Chapter Text
Catalyst. [ kat-l-ist ] A person or thing that precipitates an event or change.
Albedo learns this word when he’s eleven years old, the year Rhinedottir suddenly decides that they need a ‘change in scenery’ and takes them halfway across the continent.
“This move will be the catalyst to a new life, Albedo. Best prepare yourself.”
“What does catalyst mean?”
“It means something that causes something to change, or something that causes a big change. Like how in my experiments, sometimes I need another substance to cause my chemicals to change and react. Just like that.”
He knows that Rhinedottir’s decision to move isn’t as sudden as she wants it to seem. Albedo knows that the catalyst to this move is probably his broken arm, the bruises all over his arms and face, and the burning hot rage in Rhinedottir’s normally cold face the day she picked him up from the principal’s office a couple weeks ago, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t ask Rhinedottir why they’re suddenly moving; he knows this is her own, quiet way of protecting him, and he’s grateful. He isn’t going to miss this place, after all. Or the people.
Rhinedottir brings them to a town where she says her closest friend lives, and they move into her basement. Alice, Rhinedottir says she’s called. She’s got a young daughter, apparently. Their new landlord is warm and welcoming when they arrive, all sweet smiles and gentle handshakes. Albedo is slightly thrown off by her appearance at first; it’s nearly impossible to tell how old she is. Her eyes tell of a woman who has decades of wisdom, but her face is youthful enough that she could be in her early twenties. He doesn’t dwell on it too much, and dutifully introduces himself.
After introductions are over and they’ve thrown most of their luggage down into the basement, Alice and Rhinedottir send him off to find the younger kid to play with as they sit down to catch up.
“Klee’s somewhere outside probably, just look up and down the street if you can’t find her in the front yard. She might be playing with some of our neighbours, either the Ragnvindrs or the Gunnhildrs - this could be a good chance for you to meet some of the other neighbours. Most of the kids in this town go to the same school, so maybe you could even make some new friends before you start school. Klee’s really excited to meet you! You’ll recognize her when you see her - she’s the tiniest kid on the street, and wearing a lot of red.” Alice gives him another one of her gentle smiles that he is quickly coming to love as she opens the front door for him.
“Okay.” Albedo doesn’t bother telling her that calling her daughter the tiniest kid on the street isn’t a very good descriptor here - he hasn’t met the other kids on the street, and thus has nothing to compare to. But he figures the red is enough to go off of, and heads down the driveway to look for this little girl.
It isn’t long before he spots red, but it doesn’t belong to a tiny girl. There’s a boy sitting on the curb with flaming red hair that’s hard to miss, smiling and laughing as he watches another pair of kids jump around the street. Albedo turns to take a closer look at the jumping kids, and he thinks he’s found the tiny kid wearing a lot of red.
He walks towards the three kids, tentatively calling the little girl’s name. “Klee?”
All three of the laughing children turn to face him, and Albedo is struck by the beautiful blue hair of the third kid that he hadn’t taken a closer look at until now. He doesn’t have a chance to look too closely, however, because the little girl comes bounding up to him with the widest smile on her face.
“Hello! Are you brother Albedo? Why is your arm wrapped up?” She looks up at him, eyes glimmering with curiosity and excitement. There’s no doubt that this is his landlord’s child; Klee looks exactly like a mini Alice. They look so similar it was almost unsettling.
Albedo kneels down to her eye level, offering a smile. “Yeah, I’m Albedo. Your mom said I’d find you playing on the street. And I-I broke my arm, that’s why it’s wrapped up.”
“I’m playing with big brother Diluc and big brother Kaeya! They don’t have broken arms!” she says, pointing at the redhead and the blue-haired kid respectively. “They brought some chalk for us, look! We can play hop-- hopskip! Does your arm hurt?”
The blue-haired kid - Kaeya, if Klee’s introduction was anything to go by - laughed and corrected her. “Hopscotch, Klee. It’s hopscotch. And nice to meet you, new kid. You’re the one that’s moving in with Miss Alice and Klee, right?” He doesn’t say anything about the broken arm. Albedo nods, but then flinches back as Kaeya sticks out a chalk-covered fist.
After a couple seconds pass and nothing hits him, Albedo stares at the fist and wonders what exactly he’s supposed to do with it. Was this some sort of new handshake that kids his age made up? He wouldn’t know - the kids at his old school never let him do anything with them. What if Kaeya thinks he’s weird for not knowing what to do with the fist? Is he supposed to grab it? Albedo feels the familiar suffocating feeling of drowning himself in his thoughts, but the red-haired kid saves him before it gets any worse. Diluc, he reminds himself.
“Kaeya, don’t offer your nasty hand to the new kid - Albedo, right?” Diluc turns to him for confirmation, and Albedo is pulled away from his thoughts. He nods again. “Your hands are so dirty now, you’ll get chalk all over Albedo’s hand too. Go wipe your hands or something.”
Kaeya rolls his eyes, but proceeds to pull a packet of tissues and works at wiping the colourful chalk off his hands, grumbling the whole time over how nitpicky Diluc is. Albedo notices that he also gently takes Klee’s hands as well, carefully and attentively wiping each hand clean.
In the meantime, Diluc offers a hand to Albedo, a gesture that makes Albedo feel so very young compared to him, though they look to be around the same age. “I’m Diluc Ragnvindr. The one with the dirty hands is my brother, Kaeya. We heard from Klee that you’d be moving in with them sometime soon, and she’s been talking about it nearly every time we play with her. Nice to meet you, Albedo.”
Albedo takes Diluc’s hand, which is soft and warm and firm in a way that somehow inexplicably makes him feel safe. Nothing like the hands of a bully.
“Nice to meet you too, Diluc. I-I heard we’ll probably be at the same school, so I hope we can be…” Albedo trails off, realizing that maybe these new neighbours are just being nice. Maybe they just felt obligated to introduce themselves, as they happened to be here, and Albedo was taking their politeness to be a gesture of kindness. Maybe they didn’t want to be…
“Let’s be friends, Albedo.”
His eyes snap up, meeting Diluc’s shining red eyes. He’s smiling, still holding onto Albedo’s hand.
“I--sure!” Without even realizing it, a wide grin covers Albedo’s face, sincere gratitude and relief flooding through his heart.
“Hey, not fair Diluc, you’re not allowed to just call dibs on the new kid like that!” Kaeya cuts in, having cleaned up his and Klee’s hands and disposed of the dirty tissue. “I’m Kaeya, though I’m sure you already know that. How old are you, Albedo? Diluc and I are in grade six, but he’s twelve and I’m eleven because he’s got an earlier birthday, and he always holds that over me like the absolute jerk he is.” This comment earns Kaeya a jab in the stomach, and Albedo stifles a laugh at the noise of indignation that Kaeya makes.
“And Klee… Klee is this old!” Klee cuts in, energetically shoving three fingers in Albedo’s face. “Mommy says Klee’s a big girl now!”
“A whole three years old! Klee really is a big girl!” Albedo says, smiling at the proud young girl. “I’m eleven too,” he says in response to Kaeya, excited that these new kids are the same age as him. Kaeya seems to be just as excited, throwing an arm over his shoulder.
“That’s great! When do you start school? You might even end up in the same class as me and Diluc! I really hope we do, because Diluc just bullies me all the time and I could really use another close friend in our class.”
Close friend. Albedo’s heart keeps swelling today, and he’s worried that his heart will burst soon. He can’t remember ever feeling this happy with kids his age, and he silently promises himself to organize Rhinedottir’s notes again when he gets back. She deserves so much more, he thinks.
Rhinedottir’s catalyst might just be the best thing that has happened to him yet.
Albedo is pulled out of his thoughts by Klee insistently tugging on his sleeve.
“Big brother Albedo! Watch me and brother Kaeya play a game! One leg game!”
He turns to Diluc and Kaeya questioningly, and Kaeya clarifies his question. “She wants to see who can balance on one leg for the longest. Klee’s getting pretty good at this, though still can’t beat me!”
“She’s literally three years old, Kaeya. You’re going against a toddler,” Diluc says.
“So what? Just because she’s three years old, I’ve gotta go easy on her? No way - gotta train ‘em early! Let’s go, Klee. See if you can beat me this time!”
Kaeya and Klee start hopping around the sidewalk, balancing on one leg as Albedo and Diluc watch on.
“Won’t Klee get hurt if she falls over?” Albedo asks, a bit concerned.
“Nah, kid’s surprisingly got great balance. Besides, a little scrape never hurt anyone.”
“Rhinedottir would probably have a fit if I got hurt again,” Albedo mutters, gesturing at his broken arm. Diluc glances at his cast, but doesn’t ask any questions. Albedo decides at that moment that he really likes Diluc.
“Who’s Rhinedottir?” Diluc asks instead.
“My… my guardian.” Albedo hesitates a little, wondering if that sounds strange.
“Your--oh.”
“Yeah. She’s the closest person I have to a parent, I guess.” Somehow, it isn’t uncomfortable talking about this with Diluc.
“You’re like Kaeya, then.” Diluc doesn’t take his eyes off Kaeya and Klee, both of them still somehow maintaining their balance.
Albedo turns to him in surprise. “Oh?”
“I’ll let him tell you himself, one day.”
“Yeah.”
At that moment, Klee finally topples over, pouting as she picks herself up and promptly pushes Kaeya over too. Albedo and Diluc join in their laughter, heading over to help dust the two of them off.
They spend the rest of the afternoon together on the sidewalk in front of the Ragnvindr house (really though, it was more of a mansion - were all the people in this neighbourhood really rich? Albedo would have to ask Rhinedottir about this later), laughing and talking as they play silly games with Klee and draw pictures all over the pavement with the colourful chalk pieces.
As the sun sets and the four of them part ways, Albedo finally takes Klee back to his new home, and he hopes desperately that this happiness that he’s feeling isn’t just a fleeting feeling. This feeling of belonging, this feeling of laughing along with the kids his age.
Somewhere, deep in his heart, Albedo still can’t believe this. He’s convinced that somehow this is all a fluke, and that the moment school starts, Kaeya and Diluc will pretend he doesn’t exist. Or worse yet, they’ll be like the kids in his previous town.
At night, he shifts restlessly in his bed for hours. Desperately hoping.
Hoping that this is truly the catalyst to a new life.