Work Text:
There are two fundamental facts that the entire campus of Mondstadt University knows about the youngest chemistry professor.
- He’s a prodigy. This is clear enough from the way Headmistress Jean and Librarian Lisa praise his knowledge, whenever he’s brought up in conversation. He humbly denies it in conversation, though his absentminded and mumbled musings in the hallways are quite telling.
- He’s handsome. In his year or two of teaching, he has easily taken the role of Mondstadt University’s greatest heartthrob. He carries himself elegantly, almost like a prince, and with his bright teal eyes and chalk-blond hair, it’s not hard to imagine him as one.
Yes, Professor Albedo Kreideprinz. He seems hardly older than the students, with a youthful jawline to match his inquisitive eyes. He’s undeniably beautiful— but quite… eccentric.
It’s always hard to carry a casual conversation with him, for one. The conversation will always, without fail, wander towards the countless theories that must fly around in his too-fast-to-catch-up-with mind. Any brave attempters come out of the conversation twice as confused as they were before, no closer to the professor than where they began.
That isn’t to say he’s a bad teacher. Every student would attest to Professor Kreideprinz’s sharp intuition on what a student is missing on their path to comprehension, and many recommend going to him for help at least once while in his class. It’s an experience, they say, to be taught by the Kreideprinz.
There’s a third fact that many people have noticed and tend not to bring up.
- He’s often alone. In a corner of a lunch table reading an article while silently munching on a neatly packed boxed lunch, or holed up in his personal lab, where there are more odd contraptions dripping and twisting and steaming than anyone has ever seen. They see him amicably greet other professors, some familiar students, and of course, his two lab assistants, but there’s always a very clear distance between the professor and his colleagues or acquaintances.
Which is why it comes as a great surprise to the student body when the Liyuen man visits. None notice the man standing vigilantly outside the door to the lecture hall until Professor Kreideprinz ends the class and the students file out, chatting among themselves.
A few of the stragglers who are slow to pack their notebooks and supplies back in their bags keep one curious eye on the man, who strides forward.
Professor Kreideprinz raises an eyebrow. “Xiao. I thought you’d be visiting on Friday.”
The man rolls his eyes. “I was going to. Got a call from Sucrose.” his tone and posture are calm, but all who listen can hear the undercurrent of an aggravated growl under his voice.
“Ah…” the professor’s voice peters off with the slightest hint of indignance. “Of course she did.”
Xiao chuckles mirthlessly. “‘Of course she did.’ Albedo, you fucking idiot, coffee is not an appropriate substitute for sleep,” he seethes.
Albedo blinks owlishly. “Well, yes, but as an adenosine-receptor antagonist it certainly prevents it.” Before Xiao opens his mouth to contest this, Albedo continues. “I’m well aware of the detrimental effects of lack of sleep, but please understand; I think I’m close to a breakthrough.”
The students almost gape. Is the professor tired? He hasn’t yawned a single time today; if he is, he does an awfully good job of hiding it.
Hands perched on his hips, Xiao sighs a sigh that tells of familiarity, of countless times having to deal with this. “Alright, fine, but you’re at least taking a nap now. C’mon, cecilia or qingxin?”
“Ah. Qingxin, I suppose. Cecilia tea is a bit too sweet for now.” he pushes a final drawer closed, and there isn’t a speck out of place on Albedo’s desk, as per usual.
“Your responses are half a second more delayed than usual,” Xiao sighs as he ushers Albedo out of the lecture hall. “How many nights haven’t you slept?”
“Turning the unknown into the known is an admirable pursuit, but I think this tidbit is better left the former, for the sake of my safety and wellbeing,” Albedo quips.
Xiao rolls his eyes. “This dumbass,” he mumbles under his breath. But there really is no mistaking the fondness that seeps into those words.
Three days later, the students of Mondstadt University amend their previous list of facts about Professor Albedo Kreideprinz.
- He isn’t alone. He is, in fact, quite happily taken by Xiao, a PhD student in Liyuen classics at the esteemed University of Liyue.
Sucrose, bless her, is all too eager to share during the professor’s absence that Xiao has, thank goodness, you’d think a genius would know more about health than he does, finally gotten the professor to take a day off and rest, since his experiment has entered the final stages and no longer needs his constant attention.
There really is no competition, Albedo’s many admirers sadly lament. No competition at all.