Chapter Text
Albedo was in Dragonspine, researching the life there. He wanted to know how these monsters could live in such conditions, so he had to spend weeks there. It wasn't a problem for him though, he liked being in a quiet place alone,where noone could disturb him. Or was he just used to being alone all the time?
It turned out he wasn't going to be as alone as he thought. Kaeya promised to visit him every three days, and he did, bringing him some snacks and talking to him. Usually Kaeya fell asleep because of the long hours he worked the night before. Albedo didn't mind, at least he was still there with him.
During the second week, Albedo started getting light headaches. He ignored them, thinking it could've been the cold, though it wasn't common for him to be affected by the cold. He wasn't human after all, or well at least not as human as the others.
A week had passed since his headaches started and they only got worse. They hurt the most at night, so he would wake up every night, unable to fall back asleep. Every night he wished Kaeya was there to comfort him.
Albedo packed all his research he had been gathering for the past 3 weeks and went back to Mondstadt. He had to do something about the headache. It was hard to ignore and run away from the monsters on the way. He knew he shouldn't fight while he's not feeling well. Finally he got to Mondstadt. Albedo opened the door to his lab. Sucrose flinched a little.
"S-sir Albedo! You're back so soon"
'Strange' she thought 'something important must've came up'
"Oh hello Sucrose. You must be confused as to why I'm back so early" he gave a soft smile. While unpacking his bag he continued.
"I've had a headache for a week now so I thought I should make some potions that could ease it" Albedo had no reason to lie to Sucrose.
Yet.
"Oh?" Sucrose had never heard Albedo say something like that. It was rare for him to be affected by common things such as headaches. Albedo went to boil some herbs to make a potion to get rid of his headache.
While he was making the potion, Sucrose cleaned up all the books and tests.
"I should go home now, have a good afternoon sir!" she said before closing the front door.
He sat on the floor.
'Good, I'm alone now...again...'
An hour had passed and the potion was finally ready. Albedo stood up and immediately drank it. It had already passed 30 minutes and still nothing. His head was still pounding. The potion didn't work and now he had to make a stronger one. He sighed in disappointment and started a fire on the stove again. Suddenly he heard a knock on the door.
Albedo went to open the door. It was Kaeya.
"I heard you were back in Mondstadt! So I came to say hi!... So did you finish your research early or something?" He asked while walking in.
"Oh...well no" he didn't want to say that he came back because of a matter as small as a headache. 'If it would've been Kaeya, he wouldn't have come back' the thought haunted him. He often felt weak beside Kaeya.
"Huh? Why? Then why are you back here?" Kaeyas words did not help Albedo at all.
"I have...reasons" he turned his head away.
"Hey, if something wrong, you can always tell me you know" Kaeya sat beside Albedo
"I know" he felt his throat starting to tighten up a bit.
Kaeya sighed.
"Alright well..if you say you're fine, then I should probably go now. I'm still on duty"
"Alright...see you" he said sending Kaeya out the door.
No. Albedo didn't want him to go. Why did Kaeya trust him so easly. Why didn't he press him for more. He wanted Kaeya to find out so he could comfort him, kiss him and love him, tell him that its alright and he will feel better soon. He wanted to sleep beside Kaeya without waking up because of the pain. But he couldn't just say so. Kaeya might think hes weird or weak for saying that.
He started working on a stronger potion. When it was ready, he drank it all, not thinking what the side effects could be. After 30 minutes, still nothing. Again. Just another failure. He was so tired already so he went to sleep. Of course he woke up in the middle of the night. He was just laying in bed until he heard birds chirping outside. He looked at the clock beside his bed. 3 hours. He had only slept for 3 hours. He got up and started working on a stronger potion.
When he finally got it done, he drank it as fast as he could. His head hurt so much, he just wanted to get rid of it. He didn't care about what could happen to his body. After about a minute he started feeling weak, so weak. He fell to the floor coughing until he started to taste blood. It felt horrible, almost like he was dying. He was grabbing his throat and breathing heavily. The pain felt worse than before. He suddenly heard the door creak open.
"Hey how are-" it was Kaeya again. Albedo looked up coughing, blood coming out of the corner of his mouth.
"Woah there! What's going on??" Kaeya got on his knees, trying to help Albedo.
I'm fine-" he tried pushing Kaeya away.
"No you're not! Just tell me what can I do!"
"You can't- *cough* do anything, I'll just have to wait until the potion wears off"
"The potio- I told you to stop testing shit on yourself! It's dangerous!" Kaeya basically yelled at Albedo
"But I-"
"There's no buts to putting yourself in danger Albedo! You could've at least called me!"
"I'm sorry.." Albedo stopped coughing. The potion wore off already. He wipes the blood off his mouth.
"Just please...don't do that again" Kaeya hugged Albedo. They were holding each other for another 10 minutes, until Kaeya had to leave again.
"Im sorry, I promise I'll come back later okay?" Kaeya got up.
"Okay.." Albedo hasn't made eye contact since he stopped coughing.
"Love you" Said Kaeya before leaving and closing the door.
"Love you too.." Albedo mumbled to himself.
Albedo didn't do anything that day. He just cleaned some old and dusty books and potions. He was getting used to the headache, though at night, he couldn't bear it. Albedo realised it was already evening when Kaeya knocked on his door and let himself in.
"I'm back! Sorry if its too late" Kaeya scratched the back of his head.
"It's okay" Albedo couldn't look at him
"Are you...okay?" Kaeya asked with a worrying tone, hugging him from behind and resting his head on the blondes shoulder.
"Yes. Why?"
"You're acting different and avoiding me. Did something happen? Are you hurt?"
Albedo finally gave in.
"Actually yes, I... have had a headache for a week now, I know it sounds stupid but it just really hurts and-" he got cut off. Kaeya grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, Albedo now facing him.
"Albedo...it's not stupid, your problems are not stupid. I want to help you and i know you want me to help you too, but you have to tell me when something is wrong. I will never think you're stupid, no matter what. I'll always love you...please never forget that"
They made eye contact the whole time
Albedo almost felt like crying.
They talked for a couple of hours before they went to bed. They cuddled until both of them fell asleep.
Albedo woke up in the middle of the night once again. The pain this time was unbearable. His breathing was getting heavier and he covered his mouth so he wouldn't make any noise that could wake Kaeya up. He wanted to scream his lungs out.
Tears started falling down his cheeks and on to his pillow. Kaeya woke up due to Albedos quiet whimpering.
"Hey... are you okay..?" Kaeya said in a tired voice. Albedo couldn't answer. Kaeya got up.
"Hey.." his heart broke when he saw his tears. He immediately got up and hugged him. Albedos body was stiff, he tried to hug him back.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" Kaeya whispered in his ear. He hugged Albedo tighter. Albedo finally opened his mouth so he could breathe. Kaeya could hear small hiccups in his shaky breath.
He continued to whisper I'm sorry's until he could feel Albedos body suddenly relax. He had passed out. Kaeya kissed his forehead and layed down with him. Soon he fell asleep.
In the morning, Kaeya woke up first. He went out to buy some ingredients for breakfast. When he came back, Albedo was awake, sitting on the bed.
"Oh, you're up already" he put the ingredients on the table and sat down beside him.
"Are you feeling better now..?" Albedo could hear the worry in his voice.
"I'm fine now, thank you.." his head was still pounding but he didn't want to worry Kaeya anymore.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, now what are you making for breakfast?" Changing the subject was hard. Was Kaeya just going to go with it or was he going to try to press more out of Albedo?
"Oh.. I'm making fried eggs! If that's okay with you of course"
"It is"
"Great" he stood up and went to the kitchen. 15 minutes later they ate and soon Kaeya was getting ready to leave.
"I'll see you soon okay?" Kaeya said putting on his coat.
"Okay" Albedo whispered looking down.
Kaeya cupped his face and kissed him on the lips. Albedos pain vanished for a second, he closed his eyes though the kiss didn't last long.
"I love you" Kaeya whispered in Albedos ear before leaving.
"I love you too"
Soon Albedo got dressed and started going back to Dragonspine. He just wanted to be alone right now, somewhere where noone could hear him. He arrived at the campsite half an hour later.
He fell to the floor and started crying and screaming. He had been holding it in for weeks now, scared that someone might hear him somewhere near Mondstadt. But noone could hear him here so he let it all out. He slowly felt himself slipping away and losing control.
An hour had passed and he was sitting on the snow, resting his back on the rocks. He wasn't screaming anymore but tears still fell down his cheeks.
It worked.
It worked?
His head wasn't aching anymore.
But... he could feel the monster inside him growing stronger. He could feel that it was harder for him to hold it back and not lose control now.
But it was worth it, right?
He wasn't going to let himself lose control, right?