when i look at you, i get the feeling that nature is playing jokes on us.
it's as if both the left & the right hand have clutched the head to realize
for the first time that they are two parts of a single whole.
𑣲 ‧₊ character : dottore
𑣲 ‧₊ fandom : genshin impact
𑣲 ‧₊ notes : quote from pathologic
for @crowttore for the winter wonderland event !! eueue i hope it is ok if i made this abt celeste & dottore !! i have not written for either of them before so i can only hope i did them justice AAAA i do love learning abt them very much <3 happy holidays my friend it is so nice to know you
"i'd like to study you under the microscope one day, doctor."
a neverending contemplation that breaks focus-- one brewing in her mind for too long a time, really. so casually spoken, dottore thinks, almost as if it is an afterthought. his gaze is heavy, felt, understood-- yet celeste continues her work as if she has said nothing and everything all at once.
he is not surprised by her words, no. it is difficult to be nowadays, he finds, though he must admit his intrigue. how very strange she is, his assistant, always finding new ways to pique his curiosity.
"oh?" amusement laced in inquisitive tones. "do indulge me on what you think you would discover."
her ears twitch-- subtle, but noticeable ( to him, always ). when she glances at him, there's that knowing countenance, almost taunting in a way. ever the scrutinizing doctor, she thinks, and so she lets out a deep exhale, stretching her arms before resting her elbows on the table once more.
"think is a presumptive word." she corrects. "i'm curious if there's any tenderness remaining in your heart."
that, perhaps, is what surprises him. if there's any indication of shock on his visage, even a flicker or a spark, she doesn't catch it. she stares, intent-- studying, the curve of her lips almost a hidden sight. another twitch of her ears, and in return, perhaps the twitch of his eye.
"you waste your curiosity in trivial matters."
"there's enough to waste." short and simple. "i can be insightful about multiple things at the same time, just as i can tend to my many duties for each of your segments." she answers, but there's no sharpness, no jagged edges in her voice, nor his. it's almost a dance, really, this push and pull, and she finds that she enjoys it more as time passes. "...i only wonder, that's all. you break up pieces of yourself and put them somewhere else. how do you know you can be whole again?"
again, spoken as an afterthought. as if she's replayed this conversation in her head over and over again, as if she's already studied his heart and all that festers in it. still, he does not falter. she does not expect him to. what an odd sight that would be to witness, she thinks.
"my segments exist to view life from all perspectives." a clinical answer. not quite the insight she wanted, but very much one she expected. "they are fragments of myself at different points in time. i am still whole."
she absentmindedly traces the microscope, throwing him one last glance-- knowing, observing. a little too on the dot, a little too close for comfort-- just barely, but not enough. never enough. she smiles and he does not know what to make of it.
nonetheless, there is work to be done.
"...are you still whole?" she asks, focusing on her research once more. just an afterthought, after all. always. "i wonder, doctor."
