Work Text:
Albedo wasn’t very fond of socializing let alone get close to anyone. He thought that the thought of relationships and its whole process was troublesome and just wastes time. However Albedo did have some good relationships, like the Knights of Favonius, Sucrose and Timaeus, Klee, he would also consider Kaeya a good friend.
If you asked Albedo what he thought about Kaeya, he would have a lot to say. He thinks that the captain is annoying, or well used to be (No wait, nevermind he still is), but he doesn’t particularly mind. Even if Kaeya is a tease and likes to make Albedo’s life harder than it already is, he can't bring himself to hate him. Truthfully Albedo quite enjoys the Cavalry Captains presence and often wonders why Kaeya would rather choose to hang out with an antisocial alchemist like himself. Albedo doesn’t complain though, though these are just some things he would never dare say to the Cavalry Captain in person.
Albedo was currently sitting under the huge tree under Windrise, sketchbook at hand. He was on leave for the next couple of days, Sucrose had noticed how much her mentor has been overworking himself to the point where he forgot to sleep and even sometimes eat. Getting special permission from Jean, Sucrose had successfully managed to convince Albedo to take a break. Hence the reason why he was at Windrise. The alchemist estimates he’s been here for at least half an hour, he was planning to leave after he finished the current sketch he’s working on. Albedo, too focused on his sketches, hadn't realized that a certain Cavalry Captain had been standing behind the Chief Alchemist for quite awhile now.
Kaeya, taking note of this, wondered how long he could stand there for before Albedo would take notice of him. Truthfully Kaeya didn’t want to break the silence and would have just preferred to watch the shorter male sketch peacefully, although he that would be a little selfish of him. After a brief moment Kaeya finally decided to walk up to him with the usual smirk he wore on his face. Kaeya peaked over the other man’s shoulder to see what he was drawing, Albedo - taking notice of the sudden shadow that had towered over him. The alchemist swiftly turned his head to the direction of the shadow. What Albedo saw was certainly not what he expected, he thought it was a hilichurl, or possibly a treasure hoarder. But what he saw was far more surprising.
It was just Kaeya, Albedo sighed with relief knowing he wasn’t in immediate danger but what he hadn’t realized at the time was how close their faces were. Only about an inch away from contact.
Kaeya had to bend down to peek over Albedo’s shoulder earlier due to the fact that Albedo was sitting down. What Kaeya wasn’t expecting wasn’t Albedo to suddenly swing his head back. Kaeya was taken back by this action causing their faces to be extremely close to one another, dangerously close.
Kaeya seemed to be the first to notice this, nevertheless he didn't waver. But this time it was Albedo who didn’t notice how close the others' faces were to him, still sighing in relief. Albedo had only come to the realization when he looked back up at the Cavalry Captain.
And then, for a brief moment the pair had locked eyes. The moment was quick, about only couple of seconds. Though it felt like an eternity to the both of them. Truthfully none of them wanted the moment to end.
Albedo was the first to break eye contact and the silence. “Sir Kaeya, what are you doing? You almost scared me half to death! Don’t sneak up on me like that again.” Albedo said, still a bit flustered from what had just occurred.
“Ah, sorry sorry that was my bad. You looked very peaceful while sketching, I didn’t wish to disturb you.” Kaeya said while waving his hands in the air, still also quite nervous from what happened.
“I appreciate your consideration Sir Kaeya, but you could have just approached me like any normal person would’ve done.” Albedo said with a sigh, “Speaking of which, what are you even doing here?”
“My my now, I should be asking you the exact same thing! It’s a rare sight to see you out of your office. So when I heard that you went on leave, I just had to see it for myself~! And that's when I came looking for you”
“Is it really that much of a surprise when I go on leave?” Albedo asked the taller male, genuinely confused.
“Actually, yes! Yes it is! Every time I drop by your office you're always busy doing some paperwork, doing some crazy experiment like a madman, or overworking yourself basically to the brink of death.” Kaeya said sarcastically as he took a seat beside the Alchemist.
Albedo just rolled his eyes at his remark and decided to ignore the loud Cavalry Captain beside him and continued on with sketching.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Albedo was the one to break it yet again.
“So, Sir Kaeya. What is the ACTUAL reason for your visit?” Really putting the emphasis on the word “actual” as Albedo glanced over to the man sitting beside him.
"I don’t see anything wrong with a harmless visit of my favorite chief alchemist, don’t you agree?” Kaeya replied with a playful grin.
Albedo sighs. "Your visit is quite unnecessary…” The blonde looks up towards his fellow captain, only to find Kaeya smiling back at him. He knew Kaeya no matter how much he asked, the captain probably wouldn't give him the answer he wanted, he just sighed and accepted the fact that Kaeya was probably really only here to accompany the alchemist, a kind gesture indeed, he thought “Though, I do not particularly mind your presence"
Kaeya knew situations like these were quite rare, it was not often where Albedo would let Kaeya stay. Usually when he would drop by the alchemists office he was always busy with something and had little to no time to strike a conversation. So Kaeya always made sure to treasure rare moments like these. He knew that to others it may not seem like much, but to Kaeya it meant the world to him.
The pair sat in silence, not in an awkward silence though. Kaeya surprisingly knows how to shut up for once, he knows that Albedo prefers the silence. The captain simply just wanted to admire the blonde as he sketches away to his heart’s desire. Albedo merely enjoyed Kaeya’s presence, it was enough to put him at ease.
Before the alchemist knew it, the sun had begun to set. Albedo was too focused on sketching, and failed to notice two things. 1) How late it’s gotten. 2) Kaeya had fallen asleep and was resting his head on the alchemists shoulder. Albedo took a moment to process this, when he did notice, a light tint of pink was visible on his face. Albedo was sitting there like a fool, flustered and confused.
Holy fucking shit. What. WHEN DID HE FALL ASLEEP?? HOW DID I NOT NOTICE!? Oh my, Lord Barbatos. You are my only hope left, please help me I beg of you.
A certain alcoholic bard suddenly sneezed from a far.
Still sitting there like a flustered fool, Albedo glanced over at the male who was peacefully asleep on his shoulder. The alchemist failed to realized how pretty Kaeya actually was, now that he got a closer look. The way his eyelashes fluttered whenever a breeze passed by, how the sun reflected on his beautiful tan skin, and how his silky dark hair flowed down naturally. These were all the things Albedo hadn’t noticed. The more he thought about it, the more flustered he got.
Albedo tucked Kaeya’s hair behind his ears. While doing so the blonde noticed something in the captain’s pocket. Albedo carefully took it from the cavalry captain’s pocket. It was a Cecilia, a beautiful one must he add. By the looks of it, the flower was freshly picked as you could still see traces of dirt and soil on the stem.
A flower? What would Sir Kaeya need a flower for? A gift possibly? But for who? For me? That was the most probable solution Albedo could think of, though he got embarrassed at the thought of it. But he was still confused. Kaeya wasn’t the type to forget things, and if he did he would remember sooner or later. Perhaps he was too embarrassed to give it? Albedo thought to himself and chuckled at the thought.
A few minutes passed by, Albedo decided to place the Cecilia back into Kaeya’s pocket before he would wake the captain up.
“Sir Kaeya? Wake up, It’s gotten quite late.” Albedo said quietly while gently prompting the taller male to wake up.
A groan was heard from the Cavalry Captain as he slowly began to rub his eyes open. “Huh?? Oh, how long was I asleep for?” Kaeya said in a hazy tone while stretching his arms back.
Albedo was taken back by this, he had never heard Kaeya speak like this. Perhaps it was his morning voice? Well whatever the hell it was, Albedo thought it was extremely attractive.
“Quite a while, we’ve been here since early this afternoon and the sun is already setting.” Albedo said in a calm manner in an attempt to try and hide his flustered self.
“What?! Really? It’s been that long? Man, I was looking forward to a proper conversation.” Kaeya said with a hint of disappointment in his tone.
“If you would like, we may talk on the way back to Mondstadt.” Albedo said while getting up.
“What”
“What?” Albedo asked, visibly confused.
“Are you okay?? Did something happen while I was asleep? Surely you're not injured? Maybe you hit your head?” Kaeya rushed to get up checked the alchemist's temperature.
Albedo scoffed at this action and just hit Kaeya’s hand away with his notebook “I’m fine Sir Kaeya, no need to get worked up. Think of it as a thank you for accompanying me today” Albedo said with a smile, a genuine one as he began to walk away.
Meanwhile, Kaeya still in shock by the blondes actions, quickly ran after the alchemist, “Well then I ought to accompany you more often”
Albedo just rolled his eyes at the captain. The walk back was mostly just Kaeya running his mouth and Albedo listening to the captain talk away. Somewhere along the way, the alchemist decided to ask Kaeya about the Cecilia in his pocket, “By the way, Sir Kaeya I hope this isn’t too much of a personal question, but I noticed that there was a Cecilia in your pocket. You do know that it will rot there if you leave it for too long.”
The cavalry captain stopped in his tracks. Confused, Albedo stopped as well. Kaeya glanced at the Cecilia and glanced back at the alchemist, “Actually I was planning to give it to you earlier, but unfortunately I fell asleep.” The cavalry captain took the Cecilia from his pocket and brushed off the dirt from the stem.
Kaeya ushered the alchemist to turn around for him. Albedo was confused by this request but still did so. Kaeya briefly took a couple of strands of the alchemist's hair and weaved the Cecilia in the blondes' braids.
“There we go!” Kaeya said proudly.
Albedo felt the back of his hair with his palms and realized what Kaeya had done.
“My hunch was right!”
“What hunch?” Albedo said with a hint of confusion in his tone.
“The Cecilia matches your hair.” Kaeya smiled at the shorter male.
Albedo surprised by this sudden remark, was confused and flustered. He just covered his face with one arm as he shoved Kaeya away.
“Do you hate it that much?”
Albedo could clearly hear the disappointment in the captain's voice. “W-wait! It’s not like that, I actually quite like it.” Albedo said trying to reassure Kaeya.
“It’s just a little embarrassing…” Albedo mumbled.
Kaeya who visibly brightened up after hearing this, was back to his usual cocky self, “What was that~? I couldn’t hear you?”
“Alright! Forget it! Let’s keep walking” Albedo walked away, Kaeya smiled and followed suit.
Walking side by side, their hands often brushing over each other, Kaeya did this intentionally. He noticed how Albedo's behavior would falter slightly as he did this, he then d to take the becided to take the blonde's hand completely into his. Albedo tensing up at the foreign feeling blurted out “What are you doing?”
“Do you not like it? I can let go if you would like”
Albedo thinks for a moment “I don’t necessarily hate it…”
Kaeya just smiles at the alchemist, he felt as if he was the luckiest man alive at this moment. He thanked the gods repeatedly for giving the captain this opportunity.
By the time the pair had arrived on the bridge to Mondstadt, the sun was completely down by this point. They held hands until they reached the gates of Mondstadt. Kaeya knows very well that he could jeopardize both him and Albedo if he continued holding the blonde's hand, even despite how much he wanted to keep holding the other's hand. He let go when they entered Mondstadt, though still remained by the alchemist's side until they would reach their final destination.
When the two reached the Knights of Favonius Headquarters, they were greeted by the other rookie knights, briefly dismissing the knights as they walked by. When the pair walked in the headquarters, to Kaeya's demise, a certain rookie knight had approached him and told the captain that the Grandmaster had requested his presence. Truthfully Kaeya wanted to go hang out at the alchemist's office for a while, but of course knightly things come priority. Kaeya glanced over at his side, receiving a small nod from the shorter male indicating that he didn't mind. Kaeya was about to head over to the Grandmaster's office but was interrupted by a light tug from his back.
“Before you go, how’d you know Cecilia's were my favorite flower, Sir Kaeya?” Albedo asked genuinely curious.
Kaeya just chuckled at this and gave a noncommittal shrug. “Just a hunch” he said as he waved him off.
Maybe socializing isn’t all that bad, Albedo smiled as he headed back to his own office.