I can give you some money from my personal funds. That was the only reason I came today"
Dottore didn't know what he could say to that. It was so unexpected... What was this man trying to do? Lost in his thoughts he almost didn't see the banker trying to leave. No, he needed more explanation...
"Dottore. Why is the door closed?..."
"We need to talk more. You can't just drop the money like that and then just leave"
"Isn't it what you wanted a few months ago?"
"Yes but..."
It has changed, he wanted to add. But he was not able to admit that to himself, so saying that to Pantalone will look even more strange...
"It has changed... I know, I don't want to destroy the small things we built during these last few weeks..."
Finally it was the banker who finished the sentence with the same thought as he had... That was surprising... And a good reason to unlock the door and watch Pantalone leaving the lab. This man was definitely crazy... Maybe that's why they started to get along well. They were both crazy men...
By knowing that their interests were aligned, they were able to start working on shared projects. The Doctor started to let his guard down since the subject of funds was resolved and closed now. Well, at least until he finds another very interesting project where he will have to ask for more funds but that was not for now. They were now business partners which meant that the banker had now even more occasions to come and watch him doing his experiments. When the Ninth was not too busy with his accounting of course. At least he now had someone else to talk to about his experiences. Someone who listens to him and understands him. It was definitely the ideal business partner. Until that day when Dottore realized that he had forgotten something important.
This was supposed to just be an ordinary day. A day where Pantalone came to the lab to see and check the progress on an experiment :
“ So… How is it going ?”
“Watch banker”
Pantalone came closer to the table to watch what the Doctor was doing and honestly without explanation it was not very clear. Hopefully Dottore had probably guessed it since he started to explain while he was continuing the experiment. Then he added a product that started to make smoke once being added in the experiment. Smoke that seemed not to bother the Doctor but he immediately turned his head when he heard Pantalone coughing.
“What’s wrong ?”
No answer, just more coughing. Dottore felt that something was wrong and stopped everything to get closer to the other man.
“Is it because of the smoke ? Who started coughing when I added this product but honestly i don’t think because it’s supposed to only hurt the… humans…”
This last word was pronounced slowly and low, giving the Doctor the time to realize his own mistake. Then he gently but quickly put his arms around Pantalone to lead him to the main lab to find a potion to repair his mistake. If he wasn’t able to find it on time, the banker could maybe… No, no he will find it now. He couldn’t let him suffer just because he had forgotten that Pantalone was a human ! He was so used to his presence now that this little detail had come out of his head. But this was not a small detail ! He was wrong… And why was he so worried ?! He never feels like that when it’s somebody else who has problems. However here it’s Pantalone, and he had never felt this sense of panic before.
Finally Dottore found what he was looking for. As fast as possible he sat down, placing Pantalone next to him. He then gently helped him to take the medicine. How he hated seeing this man in this desperate state.
“ Things should be getting better by now…”
For response, The Doctor only felt a little pressure on his arm : the banker decided to take a break by resting his head against him. They stayed a few minutes like this before Pantalone brook the silence with a voice still a bit broken :
“Why did you help me ? Didn’t you say a few months ago that you hate me ?”
Dottore avoided the question, not knowing how to explain it properly. The things a few months ago were much more different than now.
“Using this product was a mistake. I shouldn't use it, I had forgotten that you were human…”
“Aren’t you too human ?...”
He bitted a little his lips it was something else complicated to explain so he choose to say it briefly :
“I was, a long time ago but now this body has nothing left of human…”
“And I don’t care about that.”
The Doctor tried to watch the expression on the face of the Ninth to understand what he meant by that. He then got lost in the beautiful purple eyes that were watching him. He almost had the impression that Pantalone was able to see through his mask.
“You’re not a monster for me Dottore.”
Kind of surprised, Dottore turned his gaze to watch a random point in the lab. He didn’t expect to be able to hear this sentence one day. Especially coming from the banker, the man that he has already so many times thrown out of his office. How was he supposed to respond to that ? He had no idea… He had never been used to talking like that with someone. However, it was… pleasant to hear that ? He didn’t know how to describe it… This strange feeling… that feeling that kept coming back… Without giving back a glaze he then tried to give a simple sentence :
“And why did you say that ?”
“Does this mechanical heart still feel something ?”
“You didn’t answer my question Pantalone…”
“You didn’t answer mine either even if I think you know the reason what I told you that”
In a sigh the Doctor finally decided to finally watch him again. The beautiful purple eyes were still staring at him, probably waiting for an answer. When did this man start to get so… lovely ?
“ This mechanical heart is only supposed to do his job, nothing else…Meaning there is probably a fault in it since yes, it still feels something…”
“It was the only response I needed”
With these words, Pantalone closed his eyes and kept his head on the Doctor. Letting Dottore watch him even more and slowly understand why he was never able to hurt him even when he hated that man. The strange feeling he tried to understand for many months and that he found unreasonable, so many things finally started to make sense. It was not an unreasonable and illogical feeling. It was also a logical and reasonable feeling but contrary to the ones he had always been used to having from the mind, this one came from a most complicated and intriguing place : the heart.
A few minutes later, Dottore began to gently run his hand through the magnificent banker's hair. Which led the accountant to let out a slight smile.