Test subject (Albether)

One

Aether shot out of bed upon hearing the blaring of his alarm. It was time to get ready for another day of commissions. He ran the shower while selecting an outfit for the day, placing it neatly on his bed. After showering and freshening up, he slipped on his clothes and headed out for the day. "Ahh." He breathed the fresh Monstdat air, a smell he'd found quite comforting as time went on. Living in Teyvat didn't seem so bad after he'd adjusted. He greeted his companion, Paimon, and the two set off to explore.

Aether stopped by at the adventures guild first. He made it there to talk to Katherine at a perfect hour.

"Good morning Katherine." Aether spoke, looking to the dainty yet brave woman in front of him. "Any commissions for me today?"

"In fact, yes." Katherine spoke softly yet sweet, as she handed aether a map with his location on it.

"Dragonspine, huh?" Aether inquired, noticing the circled location on the map.

"Indeed." She replied. "It's not an easy task."

Aether slightly cringed at the thought of being up in the cold mountain alone, but he'd rather do the job than have somebody else do it.

"I'm on it!" He exclaimed, choking down his nervousness.

"Great. Good luck traveler!" Katherine waved, wishing him well.

Aether sighed after walking back to his hotel to get his mountain gear. The only thing keeping him from denying this commission was the high paying reward. It's always nice to earn a little extra mora.

"Oh, Paimon, stay back here, I wouldn't want you catching a cold."

"What? But Paimon always comes with you!" Paimon chirped.

"It's okay, I'll be alright this time."

"Okay, if you insist!" Paimon agreed.

Soon enough, aether set off for Dragonspine by himself, lugging his heavy gear along with him.

After a long while of walking, Aether reached the base of the mountain. It wasn't his first time climbing up, yet it still wasn't shy of a grueling task. Nevertheless, he mustered up the will to go onward.

At last, he'd reached his destination. All he had to do was retrieve some native plants and fight some enemies. Or so he thought. Normally, a few hilichurls wouldn't pose as a threat, but not one, not two, but three frostarm lawrachurls? At once? It seemed a little excessive to him. Can I really fight them all at once? Aether pondered, a cold pearl of sweat rolling down his forehead.

With a gulp, Aether dropped his bag of climbing gear and icy plants he collected and pulled out his sword, preparing for battle.

At once, all three Lawrachurls charged at aether. Fast. They're so...fast?! These Lawrachurls were faster than any he had encountered. Aether did manage to land a few hits on them, killing one, however as he landed the final blow, both lawrachurls darted at him, pounding him to a rock.

"AGH!" Aether yelled in pain, feeling a sharp part of the rock dig in to his soft skin and leaving a bloody gash. The other Lawrachurl grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up, rendering him helpless. I'm glad I didn't bring Paimon, I think this is the end for me..

"Somebody.. please.." Aether muttered, the breath escaping his lungs. He was being choked. Aether wasn't an easy opponent, he was quite strong and brave, yet he was outnumbered, and by a group of hilichurls with strength he had never seen before. His vision went blurry and he was struggling to even get a sound out. As things started to go dark and his body began to go limp, he fell. It burned. The feeling of his warm gash contacting the freezing snow burned. The feeling of air finally being let into his lungs burned. It hurt so bad, but that wasn't what he was worried about.

Why did the lawrachurl collapse? Why did it drop me? Why did it... Aether was lost in his thoughts until he saw him. A short, shoulder-length blonde haired boy. He was beautiful. He had long eyelashes and big blue eyes, a slim waist yet definetly had muscles, light pink lips and fair skin. Aether was bewitched. And this boy, this gorgeous boy, saved him? But before aether could admire this mystery boy any more, reality kicked in and his senses were taken from him.

With a gasp, aether woke up. "Where.. am I?" His eyes fluttered as he looked up to see the same boy from earlier peering down at him.

"Ah!" Aether yelped, shocking the boy which caused him to take a step back in surprise.

"Oh, I didn't mean to scare you." The boy muttered, trying to calm Aether down.

"Huh? No, it's okay." He inhaled, yet immediately winced in pain and clutched his chest.

"Hey, take it easy." The boy hushed.

"Thank you... for saving me." Aether muttered in embarrassment. "I didn't know they would be that strong.."

The boy had no response and continued monitoring the item on the table in front of him.

"So... who are you exactly?" Aether broke the silence.

"Right." He perked up from his desk and spoke. "I am Albedo, chief alchemist for the Knights of Favonius."

"Wait, Knights of Favonius?" Aether questioned, still trying not to focus on the throbbing pain in both his side and chest.

"Yes, do you know of them?"

"Yeah, in fact i'm here... well... was here for a commission." Aether responded. "Wait. If you're from the Knights of Favonius, why haven't I seen you around?"

"I do have a lab back in Mondstat, but I prefer to come do private experiments up in Dragonspine, so I spend most of my time here." After a short pause, Albdeo added, "And how about you?"

"Oh." Aether responded. "Well, I haven't been living in Mondstat very long, so I guess I just don't know everybody yet..." He trailed off as if there was more he was going to say, but didn't add more.

"I see." Albedo began to stir whatever was in the test tube in front of him with a stir stick. "Just one second and this will be ready for you."

"Ready for me?" Aether cocked his head in confusion.

"I'm making something that can treat your wounds." As almost if on cue, albedo brought the test tube over to aether. "Drink this."

"What?"

"Drink it." Albedo reiterated, extending his arm to place the test tube in Aether's hand.

"If you say so." Aether looked into Albedos eyes, as if looking for a sign to trust him, yet something about him was comforting. He drank all of the liquid without a second thought.

Albedo was slightly taken aback by his hasty compliance but didn't say a word. Aether watched as his wounds began to hurt much less and began to show signs of healing already.

"Albedo.. how did you do this?" Aether's jaw was nearly on the floor.

"I have a lot of experience with alchemy."

"Well, you saved my life. Thank you so much." Aether smiled. "I'm forever indebted to you. In fact, is there anything I can do to pay you back for this?"

"Pay me back?" Albedo mumbled. "Oh. Well.." He averted his gaze from aether and his cheeks became slightly rosy.

"What is it?" Aether interrogated.

"Well... I know it's a lot to ask but, would you mind if I studied you? I hope that's not too weird."

"Study me?" He inquired.

Albedo hesitantly cleared his throat. "Well.. I don't know much about you, and I honestly am quite intrigued by you, so.... i'd like to study you."

"I see no issue with that." Aether smiled slightly, cheeks turning slightly pink at his request as he was quite flattered to be asked such a favor. "So... how should we start?"