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Diluc finds Albedo digging in the snow on Dragonspine, frozen half to death and moving like a machine that's rusted through. His pale face and blue lips are unnerving, enough to make Diluc nervous. This is… unnatural.
"Kreideprinz," he calls from behind him.
Albedo stands up stiffly. "Oh? Monstadt's own vigilante hero is here to see me?"
"Just passing through. You look dead on your feet, though. Well past it, even."
"Do I?" Albedo pulls one of his gloves off. His fingertips are completely blue. "Ah. I seem to have lost track of time collecting soil samples."
"Naturally." Diluc is on-edge now.
"My camp is not far from here, there's no need for you to worry about me."
"What kind of hero would I be if I left a citizen to freeze on the side of a mountain?" Diluc adjusts his grip on the handle of his weapon.
"...I see." Albedo crunches through the snow slowly. "Follow me, then."
They walk in silence to Albedo's small, well-stocked camp. Halfway there he stumbles, his right foot reacting sluggishly to a dip in the path. Diluc offers his arm and Albedo accepts, frowning. From here Diluc can examine Albedo's face in much more detail. It's actually worse up close. He looks practically transparent, all the blood gone from his skin. There are tiny ice crystals coating his eyelashes and hair, reflecting the dying light bluntly. He is beautiful, in a disturbing way.
"I'd hate to lose one of these," Albedo says, flexing his fingers. "I paint."
"I'm aware."
They continue on. Albedo's camp is further than he'd implied.
"Here we are." Albedo drops into a chair in front of the stove and pulls his boots off. "You're welcome to make yourself at home."
Diluc rummages through Albedo's rations until he finds something to heat up. "Do you take honey in your tea?"
"Yes, a fair bit."
Diluc pulls out the honey, too. It’s crystallized with the cold but it’s still good.
"Mondstadt's most eligible bachelor is making me tea, what a charmed life I lead."
"And what has led you to this conclusion," Diluc asks dryly.
"You forget I'm captain of the investigation team." Albedo wiggles his fingers and toes in front of the fire. "But really, how many people are there in this city with hair like yours who also happen to constantly smell like wine."
Diluc sets the water to boil and leaves the honey nearby to warm up.
"You should try a braid, maybe a bun, something of that nature. It would really change your face shape."
"Your comments have been taken into consideration," Diluc replies and turns to find Albedo with a grimace on his face. "Finally defrosting?"
"Yes," Albedo says, rubbing his hands together. "I'd forgotten about this part. The burning and prickling. It's awful."
"Try not to get frostbite next time." Diluc points to Albedo's fingers. "All that should be dead tissue."
"It's fortunate it isn't, then."
Diluc dumps some dried flowers into a mug and pours the boiling water into it. He watches Albedo blink rapidly and take a few deep breaths.
"I think my heart rate is starting to pick up again. It must have dropped quite low earlier."
"You shouldn't be alive right now." Diluc spoons some honey into the mug.
"Oh, can you add one more?"
Diluc sighs and complies, handing the mug off to Albedo. He cups his hands around it and covets the warmth.
"What are you?"
"Kaeya calls me a sugar fiend," Albedo says.
"You know what I'm asking." Diluc crosses his arms.
Albedo drinks his tea. "Frankly, I thought you were here to strike me down when you first appeared."
"The night is still young, Kreideprinz."
"Indeed." The alchemist stares into the cooling liquid and watches the flower petals settle in the liquor. "I'm not human. I don't know if I can die. I was directed to Monstadt by cryptic and impossible orders… My feet hurt."
Diluc sighs again. He was supposed to be hunting down an abyss mage tonight.
"Your task now is to determine if I'm a threat to Monstadt, is it not? I'd love to know if you find out." Albedo settles back in his chair and closes his eyes.
"Don't fall asleep," Diluc says.
"Or what? I won't wake up?" He doesn't sound sarcastic at all. Just tired. "It's fine."
"Why were you digging?"
"I told you; soil samples. This mountain really is fascinating, you know." Albedo finishes off his tea. "I'm between experiments right now and I'm quite bored. Nothing's really caught my fancy as of late."
Diluc does the math in his head of how long it'll take them to get off the mountain and if he'll have enough time to sleep for a few hours. There's no way he can leave Albedo but if they wait for sunrise he'll definitely be noticed on his way down.
"I'm going to have to carry you down the mountain."
Albedo blinks at him. "Are… you sure that's necessary?"
Diluc carries him down the mountain. He makes Albedo stay in the guest room at the winery overnight, first ensuring that he's warm enough to sleep in the first place.
"I don't think I've ever been as embarrassed in my life as I am now," Albedo had said into Diluc's neck as he made his way down the snowy trail. His breath was warm and his lips were cold. Diluc had laughed.
(A rumor begins to spread that the chief alchemist had spent the night at Dawn Winery. Albedo attempts to clarify that it had simply been a favor from a peer but it does nothing to stop the eyebrow waggling he gets from the other knights. Diluc is never asked about it directly and frankly, he isn't sure what he's supposed to say if he ever is.)