Journey | Albedo's Descent Book 3

Chapter 7: Another Broken Corridor

Albedo sighed quietly, Sucrose had been of no help. He had asked her about lamp grass and the way they retain light and create it. She was excited to share, but then Albedo realized his DNA was completely different from that of lamp grass.
He stepped out of the laboratory, feeling very drained. He just wanted to go to sleep... He had actually forgotten to ask Sucrose about it until after he was done for the day. After listening to her rambling, it was much later than he liked it to be. He hoped it wouldn't take too long to fall asleep without the candles.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Albedo whipped around. Then he realized that he didn't know where he was.
That wasn't the laboratory door...
But he just walked out of it... hadn't he?
Albedo looked around frantically, trying to stay calm. Why and how did this keep happening?
He took a deep breath, trying to force his heart to slow and his anxiety to wane. It only helped a little bit.
He turned around a few times, hoping he'd recognize something. Anything.
Nothing.
The walls looked the same as all of the ones inside the Knights HQ but... they weren't recognizable as any off the halls...
It seemed endless as well...
Albedo closed his eyes, imagining where the stairs were from the lab. If he just walked that far and turned, maybe he would find them. This was probably just some illusion... He would be able to walk up the stairs just fine.
He walked down the hall in the direction the stairs should be. When he had gone the appropriate distance he turned to the wall.
Albedo wasn't about to just try and walk through a wall like an idiot. He carefully held his hand out and and inched towards the wall.
His fingers collided against the grainy, cottage cheese texture. He ran his hand along it.
There was no way he could have gotten the distance wrong. Even if he did there would be no way to find the stairs, now...
He ran his fingers along the wall. It was definitely real...
Albedo realized there were no doors, windows, or decorations in this hallway.
He looked down to where the door he had came from was.
It wasn't there.
He held his breath unknowingly. He pressed his hand harder onto the wall, hoping it would go through.
Of course it didn't. It was a wall. Completely solid and not a figment of his imagination, as he had already confirmed.
He wished he had been wrong. Why couldn't he just be having hallucinations? Wouldn't that be better than whatever this hell was?
He wouldn't know.
He sighed to himself as he leaned into the wall and slid onto the floor.
Albedo pulled his knees to his chest and stared at the ceiling.
The ceiling looked like all of the ones he'd gazed at before.
Why was this happening?
Who knows how long it was until Albedo stood up again. He started aimlessly walking down the hall, actually quite curious about what this place was. If he had somehow gone into a sort of "pocket universe" - or something similar - he wanted to know what was here.
He wandered for a while down the hall, but the walls remained blank. How long would it take to wander back home, he wondered.
Could he even go back?... He had been here so many times already... But it had never happened so violently before.
That door slamming had really given him a scare.
He should have tried to open it. Sure, maybe something dangerous was in there, but it would be better than walking his legs off here.
"Albedo?"
The alchemist froze at the sound of his name.
"Albedo?"
He didn't recognize that voice...
He slowly turned on his heels, staying as still as he could. His eyes were so wide he felt they might just squeeze out of his face.
Then, Albedo blinked multiple times.
"Albedo, are you okay?" Kaeya put his hands on Albedo's upper arms.
Albedo opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. He was back home?...
Kaeya was looking down at him with a concerned expression, "Albedo?"
Albedo threw his thoughts aside. Not right now. "Ah- yes, I'm... I'm okay..."
"You were really making me worry..." Kaeya squeezed his arms, "are you sure?"
Albedo nodded, "just tired..." He groaned quietly when he realized he couldn't use the candles to force himself to sleep.
"What? What is it? You don't sound fine," Kaeya's grip tightened as he grew more concerned.
Albedo sighed, "I cant use the candles... how am I ever going to sleep?..."
Kaeya suddenly laughed, "what? That's what you were fretting about? Why can't you use them?"
Albedo smiled a little bit, glad Kaeya didn't seem worried anymore. "Lisa and I are... conducting a sort of experiment..."
"Is this about you becoming immune?"
"Sort of...?"
Kaeya slipped his arm around Albedo's waist and started leading him up the stairs, "then I guess we should get you to bed to get some results, huh?"
Albedo nodded, "I guess..."
"Come on, you look exhausted," Kaeya chuckled, "and it's not like I'm in a rush or anything. I'll keep you company until you fall asleep again."
Albedo leaned onto his arm, "that sounds good to me..." He was so glad to be back... To be safe...
Kaeya faltered in his steps for a moment, "Albedo... sometimes when you say things they sound... different then I think you mean them to..."
Albedo looked up at him, "hm?"
"Like what you just said..."
"'That sounds good to me?' I meant what I said... it... it does sounds nice..." now he felt insecure. Was that a wrong thing to say?... Kaeya had always said how hard it was to understand what Albedo was thinking so he had been trying to make a point of speaking his mind... Why was he so bad at everything?
"No, I mean... ah, never mind, it- it doesn't matter," he continued walking. He seemed oddly nervous and embarrassed.
Albedo stared at the floor. Had he said that in a strange way? Was it confusing to Kaeya? Did he sound upset? He couldn't remember what inflection he had used. He certainly hadn't meant to sound upset...
Kaeya unlocked Albedo's door with his spare key.
Albedo blinked, "since when did you-"
"It- it's only for emergencies, I swear," he hurriedly explained himself.
Albedo looked up at him, "but this isn't an emergency."
Kaeya's face turned red as he quickly pocketed the key and opened the door, "there are- uh- exceptions."
Albedo chuckled as he walked in.
By the time Albedo had dressed and gotten properly ready for bed, he had forgotten Kaeya was even there. He was being very quiet.
Albedo sat down and turned to face him, folding his legs, "is something wrong?... Did I-"
"It's nothing you did," Kaeya was quick to respond as he faced him and he joined Albedo, sitting across from him. "It's just been a long time since Rosaria's been gone. It feels so weird not to be at Angel's Share by now, Ahaha."
Albedo nodded with a small smile, "routines are hard to break without feeling off."
Kaeya nodded with a tired sigh, "how long do you think it will take for you to fall asleep?"
"You don't have to stay if you don't want to,"
"No, no, it's not that. It was just..." he began to blush again, "a question..."
"Oh," Albedo reminded himself to stop assuming things without proper data first. That seemed to happen too often.
Kaeya cleared his throat awkwardly, "besides, I don't like sleeping by myself anyways..."
Albedo blinked, "oh." He suddenly realized what Kaeya had been blushing about. He gazed around the room, "uh, I... I wouldn't be against you staying..." Albedo felt himself beginning to turn red as well.
"Oh, well, uh, that's good," he laughed nervously, "I'd already taken the liberty of assuming..." he gestured towards Albedo's desk where Kaeya's boa and other extensive extra accessories laid.
Albedo nodded quickly, "right."
It was dead silent for the next fifteen or so seconds.
Then Albedo quickly laid down and pulled the covers over himself, facing away from Kaeya, "Goodnight."
Kaeya - equally as swiftly - turned the lights off and did the same, "yup, Goodnight."
. . .
The blankets rustled a little bit as Kaeya moved, "is it alright if I...?"
The Cavalry Captain slowly slipped his left arm under Albedo and his other over him, carefully coming closer.
"Yeah, that's... that's fine..."
"Okay..."
There was no more awkward talking, but there was a lot of silent blushing.