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placing the boxes on top of his desk, you immediately run towards the fire, rubbing your hands above it. you could hear the soft chatter of sucrose and albedo, your head turning as you blew cold air from your mouth. albedo nodded to sucrose, the girl smiling softly as she nodded back. "okay, mr. albedo. i'll make my way down and ask him, maybe he knows."
"be safe down. thank you again," albedo whispered, nodding before patting her shoulder. the girl met your eyes, slowly walking over as she pushed up her glasses.
sucrose patted your back, putting her book under her armpit. "hey, i'll be back in a bit, okay? albedo will keep you company━ooh!━and while you're at it, get to know him a bit, okay? trust me, he's not what everyone creates him out to be."
"wh━"
"see you soon!" she gave you a quick smile before running off, causing you to unknowingly raise an eyebrow.
"sucrose..." you sighed, rubbing your temples. turning around, you see the blonde-haired boy turned away from you, writing something against the test tube with dark-colored ink. so, skipping up to him, you place yourself to his right, the boy raising an eyebrow as he inspected the purple-colored tube. "heya, mr. albedo! whatcha' doing?"
"nothing," he dismissed you, causing you to frown. "anywho, why are you calling me mr. albedo?"
"well, sucrose calls you that, i thought i might've dismissed you by not using mister," you smiled kindly, causing him to turn your way. his eyes stared into yours, causing you to blink as you tilted your head. "am...i wrong?"
"ah...well, no," he cleared his throat, looking back at the test tube. placing it into the rack, he slowly walked to his machine. "i'd just prefer if..."
"hm...? sorry, i couldn't really hear you. could you━"
"i wish that you would call me albedo, only," he said a bit louder, causing you to smile. albedo turned around, biting his lip slightly. if only you knew. "so please...just say albedo."
"as you wish, master!" you giggled, causing him to flush pink. he cleared his throat, albedo facing the machine as he closed his eyes. his thoughts were rambled...all because of you. "you know...you're quite cool, albedo."
"hm?" his eyes soon opened, turning back to you. "what do you mean by "cool," y/n?"
"you know, we don't have any big chemists in liyue," you crossed your arms, looking at his set up. "at least...i don't think so━BUT!━again, you really are cool for doing so much exploration, so much chemistry stuff...i don't really understand it, but i'll work hard!"
you warmed his heart, maybe because no one really understood the work he had created besides sucrose and his master. he, too, had no idea what was going on, but every day, he worked hard to fix things. "thanks, y/n. i appreciate it," he nodded, smiling softly. "after all, i'll be occupying your time here in dragonspine. are you ready to enjoy your winter?"
"i guess!" you exclaimed, causing him to smile. "say, albedo━could you tell me more about you?"
"ah...sure," he nodded, beckoning for you to come to sit near him. so, taking a seat on his desk, you turned his way, leaning forward. looking up at you, albedo felt his heart race. "i...don't really know what to tell you━um━i'm a part of the knights of favonius in mondstadt. chief alchemist, to be exact, and━hm━i want to pursue the truth of things."
"of what?"
"of teyvat, as per my...acquaintance's request," he grinned uneasily, rubbing his hands together. you tilted your head, listening closely. "i don't know much about keeping social relationships and stuff, but i hope we can get along well. of course, i wish you could stay longer, but you're only here for the winter."
you giggled softly, covering your mouth. catching albedo's expression, you brightened up. "apologies, albedo, but i can only grant you one wish."
"hm?"
"would you like me to call you albedo..." you trailed off, looking down. "...or want me to stay longer?"
your question caught the alchemist by surprise, his eyes widening as he looked up at you. "um..." he trailed off, taken aback. "well..."
"hehe, i'm just kidding, albedo!" you laughed, patting his back as you jumped off his desk. "don't sweat it, we shouldn't make promises we can't keep."
"ha...don't do that to me, y/n," he laughed softly, shaking his head. "however, you're correct. we shouldn't make promises we can't keep."
and as you met his eyes once more, you had a gut feeling.
that behind his wishes, there was something more to them.
but neither you nor albedo...could really tell what was the truth.
