Discovery | Albedo's Descent Book 1

Chapter 19: Romancing

Albedo was taking a break because Lisa told him to. He really wasn't sure why, though. She was probably going to make tea.
Albedo took out his on-the-go sketchbook and flipped through some of his drafts. He wasn't all that determined to make a painting out of any of them, but it kept his mind occupied.
Seeing them all, it reminded him of that painting he wanted to do. He really wasn't sure who he wanted to pose for it... He really liked the idea of having Noelle be the subject, but she was always so busy... and a child, still... Albedo sighed to himself. Mona wouldn't be a bad choice either, her hair was very long and pretty. If Albedo arranged it like...
His mind wandered. Then he sighed again, who knew where she was and when. It wasn't that he was avoiding Kaeya as an option. Quite the opposite actually. He'd really wanted Kaeya to be the centerpiece of this portrait but... He didn't know how to ask him anymore. Kaeya liked him... would it be mean of Albedo to ask him?... He didn't know.
As if he had been summoned by Albedo's thoughts, Kaeya walked over with a smile, "whatcha doin?"
Albedo sighed, "just thinking."
"About?" He sat down next to Albedo a little too closely.
Albedo shrugged, "that painting I spoke to you and Lisa about," he flipped through some more sketches.
Kaeya's expression softened, "you're so good at that... have you ever thought of drawing yourself?"
Albedo seemed surprised, "no... but I really wouldn't want to..."
"Why not?" Kaeya turned another page of the sketchbook. It was a very detailed portrait of Huffman, smiling and talking, probably. It looked exactly like him... how in the world could Albedo capture that moment so perfectly?
Albedo paused, "there really isn't a reason to. I normally give people the sketches I do of them... keeping a picture of myself would be... odd."
Kaeya chuckled, "if you say so." He carefully slid his arm behind Albedo's neck, laying his hand against his other shoulder.
Albedo didn't even seem to notice, staring at the picture he had drawn. "Kaeya... about that painting..."
"Yes?" He asked.
Albedo hesitated, "would you... be willing to model for it...?"
Kaeya nodded, absolutely smitten. If he were in a cartoon he would definitely have hearts in his eyes right now. "Of course, I would love to."
Albedo wanted to believe Lisa but... Kaeya actually liking Albedo seemed... not correct. He was acting so different now... He didn't know what to do.
Kaeya squeezed his shoulder, "I'm honored, Albedo, that you would want me to be the model for that painting."
Albedo was shocked by how sincere he sounded. He felt himself getting tense, "ah... it's nothing, you're just constantly available and have longer hair... and I think your tattoo would look very nice in the picture..." he nervously flipped through more pages.
Kaeya took his hand, "how many times have you sketched everyone in Mondstat? There really aren't that many people."
Albedo caught his breath, "at least once... The more often I see a person the more often I draw them..."
"Hm," Kaeya was gently rubbing circles in the back of Albedo's hand with his thumb, "then how many times have you drawn me?"
Albedo paused, "I don't know." He, with some effort because he only had one hand, turned back to the first page and started searching for pictures of the Captain.
Kaeya noticed something as Albedo was turning pages. All the picture of himself were very... sparkly? There weren't any colors or anything, but they looked sparkly.
"Six or seven in this sketchbook," Albedo closed it, "I have another one, I don't remember how many are in there..."
"Quite a few times," Kaeya giggled, "you must really like drawing me~"
"... yes, I guess that is true..."
"Oh, really?" Kaeya raised one of his brows.
Albedo nodded slowly, "well, you, not your clothes... That's why most of my pictures of you are from the chest up. I don't want to bother with how complicated it is..."
Kaeya laughed, "it really isn't that complicated!"
Albedo sighed quietly, "it certainly looks that way..." he grew a bit embarrassed.
"Aw," Kaeya ruffled his hair, messing it up once again, "I don't mean to hurt your feelings."
Albedo hesitated, "Kaeya... can I ask you a question?..."
"Anything," he held Albedo closer, "anything at all..." he closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
"This morning..." Albedo began slowly, "when I woke up, you were..."
Kaeya remembered, his face getting incredibly red, "Uhm..."
"You were... petting me..." Albedo seemed to have trouble speaking, "why were..."
Kaeya laughed a little bit, "Albedo, I think I've been pretty obvious about it."
Albedo looked up at him, "but-"
Kaeya pressed Albedo's hand to his chest, "I was starting to think you would never notice my feelings."
Albedo pulled his hand back, "ah... so you..."
Kaeya chuckled, holding him closer for a moment, "Albedo, I've been in love with you for a very long time." He was actually a little surprised with himself. He just kinda... blurted that out. He hurried to cover it up as his face got warm, "it's kinda silly that you hadn't noticed."
Albedo paused, "it is... you were being rather obvious, now that I really think about it... I just, hadn't thought of it..."
He messed up the alchemist's hair even more, "honestly, Lisa was so frustrated with you for not noticing."
"She was?..." he was speaking very quietly.
Kaeya nodded, his cheeks very warm, "yeah, she was always bugging me to just tell you..."
Albedo was quiet for a moment, "then why haven't you said anything until now?..."
"Because... I figured we weren't close enough and that you would think I was... well, creepy..."
Albedo blinked, "oh... well, I have nothing to base my assumptions on... I probably would have assumed you meant it in a friendly way..."
"So you don't believe me now?"
"No, I believe you..." Albedo sort of didn't, though. There was still the possibility of the potion talking for him. "There just wouldn't have been any evidence then to think you actually..."
Kaeya nuzzled the top of Albedo's head with his nose, "so? Are you disappointed?"
Albedo blinked, "disappointed?... Uh, well, I'm... a bit surprised that you like me... I would have assumed you were more inclined to be with... more interesting people..."
"Albedo," Kaeya laughed, "you aren't the least bit boring."
Albedo paused, "I mean... you... you're... The kind of people I've seen you with... I'm..."
Kaeya sighed with a smile, "Albedo, I haven't actually dated anyone in a long time. I didn't even know why, but I just wasn't interested. I only figured out that I was in love with you after we started to organize the library."
Albedo paused, "but I'm..."
Kaeya smiled, "I don't care what you're made of, I love you. Even if you are really oblivious sometimes. I think it's rather cute," he poked Albedo's nose.
Albedo felt his face getting warmer, "I..."
Kaeya really didn't want to ask this question, "Albedo, how do you feel?"
Albedo hesitated, "... about what...?"
It was obvious he knew what Kaeya meant. Neither of them wanted to talk about this apparently.
"About me?..." Kaeya asked, trying not to get his hopes up... but he wanted Albedo to like him back so badly...
The Alchemist took a breath, "I... I don't know right now... I need time... to think."
That wasn't a no! Kaeya melted, leaning onto Albedo and holding him close, "take all the time you need..."
Albedo felt even warmer, he really didn't know what to do about any of this. Lisa said he would know if he liked him if Kaeya- He did not want to think about that. Especially when Kaeya was so close to him.
"Kaeya?!" Lisa called, "could you help me?!" She laughed nervously, "I may have filled the pot a bit too much..."
Kaeya chuckled as he stood, "coming!"
Albedo sat there. He noticed his finger was still in his sketchbook, holding his place. He opened it, wondering what picture it was.
It was a sketch of Kaeya, laughing at who knows what. His one visible eyes was a crescent, closed in joy. His hair and earring were flowing as if he had taken a step back in his laughter.
Albedo found himself smiling at it. He remembered that... He had been outside the Knight's headquarters and Kaeya had just returned. One of the guards struck up a conversation with him and it was apparently very humorous.
Albedo closed the book. For the most part, Kaeya was enjoyable to be around... and Albedo didn't mind too much that Kaeya was in love with him. The Captain had, several times, stated that he cared about Albedo and that it didn't matter that he was made of chalk... Could he really be in love with him?...
Now that he thought about it, that potion was only supposed to last a few hours... it had certainly been more than that...