#...now i wanna do an arknights x persona thing

[johannstutt413]

[So, I don’t have a Tarot deck, and despite loving Persona, I don’t really put any stock in it. However, because I’m a DnD nerd, I do have a “tarokka” deck (Curse of Strahd/Ravenloft, basically the setting’s variant), so for the sake of this piece, that’s the deck being used. And yes, I did actually do this]

After a long day in his office, the Doctor was ready to head back to his room and relax...Just as he was turning off his computer and putting his jacket back on, however, there was a knock on his door. “Come in.”

“Good evening, Doctor.” Gitano stepped into his office, closing the door behind her. “I know you must be tired, but I have seen something in the cards that I must confirm. Would you indulge me and allow me to read your future?”

“If you think it’s important, Gitano, I’m more than willing.”

She nodded. “Thank you. This desk is free, correct?”

“Yeah, I sent Shaw home already.” He rolled his chair to the opposite side of the assistant’s desk as Gitano took a seat behind it. “Same process as last time, right?”

“Not quite, but I appreciate that you remember.” She brought out her deck, located the Beast card, and shuffled it thoroughly after setting the Beast in the center. Once it was satisfactorily mixed, she unfolded it and let the Doctor pick four cards, shuffling again after each selection, and then arranged them in a cross shape.

The Doctor eyed the setup curiously. “This looks about the same to me.”

“In some ways, they are identical.” Gitano smiled. “The object, however, is a particular one. For your first reading, I had you select a card for this place as well; based on the vision I saw, however, I needed to start with the Beast.”

“Why the Beast?”

Her smile became an elusive smirk. “It represents passion, Doctor.”

“Passion...” His eyes lit up. “I have an inkling, but please continue.”

“First card...Mercenary.” She flipped the card closest to her.

The Doctor looked up at her. “Do we wait until after all the cards are revealed?”

“I can delve into the specifics with you, Doctor, if you’d like.” He nodded, so Gitano continued. “This card echoes the past; for our purposes, it represents the source of the passion in question. In this case, a person’s strength of character made an impression on the other.”

“Fascinating...”

She smiled and flipped the card left of center. “Second card...Necromancer. Not inverted, which is...troubling. This card should call forth the present, but it says the passion is an obsessive sort...and unhealthy.”

“That does sound bad.” The Doctor stroked his chin. “Maybe the other two can save it?”

“Let’s see. Third card...Miser. The fate of this passion, as it were, is to be kept in the passionate person’s heart.”

He sighed. “No dramatic revelation, then?”

“No...Last card...the Darklord, inverted? Now that’s...fascinating.”

“What does it mean?”

“Well, the last card represents what happens if the passion is acted upon; this would suggest that, in defiance of the Miser, revealing the passion would not have serious consequences for either party...” Gitano looked the Doctor in the eye. “This makes my course of action rather complicated.”

The Doctor cocked his head. “Why’s that?”

“Well...This may sound odd, but would you mind doing this reading for me? I can explain the cards, but I need you to handle the deck.”

“Um, sure,” he agreed. “Are you trying to get around the whole ‘predicting your own future’ thing?”

She blushed. “Perhaps.”

“Well, Gitano, I don’t think you’ll need the deck for that.”

“Hmm?” She smiled. “What makes you say that, Doctor?”

The Doctor took a deep breath. “Revealing the passion won’t have serious consequences? That’s because you don’t need a fortune teller to tell you how I feel about you.”

“I thought it might be the case...but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Predicting your own future is rather taboo, but I felt such great duress over it I couldn’t stop myself.”

“You? Under duress?” He reached over the cards to take her hand. “Gitano, why would you be worried? Do you know why I play cards with you and the others every weekend, despite clearly being a terrible player?”

Gitano chuckled. “Should I assume to spend time with me?”

“Because you get so invested in the game, you show everyone your true colors, and I love seeing you flustered. Especially that one time I won because you didn’t think I could possibly have a full house and I did- not that I’m giving you more crap about that-”

“Oh, I know I overreacted,” she waved her free hand, “but that’s beside the point. I find it curious that the cards made it out to be an obsession, though.”

His face flushed. “Um...before I give you a possible explanation, I just want to be sure - you were disturbed because you like me, too, right?”

“I saw good fortune in love for you during my routine readings and wanted to be sure someone else didn’t reach you before I did, so yes.”

“Good.” The Doctor sighed. “You’re going to think less of me, and I’m ready for that.”

Gitano smiled. “We’ll see.”

“Okay. There was this one time I heard Spot say something about asking you out, so...I spiked his drink the day before open season.”

“...You did not.” She covered her mouth as she did her best to control herself. “Doctor, if I remember, wasn’t that the one when-”

He nodded. “I’m lucky the sedative was out of his system by the time he went to the infirmary, otherwise, well...there would have been disciplinary action, I’m sure.”

“That certainly qualifies as unhealthy, I suppose - but it certainly could have been worse.”

“Right.” The Doctor wasn’t quite sure about that. “Well, um...we still have some time before I need to head to bed...although honestly, I kind of just want to call it a day.”

Gitano glanced at the door. “Would you like me to help you fall asleep?”

“Help me fall asleep?”

“I know a few ways to ease a person’s mind.” She winked at him. “Then again, I could just wear you out~”

He swallowed. “That sounds like a plan to me...”