Commission To Slay a Black Dragon

Chapter III: Supper Date

The stroll from the headquarters to the town square was wordless. Aether knew that his introverted friend was never good at small talk, but in the past, he had always been eager to share about his experiments and fascinating discoveries. Yet despite being so busy, the alchemist never breathed a word about what he had been working on. The thought slightly irritated Aether, but at this point he was too tired to care. He was satisfied enough that Albedo agreed to dine with him despite his embarrassing tantrum earlier.

Aether wonders to himself if he was simply being clingy. After all, he was more than just a little fond of the alchemist. During his trip to Liyue, he would often fantasize about the chief alchemist's excited face upon his return, eyes shining through his expressionless, pale face, and then, he would bombard him with his recent findings about the truth of this world and what not for hours through the day... The traveller peeked at Albedo from the corner of his eye, comparing the endearing alchemist that he had conjured in his mind with the real one before him, who had been consciously keeping himself at least one and a half arm's length away.

After a gruelling fifteen minutes of silence, the pair finally arrived at Good Hunter. Aether gestured his friend to take a seat and quickly headed to the counter before Albedo could offer him any protest about who should pay. Aether knew that his small friend disliked large portions of food, but since he was hungry, he ordered all of Albedo's favourite dishes except the spiders, which was unfortunately not on the menu.

Night time in Mondstadt was peaceful with little signs of life, and the only audible whispers were from the chilly winds and gushing sounds of the nearby fountain.

Aether was glad that Good Hunter is still open at this time of the day. He returned to the table to wait for their food, and when he sat, his elbow brushed Albedo's by accident. In an instant, he caught the alchemist stiffening at the touch. Albedo lowered his head shyly and retreated his arms beneath the table, where his elbows will be safe. Little signs like these were the very culprit of Aether's regurgitating anguish.

Fortunately, their food arrived quickly to break the awkwardness. Despite the previous grand performance from his empty stomach, Albedo eats his food with a sort of elegance that Aether could only marvel at. Lightly brushing silver strands of hair behind his ear, Albedo patiently brings a neatly cut piece of moon pie to his mouth. Watching those teal eyes smile faintly at the dessert, Aether felt his lips lengthen to a smile. It was only when Albedo lowered his utensils to give Aether a curious look that the traveller realised, he had been staring at his friend with a stupid grin across his face, cheeks rested on his hands like a maiden in love.

"You're really charming, I couldn't help myself," Aether playfully admitted, gambling excitedly on whether his friend would give him a stoic reply or a shy stutter, both of which he wouldn't mind bearing witness to.

Albedo gave no response. Instead, imaginary cogs began spinning in his head, trying to process the sudden compliment and string together broken pieces of words for a proper reply. A frozen reaction was not what Aether expected, but he was still contented with it.

Soon, Aether could see smoke emitting from the alchemist's skull due to excessive thinking, and quickly sat upright to change the topic, sharing about what he had heard from the Tea Master in Liyue with animated enthusiasm.

"I didn't find anything in that godforsaken mountain though," Aether slid back down his chair in a spiritless sigh.

Albedo hummed in reply, one hand on his chin, and the other pushing cut pieces of moon pie around his plate. Aether instantly regretted changing the topic to the dragon, seeing that his friend had now fallen into 'thinking-mode' and was playing with his food, rather than eating it.