Chapter Text
Albedo walked cautiously to the kitchen, grabbing one mug at first then a second one for his unexpected guest.
"Coffee?" The question floated oddly in the air, the space so unused to idle chatter.
His hands automatically busied themselves in preparation for instant brew. The beauty of being an alchemist means you have the ability to make fancy tech for self-indulgent purposes.
It made him think of Sucrose as he loaded the coffee machine with caramel-flavored coffee. Sucrose specifically engineered the coffee flavor to a higher degree of sweetness, depending on the taster's blood sugar levels. The girl is simply brilliant, far exceeding beyond his initial assessments.
"A cup will be good," Dainsleif replied.
He stared at his hands as the mug filled with steaming liquid, the scent of the fresh morning coffee calming him. The lines in his palms look just the same as it ever did, and he didn't think of a reason why it should change now. Maybe he should take Mona's readings of him more seriously. It was she and the Traveler who solved the mystery of the fallen star after all.
"Something big will happen to you, a premonition or a vision in your dreams..."
And true to her word, a man appeared and took over his dreams.
Once it was ready he set the mug down in front of his guest, his eyes set at the pine wood table. He couldn't bare to look at him directly at the moment.
His own mug still needed tended to, which borrowed him time to compose a decent topic starter. None seemed particularly good enough.
So it was, that he sat down opposite the man he's recently only been rendezvousing with at night, if he could call it that.
Dainsleif took a sip of his coffee, once he tasted his own, and gave a slight approving nod. It finally gave him an idea of what to talk about.
"Sucrose, my fellow researcher at the lab, made the flavor profile of this coffee. Its caramel flavor heavily takes inspiration from the Fontaine dessert, crème brûlée, which I think she's achieved quite well. To say nothing of the fact that it also complements the glucose level present in your body seconds after ingesting it, without much compromise to its taste."
(Somewhere hunched over a book was Sucrose, letting out a sneeze that could have frightened a small mouse. She fixed her glasses and sneezed twice more.)
With that said, he barely glanced at his companion, odd that it was to realize that this may truly be the first occasion in seeing him out in the real world. Not much differed to note of, and he couldn't help but notice Dainsleif held the same aura his master did. Both are all-knowing and just within knowing. He has no doubts in his mind that the two of them are connected somehow.
"To think alchemy has such mundane uses under the hands of prodigious wielders, and yes I agree that it does indeed emulate the taste of crème brûlée, of course tasting the authentic dessert is incomparable itself."
Albedo's interest piqued at the mention of tasting a real crème brûlée, his train of thought sharply turning. He sipped more of his dose of sweet caffeine, pleased that the temperature was perfect enough to warm his senses.
"Have you been to Fontaine? I've heard that there's plenty more desserts just as wonderful as crème brûlée there like éclairs, macarons, and custards."
"I've been to Fontaine in a few occasions, the culinary arts is indeed top notch, and I'm sure you'll find the gadgets they have there to be well made and innovative."
Albedo drank more than half of the contents of his mug, still a few hours before he was to make an appearance in the lab.
"If only I wasn't tied to the Knights of Favonius I would perhaps have more liberties to travel here or there. As it is, I'm quite content where I am in the present with the people around me."
"You don't need to be tied to the Knights of Favonius any longer, I will prove that I will take care of you from now on."
Dainsleif stood up not a second later and bowed down on one knee in front of him, the transition seamless for a man that seemed hellbent in traumatizing him not so long ago. But...this man before him now had no such intentions, he could sense that.
Last night had been a whirlwind of sensations, floating somewhere in the back of his mind like a drifting cloud. He tried to distance himself from it, separating that moment of temptation aside. For all he knew, Dainsleif barely regards their sex as nothing more than a means to an end. He didn't know why it bothers him to think of it like that, maybe the problem itself is thinking of it in the first place. It was rather odd for him to feel emotional at all.
"Keep what you promised me, that's all I ask." His voice shook slightly, slender fingers clenched at his knees. He couldn't even glance his way now.
He heard Dainsleif shuffle just outside of his peripheral vision and before he realized it, the man had his chin tipped up with one of his big fingers and was leaning down to kiss him.
Their lips, warm and tasting of caramel coffee, inevitably touched, and Albedo could feel his heart swell and his stomach flip. It felt so good, better than any of what he felt in his dreams.
So he isn't going to leave, he's going to stay with me...
Small, almost imperceptible tears prickled out of his closed eyes, catching in his eyelashes. Tension left his mind and body and he almost fell limp had Dainsleif not held him in his arms.
Yes, I made a promise that I will keep as long as I am here. He replied in his consciousness.
That jolted him somewhat, and before he could separate from their kiss, Dainsleif kissed him all the harder and slipped his tongue inside his mouth.
Only his master had been able to read and respond to his thoughts like that. There was no one else until Dainsleif arrived.
Such upwelling of strong emotions is rare to him, but he will be forgiven for crying over a lost figure that has mentored and taught him all he knew.
Don't think about them—the Destroyer.
Albedo startled at the mention of that word.
Destroyer?
Yes, for now you need not worry about it.
Their mind link ended as soon as their lips parted, all spit-shined and tender.
"How did you do that?" Despite still feeling floaty from their touch, Albedo scrutinized the man before him with renewed intensity.
"I know you have questions and seek answers, but I simply cannot tell it to you in one day."
"Only my master has ever done that before—linked with my thoughts and have conversations with me without ever having the need for the movement of the tongue..." Albedo closed his eyes. He briefly recalled the voice of Rhinedottir, ever so present in his mind, as they taught him the ways of the Universe through Soil and Chalk.
Lost, so lost... Everyday I struggle and still find myself at a loss whether you left me or found something else to pass onto.
He realized soon after that he never really knew who his master was; as much as they were a fountain of wisdom, there also lies an abyss of secrets unknown to him—secrets that were now haunting him and in which Dainsleif held to his chest closely like a deck of cards. He wonders truly the extent of the Khaenri'ahn's omniscience.
"I know what I am and you know what I am—the Destroyer."
"You are not a Destroyer, but they are." The man held him tighter as his body trembled uncontrollably.
"But is that not why you came to me in the first place? You know what I am going to become. The reason I accepted..."
"I know, I know. My intentions may not have been completely benevolent in the beginning... But they are different now. I see that you are not the monster I had envisioned you to be... I um—" Dainsleif looked away, hesitance infringing in his tone. "May have jumped to conclusions faster than I should have."
"What changed your mind then?"
"Watching you draw and research for hours, it is as simple as that, and I grew more attracted to you. Not only that but I eventually switched my mind about you. Now I want you safe from this corruption, instead of solely fighting the source of it."
"I would warrant a highly probable guess that your time is far better served elsewhere than observing me."
"Oh, but you would be wrong. I always make the most efficient use of my time, such as claiming a Homunculus for myself."
Albedo blinked slowly, his eyes humorless and just a touch too shiny. For a few seconds he looked up at the taller man, undisturbed until a soft hue of pink bloomed from his pale cheeks all the way down to his neck.
A touch of spring upon winter's frost.
Dainsleif caressed Albedo's smooth, life-like skin. He was absolutely perfect and he was not going to deny that it still disturbed him somewhat. There's a person out there that can create living and breathing replicas of humans out of dust, free and unchecked.
And here was one such person right now underneath his palms.
"Well, after all you do what you want to. You just stringed me along to your strange machinations." Albedo looked away from the man's crystal-eyed stare, unable to hide his ability to turn even more crimson.
"It is not so strange when you are aware and familiar to it, no?" The Khaenri'ahn leaned in ever so closely, their nose tips brushing.
"I do not know where you picked up the idea that I was comfortable being vulnerable in an abyssal realm and be subjected to your dark whims."
"Dark whims?" Dainsleif chuckled. "Yes, and I formally apologize. It shall never happen again, unless of course it becomes a part of our repertoire." A sultry smirk replaced his amicable expression.
"I beg your pardon?" Albedo made to sit up, evidently having had enough of further embarrassment.
"No, please, I'm being serious. Tell me what it is you need and I shall deliver it, whatever it is. I'm extending an olive branch to you for the ways I've done wrong to you."
Albedo paused to gauge Dainsleif's apparent sincerity and suddenly thought of an idea for his reparation. He wrapped his fingers around the coffee mug.
"Give me a crème brûlée..."
Maybe he should have asked for more answers, but it will eventually unfold at his feet as it must, whether he wants it to or not. Dainsleif is proof of that.
"That is it?" Dainsleif queried, slightly puzzled. Albedo keeps surprising him at every turn.
"Yes, I want to taste an authentic one."
For now he wants to enjoy the small things he can for as much as he can.
"Then you shall have it." A kiss to the alchemist's lips sealed his sweet promise. "And many more."