Finding The Real You - Kaebedo

Chapter V - A Normal Day Spent

"Kaeya, what exactly did happen on this day? I'm curious and Jean didn't tell me much."

He watched as Kaeya cycled through emotions, but Kaeya quickly fell silent and tried to change the subject.

"Perhaps we should go to your laboratory? I know you were sent here but does that really mean you get a day off?"

Albedo took notice of the fact that he dodged the question, reminding himself to not touch on that topic again. He nodded and waited for the other to do something.

Kaeya stood up remembering to give Albedo a helping hand while getting up. They walked in another uncomfortable silence, Kaeya almost forgetting to let go of his hand. Albedo now understood 'awkward silence', and he wanted nothing more than to get rid of it. Bringing out a random topic would be weird and out of character so he chose to apologise, curious on where that would lead to.

"I apologise for asking about it, I didn't realise that this was such a sensitive topic for you, I'm sorry."

Kaeya was hesitant to respond and just kept walking, causing Albedo's attempt to fail. Albedo just gave up after that

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Is this really all you do? You're telling me that you don't have any time to yourself?"

"Well, is my 'me time' your concern?"

Kaeya sighed, defeated.

"Well no, it's just that you really should take some time for yourself. You're always either doing experiments or taking care of Klee, I don't understand how you do it all." Kaeya spoke as he leaned back in his chair. "Besides, if you've never done it, then what's the harm in giving it a try?"

"That's enough Kaeya, there is work to be done and just because I'm experimenting doesn't mean that I'm not working on my own personal goals. In your words my experimentation time is also technically considered my 'me time'."

Kaeya grew bored, only finding entertainment in annoying Albedo, which could be achieved by arguing with him, so he continued, but it was still hard to find the right reply to get under his skin.

"So? Have you ever gone out and had drinks with friends, laughing away in the middle of the night?" Kaeya spoke like he was fantasising about it.

"Oh? Are you asking me to accompany you on one of your 'trips' to the tavern?"

Kaeya went red as he realised what Albedo was implying. But, he couldn't deny that he did want to take Albedo out on some kind of date, and it would be interesting to see what kind of drunk he was..

Kaeya quickly collected himself.

"What? Are you saying you want to come?" Kaeya attempted a wink, but it just came off as a blink.

"Hm, I'll consider it. But after work."

Kaeya relaxed in his chair. It was going to be a long day.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Kaeya, could you look after the experiment for me? I've almost completed it, but I wasn't prepared for the response it would give so I don't have the correct materials."

Kaeya was abruptly woken up from his daydream to watch over Albedo's stuff? What was the point of waking him up when he'd watch over it anyway. Absurd.

Albedo left soon after, and Kaeya continued his daydreaming. What was Albedo collecting anyway, he could've helped too. Kaeya got up, slightly irritated that he couldn't be with Albedo longer. Just as he was about to walk out the opening, Albedo appeared again.

"Oh, I was just about to go out to help you. So, what did you collect?"

"Ah, nothing important. I can continue the experiment now."

"Mm, alright then."

Albedo seemed to avoid the question, did he really collect anything? Or was he finally getting annoyed at Kaeya? Maybe he really was starting to hate him..

Kaeya sat back down in his chair and began to question Albedo on what he was doing, he was beginning to get a little concerned. Usually Albedo would go on a rant about the things he was doing, did he become sick after he went out? It really wasn't for that long though.

When Kaeya thought about it, he realised that Albedo's voice did sound a little off.

"Hm, Albedo."

"What do you need?"

"Did you go off and get sick while you were out or something? What, did you somehow end up falling into an ice-filled pond?"

Albedo looked at Kaeya, acting confused.

"No? What happened to make you think that?"

This time Kaeya became the confused one, there was some slight changes but he seemed just as confused as Kaeya, what was he missing?

"Forget it, it's not that important anyway."

Albedo stared at him with a confused expression, but quickly went back to work, doing all sorts of things that he didn't understand, but it was interesting to watch anyway.

Kaeya decided to ask him at a later time, perhaps when he was drinking, he'd probably spill something there, but all he could do now was theorise.

So what changed in Albedo? It only seemed to be the tone of voice, and the fact that he wasn't answering many questions. But all those could just be signs that he was starting to get annoyed with Kaeya, after all, in the process of dropping someone you need to first separate yourself from them more, then in trying to get them to hate you, you could start acting colder with them, which was exactly what it seemed like Albedo was doing. First separating them, acting colder towards him and now refusing to speak with him?

Kaeya shivered at the thought of Albedo hating him. It would make what was happening now make sense but they've only been speaking for maybe two days.

Kaeya soon started to become uncomfortable, mostly because of his own thoughts of Albedo hating him, they couldn't be true, right?

Time seemed to speed by while these thoughts occupied his mind, visiting every possibility, finding every reason for Albedo to hate him.

He only woke out of his daze as Albedo seemed to realise something and then rush out. Kaeya was thankful for a distraction, but said distraction only made his thoughts seem more valid.

"Kaeya, I'm sorry for taking so long." Albedo walked in with his arms full of materials, it was obvious that he was running a moment ago and just trying not to pant.

"Hm? What do you mean? You were here just a minute ago?"

Albedo seemed confused at that, but it did seem like Kaeya was in a daze when he came back, so he chalked it up to Kaeya not being focused.

"So, about the "meetup" at the tavern.." Kaeya spoke cautiously, ignoring the fact Albedo looked like he'd just run a marathon. Strands of his hair were stuck to his face, and he was sweating quite a bit. He also seemed to be dying inside, trying not to breathe quickly, instead taking in long, shaky breaths. "Can we go now? You've bored me to death here."

Albedo stared in surprise, confused on how Kaeya would ignore the state that he was in. But then again, you never know what Kaeya's going to do.

Kaeya unconsciously tilted his head to the side, waiting for an answer. He waited for Albedo to come back to his senses, but all his patience was used up waiting for this time to come.

"Oh, uh, sure. Just let me put these away and we can leave."

:)

I managed to fix the comment problem, so that's nice. I had much more fun writing this chapter than the others, also I don't know what my schedule is anymore. It's meant to be every 3 days but how do I count 3 days? Someone please help me :,)

Word count - 1246