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Albedo wasn’t the type to make any mistakes, and he wasn’t the type to rush things either. So nobody expected him to be in his workplace disheveled and mildly panicked.
“Mister Albedo..? Is everything alright there?” Sucrose knocked on his laboratory door after hearing an uncharacteristic yelp coming from the inside. Sucrose left for a couple minutes to gather some flowers from Flora as they had run out during their experiment with trying to make a potion that rendered it more easy to manipulate cells in the body after being consumed. The potion initially was supposed to go along with another, their goal was to find a way to stitch back long lasting injuries in the body so that it could be as good as new. Long term injuries that would cause pain or even immobility while performing simple tasks, it was meant for older folks who had trouble getting around.
It was supposed to be a simple potion, although it could be meant for older residents, it could also be used for average people. Knights for example, since they could get into pretty feisty fights often, they aren’t invincible. So the potion was supposed to help that. Of course healers could aid the pain for a little, but it would be more convenient for residents to obtain it on their own time, instead of going all the way to a healer, and so that it was actually treated and not just the pain. Almost like a painkiller but more sufficient and actually heals the injury at the spot. It would also save mora and time.
This one they were working on was to loosen up the cells a little, so that it’d be easier and less time consuming to actually heal. The potion was supposed to weaken the cells temporarily and be more reactive to healing.
What Sucrose didn’t expect..was for it to ricochet and backfire onto Albedo when he was left in the room alone.
“Ah..yes yes..everything is okay..” Albedo’s voice remained cool and calm, but Sucrose could tell that Albedo was somehow…nervous? “Are you sure? Can I come in?” Sucrose asked, more afraid of what might be in the room. Albedo hesitated before opening the door himself as Sucrose backed up a little for the door to open. Albedo stepped to the side to let her in as she took in the fact he had his hood on and he held his coat tightly.
Albedo closed the door as Sucrose looked around, a light pink puff of smoke dissipating in the air. “Mister Albedo? What’s the matter? What happened to the experiment?” Sucrose asked in a soft tone as Albedo reached for his hood and pulled it down, Sucrose letting in a soft gasp. “Oh my Archons..” Sucrose put a hand to her mouth as she walked closer, inspecting the man. “Can you note the current time?” Albedo asked as Sucrose nodded. “Wh..What happened?” Sucrose nervously asked, clearly nervous from the new features.
“I tried using another substance in hope for it to be an alternative to the sweet flowers. I was too hasty and have not calculated what might’ve been the outcome.” Standing before Sucrose was a calm Albedo, but instead..he had…ears of those similar to a cat..and a tail swishing behind him. His hair was also unkept and messy as if he had just been in an explosion as he combed his hand through it. “I’m not sure how a cell loosening potion could possibly turn me into…this. Although, it was very interesting..” Albedo flicked at the cat ears on the top of his head, they twitched and reacted to his touch.
“May I ask..what did you use as an alternative..?” Sucrose asked slowly, curious as to what Albedo had used. Without hesitation and a blank expression, Albedo responded with all seriousness, “Catnip.”. They stood in silence for a moment before Sucrose forced out a crooked smile, “Mister Albedo, I am not trying to offend you but with all due respect..why did you choose catnip? Out of all the other materials in the lab?” Albedo glanced at the half empty bottle of catnip he used earlier.
“I had used it before in previous experiments, to make the potion more reactive, since catnip acts as a relaxing drug to felines. I was hoping it’d slow down cell activity, not loosening it up but just to make it more flexible. Although in other experiments it had never done anything like this before.” Albedo explained as he looked behind him, having his tail wrap around his waist.
“May I check the contents in the bottle you used?” Sucrose asked, Albedo hummed as he handed the large bottle to her, “You don’t have to be so formal all the time by the way, Sucrose.” Albedo mentioned softly as Sucrose looked at the bottle closely as she adjusted her glasses. “Not meaning to act like your parent..sorry.” Sucrose apologized, “It’s alright, you weren’t.” Sucrose looked up at Albedo, smiling a little sheepishly. “It contains cat hair..in the bottle there are traces of fur inside.” Sucrose handed the bottle back to Albedo to inspect. “You’re correct..I supposed I hadn’t double checked the contents after I had retrieved it from the Cat’s Tail.” Albedo added.
“Oh, no wonder then.” Sucrose hummed, “So..do you know how long you think the..cat features..are supposed to linger for?” She asked as Albedo stopped to think about it for a moment. “Hopefully not permanently, that would be quite the obstacle. I had already knocked down several beacons with my tail already, it seems I hadn’t gotten used to controlling it yet.” Albedo stated as he pried his own tail off his waist, Sucrose holding back a laugh.
“Well..should we return the bottle to the Cat’s Tail?” Sucrose asked awkwardly. “I didn’t pay for it..since Diona had already had too much on her hands for the other cats in the residence. So let’s keep a little bit of it as we may need it later and return it to her.” Albedo concluded, putting his hood back on as his tail somehow found its way to curl around himself again. “It shouldn’t be too much of a distraction with these new accessories right?” Sucrose asked.
“No, besides, I have had plenty of alterations done to me by mistake and some being seen by the other knights so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.” Albedo explained as he opened the door again for Sucrose before following closely behind, exiting the headquarters, he had been residing there for the time being as it was a bit of an issue hurdling up materials all the way up Dragonspine.
Walking through town, Sucrose asked what kind of other failed experiments Albedo was talking about earlier. “Nothing too serious, once my hair had turned pink. It had gone away after a couple days, another was I had accidentally made myself glow..in the dark.” Sucrose let out a small laugh, Albedo smiling slightly.
“Hello Diona.” Albedo greeted as Diona shook up another drink as she glanced at him as they entered the Cat’s Tail. “Oh hey! Did you get that lizard tail I asked for?” Diona’s ears perked up as Albedo pulled out a sack and placed it gingerly on the table. “Thanks!” Diona opened it and dropped one in the drink she had just whipped up, passing it to a drunk man who drank it graciously. “Whatcha here for anyway?” Diona asked as Sucrose then placed down the bottle of catnip on the counter.
“Oh, you guys can keep that, I have too much. Also, what with the hood?” Diona bluntly asked, Sucrose glancing at Albedo, worried if he was about to take it off, but his next answer was unexpected. “Bad hair day.” Albedo stated nonchalantly, his response earned a laugh from Diona, which it seemed that his shoulders had relaxed from the laughter. “I never knew a knight like you could ever have a bad hair day! Anyways, don’t worry about the catnip, I dunno what you guys were using it for but I don’t need it back.”
Albedo grabbed the bottle back from the counter and swiftly placed it in his coat, “Thank you, Diona.” Sucrose smiled warmly at Diona. “I hope those lizard tails can help with creating the worst liquor ever..” Diona murmured as they had left. “At least we have more of the catnip to use.” Sucrose chuckled softly, Albedo nodding and humming.
“I never knew you would respond like that, a ‘bad hair day’ was a little unexpected.” Sucrose mentioned, fiddling with her gloves as they made their way back to headquarters. “I didn’t want to make her feel like she was being made fun of, I have seen her upset about her feline-like features, because of other intoxicated people mentioning them.” Albedo explained as his tail flicked for a moment, luckily nobody was around to see it.
Sucrose nodded in understanding, she opened the door to headquarters before Albedo had accidentally knocked into a tall figure. It was Lisa and she gasped when his hood fell off. “Oh my, what do we have here?” Lisa smiled as Albedo pawed at his ears as if to brush them out from the hood. “Experiment failure.” Sucrose explained, but not too much. “That’s kind of cute actually.” Lisa teased, “Sorry for bumping into you two, I was in a rush and I didn’t see this little guy in front of me.”
“It’s not a problem.” Albedo nodded, his tail now swishing from side to side slowly idly. Lisa bent down to Albedo’s height and whispered, “Can you meow?”, her voice was genuinely curious as Albedo’s eyes widened. “No.. didn’t try..” Albedo murmured. “You should try later.” Lisa smiled warmly as she quickly brushed past them, “See you cuties later.” Lisa called out before what Sucrose and Albedo assumed, was to find her next victim for not returning a library book. Their encounters with others weren’t over yet, Albedo kept his hood off and his tail idle, the guards looked but stayed still. On their way to the stairs another figure ran into them. “Sorry about that- Albedo?” A familiar voice rang around the room, it was Kaeya. “Oh my, how interesting.” Kaeya had the instant audacity to grab Albedo’s tail.
Albedo jumped back, yanking it from Kaeya. “Don’t do that.” Albedo nearly hissed, “..please.” He added as if he had forgotten his manners and was embarrassed. “Whoops, my bad.” Kaeya smiled smoothly, crossing his arms. “Why has our chief alchemist suddenly turned into a kitty-cat?” Albedo shuffled awkwardly, “Experiment accident.” Sucrose nodded, Kaeya humming. “What kind of experiment? Can you meow?” Kaeya asked straightforwardly, Sucrose’s mouth hanging open absentmindedly, “Sir Kaeya..!” Sucrose gasped, Albedo looked as if he were thinking.
“I’m not so sure, I haven’t tried.” Albedo answered, Sucrose looked at Albedo nearly in disbelief from his calm answers today, Albedo’s tail thumped on the ground. “As much as I am intrigued and would like to mess with you, I need to annoy Diluc at the winery.” Kaeya chuckled as he uncrossed his arms and waved goodbye with the biggest grin on his face. He was plotting something. “I’m still unsure of how to reverse this.” Albedo suddenly added as they made their way to the laboratory.
“I’m sure we’ll find a way, Mister Albedo. If we can’t, there’s no way it’ll be permanent.” Sucrose smiled.
Closing the door, Albedo reread the procedure he used to get himself into this mess but when he was trying to recreate it he found that they had used up nearly all the materials needed for the experiment to be recreated. “This is certainly not ideal. We ran out of materials.” Albedo sighed as Sucrose began to clean up, “It’s almost dawn, I doubt it’d be safe to retrieve some now, after all they were in Dragonspine.” Albedo murmured, placing the bottle of catnip down on the table behind him.
“We can wait until tomorrow, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle overnight right,” Sucrose suggested as she placed glass beakers back in their respective cup boards. Albedo nodded as he began to clean up too, his tail swishing around unconsciously until it bashed into a table, knocking the bottle of catnip they had placed earlier on the table down, smashing into pieces as it went everywhere. Sucrose coughed and so did Albedo, who inhaled too much that he wanted to.
As the dust subsided, Sucrose shook her head to clear some off her head and ears. Albedo bent down to clean it up, scooping some up with paper and into a spare bottle. “Are you alright, Sucrose?” Albedo asked, looking up. Sucrose nodded, “Maybe that tail might be a little issue.” She smiled awkwardly, Albedo nodding in agreement.
“Come to think of it, we haven’t eaten all day have we?” Albedo mentioned as they finished up, “Too bad Klee is grounded, I would try to convince Master Jean to lift it, but I’m afraid she wouldn’t take me seriously like this.” Albedo sighed, “Although, would you like to accompany me to Good Hunters?” Albedo asked, Sucrose nodding with a smile as they made their way out again. “I’ll take a crab, ham & veggie bake, please.” Sucrose asked as Albedo went next. As much as he craved something sweet like a slice of cake, he felt as though it’d be better to eat something substantial.
“I’ll take a fish, please.” Albedo asked, Sara smiling. “Which one?” She asked, Albedo looked confused for a moment before asking for a fish skewer instead. They both paid their mora and sat down, ignoring glances towards Albedo’s direction. “It is alright, Sucrose. I’m sure they just have never seen me in this state before.” Albedo assured her, gnawing at his cooked fish on a skewer as Sucrose took bites of her food. “It’s unfortunate how it’s cooked..” Albedo murmured to himself before Sucrose nearly dropped her utensil. Albedo realized what he had just said and tried to brush it off, “Oh..sorry about that, just a slip of tongue.” Sucrose chuckled at Albedo’s quick cover up, “Side effects possibly?” Sucrose suggested. “Possibly, hopefully I won't start meowing anytime soon.” Albedo joked lightly, Sucrose softly giggling at it.
Their meals were more delightful that evening.
At night, Sucrose had headed home, but Albedo was still up. His body had felt more dozy, he felt a little more absentminded to the point he didn’t realize he was flicking a ball of yarn back and forth on his table. Disturbed about how he was accidentally mimicking cat-like tendencies, he decided to go downstairs and hopefully take a night walk.
On his way to the door he had tripped over his own tail in the dark when all the candles were out, slamming face first into the ground. It was uncharacteristic and unlikely of him to do that, not to mention the cat-like screech that just came out of his throat. Albedo nearly curled up on himself, forehead touching the ground, his tail thrashing on the ground as he tried to sit up before someone grabbed him by the scruff.
“What do we have here?” A familiar feminine voice rang out. “A burglar kitty?” Albedo felt himself nearly get lifted up in the air, panicking and he almost let out a screech-like meow again. Albedo could feel his tail whack the hand that grasped him. “You’re..heavy for a cat.” The feminine voice continued until almost all the candles lit up at once, revealing Albedo’s disheveled state. “Albedo?!” The voice nearly screamed as he looked up to find Jean, shocked as she accidentally unceremoniously dropped him back on the ground. “What in the Archons?!” Jean backed up a little.
“Ow.” Albedo let out as he stood up, patting down his figure before someone entered the hallway. “What’s all this ruckus about? Oh, hi Albed- woah!” Amber had seen his state. “What’s going on?” Albedo rubbed his chin, where he had slammed on the ground. “There was a failed experiment.” Albedo said for the nth time that day. “I apologize I had dropped you, are you alright?” Jean flicked her hand near Albedo’s face, a small gust of wind had healed that pain in an instant.
Albedo nodded as his tail flicked from side to side, and his ear twitched. “Why are you up at this time?” Jean asked, Amber going back to her room. “I was planning to take a midnight walk, but I feel a little more dizzy at the moment.” “Then I suggest a midnight walk wouldn’t be the best in your state, I’ll walk you back to your room?” Jean suggested, as if beckoning a cat to follow her, Albedo nodded, still dizzy from whoever knows what. “Pardon for my immaturity, but can you meow?”
Albedo frowned.
“How long will this last for?” Jean asked as she leaned in the doorway. Albedo shook his head, “I’m not so sure, but Sucrose and I hope not for long.” Albedo slipped off his coat, hanging it on the wall. Jean laughed, “Then I can assume that playing with yarn is a side effect.” Jean pointed at what Albedo was holding, Albedo didn’t notice that he was already playing with the same yarn he did earlier. Albedo dropped it almost instantly, “I assume so..I also had inhaled catnip earlier, which probably explains why I’m so dizzy.”
“Then get some rest, don’t stress out too much about it.” Jean concluded as she closed the door softly. Albedo let out a sigh and sat down in his bed, fiddling with his new tail. “Oh, Albedo.” Jean opened the door again. “Kaeya said he has a present for you in the morning, I wonder what it is.” Jean noted before she left again, the click of the door closing echoing through the room. “A present?” Albedo murmured.
Albedo slept a dreamless dream.
“…” Albedo could only stay silent at the box he had opened the next morning, his ears pressing back to his skull and his tail flicking around and thumping on the ground. “Cat..toys.” Albedo hummed as he picked one out, it was a thin long stick with a feather ball attached to the end of it, it seemed to have a bell installed in it. Albedo wouldn’t be lying when he said he was oddly drawn to it. There were several other trinkets in the box, like balls and fuzzy mouse toys. Albedo frowned as he quickly boxed it all back up and shoved it in some other cabinet, he needed to focus on creating a cure for himself.
A knock arrived at his door, Albedo opening it with ease. “Hello.” Albedo greeted nonchalantly, Lisa letting out a giggle for some reason. “Albedo..playing with cat toys?” Lisa teased, Albedo went pale. Albedo slowly looked behind him, noticing he had forgotten to shove away a light pink tiny mouse plush, made for cats. “No no no..Kaeya had found it hilarious to give me cat toys for my demise.” Albedo tried to brush off his embarrassment so early in the morning.
Lisa smiled wider, “I overheard that cat screech last night, was that you?” Albedo staggered backwards in embarrassment, he totally forgot that he actually let that sound out. Quite frankly, now that he thought back on it, he really sounded like a cat. “I guess so..” Albedo was clearly embarrassed, “Anyways, I too, have a gift for you, kitty.” Lisa walked closer as she pulled out something from her satchel.
“A…collar?” Albedo gulped in fear, “What’s the meaning of this?” The collar was a blue shade similar to his outfit and a gold plate with the writing, “Albedo” on it. It was absurd.
“Just a little gift.” Lisa hummed as she walked up, “Good luck with finding a cure.” Albedo nodded, holding the collar in his shaking hand. How unnerving. The last time he felt like this was when he forgot a book to return, a week overdue, Lisa had personally climbed all the way to Dragonspine. Albedo had been caught off guard in his lab without any warning, so fear would wrack inside his bones when he’d pass by her.
Lisa smiled warmly, something told Albedo that there was malicious intent behind that grin as she patted his head, ruffling his hair. Lisa turned around and left, closing the door with a click behind her.
“Mister Albedo!” Albedo heard a familiar voice as the door opened again, it was Sucrose, his savior at the moment. Albedo’s ears perked up and his tail swished in anticipation, had she created an antidote? “Okay so..I haven’t created an antidote yet..” Sucrose started, Albedo’s ears drooped and his tail slowed down. “But! Klee has given you a letter.” Sucrose handed him a piece of paper, red crayon handwriting scribbled on it. Albedo’s ears perked up and his tail began to thud on the ground, Sucrose suppressing a laugh. From what Albedo can read from it…
Big Bro! Klee got in truble again and now Klee is stuck in soletarey confinmint! I got caught fish blasting riiiiiite outside Monstat!!!!!!! And I even made sure meeny Mastir Jeen wasn’t around! But she was rite there, rite next to me!!!! She said, Klee. and shuk her head, she tok away all my waterprof bombs! But I cant wait to get out and show you all the kool fish I blastid!!! Allso Mister Kaeya said that your cat got out of the bag, I wunder what that means!
Luv, Klee.
Albedo had sighed with a smile on his face, she needs to work on her spelling more, but he looked down and saw that she had drawn him, with cat ears ... .and a tail.
Kaeya had told her.
Albedo could feel himself burn up in embarrassment, he wasn’t planning on telling her. “Thank you, Sucrose.” Albedo stiffly smiled, trying to seem calm, his tail wacking a nearby table gently to cope with the fact that Klee will not leave him alone once he sees her again— not after he knows that she knows. “Oh Sucrose..how long has it been since the initial incident?” Albedo asked. “Around 23 hours and 43 minutes.” Sucrose smiled as Albedo sighed warmly. “I suspect that the effects should dissipate within the next 17 minutes.” Albedo took a look at his watch. “Thank goodness it is still morning.” Albedo murmured.
“Shall we pass some time?” Sucrose suggested as she opened a window for some light, trying to ignore how Albedo’s pupils turned into ones of slits from the intruding light. “That’d be preferable.” Albedo smiled as he slipped on his coat and grabbed a pencil, “Do you prefer crystal flies or regisvines?” Albedo asked as he unpacked his eraser and some chalk. “Crystal flies would be much better.” Sucrose quickly answered as Albedo began to sketch as she began taking some notes on the ingredients that led to Albedo's state.
It was a calm morning.
“Hey!” Kaeya slammed open the door with a grin. “How uncharacteristic of you, barging in like this.” Albedo murmured, his voice calm yet a hint of venom. “Still got the ears and tail I see..how fun!” Kaeya ignored Albedo’s annoyed expression. Albedo set down his supplies, his hands dirty with graphite and chalk as he forgot to put on his gloves, preparing to bring the crystal fly to life, using his vision. “Sucrose ordered a crystal fly, coming right up.” Albedo hummed. “It was either that or a whole regisvine!” Sucrose whispered to Kaeya. “Well, that would’ve been very interesting.” Kaeya chuckled fondly.
As usual, the bright flash of light quickly flooded the room just as quick as it would leave, Albedo thumping to the floor on his knees. “Mister Albedo?!” Sucrose quickly bent down, Albedo covering and pressing his ears to his head as close as possible, his knuckles going white from how much pressure he was putting on them, was he…gripping them too..? “Albedo? What’s wrong?” Kaeya asked, his voice a little shaky as he tried to pry Albedo’s hands off, but they just wouldn’t budge. Albedo groaned, almost like he was in pain, his tail wrapping around his waist as he nearly doubled over. “My head..it’s…pounding..” Albedo could only cry out, “My entire back..is burning. ”
“Albedo..! Breathe..!” Kaeya tried to comfort, shouting for Jean but it fell on Albedo’s deaf ears. Sucrose checked her watch. Kaeya and Sucrose didn’t like the smoke flooding through Albedo’s fingers and pooling out of his coat. “Sucrose are you checking your watch right now?!” Kaeya was freaking out now, and slightly annoyed by how Sucrose’s face relaxed. “Mister Albedo. It’s been 24 hours.” Sucrose stood up abruptly and grabbed a mysterious bottle filled with something red. “Mister Albedo! Drink this!” Albedo messily grabbed the bottle from her hand before absolutely downing it like a madman, desperate and his eyes squeezed shut as he slowly but visibly calmed down, his hands leaving his head, the ears gone and so was the tail.
“Ah…ow..ow ow ow..” Albedo murmured, breathing heavily. “The hell was that?” Kaeya asked, scared shitless. Sucrose was also mildly shaking, “Numbing potion, i-it’s a painkiller but way more saturated.” Sucrose explained as Albedo chuckled dryly, “I didn’t expect that to hurt so much..it appears..the ears and tail…evaporated..” Albedo explained, “I should be alright now..just a headache..” “You should..lay down.” Sucrose rubbed his back as Albedo nodded.
“That’d be preferable.”