The Arcana One Shots

♡Valdemar x MC - Jealous for Julian?♡

Hey! This oneshot was requested by DaydreamingPotatoes! Thankyou so much for your request! 

Alrighty, onward!

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The Red Plague. 

It was a disastrous and devastating illness that swept across Vesuvia, killing many. Those who suffered from it saw the scleras of their eyes turn scarlet. The loss of appetite sickened them further, resulting in weight loss and malnutrition. The fits of coughing and the high fevers let patients fatigued. 

There had yet to be any recoveries, any cures.

During the outbreak, doctors were working frantically to find a cure to help the sick. In the city-state of Vesuvia, the teams of doctors were lead by Quaesator Valdemar, who had been appointed by Count Lucio to find the cure to save him, along with countless others.

Working in the medical dungeon under the palace was none too pleasant. The atmosphere of the room itself was vile and depressing. The "offices" the doctors were assigned were cramped and dingy, with little space for just one person. The "rooms" for ill patients were even smaller. 

The doctors who laboured tirelessly day in and day out were usually exhausted from the hours, anxious about catching the disease themselves, and emotionally distraught from all of the pain and suffering that was going around.

Despite this, however, there was one doctor's apprentice who remained positive. Dr in training, MC. They came to work every day with a positive and optimistic outlook in spite of the dreary conditions and the harsh reality of the plague.

MC got on well with everyone. Well, almost anyone. 

While all of the doctors and patients were fond of MC's uplifting presence and bubbly personality, the Quaestor themselves was put off by MC's cheerful disposition.

The Quaestor was peculiar. They had a strange fascination with the plague, more specifically, the death that ensued. They were amused by the corpses and "specimen" that filled their dungeon. They weren't *really* interested in finding a cure. They wanted to study the death that followed.

Naturally, seeing someone come into the dungeon with a smile on their face and a spring in their step everyday was equally unsettling and fascinating to the Quaestor. Since they weren't sure how to respond to the constant positivity and cheer, they became hostile and mildly threatening in an attempt to elicit the "normal" responses and behaviours of other doctors.

However, when this cause MC to become even more persistent in spreading positivity, Valdemar quickly learned to simply put up with it. 

MC and their kindness quickly grew on Valdemar who became strangely fond of them and their presence. Perhaps MC was looking for a cure, but Valdemar wasn't concerned with the contrast in motivation. No, they began to look forward to seeing MC every day, regardless of their differences.

It wasn't long before Valdemar found themselves purposely finding ways to spend more time around MC, from setting up work next to MC to outright asking for their assistance, even with tasks that shouldn't have required a second set of hands to begin with.

Meanwhile, MC was becoming close with their colleagues, particularly with their supervising doctor, Julain Devorak. As his apprentice, MC naturally spent the most time with him, sharing an office and research notes and of course, learning nearly everything directly from him.

While their relationship remained purely professional, MC and Julian did often chat idly about matters other than work. The similarity in age made it easy to exchange stories and soon, they were even going out for late-night drinks as colleagues and friends.