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He hadn't been able to look at his assistant properly after what happened last night.
Albedo wasn't much of a drinker. One glass of wine was enough for him and he was set for the night.
However, Sucrose, Sucrose was a different matter...
He didn't even know she was the type to drink, first of all. The Tavern was filled with malicious drinkers, Kaeya included. When Sucrose suggested the place for the evening, Albedo had his questions but refrained from asking them, not wanting to cause any doubts.
Sucrose had one drink and was already drunker than half of the people in the Tavern.
She even tried to call for another refill but Albedo quickly shut the request down, politely declining Charles when he came over to their table.
Their table spot was secluded from the rest, so there were not many eyeballing in their direction. The alcohol completely consumed Sucrose's body as she couldn't stop giggling and cracking jokes.
"M-Mister Albedo, I wanna hold you Su-crose!"
"...So close?"
"Yes! So close, my name!"
"Ah, I get it."
Just about anything made her laugh.
Albedo didn't know what was funny about his face, but she couldn't stop sneaking a few glances at him as if he wasn't literally sitting in front of her. She'd giggle even harder then, adorably covering her nose with her hand to quieten down her snorts.
He'd be lying if he said he didn't find it amusing. The Harmless Sweetie always tried to reserve herself, around him especially. Though, he didn't know why. No matter how many times Albedo would tell her to call him by his name instead of using the honorifics, Sucrose held him in her respects higher than he probably deserved.
She had stubborn quantities outside of her alchemy research indeed.
When it was time to go, that was when the chaos ensued.
He wasn't going to let his assistant go back to her room alone, so once he paid the bill, Albedo slung her arm around his shoulders and led them back to the HQ. Sucrose kept tripping over her own feet, kept laughing out loud at nothing in particular, almost dragged him to Good Hunter because she suddenly wanted cake and almost made the both of them trip into a fountain nearby.
Regardless, Albedo was still as patient as ever. Even though it was something she wouldn't be able to remember, it was almost refreshing to see her break out of her timid shell. Even if the alcohol was the reason for it.
When they got to her room, Albedo gently set her down on her bed. Just when he ushered her to go to sleep, Sucrose wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Shocked wasn't even enough of a word to describe how he felt at that moment. It happened just as fast as it ended.
"Albedo, don't goooooo," she whined and then purred into his ear, "Stay with meeee..."
Albedo swallowed, hard. She kissed him, dropped the honorifics and was telling him to stay the night?
The implications running through his mind were already so sinful and he pulled away from her quickly. "Sucrose," he said calmly even though the strain in his voice was horrendously evident, "Sleep."
However, she didn't listen to him and kept giggling.
What she said next completely floored him.
"Mmm. I think... I think I like you, Albedo. I like-like you. Like love. I love you, I love you, I love you..."
She passed out after, right into his arms.
Albedo stared down at her, still in the midst of processing what had just happened. For the first time, in quite a long time, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to do with this piece of information. He didn't know how to act on it.
He just knew that he needed to get back into his own room. Quickly.
Shit.
Once he tucked Sucrose inside the covers, Albedo leaned in and pushed the strands of hair away from her face. A smile quirked up his lips as he chuckled quietly, shaking his head.
His eyes travelled down at her lips and his hand subconsciously touched his own, where they had been occupied just a few moments ago.
They were really soft, just like he initially thought. And sweet.
He wanted to-
Albedo stopped himself before his thoughts could go any further. They were so dangerously close to going down... that path. He wanted to slap himself for trying to think of indecent thoughts of Sucrose. Sucrose. His assistant.
Back now in the present, the Chief Alchemist ran his pencil over the paper on his clipboard. The Cryo Regisvine research notes he had taken refused to get into his head. The words were just... words, right now.
I love you, I love you, I love you...
Albedo ran a hand down his face, giving his temples a rub.
Sucrose wouldn't say anything like that, drunk or not if she hadn't meant it.
He wasn't naive about the meaning of love. He knew what the term meant.
He was just naive that he hadn't known sooner. The so-called genius Chalk Prince hadn't known that his sweet assistant held feelings for him. Romantic feelings.
Did he feel the same way?
"M-Mister Albedo?"
Albedo successfully refrained from jumping out of his seat like he had been caught doing something wrong and tore his gaze away from his notes to look at his assistant.
Yes. Yes, he did.
Sucrose stood before him, her thumbs twiddling before she adjusted her glasses. Albedo did his very best not to look anywhere further down her body and remained consistent with his gaze.
Control. Control yourself.
"Yes, Sucrose?"
Her lips started moving and he shamelessly found himself staring at them, throwing half of his resistance out of the window.
The amount of mora he would pay right now to have those lips on him again.
"Mis... Bedo."
Perhaps drinking at the Tavern was a blessing in disguise for once.
"Ter... Al..."
If she kissed him again, maybe he would actually respond back to it. However, he didn't know if he'd be able to hold himself back-
"Mister Albedo!"
He snapped out of his daze and focused back on his assistant. When she sent him a worried and... questioning look, Albedo quickly cleared his throat and diminished the heat that was starting to take over his face. "A-Ah... I apologise, Sucrose," he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, "Pardon my short attention span this morning. I did not sleep very well last night."
Because of you.
"O-Oh, right..." Sucrose blinked at him and then nodded, still unsure, "U-Um... What I was saying earlier was that if you could take a look at-" She stopped before shrieking, "M-Mister Albedo?! Your face is red!"
Albedo had no time to react as she rushed towards him, her hand pressed against his forehead. On instinct, he flinched away at the contact and abruptly stood up from his chair.
"M-Mister Albedo?" Sucrose questioned at length, her eyes widening at his reaction.
He nodded stiffly. "I will see to your research," he said and went over to her desk.
He felt Sucrose's eyes watch him but Albedo tried his best to pay no mind and focused on the task at hand.
He was her mentor. He needed to start acting like one again.
"Did... Did something happen last night, Mister Albedo?"
Or not.
"No," Albedo answered quickly, too quickly that when he turned around to face her, she jumped. Taking a deep breath and pinching himself, he sighed and held the bridge of his nose. "No, nothing happened," he lied but hoped the gentle change of his tone eased her suspicions.
However, he should've known Sucrose wasn't easily convinced until she was completely sure. One might have thought she was just naive, but they didn't know anything about her. The real her.
Albedo did. He knew her better than anyone.
He liked to think that, at least.
"Mister Albedo..." Sucrose said at length, her blunders and nervousness still sounding. However, her eyes stayed held onto his; hinting that she wasn't going to let it go, "I-I don't mean to pry but... The last thing I remember was being with you at the Tavern. Did... Did you take me back to my room?"
"Of course," Albedo replied, eerily calm, "I obviously had no intention of leaving you on your own, Sucrose."
She nodded and averted her eyes away to the side. "I-I just thought I might have done something that made you uncomfortable?" Sucrose immediately looked back at him, panicking, "D-Did I do something to you, M-Mister Albedo?! I-Is that why you haven't been speaking-"
"Sucrose," he cut her off gently, forcing a smile to lift upon his lips and then waved his hand, "You haven't done anything wrong."
Still, Sucrose was not giving up as she eyed him curiously. "B-But Mister Albedo... You're red."
This time, Albedo finally decided to give in. Not even the cold weather up these mountains could hide the fact that he was, indeed, red and flustered.
He didn't even have the time to confess because Sucrose had already frozen herself stiffly when their gazes locked. The realisation was slowly building inside of her eyes until they widened.
Whoever doubted his assistant's analytical skills needed to be his next test subject.
"M-Mister-" Sucrose was unable to finish as she covered her mouth, a gasp, a squeak emitting from her. She looked like she was about to run, the utter mortification on her face almost unbearable for even him to see, "Did I-"
"You kissed me," he confirmed quietly and her ears lurched up, "Sucrose-"
She started to speak but she kept fumbling over her words, gasping them out but was unable to form a proper sentence. Tears started leaking out the corner of her eyes and the blush that hindered her cheeks scorched into the most fiery red he'd ever seen. "M-Mister-" Sucrose wheezed out her breaths, ducking her head down, "I'm so sorry, I-I'm so so sorry! I didn't mean- You were never supposed to-! I-I'm so-!" She flailed her arms rapidly, wailing, "I-I understand if you d-don't want me to work with you anymore- I'll leav-!"
"Sucrose!" Albedo managed to intervene. Sucrose cut herself short, flinching abruptly, shooting her head up at him. He finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
In all his years of alchemy, years of sword training, years of intensive research; did he think that something like this would get him so worked up.
Albedo sighed, shaking his head before pressing his finger under her chin, softly urging her to look at him. He closed his eyes, leaning in to rest his forehead against hers. With a smile, he looked at her when he cupped her cheeks into his hands. "I think I like you too, Sucrose. I like-like you. Like... love."
Sucrose winced, still sniffling out her cries. "D-Did I really sound like that?"
"Yes," he chuckled out, bemused, "It was cute."
"Mister Albedo-"
"Albedo."
"I-I'm sorry that I kept this from you and that you found out in a way that must've been really... embarrassing for you..."
"You have nothing to apologise for. I have to admit, it was quite endearing seeing the ever so Harmless Sweetie being so bold for a change."
A wonderful blush covered Sucrose's cheeks again. "...You're not upset?"
"I never was."
She nodded and pulled away, using the back of her hand to wipe off the rest of her tears. Adjusting her glasses, she peeked up at him and chewed on the corner of her lip. "W-Would it be okay if I-" Sucrose paused and backtracked, "O-Only if you want to! I-"
Albedo pulled her back in for a kiss, swiftly cutting off anything more she wanted to say. "Always so stubborn," he remarked, voice low and green eyes becoming slightly diluted, "However from now on, I only vow to have less of that."