Discovery | Albedo's Descent Book 1

Chapter 16: Bedtime For Real

Albedo's eyes fluttered open. He blinked, his eyes heavy and sticky from tears. He could see light pouring into the room from the high windows of the library. He didn't want to get up. Or move at all, for that fact. He gazed around sleepily.
Lisa lay on the floor a few feet away, dead asleep.
That's right... Albedo lifted his hand touched his still bare chest. Then he winced, his arms hurt terribly, but his chest didn't... He felt a smile creeping onto his face. There was nothing on his chest except for his tattoo and the faint glow of his heart. He wondered why it was glowing... It didn't hurt so he decided to worry about it when he was fully awake.
Albedo sighed quietly as he dropped his hands again. One of his hands Collided with Kaeya's arm. He twitched in his sleep, his fingers gently pressed against the Alchemist's stomach. Albedo felt his smile melting away. Why was it he could never be smiling for long?...
All over Kaeya's arms were small cuts and scrapes. Albedo moved his hands away, he felt terrible. He didn't know what came over him when Lisa was trying to help... He was so willing in the beginning... Maybe whatever the crystal left in him was trying to stay. Could his mind really be messed with so easily?... He was more dangerous that he thought...
He began to button his shirt again, but was unable to do the bottom two because Kaeya's arm was in the way and Albedo didn't want to touch him... It hurt just looking at all the damage he had caused... He didn't remember much and he hoped he hadn't hurt Lisa as well...
Then he had a thought: why was Kaeya still holding him? Albedo didn't remember exactly where in the room they had been, but he was pretty confident they weren't over here...
Albedo looked up at Kaeya. The Captain's head was to the side slightly, his hair obscuring the right side of his face. Albedo readjusted just a little bit, trying to see if he had hurt Kaeya anywhere else. It was hard enough to see from where he was, but Kaeya's arm circled around him, holding his waist now. Albedo went completely still, holding his breath. He had managed to shift a little bit to the side. He came to the conclusion that Kaeya's arms were the only part of him hurt. That made sense... it was the only part of him that Albedo could get to.
Albedo sighed quietly, he didn't think he had any sort of medicine on him. That, and he had shed his jacket some time ago...
He noticed just how warm Kaeya was. He laid his head against the Captain's chest. It was nice... a comforting kind of warm...
He could hear Kaeya's heart beating rhythmically. He looked up at Kaeya's face again. It really bothered him that his hair was like that. It didn't look bad or anything, Albedo just knew how that would tickle when he moved.
The Alchemist reached up and brushed the Captain's hair out of the way. Then he pulled his hand back abruptly. Kaeya's eyepatch wasn't on his face.
Albedo caught himself staring. There wasn't anything wrong, it seemed. There certainly wasn't anything that Albedo would consider something to hide. Extending over the edges of Kaeya's eyelids was a cross shaped scar. It was a lot lighter in color than Kaeya's skin tone, but Albedo thought it made a nice contrast. He didn't see anything wrong. Perhaps Kaeya was just insecure about it...
Albedo leaned back into Kaeya's embrace. He debated on going back to sleep... but he also didn't want Kaeya to wake up and feel like he couldn't get up because of him. He loosed another quiet sigh as he made himself comfortable in the Captain's hold. He had... never really been held like this... or at all, actually.
Whenever Miss Alice came to visit, she would always pick Klee up. It seemed that she never put her down until she had to leave again...
Albedo liked being held. It made him feel... safe... He hadn't felt that way in a very long time. He always felt on edge that he might hurt someone. Kaeya was definitely strong enough to kill Albedo if he ever lost control... but would he?...
The Alchemist's eyes looked away from Kaeya, he would have to ask him... Kaeya had questions, no doubt. But if he already knew what Albedo was... there wasn't much harm left to cause.
As he was worrying and stressing, Kaeya's eyes opened slowly. He sat more upright, then seemed to notice he was holding something.
Seeing where his arm was, he immediately pulled it away from Albedo. He was disappointed in himself for letting his arm touch Albedo like that. Then again, Albedo didn't seem bothered at all.
He smiled a little bit, "I'd say good morning but I think it's far past morning."
Kaeya nodded, "probably." Then he realized something even more horrifying. He swiftly covered his right eye with his hand, even though it was obviously too late. He looked away from Albedo in shame.
The Alchemist got a perplexed look as he pulled Kaeya's hand away from his face, "it's nothing you need to hide... I don't know why you feel like it is..."
Kaeya's cheeks got incredibly red, but he kept his right eye closed, "you... you don't hate it?..."
Albedo shook his head with a smile, "I think it's very fitting."
Kaeya reluctantly opened his eye, and Albedo seemed surprised. He tilted his head to the side, humming in thought.
Kaeya looked away again, he hated and loved how adorable Albedo was when he was curious.
The Cavalry Captain's right eye was glossed over and milky. Albedo suspected he was blind in it. It still had the faint diamond shape of the pupil, which Albedo found fascinating.
Kaeya's face got more and more colored as Albedo stared at him. "You don't have to analyze it like it's something weird... you're making me nervous..."
"Don't be," Albedo got onto his knees and leaned closer to Kaeya.
Kaeya's breath got stuck in his throat at how close Albedo had come. He wanted to say something! Anything! But he couldn't form words in his head.
Albedo gently placed his cold hand against Kaeya's temple, some of his fingers mingling with his hair. He got closer, "are you blind?"
"Ah-" he finally found his voice again, "o-only partially..."
Albedo nodded, deep in thought.
Kaeya felt his stomach getting filled with a whole greenhouse worth of butterflies and cactuses. Albedo was so close...
Rosaria and Lisa's words came back to him. "Just kiss him!" He could feel them yelling at him. He looked away from Albedo. He just couldn't. It wasn't the right time...
Albedo sat back down into Kaeya's lap, facing away from him. He searched his pockets then looked over to where his jacket lay. He sighed heavily, leaning back into Kaeya.
Kaeya felt so much serotonin. Albedo would rather sit with him than write down his observations?! He couldn't help but smile. Before he even knew it, he was placing his arms around Albedo, hugging him tightly. He buried his face in Albedo's messy hair.
A small gasp escaped Albedo's lips as he went very still.
That made Kaeya a little sad, but he should have expected it... he never seemed to like being touched... but this was one of the only ways Kaeya could show how he felt...
Albedo slowly relaxed again, but was still nervous. He couldn't take his eyes off of Kaeya's arms.
Kaeya's arms stung, but he ignored it. Albedo was allowing Kaeya to hug him. He wasn't about to let this moment go to waste.
"Can I... ask you something?" Albedo spoke softly.
Kaeya nodded, "of course, anything."
"How much... how much did I hurt you?..." Albedo sounded very upset, like he was beating himself up over this.
Kaeya smiled, "it isn't anything that won't heal itself. Within a few days I'm sure it'll be gone."
"But... doesn't it hurt...?"
Kaeya paused, "only a little bit."
Albedo didn't seem to believe him. He was quiet for a long time.
"Kaeya... can I ask you another question...?"
Kaeya blew air out of his nose, chuckling a little bit, "yes, Albedo."
Albedo hesitated, "if I... ever loose control and... if I try to destroy Mondstat... can I trust you to kill me?"
Kaeya's grip loosened. He didn't like how serious Albedo sounded. If it were anyone else, he would think it were a joke... but he knew full well how dangerous Albedo was...
He didn't want to answer the question. He didn't think he was strong enough to kill Albedo... even if it was for the greater good... He would much more readily watch the world burn and be killed by Albedo, than to hurt him...
Albedo's head drooped, "never mind, it's unlikely that would happen..."
Kaeya held him closer, "I can't promise that I will... but I promise that I'll try..."
Albedo bit his lip, "thank you..."
Kaeya nodded, "if anyone else had asked my answer would have been no... I don't think I could ever hurt you..."
Albedo seemed surprised, "... what?"
Kaeya paused, "I'm not going to repeat myself..."
Albedo was silent for a long moment, "but if I hurt you-"
"It doesn't matter," Kaeya spoke quietly and seriously, "I don't want to hurt you..."
Albedo didn't understand. If it was well deserved, then-
Lisa suddenly sat up. Her hair was a mess, her hat somewhere on the floor. Her eyes were wide open. She stared at the empty space before her where Albedo's coat lay. She cussed colorfully as she ran her fingers through her hair in distress.
"Lisa, we're over here," Kaeya chuckled as he let go of Albedo.
Lisa looked over, relief washing over her expression, "thank Barbatos!" She crawled over to them, "can I see?"
Albedo nodded as he started unbuttoning his shirt again.
Kaeya averted his eyes. He really shouldn't be so nervous, Albedo wasn't a woman...
Lisa smiled brightly, "it's like it was never there!" She looked to Kaeya, "we don't want our Captain looking like he's lost a fight with a cat, now, do we?"
Albedo giggled a little as he fastened his shirt back in place.
Lisa rested her hands against Kaeya's arms and spoke a few words. His wounds started slowly closing up, leaving almost no scars.
"Thank you, Lisa," Albedo held his hand out.
Lisa placed her hand in his, "don't mention it. I'm sure you would do the same."
Albedo smiled as he squeezed her hand, "I really don't get it... you guys barely know me..."
Lisa snorted, "we've spent a long time organizing this library, I think we're close enough to be friends by now."
Albedo closed his eyes with a smile, "yes, I suppose so."
Kaeya ruffled Albedo's hair, "so stop feeling like you can't talk to us."
Albedo laughed and Kaeya's face got red again.
Lisa smirked at Kaeya before searching for her hat. "Albedo, do you hurt anywhere?"
Albedo shrugged, "my arms feel a little heavy, but that's about it."
Lisa nodded, "then I think it's safe to say that you're back to normal!"
Albedo breathed a quiet breath of relief, "thank you again. Both of you."
Kaeya pressed his face into the back of Albedo's head, hugging him once again. He didn't care what had just happened, he just loved being with Albedo like this. It made him feel so good to be able to get all his affection out. He held Albedo tight, deciding not to care what Lisa thought. It wasn't her business anyways. "You don't need to thank me."
Lisa snickered, "you've thanked the both of us enough. Oh! And tomorrow all we have to do is put the books back! It really shouldn't take very long!"
Albedo smiled, "thank goodness..."
Kaeya smiled, too, not lifting his head, "I know I just woke up... but I really want to take a nap..."
Albedo shook, holding in his laughter, "I feel the same."
Lisa nodded, "and since we are all in agreement - and I like to spoil my friends - I'll give us a little treat!" She lifted both her hands and closed her eyes. She pressed all her fingertips together before pulling them away from each other as if she were stretching a very large rubber band.
Then she opened her eyes, "any second now!"
Kaeya looked up, "what?"
Lisa stared at him, "Kaeya..."
"Yes?" He asked nervously. Was she about to out him in front of Albedo?!
"Why were you hiding such a cool scar?! Seriously, you had me thinking you were deformed or something!" She folded her arms.
Kaeya looked away, "well, excuse me for not thinking it looks good..."
"Dude, why not?!" Lisa stood up, looking around as she spoke.
"Because..." Kaeya looked around, "I can't really see in it anywa-"
Albedo halted. "Sorry..." he let go of Kaeya's arms which he had been closing around himself tighter.
Kaeya blinked before muttering something that was supposed to be a refutation of Albedo's apology. He hadn't even noticed that Albedo had been pulling his arms... He held Albedo tighter, trying not to feel weird about it now. He cleared his throat before speaking again, "so that's another reason I wear the eyepatch..."
Lisa peeked around the corner, narrowing her eyes, "why'd you cut yourself off, huh?"
Kaeya couldn't look at her, "it's nothing. I just... don't think it looks very nice on me..."
Lisa rolled her eyes, "whatever. Anyways, it's over here." She ducked back over to the other side of the bookshelf.
"What is?" He asked.
"Just get over here!"
Kaeya sighed as he let go of the alchemist. He set Albedo down next to him before standing and stretching out his back. Laying against a shelf like that was going to hurt for a while. He opened his eyes to see Albedo just sitting there as if in a daze.
"Albedo?" Kaeya asked.
He looked up, "I... don't want to get up... I feel... heavy..."
"Oh," Lisa peeked around the corner again, "that should wear off in a few hours or so. Just have Kaeya carry you." She went back over.
Albedo pursed his lips.
Kaeya smiled, "I don't mind."
Albedo sighed quietly as Kaeya slipped his arms beneath him and lifted him up as if he were a princess. "Sorry, does it bother you?"
The Alchemist shook his head, "no, it's not that..."
Kaeya walked over to wherever Lisa went, "then what is it?"
Albedo ran his nail back and forth underneath one of his other fingernails, "it's just... you keep holding me... that's never happened to me before, so I don't know how to respond..." he turned his face away so his hair obstructed his features.
Kaeya smiled as he rounded the corner, "you don't have to respond in any way." Then he blinked several times, staring at what Lisa had created, "Lisa... you..."
She made jazz hands, "tadaaa! The ultimate napping place!!"
In front of them all was a ginormous bean bag covered in an assortment of blankets, quilts, comforters, and pillows. It looked so soft and comfortable!
Albedo was practically drooling, pushing at Kaeya's arms to put him down. Kaeya walked to the edge and gently set Albedo down, "do you need anything?"
He shook his head as he promptly pulled some covers over himself and curled up. He had one eye open in Kaeya's direction.
Kaeya chuckled as he got rid of his unnecessary layers of clothing and crawled onto the middle of the massive blob of comfort.
Lisa dove in, burrowing into the depths of her masterpiece.
It wasn't long at all until everyone was sound asleep.