Albedo hadn’t meant to become this way.
He used to be composed. Precise. Withdrawn, even. Every word had weight. Every movement had reason. Now he was dating you, talking to you about the shape of a cloud he saw on the way back from Dragonspine.
“It looked like a lizard. But it had… wings? Or no, I think they were antlers. And it was sort of following me.”
pause
“I ran a heat resistance trial today. One of the slimes burst. Not from the heat, I think, but possibly from stress caused by the sound frequency in the lab. Which means I need to recalibrate the—” “—and then the reaction completely destabilized,” he’s saying, gesturing faintly with one hand “Which isn’t supposed to happen, obviously. But it was fascinating, because instead of combusting, the substance collapsed in on itself. Like—well, like a dying star. Not that it was that dramatic, but I’m considering running a parallel with my celestial hypotheses just to see if the behavior aligns.”
He pauses. Briefly. Long enough to take your hand and place it on his head like you’re a fixture he forgot to switch on. His hair is already a mess. He’s hoping you’ll fix that.
“You can start braiding, by the way. You always wait for me to ask.”
“You know, you’re quite tall. Just enough that I notice. Especially when I follow you around. You could slow down. Or let me hold your hand. That would fix it.”
“—and then Sucrose said I was being irresponsible, but really, she’s the one who left the centrifuge running overnight—I just wanted to see if it would explode, which it didn’t, by the way, it just melted the bottom.”
He paused for all of 0.3 seconds before continuing.
“I walked through the lower forest path, and I saw this weird-looking mushroom. It had teeth. Like actual little toothy ridges.. i did not touch it. But I wanted to. I might go back tomorrow. If I get poisoned, I want you to have my chalk set. The good one. Not the travel kit. That’s for emergencies only.”
He exhales one long breath and goes quiet.
For maybe five seconds.
“…Also, can I clone you if you die?”