The Experiment [Build a Boyfriend Series Part 2]

7

"Hey, are you okay up there?" Kaeya stared into the camera with his hands on his hips. "You haven't come down for your hour-a-day visits in a week now. Did you die?" 

Albedo stared at the screen. No. He was very much alive. But he didn't want Kaeya to realize his feelings for him. The man was a notorious flirt (even if he didn't think of himself as one) and deadset on loving his brother. Realizing his feelings would be bad for both parties. Albedo kept waiting for the day when Kaeya would just leave. Apparently, he was going to stay here for the entire month. This was their last week together. 

"Can you give me some sort of answer, please?" Kaeya asked. 

Albedo clutched his chest, staring down at his hand and the keyboard. Having feelings that weren't returned was quite painful. How had Kaeya lived like this for so long? Oh, that's right, he found momentary interactions with other people to distract him. One night stands and drinking until he blacked out. Albedo had no intentions of doing that so what was he supposed to do instead? 

He stared at his monitor, he'd been focusing all of his energy on the new android without realizing that it was practically identical to Kaeya. Staring at it, his face flushed. "This is a nightmare," he held his head in his hands and sighed. "I don't even know if the lower half of this body is accurate...Kaeya doesn't walk around completely naked for me to know... Wait, that's not the problem here!" Albedo wanted to slap himself. 

"Albedo?" Kaeya continued staring at the camera. 

The lights flickered and then the power went out. Was there supposed to be a storm today? Albedo then remembered one of his first questions to Kaeya. "Oh no," Albedo ran out of the room and down to Kaeya's temporary living arrangements. "He sleeps with the lights on because of trauma...so is he scared of the dark?" he asked himself, opening the door. 

"Kaeya?" Albedo called out. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Kaeya?" he asked again. Lightning flashed outside and light filled the room temporarily. He saw Kaeya huddled up in the corner, shaking, with his hands on his head. Albedo went in that direction and sat down in front of him. 

"Kaeya?" he spoke calmly and quietly. "Kaeya, breathe, can you hear me?" 

"Diluc?" Kaeya lowered his hands and looked up. He leaped forward and grabbed Albedo, holding him close as the two lay on the ground. Ah. Right. Of course. Diluc must've been the one to comfort him with whatever happened. No wonder he felt so strongly toward him. Albedo tried to ignore the pain he felt. He raised his hand and patted Kaeya's back. 

"It's okay," he spoke quietly. 

"I'm scared, I'm so scared," Kaeya muttered, memory reverted to when he was a small child. Albedo had no way of knowing this, however. He clung to Albedo more. 

"I'm here," Albedo assured. 

The power came back on and Kaeya stayed where he was. He was still shaking. Albedo didn't know how much time passed before he came back to his senses. "Albedo?" Kaeya looked at the body underneath him. "You're not dead, I'm glad you finally came to see me," he tried to smile but his body was still stuck in the dark. "Oh?" Kaeya tensed, "what's this?" tears started coming out of his eyes. "I can't...the mask won't..." he wasn't sure what to do and just fell back onto the floor. 

"It's okay to cry, you know," Albedo said, still holding Kaeya close. 

"I'm sorry..." Kaeya apologized. 

"You're here to show me your emotions for my study, remember? Sadness is an emotion too," Albedo said. Kaeya hid his face in Albedo's neck. 

"I don't want to show you this one." 

After some time had passed with them like this, Kaeya finally got up. Albedo moved to leave but Kaeya grabbed his wrist. "Please...don't go..." 

"I'm going to get some candles in case the power goes out again," Albedo said. 

"Do you mean it?" Kaeya's voice cracked. 

"I do." 

"Okay..." he reluctantly let go of Albedo's wrist and sat on the couch. In no time at all, Albedo returned with a lot of candles. He lit them all and placed them on the coffee table then sat down next to Kaeya. Just like he predicted, the power did go out. Kaeya clung to Albedo again, panic coming back, but not as strong since the candles were there. 

"Will you pat my head?" Kaeya asked, lying down with his head on Albedo's lap, clinging to his waist. 

"Okay..." Albedo started patting Kaeya's head, playing with his hair. Kaeya closed his eyes, trying to calm down. Eventually, he did fall asleep. 

"I'm so glad it's dark," Albedo muttered, completely unable to control whatever expression was on his face right now. Whatever he looked like, he knew his cheeks were blindingly red. "I feel ridiculous for getting worked up. He is going through a lot right now..." he scolded himself, staring down at Kaeya's face. "I cannot allow myself to fall asleep. I have to be awake before he wakes up."