Journey | Albedo's Descent Book 3

Chapter 13: Much Needed Company

Kaeya shivered as he deployed his wind glider and flew over the broken bridge. Why was it always broken? He swore he had seen Albedo fix it once...
Kaeya shrugged as he walked up to Albedo's camp. He noticed there were tapestries hanging in the entrance, warm orange light seeping through the small spaces between them.
The Cavalry Captain lifted one up and ducked inside, "Albedo?"
The cold air swirled inside, sending several papers flittering off of the floor for a moment.
Albedo looked over distractedly, looking back at his canvas paper for a split second before laying his eyes on Kaeya again, "oh. Hi."
Kaeya chuckled, "what are you working on now?" He stepped over a few of the papers. He froze with his foot raised. He slowly lowered it as he picked up a few of the messy paintings.
Albedo sighed as he ripped the page out of the large book and tossed it aside. "I can't seem to get it right..."
"Albedo... what is this...?"
Albedo looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened slightly, then he closed them tightly.
Kaeya looked up from the unsettling peice of art depicting a freakish, cloud-like creature and he noticed the deep bags under Albedo's eyes. He let the paper fall from his hand as he walked over and took Albedo's shoulders, "have you been skipping sleeping again?..."
Albedo's eyes drifted to the floor as he set down his painting supplies.
"Is this why you haven't been sleeping?..." Kaeya asked quietly as he gestured at the papers around the floor, "have you been having nightmares? Is that why you asked Lisa about dreams?"
Albedo didn't say anything and he wouldn't look at Kaeya. He was squeezing his left arm tightly in his right hand.
Kaeya sighed deeply as he pulled Albedo into his arms, "you know you can tell me things like this... I don't think it's silly. I understand how it feels."
Albedo leaned into him with conflicting emotions. He knew he should tell Kaeya the truth... but Kaeya was willing to believe this lie, so why make it any worse?
Kaeya let go and started collecting the papers, "so... do you have a name for this thing?..."
Albedo shook his head as he sat down at his messy desk, "no..." He closed all his notebooks and stacked them, "I haven't really been calling it anything..."
Kaeya nodded as he set the papers down in a neat pile, "looks terrifying..."
Albedo agreed absently.
Kaeya looked around at the messy tables and the telescope leaning against the wall, "I surely hope you haven't just been painting this horrid thing the whole time..."
Albedo shook his head, "no... I'd been mapping the stars for the traveler as a gift... I'd only started painting...."
Albedo realized that he didn't know. "Uh, how long have I been gone?..."
"You left three days ago. I figured I'd check up on you and see what you were working on. Plus, Lisa offered to watch Klee, so..."
Albedo lifted a glass to his lips, staring off into space.
"Albedo don't drink that!" Kaeya lunged over and seized the glass, "that's paint water, isn't it?!"
Albedo blinked, "oh... it is..."
"Seriously, Albedo," Kaeya laughed as he stood back up, "you're so out of it." He suddenly seemed sad as he placed the jar back down, "was it really that bad?..."
"No," Albedo shook his head, "some of my experiments have been keeping me up as well... I have a lot on my mind right now..."
"You left so carefree..." Kaeya moved around the table and knelt down next to Albedo, "what happened?..."
Albedo didn't want to talk about it so he looked away. He felt bad for pushing Kaeya away again, but he didn't think he had the emotional capability to describe what he had seen.
"Come on," Kaeya pulled Albedo up to stand and took him over to the small couch to sit with him. "It was only a dream, Albedo," he spoke in a soft, kind voice, "you'll feel better after getting it out of your system." Kaeya squeezed his hand as he leaned into him, an arm around his shoulders.
Albedo nodded slowly, it couldn't hurt to tell him what he'd seen if he believed it wasn't real... Albedo took a deep breath, "I saw that *thing* for the first time in Mondstadt. It appeared over the stairs to the second floor in the Knight's headquarters with the illusion of Dragonspine. It asked me to find its other half... I- I don't understand what it meant. The moment I moved to approach, it disappeared."
"That's why you wanted to come here so soon?... You think it means something?..."
Albedo nodded, "I had a bad feeling..." he continued, "The second time was just the other night... It was over by the statue of the seven. Again, it asked me to find it's other half, but it seemed more... in distress. Like it was desperate for me to bring it this 'other half'... I still don't understand. And when I moved towards it... it disappeared..."
Albedo stared at the wall as if he could see through it to the spot he had been, conversing with that *thing*.
Kaeya laid his head over Albedo's with a quiet sigh, "you didn't have that first nightmare the night I was with you, did you?..."
"No," Albedo looked up at him with a bit of difficulty, "why would you think that?..."
"I don't know, I just thought that maybe I had done something to make you have a bad dream..." Kaeya's voice trailed off. "But since it isn't, maybe you won't have a nightmare because I'm here." Kaeya squeezed his shoulder with a smile, "do you think it's another side effect of the candles?"
Albedo shrugged, trying to hide his uncertainty, "maybe... there really isn't a way to tell as of right now..."
Kaeya nodded, taking a tired breath in, "so, how long have you been awake for?"
Albedo pursed his lips, "you aren't going to like the answer..."
"... no... it's not more than twenty-four hours, is it?..."
Albedo looked around the room, "Uhm..."
Kaeya sighed heavily, "Albedo... what on Teyvat am I going to do with you?"
"You could give me a hug..." Albedo suggested quietly.
Kaeya chuckled, "gladly," he wrapped his arms tightly around Albedo.
Albedo leaned into his embrace, holding his eyes shut tight to keep his tears at bay. He held on with a claw-like grip to Kaeya's clothes. He couldn't keep his bolted up feelings from spilling over. This past week and a half [or so? I'm not good at keeping track-] had been especially taxing and overwhelming.
Just when he had started to feel good again, he had spiraled back downwards into his bad habits. That, and his closure with Durin came to mind again.
He held onto Kaeya tighter, biting his lip to keep from crying.
Kaeya rubbed his back and pat his head, offering all of his comfort. Albedo was never like this. He was rarely so emotional that he was shaking. Kaeya felt like this was an achievement to see Albedo so vulnerable. Not because this was good in any way! But because it meant Albedo trusted him. And Kaeya was always second guessing this. It was nice to know for sure that Albedo trusted him.
"It's okay, Albedo..." Kaeya whispered, "you're safe..."