(HIATUS) Pup | 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗧

006

young tartaglia

(n/a: ajax will be nineteen years old at the current time, so ten years ago will be around his ninth age. where MC first started as the harbingers' assistant)
—

     "UM, LADY (NAME), WHO WAS THE FIRST HARBINGER YOU TAUGHT WHEN YOU GOT HERE?"

A BRAVE FATUI AGENT asked, shivering as she stared at the assistant of the harbinger. Her colleagues were biting their nails, praying she won't get leashed, and ready to cry for her funeral. The diva stared at the agent's attire before returning to look at her face...

     "Never thought someone would ask that," she chuckled before patting her seat, earning relief sighs from the agent's colleagues. "Well, Childe is the first harbinger I taught. That pup—"

     Tartaglia appeared behind her, covering her mouth, "DON'T TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I WAS A CHILD! THAT'S EMBARRASSING!" He panicked, shaking from his young memories. "DON'T YOU HAVE A SHIFT TODAY?! PLEASE GO GO! LEAVE—"

     "Shut up, pup!" (Name) exclaimed, leashing him. Clearing her throat, she smirked maliciously at the harbinger, "Don't you think it's nice to have someone hear your childhood memories? Anyway, let's start where I saw you fighting some hilichurls."

     "(NAME), THAT'S EMBARRASSING! PLEASE DON'T TELL THEM!" He pleaded. "I DON'T WANNA REMEMBER THOSE TIMES I TRIED TO EAT DOG FOOD BECAUSE I FORGOT HOW TO USE THE SPOONS ON THE TABLE!"

     She smiled at the agent, "Do you hear that whining? It must be from a hard-headed dog on the sidelines," she teased the harbinger. "Well..."

— (YOUNG TARTAGLIA AND EARLY ADULT MC MEMORIES)

After being kidnapped by the Tsaritsa, she was asked to look over the harbingers. There was one harbinger that stood out among the rest—the youngest harbinger among them, the 11th. His eyes were as dull as a dead fish, concerning the young professor from his situation...

     "He fell to the abyss you say?" She repeated, looking at the Doctor. "Poor child. And you thought it's a good idea to let him enter the Fatui because he seems reliable? Are you insane about letting a child alone a traumatized child in this deadly organization?"

     "He's reliable for us," he bluntly replied before opening the gates of the training ground. There, a couple of bloodied Fatui soldiers were seen on the ground, "He's already showing off his skills. Pretty unusual for a child."

     "What do you expect anyways?" She rolled her eyes before entering the room. "Okay, stop those! Come forth whoever is Ajax!" She demanded, tapping her riding crop against her palm.

The Fatui soldiers stopped whoever they were wrestling with, who turns out to be a ginger-headed child. He was holding a bloodied Fatui soldier by their collar, staring at the professor with those terrifying lifeless eyes...

     "Good lord, what happened to you?" She asked, grabbing his small face. "You're stinky, too... I'm taking him for now." She pinched her nose since his smell reeked of blood and bad odor from his everlasting training with the Fatui soldiers.

     "He's not done training, lab rat—"

     As usual, (Name) slapped Zandik again, "—Stop barking nonsense, pup. I'm tasked to take care of the Harbingers, so I don't care if he's still training with those... Weak soldiers," she uttered in full disgust from the sight beneath him. "Run along now. I still have someone to take care of."

Ajax was a quiet child—not talking at all, from the training grounds to her mansion's bathroom. Beckoning him to remove his dirty clothes, he seems to be hesitant by her callous fingers brushing against his bruised yet delicate skin...

    "Okay, pup, we need to wash you. You're disgusting, to say the least," she sternly told him as she held the hem of his blood-stained shirt. "Come on now, don't be shy. We just need to wash your body from the unsanitary beings that got in your body."

     "You... Hurt..."

     "What is it? Repeat, pup."

     Small tears were prickling at the side of his eyes, "You... Wouldn't hurt... Me...?" He asked, choking out his sob. Dottore told her he just returned from the abyss, he was traumatized and became tougher than he is, "... No... Hurt..."

     (Name) twitched an eyebrow, "Why would I hurt you? You're just a helpless little child under my authority anyway, so get on the bathtub and I'll wash your body," she ordered before pulling his shirt. "The water's warm, so don't worry about it."

Ajax seems delighted from the smell of the expensive bubble bath, playing with the bubbles as (Name) evenly scrubbed his hair—probably was left to dry when he fell into the abyss. Grabbing his face, she rubbed his rough cheeks to remove the dirt attached to them...

     "Stop moving, pup!" She ordered, rubbing his back with a cloth. "If you won't stop, I'll leave you in this bathroom!"

     "No!" He complained.

     "Good boy..."

He was obedient if she warned him about a bad thing, listening to her immediately if she tells him to behave. His washing session was certainly something memorable and embarrassing to him...

     "Goodness, what did they do to you?" She asked, flushing the dirty water. He suddenly sobbed, making her panic from his sudden outburst, "ARE YOU HURT?! WHAT HAPPENED?! TELL ME, WHAT HURTS FROM YOUR BODY?!" She asked, holding his arms.

     "NO BUBBLES!" He sobbed.

A deadpan look appeared on her face, irritating the woman before she turned on the water to fill the bathtub. He suddenly began to enjoy when she filled the water with the bubble bath he was enjoying earlier, calming his nerves again. She observed him again—his expressions mostly—noticing the lack of joy from his experience right now...

     "Come on now. That's enough," she said before pulling him out of the bathtub. He was kicking his little legs, "Stop struggling, pup! You're making it hard for both of us!" She chided, taking the towel on the door's handle.

     "I want bubbles!"

     "Stop being a brat now, pup. Bratty dogs deserve punishment if they won't listen to their owners," she threatened before pulling him against her. "Let's fix your silky hair, too. As much as I hate the ginger color pairing with your blue eyes, might as well fix your haircut."

     "My haircut is pretty!"

     "Who lied to you?"

— (END)

The Fatui agent and (Name) were laughing as Childe was blushing, covering his face with his palms. They seem entertained by the memory of the silly, yet traumatized young 11th Harbinger...

     "There are other memorable events when I was still taking care of that child," she shared. "There's one time we tried to use chopsticks, but he—"

     "(NAME), THAT'S ENOUGH!" Childe exclaimed, covering her mouth from telling them more about his embarrassing moments with his guardian within the Fatui. "YOU, GET TO WORK ALREADY! AND DON'T YOU TRY SHARING WHAT YOU HEARD FROM LADY (NAME)!"

     "YES, LORD TARTAGLIA!"

     Once the Fatui soldier is out of sight, (Name) sighed in dismay, "... And I was gonna tell her about what happened when I made you eat dog food before—"

     "FIRST OF ALL, I DIDN'T EAT THAT DISGUSTING FOOD! AND SECOND, DON'T TELL SOME RANDOM FATUI SOLDIER ABOUT MY PAST WITH YOU!" He grumbled, red tint tainting his cheeks. "I CAN'T IMAGINE MYSELF BEING RESPECTED IF EVERYONE HEARD ABOUT IT!"

     "Be grateful you aren't receiving daily slaps, unlike the Doctor."

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

デイヴィス