𝓌𝒽𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝓇𝑜𝓈𝑒 - an alberose fanfiction (albedo x sucrose)

𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓁𝑜𝑔

for the first time in days, the heavy rain has finally stopped in mondstadt. albedo looks out the window of his laboratory and lets out a sigh of relief.
"finally." he says to himself.
the winter has been long enough, it is time for the weather to finally get warm again.
even if he stays inside most of the time, only seeing heavy, cloudy skies hang above the city of winds, is quite depressing. albedo gets up from his desk to clean the tiny glass plate from his microscope, which he had used to further inspect a certain specimen. while he's at it, he can tidy up his work space a bit. the slight mess he's always got going on has gotten a bit out of hand, due to him restlessly working in there since it has started raining.
he walks over the sink and turns on the water, placing his dirty flasks and all vessels of that sort inside of it.
with the calming sound of the running faucet in his ears, the young alchemist starts washing up his utensils. he has planned on doing one last experiment for the day, before calling it a night. another thing he has noticed, besides how abruptly the rain has stopped, is that it has become quite late already and if he still wants to get some sleep that night, he would have to soon start with his concluding experiment.
the noise of running water and the monotone task of washing out flasks, have sent albedo into a meditative state. calmly he grabs one bottle after the other and rinses it well. he's so lost in his thoughts, that he doesn't seem to hear footsteps approaching his door and it being opened, soon after.
without albedo noticing, his assistant has slipped into the room behind him.
"ahem..." sucrose clears her throat, before taking off her wet, mint green raincoat and putting it on the hanger.
"m- mr. albedo?" she says, hoping for a reaction from her mentor, but it still leaves her with nothing at all. this is actually no wonder, since the sound of the  rushing water and of glass bottles hitting each slightly while being placed down, is more than enough to cover her quite voice.
this girl isn't exactly the type to give up on things so easily though. so this time she tries to call him a bit louder. just a bit though, nothing out of her tiny comfort zone.
when it comes to alchemy, sucrose is of an unstoppable nature. in social settings on the other hand, even if it's just albedo, her closest companion and dearest friend, she gets enormously anxious.
"mister- mister albedo! it's me, sucrose!"
suddenly a glass falls to the floor and shatters, albedo turns around to face sucrose and stares at her.
"oh lord barbatos, sucrose. are you alright? i'm so sorry. you've startled me quite a bit there, haven't you?" he lets out a small giggle, then he meets her eyes again. sucrose amber eyes are wide open. she feels bad for scaring him, she really does.
a vessel had fallen out of albedo's hand, due to him jumping at the sudden sound of someone's voice behind him.
"ah- al- uhm- mr. albedo! i'm so sorry i-" is all that she can get out, before being interrupted by albedo.
"oh no, there is no need for you to be sorry. infact, i would like to say how proud i am of you. you're making good progress, as i can see." albedo smiles warmly.
"pro- progress?" sucrose stutters.
"yes, progress."
"what do you mean, exactly. mr. albedo?"
albedo walks a bit closer to her.
"you were able to raise your voice enough to scare me, you usually never achieve that. i'm proud of you, for talking just a bit louder, sucrose. keep going!"
sucrose blushes at his words. shyly, she hides her hands behind her back.
albedo has made it into a goal if his, to get sucrose to be more social. instead of only building up her alchemical skills, he wants to also build her self esteem. although he isn't the most social person either, it pains him to see how anxious sucrose is in larger crowds.
"i- is that so?" sucrose looks up, for a split second. then she looks back down. her cheeks blushing, as always.
"yes." albedo replies, smiling. he puts his hand on her shoulder, leaving sucrose with a tingly sensation in the place where he had touched her.
"uh- uhm, well, i just came to tell you, mr. albedo, that mona wants to meet up with y- you soon. she wants to discuss a certain matter, regarding the two of you. which is also the reason, why she- why she didn't tell me wha- what it is, that she wants to speak to you about." still flustered, sucrose tries to change the topic. quickly, before she explodes.
albedo nods. he has one hand on his chin, as if he's thinking hard about something.
"mona..." he murmurs.
"a certain matter regarding... us?" albedo seems thoroughly confused.
"what do you mean by that, sucrose?"
"i uhm- i don't know either?" she lets out an almost silent laugh.
"she- i mean mona, didn't specify."
"i understand. thank you for letting me know." there is a brief moment of silence between the two, before albedo breaks it.
"by the way, how is your research going?"
"oh, my research. yes, uhm- i've spent the past few days outside gathering spe-" albedo gaps.
"outside? the past few days? but sucrose, it has been raining so much, it is very cold and uncomfortable. you can't tell me you spent that time outside?" he turns around with a frown and walks a few steps towards the window. sucrose, startled, is clearly looking for an answer in her head, which wouldn't upset her teacher even more.
"well, it was so... i- i was waiting for the rain to stop, i swear, but it took too long... so i-" albedo turns to face her again.
"so you went out in the rain?"
"yes." sucrose replies and turns slightly red again. albedo can't help but to laugh a bit.
"w- why are you laughing? mr. albedo? the humidity levels were increasing, i just wanted to run a few tests before- ACHOO!" sucrose covers her face immediately.
"oh no, i'm so sorry, mr. albedo. i- achoo!" with a face as red as an apple, sucrose runs to albedo's desk, looking for something to blow her nose with.
after a few seconds of searching, albedo walks up to his assistant again.
"here." he says, handing her a tissue.
"oh, thank you very- achoo!"
"see?" he says.
"now you can't stop sneezing. you've caught a cold." sucrose looks at her feet, she's embarrassed.
"alright now. i want you to go home and rest as much as possible. tomorrow i'll tell barbara to come over and look after you."
"please, mr. albedo! don't make such a fuss because of me. i haven't been here in a while and really want to continue my experiments. as i told you earlier, i've gathered some rare- achoo!" sucrose whines with frustration. albedo now places both hands firmly on her shoulders. he has a serious look on his face and looks her directly in the eyes.
"look, sucrose. i know that you want to continue with your research and come back here tomorrow but you can't, you're clearly sick! go home and get well, before it gets even worse." the places where he's touching her body, it feels like it is burning. she swallows loudly before being able to talk again.
"yes, but-"
"go home, please. i won't accept you back here until you're all healthy again." he takes his hands away and sucrose just nods. now she has decided to be obedient, fir once. not wanting to cause more trouble. she walks over to the door, sneezing a few times, to take her coat.
"alright, mr. albedo. i understand. t- achoo- thank you for caring." with a tired smile, she walks right back out of their shared laboratory.
"and if you need anything, don't hesitate to tell me or timaeus, okay?"
"okay." he can still hear her sneezing a few times while walking away and with that she's gone. leaving albedo regretful and empty, once again.
"was i too harsh to her?" he thinks to himself. albedo always hates sending sucrose home when she's sick or when she overworks herself again. but he has to, it's for her own good.
he always feels lonely when she isn't around, like something is missing. working in the lab without her and even with only timaeus, is not the same.
"in her stubbornness, she has something so fascinating, she-" he suddenly stops himself from thinking any further. the young boy runs a hand through his ashy, blonde hair and slowly massages his temples.
it takes him a second to clear his head before he goes back to work. night has already fallen and it doesn't look like he will get any sleep today. without any further hesitation, he starts preparing his next experiment. alone and deeply lost in his thoughts, all over again.