It was the same as usual for the Doctor as he sat at his desk with a fat tower of papers leaning towards him with an aura of defiance as it seemed to never disappear from his sight. It was a race against the clock as he did the amount Amiya bookmarked for him, but by the time he got to it, the next day wasn't so friendly to him, especially when he was staying up late at night to finish them. In the end, he pulled a few all-nighters to finish his assigned work and more to stay ahead of the game.
The operators around Rhodes Island never had a problem labeling him as a workaholic, but even a workaholic needed a break every once in a while as a reward, and that seemed to come in the form of a small game.
It started when he heard a knock at his door and the sound of it opening up. The noise of feet shuffling across the ground echoed around the chambers of his office as he lifted his weary head to face the three operators in front of him. They were operators he knew all too well, but maybe now was the wrong time for them to be here.
"Doctor, let's play a game!" Suzuran exclaimed as she stepped over to where the Doctor was while Shamare and Popukar stood behind her with expectant looks on their faces.
"Eh? Um..." The Doctor's head swiveled around as he tried to get Amiya to play with them, only to find her missing from his side. "Right... She's on break."
"Come on, Doctor! We can help you afterward!" Suzuran offered as the Doctor shook his head.
"There's no need. I can handle it all, girls." The Doctor said as he waved his hand towards the stacks of papers, but the only expression he received from the three of them was sympathy and worry. "Perhaps this wasn't the best example used to show you girls I can handle everything..."
Suzuran stuck her bottom lip out as she surveyed the room once again after the Doctor dropped his hand down to his side. "It's okay to ask for some help, Doctor!" Suzuran pointed out vehemently, though it just ended up sounding cute rather than a firm reprimand.
"I don't need any help, though." The Doctor stated. There was no point in forcing children to do his bidding when they should be the ones enjoying their lives. And he had plenty of other operators he could call in for help. However, he chose not to. "I'm hitting the daily quota when I reach the bookmark that Amiya has assigned me, so don't feel distressed."
Suzuran and Popukar looked at the mountain of paperwork with the highest priority he was pointing at and grimaced. The same couldn't be said for Shamare, who remained indifferent. The red felt bookmark hanging down the side was miles down from where he was. Another prime illustration of a poor example to present to them when he was desperately trying to state his case.
"All I'm seeing is how troubled you are, Doctor..." Popukar said as she dragged her fingers down from the middle of the stack because of how high it was until she hit the bottom. "That's a chainsaw's length of work to do."
"Er..." The Doctor had to switch the topic quickly and what better way to do it than to reintroduce the request for the game they wanted to play? "So, what is the game you girls wanted to play?"
Suzuran's expression lit up. "We wanted to play a game of hide-and-seek, but we wanted one more player, and then we thought of how the Doctor would need a break, so we came over to invite you!"
"Hide-and-seek?" The Doctor echoed.
There were better operators than he they could play with, like Provence or even Amiya, but they seemed to have sought him out first. And there was zero chance he was going to reject their invitation, especially when they looked forward to playing with him.
"Okay, but one small game. If thirty minutes pass and whoever the seeker is cannot find them, then the hiders win, alright?" The Doctor asked.
"Understood!" Suzuran answered.
Popukar and Shamare replicated Suzuran's sentiment by nodding their heads.
The Doctor looked down at his device sitting on his desk and slipped it into his pocket as the three of them played a quick game of rock, paper, scissors to decide the seeker. The role eventually fell to Popukar, who pouted for a quick second, but relented to the results and turned her back to them to start the count. Once her countdown started from a hundred, the three of them hurriedly looked at each other, waiting in anticipation for the other to do something.
With the Doctor leading the initiative, Suzuran and Shamare sprinted out of the room with him as Popukar's small voice could be heard echoing from his office. For a second, the Doctor expected Suzuran and Shamare to take the lead on where they needed to hide, but when they both stared at him, he knew he would have to act as the dependable older figure for them to trail behind.
"Oh... Did you girls want to follow me?"
They both nodded their heads, prompting the Doctor to return the gesture and walk down the hallway behind a corner. When they were behind the corner, the Doctor stopped and poked his head out from the side and stared at his office door, biding his time for the perfect moment when he could sneak back into his office when Popukar left.
Suzuran shuffled closer to his body and imitated him, but because the Doctor was closely pressed up against the wall, she wrapped her hands around his leg and peeked out from there. Shamare did the same, except sitting on the ground so her head was lower than Suzuran's.
The Doctor looked down at them and observed them for a second. However, when the sound of Popukar's countdown ceased to exist, the Doctor completely concealed himself and stayed frozen in place. Suzuran and Shamare imitated him when they sensed his tangible sudden movement.
"Hmm... Where could they be?" Popukar asked nobody in particular, heading in the opposite direction from where they were.
Once silence overtook the scene, the Doctor counted for a few more seconds just in case Popukar changed her mind, but the muteness of the atmosphere remained the same. He peeked out from the corner to make sure the coast was truly clear before he rushed back inside his office, with Suzuran and Shamare sprinting right behind.
The Doctor dove inside his office after the door opened up for them. Once he neared his desk, he rummaged through the drawers beside his desk until Suzuran peeked into his vision to peer into the drawer he was in. The Doctor pulled his hands away just in case he hit Suzuran on the head while a big drop of sweat rolled down his neck.
Shamare joined in by walking over to the other side of the drawer to see what had grabbed Suzuran's attention and lifted Morte to the desk, so he could also look at the delectable goodies. A faint, but familiar smell wafted through the air as the scent of the snacks danced through the air.
"It smells good..." Shamare commented as Suzuran agreed with her immediately by nodding her head.
"Did you two want some? I was thinking of snacking on something before I continue to play the game since it'll take a while unless Popukar finds us quickly." The Doctor grabbed a bag of gummies and the two of them politely declined his offer.
"I'm fine, Doctor, but thank you," Suzuran said.
"If only there are apples, Doctor… However, I have not found any," Shamare chimed in.
"Okay, but if you change your mind, you can always tell me."
"Thank you for the offer, Doctor," Suzuran responded.
"Alright, we better get going now." The Doctor commented, glancing at the door to his office warily.
"Okay~!"
Initially, they headed towards the kitchen, but it didn't take long for Matterhorn and Gummy to spot them and shoo them out of the kitchen, which resulted in the three of them wandering the hallways of Rhodes Island once again.
They could go to the training room, but that was a public place where operators could give away their position by telling Popukar. Staying in his office was a cheat code, and it didn't feel right. As for the deck, it was out in the open, and barging into the dorms of the operators would be uncouth. Their options were limited and restrained to areas where staying hidden was the key factor.
The Doctor quickly listed options again in his head and frowned. They were going to get caught at this point. Operators were already looking in their direction with intrigue, so it was only a matter of time before Popukar asked for their whereabouts and found them effortlessly.
"What if we went to the Convalescence Garden to hide? Big sister Perfumer could vouch for us and hide us somewhere Popukar can't find us!" Suzuran suggested.
The Doctor adjusted his mask, suddenly conscious of it now that it came in handy. "Are you girls allergic to pollen?"
They both looked at each other for a few seconds until Shamare shrugged her shoulders. "W-We don't know..." Suzuran answered for the both of them as she giggled sheepishly.
"Well, we don't have the luxury to waste our time since we're out in the open. Let's make our way there."
Their little game of hide-and-seek transpired into the semblance of a game of tag with how long they were jogging around Rhodes Island and then riding the elevator, only to resume their sprint to their destination. When they arrived at the Convalescence Garden, the Doctor leaned against the door, unable to catch his breath for the time being.
Off in the distance, Perfumer noticed the three of them walking into her domain. She waved her hands at the younger Vulpos to greet them before redirecting her attention to the Doctor. "What's the occasion, Doctor?"
"Big sister Perfumer, we're playing a game of hide-and-seek!" Suzuran answered for the Doctor.
"Does hide-and-seek entail being out of breath?" Perfumer pondered.
The Doctor let out a chuckle and regained his composure as he weaned off his reliance on the doorframe. "Only if there's no place to hide. Anyway, did you have somewhere for us to hide?"
Perfumer put a finger on her chin as she gazed around the garden until her vision settled on the supply shed. "Unless you want to hide in the supply shed, but I have to warn you, it isn't really clean and it's dusty."
"That'll work."
Perfumer frowned but led them over to a corner of the Convalescence Garden, where a shed stood tall. When she opened the doors, Perfumer stepped in first and tidied up the place a bit. "I hope you don't stay in here the whole day."
"Don't worry, the game isn't going to last too much longer." The Doctor said as he stepped inside the shed along with Suzuran and Shamare, who snuggled up against him since there was only so much room.
"Then I'll see you in a bit. But if you don't mind me asking, who is the seeker?" Perfumer asked.
"It's Popukar."
"Got it! Well, I'll be on the lookout then!" Perfumer closed the doors to the shed and turned around just in time to hear the doors to the garden open. There was a bit of hesitation, but a greeting soon echoed throughout the open. "Welcome to the Convalescence Garden, Popukar! How may I help you?"
"Have you seen the Doctor, Suzuran, and Shamare anywhere? We're playing a game of hide-and-seek and I only have a few minutes left to find them..."
The Doctor stopped listening to their conversation as he heard Shamare sniffle. It didn't take long before the one thing he was hoping wouldn't happen came to fruition. It escalated in a sharp crescendo as Shamare let out a relieving sneeze from the dust accumulating inside her nose. A deafening silence resonated throughout the air as the two of them stopped talking, causing the Doctor's heart to pound loudly in his ears.
Commotion grew louder as Popukar's little footsteps pounded across the room to where the shed was. The doors slowly opened, almost like Popukar was afraid a monster was dwelling in the shed. However, when Popukar looked at all three of them huddled against the gardening tools and such, she raised her hands in the air and celebrated in triumphant cheer. "Yay! I found all three of you! Lucky me!"
"Aww, we lost..." Suzuran mumbled. "Maybe if we kept running, we would have won."
"We probably would have lost because of my lack of cardiovascular strength." The Doctor expressed, taking a step out from the shed.
Unfortunately, the Doctor's knees buckled from his exhausted state of expenditure, resulting in a momentary loss of balance. In the next moment, the Doctor could feel Perfumer's hand wrapped around his arm, stabilizing him from stumbling once again.
"Are you okay, Doctor?" Perfumer asked.
"I-I'm fine, Perfumer! Just a little fatigued from all the exercise..." The Doctor turned to look at Popukar. "You found us quickly."
"Thank you, Doctor! I'm the hide-and-seek champion now!" Popukar responded, gloating over her victory.
"Sorry for sneezing, Doctor…" Shamare apologized as Morte hung from her grasp limply, looking equally deflated.
The Doctor reached over and patted her on the head. Shamare closed one of her eyes as the Doctor's hand roamed around her head. "Don't worry about it. It was fun."
The Doctor took his hand off Shamare's head and watched the three of them gather together to talk about the journey they went on. Popukar explained how she embarked on an adventure around Rhodes Island, asking every operator that passed by her if they saw the three of them anywhere. Some had answers and some of them didn't, but eventually, one of them said they saw them enter the garden.
As for Suzuran and Shamare's tale, Suzuran explained the strategy the Doctor used and the fun stuff they experienced along the way. There might have been an ounce of exaggeration sprinkled throughout, but it was heartwarming to see them interact with each other.
"They're cute, aren't they?" Perfumer asked, causing the Doctor to be aware of her presence.
"I can't say no," He responded.
The peaceful moment lasted for only a second as the Doctor suddenly felt intimidating energy radiating in front of him. At the doorway, he saw Amiya staring at him with a tense smile. "Doctor, I came back from my brief break to see how you were doing, but imagine my surprise when you weren't there."
"Eep! Amiya, I'll get right back to it!" The Doctor said as he felt chills run down his spine.
Author's Note: A game of hide-and-seek with the Doctor is exactly what the doctor ordered!
I couldn't help myself when I saw a manga chapter in the Arknights Comic Anthology, where Suzuran, Shamare, and Popukar play Oni Hunt with Hoshiguma! It was just so cute and I had to write my version of it, so you can say this entire story is mostly inspired by that chapter! If you want to read it yourself, it should be Vol. 3, chapter 4!
There are more chapters to come, so be on the lookout! This is going to be my longest Arknights story yet, so I hope you enjoy it!
With love from your favorite writer, Out4Lunch!
