Work Text:
The alchemist’s laboratory in the Knights of Favonious headquarters was a fairly small area. It was tucked away on the second floor, towards the back of the grand stone building. The dimly lit, windowless room was a quiet area with very few milling around unless they belonged to the department.
Or… Unless they wanted to bother the Chief Alchemist, of course.
Kaeya smirked as he crept through the wooden door with barely any sound escaping from the creaking hinges. His steps were silent as he continued his approach to the only person that inhabited the room.
“The heat needs to be turned up approximately .5 degrees… The effects of the formula have been deemed inconclusive… Beginning to conduct Geo resonance test #256.”
As Kaeya grew closer, he could hear the hushed murmurs of his boyfriend as he spoke aloud to himself. It was hard to tell what exactly the alchemist was working on. His desk was an amalgamation of paper strewn haphazardly and various glass beakers and bottles that clinked softly when moved.
The Cavalry Captain had made his way over to stand almost directly behind Albedo, there was still no indication that the smaller man had noticed.
“Still working this late, love?” Kaeya whispered into Albedo’s ear as he flung his arms around his torso from behind.
Albedo didn’t even flinch at the sudden disruption, only meeting Kaeya’s gaze briefly before looking back down at his work. Not that Kaeya was really surprised with that reaction, even when surprised or scared, Albedo was almost always able to keep that flat expression glued on his face. But Kaeya thought that it only made it all the more fun to tease him and try to weedle any sort of emotion from that impassive visage.
Albedo merely hummed in acknowledgement, engrossed in his work.
“‘Bedo~” Kaeya tried to get the others’ attention in a musical tone of voice, “Everyone else has long since left for the night, you should get some rest too, hmm?”
Albedo paused for a moment, processing the words and looking around to confirm them.
“Let me finish this one calculation then I will come to bed. You can go ahead of me if you’d like.” Just like that, those teal eyes looked down at the experiment once more.
“You and I both know if I don’t stick around you’ll just end up working through the night again.” Kaeya sighed, speaking more to himself than to his boyfriend, he knew Albedo wasn’t paying attention to him anymore anyway.
The blue haired captain looked around the laboratory with mild curiosity. He figured he might as well find something to do while he waited for Albedo to finish up his work.
He had made his way across the room and to a shelf of bottles filled with liquid of varying colors. With so many of them, Kaeya wondered how it was possible for anyone to tell them apart.
Kaeya had just picked up a bottle filled with an iridescent, bright pink liquid when it happened.
It was as if the world tilted for just a moment, for less than the blink of an eye, but it was enough for Kaeya to raise his guard. He was just about to ask Albedo if he had felt anything when he heard the ear piercing sound of glass breaking.
Looking up towards the source of the noise, Kaeya’s eye widened. It looked like Albedo had just dropped the bottle he had been holding, a clumsy mistake perhaps, but Kaeya could tell that something else was wrong.
The Chief Alchemist was standing stock still, his arms hanging limply at his sides, and an even more blank expression than usual painting his face.
“‘Bedo? What’s-” Kaeya’s concerned question was cut off as Albedo suddenly dropped to his knees, and then collapsed fully, his side hitting the glass covered ground.
“Albedo!” Kaeya wasn’t even able to get more than a step or two towards him when he suddenly found himself frozen in place.
It was nearly instantaneous, a blazing fire that bloomed from within his chest and quickly flooded the rest of his body. Kaeya’s body felt like it was being set on fire from the inside, the excruciating burning pain a match for even the white hot flames of Diluc’s vision.
Kaeya found himself stumbling to the ground, unable to withstand the agony that had consumed him. He tried to speak, to scream, to make any sort of noise that wasn’t a strained gasp but his throat was clenched shut, unable to even take in the smallest of breaths.
He forced himself to turn his head to Albedo’s form on the floor, a pit in his stomach formed when Kaeya found himself staring directly into his lover’s lifeless and dull eyes.
“B-Bedo! Pl… Please!”
Summoning every facet of his willpower, Kaeya reached an arm towards the still body, desperately trying to reach the man that he loved. He couldn’t tell which was worse, the agonizing spasms that coursed through his body, or the uncertainty of Albedo’s condition.
Regardless, Kaeya could only stare helplessly at Albedo’s unmoving form as he himself struggled and writhed on the cold stone floor.
It could have been minutes, or even hours until it stopped. Kaeya had lost all sense of time in that state of pure panic. It stopped just as suddenly as it had arrived. The fire in his limbs vanished into thin air and he found himself finally able to take a deep breath, choking slightly at the sudden intake of oxygen.
As soon as he could freely move, Kaeya pushed himself to stand and stumble across the room to where Albedo’s body lay still, his eyes just dead as before.
Kaeya knelt harshly in the pile of broken glass, not even caring when he felt the sharp edges rip through his clothing and bite at his skin. He promptly pulled the smaller body into his arms, sucking in a breath when he felt the cold skin through his gloves.
“Albedo?” it came out as a whisper, Kaeya’s fear leaking into his voice.
“Albedo?! Wake up!” The call was more urgent this time.
The alchemist still did not show any signs of waking up. Even when Kaeya gently shook his shoulders, Albedo’s head only lolled to the side.
Kaeya gripped the man in his arms tightly, fighting a losing battle with the tears forming in his eyes.
“Please… Don’t leave me too…”
As much as he wished for it, Kaeya was still shocked when Albedo actually began to move.
“Kaeya…” he sounded sleepy, as if he had just woken from a long nap, “What happened?” His teal eyes blinked themselves back to life.
The Cavalry Captain wasted no time in crushing the other man in his embrace, a wave of relief and exhaustion sweeping through his body.
“Just… Don’t ever do that again, ‘Bedo.”
It took awhile for Kaeya to explain what had happened while Albedo was unconscious (he didn’t remember anything apparently). Even after extricating the both of them from the sheet of glass on the floor and bandaging up the small cuts on both of their bodies from the ordeal, Kaeya refused to relinquish his hold on the alchemist.
When the two of them finally made their way back to Kaeya’s quarters and into the welcoming bed, they were both absolutely drained.
“Why do you think that happened?” Albedo, who always had the energy for curiosity, mused as he lay on Kaeya’s chest, arms wrapped around him.
“Hmm…” Kaeya sighed, already nearly half asleep, “Well, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if anyone was affected as well, but I doubt anybody was. Jean would be running around in a panic by now if that was the case. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it probably has to do with that.”
Albedo frowned, “But I’m not actually from your country, only my master was. I’m not even human…”
Kaeya only shrugged, “Well you’re human enough for me, and also enough for whatever it was that caused that reaction apparently, although that might be why we experienced two different responses.”
“Why do I have the feeling that the Traveler is somehow involved in this?”
Kaeya chuckled, “It would be just like them to be poking their nose into something ancient and questionable. I suppose we’ll just have to interrogate them whenever they return to Mondstadt.”
Albedo smiled softly, his eyes finally beginning to droop closed. “I guess we will.”
The two men quickly drifted off into a surprisingly tranquil slumber, shoving future problems and anxieties to worry about for another day.