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Today, Tsaritsa suddenly decided to summon all the Harbingers for an urgent meeting as quickly as possible. She rarely did this; meetings were usually scheduled months in advance to allow the Harbingers time to return from their expeditions, so as far as he knew her this was truly a matter of great importance.
Besides, Pantalone simply couldn't appear before outsiders looking anything less than impeccable—that is, without a pristine, immaculate costume and perfectly styled hair.
He was sitting on the sofa, smoking and listening to the beautiful sounds of the piano drifting through the air beside him.
Dottore was playing a melody with Sumeru motifs, carrying Feofan deep into his own thoughts. A rare moment when neither of them had work. Very rare.
A maid knocked briefly, received permission to enter, and immediately reported. "Lord Regrator, I have received word that our Goddess honored Tsaritsa is urgently summoning all Harbingers to the throne room. You must present yourself as soon as possible."
And when she arrived with urgent news, he was wearing a dark blue terry-cloth dressing gown which wasn't exactly tightly wrapped and nothing else under.
"Indeed. Tell them that I... ahem." He glanced at the pianist sitting next to him. "We’re... moving out."
"Yes, my Lord." Maid left as if she had never been there.
Pantalone regretfully stubbed out his cigarette and rose from the luxurious velvet sofa, stretching. "This must be serious," he said to Zandik, who was no longer playing but simply watching him.
"Her Majesty has the good sense not to distract us with trifles, so it must be something truly important." Dottore noded.
"Yes, that's right." Feofan walked up to the huge wardrobe and stopped, looking at Zandik.
After perhaps twenty seconds of such akward silence, Dottore asked. "What?"
"If you don't mind, I need to change my clothes."
"Well go ahead, I'm waiting for you." He simply rested his head on his hand, staring straight at him perhaps without blinking.
"Change completely." His eye twitched nervously.
What’s unclear about the fact that if someone wants to change clothes and you’re sitting in the room, you should leave or, well, at the very least turn away? After all, they don’t have much time; he’s already running late.
"Yes, I got it. Please, hurry, we don't have much time, you know." The doctor’s head didn’t even make a pathetic attempt to shift even slightly to the side. Pantalone nearly choked on such brazenness.
Pantalone exhaled, steadying himself—Zandik was his friend, and they were both extraordinary. In every way. So perhaps it was simply a misunderstanding.
"I know. But it seems to be misunderstanding. Please, leave the room."
"Why?"
For all his years of experience dealing with people who were not exactly the sharpest, Feofan could not suppress a twitch of his eyebrows and also blinked foolishly.
"What do you mean? Because I need to change my clothes maybe? You know that this procedure involves stripping down completely."
"Oh for archon sake, Feofan. Are you serious? I performed surgery on you just recently! I saw every-..."
"Still! This is a different situation, Zandik."
"And what difference does the situation make? These are just the social norms of a society that neither you nor I fit into."
"That is true, yet people still prefer to hide their bodies from others, unless-..."
"You don't need to do that at all—yours are great! Such distinct veins; you have no idea how easy it is to draw blood from you!"
"Thank you for the compliment, but LEAVE RIGHT NOW." By the end, he had snapped and was shouting. Seriously, they were running late, yet Dottore was just sitting there holding forth on moral standards and society and wouldn't let him change.
Zandik stood up irritably, never once taking his eyes off him. "That’s rather hypocritical of you, Feofan."
"WE ARE RUNNING LATE!" Pantalone shouted loudly. The servants would surely think all sorts of things...
"I'll look away if it's that important to you."
He crossed his arms over his chest and turned away toward the window. It was clear that he felt hurt and didn't understand what he had done wrong.
"Thank you very much." To be honest Feofan didn't want to argue with him. He liked Zandik’s self-assurance and critical nature, but this was definitely not the situation for it. Why did he even need to look?..
And yet, he decided not to widen this chasm, but rather to smooth things over. "Listen, even though you often lay me bare, that doesn't give me the moral right to parade around naked in front of you. After all, I respect you."
"These are simply human conventions. Who decided that respect is expressed by covering one’s body? It is merely a matter of morality something you choose whether or not to follow." Mumbled he.
"But you follow." Grinned Pantalone.
"Of course I do, I'm not some kind of nudist, I'm living in that society. But what’s the point of hiding now, when I’ve already seen everything?"
"So, does that mean you can walk around naked in front of all the doctors that healed you?"
"And were you healed by others?" Dottore narrowed his eyes.
Pantalone didn't understand at all how the conversation had shifted to this level.
"Um... no, but in general."
"Are we really like the others? To lump us all together with those people. We aren't like that. We're different."
"You were the one who taught me how to conduct myself in society and how to mind my manners."
"I am not the same as the other people around you."
Feofan could no longer make heads or tails of anything."...Okay, what do you want from me especially, Zandik?"
"Nothing, just checking if we friends."
He understood—of course he understood—that it was a standard manipulation, but still...
"We are. Just think of it as making me feel more at ease." He exhaled.
"Am I bothering you now? My presence here?"
Pantalone simply wanted to strangle himself.
"We re close friends, Zandik. But let's say, I m shy. I’m under anesthesia during the surgery, after all."
It seemed Dottore was truly deep in thought. He fell silent, lost in his own reflections.Pantalone exhaled and finally relaxed.
After a while, he finally finished getting dressed and stepped to him. "I m already dressed."
He walked over to Zandik. He raised his head and asked. "Are you really shy around me? After all this time..."
They were already inexcusably late, but Pantalone felt like smashing both his own head and the other man's. He had already started work on the segments anyway.