start over / kaebedo

1

The lead of his pencil scraped lightly on the paper, Albedo drew the outline of a face, he hadn't quite decided who he'd draw yet.

Until he walked in.

A neatly kept guy, dark blue hair pulled back in a thin ponytail that draped over his chest, a mysterious eye patch that covered what Albedo assumed was an eye injury. He had eyes that had shapes similar to those of stars in them, he had good fashion sense too.

Albedo ducked his head down as Kaeya scanned the classroom, he walked past the desks of staring girls and chose the desk right next to Albedos. Albedo's pencil began to move on its own, sketching the shape of Kaeya's uncovered eye, he had been observing the other boy for a few weeks now, studying his actions and relations.

Albedo couldn't quite gather what made him so interested, perhaps it was because Kaeya showed little to no interest in his practical fangirls. He'd flash them a smile when they'd speak to him, just to return to a blank expression when he was left alone. Kaeya did the same with his friend group of guys, he didn't even bother turning his head fully before dropping his smile, maybe that was just how he was.

Although now, he was sitting fairly close to Albedo. He snuck quick glances toward Kaeya, trying to sketch him on a small piece of paper the best he could considering the angle - or he could just use his previous sketches as a reference, that could work too.

And then suddenly Kaeya was staring at him. 

"Hey."

Albedo glanced up, "Hi...?" He cringed at the way he said it, who could blame him? He and Kaeya had been in the same classes for years now, they never communicated, though.

Kaeya smiled. "I noticed you're always drawing, what're you drawing?"

He had noticed that?

"I'm just practicing anatomy..." Albedo said, panicking as he began sliding his previous sketches over the sketch of Kaeya. He reluctantly handed them to Kaeya's reaching and silently pleading hand.

And that's when he panicked even more.

Albedo quickly realized that those cover-up sketches were of Kaeya's hands. Anyone who didn't look at Kaeya's hands a lot wouldn't notice, but he had randomly placed moles and signature rings that he wore every day, and Albedo happened to have included every detail.

He saw Kaeya's smile grow into a smirk as he scanned the sketches up and down, his eye met Albedos. "I never got your name, by the way." He said.

Albedo bit his lip, so of course, he knew Kaeya's name, however, Albedo was so invisible that Kaeya didn't know his name. Albedo released his bottom lip, "My name's Albedo."

"Kaeya. Nice to meet you." He raised the hand Albedo was already familiar with to shake, Albedo accepted and shielded his fascination of finally being able to touch one of the hands he had admired for so long. "Your sketches are amazing, by the way." Kaeya released the handshake and carefully put the piece of paper onto Albedo's desk, they fluttered slightly as they were gently placed on the surface.

"Thank you,"

The teacher walked in at that moment, and Albedo noticed that this time, Kaeya's smile didn't drop when he turned away. He definitely recognized those hands.

Albedo pressed his pencil back to his original sketch, he shaded in the eyepatch, pressing slightly harder on the blush of his lips and cheeks. His artistic tendencies were put to a stop when he felt his teacher's lingering stare as if she was about to walk over and sell Albedo out.

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Lunch. This was the time Albedo hid in the library, usually catching up on homework.

He'd like to consider himself an organized person, although his mathematics assignments would sometimes slip past him, he'd sigh in defeat when he showed up almost every class with late assignments to finally hand in.

Kaeya had been clouding Albedo's mind for the past several months now.

He didn't know why Kaeya had decided to speak to Albedo today of all days, or at all, Kaeya was popular and Albedo was not. He felt as if he didn't have any distinct or interesting things about himself, and maybe Kaeya was talking to him as a joke, secretly making fun of him behind his back.

'He was drawing me in class, he's sooo obsessed with me it's embarrassing!' Albedo imagined him saying.

If only he knew that Kaeya kept that fact to himself.

As he thought about Kaeya, some familiar fingers taunted and tapped in front of him on his book. He glanced up to see the man himself, Kaeya. "I thought I'd find you here."

Upon receiving no response, Kaeya walked around him and got comfy in the chair right next to Albedo. Albedo swore he could've imagined Kaeya shuffling closer, "What are you studying?"

"Just some maths. I've been slacking with it a little recently."

Kaeya chuckled, "Slacking, huh? What could have the quiet Albedo so distracted?"

Albedo felt his eye twitch, was he being made fun of?

"Perhaps... Something to do with how you study anatomy?" Kaeya taunted him again, his hand sliding to Albedo's book pages, "Why don't you-"

"Kaeya."

His name felt so foreign on Albedo's tongue.

"I draw a lot of people. The rings you wear simply were just stuck in my memory, they were added to the sketches not because I was necessarily drawing you, but because I just wanted to draw some hands." Albedo stood up, slightly pushing his chair out with the heel of his boot. "Please refrain from getting the wrong idea."

He walked away, feeling a bitter taste on his tongue, maybe he shouldn't have said that.