Commission To Slay a Black Dragon

Chapter VI: "Do you hate this?"

Notes

Long chapter ahead so I apologise in advance QQ. Enjoy!

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"ALBEDO!"

The heavy wooden gates flew open with a bang, threatening to break off its hinges.

The alchemist's brows furrowed in annoyance. He had heard the heavy thumping from above, forcing him to quickly halt his secret experiment in order to greet his approaching visitor. Just as he swipes a hand to conceal the storeroom door with a flash of alchemy, the intruder bursts in without even sparing a knock.

He should really get a lock for the door.

"Help me search for the dragon!" the intruder demanded.

Albedo was determined to turn around with his signature icy glare that Kaeya had warned him about. "If you want to make friends, don't shoot lasers from your eyes like that!" He bitterly recalls the hour-long lecture the Captain had subjected him to when he presented him with that very same stare for the first time.

And so, with a sigh, the alchemist turned with his usual poker face instead. Seeing that the intruder turned out to be Aether, Albedo was relieved that he chose correctly.

"I'm really-" Albedo paused, remembering that the last time he said he was busy, he earned a temper tantrum from the traveller.

"Really busy?" Aether finished for him, the taboo word slipping off his tongue maliciously. He curiously bends to the side to observe the alchemist's expression,

"Busy admiring the wall?"

Albedo blinked, realising that frantically hiding his experiments had left him standing awkwardly before a blank concrete just when the traveller erupted his entrance.

The alchemist fell silent at the simple taunt, before presenting a calculated answer that he was simply deep in thought.

"What are you busy with then?" the traveller pressed.

"With experiments."

"What experiments?"

"It's classified."

Albedo turns away to pick up his notebook from the table, scribbling what Aether could only guess to be related to his "experiments". He frowns, impatience surging at the alchemist's notorious vague responses. Most of the knights would know that Albedo offers infuriatingly brief replies whenever he was forced into a conversation he wasn't interested in, sometimes even rudely twirling a branch in front of his audience, hoping that his passive-aggressiveness would end the mostly one-sided exchange sooner. Aether wonders who the chalk prince picked up such terrible habits from.

"Who is it classified by?" Aether challenges, choosing to ignore the disinterest diffused by the cold alchemist.

"By the knights-"

"Don't lie to me."

He grins, savouring Albedo's slight expression of shock. Unlike yesterday's confrontation, the traveller was prepared for today's emotional warfare.

Today he will emerge as the winner.

"I spoke to Jean this morning, regarding your workload," Aether leans in, daring the genius to offer an excuse,

"Do you wanna know what she said?"

A light hue of red flushed over the alchemist's cheeks upon being instantly caught. In truth, he had already completed three weeks worth of his knightly duties ahead of time.