Chapter Text
Albedo had never dreamed before.
As a synthetic human, sleep had always been a blank—an empty stretch of nothingness that ended with the gray light of morning. But tonight, when his eyes closed, he woke to a forest alive with impossible colors: silver leaves rustling, a river that sang like a violin, the earth glowing faintly beneath his steps.
At first, he stood in awe, tracing the bark of a tree that shimmered faintly under his touch. Had he ever seen this place before? No, he did not think so. Everything around him burned brightly, the air heavy with colors too vivid to belong to his waking life.
So this is what dreaming feels like, he thought.
But then came a sensation stranger than the dream itself: a presence. Not a figure he could see, nor a voice he could name—only the weight of someone else’s thoughts brushing against his own, faint yet unmistakable.
The river’s song shifted, as if answering feelings that weren’t his. The path curved ahead, not where he intended to go, but where someone else’s attention already lingered. Albedo realized with a sudden quiet certainty, that this dream was not his. He was walking inside another’s heart, a world shaped by someone he had never met, yet who felt closer than anyone he had ever known.
And just as swiftly as it came, the dream unraveled.
Albedo opened his eyes, disoriented. He glanced around, his memories slowly coming back to him. Right, he had fallen asleep in the library. The culprit for his late hours sat beside him, softly murmuring in her sleep.
“Another sweet flower… test 32… ready…”
He smiled, warmth rising in his chest. Alice’s words echoed in his mind:
In Teyvat, you could share a dream with your soulmate when you’re both asleep.
Albedo had to look away from his assistant as his cheeks lightly flushed. This had to be a coincidence, he was aware. Yet a part of him wondered, unable to rule out the possibility of the green-haired girl sharing a dream with him. Her lashes fluttered awake, and her golden eyes stared at him with infinite trust in them.
“Good morning, Mister Albedo.”
“Good morning, Sucrose.”
He couldn’t bring himself to look away from her, a comforting silence stretching on as he admired her. Sunlight spilled across her disheveled hair, her skin kissed with warmth, and the faint imprint of her glasses pressed into her cheek. A far too precious sight to let go of, and he gently grabbed a strand of her hair between his fingers.
“We really have to stop falling asleep at the desk, huh?”
She giggled softly. “It can’t be worse than in the lab.”
“Sucrose… I sent you on mandatory vacation once. I can do it again.”
She looked at him horrified. “Anything but that.”
He chuckled and for a moment, Albedo was back inside the dream, where everything had burned brighter, and the velvet echoes of another soul had brushed against his own.