Work Text:
The sound of scissors should be the last thing heard in the solitude of Albedo’s Dragonspine camp. Not only was it extremely loud in the echoey walls but the object itself was an unusual piece of equipment for the alchemist, yet the slow but meticulous snipping continued. Inside the camp, aside from Albedo, on a chair sat a replica of the chief alchemist. The failed homunculus was the one getting a haircut. His previously identical to Albedo hairstyle gone and replaced with a much shorter version of it and missing the braided ponytail. The homunculus listened to the snipping that seemed to stretch on for forever. Then again, he wanted his hair to look as far away from Albedo’s as possible.
His burgundy eyes widened once a mirror was shoved in front of his face showcasing his new hair. It was just barely touching his nape, the bangs staying practically the same as before but shorter. The hair looked similar to Albedo’s because of its fluffiness and volume but managed to differentiate itself enough. The homunculus could see in the mirror’s reflection the other softly smile behind him, clearly happy with the outcome of his work.
“Is this much of a trim okay?”
The failed specimen nodded his head and watched for a bit as his younger brother started to clean up the mess of hair on the floor. The failure’s body moved on its own and before he knew it he was grabbing the broom tucked away behind a shelf full of alchemical fluids, not spilling any of course. Albedo blinked a couple of times as his eyes were getting used to seeing the one who tried to kill him just a few hours ago sweep his cut hair. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle which alerted the cleaner.
“What’s so funny?”
His sweeping didn’t stop as he asked Albedo the question, arms working in a rhythm well going with his status as an artificial human.
“Nothing. Just the fact that your personality seems very similar to someone I know and hold dear.” Albedo shrugged and proceeded to get his notepad from the main table of the camp. There he noted all of his new companion’s current behaviors and characteristics. One of them being his already vast knowledge of alchemy without any previous training. He’d have to figure out if Gold made her homunculi in a way that would make them adept in various tasks immediately after coming to life. If so, that would pose a lot more questions about his own life up to this point, as well as his new brother.
“Albedo…”
The other’s voice snapped the knight out of his pondering. He looked down to see the floor sweeped and hair thrown into a bin in the corner of the camp. The homunculus worked efficiently as he was built for.
“What is it?”
“Your name...Did you choose it?”
The depth of the failure’s eyes was immense and Albedo could sympathize with what he was probably feeling. He wished he could just lie and make the other feel better but it wouldn’t be a good decision whatsoever. It’d only further hurt the one who was cast away. Long ago Albedo realized the power honesty holds in relationship building and losing the trust of someone he added to his family just a bit ago wouldn’t sit right with him.
“No, our mother gave it to me.”
Albedo made sure to emphasize the word our. Rhinedottir was as much of a mother to the other as she was to Albedo. Even if she cast him away for being a failed experiment.
The homunculus dropped his head down as his eyebrows furrowed in slight despair. Albedo could see the tremble in his hands and eyes yet the shaking quickly disappeared as the failure breathed deeply.
“I see.”
Albedo started to understand why his failed brother got cast away as he added new points to his previous notes. First of all, the homunculus was way too emotional. His temper tantrum from a few hours ago that almost ended in the demise of Albedo and Aether proved so. The time Albedo spent with Rhinedottir was always full of scoldings and explanations on how he can’t let his heart speak for him, even if Albedo wasn’t sure he had a heart. Over the decades he’s spent with her those were her main teachings aside from alchemy. Was she doing it because her previous version, the one currently putting away a broom, was too angry and not willing to change? He’d have to research that as well.
The second main point of Albedo’s hypothesis was the build of the other’s body. Part of the reason why he and Aether spared the fake was because his body started to crack before he even got a chance to land any serious blows. That was when Albedo ended the fight and decided to approach the matter peacefully and calmly while offering help. Before his camp turned into a hair salon Albedo patched up the other artificial human’s body using a chalk mix, based on old notes of Rhinedottir, developed for his own injuries. The paste worked miraculously well and eased Albedo’s worries of his new brother possibly falling apart one day.
Deep in his own thoughts Albedo failed to notice the other homunculus walking up to until he heard a soft:
“Solar.”
Albedo looked up from his scribbles humming to signal that his attention was caught as looked straight into a bloody pool of burgundy.
“I want to be named Solar. I saw that word in your awfully messy looking notes when I stole them.”
Blue eyes blinked before creasing as Albedo couldn’t help but chuckle. Brutal honesty was another one of his new brother’s characteristics that he’ll have to write down. How observant of him too, solar was part of Albedo’s Solar Isotoma skill. The notes were probably from the time he got his vision and experimented with its capabilities and names. That was decades ago too.
With his notepad left on the table Albedo grabbed the other’s hands into his own and squeezed them not too tight but firm enough to showcase his support.
“Nice to meet you, Solar.”