Against The Cold ~ Alberose

Chapter 1

Sucrose's hands shook in the crisp air. Her fur-lined boots did a terrible job of keeping her feet warm as she trekked through the snow, and it felt as though all the cold in the world was seeping into her heavily-socked toes.

"Albedo!" Timaeus called from behind Sucrose. His curly brown hair and matching brown eyes were the only things that showed on his face, everything else covered by a scarf.

Up ahead, Albedo halted. "What is it?" he yelled back over the howling of the wind.

"W-We need t-to stop!" Timaeus shouted, his teeth chattering.

Albedo and Sucrose locked gazes and she nodded. "He's r-right!" she piped up. "The snow is coming down heavier than before!"

Albedo nodded stiffly and looked around. "Just a few more minutes and we should be at the first outpost."

Sucrose adjusted her mufflers so she could better hear Albedo, but suddenly Timaeus let out a screech. Quickly Sucrose ran back to him, carefully examining the area around where he was.

"Timaeus, what was that for?" Albedo panted, coming up behind Sucrose.

Timaeus was shivering, holding his knee. "I just fell down," he mumbled, his ears turning a bright red. "Sorry."

Sucrose sighed and helped Timaeus stand up. "It's alright. Are you feeling okay?"

Timaeus nodded, his face flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah," he said. "Let's keep going."

Albedo sighed quietly and turned back up the mountain.

☆: *᯽* :☆

After what felt like years and years of trekking through the cold weather, the three alchemists finally made it to their laboratory.

"Did we have to choose the peak of Dragonspine to set up this lab?" Timaeus scowled, taking off his coat. "It could have been anywhere! Preferably somewhere warmer!"

Albedo, who was fiddling with some equipment in a corner of the small hollow that was their lab, let out a long breath. "It's not on the peak, Timaeus, and we're not here for a vacation."

"We're here to study the chemical properties of starsilver!" Sucrose added, poking her head up from behind the desk. "Not to go for a swim."

Timaeus raised his hands above his head in defeat and went to help unpack their supplies.

Sucrose, busy organizing the drawers of their desk, hardly noticed Albedo behind her. Only when she turned around did she realize he'd been gazing at her absentmindedly.

Feeling her face heat up, Sucrose turned back around. "W-What is it, Mister Albedo?"

"Oh, what?" Albedo murmured softly. His eyes widened, realizing that he'd been staring at her without much thought. "Ah, right, sorry." He cleared his throat. "Just thinking."

"Timaeus, could you give me a hand with these books?" Sucrose called, pulling some old textbooks out of a drawer. "These are all outdated, right Mister Albedo?"

Albedo composed himself again and sighed. "Sucrose, please stop addressing me like that. It's unnecessary. Timaeus doesn't do it."

Sucrose looked at Albedo curiously. "That hardly compares, Timaeus is much older than you or I. To him, you aren't his superior, only a friend."

Albedo's eyebrows shot up. "So you mean to say we aren't friends?"

Sucrose's face flushed a deep shade of red. "N-No! I just mean that- Oh-" Albedo grinned sheepishly. Sucrose's eyes widened. Her heart was beating faster than normal, and she felt her palms beginning to sweat. "Sorry, Mister Albedo, that's not w-what I meant at all."