Chapter Text
Hearing ringing laughter echo down the hallway, Albedo looked up from his clipboard. Some red-faced, tipsy knights were walking ahead of him, and chuckling most jovially of all was the ever-popular Cavalry Captain, Kaeya Alberich. A rather large bouquet of flowers on his shoulder swayed gently, swinging almost gracefully behind him in his easy gait.
Albedo slowed his steps, recalling a cursory decision to skip a certain birthday celebration that evening. It wasn't that he meant to avoid it. No, that wasn't his intention. He just had more pressing matters to attend to - like Timaeus' error-riddled reports. Albedo flipped a page over, frowning. He'll need to make quite a few corrections once he's back in his room.
Just a few more steps to go …
And then he stopped in his tracks. Right outside his door lay a fresh Calla Lily, lonely by itself on the checkered marble floor. He bent down and picked it up, immediately looking towards Kaeya and company. But alas, he had hung back a bit too far and the party had already turned the corner and gone.
Albedo stood outside his room for a moment, his mind working more furiously than it had been working all evening. He could take off this second and attempt to catch Kaeya, or he could possibly toss the flower away and pretend he knew nothing about the swinging bouquet or the entire birthday celebration for that matter.
He held up the plump flower in his hand. It smelled sweet, even this far away from his nose.
Maybe there was a third option.
Albedo entered his room, placing down his clipboard on his worktable before fetching a glass to fill with water. He dropped the Calla Lily inside, watching briefly, the multitude of bubbles that began to gather and rise from its green stem. And then, on a scrap of paper, Albedo wrote a small note that he was careful not to sign.
He'll just leave these at Kaeya's door in the morning.
"- Bedo …?" A sleepy voice murmured amidst the rustling of sheets.
Albedo gently closed the door behind him, slightly sheepish. "Sorry Klee, I overslept a little."
Waking up today had been a rather frantic frenzy. Albedo practically fell out of bed, already half past the time he was supposed to wake. He rushed to get ready in the bathroom, tripping on his own feet and knocking over a bar of soap in his haste. He then barely had five minutes to gather his notes for the day before he was out of the door and on his way to Klee …
The little elven girl looked just as she did every morning. Groggy with sleep, yet ever cheerful in the morning. Today, this cheerfulness was accompanied with a little giggle.
"What's so funny?" Albedo blinked, going over to her.
"Your hair," she replied, still giggling as she reached out her hand. "It's messy!"
Albedo bent down, letting Klee smooth out the nest of his bed hair that he had forgotten to comb. She wasn't old enough yet to wake up at a regular time by herself, but soon she will be. And Albedo wondered how many more of these moments he would be able to spend with her like this.
"Klee," he spoke as she now began to braid his hair clumsily. "I can't join you for breakfast today," he said apologetically. "I'm running late. Could you dress and get breakfast in the Hall by yourself?"
"Yeah!" Klee nodded enthusiastically. "Easy peasy!"
"Good girl," Albedo smiled, straightening up to let her get down from the bed. And then, on top of Klee's bedside table, something shiny caught his eye.
"What's this?" he asked, reaching to pick up a small, silver flower between his fingers.
Klee, on her way to the bathroom, turned her head to look. A wide grin broke across her face. "Oh that! That's a sou - ve - nir. It was on Kaeya's birthday cake and he told me I could have it!"
At the mention of Kaeya's birthday, Albedo was suddenly reminded of last night, and it dawned on him then, that he had completely forgotten about the Calla Lily still sitting on his table.
He set down the silver trinket quickly. "Klee, I have to go. Eat a good breakfast and play safe today."
The girl gave a merry wave. "Okaayy!"
Once he was out of the door, Albedo absolutely bolted to his room, grabbing the note and the glass that held the Calla Lily, still as plump as it was yesterday. He now more slowly made his way to Kaeya's room, careful not to shake the glass lest the water should spill, especially as he went up the stairs - that's where Kaeya turned into last night. He was a little self-conscious, but to his relief, the hallway now found himself was mercifully empty at the moment.
However, Albedo now faced another problem.There were two doors on either side of the wall, and he couldn't decide which of the four led to Kaeya's room. The clock ticking fast, Albedo hastily made a decision, and chose the nearest door to his left to leave the little note and glass outside before striding off quickly.
He knew he had taken quite the gamble there but at the very least, he didn't sign his name on that note.
So no one would know anyway.
Kaeya was surprised to find, coming back from a sparring session in the late morning, a Calla Lily sitting outside a door.
Or perhaps, to be more specific, a Calla Lily in an alchemist's flask outside the first door to his left … which wasn't where he stayed.
But he was the only occupant who had a room in this hall. He was on the right, and the room adjacent to his was an office he rarely used. The rooms on the left mirrored the same layout, and although once occupied, were now coldly hollow and empty.
Which means that the flower must be for him, right? It looked much too deliberately placed …
He picked up the glass and found a small, written note underneath. It read:
You dropped this last night.
How concise, Kaeya thought, at once realising the flower must have been from that large bouquet he received. He looked at the neat hand, and turned the note over, but found no signature. Hmm .
The Calla Lily turned gently in the flask.
Kaeya mulled it over. An alchemist's flask. That was the other thing he noticed about the flower - the sender had placed the flower in an alchemical flask. There were several reasons why that might be the case, of course, if he really wanted to consider every single possibility, but why not just accept the simplest conclusion?
It was returned by an alchemist in the Favonius Headquarters.
Now there was Sucrose, but he didn't recall walking past her room ... Last night, Kaeya pondered. Yes, he had a blast of a time at Angel's Share late last night, where he annoyed the bar owner to his heart's content because he knew the ol' master was far too conscience-stricken to rebuke him. Especially when he hadn't received a single thing from him other than a begrudging "Happy birthday".
But Kaeya had digressed.
He quickly recalled how he returned to his room surrounded by tipsy company much later. Kaeya knew the route he so often took back, and at once, knew where he might have dropped the flower and who must have returned it.
Kaeya smiled, amused. Albedo, huh? Was he right behind him when the flower fell out of the bouquet? How else could he have known, otherwise? He certainly wasn't at the birthday celebration the knights had thrown together in the evening. Kaeya paused his thoughts for a moment. It wasn't like he kept track of who was there and who wasn't, but Klee had been rambling on so happily about him as she so often did, and it was hard not to notice his absence.
Having spent much more time with Klee than her brother, he had managed to learn some of his character through her. And from what he had gathered over time, returning this flower must have been a very uncharacteristic decision to make on his part. Kaeya couldn't help but give a small laugh here. Two years. It had been two years since Albedo first came to Mondstadt and was introduced to him as the Ordo Favonius' Chief Alchemist, or the Kreideprinz as he came to be affectionately called. It had been two years since he met the ever-reticent Chalk Prince, and this was the first time Albedo had initiated any sort of interaction with him, merely to return something.
Was it out of guilt? Compassion perhaps? It was odd to think of the reserved and withdrawn Kreideprinz grappling with any sort of emotion. Perhaps Kaeya didn't know Albedo as well as he thought he did.
But of course not, it wasn't like they've had many chances for interaction. Kaeya couldn't actually recall ever seeing Albedo in any sort of social event or gathering besides a work meeting …
In any case, some thanks were in order, Kaeya thought, making an impulsive decision he didn't really know where it might take him. Carrying the glass and note carefully, he crossed the floor to his room, and made a mental note to visit Flora later.
The Favonius alchemy workshop has never had stipulated opening or closing hours. Albedo, Sucrose and Timaeus came in whenever they wanted, sometimes working around the clock. But now, listening to Sucrose's uninterrupted tinkering and Timaeus' droning past ten at night, Albedo was suddenly feeling a pressing need to impose somewhat regular working hours. Maybe that will help his students with their time management, and keep his sanity intact.
Albedo nodded his head, stifling a yawn as he listened to Timaeus explain himself. It wasn't so much that he found Timaeus' research project uninspiring. It was after all, late at night and Albedo was exhausted. He had spent most of the day mentoring Sucrose, trying to work out the new roadblocks in his own research, and was now walking Timaeus through his error-filled report. It's problematic, but it wasn't boring, he told himself. If Timaeus had just remembered to come earlier in the day when they had already made an appointment …
Albedo raised a gloved hand to rub an eye with some annoyance in spite of himself. "Yes, that's fine. Remember to change the figures in your table."
"Okay," his student replied enthusiastically. "I'll just redo the alchemical composition of the soil and record my findings again. Do you think I should speed up the growth process of the seedlings?"
Albedo pinched his nose with two fingers. Maybe it was just a little bit boring.
"Sucrose," he called suddenly, startling her momentarily. She hastily placed some flasks down on her bench before heading over.
"Y - Yes, Mr Albedo?"
"Could you advise Timaeus on seed germination in his project?"
Sucrose looked bewildered at having so suddenly been given a task. But she quickly adjusted herself. "I - of, of course. I'd be happy to help."
"Good," Albedo said, standing up and resisting another urge to yawn. "I'll be heading off first. Please do not stay too late and get some rest."
"Y - Yes, Mr Albedo!"
"Goodnight, Mr Albedo!"
With much relief, he closed the workshop door behind him tonight. Time to head back and sleep. He didn't usually tire this early, but he chalked it up to the rough start to the day and the difficult afternoon that followed. But he just needed a good night’s rest and he’ll be ready for his day out with Klee tomorrow - a rare occasion, for he really only took time off when he felt absolutely saturated at work. Which was about how he was feeling these days …
Maybe he needed a change of pace.
Upon reaching his room, Albedo halted. A rose, deep pink, greeted him from a familiar-looking glass. He picked it up, along with the note under it.
A magenta rose to express my deepest gratitude. Please accept it. And here’s your alchemical flask.
Also, my room is 315. Come visit, if you have the time!
Albedo felt himself warm somewhat. So Kaeya had figured it out after all. He carried the rose and note into his room, placing them on the table as he contemplated this emotion. Nervousness? Not quite … Embarrassment? Perhaps … Albedo always had some difficulty identifying what he felt. It wasn’t something he often worked on; he had more important matters. Nevertheless, from time to time, he would experience something new, and he’d attempt to label the feeling to the best of his ability.
It always turned out to be a rather trying exercise and this time was no exception. Albedo dropped the thought, and pushed the emotion aside. He had to get ready for bed, he instructed himself, remembering his day out with Klee tomorrow.
When Albedo finally pulled the downy covers over him, he felt his eyelids drooping. With a long sigh, he let his body relax into the soft sheets, clearing his mind of rough mornings, troublesome work and deep pink roses.