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There was not a cloud in the sky, the sun shone down with a sultry warmth, and Albedo was getting more and more bored. These trials were beginning to seem increasingly futile. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched for the umpteenth time as another knight struggled through an endurance test. The guy was terrible at it, to put it mildly. Albedo yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.
Suddenly, someone from below tugged at his coat, and more than once. Albedo immediately fell out of his trance and tilted his head down and to the side, unable to resist a faint smile.
“Albedo!” Klee exclaimed happily, jumping up and down a little. “Albedo, Albedo, Albeeedo!”
“Yes, Klee?..” Albedo turned to her, slightly taken aback. Aether also came up to them, holding a small box in his hands. “Traveler. To what do I owe this visit?”
Aether rolled his eyes a bit, but smiled.
“This traveler actually has a name,” he said, but before he could add anything else, Klee interrupted him, annoyed that she wasn't being paid enough attention.
“Albedo, do you know what we made? Do you?” she asked, beaming with anticipation. “Guess!”
“I don't know, Klee.” Albedo could have put more effort into it, but it’s less interesting that way. And he felt a little tired.
“We made a pie!” Klee said. “Or... baked one... whatever! So, the pie! It's in uncle Aether's box right now!” she ran to Aether. “And we really, really want you to try it first. We tried our best!”
Albedo blinked a couple of times, thinking it over. First, he looked at Klee, who was smiling broadly, then at Aether, who was blushing and looking away from him a little too obviously, and coughed into his fist, hiding a flattered and grateful smile. He was already sick of the faces of the panting, exhausted knights, so the choice wasn’t all that difficult. Albedo turned to the test subjects and announced that that was all for today. They breathed a sigh of relief, finally allowing themselves to relax.
“Shall we?”
Klee agreed happily, and Aether just nodded, smiling.
Together they walked to the benches by the fountain near the Ordo Favonius’ headquarters. The shadow of the windmill was just beginning to fall over, giving them a much-needed coolness. Klee ran a little ahead, and Aether hurried after her. Albedo slowly walked behind them.
The whole glade was full of flowers, like chaotic brushstrokes in an abstract painting; their pleasant fragrance filled the air. Colorful butterflies darted here and there, the dragonflies flew by. In the center of the area was a stone fountain with four well-kept circular flower beds. Water splashed faintly in it, flowing into the basin with the fallen petals floating lazily in it.
Albedo sat in the middle of the nearest bench, Klee plopped down on the right, and Aether was on the left.
“Anyway,” Aether began, slapping his thighs lightly once, “I had to catch some cryo slimes to cool the pie. So don't be too surprised if you suddenly feel a strange taste.”
“Mm-hmm... Alright. That's very prudent of you,” Albedo remarked, sighing softly. “I don't understand why Jean is so against my cryo-chamber idea?.. This is not as dangerous as it may seem at first glance. For example, you wouldn't have to spend extra resources running around...”
“True,” Aether sighed, simultaneously unpacking the box, neatly tied with a white ribbon, “I went to Dragonspine first, because I thought that this would be pretty much enough, and I wouldn't have to suffer catching the slimes, but, unfortunately, I… miscalculated a little. Everything from there melts pretty quickly once you get away from the mountain.”
“Yes, items from there tend to do that.” Humming, Albedo added, “Why didn't you consult me? Did you want to reinvent the wheel?”
“I... wanted to surprise you,” Aether corrected him timidly. Klee peered out curiously from the side, swinging her legs. She was waiting for her pie, rather than listening to the conversation. “You are constantly busy, don’t like wasting time cooking, not to mention simply going somewhere. So I wanted to please you somehow.”
“Oh...” Oh. Huh. “Thank you.”
“You can thank me only if you like it,” he smiled. “Hold this,” saying that, Aether gave him a plate — it had a border with red carnations on it — and put a piece of the pie and a spoon on it. Albedo handed the plate to Klee, who happily thanked him. The next piece went to Albedo himself.
The pie looked absolutely gorgeous, and it really hadn't thawed at all, even though they'd been in the heat for so long. The base, made from cookies, crumbled quite easily, but did not soften. The bottom layer consisted of a delicious-looking, slightly leaking caramel, followed by two or three layers of neatly cut and stacked banana circles, and — as ironic as it sounds — the icing of the cake: whipped white cream sprinkled with cocoa powder and adorable multicolored stars. It also had a flat, cute rabbit face made out of chocolate. Albedo stupidly batted his eyelashes, expressing silent, yet pure delight, and swallowed — it just looked so good. His cheeks flushed pink.
“It looks wonderful,” he couldn't help but pat the top of Klee's head. She leaned into the touch contentedly, smiling. “You and Aether did great.”
Albedo was about to take the spoon and try the pie, but Aether beat him to it, grabbing it first. Breaking off a piece, he picked it up and held it up to Albedo's face, smiling mischievously. The other raised an eyebrow.
“What? Don't you want it anymore?” Aether asked, lowering the spoon a little. “You won't try it?”
“Albeeedo,” Klee called plaintively, pulling at the side of his clothes. He looked at her. She never touched her own piece. Apparently, she was waiting for him to try. “Try it, please!”
“All right, Klee, all right,” Albedo sighed, not intending to contradict his sister. “Hold the plate, or it will fall—” he added, then turned his attention back to Aether. The man raised the spoon to his lips again, smiling expectantly and innocently.
He half-closed his eyes, tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, and leaned forward a little, taking the spoon in his mouth and letting it out again after a while. As he chewed, he blinked once, twice, three times, and beamed. It was delicious. Very much so. The shortbread salty-sweet base melted pleasantly in the mouth, as did the sticky caramel, leaving behind a rich taste. The barely noticeable sourness of the banana perfectly complemented all the previous ingredients, and the cream with сocoa powder perfectly completed this taste ensemble. Albedo didn't even notice how he squeezed his eyes shut with pleasure. When he came to his senses, he found two pairs of curious eyes — one knowing and smug, the other childishly excited — fixed on him, eager to hear his opinion.
“That's...” Albedo breathed out a sigh. “Incredibly delicious. The combination of ingredients is sublime, the execution is, no doubt, excellent. The amount of sweetness is perfect, too. I'm impressed. Although I haven't tried anything quite like this before, so I can't really be the judge, but... I like it, really. Thank you for letting me try it.” He looked down at his pie plate and smiled. “...I am truly glad that you both remember that I love sweets. These little rainbow stars are lovely, Klee.”
Klee clapped her hands in triumph, not hiding her pride in herself and the joy that her brother liked it. And he praised the stars! Who else could know that Albedo likes them?
“Aether...” Albedo called.
”Mmm?”
“...Can I have some more? Please.”
“Since you ask so well,” Aether said, obediently breaking off another piece of pie.
“Aren't you going to try it yourself?”
“Well... I was going to, but Paimon grabbed the other half and devoured it so quickly that I didn't even have time to blink, so... you could say that I simply have nothing left to try. I'll make some again later, since everyone likes it that much,” he explained, lifting the spoon to his mouth.
After thinking for a bit, Albedo obediently opened his lips so that Aether would bring a piece of pie closer, which he did. The spoon disappeared in his mouth and soon returned to the light, but Albedo was in no hurry to chew or swallow: pulling Aether by the scarf, he tilted his head a bit and covered the other's lips with his own. Surprised, Aether made a muffled sound of bewilderment and involuntarily opened his mouth, which Albedo was quick to take advantage of, passing him the sweet piece. Judging by the loud clang, Aether dropped the spoon on the plate. Great. Pulling away, Albedo licked his lips hungrily, making Aether blush even more as he chewed slowly. Truly, today is like a holiday for Albedo's love for sweet things.
“Well?” he asked, picking up a spoon from his plate and breaking off a piece of the pie, clearly satisfied. “Marvelous, isn't it?”
As it turned out, Klee had already somehow managed to eat her portion. In her place beside Albedo was only an empty plate with a dirty spoon, and she ran off to play with butterflies. Well, or try in vain to catch them.
“...Yes.” Aether agreed a minute later. “It turned out well.” Then, he added, “You know you could've given me a taste normally, right?”
“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Albedo waved him off innocently, contentedly continuing to eat the pie. “By the way, there is no extraneous taste, which is as surprising as it is fascinating. The cryo-chamber idea, one can say, moved from the dead point for the first time in a long while. All thanks to you, my caring traveler. Maybe I'll ask you to help me with an experiment later, since you already have some experience with it.”
“I…” Aether stumbled over the sudden compliment, but quickly pulled himself together. “…am glad I could be of use. Speaking of experiments, if you think about it— I still find it hard to believe that Sucrose's errand had such an impact on my life.”
“Mhm,” Albedo agreed, lowering his spoon with regret to the quickly emptied plate. “From the subject of my research to someone who oh so selflessly treats me to delicious pastries.”
“I'm just a source of sweets to you, then?” Aether chuckled, jokingly sulking.
Albedo smiled.
“Not at all, dear,” he leaned in, smearing a soft kiss across his lips. “You're much, much more.”
Aether also smiled, timidly touching his lower lip with his fingers.
“You probably would've been hiding on the mountains or in the city if I hadn't been brought straight to yo—” He had to frown and pause as a panting member of the adventure guild ran up to them.
“Traveler, there is a problem that requires your immediate intervention! We just... don't have a more qualified person,” the guy said desperately, wiping his forehead. “Come, come quickly, please, I beg you!”
Aether looked at the box on his lap, and then at the co-guild member. After giving Albedo a plaintive look and a cursory “sorry”, he got up, handed him the remains of the pie, nodded to the guy, and together they quickly disappeared from sight.
Albedo just stared after them forlornly.
“Where did uncle Aether run off to?” Klee asked, a little sadly, as she came up to him.
“Work,” Albedo said shortly, still looking in the direction Aether had gone.
“Will he come back?”
Albedo sighed and smiled weakly, glancing at Klee.
“I don't know.”