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“Aaaand, done,” Albedo places his candlewick into the liquid wax. Leaning back to get a better look at his final product, the candle maker props his head up with waxy hands. The smell of Kit Kats wafted around them, creating a cozy atmosphere. The back of the shop in which Albedo worked is where he makes his signature candles. Despite being rather small, the shop has a large number of customers who come in for the well-known custom scents. Every scent is handmade by Albedo and Sucrose themselves, wrapped carefully with a bow and a handwritten fortune.
Sucrose smiles softly as she picks up the candle gingerly. “Incredible as usual, Albedo. I shall put it out in the shop for you,”
“It’s just a silly scent, Sucrose. No need to put it up front with the most demanded,”
“As you wish. Though, I feel this one would be popular with the younger patrons. Kit Kat is out of our comfort range, therefore I feel that it is something we should be proud of pulling off. It smells intoxicating,”
Albedo frowns. He supposes there’s no harm in it. “Very well, you are more of an expert on our demographic than I,”
Sucrose squeaks happily and she props the candle up into the display window. Albedo is definitely sure that he doesn’t want the candle to be out for all to see, but he holds his tongue because after all, Sucrose is better at socializing than him, contrary to popular belief.
The blonde is well aware of his lack of facial expressions and intonation present in his voice. It’s just his resting face. People have tried spooking him in the past; namely Hu Tao and Childe. Both of which have failed. Miserably.
Albedo loves playing with Hu Tao’s ghost, and Childe’s shenanigans are meant for his siblings. It’s even become a bit of a challenge to get Albedo to make a facial expression, other than boredom, people coming from town just to try their luck. It puzzles him, for it’s not like they’ll get anything in return. What curious citizens.
Random strangers have waltzed up and did questionable things. As in, they tried ‘flirting’? Albedo still isn’t familiar with their tactics, or else he would have tried countering them long ago. The only reason why he knew what was happening was due to Lisa explaining it when a female customer was invading his personal space quite insistently.
"Do you not see what is happening, Albedo?” Lisa manages to wheeze out between her guffaws. The lady was leaning against a countertop and was watching the scene play out, before bursting out into boisterous laughter when the customer left.
Albedo feels a bit uncomfortable, but he still doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary, “I am not aware, I apologize,”
Lisa chortles, “Aw, you little innocent cutie, don’t apologize. She is simply trying to ah, how do I say this,” Lisa fumbled with her words for a few seconds, “get into your pants,”
Back then, Albedo was this close to losing his composure. Luckily he managed to control himself, but it is still a terrifying thing to recall to this day.
For reasons unbeknownst to himself, Albedo finds himself wanting to keep this reputation. The challenge has increased sales for them, and the blonde likes the self-esteem boost. He has guiltily confided in Sucrose in the past about how he finds himself selfish for wanting praise. The girl, bless her soul, was quick to assure him that it’s normal to want praise.
The people who have come in haven’t gotten a reaction out of him yet, and Albedo is going to keep it that way for as long as he can.
“Kaeya, go entertain yourself somewhere else if you will. You are distracting me,” Jean is surrounded in paperwork, towering over her in precarious stacks. Even though her focus was usually laser strong, not even she could ignore the loud sighing and shuffling from the corner of her office.
In one of the plush chairs, Kaeya sits upside down, his back against the seat of the cushion. He is trying to get all his blood to his brain to increase cognitive activity. He’s not entirely sure if it works, but he needs all the help he can get right now to come up with something to do. Maybe he can bother Diluc. But now that he thinks about it, Diluc is probably hanging out with Aether, and Kaeya has a good idea about what they might be doing, but calling DIluc out on it is going to result in one of his favorite appendages getting cut off.
“But Jeaaaan, I have nothing to do! Surely you must have some task for me, even if it is trivial,”
He’s even willing to do errands.
Without looking up from the paper in front of her, Jean replies, “Fine. Go get me a candle, I don’t care what scent, I just want to have a smell other than ink in my office,”
Rolling over backwards to stand back up, Kaeya gives a sloppy salute as he heads out the door.
“Also, no stirring up trouble!” Jean calls after the brunette’s retreating form.
Kaeya turns around briefly to give Jean a good look at the mischief in his eyes, “No promises!”
Before she can respond, Kaeya sprints away, chuckling. Oh I’m totally gonna cause some trouble.
After searching for 30 minutes, Kaeya still hasn’t caught sight of the rebellious child. Klee is his go-to for having a great time, for she has a kind of presence no-one can ignore. Her toys are extraordinarily entertaining to play with. In exchange for a great time, Kaeya helps Klee understand what to do in order to stay out of solitary confinement. A fair trade, if you ask the captain.
Kaeya comes to the conclusion that she’s on an adventure right now. Such a bummer. Kaeya has an idea for a new toy that she would love to hear.
Sitting down at a table, the captain starts surveying his surroundings for something to do. Amber’s probably out and mingling with people who are coming to this city for the first time since she loves people. Kaeya supposes he can go look for her since he doesn’t mind socializing either, but it just doesn’t seem interesting enough.
Lisa is probably out grabbing her overdue books. Kaeya pities the poor soul that has to deal with Lisa on these special days. Even he steers clear of the librarian.
Huffing, Kaeya picks at his nails, staring down at his boots. He could go bother Wagner, but similar to the situation with Diluc, he would get his favorite appendage cut off if he stuck around for too long. The serious gentleman was crazy about his job.
“What are you sighing about, Kaeya?”
The captain yelps and jumps in his seat slightly. Turning around, Kaeya sees the purple librarian of the city. Surprisingly, she doesn’t look as murderous as she does these days, something the brunette is grateful for.
“I just have nothing to do. Everyone is busy, and all I have to do is buy a candle for Jean because her study smells like ink.” Kaeya heaves another sigh and gets back to fiddling with his fingernails.
A smirk forms on Lisa’s face, “Did you happen to see her expression when she said that?”
His confusion evident, Kaeya answers, “No? Why does it matter?”
Lisa still has that freakish smile, “No reason, no reason. Have you heard about the rumors surrounding the candle shop these days?” Kaeya shakes his head.
“Oh well, that’s unfortunate. Let me tell you the tale of the shop owner,” Lisa pulls out the chair opposite to Kaeya and rests her face on her delicately manicured hands. Now buckling down for a story, the captain leans back into his chair and props his legs up.
Lisa now looks thoughtful, her green eyes have a distant quality to them. “The shopkeeper's name is Albedo, a genius, he is. He works with his assistant, Sucrose, to create beautifully smelling candles that always seem to replicate the scent specified exactly. I own one that smells like lavender, and I’ve never smelled something so fresh before. They truly know what they're doing. You should get one of their flower ones, they have almost every popular flower in this nation as a flower.”
Taking a pause, Lisa starts chortling, “I apologize for my rambling, it’s just that they are one of a kind. Now, back to the rumors.”
“People have started a challenge to get the shop owner to make some sort of expression other than boredom. The customers don’t get anything in return, other than satisfaction, and yet, no one seems to be able to do it. Only his assistant is said to have seen his allusive expressions, even if they are faint. I have been there numerous times when people have attempted this in different ways, such as jokes and surprises. Though, when people started realizing that this wasn’t going to do it, they started flirting. Poor Albedo, he wasn’t even aware that they were doing such a thing until I told him.”
“Nevertheless, I am telling you this for a reason. You should try your hand at it. I feel that you might have a chance,”
Kaeya hummed in thought. He could try, though based on what the person sounds like, the shop-keeper is formidable. Then again, it is something to do, and Kaeya’s been complaining about that all day. Mind made up, the captain stands with renewed purpose.
“I am going to try to break the shop-keeper’s cold front!” Without sparing Lisa a second glance, Kaeya starts walking briskly to the candle shop.
Business is slower today, but it’s fine. Sucrose seems worried, but honestly, Albedo doesn’t mind the peace and quiet. Even though it’s fun to see people walk out in a huff after failing to fluster him, it gets on his nerves when customers stick around even after embarrassing themselves. They don’t even buy anything in the end. What heathens. Albedo has a cup of tea steaming in his hands as he takes small sips, surveying the people walking past.
The sound of murmuring catches Albedo’s ear as he looks out the front door. To his surprise, a small crowd is surrounding one man, who is inspecting a candle from the window display. The people are watching him intently and passing money amongst themselves. Are they placing bets? The man is dressed in sinfully tight grey pants, with way too many garments on his torso. Who needs that many pieces of cloth on their body? Why is this man attracting a crowd? Is he a celebrity? Why would he come to a candle shop? Why does his hair look so soft?
Albedo’s eyes widen and he starts hacking on his sip of tea. Soft? Sucrose comes up behind him in a hurry and starts patting his back. Giving one last harsh cough, Albedo thanks Sucrose.
“Sucrose, do you know who that man is? He seems to be attracting quite the crowd”
Sucrose stares at the man that is now smirking outside, “I may have a small idea, but I’m not sure. Besides, does it really matter, Albedo? He is attracting customers,”
The blonde makes a hum in the back of his throat, “I guess so,”
Albedo isn’t entirely sure what the man is doing here, since he seems to be staring rather intensely at one candle instead of exploring the rest. Not to mention he is outside. Finally, the man relents from his intense scrutiny of the one candle (???) and opens the door to the shop. The people outside stay outside, to Albedo and Sucrose’s dismay. Why are they even here then?
The man continues walking up to the counter, bypassing all of the other selections of candles along the way. Why is he not buying anything? Albedo’s hands start sweating and he hastily wipes them on his pants. Why am I so nervous?
Oh right, probably because he’s looking at me like I’m the main dish and he hasn't eaten in months.
Albedo can feel his control slipping from his fingertips as he tries to keep his composure. In a final ditch effort, Albedo forces himself to focus on the cash register as he hears the footsteps of the man approaching. Despite all of his internal panicking, Albedo still preserves his bored front. His internal monologue seems to be slowly decreasing in intelligence as the man prowls closer.
Albedo is half convinced that the man is just going to eat him the second he gets to the counter. It’s only been a few seconds, yet Albedo’s thoughts are planning escape routes.
Is this what Lisa calls ‘Bedroom eyes’?
If so, Albedo isn’t so sure if he can survive this encounter. It feels as though the man is undressing him in front of everyone, against his wishes. This is horrible. Albedo hates this. So humiliating.
Just waiting for it to stop, Albedo can’t help but snap lightly at the man as soon as he gets to the counter.
Giving his best bored, patronizing glare Albedo grits out, “Do you need help picking out a candle? We have many scents that might suit your needs, whatever they might be,”
Up close, the man is even more intimidating, and the stare is far more potent. If Albedo was already undressed, the stare would convince him to try and take off his skin next.
Just kill me now. Albedo thinks hopelessly.
“I can’t help but notice that you have a smell that I rather favor in your display window,”
Scratch that, kill me after I hear him recite poetry.
The mysterious man’s voice is like velvet, as cliche as it sounds. Soft, like his hair (Albedo mentally smacks himself for that) and suiting for the rest of his stature.
“What scent might that be?” Albedo already has a good idea of which candle it might be, so it doesn’t surprise him when the person on the opposite side of the counter says that he wants the newest Kit-Kat scent.
What a strange man.
“That’s currently the only one we have right now, so I will grab it from the display for you,” Going around the counter Albedo realizes just how tall the man is. He towers over the blonde by at least a foot, and Albedo finds himself staring.
Snapping himself out of his reverence, the blonde quickly walks past the stupidly tall man and bends down to pick up the candle from the window. Albedo quickly realizes his mistake as he feels the man’s gaze shamelessly wander south.
This pervert.
Standing up so fast that he’s sure that he gave himself whiplash, Albedo turned around and almost stomped over to the register. This man wasn’t going to get the best of him, he’s using cheap tactics. Albedo can pull through this amateur's antics.
Getting behind the counter, the blonde scanned the tag on the candle and pulled out the gift wrap to preserve the pristine quality of his work. Having done this hundreds of times, Albedo was quick to slip in the small piece of paper with a fortune and hand it back to the man.
“That will be 10,000 Mora, please pay in cash,”
The man looks stunned as he pulls out his wallet and hands Albedo the Mora. The blonde is so tempted to pop a smirk and gloat, but this customer is obviously looking for a reaction out of him. Albedo and Sucrose always charge a reasonable price for their candles, but Albedo wants to increase the price on this one due to several reasons: The man buying it is clearly too cocky for his own good, this is the only candle they have of that scent, and just because Albedo can raise the price. It’s his shop after all. It’s a little scummy sure, but the man deserved it for being weird.
During this whole ideal, Albedo is fighting to keep his emotions in check, because all of his efforts would go to waste if he cracked now.
Trying to convey his command in a calm and polite manner, Albedo states between clenched teeth, “Have a nice day!”
The undertones to that statement are painfully obvious. But, to Albedo’s dismay, the man only leans in closer and makes eye contact with the blonde.
“You have beautiful eyes,”
Albedo’s brain short-circuits. Did he just- To the blonde’s disbelief the man decided to compliment his eyes of all things. Is he getting closer again? Everyone usually goes for his hair, since he braids it meticulously every morning. Albedo, to his surprise, finds that he likes his eyes being complimented.
Oh no, not again.
The whole time Albedo was beating himself up for liking the praise so much, the man was leaning in more and more. When the blonde finally looks up, he’s right in his face, about a foot apart.
“What are you doing?” Albedo mentally pats himself on the back for maintaining the bored tone. Though he does mentally slap himself too for whispering. Throughout this whole ordeal, the shop-keeper has been losing control, whether he realized it or not.
Internally, Albedo is panicking. What if he does something? Would I stop him? Do I want to stop him?
To Albedo’s horror (he’s not even sure if he’s supposed to feel uncomfortable, because he doesn’t) he responds back with the same level of volume, “Hm, I was just wondering the exact shade of your eye-color for future reference,”
Future reference?
Albedo really wants to stick his head in sand right now. They were leaning in far enough to just need to whisper between themselves as if sharing a secret. Albedo feels like he’s missing something here. The urge only increases when he leans in closer, and Albedo can feel his breath against his own lips.
Not good. What is even going on?
“Dodge if you’re not comfortable with this,” What does he mean ‘not comfortable’? Is he going to do something weird? With what? He’s not going to murder me right? Are the people outside seeing this? Wait why did he say to dodge--
Oh.
Oh.
Albedo feels a gentle press against his lips and his brain short-circuits for the second time today. Soft. Upon catching up to his own thought process, the shop-keeper’s face promptly lights on fire.
Against his own wishes, Albedo finds himself reciprocating rather enthusiastically. Am I that touch starved? The shop-keeper finds himself losing himself as the kiss continues on for... Minutes? Seconds? No way to tell for sure. But when Albedo feels something wet probe against his bottom lip, reality comes crashing in. His eyes snap open as he pulls back, but he’s still close enough to feel the other’s breath against his lips.
Albedo’s eyes are wide, and his cheeks flushed, his bored facade long forgotten. Right now, he can’t care less about his reputation, for he finds himself wanting to continue. Still unbearably close, the man on the other side of the counter seems as in awe as the shop-keeper. Opening his infuriating mouth, he begins to sprout nonsense to Albedo’s annoyance.
“Uh, my name’s Kaeya, and I mph--”
The worker grabs the back of Kaeya’s head and drags him in insistently, interrupting him with an open-mouthed kiss. The man gets over his surprise quickly and claims Albedo’s mouth heatedly, again and again, making the shop-keeper’s knees give out. Weaving his fingers through the hair at the base of Kaeya’s neck, Albedo tugs lightly and is rewarded with a guttural sound emerging from the other’s chest.
Huh. Tugging again, Albedo pulls back to watch the brunette’s eyelids flutter and a lovely flush appears on his cheekbones. It is strangely endearing. Devouring the other’s lips again, Albedo twists his fingers and pulls roughly, way rougher than the previous experimental tugs. To the blonde’s utter delight he is rewarded with a sinfully clear, uninterrupted moan.
Now Albedo definitely can’t contain his smirk as he walks around the counter slowly and with purpose. Raking his gaze appreciatively down Kaeya’s stature, he notices the other doing the same to him. He can’t help but get an ego boost from that. Walking over to stand in between the counter and the taller man’s front, Albedo looks up and weaves his fingers through the other’s hair pulling him down again.
“Uh, should we stop them?” A member of the crowd voices his concern, as the crowd watches the proceedings going on inside the shop, reluctant to walk away. After peeking through the door leading to the front of the shop, where Kaeya and Albedo are currently making out, Sucrose quickly left through the back door to usher the crowd away with a tomato-red face.
“U-Uh n-no, just come back another time” Sucrose seems to be deeply embarrassed.
“But, we owe Kaeya money,” The crowd murmurs in agreement.
“For what?”
“For making Albedo lose his composure, duh,”
In a rare fit of anger, Sucrose’s eyebrow twitches as she sucks in a huge breath, “Leave, at once,” Her tone of voice holds no room for arguments.
The crowd shuffles off muttering dejectedly, dispersing to get back to their own lives. Sucrose huffs and turns back to the shop, watching as Albedo sits on top of the counter and pulls Kaeya into the space between his legs.
They have no shame. Sucrose thinks sullenly. She reminds herself to bleach the counter.