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I. First Time
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Even though they had been dating for a while, he didn't knew of that curious thing for a long time, since both of them rarely indulged in sleeping. The first time Albedo noticed Yume's habit of sleep-talking was the first time they purposefully choose to fall asleep together. The two of them had stripped to their underwear and laid down side by side in bed, embracing eachother until they fell asleep. Even without any sexual act happening, showing themselves bare to eachother gave them the intimacy and display of trust they were looking for.
Yume had fell asleep with his ear pressed to his partner's bare chest, allowing him to hear the calming sound of Albedo's (synthetic yet functional) heart, and with his arms around the alchemist's waist in a tight grip. Shortly after, Albedo felt asleep too while massaging his boyfriend's hair in a soothing circular motion.
This sort of intimacy was new to them both, but it was welcomed and reciprocated. Most time, though, rather than sleeping together, it was Yume sleeping in a awake Albedo's arms, as one thing the latter quickly realized was that he was a rather light sleeper in comparison to the former. The littlest noise would cause him to wake up, from his little siblings waking up in the middle of the night and making too much noise as they played to Yume's sleepy muttering. And that was precisely how he learned about it.
He woke up in the middle night to the sound of someone's voice right besides him. At first, he thought one of his siblings needed something (not help with something exploding though. It wouldn't be the first time but he would have woke up sooner), but he looked around his room to find that he and his boyfriend were the only ones there.
"Niwa..." Yume muttered, voice raspy and low but clear enough that Albedo could understand. "You're going to..., dislocate my elbow..., if you pull my arm like..., that."
At first, it took a little while to realize what he was hearing. He was well aware who Niwa was; he was well aware of the other''s past and that included his first family. But he didn't expect to hear Niwa's name so... randomly. Neither did he expect the wanderer to be one for sleep-talking.
"Hey...," Yume muttered, giggling. His little laughs sounded quite different from any sound he would make while awake. "Don't..., tickle me."
Albedo mentality paused at that, and he couldn't help but let out a giggle of his own, his shoulders shaking as he bit his lip in order to avoid making too much noise. In response, Yume gronead as he snuggled himself impossibly closer to the other in his sleep, his arms tightening enough to bruise an average human's ribcage with his embrace. Albedo looked at Yume's face, to check if he was awake only to find that he wasn't. The wanderer was still asleep, still embracing Albedo with a death grip and still cuddling his head in his boyfriend chest. What was he even dreaming about? Did he trip and Niwa pulled his arm to get him back in his feet? Or was Niwa guiding him somewhere? Why was be being tickled? Overall, it seemed like a very mundane relaxed dream, and Albedo wanted to hear more.
The alchemist had always been a curious person, it was one of his most notable qualities, so it wasn't surprising that, since this had caught his interest, he wanted to hear more of Yume's sleepy mutters. To Albedo's misfortune, whatever his boyfriend said next was muffled by his own chest. He sighed as buried his nose in the wanderer's hair. A pity, not to hear more, but perhaps there would be another chance to hear Yume's muttering. Albedo simply closed his eyes again. After all, sleeping together was already appealing enough.
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"Did you know you talk in your sleep?" Albedo asked as he handed Yume a cup of tea, as bitterly as he enjoyed it. For himself, he had prepared one with a 'disgusting amount of sugar' (as the Wanderer would said), a 'sugar crash in just one cup' (as his master Rhinedottir used to said) and 'whatever makes you happy' (as Alice and her husband liked to say). They both sat besides eachother at the dinning table, waiting for Albedo's siblings to wake up (which, knowing them, would take a while).
"I think Katsuragi asked me the same thing once." Yume answered as he accepted his tea and eyed Albedo's as if it had personally offended him. Dottore had also commented on it, once or twice, but a single syllable Katsuragi said was more important than any sentece The Doctor ever pronounced. He took a sip from cup as he recalled the memory of a laughing Katsuragi asking the same question. "He thought it was funny, and a little..., cute. What, did I said something last night?"
Last night, Yume was very aware that he had dreamed of Niwa and, though he couldn't exactly remember the finer details, he knew it had not been a bad dream. To him, dreaming of Tatarasuna could be sweet yet melancholic or a distorted nightmare, so twisted that it was disrespectful to the memories of his family. He cherished the first type of dream the most.
"Nothing much. Apparently, Niwa pulled your arm so you wouldn't fall or perhaps to guide you somewhere, and then he may have tickled you." Albedo laughed as he took a sip of his sugary tea. "You were giggling, I thought it was cute."
"Huh!?" At times like this, Yume was glad his body lacked the ability to blush. Had he been a average human, his blood would have reached his face faster than light speed when he heard those words. He decided to change the subject. "...Why were you even awake?"
"Your mumbling woke up. I am very light sleeper." Albedo poked his boyfriend cheek with a playful smile. "Don't be shy, Mr. Guy, I am just curious, I think it's very interesting."
"When are you not?" Yume groaned, embarrassed, as he pinched his nose. Albedo went from poking to cupping his cheek with one hand, making the wanderer lean into the alchemist's touch instinctively.
"That's a hard question, I am always curious and interested in you." In response to Albedo's words, Yume's eyes widened so slightly that anyone different would have miss it.
"...hmph." Was all he answered as Albedo lowered his hand, opting to focus on drinking his tea under the alchemist's attentive gaze. They fell into a short comfortable silence that was broken by Yume, his voice soft as he spoke. "If you're really want to listen to the nonsense I say while asleep, I don't mind. Not if it's you. Just..., don't do any experiment with it and don't write it down."
'Not if it's you', he said, so casually. Albedo smiled, surprised yet pleased. "Very well. Does that mean we'll be sleeping together more often?"
"Oh, I am sure you're looking forward to that." Yume teased. A very true statement, though, if you asked Albedo.
"Is that a yes?"
"Sure." He said as he finished his tea. "Drink your moisturized sugar, now. It's going to get cold."
"Moisturized sugar ? You exaggerate, It's not like I'm drinking my tea with half a cup of sugar." Albedo said, frowning. His boyfriend looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"The sugar in that is enough that it can no longer be considered tea, just tea-flavored sugar."
Was Yume's statement truly an exaggeration, caused by his own aversion to sugar and anything that contained it, or was it an accurate observation of Albedo's preferences?
II. Just like his brother
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The light from the small fireplace flickered in the cold air of Dragonspine. The only thing one could hear inside Albedo's campsite besides the roars of the harsh wind was the constant sound of a pencil against paper as the alchemist's sketched the sleeping wanderer in his lap. Both of them were on top of the makeshift bed Albedo used whenever he was at the icey mountain, with the Wanderer laying on his back and his head resting on his boyfriend's thighs, using most of the space that the small bed offered.
The drawing of Yume was right besides a previous one Albedo made of a sleeping Durin. To complete this page, he would need to draw a sleeping Klee alongside her sleeping dodoco.
"Albedo..." He heard from below, and he inmediatly looked down. Yume was still asleep, so the alchemist wasn't surprised to hear his boyfriend's voice, as he expected him to start sleeptaking, but he wasn't expecting to be in his boyfriend's dream this time. He was a lot more curious than before about what Yume would say next. "You..., are going to burn down the house if you keep doing that..."
"Pff..." Albedo muffled his laugh with his hand. He set his sketchbook and pen down on the floor, and with his now free hand he caressed the other's hair. "Am I, now?"
"Albedo..." Yume repeated, although now with a annoyed tone. It seemed like Dream-Albedo did, in fact, burn down the house, much to the other dismay.
"Yume..." Albedo answered teasingly (even though the object of his teasing was asleep and cursing him in his dreams). He observed with interest as the wanderer's hands curled in tight, shaking fists. Oh dear, if this man had blood vessels, he would pop a few just with this dream.
"How did you even..." Yume continued exasperated. Then, in more fond but equally frustrated tone, he added. "You're just like Durin..., burning snow and water..."
Albedo remember that particular incident, where Durin had somehow managed to burn water into a pitch black viscous substance. His brother had been very embarrassed in that moment, and that embarrassment grew with Klee's giggles about the whole accident, but their sister's presence also served to calm down the young boy's tension and replace it with nervous laughter.
When that particular episode was shared with Yume, he laughed and told Albedo that 'Durin gets it from his older brother'. Regardless of truth that statement held in reality, it certainly made its way into the wanderer's dreams.
As the alchemist continued to caress his boyfriend's hair, said man opened his eyes without making a sound. His eyes were focused elsewhere as he woke up before they found Albedo's. They stared at eachother in a silence that was eventually broken.
"Did you sleep well? You seemed pretty comfortable to me." Albedo said as he poked the other's cheek. Yume countered by flicking his forehead, causing the other to gasp and stop his teasing out of surprise.
"I was." The wanderer said with a smirk, caressing a lock of Albedo's hair with his fingers. "It seems to me like you had a great time too, judging by your good mood."
"I did. I think you had a pretty interesting dream." That earned him a 'tsk', quite a neutral one, seeing as there was zero annoyance in Yume's tone.
"You hear me mutter some nonsense in my dreams and you're that happy? How easy to please." The wanderer slowly got up from Albedo's lap, shifting his position until they both were looking at eachother, their noses just one centimeter away from eachother.
"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Albedo said as he intertwined one of his hands with one of Yume's while the other found its way to the other's shoulder in a invitation said man quickly catched on, giving their joined hand a light squeeze. The wanderer's free hand went to hold Albedo's chin in place as he got closer, both their mouths opening slowly as they were mere millimeters away from eachother. The alchemist could feel his heart beating fast in excitement and anticipation...
"Albedo!" He heard a childish voice he recognized as Paimon from afar. " Are you there? We need to ask you some questions!"
Both of them jumped in their places, startled, as they backed away from eachother as their hands separated hesitantly. In the distance, they could see the silhouettes of the traveler and their companion coming to the campsite.
Albedo quickly cleared his throat as he got up from the bed in disappointment to greet their guests. The wanderer followed as he made himself comfortable in one of the alchemist's chairs with a sigh.
"Traveler, Paimon, it's good to see you. What brings you here?" He said, welcoming them casually.
As Paimon happily explained whatever mess they got into to Albedo, the Traveler eyed Yume with an expression that was somewhere in between pity and amusement.
"Were you two having a good time?" They whispered to the wanderer.
"Not a word."
III. Do you wish to make it real?
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Yume had once told Albedo about a story wrote by the Dendro Archon to preserve his memories. In the tale, the wanderer had been represented as a kitten, something the alchemist couldn't help but find humorous much to his boyfriend's dismay. Funnily enough, Durin seemed to think of his best friend as kitten too, drawing him as such multiple times, which led to Klee doing the same. In his office's drawer, Albedo had a folder with his siblings's art and, in many of them, one could see a tall blonde woman with large hat, a short blonde man, a blond little girl, a young boy with horns and one small cat with a large hat plus an annoyed frown.
Albedo, personally, had always found the comparison to be funnily accurate and didn't shy away from informing Yume about his thoughts on it. He had been told he was ridiculous for even suggesting there could be similarities, but the alchemist remained firm about his posture in this subject, especially because of moments like the current one.
Even though they had fall asleep side by side, Albedo woke up with his boyfriend on top of him, both of their bare chestpressed together as the wanderer sleeped peacefully, embracing his partner with his arms around his chest. This sort of behavior reminded him of that one habit cats had of making themselves comfortable on top of their humans. It could said he was making no sense with this, but the alchemist couldn't help but make the association.
With a sigh, Albedo began tracing circles in Yume's back with his finger. He returned the hug by throwing his other arm on top of his boyfriend's waist. Judging by the faint rays of sun coming from the window of Albedo's bedroom in the City of Mondstadt, it was early in the morning. Too early perhaps, as not even the actual cats would be awake at this hour.
While Albedo most certainly did not enjoy being crushed by others, regardless of whether it was literally or metaphorically, he didn't mind his current situation at all. They weren't a clingy couple, but that didn't mean the alchemist didn't enjoy private displays of physical affection, such as embracing eachother in sleep, one could say. He closed his eyes, fully intending to go back to sleep...
"Ha..., Abedo..., my cheek is going to get red..."
Albedo eyes snapped back openeded. For a second, he thought he had woke up Yume by carresing his bare back, but, when he looked at him and to his surprise, he was still sleeping. So, his question was, what was happening in the dream?
He got no answer from Yume's mumbling as the only things he did after that was giggle. Out of all the dreams he heard, this one of those he couldn't decipher and also one of those that captured his attention the most. He decided to stay awake a little longer, to see if he could hear more. If he couldn't, then he would simply ask about the dream in the morning, and hope that Yume remembered.
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Yume didn't say anything else during the night, so Albedo decided to ask about his dream before either could leave the bed. The first thing his boyfriend did when waking up, was move to lay down besides Albedo instead of on top of him. Once he could finally move freely, the alchemist quickly threw his arms around the other's shoulders in a hug, which was reciprocated when said man carefully embraced Albedo back. They looked into eachother's eyes, neither moving, neither speaking, both of them relaxed and comfortable in their positions.
"What's up with you?" Yume said. His voice had no traces of irritation and his tone was not so sharp; instead, there was a softness that many would find uncharacteristic. "You're never this affectionate in the morning."
"You're right, I am not." He admitted easily. "But I have something to ask you and it cannot wait."
Yume looked at him in silence for a moment before sighing. "It has to do with whatever I said while sleep-talking, right?"
"It does. I am very curious because I was unable to figure out what you were dreaming about."
"Oh?" His boyfriend said. He seemed curious until the memories of his dream came back to him, making him break the eye contact in embarrassment. "Ugh, what..., what did you hear?"
"You were giggling, again. But you also said that your cheek was going to turn red, which had me confused. " Albedo paused for a moment as an idea crossed his mind, causing his eyes to widen. "You don't have masochistic tendencies, right?"
Now it was Yume's eyes turn to widen. "Huh!? Where did you get that idea from!?"
"Well..., if you're cheek was 'going to turn red', it could be because someone —me in this case— slapped you, no? Though giggling because of it is quite..."
"I am going to stop you right there." His boyfriend said putting a hand on Albedo's mouth. Had he been biologically able to blush, he would be redder than his dream self's cheek. "You were not hitting me, quite the opposite, you were..., kissing me...., a lot."
Albedo's mind stoped functioning at that. His face felt a little warm and couldn't help but laugh, which it came out muffled as the wanderer hadn't removed his hand from the alchemist's mouth yet. It was actually quite the cute dream, and kind of silly too.
"Tsk! Don't laugh!" Yume demanded, finally uncovering Albedo's mouth. " I knew I shouldn't have told a thing..."
"I was simply caught off guard. Not need to be embarrassed, it's an adorable dream." The alchemist said, his laughter becoming softer.
"Don't call it that...!"
As Albedo's laugh finally died down, they let go of eachother but neither got up from bed. While neither Yume nor Albedo indulged in sleeping when they were alone, it had become a part of their routine when they were together. Awakening in the night to his boyfriend's mutter was also common to Albedo, and it was something he liked, however strange that may sound to others, including the sleep-talker himself.
"Are you sure it doesn't bother you?" Yume asked suddenly, both still laying on bed, both laying on their sides and still looking at eachother face to face. The wanderer caressing Albedo's lips with his thumb as he spoke. "It's not something I can help, but we perhaps we could sleep in different room if you're..."
Albedo didn't let him finish. "Sleeping in different rooms would bother me a lot more. But thank you for your consideration." He said, grabbing the hand that was carresing him to kiss it.
Yume didn't say anything else, he simply kept caressing his partner in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before letting go to get out of bed. Albedo watched as he started to get ready for the day, combing his hair and getting dressed.
Without turning around nor stopping what he was doing, the wanderer said: "Stop looking at me and get dressed, idiot."
Laughing softly, Albedo did as he was told. Hopefully, he would have a chance to make Yume's dream a reality during the day.