The Experiment [Build a Boyfriend Series Part 2]

4

Kaeya opened his eyes to the smell of food. He stumbled out of this giant bed and wandered into the kitchen. Albedo was making breakfast. "Do you always sleep with the lights on?" Albedo asked while flipping a pancake. 

"Mm," Kaeya rubbed his forehead and sat down. He wasn't quite awake yet. "Trauma..." he muttered. His hair covering the eye where his eyepatch usually was. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his boxers left little to the imagination with how tight they were. 

"Are you a coffee or tea person?" Albedo turned around holding up two boxes. 

"Both...but coffee would be nice..." he rested his head on the table. 

Albedo placed a stack of pancakes in front of Kaeya and started making coffee. "Sugar? Milk? Nothing?" 

"Black, three sugars, do you have blueberries?" Kaeya sat up and stared at the pancakes. 

"No."

"That's too bad," he pulled the plate closer and started eating. Albedo sat down opposite Kaeya and waited for the coffee machine to finish. 

"Are you always going to cook for me?" Kaeya asked. 

"No," Albedo replied. "I've found that it's easiest to use an hour of the subject's time when associated with a meal. That way there is no discourse about what we should do. But the hours I will choose will be random, for the most part, although after a while I get into the habit of only coming in the evening." 

"I see," Kaeya ate another mouthful of pancake. Albedo's intense gaze, as he ate, was a bit hard to get used to, but he did, in the end, get used to it. He found himself getting used to the idea of this entire situation, oddly enough. 

"Have you been in many relationships?" Albedo finally asked after a prolonged silence. 

"Maybe one or two?" Kaeya put his fork down and thought about it. "I prefer casual sexual encounters over long-term relationships." 

"Is that because you've been in love with Diluc for most of your life?" 

Kaeya flinched. "I suppose so," he muttered. 

"Why are you so reserved about your emotions for him?" 

"I suppose because he thinks of us as brothers?" Kaeya shrugged slightly. "He certainly does not feel the same way about me so I can't exactly progress our relationship." 

"Is that why you act out?" 

"I wouldn't call it acting out, but, I suppose so..." Kaeya stared at the pancakes as if they would get him out of answering these questions. This was very difficult. He wanted so badly to fall back to sleep. As much as it was hard for him, he felt somewhat relieved as well, finally having someone to talk to about this. 

"Hm," Albedo remained quiet. 

"May I ask you a question?" 

Albedo blinked. No one has had that response before. "It's only fair," he nodded. 

"Why do you do this?" Kaeya gestured to him. "Study people like this, I mean. You respond to everything as calmly and coldly as possible. Are you afraid of emotions?" 

"Hm," Albedo placed his hand on his chin and looked away, thinking about the question seriously. "I've always found it difficult to empathize with others and somewhere along the way, I became curious about emotions themselves. I use the data for androids which has made me a lot of money but...I suppose I just want to understand what 'love' is." 

"Have you never been in a relationship before?" 

Albedo stared at Kaeya. "I'm honored you think I'm attractive enough for someone to want to date but you do realize no one is interested in someone that only spends time studying others, correct?" Albedo crossed his arms. "People don't appreciate being treated like a science experiment. I have only ever had one person stay the complete length of time. The rest get weirded out and leave before the month is up. I'm also an introvert," Albedo sighed. "I don't interact with others more than I have to."  

Albedo glanced to the side. "I've been told I'm quite...cold and it's not uncommon for individuals to call me a monster or a robot." Albedo stood up. "I've said too much. I shall leave you to your own devices." 

"Maybe I'm the one that pried too much," Kaeya muttered. "I wasn't expecting him to answer so honestly...although I suppose that makes sense. He doesn't appreciate embellishment very much."