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Dr. Ratio was pacing in the middle of his hotel room in the Reverie. The floorboards creaked in protest beneath his feet, almost as if they were begging for him to rest.
It had been a couple of months since the Penacony incidents had occurred. He was tying up a few loose ends here and there, investigating certain people and taking stock of any more unusual occurrences. Thankfully, those were few and far between.
The Dreamscape was temporarily closed down until further notice, but Ratio was doubtful that it would be up and running anytime soon. Still, even after the initial panic and confusion, the process was going relatively smoothly.
Despite this, Ratio still felt a looming sense of anxiety. Something about today in particular was weighing on him, frazzling his mind and causing him to overthink. Perhaps it was this room.
The same room Aventurine had stayed in before everything happened.
Before his grand plan, before his…final show.
The moment that changed everything.
Right before Aventurine disappeared without a trace.
He had to hear about what had happened from the Astral Express crew. They described Aventurine’s transformation and subsequent fall in detail. Ratio couldn’t say that the turn of events had necessarily shocked him.
But the way that the crew talked about him...it was as if they were describing some great adversary, a cunning villain, a formidable foe.
Ratio would be the first person to admit to Aventurine’s immense cunning and capability. He had no doubt that Aventurine put up an incredible fight.
But a villain? An enemy?
The Astral Express crew seemed to be torn on what to think about Aventurine, which Ratio supposed was fair. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to see Aventurine as some sort of villainous mastermind.
Aventurine was many things, but evil had never been one of them.
Ratio wondered what would have happened had he been there at the scene of the fight. Could he have done more than write a measly little note? If Aventurine knew that Ratio cared, truly cared, for his well-being, would he still have risked everything for his biggest gamble yet?
He sighed. Exploring “what-if” scenarios was a futile task. It would be pointless for Ratio to torture himself with the various possibilities of what could have been, and it would be downright foolish of him to lose sleep over such idiotic thoughts.
And yet.
Two months without Aventurine, and Ratio’s usual uneventful dreams had shifted to vivid nightmares.
Aventurine was alive. Ratio repeated it in his head like a mantra. Of course he was.
For all that Ratio called him an idiotic fool, Aventurine was incredibly intelligent. He would’ve surely figured out how to return from beyond the barrier. He’d cheated death so many times. Ratio was sure that he could do it again.
Although he seemed to be one of the only people who thought so. Even Topaz, who Ratio had previously assumed was indifferent towards Aventurine, had looked down sadly as she told Ratio that the light of the Aventurine stone had disappeared.
At the time, Ratio listened to her explanation quietly, trying not to betray his true emotions. Topaz had looked up at him with genuine sympathy in her eyes.
“You know what that means, right, Doctor?”
Ratio raised his eyebrows. “I’m afraid I don’t.”
A lie. Of course he did.
Topaz sighed. “I know you two were…close. I’m sorry.”
She had paused then, searching Ratio’s face for something. He remained stone-faced and expressionless. Ratio had nothing against Topaz, yet he still took the initiative to conceal his thoughts regarding Aventurine out of pure habit.
Ratio knew of the rumors that flew around about him and Aventurine. They both did. How could they not? Such a strange pairing of individuals was bound to cause whispers, and Ratio would be lying if he said there was no truth to them whatsoever. It was telling that Topaz had already been the fourth person to approach Ratio, spilling a mixture of explanations and condolences regarding Aventurine.
He supposed it made sense. After all, to Ratio’s knowledge, there was no one else in Aventurine’s life who would’ve cared.
Topaz may have said a few more things, but Ratio clearly didn’t register them as important. All he could think about was that stupid stone.
He knew, in theory, what it meant when the light of a cornerstone was snuffed out.
But theory and reality were often quite different.
In reality, the truth could be determined through a simple disjunctive syllogism.
Either Aventurine was dead, or he was alive.
Two options. Upon eliminating one, the other would be proven true.
Such a statement could be solved through carefully investigated evidence and proof. Unfortunately, it had been two months, and Ratio had made no such progress.
He continued his pacing around the room. It didn’t matter. Because Aventurine was alive.
He was alive.
He made it out.
He succeeded.
He had to have.
Ratio gnawed on his lower lip and came to the terrifying conclusion, not for the first time, that he didn’t know what he would do if Aventurine were to never return.
***
He was knee deep into carefully organizing files on the various heads of the Families when a few concise knocks sounded at his hotel room door.
Ratio frowned. Night had fallen hours ago, and the Reverie was quiet as its inhabitants slept. He supposed that he wasn’t on a strict schedule for his work, but he would have hoped that his research supervisors would have possessed a shred more common decency.
More work at this hour was simply absurd.
Nevertheless, Ratio padded over to the door and opened it, anticipating the unfortunate arrival of more paperwork to add to his already towering pile. He truly did not have time for this.
“Hello, what can—”
Ratio nearly choked on his words when he saw what was waiting for him on the other side of the door. His mouth dropped open in shock, and he blinked rapidly, both in surprise and also to will away the sudden urge he had to start crying.
Colorful Sigonian eyes met his own, and Ratio was stunned into silence.
“Hey, Doc,” Aventurine said. His voice was softer than Ratio remembered.
“Aventurine,” Ratio finally said. He looked him up and down. His usual elaborate garb was heavily toned down, probably to stay undetected by any hotel staff. He looked strange without his usual colors and grandeur, but his hair still shone gold, even in the dim light of the hallway.
Aventurine dug around in his bag and pulled out a deck of cards and a couple of bottles that looked like alcohol.
“I brought cards and drinks. Can I come in?”
Ratio blinked and pulled himself out of his brief stupor, nodding once and pulling Aventurine into his room. He made sure no one was walking around, then locked the door.
He paused and took a deep breath. An indescribable feeling of relief flooded through Ratio’s system.
“You’re back,” he said.
He turned to see Aventurine much closer to him than he expected.
“Of course I’m back,” Aventurine said.
“I waited for you. I thought you wouldn’t return.”
“Oh? I thought you had me all figured out.”
“Not even in the slightest.”
Aventurine pursed his lips and looked to the side. Ratio followed his gaze and said, “You’re alive.”
Aventurine gaze snapped back to Ratio. “Of course I am. Did you think I wouldn’t be?”
Ratio’s silence said more than words ever could.
“Damn, Doc. And here I thought you trusted me.”
“Of course I do,” Ratio snapped.
“Well, clearly not,” Aventurine said.
“Really? Who was it who went along with your foolish plan solely because you told me to? Who was it who stood by your side when no one else would?” Ratio’s voice rose, and he neglected to notice Aventurine’s reaction until a few moments later.
Aventurine was looking down uncomfortably, his brow furrowed.
“I didn’t ask you to stay next to me, you know,” he said quietly. “All I wanted was for you to trust me.”
Ratio opened his mouth, then closed it again. This wasn’t how he wanted this to go. In his head, Aventurine would return and everything would go back to normal. Ratio would get the reassurance that Aventurine would be alright, and Aventurine would be free to follow his own path.
Except, in his head, Aventurine was always right there beside him. Ratio realized he didn’t want Aventurine to leave. The absence of Aventurine carved out such a deep hole in Ratio’s core, and Ratio would be damned if he would be someone who implied that he didn’t miss Aventurine dearly when he was gone.
“I apologize,” he said.
Aventurine looked up. “What for?”
“For not trusting you.”
“Oh.” Aventurine shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t be the first, and you certainly won’t be the last. You said so yourself, remember?”
“Aventurine.”
“That’s my name.”
Except it wasn’t, was it? Ratio wondered if he would ever get to learn his true identity. Maybe he never really knew the real Aventurine. Maybe Aventurine was just a carefully constructed lie and Ratio would never truly get to know who he really was.
Either way, Ratio still thought it would be foolish not to try.
He looked over Aventurine again. He was as beautiful as ever.
Ratio seldom felt attraction, and had never truly felt so strongly about another person before. But when Aventurine stood before him, expression surprisingly open and emotions showing plainly on his face, Ratio had the deep urge to hold him and never let go.
“I always trusted that you could do it, Aventurine,” Ratio admitted. “There was never a doubt in my mind. You are strong and capable, and I knew you would be able to make it out alive.”
Aventurine frowned. “But you said—”
“I always trusted that you could. But I worried that when the time came…” Ratio’s expression softened. “I was afraid that you wouldn’t choose salvation. I thought you would be lost, forever.”
Aventurine’s expression crumpled. “I—”
Ratio reached out, much to both his and Aventurine’s surprise. They didn’t do this. They didn’t comfort each other. They didn’t touch each other. They never showed outright that they cared.
But maybe things didn’t have to go back exactly to how they were before.
Aventurine stepped closer. Ratio always forgot how much shorter Aventurine was than him until they stood close together like this. Ratio debated on whether or not to touch him, worried about crossing some sort of unspoken boundary, while Aventurine looked about two seconds away from having a breakdown.
“Thank you,” he said, voice wobbly. “For your note.”
Ratio breathed a sigh of relief. “I presume you found it useful?”
“Yeah. It’s what got me out, after all.”
Ratio smiled sadly and finally took Aventurine’s hands in his. Aventurine hands were smaller than his and slender, and so, so cold.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Whatever for?”
Ratio rubbed Aventurine’s knuckles with his thumbs gently. “I don’t know. Something. Everything.”
Aventurine ducked his head, cheeks flushed red. “Who are you, and what have you done with my doctor?”
Ratio laughed in surprise. “I’m very much so still me. Has your two month absence really dulled your intuition that much?”
Aventurine breathed out a laugh of his own and looked back up into Ratio’s eyes. His eyes were red rimmed and tears threatened to spill down his cheeks, but he was smiling brightly.
And Ratio thought to himself that the Aventurine he had known all this time had never really been a lie. Aventurine’s true self shone brighter than any persona or mask possibly could, and Ratio was a fool for thinking otherwise.
Ratio released Aventurine’s hands and fully enveloped him in a hug. Aventurine only took a second to adjust before wrapping his arms around Ratio’s waist, holding him tightly in return. He buried his face into Ratio’s chest, and Ratio could feel him shaking.
He brought up a hand to stroke through Aventurine’s hair.
“You did it, dear gambler,” Ratio said softly. “You made it out.”
Aventurine whimpered and Ratio held him even closer.
“I’m so proud of you.”