Chapter Text
There's a moment of disquiet when they both disgruntledly got up from the makeshift bed and started their morning routine while stumbling into each other's hips. It's good. The calm was a breath away, hidden in the corners of the road and diluted by potions.
He was restless, itching to do something about the thundering ocean in his chest that has caused him to choke every time the wave came. The edge between apathy and enthusiasm was thin, brittle, and harsh — Aether knows this by heart, but the crashing tides were gentle and uplifting, giving him the strength to continue to hope.
The blonde looked at Albedo and laughed a little, warmth falling from his lips. The man was by the fire, nursing a cup of bitter water (herbal tea, the knight reminds himself) and wearing a bright red sweater, his sword strapped to the belt and awkwardly touching the ground. The clothing, while obviously warm, was hideous and clashed with— everything.
He's grumpy in the morning, the boy realized with fondness and added the fact to the trail of others. It suits him, a piece of a puzzle joining the bigger picture. There's a tired frown on his face; Kreideprinz stared stubbornly at the mug and blinked slowly, like a cat. The alchemist glared weakly at the knight, bleary-eyed and tired.
"What?"
"Is it a gift from Klee?" Aether nodded to the monstrous thing. It's a beautiful picture to see — Albedo looked down at his hands and smiled, picking at the hem after leaving the cup at the stone. The frown melted into a gentle expression.
The man nodded, "She gave it to me before my departure."
"Well," the blond answered nonchalantly, trying desperately to look appropriate enough, "it's certainly her style."
God, Aether thought, please don't let Paimon talk at this beautiful moment. There's only so much shame one person can bear on his shoulders.
The laughter startled the blond as the sound, which was quiet at first, turned out to be loud and contagious. It wasn't hard to feel the same happiness run through his blood when he had the pleasure to birth the reason behind it. Albedo's eyes are priceless artifacts, alight with glittering magma of reflected crimson sparks; he's clutching his sweater with a weak grip, shivering slightly.
Smiling, Aether whined, "Am I not right? The color is the same!"
"Of course," the alchemist smirked, "I'm aware how it's not… the best outfit—"
"Not the best?" Paimon muttered incredulously, affronted expression and hyperbolic gasp from her corner.
"But," the man stressed, glancing pointedly at his flying companion, "I couldn't refuse Klee."
Aether felt soft; a familiar tension fell away into more bearable pain as they talked for a few minutes more about the girl. There was something bright and teasing in his chest, a crackle of fire and feathers, that made the moments like this seem magnificent. The peace allowed an offer to breathe, taste a scent of salt and flowers on the tongue.
Albedo was too tempting. It was certainly nice to be near, able to hear the alchemist's voice as he explains the different aspects of art and science, enabling the knight to see them as they are — beautiful and mesmerizing. This point of view didn't have to be new to either of those who seek it but time made it easier to forget the beauty of the environment.
The heart flared, and Albedo stepped away from the traveler. The quartz, emanating a violent red, crumpled into small crystals. Aether hoped that they would be okay. Paimon certainly would not be able to fly back to Mondstadt if shit hit the fan. The magic doesn't work that way, she told him.
The heart flared, and the pull was heavy, damaging the dam with clawed fingers deep in its neck, as the need to ground himself was raised. The blond glanced at Albedo, a wisp of broken plea at the tip of the tongue, and whispered, "Should we go somewhere safe?"
He didn't want to be here, not really.
"No," the blue-eyed man answered, writing down the information in the notepad. "It's an unforeseen behavior for the object, so I should observe it for a time being," Kreideprinz stated, looking a bit desperate (manic, some part whispered), "would you mind if I asked you to stay here?"
There's only so much Aether could wish for. The tilt of the head, a lock of pearl-white hair falling a little sideways, the hope — perhaps, he imagined it — at the eyes. "Sure," he smiled, "it's fun to be with you."
The look of relief was surprising, "Thank you. I will appreciate the company."
The fun was going to consist of awkwardly standing around, wasn't it?
It had been quiet for a while. Paimon kept glaring at every corner of the cave, flying a little bit closer to the outlander and further away from the crimson quartz. He couldn't fault her for such behavior — the rocks were prone to self-combusting, and the longer they stayed here, the more often it happened. The heart was pulsating wildly, leaving vermilion ripples at the oblique sides of the cavern. It was as stable as it could get, the blond guessed.
Aether busied himself with tracing Albedo's silhouette at the stone which was painted by the vibrant scarlet light. The traveler was by the fire, nursing a cup of lukewarm herbal tea to forget the frightening need to come closer and touch. It was disorienting to feel so strongly about the thing you’ve never seen before, and that’s why he decided to be as far away as possible. Watching the alchemist work around the heart was enough to calm his frayed nerves, soothe the anxiety which brought calamity to the ocean inside. The low murmur, quiet steps, and soft scratching sound of the pen against the paper were nice for background noise, the traveler thought.
The scene was very dreamlike, yet somber.
"Aether," Albedo said loudly to get his attention, "would you mind?"
"Uh," the knight started, getting up from the place and walking to the research center, "sure. What do I need to do?"
There's a variety of different notes written on the papers, full of diagrams and lists upon questions, drawings. He felt intimidated by the complexity and scientific quality of the work. It wasn't much to discern terms and all that, was it?
Albedo was really great at this, Aether thought with fondness. It was amazing and breathtaking.
"We should test the reaction to crimson quartz," Kreideprinz looked him straight into the eyes, collected and bright, painted by vibrant red, "so can you destroy all of them in a 5-meter radius?"
That was oddly specific. "Okay," Aether nodded. It felt ridiculous and nostalgic at the same time, bringing forth the memories from mere months ago when they tentatively communicated with the alchemist and partaken in experiments of dubious nature.
What a fun time, Aether mused.
Nonetheless, it was easy to swing the sword back and forth and watch it destroy the gem. The repetitive motion allowed one to glance at Albedo without the fear to hurt himself, and the knight took advantage of this fact. The alchemist was calmer than before, concentrated on Aether and the surrounding area, rare huffing sounds escaping his mouth.
"Let's try to expand the radius," the man hummed, turning the page in his notebook.
Aether nodded.
And that was all the fun, wasn't it? They were better off exploring the Dragonspine than the damned heart, the amber-eyed man thought. But it was nice to be alone with Albedo. Well, as alone as one can be with Paimon.
Albedo gasped, a surprising look on his face, and Aether wanted to know, the need that was overpowered by his own selfish desires. The warmth was getting to him, a vision a little bit too hazy at the edges and relaxed muscles preventing fast reaction to a stimulus; it's the reason why it was with a dash of crippling fear and anxiety that he watched as the man touched the heart which was wildly vibrating.
It happened a little too fast — Aether desperately trying to pray away Kreideprinz from the vile object, ditching the gloves for further grappling ability because the man was unresponsive, and somehow feeling the pain from sharp edges biting into his back while looking straight at the alchemist's eyes, frantic and crimson and hurtful and—
The kiss was full of harsh biting and painful scrapes, mixing the blood and making the knight struggle with the need to push away Albedo, cold eyes, and black-tinted hair; it was desperate and animalistic as if the man's love was turbulent water that was spilled over the edge, hot and dangerous. The blonde had to kick the alchemist's face away, breathing heavily, and push the face into the crook of his neck, turning their action into forceful cuddling.
It didn't help, obviously. Kreideprinz licked — hot and wet and full of teeth — and bit the flesh, making Aether shiver and try to tilt the head closer to the shoulders with the wish to have more patience. It would have been more enjoyable, the boy thought, if it was under different circumstances.
"Stop," the knight firmly said, tightening his hold and bringing the partner closer to the chest, taking away the ability to fidget. "Albedo, you need to sleep it away."
Oh. Aether resisted the urge to find a mirror to look for hickeys that were bound to appear after some especially painful bites, instead beckoning Paimon closer. "Can you fetch the blanket?"
Arms were tricky. The alchemist was relentlessly moving hands all over the knight's body in search of something to help with the inability to touch the skin. It tickled, tethering on being too enjoyable when the man scraped so gently with the fingertips over the blonde's open stomach.
It would be easier to just knock off Albedo, the traveler thought, much easier. And then pretend this never happened. A little white lie to save them future trouble.
Save him from disappointment.
Aether breathed in the cold air and felt the hot pain dissipate in his lungs. The ocean was lulled by the moon.
The smoke was clearing away little by little as ash and burnt leaves were finally falling down with each raindrop. The familiar buildings were cracking and crumbling, leaving only a smell of coal and heavy reek of flesh.
It wasn't supposed to be like that.
A drizzling rain was getting harsher, and Aether wanted to wake up. The fountain was in shambles, the water turned black with soot and marble scorched by flames. Everything was wrong - from the red-tinted sky to the ruins he was witnessing.
Monstadt was almost—
Home. Bright stars, flower-scented air, people that were so quick to make friends out of him, sweet food, and a cheerful atmosphere. Kaeya. Amber. Diluc. Albedo.
Where was Albedo?
Aether swallowed the lump in his throat, eyes trailing from one dead body to another in panic, trying desperately to detach himself from any memory to each face. They were surprised before death, a slow curiosity etching at the tilt of their head as if to watch a pleasant view for another time. A cusp of a powerful explosion, and yet all of them were affected so strongly.
What happened?
Clutching at the heel of the sword, the blond moved cautiously through the shambles of the town, slowly going up to the statue of Anemo Archon. Venti— Gods, he hoped all of them were alright. The knight tried to recall the schedule, plans, and ambitions all of them had to understand who was out of the city.
(It was a stupid hope)
The tavern met him with a broken window and door, the stink of alcohol and meat attacking his receptors. The familiar bard was nowhere to be seen, no speck of green cape and the bright hair, and Aether felt relieved.
It was too quiet. The wind was howling while Aether crawled his way through the steps leading to the main plaza. It was better to be safe. It was nice for once to be without Paimon and face alone the heavy feeling of guilt and grief for she was still at Wanghu Inn, fallen ill from food poisoning. It was not something he wished for his friend to experience. Aether… Aether was familiar with loss.
The statue, once whole, was now awfully broken — the upper body was lying at its feet, crumbled and crushed by its fall from such a height. It was a dreary sight to see. He was afraid to look at the cathedral, fearing to see it completely destroyed. It was easy to understand that the place was the epicenter of the explosion. The knight heard the footsteps before he saw the alchemist, a veneer of disinterested aura. A terrible thought appeared in the boy's head and he grasped his sword, getting into the defensive position, and continued to walk carefully to the man. As the traveler got closer, he saw with ease the black-tinted hair and crimson eyes his friend had. The same look the alchemist got at the cave.
"Albedo," Aether called, voice carefully calm and kind. "What happened?"
There was a pause as the scientist took in the blond's pose and ruffled clothes, pale face, and anxious eyes. It was no secret that the honorary knight got a month-long mission from Jean at the edges of their territory to research the Abyss Order.
It was exhausting, and Aether felt it in his bones — the sleepless nights, half-good half-bad days when food was rare and they needed to make stops at Dragonspine.
He really wanted the scenery to change to the normal Monstadt. The wish burnt his throat with fiery need, scratched desperately at his eyes, and howled somewhere deep in his chest.
He didn't want to fight.
"What happened? An explosion," the alchemist murmured, stretching his arm at this familiar way he did to lower pain from sketching too long. It was painful to look at. "But that's not important, Aether."
"What about Klee?"
"Klee," the man hummed and looked straight at the companion with something akin to fondness, "is fine, don't worry. She's safe."
He had a lot of questions and the time was running too fast. "Where is she," the knight pointed at him with a sword, "Albedo? Don't pretend it's not your fault — this ruins of Monstadt, everything."
"Don't be like that. You're obviously tired," Kreideprinz stressed with a frown, getting closer to the blond, "Aether, come with me. I'll take care of you."
There's not much he could've said to that, in hindsight. It was not possible. Aether had a responsibility - the goal - to search for Lumine, communicate with newfound friends, and look out for Paimon.
He couldn't be a fucking bird to cage away at someplace forever. Even for Albedo.
"No," Aether said, slashing his weapon at the man.
Albedo, while a good enough swordmaster, lacked a more practical aspect of the art due to his main job. It was only a problem of enduring long enough to tire him out, or so was the original thought.
That was a stupid thought.
Pinned down to the ground with a sword at his throat, hands, and legs bound to earth by geo element, the knight was effectively immobilized. Kreideprinz was sitting on him, interrupting any attempts at gaining freedom.
Adrenaline was making his heart thump loudly and it replaced any exhaustion he felt a few hours ago.
A tender touch, one-way tracking of Aether's jawline, made him snap out of the daze, following Albedo's movements with keen eyes. The sword was long gone, replaced by a hand at his pulse. It was such a vulnerable position, full of danger and hopelessness; the boy struggled to breathe slowly, faking a semblance of calm to hide the rapid beating of his heart. He didn't feel okay, anxiety and anger were a constant thread of stream at the jumbled mess of the mind.
He needed to be searching for living people. To smack some sense in this Albedo, scalding cold with his version of love and care. To find Kaeya and Venti.
"Will you go with me willingly," Albedo asked, his touch gentle and never straying from pulse point, "or should I force you?"
But he was so tired, hands numb and oversensitive. The mission was completed, but Aether was in no position to continue. The sky was muted red, getting darker with each passing minute. There was nothing that reminded him of the past. The ground was cold, the rumble piercing his back. Everything felt like a joke, a nightmare.
It was the truth.
His silence was the answer.
The sunlight was streaming through the ivy and blooming flowers. The cave was small, claustrophobic in its size. The water was dark with lotuses and vines, anchoring themselves into the flowing blond hair. Aether was lying at the cusp of the lake, pale and motionless, surrounded by vivid green trees and soft moss.
Alight by the sun, he was akin to faery or a sleeping goddess. Sunkissed.