In the cold mountains of Dragonspine resides a certain alchemist best known by the people of Mondstadt as Albedo. Most think of him as distant and independent, only focusing on his studies when he isn't exploring the vast landscape, but there is muc...
Sobbing heavily, Melanie could barely see a foot ahead of her. She knew Albedo had pulled himself away from her and now had his hands hooked under her armpits, dragging her inside as carefully as possible. A smashed trail of snow followed behind her splayed legs until he lifted her onto the futon.
His arms wrapped around her in an instant, trying to still her. She pushed her face into his chest and hugged him with the little strength she had in her body. The blood on her neck had crusted around the length of the cut so it no longer bled, but the dribbles from earlier were still wet to the touch.
Albedo retracted his arm at the sight of crimson on his sleeve and gasped, pulling her away from him so he could look her over. His fingers gently felt around the cut on her neck, worry furrowing his brows.
"What happened out there, Melanie?" he asked her, seizing her head in his hands and forcing her to look into his eyes.
She tried to rip herself away, squeezing her eyes shut and audibly sobbing, but he only pulled her back. Melanie felt more tears slip past her locked eyelids. They stung as they pushed by, no longer being held back enough.
"You have to talk to me," Albedo pushed, his words skating on the edge of panic. "Did you do this to yourself? You're scaring me..."
"No, no!" she mumbled, her eyes flickering open for more tears to escape. She took in a shuttering breath, swallowing back the massive amount of phlegm collecting in her throat. Looking into Albedo's eyes, she saw the panic hiding within them. It was just as frightening to see him this distressed.
"They were out there-" Melanie sniffled again, swallowing a bit gulp of air. "T-They found me a-and, a-and they demanded me t-to rejoin them and leave you b-behind, but I told them I c-couldn't-"
Albedo cringed, lowering his gaze and letting go of her head slowly. He backed away from her on the bed to fold his hands behind his head and pace. His lips moved as if he were speaking in a rush, but there was no voice behind the words he wanted to speak.
Out of nowhere, he slammed his hand down on his desk shouting, "fuck!"
Melanie flinched, instantly going silent. Her tears stopped falling, she stopped breathing entirely, and her sobs were cut off the moment his hand hit the wood. She stared at him with widened eyes, unsure of what to do. Albedo wasn't moving at all, only looking down at the table and breathing heavily.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry- I knew they would try to reach the mountains, I knew it." Albedo spun around to look at her. "They hurt you, didn't they? When you were trying to go on a walk, they attacked you?"
She didn't reply; her feeling at the cut with her fingers gave him the answer. He nodded, chewing on his lip and turning to retrieve a rag and bandage from his bag. Quickly, he dipped the clean rag in the boiling water, then ringed it out despite the immense amount of steam emitting from the cloth. He spun it around in the cool air to bring down the temperature, then brought it over to her.
Albedo reached forward with the rag, frowning when she flinched away from it. He tried again. This time, she allowed him to clean her neck with gentle strokes of the warm cloth. The disgusting dried blood was scratched off with his nails through the rag, then whatever else came out after was wiped away.
"I told them I couldn't join them without thinking things over tomorrow," she explained, now that she was a little calmer. Realistically, she was just too stunned to cry. "And Rhodes he... he threatened me-"
The rag dug a little too deep when she mentioned the Gravedigger. The man who'd beaten her with the flat of his shovel and cut her with the rusted sides. He'd dealt many injuries, so many that Albedo was able to identify the size and shape of the shovel Rhodes used just by the marks it left.
"What else did they say?" Albedo folded up the dirty rag and stuck it in his pocket, now removing the wrapping on a bandage with his teeth. He placed it over her cut and pressed the sticky ends into her skin. The wrapping also went into his pocket.
"That's all I'm comfortable saying."
Once again, he frowned but nodded simply. He wrapped a comforting arm around her, pulling Melanie close so she could rest her head on his shoulder. His scent washed over her, and she breathed deeply, accepting any and all the comfort provided.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Sorry for what?"
"For everything. The pressure, the others getting loose... it's all on me, and I'm sorry."
Melanie kissed the side of his neck. He shuddered, but not in a bad way. Something about the feeling of her lips against his skin seemed to send a rush of pleasure through him. But other than that, he only continued to look ahead vacantly.
"I want to protect you," she told him, kissing his neck again. "No matter the costs."
He looked down at her, his face mellowing out. A small smile appeared, and he pecked at her lips. "I should be saying that to you," he said gently, booping her nose with his gloved hand. "Since when did you become the man of the relationship?"
She scoffed dramatically, her previous numbness melting away for her to emerge whole-heartedly. "Careful, I'm coming for your job."
Albedo squeezed her, laughing dryly. She could tell he still was feeling a bit on edge with her news, but she felt perfectly fine now. Just being around him made her happy. If her arm were to be chopped off, just a smile from him could make her ignore the pain.
A strange silence fell over them. Normally, such a thing would be awkward and embarrassing to be in. It still was, only it was also reassuring at the same time. It reminded Melanie that there was comfort in everything, even an awkward silence.
The crackling of the fire. Crackle. SNAP. Hissssss.
The whooshing of the wind. Swoosh. Wooh. Hmmmm.
The tree branches scraping against the rock. Sck. Oomph. Shh.
Their synced breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
It wasn't complete silence, but it was close enough. There was no such thing as perfect silence until her ears were ringing and she felt like she had magically gone deaf. She wasn't sure if he was feeling the same. If anything, she was almost positive he was analyzing some sort of formula in his mind. Wind speed to the power of four multiplied by the temperature of the fire- who knew?
Nonetheless, she hummed a sweet tune to fill the growing silence. Although she was sure he didn't want her to notice, when he continued to stare onward at the empty space, a small smile appeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll be honest, my brain went '...' halfway through.
Question of the chapter: Are you the protective one, or do you cause the chaos in the relationship?
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