Chapter Text
Albedo wished the last kid goodbye with a sigh, leaning against the door as he closed and locked it. There was a layer of sprinkles covering the floor and frosting smeared beside paint on every single surface in the room. He picked up the broom and began sweeping up the crumbs.
“Hey,” a voice said from behind him and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Quickly he turned to see Rhinedottir standing in the doorway. “Need a hand?”
“Who decided to give kids cupcakes? They should be fired.”
“I’m pretty sure you were,” Rhinedottir said with a chuckle. “Looks like you’re out of a job Albedo.”
“I’ve learned from my lesson I’ll never do it again,” he joked with his boss.
“Alright then,” Rhinedottir walked further inside and began wiping down the tables. “Oh, I got an email from the coordinators of the Dragonspine Christmas festival. They were wondering if you’d be willing to create a piece for their charity auction like you did for Halloween.”
“Oh? Sure,” Albedo said, not looking up from the floor. “When do they want it?”
“In three weeks.”
“Three weeks? It seems a bit late to be asking.”
“They said they’d emailed you a few weeks ago and never got a response.”
“Well shit, who checks their email anymore?”
“I think probably everyone but you,” Rhinedottir chuckled.
“Well, then the committee should know better than to email me.”
“You can say no if you don’t want to do it.”
“No, no I will.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I am.”
Kaeya leaned back in the chair at his desk, squinting at the computer screen. He was so tired he wasn't entirely sure what he was even looking at. He took another sip of his scaldingly hot coffee. He normally drank it with milk, but the hangover meant he was drinking it black with a few spoonfuls of honey. It was the way Varka had taught him when he'd just started at Favonius Enterprises.
"If anything's happened Diluc did it," was the first thing that came from Kaeya's mouth as Varka pulled him out of a meeting about YouTube ads to the break room.
"Oh no no, nothing's the matter." Varka patted him on the shoulder once with his massive hand and then smiled warmly. "I just wanted to see if you were alright?"
"Of course I'm alright sir I-"
"Kaeya- may I call you Kaeya?" Kaeya nodded dumbly as Varka turned to start making coffee. "Kaeya, I too am a drinking man."
Kaeya was immediately on the defensive, who was this man to call him out for something he did outside of work? He was his boss, not his father. His arms instinctively crossed and he probably 'sounded too harsh' the way Jean had described him more than once, "okay, what's your point?"
"I'm not looking to pry into your personal life… or get into your strange relationship with Mr. Ragnvindr.” Kaeya pointedly ignored the second half of Varka’s statement. “I simply want to help with that hangover of yours." Varka handed Kaeya the mug. "Cup of coffee with three spoonfuls of honey should do the trick, drink up, and then get back to work okay?"
Varka's eyes twinkled when he smiled, gently patting him on the shoulder once again before he disappeared.
After that day Kaeya had idolized him.
"What're you doing?" A bubbly voice chirped from the doorway to his office. Kaeya's pained eyes ripped from his screen to see Amber standing in the doorway clutching a folder to her chest.
He took another sip of his coffee, it burned on the way down. “Answering emails… I think."
"Boring." Amber dragged out the word and it felt like nails on a chalkboard. "What was I here for again? Oh! The boss man wants to see you." Amber's thumb jutted in the direction of Varka's office. "And remind me later that I need to send you that thing for your team to finalize." Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her pocket, eyes widening. "Shoot, I'm going to be late, I'll see you at lunch!" She disappeared from his doorway in a flash.
Kaeya got up and walked to his door shouting after her "What thing are you talking about?" With a sigh, he grabbed his coffee and started trudging tiredly to Varka's office.
Albedo had gotten to the Ragnvindr's late... again. He stood at the door, holding his key but not moving an inch. He debated walking in, knowing he was sure to get a scolding from Jean when he stepped inside. He could hear her voice in his head, the concern and annoyance mixed together "this is the fourth dinner in a row you've been late 'Bedo, is Rhinedottir working you too hard?" She'd ask worriedly, slender fingers pushing his hair out of his face while she examined it. Maybe he'd just stay out tonight.
Before he could turn and walk away, the door was flung open abruptly by a little girl in a familiar red baseball cap who came barreling into him full force, nearly knocking him over. "Albedo! You're here!" Klee tilted her head so her chin dug into his stomach and grinned. "You're lucky you didn't get here later, we were about to eat without you." Her arms loosened from Albedo's waist and she trotted back into the house. He followed reluctantly.
He grabbed his plate of food from the kitchen counter, pizza, and walked over to the table, sitting down in his spot next to Diluc. "Glad to see you could make it, Albedo," Jean said over her husband, "how was work?"
Albedo, already with a mouthful of pizza, took a second to swallow, "fine, busy, we had a birthday party today. Someone was turning six and brought twenty people."
Barbara spoke up softly after Albedo was done. "Hey 'Bedo, can the church borrow some paint from the store?"
"Sure, what for?"
"The church is having a day where volunteers are helping renew some old art on the pews before midnight mass."
Albedo looked up from his dinner and nodded once. "I'll bring some over for you tomorrow... oh that reminds me. We're doing a children's painting class next Sunday."
Albedo knew Klee's ears perked up at the idea of getting to go to work with him. "Auntie Jean? Uncle Diluc? Can I pretty please go? Pretty please with a cherry on top?" Her red eyes glistened with hope.
Jean sighed and lifted her drink to her lips, "what time is it? I'm going to be tied up at work Sunday morning."
"Noon." Albedo said through a mouthful of pizza.
"Diluc, can you take her?"
Diluc looked up from his food, he'd always been quiet during their Saturday night dinners. "I have a pretty big shipment coming in that day, I don't know if I can miss it..."
"Please, Uncle Diluc?" Klee's eyes started to shine, her hands clasped at her chest. Albedo internally rolled his eyes, she sure had picked up her flair from the dramatic from her mom.
Not wanting to watch her cry, Diluc quickly responded with a quiet, "I'll see what I can do."
Kaeya found Varka's door open. The giant of a man was staring down at a paper sitting on his desk. He'd gotten older since Kaeya had first met him. Varka's golden brown beard was now streaked with gray, and the lines on his face had solidified themselves as permanent figures of his face.
A gentle knock on the doorframe was all it took for Varka to look up and see Kaeya, a welcoming grin spread across his face. "Kaeya, come in."
"Amber said you needed me for something, sir?" Kaeya sat down in the wooden chair across from Varka. Most people found the chairs in Varka's office uncomfortable, but Kaeya found them nice, you just had to get in the right position. Swing a leg over the armrest and all that.
"Yes yes..." Varka rifled around his messy wooden desk until he pulled a paper out of a file, reading it over for a second in comfortable silence before speaking once again. "I wanted to talk to you about your paid time off."
"I haven't requested any time off though, sir."
"See that's the problem, you haven't given yourself a chance to relax since you started here." Varka leaned back in his chair as he made eye contact with Kaeya. "When I say this I only mean the best, go home, Kaeya."
"Like... right now?"
"No, finish out the day, but I don't want to see your face in here until after New Year."
"But sir, what am I supposed to do?"
"Go see your friends, maybe visit Mr. Ragnvindr?" Kaeya could hear the hopeful hinting in Varka's voice. He regretted telling Varka that story. "Or you could go on a nice vacation to the Golden Apple Archipelago. I hear it's lovely there in the winter." Varka picked up a pen and scribbled his name down on a document. "Take a break, Kaeya, that's all I'm asking."
Kaeya stood and nodded reluctantly "yes sir, I will."
Varka looked up again and held out his hand as if some unstoppable force would keep Kaeya from leaving. "Also, before you go, would you mind getting me a cup of coffee?"
Diluc got home from work and sighed tiredly. Charles had been testing his patience and he didn’t want to deal with anything else after a night of drink after drink being sent back.
He walked inside and hung his snow-dusted coat on the rack in the foyer, making a near beeline for the kitchen. Jean was humming softly while she cooked. Diluc didn’t spare a second glance before walking up to her and laying his head on her shoulder. She turned her body into his. He felt Jean's hand gently slide up to the nape of his neck, playing with his hair. Jean spoke softly in his ear, “Kaeya's coming home for Christmas. He's going to take Klee to that painting party we were talking about yesterday."
Diluc almost felt his heart stop as his entire body tensed. "Kaeya?"
Jean pulled away, her voice pleading “can you please just get along with him for a few days? He’ll be here for Christmas and that’s it.”
“He’s going to be making fun of me the whole time!”
Jean’s found purchase on his shoulder. “Kaeya’s your brother, that’s what brothers do.”
“I’m going to be on pins and needles the whole time Jean, we don’t get along.“ Diluc sighed and rubbed his temples, this was the last thing he’d wanted when he got home. “You don’t get it, Barbara loves you.”
“That’s true but Diluc please, I’ll ask him to be nice.”
“Jean…” Diluc trailed off when he met his wife’s pale blue eyes. She looked so desperate. Diluc sighed and tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear that had slipped out of her ponytail. “I won’t do anything as long as he doesn’t.”
“Diluc!”
“Fine, fine, I won’t do anything at all.”
“Thank you,” Jean kissed him chastely on the lips and then turned back to dinner.
Diluc slipped an apron over his head and began to help wordlessly after. Kaeya was coming home.
Kaeya hated airplanes with a burning passion. He'd gotten the soonest ticket back to Dragonspine that he could, which was still a week after he’d been told to not go back in to work. A week of sitting in his gray-walled, barren apartment alone. It wasn't long at all until he turned to the bottle to give him some sort of entertainment. After all, the stupid Hallmark specials on TV were way funnier when drunk.
He suspected that perhaps he shouldn't have gotten so drunk the night before though, because now he was here, sitting in a boarding area half asleep and half hungover while waiting for a delayed plane. No amount of coffee could fix the massive headache pounding behind his temples.
His thoughts rested on Albedo after a week of successfully keeping him out of his mind. He'd become an artist then. The last time Kaeya had seen him he'd still been a hopeful little junior in high school, long hair shorn into an idiotic buzz cut after accidentally setting it on fire during an experiment. Now he'd have to deal with him for an entire two weeks. He pushed the blond back further into his mind, he'd worry about having to see him when he actually saw him.
"Now boarding flight one thirty-nine, Mondstadt to Dragonspine," a female voice said over the intercom. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard in Kaeya's brain. He really hated airplanes.
Kaeya felt his hands tighten on the steering wheel of his rental car as the familiar town of Dragonspine came into view. With most of the lights turned out, he worried if the bed and breakfast would still be open. He'd heard from Jean that Noelle's parents had passed away a few years ago, so he wondered, in all honesty, if it was still there at all. He’d looked it up, but the internet also listed Dawn Winery as a tourist attraction.
Kaeya passed the grocery store that Cyrus ran, and Margaret’s cat cafe. He subconsciously slowed down when he passed by Angel’s Share, the lights still on.
Kaeya leaned his head over further to see people inside. The drunks of Dragonspine... They should start a club. Still, there was no shocking red hair standing behind the counter, just Charles. That was fine by Kaeya, it wasn't his business anyway. Yet deep down he felt a pang of sadness. He hadn’t seen Diluc since he’d quit Favonius enterprises. He hadn’t even been invited to Jean and Diluc’s wedding. He’d found out from an apologetic letter from Jean in his mailbox one day.
With that thought in mind, he continued driving, perhaps a few too many miles over the speed limit, and stopped in front of The Rosebud Bed and Breakfast. The parking lot was full of cars, to the point he was unsure if they would even have a room. He parked his car in the stuffed lot outside and ran over to the door, feeling frostbitten the second he stepped outside.
The lights were on and he could see a familiar silver-haired girl asleep at the check-in. Trying the door, he found it locked. Knocking didn't seem to wake her up either. He sighed and curled his hand into a fist, rapping on the door hard enough that it shook the windows sewn into the heavy wood.
“Ellie!” He shouted to the girl inside. “Noelle wake up!"
Finally, the ashen head shot up, and saw him shivering out in a pile of snow. Noelle quickly walked over to the door and opened it. "Kaeya, you're home!" She pulled him into a hug, her strong arms crushing him in the process.
"Yep, I am," Kaeya squeaked out, unable to breathe through Noelle's crushing hug.
"Well go get your things, I'll get you a room."
"Yes ma'am." He nodded and started out into the cold. Despite being nearly seven years younger than him, Noelle still bossed him around like a mother. Kaeya and Amber had been offered up as babysitters many times for the girl, but she'd always been the one watching them really. He'd learned all his life skills from the kid.
Noelle handed him a key once he stepped back in the door. "You're on the second floor. Here, I'll show you to your room," she started up the steps, hiding her yawns badly.
"Are you running this by yourself, Noelle?" Kaeya asked his young friend as she walked ahead of him up the cramped stairs.
“Oh no no, Barbara helps out for community service hours for church, and Fischl works here during the summer when she’s home from college. Oh! And Bennett tries to help, but he usually ends up accidentally breaking something when he’s around.”
“It sounds like you are running all this by yourself then.”
“It’s not as bad as it seems… business has been a bit slow lately anyway.” Noelle stopped in front of Kaeya’s room and handed him the key. “Here you are! Our best room in the whole place."
Kaeya took the key and looked at the girl. The dullness that was behind her eyes was apparent, and her cheery smile felt a bit plastered on rather than genuine. The two hadn’t spoken much in the past few years, but he still missed the giggly little girl he’d watched all those years ago. He chalked it up to taking something for granted until it was gone. “Well… goodnight, Ellie I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Kaeya.”
He slipped the key into the lock and stepped inside, before sticking his head out and calling to the retreating figure. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite!”
A small laugh slipped from her lips, “you’d better be up bright and early, I’m making pancakes.”
Klee was sitting at the breakfast table, munching on her anem-o's already when Jean walked into the kitchen, hair messy and eyes clouded with sleep. "Klee? What are you doing up already?" She asked the girl, fighting back a yawn.
"I wanted to be ready for when Uncle Kaeya gets here!" Klee said with a cheery smile, taking another large bite of cereal, milk dribbling down her chin.
Jean checked the clock and then turned back to the red-clad girl. "Klee, it's six in the morning, Kaeya's not going to be here to take you to the store until eleven."
"You never know Aunt Jean, he might be early."
Jean sighed and grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet, glancing out the window for a moment at the snow-covered ground, reflecting the streetlights from above. "Well, stay quiet so you don't wake up Uncle Diluc okay?"
"Okay! I'll be quiet as a mouse!"
"Shouting isn't quiet Klee."
Kaeya woke up to his alarm screaming at him far too early for his liking. He hadn't meant to set it for so early, especially not during his time off. He rolled over and hit the switch to turn off the angrily beeping clock, burying his head once again in his warm pillow. His head hurt.
Klee was sitting at the door staring at it insistently, willing it to open. She looked back at the clock on the stove. 11:13. She looked back at the door, and continued waiting in silence.
Kaeya woke up in a light-flooded room, dust particles wandering through beams of bright light. Rubbing his bleary eyes, he picked up his phone, checking the time. 11:21. He groaned and began to turn back to his bed, he was perfectly happy with sleeping the day away.
He then froze, blood running colder than the frigid air around him. He had completely forgotten that he was supposed to take Klee painting today.
Throwing the covers off of himself he raced to get dressed, running a brush through his hair once before deciding it would take too long and just pulling the long strands into a ponytail. Still pulling one shoe on he raced out of his hotel room and to his car outside, taking a moment to shout a good morning back at Noelle who called to him as he sprinted outside.
Breaking all traffic laws with his head pounding, he pulled up to Jean's house at a respectable 11:38. Klee raced out and into his legs when he was halfway up the walkway to the front door. "It's so good to see you Uncle Kaeya!" Kaeya had to drink some water soon if Klee was always this hyperactive.
She hugged him tightly. "We're still going to go see Albedo right?"
Right. Albedo. He gave her the best smile he good and nodded "yep, but if we don't move it we're going to be late. Are you old enough to sit in the front seat yet?"
"Jean says I shouldn't but when I'm alone with Albedo he says it's okay, and that Jean's just helicopter parenting a kid that's not hers."
That did sound like Albedo. "Front seat it is." He opened the door for her and she slid in with a grin on her face. “Mind if we listen to Christmas music?”
Kaeya got in the driver's seat. The last time he'd seen Klee she'd been in kindergarten, she was ten now. In fifth grade. He hadn't known how to talk to ten-year-old girls when he was ten. Jean had even said that she had a fifth-grade boyfriend. Apparently, his name was Timmie and he had a weird obsession with birds.
The radio blared between them in silence as he drove: "Hark the herald seelies sing/glory to our freedom's reign."
"So, how's school been going?" He said into the silence.
"Good! Right now we're learning fractions. Well, not right now obviously, I'm on break, but before we left. I don't... I don't really get it."
"You know your big brother is really really good at math, he used to help me with my homework back when we were in school. I bet he'd help you out with fractions if you asked."
"Yeah... maybe."
The two fell back into an awkward silence as Kaeya drove. The song changed a few more times in an attempt to negate the quiet before Kaeya pulled into the parking lot of the address Jean had sent him.
He’d never expected Albedo to become an artist, their high school days had always eluded to him becoming some kind of scientist. Maybe a chemist or an engineer. He’d passed every science class he took with flying colors. Then again, he’d passed every class he took with flying colors. A far cry from Kaeya.
Albedo had been in nearly all of his classes at the end of his junior year. The only thing was Albedo was a sophomore, he just was in junior courses for nearly half his schedule.
The universe was rather archon-bent on the two sticking together. On the first day of class there always seemed to be only two seats open right beside each other.
"Oh, it's you again, looks like we're going to be seeing a lot of each other." Kaeya had said on the first day of the second semester after three periods of being shoved together by teachers and circumstances. "I'm Kaeya."
"Albedo," the blond had replied absentmindedly as he sat down.
Klee opened the door and ran inside before Kaeya, who quickly followed behind her.
"Hi, welcome to Gold..." Albedo trailed off when he saw who it was.
Kaeya. His hand rested on Klee's shoulder. He smiled brightly, a little too brightly. “Sorry if we're a little late. Someone overslept."
"No, you're not late. You can just sign her in, and then if you want you can leave and be back at 3:00 to pick her up." Albedo felt his cheeks burning. Archons, he couldn't face Kaeya, not when he still looked so familiar. The same curve of his jaw, the same piercing blue eyes.
"Yeah sure... hey would you maybe want to get together later? Catch up?"
"That would be great." A smile played with Albedo's lips as he talked to Kaeya, something that had always happened when they’d spoken. His stomach felt like it was full of bubbles. Albedo damned the effect Kaeya had on him.
“‘Bedo, Uncle Kaeya says you can help me with my math homework?” Klee spoke up, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.
Ripping his eyes from Kaeya, Albedo looked down at the girl. “Of course I can.”
“Albedo!” A voice called from down the hall.
Klee was strangely quiet watching the awkward interaction between the two, but when Albedo took her hand to lead her inside, she turned back to Kaeya and waved “bye, Uncle Kaeya!”
Kaeya sat silently in Margaret’s cafe drinking his third peppermint mocha latte and staring out the window. He didn’t have anywhere to go or anything to do. Seeing Jean would mean a chance of seeing Diluc, and that was not something he needed at the moment. Amber, Eula, and Lisa were all back in Mondstadt, so there wasn’t a single friendly face in all of Dragonspine. Maybe Cyrus, but Cyrus was also fifty, and Kaeya didn't have very much in common with a fifty-year-old grocery store owner who spent his free time wandering through the woods and eating berries of questionable origin.
Damn Varka for making him take off, he didn’t know what to do with himself when he wasn’t pissed drunk or working.
A cat jumped up on the table and sat expectantly, staring at Kaeya insistently with its near-glowing blue eyes. After a few moments of staring contest, the cat bent its head and bumped it against his hand resting on the table. A soft meow mixed with purring in delight came from the cat as Kaeya’s hand lifted to start scratching underneath its chin.
“That one’s named Dvalin.” Said an all too familiar voice from above. And it wasn't Margaret. Damn Kaeya for not choosing to go bother Jean.
He looked up to meet the red eyes of Diluc, bundled up and holding a coffee in a to-go mug. Dvalin, unhappy with Kaeya no longer giving him attention, padded along the table to Diluc and rubbed his head against the puffer coat he wore.
Diluc looked so similar, and yet so different at the same time. Same long red hair pulled back into a ponytail, same blood-red eyes, yet older. He had lines around his eyes and a beard. Barbatos... he almost looked like Crepus.
Kaeya leaned back from the table and looked up at the man with crossed arms. "I thought you didn't want to see me."
"I don't want to get into this with you Kaeya."
“Don't forget who started it."
Diluc sat down across from Kaeya with a sigh. "We were so young when we began this fight, Kaeya. Archons, I hardly even remember what we're fighting about-"
"I think that's because your memory's failing old man."
"Will you please let me finish before you start being a little shit?" Diluc snapped and Kaeya fell silent. "Jean wants you over for Christmas and she doesn’t want us fighting.”
After a moment of contemplation, Kaeya stood. "Sure Luc, I can give her a night."
“…Thanks.” Diluc followed suit and walked beside him to the door.
"You know, you look more and more like dad every time I see you.” Diluc fell silent and held the door open, Kaeya stopped and looked into his eyes for a moment, the cold air blowing his hair back as he tried to muster the proper wording. "He was my dad too."
With that, he walked out.
Albedo sat with Klee in the front room of the studio waiting for Kaeya, Klee was coloring a picture of Barbatos pulled out from a Christmas-themed coloring book. Klee had patiently watched as Albedo cleaned up the room after all the kids had gone. (The last time she'd tried to help an entire jug of paint had ended up on the floor.)
There was a slam at the back door and then Rhinedottir's familiar voice wafted through the hall "you're still here? It's almost time for our next class."
"One last kid," Albedo shouted back.
"Did Rosemary forget to pick up her son again? I swear to Barbatos the next time she forgets Robert I'm going to- oh hi Klee." Rhinedottir finally made it to the front room and stopped. "Why don't you just take her home?"
Albedo silently glanced down at the drawing of Barbatos with a neon purple and green cloak. "She's... having fun?"
Klee looked up "nuh uh, Uncle Kaeya is supposed to take me home."
Rhinedottir didn't look surprised, "I heard he was back in town."
Shit.
Albedo sighed and stood up "Klee, stay here okay?"
Klee nodded, not tearing her eyes from the paper where she was now coloring the skin pale pink. "Okay 'Bedo."
He followed Rhinedottir down the hallway where she tied her apron around herself and then pulled him into one of the painting rooms, she started setting up easels and paint while she talked. "Kaeya being back in town isn't going to be a problem... right?"
"No, no of course it won't. Why would it be?"
Rhinedottir laughed, slamming a jug of brown paint down on the table with a loud bang. "You forget how long I've employed you. Why are you still here with Klee?"
"Kaeya's supposed to pick her up, I can't take her home."
"You're more of a guardian than he is, what's the real reason? Do you want to see him?"
Albedo sighed and sat down on a stool. "No? Yes? I don't know... it's complicated."
"Well uncomplicate it, I'm an old woman I don't have time for you to be making another emotional mess in my store. That boy has been causing you nothing but trouble since you were kids.”
"He invited me to go out after work,” Albedo snapped, “and- and you can’t make decisions for me about who I’m allowed to see! I’m an adult.” Albedo paused in the silence for a second before looking back up at Rhinedottir. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”
"I-"
A jingle came from the front door and Albedo instantly perked up. "That must be Kaeya." He stood up from the stool.
"Albedo, just... make sure you don't get yourself hurt again okay?"
Albedo paused as he reached the doorway, turning back to face her. "Don't worry Rhine, I’m over him,” he said with a smile as he disappeared behind the door, his face fell. He could feel his face getting hot as he walked to the front, maybe that last sentence was a bit of an exaggeration. Still, it wasn’t like he was going to act on anything, it wasn’t like Kaeya was the same person as he’d been at eighteen.
"Ready to get home Klee? I think it's time for a snack, I'll bet you Barbara made you something nice," Albedo said from the doorway, he held up the clipboard and handed it to Kaeya.
"Do you want a ride home?" Kaeya asked as he signed his name with a flourish. Albedo glanced down at it. It looked just as fancy as it had in high school.
"Uh..."
"Yes!" Klee shouted from behind Kaeya with eyes gleaming in the lower light. "Yes, he would!"
"Oh, yeah, sure I guess. Just let me get my bag from the back and I'll clock out and then we can go. Don't leave without me?" Albedo started walking to the back. Jean had picked him up for work anyway ‘carpooling saves the planet ‘Bedo’ she’d said with a sly smile. He couldn’t help but feel like he’d been set up for this.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Kaeya said with a grin before turning to Klee. Albedo could hear them as he receded.
"How was it? What did you paint?"
"We painted a picture of Jack Frost, hang on let me see if Auntie Rhine will let me show you!"
Thudding steps toward the back of the shop and then back. "I can't get it until tomorrow because it needs to dry."
"That's really good! You might be rivaling 'Bedo's skills."
"Really?"
Albedo could hear the joy in Klee's voice as he shrugged on a paint-stained sweater and loosened his hair from a bun at the back of his head. Retying it into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, a few pieces falling into his face.
"Yeah, it's incredible, the depth is the best I think I’ve ever seen."
“What does that mean?”
Grabbing his bag, Albedo walked back to the front and scribbled his name down and the sign-out sheet. "Alright Klee, go put your painting back, Rhine is literally about to kick us out."
Klee nodded and ran to the back.
"Cute kid," Kaeya said from his standing by the door.
"Yeah, she is." Albedo was gripping the strap to his messenger back and staring down at his shoes. He'd gotten a splotch of blue paint on the toe. It stood out against the white and he sighed. Hopefully, it wouldn't stain.
Klee ran back into the room with her coat. "Let's go!"
"Let's!" Kaeya said with a smile before he opened the door for the both of them. Albedo walked out to the car behind Klee.
Klee waved goodbye from the door as Kaeya started backing out of the driveway. "So," he said absentmindedly to Albedo who was sitting in the passenger seat, "how've you been?"
A best of silence. "Good, good, busy. I got asked to paint a piece for the Christmas charity auction next week."
"I'll have to come and see it."
"Won't you... won't you be back to work by then?"
"Nope." Kaeya didn't take his eyes off the road, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Albedo braiding and unbraiding his hair. "Varka said no going back until New Years."
Albedo snorted. "You know most bosses don't want their employees to take off work." His face was illuminated by a passing street lamp for just a moment, his blond hair glowed in the light.
Kaeya laughed. "I know, is Sofia’s still open?”
"How could it close? Sara runs it now.” Albedo replied.
“Really? Sara from high school?” Kaeya smiled, he couldn’t imagine Sara running her mom’s old restaurant. Kaeya pulled into the parking lot. The sign read Good Hunter in lit-up red letters. The second O was out.
The diner was nearly empty at the time of night. Two men sat in the corner talking quietly. A small group of teenagers at the largest table. A family with a crying baby in a booth by the window. It was exactly like Kaeya remembered.
"I don't get it." Kaeya's head made a thump as it landed on the concerningly sticky table in Sara's. He stared at his nearly empty coffee cup and pouted.
"Hey, it's not too difficult once you get it. The formula's just a bit weird." Albedo said above him, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Then how come you got done with this in class?"
Albedo was silent for a second before he looked down at him with a half smile. "Let's go over it one more time, and if you don't get it then we can go to my house and watch a movie and try again tomorrow. How does that sound?"
Kaeya looked up at Albedo's cerulean eyes and sighed. "Fine."
Albedo hadn't been to Sara's in a couple of months. Most of the time after work he went home and made a cup of coffee, then fell asleep before he could finish it while the X-files played on the DVD player he stole from Rhinedottir two years ago. It was the one that had been in it since he stole it and now it was stuck.
It was decorated with garlands and red bows and colored lights. Paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Albedo was pretty sure they were the same ones his third-grade class had made. If he looked, he could probably find one signed with his name in shitty blue crayon. The same stained evergreen tablecloths sat on the tables, and the chair that he’d broken still sat in the corner waiting to be fixed. Fake cotton ball snow was on the ledge above the cutout to the kitchen. He headed toward the same booth in the back that he always did.
"Our booth," Kaeya said with a soft smile, "I honestly can't believe you remembered."
Albedo honestly couldn't believe he had either. It had been a habit to go straight to the back for years. He'd sat in this booth long after Kaeya had left for college. Archons, he’d brought dates to this booth, that was a bit embarrassing in retrospect.
“The duo is back!” A shout rang through the air and all of a sudden Sara was in Kaeya’s arms, squeezing him tightly with her strong arms, Albedo’s stomach felt strange as she turned to hug him as well. “It’s so good to see you both! Have you two been eating okay? I’ll bring you some dinner, free of charge.”
“Oh, Sara we couldn’t make you do that.” Kaeya laughed politely and held up a hand to stop her from coming back to fuss over him again. “I’ll be happy to pay for our food.” Albedo nodded in agreement.
“Please, I’ll just have you be my little taste testers for the Christmas Pageant.” With that, Sara turned to Albedo, “Oh, Albedo, is Klee going to be able to make it to the next few practices? I know she’s missed the past couple, but we only have three more until the actual thing.”
Albedo had no clue if Klee was able to make it or not. He wasn’t Klee’s legal guardian, despite being her brother. He knew she’d been complaining about having to miss the last few practices, but knew nothing about the future ones. “Um, I don’t know for sure, I know she’s been missing them too, but with Diluc’s holiday schedule and Jean trying to get everything set for the second semester at school, I don’t know if she’ll have anyone to take her.”
In Albedo’s peripheral vision he saw Kaeya raise his hand and wave a little, “I could take her if she wants me to, I have nothing better to do.”
“Really?” Albedo and Sara said in unison.
“Oh we love having her there, she’s so enthusiastic about Christmas, you know!” Sara grinned at Albedo. “And Kaeya, if you’re sure you have nothing to do…” Sara turned her attention to the man. “Barbara’s been directing since we began, but she’s been having some trouble getting everything ready. This is her first year directing you know.”
Kaeya looked nervous “Sara, I’m… not the best with kids.”
“Oh no!” Sara laughed and shook her head no. “I know trust me. But she needs someone else to help her out.”
Kaeya seemed hesitant. Albedo noticed him playing with a ring on his middle finger.
“I just know you can do it Kaeya, please, if you can’t do it, then we can’t have a pageant!” Albedo knew what was about to happen, Sara was going to pull out her classic puppy dog eyes and pout. It had worked on Kaeya since high school. That was how he’d ended up in every school musical, the art club, and volunteering at the blood drive, and Kaeya had always begged Albedo to join too. Well, Albedo wasn’t helping him out on this one-
“Fine, but only if I get free coffee here until the pageant, Margaret’s already bleeding me dry.” Kaeya offered his hand to Sara for a handshake which she readily returned with a smile.
“Alright, I’ll go get you two that food, sit tight and I’ll be out in a sec.” With that, she turned her back and disappeared.
Albedo flopped down in the booth with a sigh. “You’re going to regret that.”
Kaeya sat down across from him with a smile as he watched Sara walk away with a small smile on his face still. “Yeah, probably.” Albedo felt a twinge in his heart.
It was storming the night Albedo came.
Diluc heard a heavy knock on the front door and stood from his laptop to go see who it was. With a glance from the window, he saw a shaved blond head and a quivering body standing on their doorstep. He rushed to open it. “Albedo what are you doing he-“
He was interrupted by a surprisingly strong voice. “Is he gone yet?” Albedo was breathing heavily and his shirt was sticking to his skin. The wind howled, blowing the rain under the awning covering the house’s entrance.
“Does Alice know you’re here?”
Albedo repeated his question with gritted teeth, “is he gone yet, Diluc?”
Diluc sighed “I… yeah, he left this morning.”
“Dammit!” Albedo shoved past Diluc and ran into the house.
“Albedo!” Diluc chased after him, following the skinny body and water trail through the hallways and up the stairs to Kaeya’s room. Diluc watched as Albedo shoved his way inside.
Diluc slowed down and started walking down the hallway, his heartbeat thrumming in his ears as he heard a bang, and then a crash. When he reached the doorway, Albedo turned to face him with unbridled anger on his face, the room already a wreck. “Why didn’t you tell me! Why didn’t any of you tell me!” He screamed, running at him. Diluc caught his arms and twisted Albedo so he was facing away from him. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Diluc felt teardrops hit his forearm as Albedo went slack in his arms. Diluc let go of him and he slumped to his knees.
Diluc looked down at Albedo sobbing on the carpet and sunk to his knees as well, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and hugging him tightly. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”
At the end of the night, Kaeya didn’t want to go home. His stomach felt like it was still full of laughter, and he could still taste the peppermint coffee on the back of his tongue. He pulled into Albedo’s driveway and looked up at the small house. His front porch was wrapped in Christmas lights and his door was painted yellow.
“Hey, it was nice catching up with you.” Albedo said with a smile.
Kaeya turned to look at his face, barely illuminated by street lamps. He paused for a moment before smiling, “yeah, it really was, we should do it again sometime.” Kaeya willed Albedo to invite him inside, to keep the conversation going. This was the first time he’d felt like this in… well he didn’t even remember, and he didn’t want to give it up so easily. Invite him to tour the house, to have a drink, to watch a movie, something, anything.
“Yeah.” Kaeya looked at Albedo. Albedo looked at Kaeya. A beat. “Well, I’ll see you soon.” Albedo broke eye contact and opened the door to get out of Kaeya’s car.
“See you,” Kaeya responded weakly. Albedo bent over and gave him one last smile before slamming the door shut and running up the stairs to his front door. The yellow door opened, and then closed again.
Kaeya turned on the radio. “Frosted windowpanes/candles gleaming inside/painted candy canes/on the tree…”
Albedo slammed the door shut behind him and leaned up against it, sliding to the floor. He felt like a teenager after their first date. Which was stupid, a stupid feeling to feel for sure. His cheeks felt hot and a smile wouldn’t leave his face.
He pulled his phone out o his pocket and called Diluc. It rang twice before a groggy voice answered the phone. “Albedo?”
“Oh, sorry did I wake you?”
“It’s almost midnight, fuck yeah you woke me up.”
“Sorry.”
“What did you need?”
“I think I just went on a date with Kaeya maybe? I’m not sure.”
“Albedo…”
Albedo sighed and put his head between his knees. “Not you too…”
“I love Kaeya, he’s my brother, but, pardon my language, he has some major fucking issues Bedo. He hasn't treated you right in the past and you know that.”
Albedo hung up. He stood up and began trudging up the stairs to his room.
Kaeya smiled up at the ceiling, laying in his bed in his hotel room. Light filtered in through the lace curtains and made a pattern of man-made stars scattered across the room. Kaeya hoped he saw him again tomorrow.