Chapter Text
It's not as if he was an enigma, Albedo could almost guarantee that there were probably other idiots out there in the world that acted like this.
But he's stuck with this one. What a great situation he's in. With the famed Cavalry Captain sitting on a rock within the cave of his laboratory. He wasn't quite sure why Kaeya was in Dragonspine, nor did he really care to find out. Only that he's here and that he’s interrupting his work.
Kaeya, to his credit, has expressed that he's only seeking shelter from the blizzard. Smart idea, the cave was genius for this reason, Albedo could work while the weather could be as temperamental as it wanted. However, it's not ideal right now. Because it also means that Kaeya would seek shelter. How irritating.
“You really plan on working while the weather is acting like this?” Kaeya breaks the silence that had blanketed the pair.
It's not as if he didn’t like Kaeya. He didn't like him nor dislike him in any fashion. Neutral.
“Why wouldn't I? It's not as if the blizzard is prohibiting me from working”
Kaeya lets out a small chuckle, echoing around the cave, bouncing around and settling into Albedo's ears. Kaeya laughed a lot. It was a nice sound. But regardless of the nice sound, it was irritating at the moment. Only making the task at hand harder, he needed to concentrate and he couldn't, not with Kaeya here. The man was distractive.
If he wasn't going to get the work done, he should not meddle with it anymore, lest he mess it up. Which couldn't be afforded. Though engaging in idle talk with Kaeya wasn't much more of an attractive offer. While he weighed the options, an unseen variable entered the equation. Somewhere between when he last spoke and now, Kaeya had risen from his position and joined Albedo near his desk. Seemingly studying what Albedo was doing.
“What've you got there Mr Albedo? More specifically, what are you working on?”
“Are you actually interested or bored?”
“Not keen to humour me?” Kaeya asked, holding his hands up in mock surrender. Albedo rolled his eyes.
“If you must know, I’m engineering a chemical that can mutate different simple materials into healing potions, mostly for the knights to use in field”
“Materials like chalk?” Albedo whips his head up, only to meet Kaeyas eyes, the man expected a reaction. Or he was looking at Albedo's head. The latter made Albedo less nervous. “Reckon I could put some on you and turn you into a healing potion?”
“If you're planning on murdering me with my own science I must ask you to put a hold on that. Considering it's not finished yet” Albedo crosses his arms, leaning back in his chair and matches Kaeyas stare. Who is smiling. “But no, since my creation from chalk my physical body has changed, I bleed like you.” Kaeya knew Albedo was a synthetic human, in the same vein, Albedo knew Kaeya hailed from a dead nation. Neither of them had discussed this outloud before, not with each other or any others really. It was instinctual, knowing these things. Something told him who Kaeya was and Kaeya himself did not exactly deny it.
That's one thing Albedo was sure about, Kaeya rarely lied, nor did he tell the truth. Kaeya dealt in half truths, dodged questions entirely. In other words, he used people against themselves. Albedo didn't have an issue with this, how he dealt with others was his problem but he did have an issue when it related to him.
“I'm not exactly a genius at predicting the weather, how long do blizzards up here tend to last?”
“At least three or four hours, could be much longer though” They were in for the long haul up here, then navigating the way down from Albedo's lab was dangerous, it would be easier if they did it together at least. Seemingly resigned to his fate, Kaeya wanders over to the variety of shelves within the lab. Taking his eyes off the man for the moment, Albedo lets himself slip back into his work, somehow finding the ability to focus as Kaeya drifts in and out of his peripheral.
“Help me move these to the front of the cave, it'll block some of the wind so the fire isn't fighting for its life” Kaeya was holding one side of a shelf filled with equipment. It wasn't a bad idea, he obliged, first moving the important contents of the shelf elsewhere as Kaeya huffed with barely contained laughter. They moved the shelves to the cave's mouth with relative ease, loath to admit it they worked together well. At least when it came to moving large objects. Kaeya had been right, the wind in the cave had significantly lessened and as Kaeya added some extra fuel to the fire, Albedo began to feel the warmth leak some life back into his limbs.
It's not as if Albedo required shelter from harsh temperatures or environments. Not in the sense most did, they didn't harm him or anything of the sort. They were only an inconvenience. Unlike Kaeya, sitting by the fire and warming his hands, this weather isn't harmful and if it weren't for the considerations he had to make for his far more fragile human guest, he'd still be in the cold, harsh wind. So, with the heat radiating from the fire he had to admit, having Kaeya here wasn't all bad.
The fire lashed out as it flooded over one of the newer logs. Kaeya flinched, inching away by a small margin. “Are you afraid of fire Kaeya?”
“A healthy fear of fire is good, no? Can't all be pyromaniacs like your little sister” Kaeya lifted his head, looking over his forehead at Albedo who was standing about a metre behind him. It was true Klee was destructive and thought of fire as a friend rather than something that could burn, though it seemed an insult because, like Klee, Albedo found himself indulging in his love of fire. Only he hid it better and did not intend to, consensually at least, blow the city to celestia with the power of a million Dodoco shaped bombs. Albedo felt himself hum out of agreement, true it was normal for living beings to fear fire but the look in his eyes, well eye, was closer to a wild animal caught in a hunter's trap rather than an apprehensive acknowledgement of something dangerous. Curious.
Albedo sits down across from Kaeya, the fire between them flickers, the light it produces flickering across Kaeyas dark skin. He lets himself study Kaeyas features. Deep brown skin, cheekbones highlighted by the luminosity of the fire, slight blush from the cold and a piercing blue eye. He's attractive, though he's not exactly the first person to notice that. In other words, not a groundbreaking discovery for the majority. He feels like he needs to speak, break the silence. It feels awful, it feels awkward.
“You never told me what you were doing up here,” he didn't add that he didn't care, just small talk which contradicts the very principles of which Albedo set for himself. That is, small talk is for people with nothing to do, it was just to fill silence.
“Well, fatui parties have been sent up here, really just investigating to make sure those idiots don't do anything stupid” Kaeya shrugs. Albedos notices something about Kaeya, when he shrugs his eyes closed at the same time his shoulders raise. Why was he obsessing over the details of Kaeya?
The wind howls, loudly thundering through the cave and forcing the fire to flicker, threatening to extinguish itself. Kaeya turns away from the fire to look at the shelf, seemingly annoyed at the weather. If this man could command the weather to stop, Albedos sure he would not be here. Does that mean Kaeya doesn't like his fellow captain? Why does that matter to him? He wants Kaeya to like him, whereas with other coworkers, he really doesn't find their opinion of him matter.
The storm's blizzard has only grown in severity since Kaeyas arrival and subsequent makeshift camp. They'll be stuck here for the foreseeable future.