Chapter Text
Kaeya couldn't remember when it first started. It always just felt as perpetual as moths are attracted to flame. Kaeya had come to expect it whenever Albedo thought he wasn't aware; the alchemist's habitual graphite study of him.
Even as they are now, stuck in a dark cavern that had caved in, Albedo was still sketching, eyes glinting with fervour in the light of the campfire (thankfully, Albedo had some dried wood with him). Meanwhile, Kaeya had already long exhausted himself, escorting Albedo to a particularly faraway island, fending off monsters, activating near impossible mechanisms … He was beginning to regret having agreed to this field trip out of boredom.
Kaeya's eyes travelled to Albedo who was sitting across the fire. The alchemist met his gaze, his startlingly turquoise eyes already on him. After a second, Albedo broke the stare and coughed.
"You seem to be in good spirits," Kaeya scoffed.
"Yes, well. I would have never been able to activate that Cryo mechanism on my own. Thanks to your help, I was able to make many invaluable notes about the rather unique formation of this cavern."
"Fascinating. And did you also note an exit anywhere?"
Albedo sighed softly. "I have left a note back at camp. Klee - or anyone really, should find it sooner or later and come looking for us."
"So we wait," Kaeya crossed his arms.
"Yes, we wait."
A beat passed impatiently, before Kaeya stood up and stretched. "Fine. In the meantime, may I see them?"
Albedo frowned. "See … what?"
"Your notes."
Albedo's grip tightened on his clipboard. "Um. I …"
Kaeya crossed the floor to Albedo, snatching up his clipboard easily. He flipped through the pages, taking in the alchemist's scribbled notes, diagrams and … various sketches of Kaeya. The Cavalry Captain hummed thoughtfully.
"How interesting," Kaeya remarked, glancing down at Albedo.
Eyes full of icy annoyance stared back. "My clipboard, please."
Kaeya sat down beside him, but did not return his clipboard. Instead he merely tapped on a quick and recent sketch made. "You always draw me with 3 strokes like this?"
Albedo did not reply.
"I have to say," Kaeya continued with mild amusement in his tone, "I think you can do much better with how regularly I've become the subject of your art."
"You've noticed."
Kaeya gave a short laugh. "You haven't been discreet."
"I - I thought I …" Albedo trailed off into a hum. "Well, I suppose I should have taken extra precautions. You are a skilled and experienced knight, after all."
"How flattering," Kaeya said as he observed Albedo's thoughtful expression with a passive interest. The flicker of the fire danced across his delicate features and made his light hair glow. Did it always look this soft?
"And will you enlighten me as to why such a skilled and experienced artist as yourself, might make such a crude sketch of me then?"
Albedo glanced at him furtively. "They weren't always this way."
"Oh?"
The alchemist hesitated, but eventually continued under Kaeya's questioning stare. "Well, initially, they were much more detailed … but I wanted to capture what is most essential about you. In other words, I aim to distil your essence into the simplest form."
Kaeya regarded the way Albedo was staring, fixated, into the fire. A pointed effort to avert his eyes. Though his expression remained neutral, Kaeya could tell by the hunch of his shoulders and the slight shift away, that Albedo was mildly uncomfortable. It stoked something in Kaeya. He had never seen the Chief Alchemist lose his composure. Just how long can Albedo maintain his admirable calm under pressure, Kaeya wondered.
"May I offer my humble opinion?" Kaeya started after a considerable silence. "Your sketch is missing but a few more crucial strokes."
Albedo looked at Kaeya's outstretched palm warily. But curiosity got the better of him and he passed the sharpened lead to Kaeya without word.
The Cavalry Captain took it with a smile that didn't quite meet his eye, and began to sketch quickly. Albedo could only note the soft scratching of lead on paper, unable to see what Kaeya was drawing exactly for he had tilted the clipboard away from view.
After a few seconds, both the clipboard and the lead were passed back to him. A look of mild surprise crossed his face.
Kaeya smirked. "Well, what do you think?"
"You added … your eye."
Albedo met Kaeya's unrelenting gaze with a similar intensity. A strained silence fell. Dozens of questions raced through both their minds. Questions that have never been addressed for the sake of cordiality and the continued ignorance of those around them.
Questions that only sinners ever considered.
"Do you deliberately ignore it?" Kaeya finally spoke.
Albedo turned his head away. "... No."
"Then it must be a simple oversight," Kaeya concluded. "In that case, I insist you observe more carefully."
A hand reached out to clasp Albedo's chin without warning. It firmly turned his head to face Kaeya. Trepidation flashed in turquoise eyes. Only for a second. Kaeya regarded the little, glimmering orbs in a ring around his pupil. They were interestingly, much like 3 moons orbiting the earth. Very pretty.
But not a Khaenri trait.
Kaeya's gaze lowered and rested on the golden diamond mark on the pale flesh of Albedo's neck.
Now this, this was Khaenri.
But the way it marked him - like a stamp, almost - it was as if it were an identifying seal from a creator. From a Khaenri creator.
"Who made you?" Kaeya asked, his hand now drifting to the golden mark.
Albedo tried to move away, but soon found a growing permafrost freezing a hand on the ground.
Beside him, a moth fluttered into view, searching for warmth and light.
"Master …" Albedo began cautiously. "My teacher was ... Rhinedottir."
"A sinner like me, I presume?" Kaeya said with a feigned lightness to his voice.
"I don't know what you mean," Albedo returned in a considerably even tone.
"No? This is but a matter of simple inference," Kaeya said as he now thumbed purposefully over the diamond mark.
Albedo's free hand caught Kaeya's wrist immediately. "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific."
Smirking, Kaeya stopped his thumbing, though his hand never left Albedo's neck. From the corner of his eye, a moth hovered dangerously close around the crackling fire.
"I'm sure you are aware of a certain great sinner that once abused the Art of Khemia. And I'm sure you are even more aware of the havoc it wreaked on Teyvat. What I'm not sure of, is your intentions behind your … final assignment, as you had mentioned before."
Kaeya paused, before punctuating his next sentence with certain intent. "What happens after you find the truth and meaning of this world?"
Albedo narrowed his eyes. "I seek only mere enlightenment. You however, seem suspect of an ulterior motive."
The hand on his neck tightened ever so slightly.
Kaeya's fingers dug into soft flesh, feeling a quickening pulse underneath. He barely sensed the grip on his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, nor did he notice the sudden flare of a vision, in time with a moth desperately trying to escape the heat of jumping flames.
And then, a large crash resounded from behind. Earth and rocks flew at them as light flooded the cavern. The wind from the blow alone, extinguished the flames, leaving both Kaeya and Albedo illuminated by just bright moonlight.
Diluc entered the cavern, swatting away a moth that flew past him. "Kaeya? Albedo?"
Albedo's eyes flew open, immediately sensing that he was on the ground, and that there was a weight pressing on him. He would have called back if his face weren't buried in soft fur. And then, he felt the hand cushioning the back of his head, and the arm around his body, slowly leave him.
"We're here!" Kaeya called, carefully easing himself up.
The Cavalry Captain straightened himself as he brushed off the dust on his clothes. "A little warning would have been nice …"
Diluc made a somewhat apologetic-sounding grunt. "I wasn't sure if you were inside."
From behind him, Barbara emerged with an anxious expression. "Did you find them? Oh! Captain Kaeya! And Mr Albedo too! Thank Celestia! We've been looking everywhere for you two! Is anyone hurt?"
"Thankfully, a rock missed my head by mere inches," Kaeya replied. "So I'm just fine."
Hearing this, Barbara then went over to Albedo who was still on the ground.
"I'm alright," he said, taking her hand as he stood.
Despite the response, Barbara frowned, changing her hold on his hand to see better. "Your hand's wet! You're not bleeding, are you?"
Albedo pulled his hand away. "It's just water."
When the four of them finally made it back to camp, they were met with much relief from the rest. And while Kaeya stayed up to update the Acting Grandmaster of the evening's events, Albedo was more than glad to retire, resting his tired body under a warm blanket next to Klee. However, try as he might, he was unable to fall asleep quickly.
Throughout the night, Albedo slept fitfully, beset by a cold at his hand, and at the same time, a lingering warmth around his body. The conflicting sensations perpetual as moths are to a flame …