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Holidays are unusual for Albedo. Taking a break is even a rarer occurrence.
With the amount of work he has as the captain of the investigation team and chief alchemist, Albedo barely has the time to take a breather. But over the years, he’s learned to grow used to it.
So when he finally takes a leave from work—much to the Acting Grandmaster’s surprise—he tries to make the most out of it. He buries the research plans and deadlines at the deepest part of his mind and lets himself think about what he should buy for Klee when she gets out of solitary confinement.
To his surprise, he opens his eyes to the blinding sunlight trying to peek from the curtains and a pillow beside him instead of Mona. Albedo drapes an arm over it, a frown on his lips, still in the process of completely waking up.
Normally, he would wake earlier than her. It was part of both of their routines. He would wake her up with a chaste kiss on the lips—if a simple shake on the shoulders won’t work—and while she occupies the bathroom, he makes breakfast for two.
But today, Mona was the first to get out of bed, and Albedo’s first priority of the day is finding her and dragging her back to bed with him.
He steps out of the bed and slips on his slippers as he brushes his hair with his fingers to remove the knots, careful not to make a noise when he finally opens the door with his free hand.
The first thing he recognizes is the smell of coffee, the bitter yet invitingly warm smell of it reminds him that it’s just how he likes it. Mona’s figure was the second thing that catches his attention. Humming to the tune that Albedo remembers as the song she was singing the night before, hips slightly swaying to the beat—too preoccupied to notice that her boyfriend was already awake.
Albedo smiles at the sight. He’s already aware of how beautiful Mona is, but he thinks she’s even more breathtaking like this.
He makes his footsteps light as he treads towards her. Mona jumps when she suddenly feels arms wrapping around her waist from behind and a whisper of morning greeting in her ear. “Albedo!” She groans, clearly caught off guard by the back hug. “I could’ve dropped the pan!”
Albedo mumbles a quiet apology but makes no move to pull away from the hug, even nuzzling against the crook of her neck.
“Still sleepy?” Mona asks, almost letting go of the pancake batter when Albedo’s hands make their way inside her top, intertwining his fingers above her torso.
“A bit,” Albedo replies, voice raspy with sleep. “But you were gone when I woke up so I figured I’d check where you were.”
Mona hums, “I wanted to make breakfast for a change.” She turns to face him and lazily runs her hands through his hair. “Good morning, by the way.”
Albedo offers her a smile and presses his lips onto hers, pushing her closer to him as he kisses her chastely.
“Morning. What’s for breakfast?”
“Tea break pancakes,” Mona replies, her eyes meeting his bright blue gaze. “I just finished making the batter, though.”
An amused smile forms on his lips. “And last time you tried making pancakes, you burnt half of them and we had to order from Good Hunter for breakfast.”
He watches as Mona pouts, slightly shoving his chest with her fingers. “That was one time!”
“It was really bad—even Astra thought so,” Albedo retorts, both of them glancing at their pet cat, who was busy cleaning herself on top of the kitchen counter. “But I’d still eat your burnt pancakes.” He pulls Mona closer and kisses her forehead, then the tip of her nose, and her lips.
“Of course you would, you even eat spiders,” Mona quips when she pulls away from the kiss—much to Albedo’s dismay—and turns around to remove herself from his arms to continue making their breakfast. Unfortunately for her, Albedo had no plans of letting her go just yet.
Albedo suddenly sweeps her off her feet, one hand under the back of her knees while the other supports her back. Mona squeals in surprise as she wraps her arms around his neck in instinct. “Albedo! Put me down!”
“Let’s go back to bed.”
“Put me down.”
“Just for thirty more minutes.”
“But the batter—”
“—won’t spoil even if we stayed in bed for another hour.”
Mona doesn’t say anything and glares at him as if she was trying to convince him, but even Albedo doesn’t have plans to change his mind. With a sigh, she intertwines her fingers on the back of his neck, looking away. “Ten minutes.”
The couple stays silent when they go back to their shared bed, basking in each other’s presence. Albedo’s arm is wrapped around Mona’s waist, his face buried on the crook of her neck, while she pushes his bangs away from his face with a hand—only to fall back down again—and runs her fingers through soft platinum blonde locks.
“You’re being very clingy today,” Mona points out and the corners of her lips turn upward when she hears a low cat-like purr from Albedo once she retrieves her hand from his hair.
“Am I not allowed to?”
“I didn't say that,” she replies almost immediately. “Ten minutes is up, let me make breakfast now.”
But Albedo doesn’t budge, and even scoots closer to her. “Stay in bed. With me,” he mumbles, resting his chin on her shoulder as he looks at her through his bangs. Mona stiffens, caught off guard with the domesticity in his request, and wonders how far they’ve gone from sharing meals and pointers to waking up beside each other every morning, relishing in each other’s warmth before they start the day.
If she could tell the Mona Megistus from three years ago that one day, she would see this side of Albedo that no one knows he had, she would only laugh and tell her how absurd the idea was.
(She wouldn’t be able to, anyway; it was forbidden for those who were in the same field as hers to know what the future holds for them.)
“You’re staring,” The gentleness in Albedo’s voice snaps her out of her own thoughts. He was now lying on his side, propped up on one elbow with his hand supporting his head. “Is something bothering you?”
The astrologist shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. Perhaps there is something bothering her, but that was something Albedo didn’t need to know right now. “It’s nothing,” she says, and he knows he shouldn’t push any further.
Gently, Albedo takes a handful of her plum-colored hair and presses a kiss on the locks, his eyes never leaving hers. Mona didn’t need him to tell her what he wanted to say.
“I love you, too.”
No matter what the future holds for the two of us.