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a long, long time ago, he was a very conservative man, not given to bouts of affection or love. still is, somewhat. he has trouble with emotions.
he’s not sure how he ended up as some sort of overly soft i’ll-do-anything-for-you husband.
now he feels a bit like a zookeeper. (he’s regretting adopting four cats.)
“fuzzy socks,” he says with a barely concealed smile. the corner of his lips tugs up. twitches. he wills it down. he should not be smiling. “you put fuzzy socks on momo…why?”
kaeya has a little grin on his face. “her feet were cold, vati! she told me.”
“ah, yes,” albedo nods as he picks one of the cats up. it screeches. “did she tell you that she ate them?”
“no,” kaeya's grin doesn’t leave. “she ate them?”
“yes, she did,” albedo can feel a headache coming on, which is a rarity for him. he pinches the bridge of his nose and tries to keep his smile under control. he knows the dog’s probably going to be fine, and it’s nice that kaeya finally feels comfortable enough to play little tricks, but he should probably make sure the tricks don’t get any worse. “she could get sick. that would be very bad, yes?”
kaeya has, unfortunately, stopped smiling. he picks at his sleeve, fidgeting and refusing to make eye contact.
albedo really doesn’t want to make this feel like a scolding, because scoldings suck, and it would be nonoptimal if kaeya were to be upset. “i’m not angry,” he says, and smiles as he sits beside kaeya on the sofa. “momo’s okay. she won’t be sick, she’s eaten other things that weren’t very good for her either. just…try not to feed her more fuzzy socks, does that suit?”
“okay…” kaeya still looks skeptical, and albedo's heart sinks. “ ‘bedo’s not mad?”
“no, of course not,” albedo reassures him, and stands, extending his hand. “do you want to go finish icing the cookies? we were just finishing that up before momo decided she wanted socks instead of cookies.”
past events forgotten, kaeya jumps up in excitement. “yes yes yes! they’re almost done, right? we can finish them and then eat them and i’ll give some to the kitties because they’re hungry too and momo can have one and-”
“slow down,” albedo laughs lightly. “you can have two, because they are quite big cookies and i really don’t want you getting all sugar high on me. it isn’t good for you, mm? i do not believe the kitties would like cookies. momo can have half a cookie, not a whole cookie, you did decide to feed her socks.” he guides kaeya over to the sink to wash his hands.
kaeya looks up at him skeptically. “the kitties want cookies, vati, they told me. they’re really hungry. can you give me four extras? one for each kitty? please, vati?”
honestly, albedo loves how kaeya calls him vati. it’s endearing and cute and while he expected that kaeya would just give him a nickname or call him something else, vati is certainly a lot more interesting. it gives him a little rush of joy each time he hears it, and maybe he’s biased, but kaeya really is the best. “two. two more. half per kitty.” (he knows the cookies won’t go to the kitties and kaeya's probably just going to eat them. oh, well.)
kaeya lights up. “thank you, vati! the kitties are going to be so so so happy. they love vati’s cookies.” he throws his arms around albedo and nuzzles into him with a little hum. “i love vati’s cookies too.”
it’s very nice to have vati around, kaeya thinks. it would be very lonely on his own, and he would be sad, and he hates being sad and lonely. it makes him think of ugly things that big kaeya likes to think of, but he isn’t big kaeya right now, and he’d rather not think of those things.
vati is here and he’s so nice. he’s small and slim and actually, he broke his wrist last week. it was scary, but vati said it was okay, and he even laughed about, calling himself clumsy. maybe he was a little clumsy, and maybe it was a little funny, the way vati tripped. he always smells of funny, sharp things and a little like dust. it might be strange to others, but to kaeya, it smells like home.
kaeya’s tongue sticks out the corner of his mouth as he focuses intensely on icing the cookie perfectly. this one’s going to be for vati, because it’s come out so nicely so far. it’s a perfectly round cookie, and he’s using vati’s favourite colour, blue. “vati,” he says, brow furrowed in concentration as he continues to ice the cookie. “this one’s for you. it’s blue.”
“hm, is that so,” albedo looks over his shoulder with an appreciative smile. “it’s very lovely, kae.”
kaeya flutters with the praise. “thank you, vati.” yes, it really is very nice to have vati around. he’s so quiet and gentle and kind, and it’s so nice to be near him. so he pauses his icing and turns to give vati a hug, because he really needs it. and just because he feels like it.
“oh? what’s that for, love? look at that, there’s icing on your fingers again,” albedo tsks, a little laugh escaping him. kaeya thinks his vati is very pretty when he laughs. “thank you for the hug, kae.”
“mhm,” kaeya hums, giving albedo one last squeeze, and turns back to his cookie. maybe he’ll add some pink sprinkles, so there can be something like him in vati’s cookie. “i’m almost done with your cookie, vati.”
“that’s very nice,” albedo nods, working on his own cookie. “i’m finishing up yours. make sure to wash your hands when you’re done, yes?”
the cookie is looking a little lopsided, but kaeya’s going to make sure vati loves it. it’s good enough, that’s what vati always says.
with vati, he doesn’t have to be perfect anymore.