start over / kaebedo

9

Almost immediately after his and Sucrose's phone call, Albedo found himself swiping onto his and Kaeya's message thread; instead of messaging, his finger hovered over the call button as he hesitantly pressed it.

Just like a few days ago, the phone rang the same amount of times before being answered. 

'Bedo, hey!' Kaeya's cheerful voice boomed through the speakers, Albedo couldn't help but smile.

"Kaeya, hi. Could I see you today?"

'I'm mostly busy today...' Kaeya spoke, Albedo's smile faintly dropping, 'But if it's for you, I can surely make time. Why so desperate to see me today?'

It only just now clicked with Albedo's mind that he was actually doing this, he was actually about to confess his feelings after years, "...I just need to talk to you about something. When are you free? Can we meet at the local?" 

'Yeah. If you can, we could meet in about five minutes? I have to help Diluc build some furniture when he gets home from Ajax's place, he keeps insisting that Ajax has to start dedicating more time to studying,' Kaeya giggled, 'Sound good?'

"Yep. I'll start walking now," Albedo abruptly ended the call after that, his heartbeat beginning to get too loud in his ears as it overrode Kaeya's voice. He decided to shoot a quick text to Sucrose, informing her that he was possibly minutes away from confessing his feelings, she replied rather quickly and expressed her excitement and nervousness, which Albedo shared.

He quickly threw on a collared shirt with some trousers, as he strode towards his front door, Alice stopped him, "Where are you going?"

Albedo turned towards her, his hand on the doorknob dropped. "To see Kaeya, I'll be back soon."

Alice hummed, "Didn't you see him last weekend too? Also Tuesday afternoon? I'm so happy you're making new friends, try to be friends with his friends too. You'd be so much happier with a friend group." She gave him a fond expression, she had been looking a lot healthier and less tired recently, and the stress of her job had finally lifted.

Her feeling better meant more sly comments, Albedo pouted his lips and narrowed his eyes, "Are you implying that I'm a loner?"

"Not exactly... Have fun!" Alice slipped through the door to the living room, successfully escaping Albedo's judging gaze. He sighed and left the house.

The walk there seemed long, even if it was about three minutes long. Albedo was just imagining all of the scenarios in his head, what if Diluc lied for some fun? 

That idea was quickly dismissed, Albedo didn't want to practically insult Diluc, although he didn't seem the type for fun - how he hung out with a burst of sunshine like Ajax and had Kaeya as a brother was beyond Albedo's imagination. 

Albedo felt a sudden burst of joy at the fact he could possibly be walking out of this with a date, he wasn't even sure if he was actually mentally ready, although he still desperately wanted to do this. The years of pining had finally crept up to him as desperation flooded him.

The door made a jingle sound as he opened it and entered, Kaeya was already sitting there, did this man just teleport everywhere? Albedo scurried over, "Am I late?"

"Not at all, I just drove here. You're a minute early." Kaeya smiled, watching as Albedo joined the table opposite him, "I like your shirt." Albedo could feel as Kaeya did a once over of him.

"Thank you, I like your earring, is that new?" Albedo's eyes focused on the new silver earring dangling from Kaeya's right ear, he hadn't seen that one before.

"I've had it for a while, I've never worn it until today, though."

A waiter behind the counter began gathering menus, ready to make his move toward the table to take their orders. Albedo already knew he was getting the same thing, so did Kaeya.