Much to Aventurine’s annoyance, torrential downpours were rather common at Pier Point throughout the year. The petrichor that emanated from the dry flower beds just outside the IPC’s headquarters and the steady pitter patter of the rain did not particularly bring back good memories for him. Still, he could live with it.
Just as Aventurine was about to open his umbrella to brave the rain, hehears the sound of familiar footsteps and an irritated sigh. “Hey Doc! It’s been a while, you look more annoyed than usual,” Aventurine smirks. Veritas merely frowns in response. “I forgot my umbrella,” Ratio practically growls, voice tainted with disdain.
“The renowned Dr. Veritas Ratioforgetting something! I thought I’d never see the day!” Aventurine laughs. “I don’t think it’s amusing. It is within human nature to forget from time to time.” The doctor rolls his eyes, and crosses his arms.
“That expression makes you look like an angry cat!” Aventurine giggles, intrigued by Veritas’ adorably peeved expression.The scholar stares at Aventurine speechless, eyes trained on his lips as light blush tainted his cheeks. “You are a complete, utter moron,” Veritas chides, making a poor attempt at masking the reluctant fondness in his voice and the smile that began to form on his lips.
Aventurine, ever-perceptive, is morethan able to notice that the doctor’s tone is anything but scathing. It takes a liar to know a liar. Veritas had to do a little more than pout and weakly insult him to fool him.
While the professor’s behaviour in this moment would be more than enough evidence for anyone else to conclude that the man had a soft spot for him, Aventurine on the other hand found, it difficult to believe.Sure, he knew Ratio found him to be more charming than he let on, but to concludethat Veritas was fond of him was a stretch, even for him; the concept of anyone having even a semblance of genuine affection for him is unfathomable to him. Still, a part of Aventurine wants to see if his suspicions are correct.
“You don’t actually have to do that do you?” Aventurine pauses to create the illusion of hesitation. “We could share?” Veritas’ cheeks redden at his proposition before he chokes on his own spit.
His suspicions were correct.
“I suppose it’s better than getting soaked,” Veritas says, seemingly nonchalant.
They walk together in the rain in a comfortable silence, their shoulders bumping against each other every so often. their hands were close but never touched.
Aventurine would never admit it, but it was nice.
~~~
If one were to enter the IPC’s break room at approximately 4:15pm on a Friday, they’d see the incredibly odd sight of a man in flashy clothing arguing with a warp trotter 1/6 his size.
“Numby, I think my plan is perfectly reasonable and sane!” Aventurine says, peeved by the warp trotter’s rather belittling squeals of mockery. “What do you mean it’s stupid? I’m just trying to show him that he’s only in love with the idea of being with me,” Aventurine retorts.
“You guys do this every single week I swear to the Aeons. How do you even understand what she’s saying?” Topaz frowns, a cup of coffee (for herself) in one hand and a bowl of orange juice (for Numby) in the other. “Call it Sigonian intuition,” Aventurine smiles coyly. He in truth did not fully understand what Numby was saying; he just learned how to differentiatethe different squeaks and squeals in Numby’s speech over the few yearshe and Topaz had known each other.
“What are you guys talking about anyway?” Topaz asks, taking a seat next to Numby. “I was telling him about my plan to deal with someone who I recently discovered has feelings for me,” Aventurine explains. “I feel so bad for them,” Topaz says while Numby squeaks in agreement.
~~~
“So you’re going to flirt and go on dates with one of the most celebrated scholars in the cosmos just to get him to realise how terrible of a person you are and fall out of love with you?” Topaz asks. She was honestlybewildered by the man sitting across from her. “Exactly! Can you tell Numby that this is a perfectly reasonable response!” Aventurine exclaims, staring at Numby pointedly.
“Your explanation has only convinced me further, this plan is definitely stupid,” Topaz says flatly.
“I’m just trying to help one of my friends fix a terrible mistake and have fun while doing so!” The gambler chirps, fiddling with a chip in his hand.
Topaz sighs. “That’s not my point and you know it. Why can’t you just buy him flowers to show him that his affections are reciprocated instead of… this?”
He drops his chip on the table.
"What are you- no I f*cking don't!" Aventurine sputters defensively, his carefully constructed facade cracking ever so slightly as a result of Topaz's (not entirely) baseless accusation. While the man in question did greatly fascinate him, and the thought of going on a date with Veritas did not entirely disgust him, it wasn’t enough to immediately jump to the conclusion that he had any feelings for him.He just... respected him. nothing more, nothing less.
"You're blushing."
"I'm not!"
"Your ears are turning red," Topaz laughs while Numby yips in agreement. "It's just getting a little warm in here." Aventurine composes himself and puts on his glasses. I don't have feelings for him, I just have more respect for him than I do for my other coworkers." and besides Ratio could do so much better thanhim.
"You're hopeless." Topaz laughs mirthfully, unaware of Aventurine's internal conflict.
~~~
The first thing Veritas realised when he fell in love with Aventurine is that the act of falling for someone is no where near as idyllic or sweet as the books and poems had described, it was more akin to falling head first into concrete: quick, painful and sudden.
To add salt into the wound he had attained from falling head first into the hypothetical concrete ground, being in love made him comically irrational and impulsive. Case in point: he was at Aventurine’s apartment’s doorstep at 1 in the morning with 3 little critters from Ruan Mei’s lifeform oven.
After a few missed calls and incessant knocking, Aventurine finally opens the door. This Aventurine would be a sight for sore eyes for anybody but Veritas; he wore no makeup, his hair was a mess, he had bags under his eyes and his pyjamas were improperly buttoned. But to Veritas, he was beautiful, radiant even, and he could not for the life of him explain why, it was as if all logic had abandoned him once and for all. Aeons did he have it bad.
“Doc… what do you…” Aventurine begins groggily before his eyes widen and he gasps at the sight of the three black critters who were currently gnawing at the cloth of the professor’s elaborate garb.
“Oh. Oh my Aeons.”
A smile blooms on his face as he slowly crouches down to get closer to the little critters who were looking at him curiously. “Aren’t you three just adorable!” he coos as they hop into his lap.
“Are they for me?” Aventurine asks earnestly. Veritas nods, a small smile gracing his features. “You have expressed interest in taking a few in, have you not?” He reaches into his bag and hands Aventurine a folder. "This is a guide on how to provide them with the care they need," he continues.
"Awww Doc did you make this just for me?" Aventurine asks teasingly, skimming through the detailed instructions. Veritas would rather die than admit it to Aventurine but he spent a few weeks compiling the information on the critters he and Ruan Mei and Stelle had generously provided him with into an easily digestible set of notes.
"I- I received it from Ms Ruan Mei when I told her you would like to take in some of her critters."
Aventurine stares at him sceptically.
"Fine, I made it for you. I simply did not want your complete idiocy and abysmal ignorance to kill these critters,” Veritas says, crossing his arms and averting Aventurine’s knowing gaze.
“Well, if you’re so worried about my stupidity killing them, why don’t you stay over and teach this ignorant idiot how to properly take care of them. Surely an in-person lesson would help me learn better?” Aventurine smirks.
This little sh*t.
“The charming impudence to expect me to spend the entire night teaching you how to do something as simple as taking care of a pet!” Veritas scolds, frowning
“Pleaseeeeeee you can just teach me for like an hour?” Aventurine pleads, holding up one of the cake cats and staring at him with the best puppy dog eyes he could muster. Veritas is very, very embarrassed to say that they worked on him.
“Do enlighten me of how I will get sufficient sleep if I were to agree to this inane proposition of yours? It will be sunrise by the time I reach home,”
“You could just sleep over? My bed has enough room,” Aventurine says like it is the most obvious thing in the galaxy.
Hearing this, Veritas chokes, causing the critters to jump. “W-what?” the professor manages to sputter, cheeks heating up.
“Aeons, you act like a Family missionary sometimes I swear. I’ll just share my bed with you for the night, it’s not that big of a deal,” Aventurine chuckles, petting the critters in an attempt to soothe them.
Veritas merely glares at him incredulously in response, face still burning with fluster. Despite his outward appearance, his mind was as clear as the day that was fast approaching (in about 5 hours): he had a decision to make.
He could not understand why Aventurine enjoyed embarrassing him so much. What ulterior motive could he have? Veritas does not know the answer to that question, not like he expected to, the gambler’s unpredictability and cunning made it almost impossible to even begin to guess his intentions. Thus Veritas opts to weigh the pros and cons of sharing a bed with Aventurine for the night:
Pros:
- He gets to spend some time with Aventurine.
- Sleeping next to someone he has affections for could help with his insomnia.
- He can get to bed earlier.
Cons:
- He’d be sharing a bed with a grown man and 3 critters. It is going to be a tight fit.
- If it got out that he “slept with” a Stoneheart he’d never hear the end of it from the fools he had to work with.
Upon further evaluation, the rewards seem outweigh the potential risks. Veritas sighs deeply and rolls his eyes in a commendable yet failed attempt to seem reluctant and says, “Fine.”
~~~
Aventurine, as it turns out, did not need any help with the cats as he had done extensive research on them with Topaz when they first learnt of their existence. He had merely used an advanced technique known as lying to get Veritas to stay the night. He is happy he took this gamble as seeing Veritas flustered again is a reward worth far more than the risk of getting chalk thrown at him.
However, winning this gamble had an effect Aventurine failed to account for: the strange warmth in his chest that he suspects had bloomed from Veritas’ presence in his home. In fact, he kind of enjoys Veritas' company; He likes talking to Veritas about frivolous matters that had nothing to do with their work, he likes taking care of the critters with Veritas, he likes Veritas. Platonically. He then remembers Veritas's fluffy purple hair that fell perfectly over his wine gold eyes and his physique that could have been sculpted by Idrila the Beauty themself. Maybe not platonically.
This realisation causes him to let out a pained sigh as he now owes Numby 500,000 credits. He is too tired to deal with both a lost bet and romantic feelings.
"Are you going to sleep yet?"
"Eager aren't you?"
Veritas throws a piece of chalk at him.
~~~
The light of day rudely sifts into Aventurine’s bedroom, waking him up. Aventurine’s eyes groggily flutter open, still half asleep. The sight he wakes up to is strange to say the least. Aventurine sees Veritas peacefully sleeping next to him, their faces only a few inches apart. He gingerly tucks a violet strand behind Veritas’ ear.
Aventurine is enamoured.
Aventurine then realises that Veritas has his arms around his waist. This takes him aback.
He can’t remember the last time he’s been held so tenderly.
He likes this. He likes this a lot.
Unfortunately, he has to get to work in a little over an hour so he carefully attempts to pry Veritas’ arms off of him. This does not work. In fact, it has the complete opposite effect as Veritas, still asleep, pulls Aventurine closer and holds him tighter. “5 more minutes,” Veritas mumbles, as he rests his head on Aventurine’s shoulder.
“I didn’t know you weren’t a morning person, Veritas,” Aventurine chuckles. Aventurine’s use of the doctor’s first name and the sound of his voice so close to him is enough to startle Veritas awake. To Aventurine’s dismay, Veritas removes his arms from Aventurine’s prone form and sits up hastily.
“Could you explain this gross invasion of my space?” Veritas glares at Aventurine, his face a pretty shade of crimson. “Doctor, it was you who had his arms around me all night,” Aventurine laughs gleefully, planting a playful kiss on Veritas’ cheek that barely missed his lips. In response, Veritas stiffens ever so slightly while his already pink cheeks redden.
“I was just having a strange dream before you so rudely woke me up.” Veritas frowns and looks away from Aventurine in a pathetic attempt to hide the colour in his cheeks. Aventurine knows he’s lying.
“I’m honoured to have been mistaken for your high school crush,” Aventurine teases, a saccharine sweet smile gracing his lips. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Don’t flatter yourself, gambler. My love life is none of your business,” Veritas scoffs, brows furrowing.
Aventurine is pretty sure it is his business considering how he is the current object of Veritas’ affection. A part of him feels terrible for tricking someone as celebrated and intelligent as Veritas into falling in love with someone like him while the other, more selfish part of him is comforted by the fact that he is loveable; He may not be worthy of love but the knowledge that someone loving him is not an impossibility is invaluable to him.
“You have your eye on someone?” Aventurine asks, picking up one of the catcakes to appear more casual.
“What are we? 14-year-old girls at a sleepover? I refuse to participate in your flippant questioning,” Veritas says, scowling, visibly unimpressed by Aventurine’s feigned curiosity about his love life.
"Loosen up a little Doc! How about we play a-"
"No."
"Please?"
"No." Veritas says echoing his answer prior, clicking his tongue and shooting Aventurine a withering glare. "Don't you have work to go to work soon?”
f*ck. Veritas got him there. "Alright, alright I'll get ready for work," Aventurine laughs, bemused by Veritas' newly acquired tact.
"Good. I wouldn't want the both of us to be late." Veritas quickly pins his gold laurel leaf in his hair and buttons his shirt, seemingly irritated by the inconvenience Aventurine had brought him.
"I could give you a ride if you want? My meeting with Topaz isn't for another 2 hours. I can afford to get to headquarters a little later," Aventurine suggests.
Veritas stares at him, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Why? What will you get in return if I accept this offer?" Veritas questions.
"Spending time with a friend? Seriously Ratio not everything I do is a part of some elaborate scheme to systematically destroy you," Aventurine giggles, amused by Veritas' almost comical suspicion of him. "I actually enjoy talking to you," Aventurine continues sheepishly, giving Veritas a small but genuine smile. A rarity.
"I accept then. I don't really have a choice do I?" Aventurine observes Veritas' expression soften, his irritation and suspicion subsiding ever so slightly. He's beautiful. "And I uh... I enjoy talking to you too.”
~~~
The sound frustrated strokes of a red pen on paper was a regular sound in Veritas’ office. He found grading his students’ work to be irritating as most of their work is poorly done and unoriginal, it was painfully obvious most of them simply copied from their textbooks.
Sighing, he takes a sip of his now lukewarm coffee and checks his phone. He’s greeted with several unread messages from Aventurine:
> Aventurine
ratio
ratioooooooo
doctor pleasee
i need to ask you something
it’s very important
Veritas rolls his eyes. Aventurine has the particularly annoying habit of either over-exaggerating or grossly downplaying the stakes of a lot of situations hence he is unsure of how serious the question he’s about to ask is going to be. He decides to respond out of sheer boredom
> Dr. Ratio
What do you want?
I am at work.
> Aventurine
doctor don’t be so curt with me :(
don’t you like me?
> Dr. Ratio
Ask your question before I change my mind.
> Aventurine
what’s your idea of the perfect first date?
Veritas almost drops his phone. Was Aventurine interested in someone? He feels the unfriendly prick of jealously sting him. He brushes it off. Barely. Life is far too short to indulge in frivolous feelings of envy.
Massaging his temples, Veritas begins to formulate his response. The illogical portion of him (which he wasn’t aware of until he fell for Aventurine) has the unshakable belief that a date with Aventurine, no matter how objectively bad it was, would be a perfect date to him. Lucky for Veritas, he usually gives the logical portion of him the responsibility of making decisions.
> Dr. Ratio
Stargazing.
> Aventurine
i didn’t know you could be so romantic doctor :O
> Dr. Ratio
It isn’t a matter of romance. A date under the stars is practical.
For starters, stargazing requires minimal planning when compared to its counterparts; All one needs is a clear sky and an elevated area.
Moreover, the constellations in the sky also act as a good conversation starter.
> Aventurine
i don’t know what i expected
> Dr. Ratio
Did I say something wrong?
I actually enjoy stargazing by the way. It helps me calm my mind when I am unable to fall asleep
> Aventurine
you didn’t say anything wrong, doctor
your explanation is just very you
it’s endearing
After that last message, Aventurine goes offline leaving Veritas confused, tired and very flustered. Was Aventurine flirting with him? What did he mean by “endearing”? Did he even mean any of it?
No. Of course he didn’t. Aventurine probably saw him as a friendly coworker at best. It would be incredibly foolish of Veritas to forget that he and Aventurine, in spite of their storied past, are just two people in a mutually beneficial partnership. Aventurine’s act of kindness the night before was most likely an anomaly. There was nothing to Aventurine’s honeyed words.
Disheartened, Veritas continues to grade his students’ work in silence. He is unable to sleep that night.
~~~
The next morning, Veritas, tired and sleep-deprived, stumbles clumsily into Herta’s office. He is 5 minutes late for his monthly meeting with the Genius Society. “Pardon my tardiness,” he pants.
“You look well, Dr. Ratio,” Ruan Mei says, stirring her cup of tea serenely.
Herta scowls. “You’re late.”
“You act as if this meeting is of any importance. We only gossip during these meetings. No one but Screwllum prepares an actual agenda for these discussions,” Veritas replies coolly, eyeing the Screwllumite beside him as he takes a bite of one of Ruan Mei’s anti-truth fruit tarts.
“Question: are we making optimal use of our monthly meetings by talking about petty drama?” Screwllum shoots back, taking a sip of the glass of motor oil Ruan Mei had prepared for him.
The other two geniuses and Veritas opt to ignore Screwllum’s question and begin to talk about the aforementioned “petty drama”.
“Dr. Ratio, how’s your lover doing?” Herta asks with intellectual curiosity behind her ice blue eyes.
Veritas sighs. Geniuses are notoriously annoying to talk to. He regrets accepting Screwllum’s invitation. How foolish of him to have thought that he’d be able to use these meetings to convince them to apply their extensive knowledge of their respective fields in areas that will greatly benefit the galaxy. They either talk about Screwllum’s ugly new watch, Veritas’ love life or the most recent person who threw themselves at Ruan Mei’s feet. A part of him is almost happy he wasn’t invited to the Genius Society, he cannot even begin to imagine having to deal with this garbage everyday.
“For the last time, Herta, we are not dating.”
Screwllum, Herta and even Ruan Mei stare at him sceptically, each of them wearing almost identical expressions of narrowed eyes and scrunched noses (Screwllum is narrowing his eyes and scrunching his nose in spirit).
“Stop looking at me like that, you three look like one of Ruan Mei’s failed experiments.” Veritas tries not to make eye contact with the judgmental gaze of the 3 scholars. “Why are you so curious about my personal life anyway?”
“Answer: me and Ms Ruan Mei do not experience romantic or sexual attraction. Thus we find it endlessly interesting to see a man of your calibre fumble his way through the trials of love and romance,” Screwllum explains matter-of-factly while Ruan Mei nods in agreement. “Mdm Herta on the other hand merely enjoys watching you suffer.”
Veritas scoffs. They had the intent of studying him as if we were another one of their experiments. The audacity. But, he supposes it would be alright to tell them as they all had a dose of Ruan Mei’s anti-truth chemical; the chances of any of his stories being told to others outside of this room were slim to none.
“Fine. I will regale you insolent geniuses with tales of the most annoying man in the galaxy.”
Veritas spends a good half hour complaining (read: gushing) about Aventurine. He tells them about how much Aventurine has been flirting with him these past few weeks.
“It sounds like you have romantic feelings for him,” Screwllum muses, flipping through the moleskin notebook he had been writing in for the past half hour.
“Mr Screwllum, could you refrain from stating the obvious? My phase of vehement denial was over long ago.” Veritas pauses as it dawns on him that Screwllum had been taking notes as he spoke. Incredulous, Veritas asks, “Have you been taking notes?”
“Indeed I have been. They are for my own personal reference,” Screwllum nods, shoving the notebook into his bag before Veritas could climb over the table and wrestle it out of his hands.
“What if you gave him some flowers I genetically modified? Their pollen will turn him into a marketable plushie for a few days,” Ruan Mei suggests thoughtfully.
“Ms Ruan Mei, I will not let you carry out unethical and non-consensual experiments on him,” Veritas frowns as Ruan Mei deflates in disappointment.
“How about I trap him in the Simulated Universe until he agrees to go on a date with you?” Herta asks animatedly.
“Mdm Herta, that’s kidnapping.”
~~~
Aventurine nervously adjusts his collar, strategically unbuttoning a few buttons of his teal dress shirt. Was he overdressed for this? Should he just have worn his usual outfit? He pushes his doubts out of his head. It was just Veritas, he didn’t need to impress him.
Taking a deep breath, he knocks on the door of Veritas’ office before awkwardly walking in.
“Out.”
“Charming as always, Ratio,” Aventurine teases, closing the door behind him.
“Out. Now.” Veritas doesn’t look up from the papers he’s grading and waves his hand in a shooing gesture.
“I want to take you somewhere.”
This finally gets Veritas to look up from his desk. “Where?”
“It’s a surprise!” Aventurine answers brightly, stretching out his hand for Veritas to grab.
Hesitantly, Veritas takes Aventurine’s hand. “You’re lucky I like you,” he grumbles under his breath.
“What was that?” Aventurine asks innocently.
“I said you’re lucky I don’t have class tomorrow. Now hurry up before it gets any later and I change my mind,” Veritas glowers, cheeks tinged pink. Aventurine decides to let him off this time.
~~~
Aventurine takes Veritas to a secluded rooftop in one of the less populated areas of Pier Point. The rooftop was mostly empty save for a few planters that grew an array of vibrant flowers and a bench that faced the night sky.
With a quivering hand, Aventurine tightly grasps Veritas’ hand and begins to lead him to the bench. The cold metal of Aventurine’s rings brush Veritas’ fingers as they make contact. Aventurine sighs, almost in relief. He missed Veritas’ touch, his warmth.
“What exactly are we doing here?” Veritas questions.
Aventurine smiles as he gracefully takes out a tin of cookies from a crate that sat beside the bench and offers one to Veritas. “I need you to help me identify some constellations.”
“I won’t help you impress some girl who does not know any better,” Veritas scowls, Aventurine recognises the underlying tone of sadness behind his words.
“I didn’t take you here for the purpose of that!” Aventurine exclaims jokingly. “Is it so wrong to want to be taught by the Doctor of Truth himself?”
Veritas rolls his eyes. “Your idiocy astounds me. Move in so it’ll be easier for me to point out the constellations to you.” Their shoulders bump against each other as Aventurine shifts closer to Veritas.
“Do you have a favourite constellation?”
“Ursa Major. It was the first constellation I actually managed to spot,” Veritas smiles, pointing to a group of stars. “It’s meant to depict Callisto, a woman who was turned into a bear by a divine being before dying at the hands of her own son who didn’t recognise her new form.”
“How tragic,” Aventurine muses looking to where Veritas was pointing. “The story behind it is interesting though.”
“This story isn’t over, another divine being preserved the mother and son in the stars after their deaths,” Veritas continues. “Callisto’s son is right above her, his constellation is called Ursa Minor.”
“That’s really cool, I didn’t think stars could have such compelling stories behind them,” Aventurine laughs before pointing to another constellation. “What about that one?”
The two discuss the tales of each of the constellations they happen to spot. Veritas enthusiastically tells the stories behind each constellation Aventurine points out, unaware of the fact that Aventurine was admiring him rather than the constellations. Why look to the sky for beauty when all he’s ever selfishly yearned for is right in front of him?
After an hour, Aventurine finally stops Veritas’ scholarly lecture about the stars above. He cannot afford to stray from his purpose.
“I got you something, to celebrate the missions we’ve worked on together,”Aventurine says. Veritas watches Aventurine reach into his bag and pull out a wrapped package. “Open it, I want to see your reaction.” Aventurine grins, a barely perceptible glint of mischief in his magenta and cyan eyes.
“This isn’t a trick is it?” Veritas asks, cautiously inspecting the seemingly unassuming gift Aventurine had given him.
“Awwww Doctorrrrr I’m hurt you’d think I’d mess with you like that!” Aventurine whines in mock offence.
“I was just making sure,” Veritas mutters under his breath.
Veritas carefully tears away the holographic wrapping paper (courtesy of Jade) to reveal two items: a box of high quality chalk and a small velvet case. "Chalk?" Veritas asks, amused.
"If you ever run out of chalk to throw at your students," Aventurine jokes.
"Thank you... this is a very thoughtful gift," Veritas says.
"Open the other box," Aventurine says, making an effort not to sound too excited.
Veritas pries open the box to find a simple yet elegant pendant intricately carved out of blue sapphire. He stares at it without saying a word, observing how the light of the city below hit the stone from different angles. Aventurine hates how he cannot tell what he’s thinking. "Do you not like it? I could get you something else if you'd like."
"No, it's not that." Veritas hesitates as if unsure of what to say next as heat rises to his cheeks. "Do you know what sapphire symbolises?"
Loyalty, luck and protection. Aventurine wanted to give Veritas a good luck charm— something to remember him by. He was almost certain he would be forced to die for the IPC's cause sooner or later. His life was merely another asset they owned and could be traded in for something better at a time of their choosing. He decides against telling Veritas this though, he wouldn't want the man to try to prevent his inevitable death at the hands of the IPC and himself into trouble as well. He can't afford to hurt Veritas more than he already has. His heart won't let him.
"Loyalty and luck?" Aventurine suggests. "Ratio, I just thought it matched your current jewellery, if it's too sentimental of a gift I can get—“
"Love and devotion," Veritas interjects, seemingly unwilling to accept Aventurine's offer of a replacement. "It's most commonly found in wedding jewellery."
They stare at each other in a stunned silence. Aventurine can hear the drumming of his heart in his chest. For the first time in ages, Aventurine is unable to utter a word of excuse in response. Veritas shifts uncomfortably before he breaks the silence. “Aventurine, I apologise if I am interpreting this wrong but... are you courting me?" Aventurine can hear the thinly veiled hopefulness in his voice.
Aventurine averts Veritas’s soft stare, if he looks he will not be able to think straight. Not that he needs to think of an answer as he already knows it:
He knows that he had let his emotions get the better of him.
He knows that it is his fault that Veritas fell in love with someone who does not deserve him.
And he knows that he is in love with Veritas.
How awful of him to make someone who could do so much better pine for him, how selfish of him to want his feelings to be reciprocated.
He finally meets Veritas’ gaze again.
Oh.
Oh.
He may have looked into Veritas’ eyes many time before but the sight of a rising sun does not lose its beauty even if one has seen it a thousand times. Veritas stares back, wine gold eyes looking at him with nothing but adoration and affection.
Aventurine kisses him.
Veritas’ breath hitches as Aventurine kisses him hungrily before melting into Aventurine’s touch. The hand he had used to cup Veritas’ cheek shivers, he is afraid.
The heavily embellished tales of romance and fantasy his sister had told him when he was a child did not prepare him for how kissing Veritas would feel. It was painfully tender, he never thought someone could be this gentle with him but here Veritas was, proving him wrong. Veritas’ touch is comforting. Too comforting. It’s something he will forever yearn for and something he knows he’ll never receive again.
The few seconds of pure, unadulterated bliss fly by quicker than Aventurine would have liked before reality hits him. He’s making a mistake. Hastily, Aventurine pulls away from Veritas.
“I’m sorry,” Aventurine breathes.
“What for?” Veritas asks
“Everything.” Aventurine almost gets up from the bench before Veritas grips his arm.
“You don’t need to apologise for anything, I… I love you too.” Veritas looks at him like he hung the stars, Aventurine is weak.
“And that’s the problem.” Aventurine takes a moment to steady his voice. “I am a monster. Beautiful people aren’t meant to love monsters.”
“Are monsters not deserving of love? Aventurine, I love you and I am unwilling to let your insecurities stop me from doing so.” Veritas, smiling sadly, sets the velvet box on the bench before placing Aventurine’s shaking hands in his.
“I can’t believe I thought I could make you fall out of love with me,” Aventurine laughs bitterly
“What do you mean by that?” Veritas asks.
“This ‘date’ was meant to show you how terrible of a partner I’d be.”
Now, it was Veritas’ turn to laugh. “Aventurine, in stark contrast to whatever unfounded rhetoric you’ve convinced yourself of, you’re not difficult to love,” Veritas says, not noticing the traitorous blush that has begun to form on Aventurine’s cheeks. “You’re sweet when you’re not trying to gain the upper hand, you’re intelligent, you’re decent at planning dates, you’re irritating in a way that’s strangely charming and you’re… not terrible to be around.”
Aventurine could hear the fondness dripping from Veritas’ voice as he listed all the things he liked about Aventurine. He had received enough shallow compliments over the years to be able to tell when people were being genuine. His friend(?) as far as he could tell was not lying unless Veritas magically gained the ability to hide his various tells overnight.
“Professing your undying love to me already, Doc?” Aventurine plasters his usual false smile to hide his inability to deal with genuine compliments.
“Yes, I was in fact professing my ‘undying love’ to you,” Veritas says coolly.
"W-what? I mean uh yeah I knew that," Aventurine sputters, Veritas' nonchalance shattering his carefully constructed facade.
"You're blushing."
"I'm not!"
"Has anyone ever told you how your ears turn red when you blush?"
"N-no." Aventurine rushes to cover his ears to Veritas' amusem*nt.
Barely composing himself, Aventurine resolves to get back on the rather uncomfortable topic at hand.
"How do you know you're not making a mistake? You deserve better than someone like me," Aventurine says mournfully, voice barely above a whisper.
"If loving you is a mistake, then it is a mistake I will make with a smile on my face."
“I never thought you had it in you to make mistakes on purpose,” Aventurine laughs, his smile reaches his eyes.
“Need I remind you it is only yourself who thinks I am making a mistake? Loving the most beautiful person in the cosmos should be a given no?” One of Veritas’ calloused palms leaves Aventurine’s grasp to gently cup his cheek, pulling the shorter man even closer in the process
“Flattery will get you nowhere, dearest doctor,” Aventurine retorts, the fondness in his voice washing away the little bite his words.
“I assure you that I am entirely sincere,” Veritas chuckles. “It is very difficult to over-exaggerate your beauty.”
Deciding to stop Veritas’ seemingly endless string of lovestruck compliments, Aventurine closes the short distance between their lips for a second time. Time slows. The kiss is less desperate or hasty than the last. Revelling in Veritas’ touch, Aventurine’s hands thread through Veritas’ violet locks, deepening the kiss.
The need for air causes Veritas to break the kiss. Slowly, Aventurine raises his hand to gently brush his lips. He can still feel sparks dancing on his lips. His heart feels full.
“I love you, Veritas,” Aventurine says breathlessly.
“I love you too, Aventurine,” Veritas replies, Aventurine can hear the smile in his voice.
“Kakavasha.”
“Hm?”
“My name is Kakavasha.”
“I love you too, Kakavasha.”
~~~
Veritas holds the azure stone up to the dim glow of the city lights to inspect it. "Can I keep it?” he asks, eyes sparkling in awe.
Smiling, Kakavasha nods. “I bought it for you so I would like for you to keep it. I could even help you to put it on if you want."
Veritas doesn't protest. Carefully, Kakavasha puts the silver chain around Veritas' neck before fastening it.
"Thank you," Veritas finally says. "Do you want a piece of jewellery of your own?"
"How forward, Veritas! I didn't know you were thinking about proposing to me already," Kakavasha laughs, any mocking his words would have being triumphed by his overly affectionate tone.
"Not yet, gambler. I just think it's only fair that your gesture is reciprocated," Veritas explains, a blush colouring his face.
"I would love that."
