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Sucrose does not know how to spend the holidays.
More like… Sucrose does not know how to take a break.
Ever since she has been doing research with her chief Albedo, who does not really take that many breaks aside from his mandatory art commissions, she has no idea how to handle having much free time in her hands. Try hard as she might, it always feels like she needs to have her hands working on something or have her mind constantly fixated on one thing.
Luckily, ever since that she has a… special someone in her life. She does have something to do besides her usual bio-alchemy research.
It is something that she never thought that she‘d ever experienced, like its a probable error within her formula that she really thinks does not compute.
“Sucrose, you okay?”
Hearing the person beside her calling her name, she quickly shook her head to get her focus back. Her eyes look towards the person in question, which is someone that she had thought she would not associate with such a deep connection.
Aether, the Honorary Knight of Favonious.
“Y-yeah, I-I am fine…”
She managed to stutter out as the two continued their walk around the snow-covered roads of Monstadt, wearing their usual clothes as they were used to the cold weather. They finished eating from Good Hunter with Paimon deciding to step back for now and let the two enjoy their time together. This would be quite a rare occurrence as Aether’s little companion was still usually with them every time they go somewhere.
“The behavior might be different as it is a special occasion.”
Sucrose surmised in her thoughts, thinking about what people do about holidays. She did not get much reading into it, as she was busy with a project with Albedo on making a more effective lamp that can warm up using Seelie extracts. It was a compelling research that went into a lot of development, especially when using fresh Flaming Flower Stamens into the mix. One of the major issues of the project is longevity. She ponders through the potential list of probable ingredients that can mitigate that issue.
“Sucrose.”
She blinked before she turned to face Aether with his lips curved upwards in amusement. Her cheeks suddenly feel a lot more warm than usual, as if she was the lantern in the project that they were making.
“E-erhm, I apologize. I know I should take a break… it’s just…”
“Probable items that could solve that longevity issue?”
Another blink from the researcher, before she realized, her cheeks turning red as a result.
“Was…I mumbling about it?”
Aether chuckled, his hand grabbing hers in quick succession. This made her look towards their hands for a moment, Aether’s black gloves covered her white ones in a tender, intimate touch. It was something that she was still getting used to from him.
Getting used to the fact that they were that close like a slime in an elemental-concentrated zone.
“Yeah, but I personally think it is adorable when you zone out like that.”
Sucrose pouted at that remark yet kept her hand on his grip. It is a feeling that made her comfortable despite not being in the realm of her research lab, something that is very much a rarity even if she was out more often. Not like that she is not comfortable in other areas of Monstadt; she just prefers not to interact with many people if not needed.
“How does one really take a break… Aether?”
As she asked, her eyes behind her glasses turned towards the person she was asking, who tilted his head.
She was not used to calling his actual name, despite how many times he insisted she would. After all, it was only recently that she and he wanted to try this relationship out and become more informal with each other. It is an experience that she is glad on taking as she felt emotions that she never thought that she would ever experience or moments that she will never think that she would have.
It was something that she began to treasure a lot more, probably still below researching.
“Hmm… I’m probably not the right person to ask as I still do Adventurer Commissions even through the Holidays…”
She furrowed her brow in confusion, her lips forming a small frown.
“I thought that the Adventurer’s Guild stopped during the holidays?”
Aether gave her a half-shoulder shrug as they started walking up toward the big statue of the Anemo Archon, hearing some cheers from the children, all the excited cheers as they ran through around the Statue. They continued their conversation as they walked.
“I thought so too, but I couldn’t leave my dailies as I need that funding for all the exploration, gear, and all the like…”
He muttered something under his breath that she could barely hear the end part of it being ‘gems’, which Sucrose nodded in understanding. It was reasonable for him to do his adventurer work, as he needs supplies to venture out unscathed and to increase his capabilities to adventure all throughout Teyvat.
It already came into effect when she joined his adventures one day through one of Sumeru’s rainforests, which is another experience that she would not think would ever happen if she wasn’t close to Aether. A lot of different vegetation that she would have to consider as potential ingredients for future projects.
Then again, she has to work out how she deals with danger against hostile enemies. That was the time that she was ever thankful for Aether and his supplies having the right supplements to heal bruises dealt by those wild animals out in the rainforest that she tried to inspect carefully…
Going back to the topic at hand, Sucrose amended within her mind that his answer was not satisfactory, so she decided to rephrase that so she can accurately get the answer she needed.
“What do you do to relax then?”
She saw Aether take a moment as his other hand went to rub his chin in thought, an action that he does to sort his thoughts to convey a specific idea based on her observations.
It took a couple of moments to pass before his charming smile returned in full force on her eyes.
“Hanging out with someone I love, which is you.”
That immediate blunt answer caught her off-guard and the warmth of her cheeks returned in full force. These were moments where she does not know what to do, an experience that happened many times yet she still is not used to that pattern.
Was it because of how genuine it sounded and it was towards her?
She heard him do another series of chuckles as her lips formed a small pout; very knowing of what he had done to illicit such a response.
“S-Seriously Aether…”
His chuckle did not stop before she squeeze his hand tightly, exerting some bits of force to make him slowly stop his chuckle fest.
“A-alright, alright…”
Aether took a deep breath to calm himself down as they passed by the Anemo Archon statue, which had a small crowd from the Church of Favonious singing some hymns in front of the statue.
“I would say taking a break is doing something that generally isn’t related to work. Like playing Genius Invokation TCG or admiring the view of a place, those two things that I know that you do time to time, yeah?”
Sucrose gave a small nod of understanding.
“I see… it is having some sort of recreational activity that doesn’t involve much productivity then.”
“Well… I wouldn’t say that you aren’t productive when taking a break.”
She blinked at that statement as Aether guided them toward the seats near the statue, letting the two sit as they continued their conversation.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, for starters, taking a break is like letting lab equipment take a recharge. There are times when you have to let some of the machinery take a moment before using them again or else it’ll broke down, right?”
Sucrose nodded in response to Aether’s question, in full knowledge of how machines work from interacting with different apparatuses within her alchemy lab.
“In that case, taking a break is like recharging your energy or your mind to not tire out and have an active outlook for the things you need to do.”
“I get that… but like… in terms of research and work? Why do we need to take a break?”
Indulging in such a question was typically how she usually asks herself that question. After all, having questions or problems is one of the ways for a research project to manifest properly.
In this case, it was more so prodding for some sort of satisfactory answer from her… special someone. In her mind, Aether could provide practical answers that she would have missed, as her mind is more in theory and ideal from all the experiments that she creates.
Aether took a moment, pondering the question. Sucrose still notices that he still has her hand within his grip, something that she expected herself to shy away from after an extended period of physical contact.
Could it be that she was getting used to physical contact in general or just Aether’s touch?
“…I think I should not phrase it out that way if I do ask it as a question.”
She thought to herself, slightly getting red at how her mind works right now. Ever since that she had been more outgoing, breaking her recluse shell bit by bit due to Aether’s influence, she could understand on how her way of thinking could be… rather too direct as Aether admitted.
She was thankful that Aether was patient with her, which was something that she was still nervous about from time to time.
Sucrose snapped herself out of her thoughts as Aether cleared his throat.
“I guess if we are going that angle, having a focused mind meant that you have less room for error. If you overwork yourself, you would end up losing focus more. However, you would say that you are not overworking yourself as you love what you are doing, which in that case…”
Aether hummed for a brief moment as Sucrose kept her focus on him.
“…you’ll probably be restricted on what you do, as it’s the only thing that you are thinking about.”
Sucrose had to digest that answer for a moment in her head as if it was a lecture from her chief Albedo. In her mind, Aether could probably mean that she was restricting herself because her work could end up being a routine and nothing changed that much.
Yet, Sucrose does not seem to feel that way on how she works. Even if she knows the probable answers to an experiment, it does not mean that it would conclude a success or a failure. Especially when under chief Albedo, whose prowess in the fieldwork of bio-alchemy is something that she admires and tries to attain day by day.
What does he mean by ‘restricted’?
Deciding to let him elaborate, she opened her mouth.
“What do you mean by restricted if it’s my line of work to have those thoughts to be more effective?”
“Well…”
Aether took a moment once more, his eyes looking around their surroundings. Sucrose followed suit as she let him have that moment to think, as she was curious about what he had to say. She could see some adults talking around the statue as the hymns drew to a close, children playing near the adults as the snow kept drifting down from the sky.
A somber thought entered her mind as a brief flash of her childhood memory played in her head, the memory of her and her two best friends playing in the snow. They were the reason why she went into bio-alchemy, as she wanted to create a world that they talked about.
The world of gigantic pink flowers, tiny fairies, and unicorns – something that she remembers every time she poured her heart and soul into bio-alchemy.
“…taking a break is enjoying life.”
Those words left Aether’s lips, making her focus returned to him. She can see him looking upward with a melancholic look on his face. He does the same look every time he thought about his missing sibling still out there. A look prompted Sucrose to give a reassuring squeeze with her hand.
She knows all too well how much Aether works for looking for his sibling.
He shook his head as he looked towards her briefly. After a couple of moments of staring at each other, he gave a smile in her direction, continuing his explanation.
“Enjoying life makes you reaffirm your goals and motives, as these are the things that will mold and push you to either continue or think of things beyond your original goal. It’s like how I ended up here… where I used to only want to find my missing sibling before I became an Honorary Knight after chasing a big dragon away.”
Sucrose remembered the stories about how Aether managed to chase away Stormterror when he initially came to the fray. It was roughly a month after the whole debacle when she heard about him that made her quite curious about him in that regard.
It was also the time that she invited him to meet her superior for a couple of tests, as Aether was capable of manipulating elements without using a Vision. It was quite extraordinary to see in texts about his capabilities, especially when everything checks out when she decided to join his adventures from time to time.
“Yet as time goes on, after meeting so many people, I realized that this world is also precious. The time I spent in this world was not a waste that I originally had thought; the effort that I went into helping nations from their catastrophe is not wasted even if I do not get much in the end. It’s just…”
His smile towards her went wider as he suddenly grabbed her other hand, making her blink in shock.
“If I only focused on my goal, I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the people that helped me towards that goal. Having time to give to the people that I love is never wasted, as it only strengthens my resolve to go further.”
Sucrose’s cheeks reddened as she shyly looked away, making Aether chuckle as he kept her hands in his grip.
“I’d find my sibling someday and discover more about this world. However, I would not be able to do that if I do not have the people that help me through it. Hence… why I take breaks to spend time with people and get to know them better like… the one that I am staring at and in love with~”
The teasing tone at the end of his statement made her instantly remove her hands from his grip, covering her face from shock and embarrassment.
“I-I swear… Aether… every time…”
She can just hear his chuckles turn to laughter, which made her initially pout before drawing a small smile beneath her hand-covered face. Besides the embarrassment of what she felt, Sucrose did understand what he meant even if it were more toward an emotional implication.
In fact, she already had some sort of an understanding ever since she and Aether spent more time with each other.
Back then, she poured everything into learning about bio-alchemy. It was her life in a room, filled with samples and notes. All of it is either researched or tested through a theoretical lens with scientific systematic processes with machines that she knows how to use even if she would have closed her eyes.
It used to drive her crazy when she could not research at all, especially when doing chores.
Ever since she has been with Aether, things became more unexpected. Boring and mundane became bearable. There were no systematic processes or anything theoretical as everything was based on feel. Like if they wanted to go and investigate the sudden aggressive behavior of Hilichurls or admire how the Crystal flies look during nighttime.
It felt so simple, yet things like that are what she misses from time to time.
”In that lens, the dream that I aim to achieve… I need to understand life first… what constitutes having those precious and happy things should be considered when making the thing I will do in the future. ”
She removed her hands from her face; carefully adjusting her glasses as finally maintained her composure. The laughter died down as Aether kept their hands together, looking straight at her with a small smile.
“Did I answer your question?”
Sucrose nodded, returning his smile with her own as she continued her line of thought.
“You did. Thank you.”
“And I hope one day when I make it, you’ll still be there so we can share it.”
At that thought, they shared a comfortable silence throughout the snowy day in Monstadt, holding each other’s hand all throughout. They shared some small talk before the sun goes down, letting the two be off their separate ways until the next time they will meet up.
For the first time in her life, Sucrose was thankful for the break that she got.