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It’s awkward.
Without a project at hand or anything to experiment on, it’s painfully obvious to Sucrose and Albedo that they actually haven’t had much conversation outside work.
Sucrose was ecstatic upon the invitation to come up to Dragonspine with Albedo to help with his investigation, but the sudden snowstorm that has now trapped them in the dimly lit comfort of Albedo’s campsite leaves her a bit unnerved and worried by his silence. From the corner of her eye, she peeks at the blond alchemist, a stern expression hardening his usually soft features.
Albedo, on the other hand, is nervous. He’s rarely caught off guard but the snowstorm has taken him by surprise. They only have enough food for a day or two, so they have to start rationing to prepare for the worst. He fears that a snowstorm of this caliber could last at least a week. Luckily the campsite provides enough warmth, though he worries more about the lifespan of their torches. If they go out, they could freeze.
Well… at least Sucrose would. Albedo is undoubtedly more accustomed to the cold and doesn’t necessarily need the warmth to survive.
He feels her stare on him and turns to look. Their eyes meet for a quick second and Sucrose is quick to retreat to the bookshelf she has previously preoccupied herself with earlier. Albedo attributes her nerves down to the snowstorm, but her flustered demeanor is clearly a product of her inability to find the right words at the moment to break the silence, finding herself lost in imagined conversations.
“S-so… this weather, huh?” Sucrose finally manages with a crooked smile.
“Huh?” Albedo’s attention snaps back to her. He looks up for a moment, then to the knee-length snow-covered entrance of their campsite. Luckily, the cave of the campsite was deep enough for the occasional blast of cold air and had enough space to avoid the piling snow for them to seek refuge.
“Uh… I-I mean, this is quite unexpected.” Sucrose grimaces at her attempt to lighten the mood, but still maintains her smile. “There wasn’t any clear indication for the snowstorm’s formation earlier in the day! Strange, isn’t it?”
“I agree.” Albedo hums in contemplation. He’s hesitant to be honest about the reality of their situation, though he worries Sucrose may spiral into her own mind. They had to stay calm right now and organize—
“ACHOO!”
Albedo’s thoughts are interrupted by a high-pitched sneeze.
Sucrose’s shoulders are hunched as her gloved hands quickly cover half of her face. With a huff, she sneezes again. Once, twice, then thrice. There’s a slight redness to the corners of her teary eyes and with a slight sniff, she lets out a soft ‘excuse me.'
Albedo’s face pales.
With the lack of food and a snowstorm preoccupying Albedo’s mind, he had failed to consider the possibility of Sucrose catching a cold. He should have paid more attention to her weakened condition sooner. She was already a bit lightheaded in the morning, with the occasional sneeze, as they were digging through the snow, unearthing bones and frozen insects. Sucrose insisted that it was because of a light breakfast and the sudden change of temperature, but Albedo had still been careless.
He shrugs his jacket off as he walks to his apprentice. With a quick motion, he wraps it around her. Sucrose’s eyes widen as her hands descend from her face to grasp the edges of his jacket. “M-mister Albedo?” She questions and looks over her shoulder. He’s close, hands still resting atop of her shoulders.
“You need to stay warm.” Albedo gives her shoulders a slight squeeze. A slight blush powders Sucrose’s cheeks red and she thanks him under her breath. His proximity to her also provides some warmth, but Albedo promptly backs away once he feels that she has a solid grip on his jacket.
He clears his throat, turning away to get something from one of the boxes. He produces a sleeping bag and lays it flat on the ground, a few feet from the campfire. He kneels next to it and unzips it for her. “Here, lay down here while I make us dinner.”
Sucrose nods, movements awkward and somewhat lost as she makes her way over.
“You should put it on.” Albedo motions to the jacket as he stands, and Sucrose lets him take it from her shoulders. He holds it open for her to slip her arms through the jacket’s sleeves. It hangs loose and heavy on her, but it’s definitely warmer.
“I, um, apologize for the inconvenience, Mister Albedo.” There’s a tinge of guilt in her eyes as she says this.
Albedo raises a brow. “We don’t want you getting sick, do you?”
Sucrose can't deny that, so she simply shakes her head before settling on the sleeping bag. She sits on the thin cushion, slipping her legs into it and pulling the rest of it up to her waist.
She watches Albedo work through ingredients in another wooden box and he only notices her observing him when he turns back to the campfire.
“Lie down," he says. Sucrose is about to refute, but Albedo pushes her down. “Don’t even think about it.”
“O-okay…" Sucrose squeaks, her face is beet red as she falls silent, watching as Albedo pushes himself back to his feet and resumes preparing the ingredients for Goulash.
Sucrose closes her eyes, honing on to the sounds of chopping and mixing, and eventually drifts off into a deep slumber.
It feels like only a minute has passed when Albedo shakes her awake, but when she opens her eyes, nightfall has already come.
Groggily, Sucrose takes his hand as she sits up. Albedo turns to the campfire and returns to her with a bowl full of warm soup, but Sucrose can’t help but be distracted by the man kneeling before her. The light from the fire gracefully adorns Albedo’s face, and in her drowsy state, almost reaches out to cup the side of his face. If it wasn’t for the sudden spoon shoved in front of her face, maybe she would have, but Albedo starts talking before she can even process it all.
“You fell asleep as soon as you laid down.” Albedo chuckles. “You must have been exhausted. Here.” Sucrose yawns then focuses on the spoon in front of her.
“Mm, thank you,” she mumbles and sips the spoon, rather than taking it all in one go.
A small smile appears on Albedo's face and uses his free hand to smoothen Sucrose’s bed hair, lightly brushing against her ears. A soft purr escapes Sucrose and Albedo’s hand freezes. The awkward tension suddenly smacks Sucrose awake and her face explodes into a blushing mess when she realizes what she had just done.
“O-Oh, oh gosh, I’m so sorry, Mister Albedo!” She exclaims, immediately covering her face with both hands.
Albedo is taken aback, but not at all bothered by what had happened. In fact, he found it adorable, and quite fascinating by her reaction, and a smirk subconsciously graces his features. Of course, he couldn’t possibly say that. Instead, he opts to try and calm down the clearly flustered Sucrose.
"It's nothing to get worked up about." Albedo rests his hand on her back instead and slowly soothes her nerves to a simmer. “Here, eat some more.” Albedo hands her another spoonful of Goulash and the smell of it lets her guard down, as she hesitantly moves her hands to her lap.
She complies and takes the whole spoon into her mouth this time.
Now that she is fully awake, she feels her stomach gurgling and she looks to Albedo for the bowl. He hands it to her and his eyes soften when he watches her quickly down more spoons of Goulash.
“It’s delicious.” Sucrose beams, a bit of Goulash smeared on the edge of her lips.
Albedo, with his own bowl of it, sits next to her. He leans over and smudges it from her chin, before licking the pad of his thumb. Sucrose flushes, but says nothing of it.
They fall into a comfortable silence, but Sucrose's thoughts race with Albedo's affectionate gestures. Lending her his jacket, cooking for her, brushing her hair, and now wiping food from her mouth. She didn't want to think much of it but her heart couldn’t stop pounding.
She looks from the corner of her eye and stares at the young man, sipping at his bowl of soup.
Even with eyes closed, Albedo can feel her eyes on him. He secretly always knows when Sucrose is staring at him when she thinks he isn’t looking. It was strange at first but he’s gotten quite used to it and has grown somewhat embarrassed by how much of a habit it’s become. Knowing Sucrose and her tendencies to retract, he doesn’t point it out.
Instead, a slight smile brushes the corner of his lip.
By the time Albedo finishes cleaning up, Sucrose is already fast asleep. Albedo chuckles and takes a seat against the wall of the cave. He watches diligently over Sucrose, noticing how the warm light of the fire dances along the curve of her cheeks as a soft snore escapes from her.
It has been quite a while indeed since they have been alone together. Perhaps this time alone will give him time to understand what this inexplicable feeling bubbling in his chest is. After all, he has excused much of his behavior as a responsibility of caring for his assistant alchemist for far too long.