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Everyone who says that marriage is the happiest thing to happen to a person never been married.
Marrying the love of your life is a happy moment, yes, but that doesn't mean you live your married life in harmony. People fight, especially if they see each other too often.
Of course, every marriage has its ups and downs, and quite frankly, Dottore and Pantalone had worse fights in their century of marriage. But this time Dottore really went too far. Atleast Pantalone seems to think so since he has been ignoring his husband for the past few days.
Their fight is quite stupid and unnecessary, in Dottores opinion.
The esteemed doctor decided that simply complaining about Pantalones smoking habits wasn't enough anymore, especially because the banker doesn't change his habit even after argument after argument. It's a steady source of debate for them. Every few weeks Dottore complains about how he would have to give Pantalone another pair of lungs soon if he doesn't cut back. Pantalone would argue back that his habit is not as bad as Dottore describes it to be. They would be annoyed at each other for some time, sometimes a few hours other times a few days, a rather short time for two immortals. Eventually they just fall back into their usual routine and have made up just like that.
It's a rinse and repeat. One Dottore is sick of.
So he took Pantalones cigarettes and hid them from him. An unforgiveable crime in the bankers opinion.
A knock on his office door interrupts Pantalone. He looks up from his paperwork.
He's pretty sure he knows who the one knocking is.
He doesn't answer.
The door opens and, as predicted, Dottore walks through.
"Feofan. Are you still mad at me?" Pantalone pays him no mind. He looks back at his paperwork, effectively giving his significant other the silent treatment.
"Feofan." The doctor starts again. Instead of answering the second harbinger, the banker pulls out an apple and bites into it. Dottore looks unimpressed. "Feofan what are you doing." Dottore asks, deadpan. His husband pays him no mind, however. He looks into Dottores eyes as he takes another bite. Dottore groans and mutters something under his breath. He turns around and slams the door shut.
The other harbingers have also noticed their little quarrel. At the harbinger meeting, Pantalone did not take his usual seat next to Dottore. He steered over to Pulcinella instead, claiming it is simply for efficiency since he still has something to discuss with the mayor. Nobody believed him.
That left Dottore sitting next to Childe.
"Did you two fight?" Tartaglia whispers to Dottore.
"Pantalone is just acting a little weird. Nothing out of the ordinary." The doctor shrugs.
"Weird how?" The eleventh raises an eyebrow.
"Whenever I enter a room, he starts eating an apple." The doctor looks dead serious while Childe tries to stiffle laughter. "What's so funny?" The second harbinger demands.
"You really messed up, huh. You know the saying? 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'?"
"Of course I know that saying." He did, in fact, not know that saying.
"Good luck then. You need it."
Arlecchino coughs next to them. That finally gets Childe to shut up. The doctor is quite glad about that.
The doctor isn't the only being ignored. It seems that Pantalone is deeming the same fate towards the other segments.
They are all in the laboratory, standing around the operating table.
Not all of them are present, like 65 for example who isn't even at the palace.
"Is Feofan only ignoring me, or also the rest of you?" 18 asks.
"He's ignoring me aswell." 25 says.
"He eats an apple whenever I enter a room." Prime answers. The other segments snort.
"What did you do Prime?" 45 looks at the Doctor.
"I took away his cigarettes." Zandik is holding the immortality elixir in his right hand.
"I'd say good riddance but now he's mad." 18 crosses his arms.
"I don't know what to do. He won't talk to me." Dottore continues to stare at the vial.
"Take away his apples." 25 suggests.
"No, that would be stupid. Buy every apple in Snezhenaya." 8 shrugs.
25 shakes his head. "Because that's a good solution."
"Better than what you said. That would just end in more fighting." 8 throws back.
45 rolls his eyes and butts into their bickering. "How about you just gift him flowers? A romantic gesture won't hurt."
"That's actually a decent idea." 18 nods.
"I'll try it." Dottore concludes.
"Feofan." Dottore enters his office for the second time that day. Pantalone still doesn't answer, but he acknowledges Dottores presence with a raised eyebrow.
"Still giving me the silent treatment?" The doctor walks forward until he's standing in front of Pantalones desk. He places down a boquet of sumeru roses on top of the table.
Pantalone blinks and looks at the flowers, then at Dottore.
"Did you buy them with my money?"
"Our money."
Pantalone pulls out an apple and throws it at his husband. Dottore can dodge fast enough and is about to give Pantalone a smug remark about his aim being terrible when another apple hits him square in the right eye.
Screw him for taking his mask off today.
Dottore slams the door to his lab open. "Shut up. Don't even ask." He grumbles.
"Don't you sound happy, prime." 25 greets Zandik when he enters the laboratory.
"Damn, what happened to your eye?" Segment 8 asks. "Did Feofan not like the flowers?"
"He threw an apple at me."
"Oh." They all say in unison.