The Experiment [Build a Boyfriend Series Part 2]

1

The blonde stared at his notebook and continued sketching. There was a very handsome individual (by anyone's standards) sitting across the room. He thought that perhaps he would use him for a future model. Albedo was the secluded C.E.O. of Liyue products. The company was famous for making android lovers. No one knew what the company's executive looked like because, for the most part, Albedo hated interacting with others. Especially those he deemed less intelligent than himself. 

"It's no use," he let out a long sigh and rested his forehead against the table, pushing his sketchpad in front of him a bit. The cold of the wood calmed him down slightly. "Ever since the Morax style had to be recalled I haven't felt confident at all..." 

"My, my, I was wondering why a stranger had been staring at me so intently for so long but I never imagined this was the reason." 

Albedo looked up to see the stranger he'd been sketching sitting across from him. His hair tied into a ponytail on one side, dangling over his shoulder, with an eye covered in a black eyepatch. His blue button-up shirt was unbuttoned just enough to reveal some muscular cleavage. These were all things Albedo knew already, after staring at him for the past hour, but somehow a bit closer it looked entirely different. 

"My apologies," Albedo reached out to grab the notebook but the stranger moved it out of his grasp and flipped through it. 

"Do you often sketch strangers?" 

"I sketch and paint when I feel the need," Albedo replied, unsure of why he was accepting a conversation with a stranger so easily. "It helps me think." 

"Do you need help thinking?" he tilted his head to the side slightly and smiled. Albedo wasn't 100% sure with the reasons people smiled but this appeared disingenuine based on the data he'd collected. Was he simply being polite? Or was he making fun of him? Albedo tapped the table with his fingers, staring at him without answering for a moment too long. 

"Why are you talking to me?" he finally asked. 

"A bit rude, since you were the one looking at me," the stranger chuckled, there it was again, that feeling he wasn't being 100% authentic to his emotions. Not that Albedo was the king of knowing emotions, but he had built a franchise on mimicking the human emotional spectrum with androids. He was a very successful scientist and code writer. 

"You haven't answered my question." 

"Aha," he put the sketchbook down and slid it over to Albedo. "Am I bothering you?" 

"You haven't answered my question," Albedo repeated, a bit annoyed. He continued tapping his fingers against the table, slightly faster than before. 

"I'm talking to you because I wanted to know why you were staring at me," the stranger spoke as if this answer was obvious. Albedo sensed he wasn't giving the real reason. When he continued to stare, the stranger offered more of a response. "There is no getting past you, is there?" he chuckled, once again somewhat lacking in truth. "I'm talking to you," he began, leaning his arm up against the table and resting his chin on his hand, smiling slightly, "because I think you're cute and I was hoping that you thought I was cute too since you'd been sketching me." Albedo stared at him. That felt a bit closer to the truth than the previous answer but something was still missing. He remained silent. About five painful minutes passed before the stranger let out a long sigh. He stopped smiling and sat up straight, resting both hands flat on the table in front of him. 

"Nothing gets past you, does it?" he said. "Alright then, I'm talking to you because you're sitting alone with nothing but a sketchbook in a library. You've been here for hours and have stared at me for the entirety of one of them. I have nothing better to do since my friends have left me to go off and play by themselves so I'm talking to you to satisfy my own curiosity. Are you satisfied now? But," he smiled again, leaning forward. "I wasn't lying when I said I thought you were cute." 

"Fascinating," Albedo grabbed the notebook and flipped a page or two, he scribbled notes with haste. 

"May I ask what is so fascinating?" 

"You continuously deflect providing your true feelings by asking questions to change the subject and even when approached with by an individual seeking your true thoughts you wait until the very last moment to provide something that is even remotely close to the truth. I've never quite met an individual that does this before. At least, not calmly." Albedo explained his reasoning without rambling. He spoke quietly and with purpose, scribbling notes and a small chart into his notebook. "Do you think of yourself as a flirt?" he asked, taking a break. 

"No...?" he replied, taken aback and slightly confused. 

"I see," Albedo took more notes. "Do other people consider you a flirt then?" 

"Yes..." he glanced away. 

"Would you say that you find it difficult to form meaningful attachments?" Albedo asked. When he didn't give a response, Albedo put his pen down. "Ah, so that's where my questions will cease getting answers," he sighed, closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "I must say you have lasted longer than most. Individuals usually walk away after I start writing notes." 

"You are a very intriguing character." 

"Me?" Albedo opened his eyes again and pointed to himself. 

"I may have a habit of saying things in an overly dramatic way but I certainly don't say things I don't mean," he smiled, once again, without his visible eye smiling too. He took the sketchbook and the pen and wrote something inside it before standing up. "I do hope to see you around again," he waved then walked away. Albedo looked down at the note. 

XXX-XXX-XXXX --- My name is Kaeya <3 Text me sometime, Mr. Scientist.