Stardust

K A E Y A

Present day, Mondstadt, Dragonspine

**there is a spicy scene.  I will mark in bold where it starts and ends**

"What are you drawing?" Kaeya asked. The camp at Dragonspine was eerie in the darkness, and Lumine would not be back till sunrise. He needed to sleep desperately, but rest would not come.

"Mondstadt. So I won't forget." 'Just in case.' The unsaid words sat between them as Kaeya let it sink in.

"Did you do that often?" Kaeya wondered, thinking of the sketchbooks. Albedo's hum was quiet, but an affirmation nonetheless.

There was something about the way his voice sounded that had Kaeya rolling over to pull Albedo's hand off the sketchbook.

Deciding to risk it, Kaeya interlaced their fingers. Gone were the stars, or at least what he thought were stars. All he could make out was a blurry sky of blacks and blues.

"Lumine healed me," Kaeya smirked. "I'll live. Mondstadt is still standing, you said it yourself."

"No thanks to that self-sacrificing death wish you have," Albedo said, returning his hands to his sketchbook. Kaeya let him, recognizing he needed that, but scooted close enough to lean his head on Albedo's shoulder.

"Ouch," Kaeya chuckled, it felt a bit breathy, his bones still creaking. "Should we really be waiting around here?"

"The Abyss cannot be rushed," Albedo hummed. "Rest, you'll need your strength to find Aether. Leave finding a rift to Lumine."

'He's hiding something,' Kaeya realized as he leaned closer, running a hand along Albedo's braid. He must have redone it at some point because the stray hairs were all tucked into place. 'I don't think I care that he's hiding...' Kaeya thought wistfully. 

Albedo was here, and that was enough.

Here, Kaeya felt like the anger from earlier he could not quite recall had no place. That he could leave the lies at the edge of his mind, forgotten, and just enjoy being with Albedo again.

Unlike so many horrible nights in his life, Kaeya knew tonight there would be no confessions or executions. It would be theirs and theirs alone. 

Not for hope. Not for love. 'Just for us.'

Kaeya let his fingertips hand dance down Albedo's side, smiling as he shifted to focus on his drawing. He stopped around the lip of Albedo's boots where it cupped his thighs, the skin slightly overfilling the top. Albedo only drew harder, a flush rising to his cheeks. 'God he's beautiful.'

Most people did not get second chances, let alone a third. Kaeya was sure his last act would be replacing Venti, but somehow here he was at a crossroads yet again. Kaeya once tested Albedo, seeing if he would invest in them. Perhaps it was time he paid up too.

He hadn't wanted that since that night with Diluc. The words were dry on his tongue, painful like a cough, but he forced them out nonetheless.

"What are you really drawing?" Kaeya asked, fingers tracing the lines of Albedo's boots. Now that Kaeya knew what a bold-faced liar his soulmates was, it was time to start calling him out on it. It was never Mondstadt Albedo was afraid to forget.

Calling out lies when he saw them was hard. It was not something that came easy to him but Kaeya wanted to. More than he was afraid he wanted to finally hold this man.

"What I'm always drawing," Albedo breathed, the sound hitching in his throat. It had Kaeya smiling against his skin.

"So you're drawing me?" Kaeya snickered as he bent down to let his teeth nip at the tights.