the five of you were walking through downtown liyue after the meal. the three first years were ahead, chatting and window shopping. you and albedo were behind, resembling parents watching over their children.
"this was really fun y/n, i'm glad you came."
"i'm glad you came too albedo. it's nice to see you every once in a while." you smiled, sipping your iced coffee that you grabbed from a local coffee shop.
"yes, its truly nice to be around you. you always make my day y/n." you jumped in shock and looked away, flustered.
"i'm glad you think of me like that." you replied, with a grin. "so, i'll see you christmas eve?"
"of course."
――――――――――
it was later in the evening and you were attempting to make dinner for yourself and your roommates. lumine always did the cooking and house chores, so you felt that you owed it to her. yanfei.. just couldn't cook, no matter how hard she tried.
your hair was pulled up into a neat bun, and a very petite apron you found in a drawer was draped over you and tied on the back. you found an old recipe book from snezhnaya that lumine had borrowed from a friend, and placed it on the countertop.
you had been doing fine - the rice was on the stove, and the veggies were grilled. but you had one problem. the fish.
never once had you had to cook for yourself. and by cook, you mean using the stove. cooking rice was easy enough, but having to filet a fish, season, and cook it evenly? it made you anxious.
you felt hopeless - even though it was just a meal. you could've waited for lumine to return from her book club, but no.
you washed off your hands and picked up your phone, dialing albedo. he worked at a cafe, and you had a suspicion that he was the one who cooked every meal you ordered, so who better to ask?
"hello? y/n?" you found yourself blushing when you heard his voice over the phone.
"albedo! sorry, i- uh- sort of need help.."
"it's alright. what do you need?"
"so basically i'm trying to cook something for lumine and i really don't know how to cook fish, so i thought to myself 'hey, albedo works at a cafe, he should know' and then i decided to call you but you know you really don't need to help i can just wait for lumi-"
"hey, calm down alright? what dorm number are you? i'll be there in 5 minutes."
"huh?-"
"i said, i'm coming over. what dorm number are you?"
"r-room 317." (a/n: if you understand this [musical reference] i love you forever)
"317.." he repeated to himself, mumbling. "i'm heading over." the tone played as he hung up.
you placed down every cooking tool and material, and stepped away from the counter before you caused any more damage to the food.
――――――――――
a knock on the door was heard minutes after, and you rushed up from the couch to answer it. there was albedo standing outside, wearing a denim jacket over his t-shirt. he was shivering ever so slightly, since it was windy out.
"thank the lords you're here." you sighed, pulling him in. "i don't know what i would've done."
albedo chuckled and made his way to the kitchen. "so what are you planning to do with the fish?"
your mind went blank and you bit your lip. "uhh, i don't exactly know." albedo smiled and put his hair up.
"it's fine, i've got it."
you wandered aimlessly around the kitchen as albedo did the handiwork. when he was finished, you looked at the meal in awe.
"w-wow albedo. thank you so much! say, would you like to stay for dinner?"
albedo gave you a sad smile. "i would love to, however i have to babysit my friend's daughter today, and she's quite a handful."
"you could bring her here! we love kids!"
albedo's eyes quirked up. "you're really sure? again, she's very energetic and slightly insane-"
"of course albedo! besides-" you took your hand and wiped flour off of his cheek, your face turning pink. "the more time i spend with you, the happier i get."
albedo himself became flustered at your words. "i-i- i'll go pick her up now. see you in a bit y/n." you chucked, seeing him slightly rush out of the door, red in the face.
little did you know, albedo's description of the little girl was not what you had expected.