Against The Cold ~ Alberose

Chapter 2

"Does this even work anymore?" Timaeus complained, slamming an ancient-looking voice recorder down onto the desk and sweeping it off.

Sucrose coughed as dust flew down her throat. "Yes," she wheezed. "It does."

"Right." Albedo came over to where his two assistants stood and flipped the switch to operate the machine.

"Dust Experimental T-Tests day one," Sucrose read off of her clipboard. "To begin, M-Mister Albedo will add a s-small amount of Lecila powder to the starglitter d-dust."

"Let me read it, your stuttering is messing it up," Timaeus whispered into Sucrose's ear and pushed her aside.

Sucrose, in standard Sucrose fashion, quietly stepped back. She gave only a small huff to show her frustration at Timaeus, though she knew him long enough to know that he hadn't intended to be rude -- that was just how he was. Albedo glanced at Sucrose with a curious expression, but she just shook her head and looked down at her notes.

"Right," Timaeus began. "Albedo, after adding the Lecila powder, will add heat to the metal plate until it begins to turn red. Then, uh . . . ." He trailed off, looking through his notes in order to find the next part of the experiment.

Sucrose could hardly suppress an eye roll as she handed Timaeus her own, neatly-written experiment steps. "Thanks," Timaeus muttered under his breath. "Okay, now, Albedo will surround the area with a Geo shield using his Vision."

"Timaeus, don't forget to mention that the Visions don't-" Sucrose mumbled quietly.

Timaeus cleared his throat and announced loudly, "It had already been deduced that Visions do not alter the outcome of these experiments!" Sucrose thought he turned and glared at her, but he looked away so fast she was sure it was just a trick of the light.

Now Sucrose really did roll her eyes, her eyebrows tight with aggravation. Albedo shot her another concerned glance but nodded at her, signaling for her to continue the experiment. "If you please, Sucrose."

Sucrose walked over to Albedo. Timaeus cleared his throat and read from her notes once more. "Now, Sucrose will apply a tiny amount of dragons' blood from a secured vial to the powder mixture."

Albedo made a small hole in the Geo barrier as Sucrose took out the flask of dragons' blood. The deep red liquid swirled around menacingly, glinting sharply in the firelight. Carefully Sucrose added a drop of the liquid and waited as Albedo sealed up the barrier again.

Holding their breath, the three alchemists watched and waited, apprehensive and excited, until suddenly a great noise emitted from the test area. Albedo's Geo shield was shattered as the three were thrown against the cavern wall.

Shakily Sucrose rose to her feet, leaning against the wall for support. Quickly she scanned for injuries on herself, but to her surprise found nothing. Timaeus stood up, wiping a bit of blood off of his bottom lip.

Sucrose turned to her left and saw Albedo lying, unmoving, on the rock floor. She knelt down a pressed her hand on his chest. A wave of relief washed over her as she felt a few slow beats of his heart. "Timaeus, the candle, please!" she called over to her fellow assistant, who stood and brought her a strongly scented candle.

After carefully lighting it with a nearby torch, she waved it under Albedo's nose. He suddenly sat up, rubbing his head. "What- Sucrose- Wh-"

"Mister Albedo, please try to relax," Sucrose said, gently helping Albedo into a more comfortable position.

Albedo ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he hit a bruise. "Well, that was the most unexpected outcome of that experiment," he managed. "Where did you collect that dragons' blood, Sucrose?"

"Right where you taught me, Mister Albedo! In Wymrest Valley, by the large cave."

Timaeus snorted and Sucrose turned around to look at him. "No wonder why the experiment didn't work! You collected it from the wrong place! You're supposed to get it from the end of the river!" Timaeus started pacing the hollow. "Maybe if you took the time to read instead of jumping to conclusions, you'd know that! But I forgot! Sucrose always knows everything!" Timaeus scowled and sat down.

Sucrose trembled, tears forming in her eyes. Not once in her eighteen years of existence had someone yelled at her like that, especially over something like this. She glanced between Albedo and Timaeus. The former stared aghast at Timaeus, mouth hanging open in shock.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered, tears falling down her face now. "Please excuse me." With that, she stormed out of the laboratory and into the snow.

Behind her, she heard Albedo say, "Timaeus, that was uncalled for, she didn't deserve that."

By the time Timaeus replied, Sucrose was too far away to hear.

☆: *᯽* :☆

Sucrose had been walking for quite some time now. By the position of the sun in the ever-darkening sky, she could tell that it had been nearly two hours, but she wasn't planning on heading back any time soon.

Never had she felt so humiliated, so foolish, ridiculed by someone several years older than her and in front of Albedo, no less! All that time studying, all the hours I've spent pouring into those textbooks . . . she complained to herself, her jaw set with rage.

So lost in thought was she that she jumped halfway to Celestia when someone ran up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

Sucrose whirled around to find Albedo's face only inches from her own. The two blushed wildly and took several steps away from each other.

"Sorry," Albedo said, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"It's . . . It's alright, Mister Albedo." Sucrose sighed and turned away. "Was there something you needed?"

"Sucrose, please, stop calling me 'Mister Albedo.' It makes me feel old!" Albedo protested, running up beside his assistant.

Sucrose sniffled and wiped a tear away from her cheek. "Sorry, I-"

"No, don't be. You're always sorry and I've had enough of it. Anyway," Albedo continued. "I just wanted t-to make sure you were okay."

Sucrose stiffened and quickened her pace. She nodded. "Yes, although I'm sorry for making a fool of myself back there."

"Sucrose." Albedo planted his feet firmly in the ground and grabbed her wrist tightly, forcing her to turn around and meet his gentle gaze. "You are not a fool. Don't say stuff like that."

Sucrose shook her head, trying to hide her rising blush. As much as she felt she should pull away from Albedo's grasp, something inside of her didn't want to, and that made her very, very uncomfortable.

"Besides, you were right," Albedo concluded, his grip slackening. "You do collect the blood from the cave. Timaeus was reading from an outdated book last night."

Sucrose sniffed again and held back a sob. Stop crying, she commanded. You look like an idiot! "You really think I'm not a fool?" she asked quietly, suddenly becoming very interested in her boots.

To her surprise, Albedo let out a small laugh. "Of course not, Sucrose, you're a genius! I've never met anyone else as interested in alchemy as I am! You're talented, creative, kind, selfless . . . you're brilliant!"

Sucrose gazed into Albedo's light blue eyes and beamed at him. "Thank you," she said at last, breaking the silence between them.

Albedo returned her smile. His gaze finally latched onto his hand, still holding on to Sucrose's wrist. With the most awkwardness ever summonable by a human being, he released it and gave her arm a few pats.

Sucrose was blushing. Her heart rate had far excelled beyond the point of average and her palms were sweating. "Thank you," she managed. "Thank you for coming to get me."

Albedo smiled at her. "Anytime."

And together they walked back to the lab.