Sucrose released her hand from Albedo's wrist. They both looked away with their faces blooming in red blush. A moment of silence occurred for a while until Sucrose broke the awkward silence.
"Uhm... Mr. Albedo, I-I apologize for grabbing your hand... Um... I would also like to show you my Lamp Grass experiment... I was supposed to show it to you but I-I unknowingly grabbed your ha—"
"It's... alright Sucrose. Just... show it to me because I'm curious about the result."
Albedo interrupted Sucrose.
Sucrose didn't mind and she immediately led Albedo to her room. While walking, Albedo had the time to put his coat on.
Albedo sniffed his coat and thought.
My coat smells like Sucrose's cologne now... It smells nice.
As the two alchemists enter the room, to Albedo's surprise, the Lamp Grass was pink. Not only that, but Sucrose showed Albedo the pink dust that the Lamp Grass excreted.
"How extraordinary! It's like.. fairy dust! What happens if I touch it?"
"Try to touch it."
Albedo touched the dust and the dust turned blue, then went back to pink.
"Incredible! Its color changes, this type of dust is something... What type of potion did you use?"
"I used my Testing-potion-for-plants-3075"
Sucrose explained the contents she added to the potion. She also explained that she'd be testing the dust for cooking. Which was... an odd idea. But... it's Sucrose. She's curious about everything.
"You're really interested in this Lamp Grass result, huh?"
"Of course! After all, this one was the most interesting experiment I've ever done so far."
"Well, the investigation you did is successful indeed. You've done a very good job, so get a good night's sleep."
Albedo patted Sucrose on the head with a warm smile on his face. He then left the room to go back to his home to get some rest. Sucrose paused for a moment, processing what Albedo had just done to her. After what seemed to be like forever, Sucrose's face grew red as well as her ears as it flapped up and down vigorously. That was the first time she received a pat-on-the-head-for-doing-a-good-job. She was surely happy but also flushed. She tried not to smile that much but couldn't help it, as she walked out of the headquarters with a sweet and happy smile on her face. Albedo didn't think about his actions this time but was happy with what he did and what he witnessed.
6:23 am. The next morning, Sucrose woke up just a tad bit late but she didn't mind. She got ready for a new morning to check on her experiments. Meanwhile, Albedo, on the other hand, was still sleeping. Sucrose was ready to go outside, yet she doesn't know what to do besides check on her experiments — so she'll do just that.
Sucrose headed to the Knights of Favonius Headquarters. The Knights greet her with a "good morning" and Sucrose returned the simple greeting. Sucrose walked to her room to check in her Lamp Grass, and to her surprise, it turned blue.
"So it turns pink at night then turns back to blue... amazing."
She wrote down the results of her experiments. She then brought her jar of pink dust to the kitchen and cooked her special dish. Sucrose sprinkled her dish while cooking but she just sprinkled a little bit.
"I'm assuming the taste would be strong... so I'm only sprinkling a little bit of the dust."
She also put pepper, salt, and crab roe.
SNIFF SNIFF
"What smells so good? The smell's coming from the kitchen, it's making me hungry!"
"And done! Now, all I have to do is plate it in a small bowl—"
"Heyyy, whatcha cooking?"
"AAAH— Wh-wha— A-amber you scared me! I almost dropped my experiment dish!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I just couldn't help but follow the smell of the aroma— wait, did you just say experiment dish?"
"Yes. Well not to confuse you or anything but..."
Sucrose didn't mind explaining the pink dust, where it was created, how it was created, and what plant it was created to Amber, she let her touch it, and as usual, it turned blue and back to pink after a few seconds.
"Amazing! It kinda looks like fairy dust or something."
"That's what I also heard from Mr. Albedo, he thinks of it like fairy dust. That is quite a suiting name for some type of pink dust..."
Sucrose was done cooking her dish, she plated it in a small bowl that she found. While Sucrose was searching, Amber asked something to Sucrose.
"Why bother bringing the dust to the kitchen? Did you try to experiment with how it would taste like when cooked?"
"Mhm. I know it does sound weird. But I am very curious... Say, you don't mind tasting it also, don't you?"
"I don't mind, I'm also curious about how it tastes. Besides, I'm hungry!"
"Alright then."
After plating, they both ate the dish.
"Wow! Is it just me, or is your cooking good or is it the dust?"
Amber asked in shock.
"Hmm.. what if I sprinkle a little more dust..."
Sucrose sprinkled a little and then tasted afterward.
"Oh my! This really does taste good with the so-called fairy dust!"
By the time Sucrose nearly wolfs down her meal, Amber had already finished the bowl.
"Yoy are hungry, huh? Quite the appetite to have for an Outrider."
Sucrose giggled.
"How can I not finish it? It tastes so good! Thanks for the food, by the way. I'll get going now."
"Take care!"
Amber headed to Jean's office to sort out her work. Sucrose finished her meal and cleaned up in the kitchen. Once she was done cleaning up, she grabbed the jar of the dust and brought it to her room to write the final results.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do next... I could go for a walk. Oh! Maybe go to Qingyun peak. But am I done with work?"
Albedo was passing by until he heard Sucrose talking to herself about what to do next. Albedo walked away as he didn't want to eavesdrop. He remembered he had to talk about his heart-pounding problems and a desire to see Sucrose. He then went to Jean's office to talk about it with the Knights of Favonius. Albedo takes a deep breath — ready to knock. But he just stood there for a couple of seconds, contemplating if he really wants to do this. He wanted to know, but he was afraid. Not that he'd be embarrassed if he had to ask a particular question to the others for help but rather, afraid of what answer he'll receive. He inhales deeply, before knocking on the door.
"Who could that be? Amber, could you please open it?"
Jean politely asked Amber.
Amber nodded.
"Yes? Oh Albedo, what brings you here?"
Amber asked in curiosity.
"Look who's here. In need of help with your alchemy? Haha, I'm no good with that and I can't help you if that's what you need."
Kaeya teased.
"What's the genius alchemist doing here? Need some help with potions? I can give you some ingredients and tips that'll help."
Lisa offered.
"Actually, it's not about potions nor alchemy."
Albedo mentions as he enters the room.
Amber closed the door behind him.
"It's... something different."
"Oh? Different? Well then. Let's hear it."
Lisa said, quite surprised.
"You may laugh at my certain problem here but I came here to ask for guidance. This may sound a bit stupid but..."
Albedo started to look nervous, frantically shifting his eyes in every direction. Everyone in the room started to feel his weird and nervous aura and it was odd to see. Especially when he was always a composed and chill-looking lad. They got concerned a bit for him, glancing at each other and exchanging concerned expressions.
"It's... about my heart beating so fast whenever Sucrose does something that makes me happy... I really can't get her off of my head, it's like she's stuck in my mind."
A shocking silence went by. You could hear the clock infused with the bookshelves ticking very loudly if you were in the room. That's how loud the silence was. Thankfully, Lisa broke the silence.
"My, my! This is quite bizarre to hear from an alchemist genius."
Lisa exclaimed.
"Judging on what you said, it seems like you have fallen in love with Sucrose."
Jean calmly yet straightforwardly stated.
"F-fallen in love?!"
Albedo exclaimed, in shock.
Kaeya then warns Albedo to time his voice down.
"Keep it down, Sucrose's office is just near Grand Master Jeans' office. You don't want her to hear you, don't ya?"
"This is really rare for you. A lot of girls would always give you flowers on Valentine's days to make you fall in love with them but you're in love with your OWN assistant."
Amber said.
"Or maybe you're just having problems with your heart. Do you need medications or something?"
Jean assumed, crossing her arms.
Everyone glanced quickly at her, making her feel uncomfortable by the number of eyes locking on her. Jean widened her eyes slightly, slowly letting her arms dangle on the side as she remained in eye contact with everyone.
"Jean, do you really think Albedo is that weak?"
Lisa asked.
"I-I was just assuming! I thought I was talking nonsense so I said that!"
"I'm pretty sure what you just said earlier — aka him falling in love with Sucrose is more realistic than what you just said."
Amber sassed Jean, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way, I always have a warm sensation on my cheeks whenever I smile and when Sucrose does something..."
Albedo paused for a second.
Everyone was waiting for his response.
Albedo cleared his throat.
"When Sucrose does something... cute.. it uh... it makes my heart beat a lot..."
The others looked at the alchemist genius in shock. Lisa was just smiling because he looked adorable and happy for him for finally noticing his feelings for Sucrose. She had a hunch about those two in the beginning. Meanwhile, Kaeya was just trying so hard not to burst out laughing because of how ridiculous Albedo looks when he's not his composed self. Even Jean Noticed Kaeya snorting to himself and covering his mouth as his eyes were filled with tears and his cheeks puffed up.
"Since when did you start feeling this way?"
Jean asked.
"Yesterday."
Albedo straightforwardly responded.
"Question is, how does Grand Master Jean know that Albedo has fallen in love with Sucrose?"
Lisa asked.
"Well... uhm, the thing is, when I was younger, I used to read romance novels from Inazuma. I've always wanted to witness what it was like to have a romantic life but I never experienced that because I'm too busy protecting Mondstadt. So I'm putting romance aside."
Jean blushed a little in embarrassment.
"The more you know. Haha."
Kaeya chuckled.
Lisa scoffed in disbelief upon hearing Jean's paragraph explaining how she knew about love. Everyone glanced at Lisa who was staring at Jean like she just talked such bullshit. And she did. To her, the last sentence was bogus.
"Uhm, exCUSE me, Acting Grand Master Jean!"
"Wh-what?"
"Putting romance aside because you're too caught up with work? Uh, hello? Master Diluc is right there in his winery for you!"
"WH-WHAT?!"
Jean instantly flushed red, taking a step back as Lisa scolded her. Kaeya laughed, turning Jean's attention to him.
"I mean, Lisa does have a point."
"WHAT DO YOU— WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE HAS A POINT?! H-HE'S BUSY AS I AM, WITH HIS BUSINESS!"
Jean shrieked, flustered and flushed.
Meanwhile, with Sucrose, she had nothing to do. She was going to ask Albedo if she had anything to do, but when she heard conversations with Albedo and the other Knights, she instead walked away to the front door. She didn't want to eavesdrop on their conversation. Although what caught her ears was Jean screaming. Even though she screamed, she pretended that it was none of her business.
"You can also go with Lisa too."
Kaeya gestured toward Lisa who also gasped to herself before looking away.
"Both of them are great choices."
"WH-WHY YOU!—"
Jean shouted in return, wanting to grab his collar when suddenly—
"AHEM!"
Amber cleared her throat loudly, catching everyone's attention.
"Are we forgetting that Albedo exists? We can talk about Jean's love life later. Right now, Albedo needs our help."
"L-love life?!"
Amber glared at Jean who immediately silenced her. Thinking it was rude of her, Amber's eyes softened as she smiled to signal Jean her glare was never something like "I'm going to kill you in your sleep."
Good Celestia...
Jean thought.
"Anyway. You were saying Albedo?"
Amber said.
"Uh... Is there any way on how I can refuse... this kind of thing?"
Albedo asked.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. But if you love Sucrose that much, you should at least accept what you're feeling. That's just my opinion, other people deny their feelings towards another because they think they'll reject them or something. Well, it's your choice if you want to love her or not."
Amber said.
This got Albedo thinking very deeply.
"Alright, thanks. Oh, by the way, do you know where Klee is?"
"Oh, she went fishing in Starfell Lake."
Kaeya said.
"Thanks."
Albedo says as he leaves the room and exits the headquarters.
Jean, by the time, already calmed down but when she processed what Kaeya said, that was when it hit her.
"Wait, you said Klee was fishing?!"
"Yes, something the matter?"
"Klee fishes using her bombs! I have to get to her, quick!"
"But Albedo is going to Klee, so there's no need to worry."
Lisa stopped Jean.
"Oh, you're right. Heh, maybe I'm just a little too worked up today because of... earlier's conversation?"
"Hmmm... probably."
Amber replied.
"Although it's really bizarre seeing Albedo in love."
Amber added in a sort of concerned tone.
"People change over the years, right?"
Kaeya said.
"Didn't he say before that getting into relationships is hard? He told me once that you need to sustain a relationship, and he said it takes up all your time. Albedo also said that if you can't sustain it, you're gonna have to rebuild it again which takes a long time. And I'm surprised Albedo has a crush on Sucrose."
Amber mentioned in surprise.
"I'm quite jealous of Albedo because gets to witness a romance life..."
Jean said in a sad tone
Kaeya coughed with such obviousness that Jean immediately turned red.
"Now then."
Amber interrupted, smirking to herself.
"Shall we talk about Jean's love life, hm?"
"Yes... let's talk about it."
Kaeya smirked too, making eye contact with Amber.
Amber and Kaeya scooted next to each other, having this ridiculously evil and giddy face as they attempted to cover their wide grins. They snickered and giggled together, thinking of genius yet wicked ways to tease Jean. At that point, Jean was becoming more annoyed than embarrassed with Kaeya and Amber's attitudes.
"Talk about it and I won't hesitate to fire you."
"I apologize."
Without hesitance, they both apologized and went down on their knees, bowing deeply.
Lisa giggled which made Jean's ears bloom red, looking at the ground to avoid Lisa's eyes.
Meanwhile with Albedo...
Albedo was going to go talk to Klee about this in Starfell Lake. Albedo sometimes shares his problems and talks them out with Klee because Klee is the only person that can understand him besides Sucrose. Albedo found Klee in Starfell Lake, fishing, using her bombs.
"Klee, what are you doing this time?"
Klee widened her eyes as she heard a familiar voice. Instead of thinking she got in trouble, she was thinking about how happy she was to see Albedo.
"Big brother Albedo! Just in time, wanna go fishing with me?"
"I'll watch you fish."
Albedo watched Klee fishing but using her bombs. Then, Albedo asked Klee the question he's been wanting to ask ever since he asked his colleagues about Klee's whereabouts.
"Hey Klee, I'm not sure what I should do... accept my feelings or deny my feelings towards Sucrose."
"Huh? Why ask that? Is my big brother Albedo in love with Sucrose?"
"Well, yes... and Amber said something that made me wonder if I should accept my feelings or deny it."
"Well, I don't know much about love stories but there is a chance that Sucrose also feels the same as how you feel."
Klee felt tired from fishing. So she asked Albedo to sit down, so she can sit down on his lap and finish fishing.
"You... think that?"
Albedo asked.
"Yeah! You should accept your feelings. It'll probably be the best feeling ever once you go out with her!"
How do kids know such serious matters nowadays?
Albedo thought.
"Thanks a lot, Klee. This is why I like talking to you a lot. You help me sort my problems even if you're a child."
"Always here to help Big Brother Albedo!"
Albedo smiled at Klee, releasing a scoff from his noise.
"Oh, by the way, did you see where Sucrose went? She's not in the headquarters, I checked."
Albedo said as he gets up and so does Klee.
"Hmm, I saw Sucrose while I was walking to Starfell Lake... I think she went to Dragonspine. But I don't know where in Dragonspine. I heard her talking to herself one time that she'll investigate what's on top of Dragonspine. Maybe she's there right now."
What is she doing there is Dragonspine? She'll freeze there! I have to go!
Albedo thought in worry.
"Thanks a lot, Klee. Let's talk some other time!"
Albedo waved at Klee and so did Klee wave back at Albedo.
Albedo started running toward Dragonspine. Klee was tired and she went back to Mondstadt with a lot of fish. Ah, don't worry. A patrolling Knight saw Klee carrying her heavy bucket of fish and offered his help. So, all is good.
Meanwhile with Sucrose...
Sucrose was just warming up in Albedo's research camp checkpoint in Dragonspine. Albedo took the quickest warp point and decided to check his workshop in Dragonspine to see if Sucrose was there. Luckily, he trusted his gut and Sucrose was there indeed.
"Oh, Hello Mr. Albedo. What brings you here?"
"I was actually looking for you."
"Oh my! Forgive me Mr. Albedo! I didn't know you were worried for me and looked everywhere for me..."
Sucrose apologized in a guilty tone.
Cute...
"It's fine, besides, I trusted my gut and it didn't take some time to find you because I felt like you were in my camp in Dragonspine. What brings you here in Dragonspine?"
Albedo asked, crossing his arms.
Even though Albedo knew, he just wanted to have a conversation with Sucrose.
"Oh! I was planning to investigate the Crystal Shards found in Dragonspine."
"Crystal Shards?"
Repeated Albedo as he slowly lets his hands dangle on the sides.
"Mhm. I read a study about it three weeks ago. I just never had the time to investigate it myself since I was busy with work. And also..."
"Also..?"
Sucrose hid her hands behind her back and looks away with a blushing face.
"I-I was looking forward to investigating it with you, Mr. Albedo..."
Albedo blushed and tried to keep a straight face. Figuratively, his heart was shot with the Cupid's arrow. Killer shot!
"Well then, let's not waste any more time, shall we?"
Albedo smiled filled with warmth in his heart, knowing that he has accepted his feelings for Sucrose.
Sucrose's eyes lit up.
"Okay, but before we move on, these Crystal Shards scattered across Dragonspine. Have you seen those?"
"Yes, I've only seen one."
"If I recall, there were actually 3 crystal shards. It seems like you got one. Hm... If I can remember correctly where the other 2 are..."
While Sucrose was trying to remember while blabbering on and on, Albedo couldn't help but think about him and Sucrose being a couple. It was surreal for him to think of that and at the same time, embarrassing. I'm not sure why he thought of it as embarrassing but moving on. Sucrose noticed him staring off into the dreamworld, again.
"Mr. Albedo? Mr. Albedo?? Are you in there?"
Sucrose leaned in a little closer to Albedo's face just to knock on his forehead to check if he was still responding. But she was too late to knock on his forehead, for he went back to reality and saw Sucrose too close to his face. They stared at each other, looking at their own reflection in each other's colored eyes before breaking eye contact. A very warm sensation had entered their faces. Albedo covered his mouth to hide half of his face, meanwhile, Sucrose was covering her whole face with her hands. Everything went silent.
T-that's the closest she's ever done... why, why must I blush at some silly mistake...?!
Albedo thought to himself, not in anger, but in confusion.
What have I done?! Why did I lean in so close to Mr. Albedo?! I shouldn't have done that, if I didn't do that, none of this would've happened? That was so stupid of me!
Sucrose blamed herself in her head, as she didn't want Albedo to hear her murmur about her actions.
It took a while for those two to calm down and break the silence.
Sucrose cleared her throat.
"I-I apologize for what I just did.. but, let's not mind that shall we?"
"Y-yeah... lead the way Sucrose."
"Well, we need to go to Entombed City Outskirts first because that's the easiest one we can do. After that, we'll head to the bottom of the Starglow Cavern."
"We're going to freeze to death down there, are you sure there's a shard at the bottom?"
"I brought warming bottles."
She replied in a sing-songy tone, shaking the bottles in her hands.
"How convenient. This is why I trust you a lot."
Sucrose blushed a little from his sweet words. Sucrose summoned a map in her hands with golden particles gathering to form a map.
"We can take a warp point from these two locations, and we need backup for comba—"
"I already called just in case you got injured in Dragonspine."
"Wow, you really came prepared!"
Exclaimed Sucrose in shock.
"Of course. Now, let's not waste any more time, shall we?"
"Ah well... yes, but before we get going, who did you call for backup?"
"Kaeya and Amber."
"Yo!"
Said a cheery voice, it was Amber.
"I'm so glad you guys called me, I was getting bored because I had nothing to do!"
"Hey, glad to see you two interacting very well."
Kaeya mentioned.
Amber heard what Kaeya said so she tried to slap his mouth shut but she was too short, so instead, she just punched Kaeya's stomach for him to stop.
"Ow! What was that fo—"
Kaeya got cut off when he noticed Amber's death glaring into his eyes, and shifted her eyes quickly to the two alchemists for Kaeya to get a hint to stop talking about them.
Albedo brushed his back hair and blush had swept across his face, while Sucrose... she was just clueless.
"Well then..."
Sucrose spoke, clearing her throat.
Sucrose then led the gang to the place where the crystal shard is.
"First stop, the Outskirts!"
And so, their adventures in Dragonspine begin.
End of Chapter 3
Edited and Rewritten April 21, 2022, 12:13 pm