Beta fics

Protective Pantalone (Beta version 2)

(Lazy_MaiMai's fox AU)
Pantalone would consider himself cool blooded and sophisticated, uncaring for anyone else's suffering even! But when it came to the youngest Harbinger, he could never seem to keep his composure for as long as he wishes to. The eleventh always seems to be able to bring some kind of reaction out of him, weather it be anger or exasperation the boy was always able to gain a reaction out of the bespectacled man.

But Pantalone had the luck of being the harbinger who's spent the most time around the eleventh aside from Pulcinella, after all the Regrador had been the harbinger overseeing Childe's group while they were recruits. When the boy had still been 14 and freshly out from the horrors of the abyss. About a month after Pulcinella had taken the boy as his own.

Pantalone would lie if he said he didn't immediately know who the boy was, or rather who he'd been... as an adeptus himself the Regrator was familiar with the dead eyed boy.

It sickened him to look at that face, a carbon copy of what the boy had looked like all those  years ago. Long before Pantalone had screwed up and caused his own younger brother to suffer mortality. Before he'd left Liyue vowing to himself he'd not return until he found a way to undo what he'd done! Before he'd watched the death of yet more of his god's precious ones destroy him!

Pantalone would be lying to himself if he said he didn't care for the eleventh. After all he may not have shown it in the past, still doesn't, but he cared... CARES! For the eleventh to the point he doesn't think he'll be able to watch him go yet again.

Of course realizing that the boy in front of him wasn't the little fox who used to cling to him any chance he got, and who used to enjoy just sitting in the same space as him while the black haired snake adeptus worked, silently just enjoying his presence while either observing him or reading a book. Or the same boy who used to ask him how to read or write, shyly asking for pointers... this boy, in front of him; was DEAD!

His soul had been trampled on and burned! There was not a single ounce of light left in that boy's eyes! Yet there were times Pantalone could swear he saw glimpses of who this boy used to be there. Even if they were just fragments.

One such time was a couple years back. The boy had recently turned 18 and gained the rank of Harbinger. All 11 of the Fatui Harbingers were gathered in the dinning hall and Tartaglia had said something that had left the Regrator so in shock he'd dropped his glass of wine and it'd shattered on the pristine floor leaving the entire room in silence as the ever sophisticated Pantalone had let his glass fall out of his grip.

"Xuán-ge could you hand me the sallad?" Had been what'd left the youngest and newest Harbinger's lips. 'Xuán' he hadn't heard that name since before he'd left Liyue, before he'd become a Harbinger, let alone Xuán-ge! After all, there'd only been two people who'd called him that, two little foxes to be specific.

Everyone else that the Regrator could bring to memory never called him that, it'd either been Da-ge (BaiZhu and the Yakshas) or Ge-ge (Morax and GanYu) of course the older adepti had called him a-Xuán which was expected! But Xuán-ge was something reserved for the two foxes they'd all gotten attached to. He never let anyone call him that again. Couldn't take the painful memories and ache in his heart whenever the words were uttered.

But this instance the words weren't just accompanied by painful memories and heartache, but nausea, a nausea so intense Pantalone thought he'd throw up right then and there! The boy who had been just as shocked as everyone else when Pantalone had dropped his glass had now opened his mouth to ask something when the bespectacled man beat him to it.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?!" The Regrator refused to so much as glance at the boy, he'd started shaking and the look in his eyes was haunted. How did the boy know that name? Did he remember his life before? Or was it just something that had been lingering and the boy himself didn't know how he knew? Whatever the case Pantalone didn't really care right now! HE. HAD. TO. GET. OUT!

Before the newly named Tartaglia could answer Pantalone had gotten out of his chair and rushed out! He didn't know where he was going and he didn't pay the calls of his Harbinger title any mind as he practically ran out of the dining hall.

He ran and ran, rushing through the halls left and right! The Regrator didn't come to until he was on the floor of one of the bathrooms retching and bringing up the little dinner he'd managed to get down before the fiasco concerning his name had happened.

He could hear the door open and footsteps behind him. He glanced slightly and saw purple in his peripheral and knew immediately who had fallowed him here.

"What do you want Balladeer?!" As soon as Pantalone had finished his sentence he turned back to the toilet and threw up once again... oh that was definitely his lunch coming up now.

"Ew, ugh I came to make sure you were alright idiot! Well Pierro sent me to make sure you were ok... I would never do this willingly" Was Scaramouch's answer, well at least Pierro had sent the least insufferable one to check up on him.

"Well as you can see I'm very much alive! So you can be on your merry way back now and leave me be!" The adeptus was huffing, still short on breath from throwing up and his hair out of place with glasses crooked as well as fogged up. An eyesore Pantalone was sure, so he wouldn't torture the Inazuman doll with his hideous appearance for longer than he had to.