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silkflovvers · 1 year

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Hello friend! Did I see a PACIFIC RIM ALBEDO AU?!

Please, may I humbly requeat a snippet for Albedo Day?

A FELLOW PERSON OF CULTURE I SEE

I will forewarn you this AU started as me writing out a summary of an idea in a discord server that just eventually got out of hand and became too detailed to call a summary, so the grammar and all that is not up to par with my other writing. However, it is still all safely tucked away in a 6k word doc and begging to be shared in any form it may take!

Apologies for any inconsistencies anywhere! This is long, so I hope it doesn't cut off anywhere....

"Pacific Rim AU"

Rating: T? Ship: Kaebedo (at least it was end goal, no real romance is happening) Tags: Canon typical violence, minor character death, hurt/comfort

Diluc and Kaeya used to be a Jaeger pilot team because they were drift compatible due to growing up together since a young age, but a battle went wrong and Diluc and Kaeya were both injured. Kaeya had to pilot the Jaeger alone for a few minutes until he blacked out. When he came to Diluc wasn't there anymore, instead there was a rescue team (Amber and Noelle) helping him out of the control room cockpit thing. Whatever you call it.

So Kaeya is forcibly retired from piloting. He still gets headaches and body aches occasionally, blaming it on Diluc each time, wherever he may be. The fact that he can still feel him lets him know he's out there somewhere, alive.

He hates being barred from piloting his Jaeger, his baby he so lovingly piloted straight into battle countless times. He itches to be back in the suit, but Jean won't allow him to unless he can find a new partner he can safely drift with. Kaeya is stubborn and doesn't want to drift with anyone but his missing brother.

His and Diluc's Jaeger is slowly but surely repaired. Seeing it in one piece as good as new nearly drives Kaeya insane. He sneaks into the hold to check the mechanics' work. Thinking everyone had gone back to the barracks for the day, he strolls through the Jaeger like there's no threats in sight.

Then, Albedo asks him what the hell he's doing in the Jaeger without safety equipment and the right papers documenting he has the permission to be on board and scares the crap out of him.

Kaeya doesn't like this little blond mechanic's attitude and snaps back that it's his robot. He has every right to be in it.

Albedo, unfazed, informs him it's the Ordo's robot and he needs to see his papers with Jean's stamp of approval.

Kaeya doesn't have any papers.

—————

Kaeya learns that Albedo is the head of the mechanic team overseeing his Jaeger through gossip in the mess hall and probably through some back hallway interrogations of the apprentice welders and electricians on the team that he manages to corner.

From that moment on, Kaeya decides he's going to either bribe or seduce Albedo into letting him into the Jaeger.

Absolute nonsense ensues

Kaeya does EVERYTHING he can possibly think of to convince Albedo to let him in the robot.

He decides Albedo must be made of stone to reject all of his advances and attempts, but he does learn little tidbits of information about the mechanic.

He learns that Albedo is Klee's big brother, that he's close with Sucrose, and hears some saucy rumors about him and lieutenant Huffman from the strategy sector. He also learns that Albedo is the one who painted the mural in the main lobby and the one in the mess hall.

Kaeya starts to see Albedo as more than just the mechanic he's trying to sweet talk into letting him back in the robot.

By the time Albedo just BARELY starts to soften up, Jean catches on to what Kaeya was trying to do and essentially puts him in time out on paper work duty. He's stuck with Lisa in record keeping for a solid week. They were friendly before, but Jean doesn't realize her mistake of putting those two in a room together, because Kaeya just got a free week of romance lessons and he's going to win Albedo's heart once he's free.

So Kaeya, with new tricks up his sleeve and moral support from Lisa, approaches Albedo for once without the intent to get back in his robot.

Except, Albedo was actually looking for Kaeya. He needs someone to test the drift apparatus to ensure it’s functional.

All of Kaeya's week-long training gets thrown out the window as soon as the chance to get back in the Jaeger is handed to him without any argument.

Of course he accepts. But, then he remembers the Jaeger needs two people.

He asks who the other pilot is going to be.

Albedo gives him an odd look before saying he'll take the place of second pilot for maintenance reasons.

Kaeya's dumbfounded, obviously.

He shamelessly asks Albedo if he knows anything about how drift compatibility works (Pacific Rim 2, your lack of drift compatibility lore is not welcome here)

Albedo, calmly, asks if he knows who he's talking to, tool belt in one hand and documents in the other.

Kaeya's realizes it was a dumb thing to say and simply asks if he thinks it's safe since they've never drifted before. Albedo simply tells him he thinks they'd be compatible and walks off towards the hangar where the Jaegers are kept. Kaeya follows, but can't for the life of him come up with a reply

So they get all suited up and Kaeya tries his hardest to keep unprofessional thoughts out of his head when he sees Albedo suited up, for safety reasons, not just to be sexy. He knows Albedo will know he thought those things if they do successfully drift and he wasn't about to risk all of Lisa's training turning into a waste.

With the team in the control room and in the hangar on standby, they commence the testing. There's mild turbulence on Kaeya's end, memories of the battle where he lost Diluc, threatening to tear him out of his calm focus. His mind turns to flames and burning oil, overheated cores and alarms ringing. Albedo reaches out to him and brings him back with a cold hand. When Kaeya catches sight of Albedo's thoughts and memories that slip through, he sees nothing but a cold, cold mountain, littered with ruins.

Then he's standing in the snow with his hands both grasped tightly by Albedo's.

They're drift compatible.

The tests go smoothly without any hiccups and they pull out of the drift.

Kaeya can barely function out of pure shock that someone, someone other than Diluc, successfully drifted with him without either of them passing out, getting a nosebleed, or something exploding.

Albedo pulls off his helmet like this was a normal day for him. The rest of the team is silent over the communications channel. Jean is the first to ask if they're both alright. Albedo answers for the both of them and immediately asks for a run down of the diagnostics.

—————

Kaeya doesn't sleep that night. He lays awake with nothing on his mind but snow covered mountains and the thrill of being back in the Jaeger. He wants to feel it again.

First thing in the morning, Kaeya asks Albedo to be his copilot. Albedo nearly throws his coffee on him. It's 4 am and he was up all night going over the data to make sure the tests were completely successful and that the Jaeger's drift apparatus wouldn't cause any harm to the pilots, however minute it may be. He doesn't know why Kaeya is awake at this hour or why he's energetically saying good morning like a regular person would at 7am at the earliest. And did he just ask him to be his copilot?

Albedo refuses.

Kaeya feels like he's back at square one.

Albedo reasons that he's a mechanic and a researcher. Not a soldier. He's here to build and fix the Jaegers, not pilot them and knock some Kaiju around.

Kaeya pleads with him, explaining he's only the second person who's ever successfully drifted with him. He needs Albedo to be his copilot if he ever wants Jean to let him back in his big metal baby ever again. He doubts Varka would even let him if he ever returned from the other branch across the ocean.

Albert stands firm in his rejection. He's not a pilot.

Kaeya is heartbroken.

But Albedo has softened up to him, and he doesn't want Kaeya to be miserable, even if he prefers not to meddle in other people's affairs.

With a foreign air of hesitation, Albedo asks Kaeya to keep him company while he works. All that's left to fine tune are the functions unique to Pavo Noctua (Kaeya and Diluc's Jaeger). Albedo reasons there may not be anyone who knows the robot better than Kaeya.

Of course, Kaeya completely falls for the praise, not seeing it for what it is. He does enjoy feeling needed though, after being retired for so long. He was getting tired of training all the new recruits who were more likely to step foot in a Jaeger than he was these days.

Albedo enjoyed Kaeya's company, even if he wouldn't admit it. But above all, he was curious about what went on inside the pilot's head after the glimpse he saw while they were drifting.

Kaeya too, was curious about the place he saw in the drift. He wanted to ask Albedo about it, but didn't know how many boundaries that may cross.

So he does it subtly. He asks little questions to get to know the blond better as they toil away on circus boards and specialized conduits for one mechanism or another.

—————

Albedo opens up. Slowly. And so does Kaeya.

Eventually, he learns what that mountain means to Albedo, months after they drifted.

That mountain was once his home. He lived amongst historians, archivists, and researchers in his youth. He was raised by a smart, stern woman who expected much of him and kept him fed and safe in return. He doesn't know his parents, but he could guess they were once part of the team exploring the mountain. A terrible snow storm had swept a portion of the team off a cliff years before he heard about it. He was able to piece together that his parents were likely part of the portion that never made it back.

His guardian left him at an encampment at the base of the mountain to venture into town for supplies.

There was a breach in the ocean, Albedo could see the boiling waves crash against the shoreline from the tents. A Kaiju appeared. It laid waste to the small town and sent the researchers fleeing up the mountain in desperation. Albedo tripped and fell, injuring his leg and shoulder. He wasn't able to run away with the rest of them.

A Jaeger intercepted the Kaiju before it could come after the people on the mountain. The beast was defeated, but at the cost of many lives. Albedo's guardian and the rest of the research team didn't return. He couldn't be sure how many had fled in fear and how many had perished.

He was rescued by the team that led the Jaeger defense. They took him in when they recognized his potential once he was healed. He took to Jaeger blueprints with ease and became a mechanic by the age of 14, and one with power and respect.

Kaeya asks Albedo if he wants to go back to his barrack for a drink that night. He doesn't have any naughty intentions, he just doesn't think Albedo looks like he wants to be alone after telling his story.

Somehow, Kaeya doesn't expect it when he agrees, despite his offer.

So they walk back in silence through the hallways. Kaeya finds his heartbeat steadily increasing the closer they get to his quarters. It's not impressive. Each worker has the same size place to call their own, regardless of status. The only difference being that some choose to room together. With Diluc MIA, Kaeya's on his own. Diluc's belongings haven't been moved or even touched since the day he went missing.

The first thing Albedo thinks when he steps inside is that it's like Kaeya's brother never left. That is, until he sees the thick layer of dust on his bunk.

Kaeya pulls a bottle of wine out from the cabinet along with two glasses. Albedo notices one is cracked.

They drink quietly at first, but Albedo can't help but notice the way Kaeya's facade seems to crumble more and more the further into the bottle they go

Eventually Kaeya starts to share his story, without any prompting from the blond.

He explains that he too, was twice orphaned.

He was left in a strange town by his birth father when they fled their hometown due to the residual radiation from a slain Kaiju. He was found by Diluc's father, Crepus. He was taken in by the staff and given a new family, though it was small. It consisted only of Diluc and his father. Though, Kaeya often considered the house staff family as well. He was raised alongside Diluc like they were siblings. They trained and grew up to be one of the most successful Jaeger pilot teams on Teyvat. More dead Kaiju under their belts than you could count on two hands. No one had ever faced that many beasts before them and lived to tell the tale.

But then came the day the category 4 Kaiju breached.

Their father died that day. And it was the day Diluc vanished. Kaeya was left alone, unable to climb back into the one thing he had left without his brother as his copilot. And he lost sight in his right eye after it became infected with Kaiju blood.

Albedo didn't know what to do when Kaeya started crying.

He wasn't the type of person people usually broke down in front of. Most people wouldn't hold his attention long enough to even have the chance to.

—————

Kaeya wakes up in the morning with his head on Albedo's lap. He doesn't know how to feel when he realizes the mechanic didn't leave him alone after his breakdown.

Albedo's still asleep when there's a knock on his door.

It's Jean and she's been crying.

Kaeya doesn't know what's happening and he's entirely too hung over for all this excitement.

She tells him Diluc is back.

He almost collapses then and there.

He rushes out of the room, leaving Albedo confused and groggy. Jean only gives him an odd look when she notices him on Kaeya's bed in his work uniform.

Kaeya finds Diluc in the infirmary, being tended to by Barbara.

He's different. Kaeya can tell just by looking at him. His eyes don't sparkle like they did before when he finally looks at him.

Diluc looks like a dead man parading around in the body of his brother. His eyes are cloudy and sunken, his skin even paler than before, but littered in scars Kaeya couldn't even begin to guess how he had gotten.

Barbara leaves the two alone to talk, but Diluc doesn't talk. He flinches away when Kaeya reaches out to him. This man isn't his brother, not anymore.

Diluc is placed in a separate room for the time being, leaving their old shared barrack to Kaeya alone. Almost like he'd never returned at all. It had been 4 years without him. And nothing changed once he returned. Kaeya still felt alone.

—————

Upon Jean's well meaning request, the two climb into their Jaeger. Kaeya doesn't miss the wild look in Diluc's eyes. He knows it's going to end badly before he can tell the control center to stop the drift process, but it's too late.

Kaeya wakes up in the infirmary with an apologetic Jean by his side. He feels like his head was split open twice and sewn back together with barbed wire.

Jean informs him that Diluc is no longer fit to pilot a Jaeger. And with a long pause, she informs him that he and his brother are no longer drift compatible.

Twice. Twice Kaeya has lost his copilot.

—————

He knocks on Albedo's door later that night when he knows he's finished up his diagnostic tests on the core of the Jaeger.

When Albedo opens the door, he explains that it hurts to see Diluc's empty bunk.

The mechanic let's him in without any questions. He lets Kaeya curl around him on the cramped bed suitable for only one person at a time.

It becomes routine until Kaeya's room doesn't even feel like his own anymore. Unless Albedo is there to keep him company.

Slowly, baby steps, Albedo convinces Kaeya to pack up Diluc's old things. He delivers them to the redhead in Kaeya's place.

Diluc doesn't know him. Albedo smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. He's been tuning he and Kaeya's Jaeger since they first piloted it, Diluc had just never given him the time of day. Kaeya only met him recently, but Diluc? Diluc was the one he spoke to directly whenever there was something wrong with the robot, yet he acted like they'd never met.

Albedo brushed it off and returned to Kaeya after the day's work. Jean had given the pilot time off to recover, as much as he needed.

—————

It takes time, but Kaeya does recover.

He gets back to whipping the trainees into shape with a ferocity that puts fear into the hearts of even the most self confident trainees. Jean has to ask him to dial it back so he doesn't scare them all off.

Diluc has taken up a quiet job within the intelligence sector once he settled in. Despite speaking very little since his return, he came back with a wealth of information.

—————

Sucrose, the resident Kaiju researcher, alerts Jean of unusual energy fluctuations coming from a known breach location close to the institution. She suspects multiple Kaiju may break through soon.

Jean contacts other branches that would be willing to lend reinforcements.

She is able to enlist the help of three Jaeger teams from Liyue, Vago Mundo (Zhongli and Xiao), Big Dipper (Ningguang and Beidou), and Evilsoother (Chongyun and Xingqiu). One team from Inazuma is also sent in to help, Frostflake Heron (Ayaka and Thoma). An independent brother-sister duo that had temporarily been stationed in Inazuma, Stella Fortuna (Lumine and Aether), volunteered to join Frostflake Heron in helping the Ordo Favonius fight the looming Kaiju threat.

When the teams arrive one by one with their colorful cast of mechanics, strategists, and managers, Kaeya’s mood sours.

—————

Albedo had started sleeping in Kaeya’s barrack more often than his own, either sharing a bunk with Kaeya or claiming Diluc’s old bed. He’d done so without Kaeya having to ask. He’d simply understood the forlorn look in the pilot’s eyes each night they should have split off to go to their own rooms.

—————

Kaeya is unusually quiet the night of the welcome party for the reinforcements. Apart from customary thanks and greetings as a high ranking member of the Ordo during the start of the celebration, he speaks to no one that night. Even when he drags Albedo into his room for the night, he says nothing.

It scares Albedo, but he doesn’t understand why.

—————

Only a day passes before the alarms sound through the halls in the middle of the night. The staff are scrambling through the corridors to get to their posts. Two category three Kaiju have breached, just as Sucrose predicted.

Albedo tears himself out of Kaeya’s arms on a mad dash for the hangar. As one of the senior mechanics, he’ll be needed now more than ever. Kaeya, frustrated, angry, and silent, makes his way to Jean’s side in the strategy room. Screens and monitors line every wall. The staff are frantically typing away, attempting to run the proper protocols and start up programs to get everything running.

The teams ready themselves in their mechs.

Kaeya watches.

He watches as they power up and some get helicoptered out to the location. The Jaegers better suited to long distances and water, are left to travel there on their own. The site isn’t far. Big Dipper cuts through the water like its pilots were aquatic. Frostflake Heron and Stella Fortuna have thrusters that allow them to glide over the water.

Vago Mundo is the tank of the reinforcements. They’re dispatched to the frontlines. Evilsoother is fast and precise, the young team rounds up the two Kaiju and pushes them back into Vago Mundo’s range. Big Dipper arrives next and traps the beasts in with powerful electrical currents that cut through the water from its blade. The amphibious Jaeger’s turrets fire sparkling gold that can be seen from the windows of the strategy room.

—————

Kaeya watches.

Everything is going too smoothly. Two of the Jaegers haven’t made it there yet and the beasts have almost fallen.

Kaeya watches as Sucrose comes barreling into the room, screaming in near hysterics that another Kaiju has breached. It’s category four.

Panic sets deep into Kaeya’s bones. He is tired of watching.

The room erupts into chaos as every communication line is buzzing with frantic warnings.

No one can get through to Stella Fortuna.

The sea bursts open beneath the white and gold Jaeger. A gaping maw of glowing teeth rips them out of the sky and pulls them under the thrashing waves.

Frostflake Heron pursues them into the ocean, only for their communications to turn to static.

One of the Kaiju breaks loose from the tight hold of the Liyue Jaeger teams. It forces Evilsoother under the waves as the other two attempt to put a swift end to the first. The sea is tainted with shimmering blue blood as Big Dipper chops the head off the Kaiju trapped in Vago Mundo’s cage of pulsing spears.

Over the radios, Beidou of the Big Dipper team is informing the others that she and Ningguang will go help Frostflake Heron and Stella Fortuna. Vago Mundo quickly tells them to go and lunges after where Evilsoother vanished under the tide.

Communications crackle with static and a gut wrenching scream.

It was Ayaka of Frostflake Heron.

Kaeya sprints for the hangar.

As soon as he’s through the door, his eyes lock on to the blond mechanic barking instructions to his subordinates. Without as much as a hello, Kaeya throws him over his shoulder and runs for Pavo Noctua. He flings Albedo inside and yells for him to suit up.

Albedo refuses, he demands to know what’s going on.

Kaeya explains what new events had occurred since the alarms started and tells him he can’t just sit around any longer and watch their reinforcements die. If they fell, all the innocent lives in the Ordo would surely be next.

He begs, he pleads, he’s ready to grovel for Albedo to agree.

Of course Jean doesn’t know about this when the launch sequence is started.

The workers in the hangar do their best to flee out of the way. They can hear Vago Mundo and Evilsoother reporting that the second category three Kaiju is down, but they haven’t seen the other three teams. Big Dipper has not returned to the surface yet, nor have the other two.

Pavo Noctua sets off for the last location they were sighted above water and dives. The water is murky and black like ink. Fortunately Pavo Noctua is best suited for combat in poor visibility and Albedo knows how to read every sensor like it’s his first name.

They see four heat sources down deep. One is starting to go cold.

Big Dipper is slashing away at the jaw holding tight to Stella Fortuna. The Kaiju is slashing back with a sharp prehensile tail. A few broken spines protrude from the limp form of Frostflake Heron and it’s lights are flickering. Stella Fortuna is struggling in the cage of glowing teeth. Something is leaking from their core.

Albedo recognizes the shimmering liquid and dangerous glow immediately and instructs Kaeya to help him pull Big Dipper away before-

The ocean erupts in a blinding light as they whisk Big Dipper away from the beast.

The tail lashes out and sends Pavo Noctua spiraling into an underwater cliff.

Weapons located in the upper left shoulder are down and using that arm to shoot frozen bullets strains Kaeya’s muscles with a searing pain.

Evilsoother rushes in during the blinding distraction and pulls Frostflake Heron away from the battle and back to the base on the shore.

—————

Albedo can feel the pain Kaeya’s in from the collision, but they successfully pulled Big Dipper out of the range of the explosion. Stella Fortuna… wasn’t as lucky. They see Evilsoother vanish above the water and feel the rumble as the beast roars.

It’s angry now.

Pavo Noctua takes its battle stance, Big Dipper does the same beside them.

Then the Kaiju’s mouth opens wide and glows brighter than the sharp teeth that line its speckled purple gums. The ocean screams.

A beam of pure radiation cuts between the two Jaegers before they can dodge it.

Kaeya cries out in agony as Pavo Noctua’s left arm is ripped out of its socket from the force of the beam. It melts into the sand on the seafloor. A glance to the side confirms that Big Dipper managed to jump out of the line of fire. Their Jaeger is still in one piece.

The Kaiju prepares to charge forward, Albedo raises his sword.

The flat of Big Dipper's blade smashes into the side of the Kaiju’s skull. It screeches and smacks them away with its tail. They’re sent spiraling over a rocky outcrop.

Fatigue is seeping into Albedo. He’s not a warrior, not even a soldier. He’s just a mechanic stupid enough to agree to copilot a Jaeger without written permission or prior training. Despite Kaeya’s position having more control over the left arm, he feels the pain too through the drift. It’s there and it feels real, but he isn’t the one with sparks shooting onto his suit. There’s a leak somewhere in the Jaeger. They’re taking on water, but it isn’t anything the mech can’t handle or flush out with the mechanisms Albedo designed.

Suddenly, the beast sharply turned and darted towards the other mech it had just sent flying. Albedo does his best to drag them forwards through a break in the rock. Big Dipper’s lights are flickering on and off and the mech lays still. An important component had to have been struck. The Kaiju is headed straight for them.

—————

Sand bursts around them as something heavy crashes down atop the Kaiju.

Vago Mundo’s distinct, swirling, geometric lights shine through the debris in a subtle glow. The team gracefully wrestles the Kaiju until it’s soft underbelly is exposed and directed towards Pavo Noctua’s blade.

Even with communications down and Kaeya injured, the two get the message and fillet it straight down the middle. Shimmering blue blood leaks from its insides like smoke as it thrashes in Vago Mundo’s hold.

Eventually the Kaiju’s struggling weakens. It’s body is thrown to the sea floor, only for its skull to be crushed beneath the weight of one of Vago Mundo’s pillars.

They were taking no chances.

—————

Vago Mundo lifts up Big Dipper with ease and starts towards the shore. Pavo Noctua does their best to follow. The adrenaline from the fight begins to lose its potency the closer they get to shore. The pain catches up with Kaeya and the ache of exhausted limbs hits Albedo at full force. Everything goes fuzzy, his head is pounding, and it’s harder to move before he realizes Kaeya has blacked out. The strain of the copilot losing consciousness is too much for him. He faints from the pain of being the sole pilot in a matter of seconds.

Pavo Noctua lurches forward beneath the waves.

—————

Kaeya wakes up to bright lights and Barbara’s startled face as he jerks the IV she was connecting out of his arm. He’s in pain, but he’s numb. He can feel that familiar tug at the back of his eyes, but can’t feel the tearing, ripping pain in his shoulder.

In a panic he asks what happened. Barbara’s smile is sad when she tells him they won the battle. It falters when he asks about the others. She goes down the list, Vago Mundo team came out unscathed, Evilsoother had a few bruised ribs and scrapes but nothing major, Big Dipper’s Beidou suffered a concussion, but is steadily recovering, Frostflake Heron was deprived of their oxygen supply for a few minutes past the line between safe and dangerous, but seem to be fine.

He doesn’t miss the way she leaves out Albedo and Stella Fortuna.

The sibling team unfortunately comes as no surprise to him. He witnessed the explosion. There was no time for the compromised escape pod to launch. There couldn’t have been any survivors.

But Albedo? The lack of his name from her lips had him gripping her wrist until she was crying out in pain.

She explains Albedo spent a concerning amount of time piloting the Jaeger while Kaeya was unconscious and they aren’t sure of what the consequences may be. He’s currently sleeping after being kept awake for observation. But he’s alive.

Barbara tells him not to move too much and to call for someone if he needs something before she leaves.

—————

He’s released after a week of Jean mandated bed rest in the infirmary. The first thing he does is beeline for Albedo’s infirmary room. When he walks in, Albedo’s sitting up in bed with a tray of soup and biscuits over his lap. He doesn’t notice Kaeya when he walks in. All his attention seems to be on the spoon in his hand.

Kaeya tells him that’s an interesting way to hold a spoon. The sudden noise startles Albedo and the spoon goes clattering into the bowl, splashing hot soup into his lap and making him jump again. Kaeya rushes forward and grabs napkins to soak up the hot liquid. Albedo attempts to pick up the rag on the tray, but can’t. It slips through his fingers and he curses.

Kaeya pauses and pulls away. He’s never heard Albedo sound so frustrated. He watches him attempt to pick up the cloth until he eventually gives up. Kaeya’s already wiped up the soup, anyway. He asks the mechanic if he’s okay.

Albedo doesn’t answer.

Then, he asks Kaeya to leave.

—————

Catching him looking lost in the hallway, Jean pulls Kaeya aside to regretfully inform him that despite his heroics, he is permanently retired from piloting a Jaeger. He tries to argue, but Jean stops him with a folder of his medical record pressed to his chest. She reasons that his impaired vision, trauma, and the permanent nerve damage in his left arm from this last battle puts him at too much risk. They can’t afford a liability on the battlefield. She apologizes as his friend and his superior.

—————

He tracks down Barbara to find out what’s wrong with Albedo. Barbara tries to tell him she’s not allowed to share that information with him without Albedo’s consent, but Kaeya talks his way into making her tell him. Once he gets the information out of her, she covers her mouth like she’s done something unspeakable and runs away.

The prolonged time piloting the Jaeger as well as the added impact when the mech toppled over caused a serious brain and spinal cord injury that impaired his fine motor skills. He is unable to hold or grasp things without a large amount of effort and focus. Currently, he’s struggling to walk, but Barbara believes that will improve with time.

Suddenly, Kaeya wonders if this means they’ll both be permanently retired from their respective jobs. He knew this would come one day for himself, though he’d hoped for a few more years in the Jaeger before it happened. But Albedo? He’d thought Albedo would be fixing up the mechs until he was ready to keel over and die. Now he couldn’t even hold a screwdriver.

And it was Kaeya’s fault.

That’s exactly what Albedo said to him three weeks later once he’d worked up the nerve to apologize.

The former mechanic's words cut like knives as he blamed him for taking away everything that made life worthwhile. Barbara was left to stand stunned in the corner and watch as Albedo’s outburst continued. He yelled until tears poured down his face and all he could do was sob.

Once he calmed down, Kaeya silently got his attention. He still looked furious, but exhaustion was stronger. Before he could say anything, Kaeya picked something up in his right hand and sat it in the palm of his left. Albedo watched him with a puzzled expression. He curled his fingers around it and tilted it sideways. The item fell from his grip and clattered to the floor.

Albedo’s blue eyes stared at the item on the floor for a long moment before he looked back up at Kaeya. The retired pilot simply smiled and told him they’re the same. His nerve damage causes burning pain if he grips things and even then he can’t judge how tightly he needs to hold something. The nerves in his hand are shot. Neither of them can do what they’re meant to do anymore. He pulls his discharge papers from his jacket and holds them out for Albedo to see.

Albedo asks why he was officially discharged. Kaeya explains the injuries he’s accumulated have made him more of a liability than a soldier. For his safety and the safety of others, he was politely fired, but with retirement and disability benefits. And the option to continue training the new recruits. He even got a Medal of Honor. He pulls it out of his other pocket and loops it over Albedo’s head to hang around his neck.

Albedo asks him why he’s giving away his medal. Kaeya informs him his medal is in his quarters. This one is for the brave mechanic who leapt into battle against three Kaijus.

The former mechanic lifts the medal up so he can see it better, but there’s a tremor in one of his hands and it wobbles.

When anger starts to burn in his eyes once more, Kaeya speaks up again. He tells Albedo to pay Jean a visit at the end of the week if he’s rested enough. She has a new job offer for him. Albedo gives him another confused look. Kaeya simply tells him that just because he can’t use his hands doesn’t mean he can’t use his head. The way Albedo’s eyes go wide makes it clear he hadn’t considered that.

Kaeya says he’ll let him get back to his scheduled rehab with Barbara and turns to leave. Before he exits the room he turns back to Albedo to tell him he’s always welcome in his barrack if he ever gets lonely.

—————

As he’s getting ready to turn in for the night, Kaeya hears a knock on his door. Thinking it may be Albedo, he opens it rather than tells the other person that it’s unlocked. He’s instead surprised by Diluc’s shock of red hair.

He’s not meeting Kaeya’s eye as he opens his mouth to speak.

He tells Kaeya he heard about Jean retiring him from being a pilot. He knows that was Kaeya’s whole life. As his brother, well, sort of, he wanted to give his condolences. If he had been more stable and been able to copilot the Jaeger, he knows it wouldn’t have ended this way.

Kaeya isn’t sure how to respond. He’s angry Diluc would doubt Albedo’s ability, he’s sad Diluc couldn’t fight with him, he’s sympathetic to Diluc’s condition, and he suddenly just wants to go to bed.

He doesn’t have the energy to talk things out with Diluc tonight. There’s too much to cover and he has to oversee training in the morning. He thanks Diluc for coming to see him, but tells him they can talk more tomorrow. The redhead looks relieved at his suggestion and bids him Goodnight.

Another knock comes an hour later, after he’s tossed and turned in his bunk with sleep nowhere in sight. He opens the door with a quiet huff of frustration, but softens at the sight of Albedo. A pillow is pinned to his chest by his forearms.

They don’t talk, but Albedo lets Kaeya hold him tight until they both drift off to sleep.

#gnsn #genshin fanfic #pacific rim au #kaebedo #Happy Albedo Day #Albedo Day 2023

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