Children Of The Abyss

Dragonspine

"Here." Albedo said coldly, handing Kaeya a glass of water. Kaeya had woken in a daze, slightly confused as to where he was. It felt like he had spent the last few nights drinking and had the most severe hangover. His body hurt, and everything was disoriented. How he ended up in Albedo's camp was beyond him because the last few things Kaeya remembered was staring at a blue sky, falling in and out of consciousness, embracing his last final moments in Teyvat Kaeya did his best to sit up through the pain and dizziness to get a read on the room. Albedo was on the opposite side of the camp vigorously, stirring something and sighing to himself, glancing at Kaeya and then looking away as if he wasn't there.

"You're mad at me, aren't you." Kaeya asked, attempting to stand up. Albedo stopped stirring and placed both hands on the table staring into the bowl, not saying a word for what seemed like hours.

"What did I tell you before you left?" Albedo said, turning around, leaning against the table and folding his arms. Honestly, Kaeya didn't remember. He was just agreeing with Albedo to make him feel better, but it was probably somewhere on the lines of 'don't do anything stupid'

"Don't do anything stupid?" Kaeya asked, smiling uncomfortably. He'd never seen Albedo mad before, and it was a bit unnerving.

"No Kaeya," Albedo said harshly," I told you to be safe and stay alive, and what did you do?" Albedo walked to meet Kaeya in the middle, "you went, and you almost got yourself killed. Don't start with the 'I'm alive aren't I' because while you may be alive right now, you almost weren't. Over the past four days, you almost died three different times," Albedo sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I just don't understand."

"Understand what?" Kaeya asked, annoyed, "that I'm just doing my job? I know you want me to be safe, but I'm a cavalry captain. Getting in harm's way is part of my job."

"ohhh no no," Albedo said, laughing, "don't start with that. You don't see Eula or Hertha, or literally anybody else coming back from a mission half dead because they just can't resist playing the hero..."

"don't" Kaeya said coldly, glaring at Albedo

"Don't what? Point out the truth?" Albedo raised his voice, "Kaeya nobody gets injured as much as you do. Would it kill you to step back occasionally and let someone else play hero? Would it kill you too, not immediately volunteer to be head of a life-threatening quest?"

"Yes, it would," Kaeya said, matching Albedo's tone, "you know nothing. I play hero because I don't know what else to be. I have this stupid past that I've spent that last 11 years running from, but every night I go to bed knowing that one day, it's going to catch up to me and then everyone will hate me. So, I play hero, and I volunteer for missions so that maybe, when the day comes when everything catches up, the people might grant me some lenience," Kaeya stumbled backwards into one of Albedo's bulletin boards and slid to the floor, the world was spinning, and his body was on fire. Kaeya took some shaky breaths in and lowered his voice, "I volunteer for life-threatening missions in hopes that I might not come back from one. Because if I don't come back from one, then I won't have to turn my back on the people I love, but obviously, that's failed." Albedo walked over and crouched down in front of Kaeya, smiling at him. He tilted Kaeya's head slightly, frowning at the temperature of his body. Kaeya smiled for a second, his hands were cold, and it felt nice.

"I'm sorry," Albedo said smiling at the ground, "I shouldn't've raised my voice at you, I just don't like seeing you get hurt," Kaeya smiled not knowing whether to cry or laugh, everything hurt, and he was shaking. Albedo stood up and walked over to a metal container and came back with a glass of water, "let's get you up on the table so I can change your bandages."

Kaeya managed to get up on the table without looking like a cat with broken legs, but when it came to unbuttoning his shirt, his hands were shaking too much to do it. Albedo took Kaeya's hands and placed them on the table as he began to unbutton Kaeya's shirt for him. Kaeya tilted his head to the ceiling so Albedo wouldn't see the dark shade of red his face turned. Albedo chuckled a little as he saw Kaeya nervously start fidgeting. Albedo started to unwrap the bandages Barbara put on and smiled a little more every time Kaeya flinched when his hand touched his skin. The wound looked better, but it was still an ugly mess. Albedo walked away to grab the ointments from the cabinet, giving Kaeya time to breathe or freak out, one of the two.

"You can relax silly," Albedo said, walking back over, "I feel equally as uncomfortable as you." Kaeya laughed a little, placing his hand on top of Albedos' hand, "Kaeya, it's a bad idea."

"Maybe, or maybe it's a great idea. You'll never know unless you try." Albedo shook his head laughing as he rubbed the ointments and cream Barbara gave him over the mess of stitches.

"No, and besides, Barbara said you need to stay still, preferably in one place, and refrain from strenuous activity." Albedo began wrapping the bandages around Kaeya's waist, ignoring Kaeya's protesting looks on his face.

"Come on, I'll..."

"What's going on," Albedo said, cutting the bandage and tying it, "I know you, and I know this is how you are with others, but never me. So, what's going on?" Kaeya sat staring at the floor for a little as Albedo buttoned up his shirt and stepped back to give him room

"I'm scared," Kaeya said softly, "I have to leave because of a stupid decision, and there's a good chance I might never come back. There's just so many things I have to tell people, too many unsaid apologies, but not enough time, and I don't want to go around saying a final goodbye. So, I thought, if I was going to start and end with just one person, why not you." Kaeya looked up, and Albedo walked over to him, smiling. Albedo placed a hand under Kaeya's chin and pulled him closer just a little and kissed him. It was soft, gentle, and warm. All the personalities Kaeya had fallen in love with. It was short but sweet

"Don't say anything," Albedo said softly, "if this is going to be a final goodbye, this is how I want it to be."

Shortly after, Klee and Kaya came back from the nearby camp, and Kaeya told Kaya the sad news about how they had to leave. It made him sad as he watched the two girls hug each other sobbing and promising to come back and visit. Kaya ran into Kaeya's arms, and they ventured off into the mountain, where he found Dainsleif waiting at the bottom to take them home. Kaeya took one last glance at Dragonspine before disappearing into the open portal.

A/N: You're welcome, the chapter nobody asked for. I surprised myself bc i do not ship the two, lol. But it was still fun. Hehe suffer >:)