Genshin Impact One shots

A big task - Sucrose x Albedo 3

Sucrose fainted on the spot.

When she came to, her vision was filled with the most familiar face she'd seen in hours: Albedo.

"Hey, there you are!" Albedo cooed. "Take it easy, you've had a really bad scare, that's all."

Sucrose rubbed her face and blinked a few times while she acclimated herself and tried to remember what she was doing. It came flooding back to her in a fresh wave of terror when she saw the stranger standing about fifteen feet away with a worried look on his face. She remembered the blood too and looked down at herself.

She was sitting in Albedo's lap on the ground and he was cradling her with one arm. The blood seemed to have dried, but she still tried to find the source. Chief among her worries was to confirm that the source had not been from a vital place on her body. She began patting herself down frantically, checking for pain and fresh blood.

"Stop, stop already Sucrose! It's just ink!" Albedo tightened his grip on her to get her attention.

"Eh?"

He lifted a shard of glass from the ground with a bit of paper label stuck to it. It said "maroon red" on it in fancy letters. The bottle had broke beneath her when she fell.

Albedo shook his head with confusion. "I thought you were going to get black ink like you always do."

"I..." Sucrose squeaked, "I guess I must've grabbed at random..."

She flushed deeply with embarrassment and stood up with a start to brushed herself off. Albedo said something to the stranger and he left, saying his own short apology for frightening Sucrose. Albedo took Sucrose aside and had her sit down on the nearby bench.

"Tell me what happened."

With a grimace, Sucrose relayed back to Albedo the events of the day. How she'd messed up at the flower stand, and then how she'd panicked in the bookstore.

"-and then I thought maybe he was going to follow me! So I ran through half of Mondstadt trying to make a trail I knew he wouldn't be able to follow..."

Her eyes filled with tears again, recalling the terror and now realizing how foolish she'd been. "I came to this bench for a rest and there he was again! I tried to leave, but I tripped when he went to stop me."

"Sucrose, this is all a big misunderstanding. The man only wanted to make conversation." Albedo told her.

"How do you know that? How did you get here anyways?"

Albedo let out a soft chuckle. "I felt bad after sending you out on your own like some errand girl and I had to make sure you were okay."

Sucrose looked away sheepishly. "Well, I am your assistant."

"I couldn't focus on my work otherwise! It was getting late and I was worried something might've happened to you."

Sucrose's face gained a fresh tint of pink. "Thanks, Mister Albedo."

"Anyways," Albedo continued, "I found you maybe after two minutes after you'd passed out. I talked with the man and he said that he was only trying to make a new acquaintance when you suddenly freaked out."

"Well he didn't seem like it..." Sucrose muttered. "He never even introduced himself."

Albedo couldn't help but agree with her there. The stranger had been a bit pushy, based on Sucrose's story.

"Lets go home then. I think a nice cup of tea is in order for both of us." Albedo suggested.

Sucrose nodded gratefully and the two grabbed what purchases they could salvage. They carried three books apiece and whatever parchment that was left which hadn't been splattered by maroon red ink.

The walk back home went on in silence for the most part until they were almost back. The sky had gotten dark fairly fast and things were getting chilly. Most of the wildlife had calmed down for the night too, so nothing interrupted their walk. They went along side by side, each with three books apiece tucked under one arm.

"Thanks again for being there for me," Sucrose said, breaking the silence for the first time since they'd left Mondstadt.

Albedo smiled. "Well, I know you would've done the same for me." He reached over with his free hand and gave Sucrose's a comforting squeeze.

"Sucrose, your hand is like ice!"

Sucrose looked down at her hand being held in his, and blushed with embarrassment. "Is it?"

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"I-I mean- I guess so?" Sucrose shrugged. She'd been so focused on getting home that she hadn't realized how cold she was.

Albedo stopped, set his load of books on a rock, and took off his jacket. "Here," he told her.

Before she could protest, he'd already wrapped it around her.

"But we're almost home!"

He only shook his head. "I can't have my assistant catching a cold on top of everything else today."

The rest of their journey went on in silence; Sucrose clutched Albedo's jacket close for warmth. His jacket was a lot warmer than she had expected it to be. As their home and study came into view, she couldn't help but think about how the jacket smelled faintly of Albedo and how strange of a comfort it was.