#Monster beneath the mask - {muse Dottore}

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

@the-wayward-snowflake sprinkled stardust!

Arms folded across his chest, Dottore stood there unfazed by Isolde's latest attempt to get rid of him. "I am growing tired of your little games. This time I was actually here on business, get in my way one more time and you will regret it!"

[celestialpulse]

@the-wayward-snowflake liked!

"I told you I would return little bird. You did quite a lot of damage to me during our last little meeting. However, this time i'm not going to let you get away."

[boundinparchment]

Killing Loneliness

The night before Celestia falls, two people hold a conversation of the future.

Dottore/Original Female Character. Part of the Heretic and Forsaken series.

On AO3 here.

She should be happy. She survived Fontaine. Maybe not intact but she survived. Her new arm was lightweight, stronger than steel, and operated so seamlessly that she had to look to remember it was mechanical. No one looked at her with pity in the shadows of their eyes anymore.

And tomorrow, they would tear down the sky and Celestia along with it. The Fatui and the Traveler and the Third Descender, now whole, would declare war on the Usurpers.

Karina inhaled deeply and watched her exhale curl slow and steady in the lantern light. Behind her, she heard footsteps, distinct in their click as metal met stone; a rhythm and sound she heard a thousand times before. He was hardly a party person but he need not seek her company, she mused.

After all, he’d made it quite clear so long ago that this was…

Professional.

The sounds of raucous singing and cheering bled out into the still night for a moment before Dottore closed the door behind him. She didn’t even turn her head, eyes fixed on the ribbons of light in the sky, forever brighter than any lights in the capitol. Neither of them spoke and she appreciated that for once, he didn’t want to hear the sound of his own voice. Karina shifted her weight but kept her elbows on the balcony railing, shoulders tight.

If he was here for a pep talk, she didn’t want it.

Finally, she turned her head to him and asked, “Have you ever thought about what happens after?”

Dottore’s head was angled up slightly but she knew he wasn’t looking at the aurora. Celestia loomed on the horizon, visible only as a shadow over the reaches of Fontaine.

“Many times. Not all of them pleasant. It would be…unwise to pretend as though death has not been chasing me.”

She gave a small smirk and then looked back out over the city.

“I take it, then, you have not,” Dottore surmised.

Karina shook her head.

“I can plan all I want and strategize until my eyes bleed. It won’t matter until I’m out there. And by then, it’s down to me. Might as well be luck and thinking ahead has always gotten me…well,” she let out a derisive scoff, “it got me here.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught his weight shift; he stood straighter, poised like the scholar he proclaimed to be before a class of one.

“Is that such a bad thing?”

“Maybe not,” she replied. “I’ve done more in the last several years than I ever did in Fontaine. I wouldn’t have left the plateau otherwise, I’m certain. My family would be alive but my fate…I truly may as well have been chained to a rock and left for a sea monster.”

She was born under the Chained Maiden constellation and it never bothered her before. Not until the Archon Residue sang in her blood in that arena and she realized her Vision would never reawaken again. All because she forsook what Celestia intended for her.

In exchange, she paid the cost of her family’s lives and her dominant arm.

Was this better? Working for the Fatui, serving the man who almost killed her, potentially harboring feelings better left in a cabin deep in the mountains?

She had no idea.

“Say we survive whatever happens,” Karina asked. “Where would you go?”

“Beyond the veil is very tempting. I’ve studied these same unmoving stars for centuries and they bore me. There are other universes, other lands, more to uncover than is possible to visually fathom.”

For a moment, she wondered if his eyes were wide, eager even, beneath his mask. She missed his full face, saw it deep in her dreams, yearned to be special again just enough to see his true face.

“But I would be remiss if I did not stay and study the consequences of tomorrow,” Dottore admitted. “That would be leaving the experiment half-finished and for others to document. A skewed perspective.”

He drew in a deep breath and then gave a sigh so soft she only saw the rise and fall of his shoulders.

“Well, that’s lucky for me,” Karina replied. “I’ll need someone who knows to fix my arm and I wouldn’t trust a Fontainian engineer to touch it. You’d leave me with few options if you departed.”

“I might still. The fallout may not be as impactful as I’ve speculated. Stranger phenomena have certainly occurred.”

“Such as?”

His pause was unexpected. Dottore always took the chance to demonstrate just how much he knew of the world. Karina was familiar enough with his patterns to recognize that he was thinking over his next words carefully, chewing on them the way a discerning patron might consider a tender steak.

He turned his head towards her and felt her blood turn to ice and then thaw again when he removed his mask and stared at her. How did he do that, make her feel as though they were the only ones in the entire universe? Her heart hammered as her stomach did several twists and she wondered if she would even survive tonight.

There was a hunger written across his face deeper than a carnal desire.

“Such as the notion that if we survive at all, Karina, I find myself wondering what a quiet life looks like. Or rather, a settled life. What two people who shook off the chains of fate might be capable of and the legacy they’ll leave behind. Genetically and otherwise.”

He didn’t need to punctuate it with the missing piece. She could infer the rest and he knew she would.

“Is that such a bad thing?” she echoed.

Neither of them had a family. But they could be one, make one, couldn’t they? Did they balance each other out enough for that?

“Yet to be determined.”

“Describe it to me.”

“It would be more efficient to show you.”

He swallowed and she watched his throat bob slightly. She wanted to kiss that spot again, let her lips trace the shape of his neck, his jaw, his cheeks.

And she could not think of a world where she didn’t have his voice nearby. Where she turned and he wasn’t there.

A world without him wasn’t one she wanted.

Karina’s eyes flickered to his lips before she settled her gaze on his. She stepped closer and angled her head, lips ghosting over his.

“Then show me, Zandik,” she whispered, “what it means to live past tomorrow.”

[dikiyvter]

CW:// It’s.. I mean, it’s a post centered on Dottore. Gore, medical horror, referenced animal abuse/death, and references to child experimentation because it’s.... it’s dottore....

       BANGS POTS AND PANS TOGETHER alright kids gather around for Cala needs to add Dottore as a side muse/NPC for some plots so here’s a collection of some of my weird fucking HCs on him. I’ll probably just... edit this whenever I get new ideas instead of making whole new posts, idk, we’ll see.

       0. BASIC INFO.

       Dottore is 5′10″. He’s athletic, but not particularly muscular. He is a cis male ( he/him ) who is grey-asexual and homoromantic ( though in truth he probably falls closer to being on the aromantic scale as well ). Dottore is somewhere between 27 and 33. Though he was born and raised in Fontaine, he is a direct descendent of the Lawrence clan from Mondstadt. He is a polyglot who is fluent in a majority of the spoken languages on Teyvat. This Bitch Has Mental Problems. 

       I. ORIGIN. LAMBERT PIERRE LAWRENCE is the descendent of Mondstadt’s Lawrence clan, though he himself was born and raised in a small village in Fontaine. Well-off is hardly the term to describe his family’s financial state; to describe what they had as WEALTH would be an understatement. Large was the chateau that was owned by the family, surrounded by the rolling fields of the Fontainian countryside. 

       It was a peaceful place, before Lambert was born. The boy had always been.... peculiar. Things had always been difficult with him; Lambert had a hard time keeping pace with emotions, often being cruel and brash in conversation, forgoing all manners in his interruptions and rants. Bonding was something he did not find particularly possible, never growing close to neither his parents nor his younger siblings. Fights with other children in the village broke out often when Lambert was around; And when the boy became bored these issues were ramped to the extremes. He would do anything to seek some relief from the boredom that plagued him; Anything for a scrap of entertainment.

       He found some relief in reading; Fascinated with the medical textbooks that lined the shelves of his fathers study, moving on to anatomy, to biology, to animals. It was around the age of 14 that Lambert became truly fascinated by animals. Something he had once been utterly ambivalent towards was now a hyperfixation. He’d stop for every spotted dog, he’d beg endlessly for a pet cat of his own. The farmers adjacent to the Lawrence’s property would drag the boy by his collar back to his parents after he’d gone breaking into fields and barns. The intensity of the interest was a bit odd-- but a welcome relief from his otherwise distance and cold behavior Lambert had always expressed. Thinking that perhaps the boy had finally developed an interest far more normal for his age, gently did his parents encourage him to properly ask to see the farmers animals; Even gifting the boy a cat for his 16th birthday.

       Ever one for isolation, even going on two years into his animal fixation, Lambert had always been fond of nightly walks along the outskirts of the property; Something that had always been encouraged by his parents. But as the walks became longer and longer, and as farmers began to complain of missing sheep and cattle, and even the boys beloved pet cat disappeared-- As Dottore’s behavior became more and more erratic, an eerie wariness grew within the house. 

       Just beyond the property line, nestled in a wooded area between the farmers fields, was a barn that had long since been abandoned. One night, worried that his son was the cause of these disappearances, Lambert’s father followed him on his nightly walk. The barn had been changed over the years; It’s insides refitted for the boys purposes. EERIE WARINESS GREW TO FEAR. It became the family’s secret; The monster they now housed in their home and the monstrosities he left in the night to create. Efforts were taken to curb the behavior, to stamp it out now before it spread; BEFORE IT GOT WORSE.

              NEEDLESS TO SAY, IT GOT WORSE.

       The town became aware of the barn when one of the neighbors young daughters went for a walk and discovered it and all it contained; The abominations of metal and meat that Lambert had forged and sewn, the chemicals he had mixed and the plans he had laid for something far darker, and set in motion was the series of events that would cost him EVERYTHING HE KNEW.

        The barn was investigated that day; Lambert far too busy with his studies to hear the fresh news. His nightly walks were well known by now, and who the barn and its contents belonged to was without doubt; And so that night, as the boy ventured out to the barn and began his work-               THE DOORS WERE CLOSED SHUT AND BLOCKED.               AND TORCHES SET THE WOODEN BARN ALIGHT.               AND HE FESTERED THERE AMONG HIS CREATIONS.

       ... But that was a long time ago. He doesn’t think of it much anymore.

       II. BENEATH THE MASK Lies scars from the incident that chased a young Dottore from his hometown. The scars are present all over his body, but are most prominent across his legs, back, and arms. The left side of his face and neck faced the brunt of the burns- And are, perhaps, the subject of some insecurity. He has taken a number of measures to try and reduce the appearance of these scars, all to very little avail. 

       III. THE SNEZHNAYA CAMPAIGN. Many are familiar with the campaign the Fatui held in Mondstadt to find new recruits; Few are familiar with the results of this campaign. And few outside of Snezhnaya are aware that something very similar is happening within the countries borders, as well. With the majority of it’s citizens suffering in poverty under a massive class gap, Dottore has run a campaign in Snezhnaya to encourage families to sign their young ones up for a specialized training program with the Fatui. The specifics of the program are not clarified, but the most enticing details are; Qualified families will receive a monthly paycheck, and their child will be safe, housed and warmed and fed. With so many families desperate for a lessened load of their already fragile resources, the promise of money, of safety for their struggling children... few people can deny that it’s an enticing deal. IF ONLY THEY KNEW WHAT WAS TRULY HAPPENING. 

       IV. MORALS.... this bitch has none, but I want you all to be as aware of this as possible. Children and animals are not off limits in his experiments. He can and will commit all varities of crime because his personal desires are more important than any laws or reason. All ends justify the means. He doesn’t care much for anyone who isn’t himself. He will hurt, maim, and kill literally anyone, it does not matter to him. All that matters to Dottore is relieving his boredom, feeding his curiosity, and keeping his current place in the world. He would literally rip you open and start sewing animal parts to you if someone offered him a single corn chip to do so. 

       V. PHYSICAL HEALTH... is admittedly a bit of a rollercoaster. Dottore has been performing experiments on himself for a long time- Some successful, some very far from it. Majority of days he can more than keep pace with his fellow harbingers in a fight, and yet there are others where he cannot feasibly accomplish such a task. Having long since adjusted to this, Dottore primarily relies on using drones for ranged attacks, finding this is what works best on both his best and worst days- but he does carry a knife or two on him for emergencies... or for when a bitch just rly needs to be shanked. 

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

❛  i know what you want, but i’m not going to give it to you, no matter how hard you try. so do your best.  ❜ Collei to Dottore (woops)

"Do you now? I must say you've become quite the brave little thing from how you were before." Indeed, this was not the same girl who had escaped from that other lab. Not even flinching or backing away from him. "How long can you keep this brave front up for I do wonder child? Surely the mere sight of me terrifies you." He leaned down close, just so that he was mere inches from her ear. "Enjoy your freedom, for invisible chains will always weigh you down. I never forget a specimen." Dottore stood back up straightly. "Now, tell me. What is it you think I want from you?"

[celestialpulse]

@pcrdiseseekers liked!

"The Traveler. To think our paths would cross so soon again. Though, there must be a reason you would chase me so far."

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

When Dottore had unthawed her, he had always kept a close eye on Isolde from the day he found her. His only goal had only ever been to use her to his own devices. And true, it worked at first until she destroyed his lab. "Fit in you say. I've seen you have made a comfortable life for yourself here, but I do wonder how long that would last?" Dottore had no answer for that, of course.

"You do know. Well enlighten me as I am quite curious to know, why you were on the ice?" But time was precious, and he didn't want to be here all day. What he came for needed to be dealt with as soon as possible so, if she had something to tell him it was best to get it out now.

"I don't know." Admitting so easily. That subject was something she put a lot of thought into. But it always resulted in the same notion. She simply doesn't know what she'd do with that information. It led her to accept that maybe it was best that she didn't remember and to enjoy what she had now. However, there were still lingering thoughts about what she would do. "Being unthawed isn't all that bad. I've found some peace. I don't carry as much worth as I used to. I know that for a fact, so I've been figuring out how to fit in a bit better to the world."

"There are bits and pieces I can remember. I know why I was on the ice." Though, admitting it feels weird. Especially to him of all people. Surely, he had seen the injuries her body slowly recovered from. All indicating one thing. She had fallen from a great distance and crashed into someone causing deep scarring on her arms. He's not stupid after all. The only thing he most likely doesn't know is that she obtained them in the archon war. If he does, color her a bit impressed.

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

Hm. Well, this was a question out of the blue now wasn't it. And here he thought she would be more curious about what he had gotten from his fatui informants. "Would you rather I had left you in the ice? Looking so pitiful. I could have, but I had been needing to find more specimens and you were quite promising." No, that was not the real reason. Well perhaps it was part truthful.

"I wanted to use you. For my own reasons, though I did take things a little too far. Even I don't know when to hold back sometimes. Not many of my little toys excite me. Usually I find I get bored with them, toss them aside and find new ones." Dottore was never satisfied in the end, however a few experiments did keep his interest. Isolde was one of them. The puppet was another, wherever he may be.

"Tell me. If you could regain your memory, of whom you were before. What would you do? You were in that ice for a reason and in a sorry state when I found you."

With a fluttering array of snowflakes, she poofs out of her owl form and back into her human one. She was curious... But she remained sitting up in the tree. It was more like she was frozen up there. She knew it was a trick. It had to be. A way to grab her and drag her to whatever lab he had nearby. Even if it was the case, she'd just escape again.

Though, it really pissed her off him calling her his dear. It made her want to rip him apart with her talons. But she needed to remain some sense of self control here. All she responded with was silence and her inability to move forward. It was for the best though. She did have someone to go home to anyways that is more then deserving of her time.

But there was one thing she wanted to know. "Why did you unthaw me? Why did you experiment on me?" It was more like her wanting to know the full reasoning behind her memory having been stripped and being left with the overwhelming feeling she was humiliated by her own home nation.

At least she expected him to be brutally honest about the reasonings why.

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

Dottore had known for awhile she had been following him. And he also knew the forms that she took on. An owl was one, so even if she had tried her hardest to hide from him. It was futile. Once he had gotten quite a distance from Monstadt and to a wooded area, he stopped but didn't glance over his shoulder.

"Come now my dear. No doubt you are curious of what I have on me, are you not?" He called out with a smirk on his lips. Anyone who has had the pleasure to cross his path, often wound up as one of his twisted experiments. A poor specimen to be used as he pleased. This what he had was somewhat part of his next project.

"Sometimes you are too curious for your own good. And it will get you in trouble, though as I said i've no intention of trying to play cat and mouse with you this time around. So if you want to know so badly what I have, come to my side at once. Otherwise. We part ways here till next time my dear goddess."

The goddess had to remind herself to control herself after he called her a good girl. Oh, how that boiled her blood. She couldn't let those owl instincts kick in now. But if that's how he wants to play it, then she'd better figure out what the Fatui was up to in Mondstadt and why it involved him.

The unfortunate fate of being a snowy owl in this place was that she always stood out. She had no snow to blend into. Even with those factors, she's taught herself to hide fairly well. Especially when she simply wanted to roost in this form.

But seemed he had sneaked something into his pocket. It made her a bit too curious. Not that she'd know of any of the medical practices of these days. Any knowledge she had of the old days was gone as well. What would she know about this? It was purely that she was curious and also worried about what harm this substance he possessed could cause.

Though, when he looked her way. She knew the ruse was up, but didn't want to admit it. Instead, the owl ruffled its feathers and let out a woo before straightening them back out.

Thinking she could fool him into thinking she was simply just another owl. However, the possibility he knew exactly what she looked like as a snowy owl crossed her mind. He probably knows all the spots on her feathers as well.

With that, she took off and perched far above him. There was no point hiding that her morbid curiosity got the best of her.

It was mostly to get a glimpse at what he was hiding from her vision. The owl curiously turns its head to the side. "Is that medicine?"

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

"Good girl." And thus he passed by her, however he knew better than to let his guard down around Isolde. The man knew if he did, well after the last time it was a incident he'd rather not repeat. Dottore continued on his way not even bothering to look over his shoulder.

At this point he wasn't surprised. Since he probably knew already she was following him, silently and unseen. But Dottore knew she was there. Hastening his pace and towards the city where the associates would be waiting for him. And upon arriving wasted no time getting the information that they relayed to him.

He spoke with them a good length of time before departing once more. Tucking something, hiding it from view. However, he made sure that if he she was indeed following him she would catch but a simple glance at what he had hidden.

Peace?

She could hardly believe the man. But he hasn't made an attempt to capture her... Even if it was true, she couldn't simply let him out of her sight until she believed it.

The goddess' arm fell to her side. Both the blades still in hand. Not for a second she'll let her guard down while the man passes by. Who knows what kind of stunt he'll pull once she looks away. Or even on his way back. She then takes a few steps away, keeping her eyes on him.

As he starts moving ahead, she gets an idea to keep an eye on him until he leaves Mondstadt. So, as soon as he's farther ahead she allows to mask herself as a snowy owl. Ensuring she stays far enough behind him to not notice. Even then, she could just rely this information onto her partner. So it isn't a total waste.

Hense, the owl begins practically stalking her prey.

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

And once again she asks. Such an annoyance. Prove he wasn't here for her, that could be a little difficult. "Should you not be doing something else? Instead of asking the same questions over and over. I already explained I was not here for you. And yet now, you ask me to prove it." There was no way for him to prove it, all he had was his word. Nothing else.

"There are some fatui associates here. Some information they wanted to pass to me, and that is all I am going to say to you." It was amusing how each time he came she was always on guard. Dottore could always come back another time to attempt to capture her. However, today that was not on his mind.

"Now lower your weapons. Let me pass, and I shall leave in peace after."

"Prove it." It was clear her paranoid side was getting the best of her. She wasn't in the mood for fighting, but if she had to defend herself. Then so be it.

"Prove you're not here for me." She raises one of her swords up. Keeping the distance between them. Though this could also be a trap to make her follow him and grab her. Thoughts spiraled through her head, all leading to this morbid curiosity. Also telling her not to trust anything.

"Why are you here?" She asks again.

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

"My my such a clever girl." That was half correct. But not completely, though he did want to get close to those in Nahidas circle it was proving difficult. Especially with the recent turn of events that have happened in Sumeru. To even come to an agreement with that little girl, it sickened him that she so easily persuaded him.

He made no show of moving away from her. Hm, yes though he could tell that Collei was trying to act all brave he could tell that even him being near her. Was at least causing the sense of fear to wash over her. Right. "Collei. My sweet Collei, even I know that if I were to cause a scene here. I know a certain Chief Officer of the Forest Rangers would not be pleased."

If only it were so simple to control her. Time has passed however, and Dottore was no fool. As he has changed, even if not that much. She has blossomed into quite the beautiful young lady from the ugly duckling she was before. He moved two gloved fingers under her chin, wanting her to look at him.

"Tell me, how have you been feeling lately? You have so much life in you since the last time I saw you."

She wished she didn't feel sick looking at this man. She wished being near him didn't make her skin crawl, didn't make her want to stop her own heart just to spare herself from what was likely going to happen.

But--

She forcefully steadied her erratic breathing and narrowed her eyes, looking up at the one man that she perhaps feared the most out of anyone else.

As for what he had wanted.... "You're trying to get close to the people in the Archon's circle so that you can learn how to take even more from her, aren't you?" Despite the way she nearly buckled hearing his voice so close to her, she didn't back down.

Nahida had started to become a good friend to her--despite everything, she would never betray her. "And you chose me because you thought that I would be the weakest and easiest to control."

Merely a year ago, he might have been right.

But not now.

[pocketfulofgalaxies]

"What business I have here is nothing that concerns you." And though the girl was right that when he has come here, she was the one that Dottore would attempt to repcapture. Not this time no. "As much as I would enjoy trying to capture you, again I have more important business elsewhere." Dottore would rather avoid a conflict.

Now any other time would be fine to do this little dance. Just not today. But it would seem he was not going to get pass her so easily.

The grip around the hilt of her sword tightens. As time went by her fear slowly turned into anger. Whenever he appeared in her general area, that prey bird side of her triggered and she found herself trying to be rid her of this issue. She always falls short and it annoys her. That bird part of her wants him finished.

"What kind of possible business could you have here?" Her owl like eyes glare daggers at the man. "It always seems like I am the one you're coming for when you're here."