Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Aventurine never imagined himself ever going to college, yet here he was, standing in a crowd of fellow students. They were all talking about basic things like their majors and how their summers were. The gambler was personally here to study business.

He listened to the conversations, looking around for someone he recognized. Nobody. Aventurine sighed and pulled his luggage into the elevator up to his dorms. He was told he would have a roommate. He hoped that this roommate of his would be someone he liked.

He opened the door to find a tall, purple-haired man already in the room. He was carefully organizing a bookshelf, although Aventurine couldn’t tell what he was sorting them by. He awkwardly stepped in before putting on the extroverted façade that he always put on when around other people. He couldn’t show any insecurities, those were a sign of weakness.

“So,” the gambler said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, “You’re my roommate, huh? I’m Aventurine.” He stuck out his hand, which the purple haired man promptly shook.

“Doctor Veritas Ratio, member of the Intelligentsia Guild.” He said in a voice that was too formal, almost robotic in nature.

“Alright Ratio, you don’t gotta be so serious.” he responded with a slight chuckle.

Dr Ratio cringed at the improper grammar before returning to his books, organizing them in a seemingly random fashion. Aventurine shrugged and began to unpack his suitcase. He didn’t bring much, it’s not like he expected to stay here long before getting kicked out for low grades or something like that.

He pulled out a box of cigarettes and discreetly put it in his bedside drawer, not wanting his new roommate to see it. Most people weren’t fond of this little habit of his. But Aventurine had a lot of habits that other people weren’t fond of. It’s not like he cared, it was his life after all.

Ratio was still organizing his books, but something was on his mind. It was Aventurines eyes, purple and teal, almost hypnotic. They were captivating. He shook his head, this was a silly and irrelevant thing to be thinking about.

As he pushed the final book, one about the history of the IPC, into the bookshelf, he smiled when it fit in perfectly. It was orderly, just like he liked all things in his life. He didn’t think his roommate thought the same way, with the way all of his clothes were spread out on the bed as he was putting them away.

Ratio decided to sit out on the balcony while his Aventurine sorted himself out. He sat there and thought about nothing in particular. He did this every night, it was routine. He liked routine, it made his life make sense when nothing else did. He stared at the stars, mentally taking note of the constellations that were in the sky that night. The Big Dipper was right in the center of his view, acting as the centerpiece of the sky.

Eventually he heard Aventurine calling his name from inside the room. He hurried inside, assuming that he had broken either an item or part of himself. Ratio had only known the gambler for a few hours, but already knew that his prediction wasn’t completely impossible.

Or maybe it was just him being paranoid. Because when he walked inside his roommate was completely fine. Nothing was broken. He let out a sigh of relief, which his roommate immediately noticed.

“What, did you think I already broke something?”

Ratio sheepishly nodded.

“Geez I’m not that clumsy,” Aventurine rolled his eyes. “I wanted to know if you wanted to go out drinking with me tonight.”

He was a bit taken aback by this request. “It’s a school night, we shouldn’t be doing that. Such behavior is irresponsible and-”

The gambler cut him off. “Please?”

He didn’t know why, but something about the way that he said please convinced him. “Fine, but I’m staying sober.”

“Nice, we leave at 9.” That was 30 minutes from now. Aventurine already seemed to be ready and digging in the drawers for something. He pulled out a gambling chip and looked back at Ratio. “Good luck.” He said, gesturing to the chip with a smile plastered across his face.

Ratio stared at that smile for a long time without realizing.

When 9pm rolled around, Aventurine was already at the door and ready. He was dressed in a casual outfit, with a blue flannel jacket and black pants paired with a plain white shirt and blue tennis shoes. His blonde hair was brushed back in a formal yet comfortable way.

Ratio on the other hand was wearing something mildly formal. He had a white button-down shirt with blue jeans. Well, now that he thought about it, the outfit wasn’t really that formal.

The two boys grabbed their stuff and walked out the door and soon out the building. Aventurine kept glancing over at Ratio, for a reason he himself didn’t know. They both walked down the stone pathway to the bar down the street. It wasn’t far, just a 10 minute walk.

Neither of them had exchanged anything other than meaningless small talk on the walk there. They talked about small things like how pretty the moon was and what they were majoring in. Nothing much about their personal lives or their childhoods. It was fine with the gambler, he didn’t like talking about his past anyways, especially not with people he just met.

They arrived at the bar after a short walk. They were playing music by a musician named Serval, who apparently was from Jarilo-VI. Neither of the boys had ever heard of her but they enjoyed the songs that were being played.

Aventurine ran off into the crowd, leaving Ratio trying to desperately catch up with him. He eventually found him in a corner with a bottle of SoulGlad in one hand, talking to some strangers. Ratio decided he shouldn’t just linger around the only person he knew all night and that he should try to socialize, which is something he wasn’t very fond of doing.

Other people may call it autism, but he considered it to be more of a strength. His constant routines kept him calm, and his lack of social skills is just him being cautious of who he talks to.

As the night went on, Ratio found himself staying in a corner drinking water while his roommate socialized and played some rounds of poker with strangers.

Eventually Aventurine noticed this, and not wanting him to feel left out invited him over to the group he was hanging out with. They seemed like nice people, so he reluctantly agreed to go introduce himself to him.

“Who’s that guy?” Asked a Foxian lady with red hair, gesturing towards the purple haired man.

“That,” said Aventurine in a very confident voice. “Is my friend Dr Ratio. We just met but he’s really chill.”

The gambler invited Ratio to play a round of poker with his group, but he respectfully declined. Despite this, he still decided to watch the round. He listened to all their drunken, meaningless arguments about too many topics to count.

Soon the clock struck midnight and it was time to go home. Ratio was thankful that he decided to not drink, because Aventurine was noticeably drunk.

“Wow you’re so tall…” said the gambler, slurring his words.

Ratio just nodded and went along with it. The height difference between them wasn’t that big, a few inches at most. As the two walked home, they both thought the same thing.

I could get used to this.

Chapter Text

Aventurine woke up to find his roommate still asleep. He checked the alarm clock on his bedside- 7:00 in the morning, exactly. He decided to let Ratio rest and to go to the café across the street, he didn’t have a class until 9. Plus he had overheard in passing conversation that the coffee there was really good.

The gambler took a step out of the bed and checked his wallet to make sure he didn’t lose his keys or anything last night. He was surprised to find more money than he had started out with yesterday. Aventurine decided not to question it- money is money right?

As he was walking to the bathroom to take a shower he heard the ruffling of bedsheets from the other side of the room. He turned around to find Ratio awake and somehow already at the gambler's side.

“Good morning Aventurine. Are you going to take a shower?”

Aventurine nodded, confused. He thought it would’ve been obvious, since he was holding neatly folded clothes and a towel while walking towards the bathroom.

“I have a rubber duck in there, do not touch it.” The purple haired man thought for a moment. “In fact I’ll just get it out of there right now.”

“Go ahead.” He said, doing an over the top bow. Ratio rolled his eyes. Aventurine found it a bit endearing that a man seemingly as serious and mature as his roommate would be so concerned about a rubber duck.

A few moments later, Ratio emerged from the bathroom with a classic looking yellow rubber duck. It was extremely clean, and almost looked like it was made of plastic. The gambler wanted to reach out and touch it, but knew he probably shouldn’t.

Aventurine stepped out of the bathroom with his favorite outfit on- a turquoise shirt with an upside down heart cutout at the chest, with a black jacket over it. He picks up his phone to see that he has a text from his friend Topaz.

Topaz: u better not skip today

Aventurine: Now that you say that, maybe I will…

Topaz: don’t even think about it, the ipc is making sure we don’t skip

Aventurine put down his phone and thought for a moment. It made sense that the IPC would be making sure he wasn’t skipping, they were the reason he was even attending college in the first place. He had to be at every class or risk losing his job. It was a shame, he sort of wanted to skip today. He had a really bad headache from doing who knows what the previous night.

The sound of a book falling from a shelf snapped the gambler out of his train of thought. He turned around to see his roommate in a pose that very clearly showed that he failed to catch the book falling from the top shelf. Embarrassed, Ratio cleared his throat and began speaking.

“I still have a good while until my first class.”

“Yeah, me too. You wanna grab coffee after you’re done getting ready? I’ve heard there’s this really good spot across the road we could go to.” The blonde asked.

“Want to. ‘Wanna’ isn’t a word.” Ratio remarked.

“Whatever.” Aventurine responded, rolling his eyes. He didn’t understand why he cared about proper speaking, but made a mental note to use more formal English in the future when around him. Because apparently it mattered.

When Ratio finished getting ready, the two boys headed out the door to get some coffee. Aventurine thought back to the extra money in his wallet and decided to ask his roommate about it.

“So where’d I get all this extra money from?” He asked without realizing he wasn’t providing any context for that question. Oh well, he assumed that he would know what he meant.

“Hm?” Dr Ratio did not, in fact, immediately know what the gambler was talking about.

“Like, I woke up with more money than I had before I went out drinking last night. I mean I’m not complaining though, any extra cash is nice I guess.”

The purple haired man got a bit irritated at the use of ‘like’ as a filler word but decided not to mention it, at least not this time. “You won a poker game.”

“Damn, drunk me is good at poker.” Aventurine said with a hint of confidence in his voice.

“Let’s not make it a habit.”

The gambler rolled his eyes.

The two sat at a table in the coffee shop. Passing by them was a girl with brown hair. Ratio thought he’d seen her before, perhaps one of the Masked Fools? The girl took a long glance at the boys, looking them up and down. Ratio minded his own business, a contrast to his roommates' next actions.

“Do you need something?” he asked, sharpness in his voice.

“You go to the college down the road right?” She asked.

The gambler wasn’t sure what she was trying to ask. “Yeah, why?”

“Are you sure you’re smart enough to go there? I don’t think you people are very intelligent.” The girl said this with an extremely condescending tone.

Aventurine stared at her in confusion. What did she mean by his people? “Excuse me?” Ratio had an idea of what she meant, but decided to stay silent.

“Y’know, Avgins. I’ve heard they aren’t very smart.” She smirked, knowing exactly how she was coming across. Aventurine just sat there, not being able to think of a clever response. He finally thought of something.

“I know that your ugly ass isn’t talking right now.” He said, reasonably pissed off.

Ratio finally remembered who this girl was, her name was Sparkle. He had run into her before on another planet. He tried to de-escalate the situation. “Let’s just leave.”

But Sparkle still had one more thing to say to the gambler. “At least I’m not a prostitute.”

This comment seemed to actually get to Aventurine, causing him to storm out without saying anything. It was almost time for him to start walking to class anyways, he didn’t need to spend any more time there. He threw his coffee away in the trash can by the door.

He was already back on campus before Ratio caught up to him. Aventurine didn’t notice him until moments after he had already started walking next to him.

“Apologies about her.” Ratio said.

“It’s fine, she’s just jealous I’m prettier than her.” He said, putting on a mask of confidence. Ratio decided it was best not to question why that specific comment got to him.

“So what class do you have right now?” Aventurine asked, trying to change the subject before he got a chance to ask.

“Economics.”

“I’ve got math, you wanna hang out after class? I don’t have any classes today other than this.”

“Want to. And sure.”

Class ended and Ratio waited for his roommate outside of the math building. Just when he was about to text him (they had exchanged numbers, Aventurines idea), Aventurine came running out of the building with a smile on his face.

“My friend Topaz told me about this garden area we could go to. They told me it was super pretty, do you want to hang out there?”

Ratio was confused but at least a bit happy that the gambler wasn’t saying ‘wanna’ this time. “Weren’t we already going to?”

“Yeah but now we’re going there”

Ratio shrugged as Aventurine led him to the garden.

Chapter Text

The two friends walked along the mossy stone brick path behind the building towards the garden. Aventurine was humming a song that his roommate recognized from the bar the first night they had met. It was a song by that Serval girl, a melody filled with guitars and drums. The song was chaotic in a way that made sense. It reminded Ratio of Aventurine.

The gambler kicked a pebble along the path as he walked. He sighed as he missed a kick. There goes the rock, he thought. As they approached the garden, flowers of so many different colors and fences engulfed in vines came into view.

Aventurine ran off thinking that his friend was following, but he wasn’t. Ratio was intrigued by the many different kinds of flora that the garden had to provide.

“Did the students here really grow all of this?” He asked

Aventurine turned around to find his roommate far behind him inspecting the flowers. He couldn’t blame him, it was all really pretty.

“Yeah, apparently the students from all of the agricultural classes planted all of this,” he responded, a smile on his face.

Ratio mumbled to himself, “Interesting. Five points.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. It’s just a phrase that I happen to say a lot,” said the purple haired man, a bit embarrassed.

Aventurine smirked and crossed his arms. “It’s fine. So how many points would you say I have?” He asked in a teasing manner.

Dr Ratio thought for a moment. “I suppose around 15 or so.”

The gambler smiled and followed his roommate as he walked around the garden. “I’d say you’re like, 20 points, if I had to be honest.”

Ratio slightly blushed at that and continued walking. He didn’t even notice the use of the word like as a filler word. What he did notice was his friend staring at a flower bed filled with yellow roses. Dr Ratio didn’t understand why those were the flowers he liked the most, personally he was fond of the eucalyptus. Still, he kept it in mind for future reference.

Aventurine got up from his admittedly very uncomfortable crouched position and looked towards his friend. He had something in his hand, but it was hard to tell what it was.

“You want this rock?” He asked, holding his hand out. In his palm was a small, smooth rock shaped like a heart. Ratio was never much for gift giving but he decided to accept the gift, although he did feel a bit bad for not having any gift for him in return.

He decided that a good gift to give Aventurine would be one of the yellow roses that he was looking at. He didn’t want to have to steal it from the garden but luckily he didn’t need to. In front of the fence, a yellow rose sat disconnected from its roots. It was almost as if the universe was telling him to give it to Aventurine.

And so that’s what he decided to do. He reached out and…

“Ow!”

Aventurine turned back to check what had happened. Ratio had stuck his hand on a wild cactus that was growing near the rose. He quickly pulled his hand to his chest. Luckily only a few cactus spines had stuck to him, which he pulled off with ease. Ratio cleared his throat and picked up the rose, this time without getting his hand stuck on that stupid cactus.

He got up and held out the rose to his friend. “Here you go. I do not think that it has any thorns on it.”

Aventurine examined the yellow rose, his roommate was right. This one had no thorns on it. He looked up to Ratio and smiled.

“10 points.”

Suddenly another stranger walked into the garden. They had white hair with red streaks in it, and Aventurine seemed to know them. Maybe this was the Topaz person that Aventurine was talking about.

They walked into the garden and straight to the gambler, the wind blowing their white hair in their face. They had a little pet with them, a baby warp trotter that was running around the garden aimlessly.

“C’mon Numby,” they said, gesturing for the warp trotter to come with them. “Hey Aventurine, is that the Ratio guy you told me about?”

Aventurine nodded, blushing a little. He didn’t like when people knew about him telling his other friends about them. He fidgeted with a loose string on his glove, he would have to sew that up later. Not that he knew how to sew, but who knows. Maybe Ratio knew.

“Well I’m Topaz, nice to meet you!” They extended their hand, which the purple haired man shook. They seemed nice enough.

“Well I’m just stopping by to say hi, I have a class soon so I’ve gotta go. It was nice meeting you.”

Ratio piped up, “Well we were going to leave soon too, do you want to perhaps walk together to our different destinations?”

Topaz nodded along with Aventurine, who now had the yellow rose in his hair. The three walked along the mossy brick path together. Nobody said anything until the ever-curious Dr Ratio asked Topaz a question.

“So why did you decide to attend this school?”

“Well me and Aventurine are here for the same reason. We’re both interns at the IPC and the organization is requiring all of their low level workers to get college degrees,” they responded, in a voice that seemed proud to work for such a great company.

Ratio was a bit surprised, since Aventurine had never brought up anything about the IPC before. It didn’t really seem like a job that fit the gambler.

When the boys got back to the apartment it was almost time for dinner. Aventurine decided to let Ratio cook since he already knew if he cooked it himself, either something was getting burnt down or somebody was going to lose a limb.

As the blonde changed into pajamas, he could smell the scent of spaghetti coming from the kitchen. From the way it smelled, he could tell that his roommate was an excellent cook. Aventurine picked the flower out of his hair and placed it on his nightstand, carefully so as not to damage it.

Eventually the food was ready, and both roommates sat down at the table in their pajamas. Nobody was really talking, since nobody knew what to talk about. Aventurine decided to break the silence.

“Y’know, today was pretty fun. I like hanging out with you,” the gambler smiled as he traced random shapes with his fork in the spaghetti sauce. Ratio looked up as a small smile found its way onto his face.

“Yes it has indeed been nice.”

Aventurine decided to go to bed early that night, although that wouldn’t last very long. It was around midnight, and Dr Ratio was on the couch reading a book. The book was about a planet called Amphoreus, which Veritas found especially interesting since pretty much nobody knew anything about it.

His reading was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from the gamblers room. Sure enough, Aventurine was walking to the living room. He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Ratio put down his book. “Did something happen?” He asked, tilting his head in the same manner that a curious dog would. It was just something he always did.

“Can I sit out here with you? Sorry- I just… I had a nightmare. A really bad one.” Aventurine was speaking in a way that Veritas had never witnessed before. For once, the mask of confidence was off and the gambler was being completely vulnerable.

He nodded, and the gambler sat down on the couch next to him. Ratio wanted to comfort him but he had no idea how. So he just sat there while his roommate began to cry.

The purple haired man thought back to a book he had read about how to interact with people better (his mom had insisted that he read it.). He remembered a part about how to comfort people when they were sad. He didn’t want to just do it by some book though, so he decided to try his own thing with it too.

“Would you like me to make you some tea?”

Aventurine nodded. Ratio went to go make some tea, a classic type that originated on his home planet of Edo Star. When he was younger, this was always what he drank when he felt sad, so maybe this would help his friend.

When the tea was done he went back to the couch to hand it to Aventurine, who after taking a sip seemed to like it.

“Apologies, I am not great with comforting people”

“It’s fine. Thanks for the tea.”

“Would you like to talk about the nightmare?”

“Not really. It was just something from my past. When I had no control over anything in my life at all,” Aventurine said, wiping away his tears.”

“I see,” Ratio looked down into his lap. “That’s a shame, I hope it’s different now.”

“It is. Thanks for letting me talk to you by the way, hope I wasn’t being too annoying.”

“It’s not annoying to need help.” Ratio looked towards his roommate.

The two boys slept in the living room that night, together. Where nothing bad could get to them. Because no matter what would happen to them in their lives, they knew they had each other. And that was a great thing to have.

Chapter Text

Aventurine found himself on the sofa when he woke up that morning, with Ratio in a sleeping bag on the soft carpeted floor. He checked the clock to see if it was a socially acceptable time to wake up. It was not. He sighed and laid back down but found himself unable to go back to sleep.

The gambler just decided to get up for the day, despite it being 4 in the morning. He thought about last night, and how embarrassing it was to have to sleep out in the living room. He couldn’t deny that it helped, but still. It’s not like it completely helped, Aventurine still had a terrible nightmare last night.

He quietly walked to his room to get dressed, trying to forget last night's dream. It wasn’t anything that it made sense for him to be scared of, at least in the gambler’s eyes. After all it was something he had already lived through once before- killing his old master.

The way Aventurine saw it, he was only allowed to be scared of something the first time it happened. After that, whether he re-lived it through nightmares or somehow real life, being scared of it was just a sign of weakness.

And showing weakness is bad. So that’s why he puts on an overconfident act all the time. Sure, when he has this mask on he can be a bit of an asshole, but it’s a small price to pay in order to not be vulnerable.

He emerges from his room wearing white jeans and a dark grey hoodie with the college's logo on it. After grabbing his purse, Aventurine sneaks past the living room and quietly opens the door. He’s careful not to wake Ratio. He makes it out of the dorm and out of the building.

“I need a drink,” he mutters to himself as he walks down the road to the liquor store. He stares at the brick road as he walks, subconsciously only stepping on every other brick. Nobody is on the road, considering how early in the morning it is.

He sees the light of the liquor store coming closer, and soon he arrives at his destination. The sound of the bells on the door ringing fills the store as Aventurine walks in. He makes a beeline to the back, grabbing a bottle of liquor before walking to the counter, all without saying a word.

“Just this please,” he says to the sleep deprived cashier, holding out the bottle.

“Alright, that’ll be 500 credits. People don’t usually come in this early,” the cashier says as she scans the bottle.

Aventurine sighed. “Yeah I just felt like having a drink,” he paid and grabbed the bottle. “Thanks, have a nice day.”

“You too sir.”

The gambler stepped outside, the light of the moon dominating the otherwise dark and cloudy sky. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He grabbed his phone, praying that it wasn’t Dr Ratio. Unfortunately his wishes were not granted.

He was asking where Aventurine was.

His messages would be left on read.

When Ratio woke up that morning, he was expecting to see his roommate sleeping on the couch in the living room with him. That was not the case. He was planning to wake up early and make breakfast for the both of them- instead he was spending the morning looking for Aventurine.

Maybe he just went to his room, he thought. But when he checked, nobody was there. It was unlike the gambler to be up so early, usually he slept in and was hard to wake up.

Now Ratio was getting dressed, hoping that he would feel his phone vibrate from a response from Aventurine. He didn’t usually care much for other people, but for some reason the gambler was different. He didn’t know why that was. Even when he got fully dressed, there was no response. But the message was left on read. That was something, right?

He decided to call him. To his surprise, Aventurine actually answered.

“Hello there doctor,” the gambler responded, his words slurred. The sound of wind could be heard in the background of his call, so Ratio knew he was outside somewhere. Maybe he was just taking a walk and he was overreacting. But the way his words were slurred made Veritas think otherwise.

“Hello Aventurine, what are you doing right now?”

“I got a drink, you wanna come join me?”

Of course he was drinking. Although Ratio had to admit that he wouldn’t mind going out for drinks with him again. He mentally scolded himself- not right now. It’s too early, and he has classes today. That would be irresponsible. “I’m going to go get you, where are you?” He asked.

Aventurine giggled, “I dunno.”

“It’s don’t know, not ‘dunno’,” Ratio remarked.

“Nerd.”

Ratio didn’t take offense to this, in fact he considered it a compliment. He never understood why people said that as an insult. Wasn’t it a good thing to be smart?

Nonetheless he put his phone into his pocket and walked out the door. He had a bit of an idea of where Aventurine could be, judging from what he was doing and the faint sound of the wind blowing in the background of his call. He was most likely on the street with the liquor store, or at least near it.

Ratio hoped that the many, many hours he’s spent playing GeoGuessr wouldn’t fail him now.

And they didn’t. Because Aventurine was exactly where he thought he would be. Veritas walked down the street to find none other than the gambler sitting on a bench outside the liquor shop drinking a bottle of SoulGlad, which was already half empty.

Aventurine saw his roommate walking down the road towards him and didn’t even feel mad. Honestly he was more impressed with the fact that he was able to find him in the first place. He smirked and stared at Ratio. “10 points.”

Ratio tilted his head in confusion. “For what?”

“I dunno, I just felt like it,” Aventurine shrugged and laughed, putting down the bottle on the bench. It fell down and shattered on the brick road. His smile dropped. “Damn it.”

“You shouldn’t be drinking this early anyways, you have classes today,” his roommate said as he sat down on the bench next to him. Aventurine shuffled closer to him.

“You’re so pretty,” said the gambler. Ratio was surprised by this sudden compliment, it wasn’t like he got complimented often. But it also felt different coming from Aventurine, like it mattered more that he was saying it of all people.

He wanted to tell Aventurine that he also was, but all that came out was confused stutters. Then it hit him, why did he want to tell another man that they were pretty? That wasn’t right. He wasn’t seriously attracted to him, was he? Ratio decided to put that thought in the back of his mind for now. That was a problem for future him.

Aventurine didn’t seem to have a problem with this lack of response, at least not in his drunken state. “Like, if I wasn’t straight I would totally suck your cock,” he continued.

“I should go,” said Ratio.

“Aw, why?”

“I- I need to go study,” Veritas left, forgetting to say goodbye. Aventurine was left wondering if he said something wrong. He decided to follow him.

“Ratio?” Aventurine called out. Ratio stopped and turned around, “I’m sorry.”

Later in the day when Aventurine was sober, he thought back on what he said. He wanted to crawl in a hole and die after remembering what he had told Ratio. “Oh my god I think I just ruined our friendship,” he muttered to himself. He had to apologize for whatever the hell he was on about that morning.

Aventurine remembered Ratio saying that he had math this hour. He looked at his watch- it was 5 minutes until the end of the hour. He ran to the math building and made it just in time to see his roommate walking out of the building. The gambler nervously walked up to him.

“Can we talk in private?” He asked. Ratio nodded. The two went to the garden, which not many people seemed to know about considering it was once again completely empty.

“Okay I am so so sorry for this morning, you probably think I’m such a whore for saying that and I completely understand if you do,” Aventurine said without taking a single breath or looking at his roommate.

Ratio looked at him, “I don’t think you’re a whore.”

“Then why did you ‘suddenly’ have to leave?”

The purple haired man stopped for a moment. “It was… an internal conflict. Nothing concerning you.”

Aventurine was relieved to hear that but still extremely embarrassed from that morning. “Can we just never speak of that again please?”

Ratio nodded, “If it makes you feel better then sure.”

Chapter Text

“Topaz, I think I’m gay.”

Those are words that Ratio never expected to come out of his mouth. But alas, here he was, saying this to someone he only met relatively recently. Usually he would be talking about this kind of stuff with Aventurine, but this time he wasn’t- for reasons that he was still in denial about.

Topaz walked with him along the brick road between buildings on campus. The two had English together, and Ratio was impressed upon learning that they had also chosen the most advanced version of that class. That, he thought, was worthy of at least 10 points.

“That’s cool, I’ll always support you man,” said Topaz, a genuine smile on their face. They thought for a moment. “So… do you have a crush on anyone yet?”

Ratio was a bit taken aback by this question, but decided to answer it honestly. At least as honest as his brain would let him be. “Well I don’t know yet, but,” he took a breath. “I might be mildly attracted to Aventurine.”

“‘Mildly attracted’? Y’know you don’t have to use fancy words all the time, right?”

“Crush is a childish term.”

“Whatever you say buddy,” said Topaz, jokingly rolling their eyes.

“But thank you,” Ratio said, counting the bricks on the ground. “For accepting me.”

“Why would I have any reason not to?”

Aventurine was standing in the coffee shop, not really paying attention to anything around him. He took a sip of his coffee when suddenly he spotted someone at the counter ordering. It was the same girl from when he came here with Ratio.

He put on his sunglasses, the ones with a red tinted lenses. The red covered his eyes- the clear sign that he was Sigonian. He avoided the girls gaze, instead focusing on a random newspaper that was left on the table. Aventurine skimmed over the headlines, something about some people called the ‘nameless’. He wasn’t particularly interested, but pretended to be so that the girl didn’t notice him.

Unfortunately this plan did not work out. Just as the girl finished ordering her coffee, she went up to the gambler to start a conversation. Aventurine couldn’t tell what her intentions were- he didn’t like to judge people based on one encounter- so he decided to indulge in whatever conversation she wanted to start.

“Funny running into you here,” she said, her pink eyes looking him up and down.

“Yeah, funny.” Aventurine responded.

“I don’t think we got off on the right foot,” the girl said with a smile that seemed at least partially genuine, but not one that the gambler could fully trust. “My name is Sparkle,” she held out her hand, which Aventurine ignored.

“Aventurine. Nice to meet you… I think?” he said cautiously.

“It’s always nice to meet me!”

Aventurine didn’t exactly know how to respond to that, so he just awkwardly smiled and nodded. Sparkle seemed to pay this no mind, and continued talking.

“Can I call you Aven?”

“No.”

Sparkle completely ignored this. “Alright Aven, I think we could be friends! I think I misjudged you, you’re not as bad as the other Sigonians,” she smiled. The gambler sighed. This girl was exhausting, even for someone as extroverted as him.

“So we’re just gonna gloss over the fact that you called me a prostitute?” Aventurine asked.

Sparkle thought for a moment. “Fine, I guess I’m sorry,” she said, not sounding very sorry. “But learn to take a joke! Besides, it’s not like I was wrong right?” She said, elbowing him playfully.

“I think I’m gonna go now.”

“Wait! Before you go,” Sparkle handed him a flyer, “Come to my play, I’m acting as the main character,” she said with a smirk and a slightly dramatic voice. The flyer said something about a play a few months from now. In retrospect, it did make sense that she was a theatre kid.

“I might be able to go,” he said with a shrug. It was a week from now, and he didn’t think he had anything planned. It’s not like he had anything better to do on a random Thursday night.

“Thanks! Just make sure you aren’t too busy with your boyfriend~”

“I don’t have a-” Aventurine then realized who she was talking about. He quickly shook his head, slightly blushing. “Ratio? No he’s not- he’s not my boyfriend. He’s a friend who just happens to be my roommate.”

Sparkle tilted her head. “Isn’t that what historians say about all those gay couples?”

Aventurine was getting a bit embarrassed now, but kept up his act of confidence. “Looks like I should get going now.” He walked out of the coffee shop before this girl could continue the conversation.

The thing is, he didn’t quite know whether he should become friends with this girl. Sure, Sparkle was at least a bit interesting to talk to, but her morals and opinions were questionable to say the least. Whatever, he thought, this is a problem for future Aventurine.

The two roommates both walked into the dorm that night with the same thoughts about each other, both too scared of rejection to tell the other. Aventurine hummed as he fidgeted with the fuzz on his jacket. He wasn’t humming any specific song, instead just creating white noise to drown out his thoughts.

Ratio got tired of the awkward silence and decided he should be the one to break it. “Would you like to watch a film with me?” He asked, his manner of speaking proper as always.

Aventurine nodded. “Only if it’s a horror movie,” he said, making a beeline to the kitchen to make popcorn. As he grabbed the popcorn bag out of the pantry, Ratio tried to make small talk.

“For a dorm, this is quite large.”

The gambler turned towards him, “You know what else is quite large?”

Ratio shook his head. “Inappropriate, zero points.”

“Nooo not my points!” Aventurine dramatically exclaimed. He laughed and put the popcorn in the microwave. Intently, he stared at the popcorn bag spinning in circles inside the microwave. His roommate decided not to bother him, and instead go to the living room to rent a movie.

As he was scrolling through the selection of scary movies, Ratio heard a loud noise from the kitchen. He walked over to find the gambler standing over a broken plate, desperately trying to clean it up before Ratio saw it.

Without saying a word, Veritas reached for a broom to help clean it up. Aventurine flinched as he lifted his hand, which made his roommate tilt his head in confusion.

“Why did you flinch?” he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

“Just a force of habit, I can finish cleaning this up,” Aventurine responded sheepishly, “Sorry for breaking the plate by the way, I didn’t mean to drop it.”

“It’s fine,” Ratio didn’t show any signs of anger, not that he was angry in the first place. Personally he thought that plate had a horrible texture and was going to get rid of it soon- who thought it was a good idea to make a plate out of unglazed terracotta anyway? ”Is there a specific horror movie you wish to watch?”

“Nah, just pick something that looks interesting.”

Eventually they chose a movie together and sat down on the couch with some popcorn. The two sat in the single blanket that they decided to share. Aventurine put his head on Ratio's shoulder, which he didn’t seem to mind. For a moment, the gambler considered telling him that he liked him, but decided against it right before the words were about to leave his mouth.

They spent the rest of the night cuddling. You know, like good friends do.

Chapter Text

Aventurine anxiously waited in the garden, the flowers around him swaying in the faint wind. Earlier that day he had put a note in Ratio’s bedroom to meet him here at 5pm- ten minutes from now. He paced around a patch of yellow roses, nervously thinking about what he was about to confess. His mind raced- should he really do this?

It was too late to turn back now, by this time he could already be walking here. No one else was in the garden, although it was open for students to freely roam around, basically nobody ever came here other than Aventurine and Ratio. It became their own hang out spot, hidden away from the rest of the campus.

He was considering going back on his word and not this whole thing he was planning when he spotted Ratio in the distance walking towards the garden. Aventurine took a deep breath and walked towards him.

“Hey Ratio,” he said, putting on his usual façade of confidence. Ratio had known him long enough to see through this mask. “I have something to tell you,” His roommate tilted his head in curiosity. Aventurine avoided eye contact, trying to get the words out of his mouth.

“Nevermind it’s actually not important,” he said, attempting to back out of the situation he’s put himself in. Ratio glared at him, wondering why he was acting so suspicious.

“Just say it,” said Ratio, rolling his eyes.

“I like you,”

Ratio had a small idea of what this meant, but decided to act oblivious to avoid the awkward scenario of him being wrong. “Well yes, we are friends. I would assume that you enjoy my company,”

Aventurine sighed in frustration, while also finding this obliviousness a little bit endearing. “For someone in the Intelligentsia Guild, you’re pretty socially stupid,” he took a pause, “Yeah I like hanging out with you, but I’m saying that I like you as more than a friend.” His words blended together as he spoke rather quickly.

A slight tint of red reached Ratio's face, and he only had a few moments to think before Aventurine leaned in and kissed him. It only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like hours. It was like time stopped, and just for a moment, neither of them had to worry about what the other person would think of them. Then quickly as it happened, it was over.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while,” Aventurine said, staring into his roommates eyes. Ratio was still flustered and speechless, which the blonde smirked at. “You wanna be my boyfriend?” He asked.

Ratio snapped out of his flustered state and eagerly responded, “Yes, I think that would be nice,” he said overly formal, as he usually does.

“Ten points,” Aventurine said.

They both smiled, just looking into each other's eyes for a moment. Aventurines were a spiral of pink, lavender, and teal- while Ratios were a solid gold.

Ratio even forgot for a moment that his mother would be visiting the dorm tomorrow against his many pleads and protests. But no matter what or who made him forget, even if it was the prettiest boy he’d ever met, he still knew that the day was coming, whether it be sooner or later. And this time it wouldn’t be the latter.

And so that day came without him even realizing. Ratio was cuddling with his now boyfriend on the couch, who was listening intently to whatever the random topic of the day that he decided to infodump about this time. This time he was rambling on and on about how the free trade system of the Xianzhou allowed for better cultural diffusion. Whatever that meant. Aventurine just laid against his chest and listened. He was the only person that Ratio would let hug him.

Suddenly Aventurine heard knocking on the door. He looked at Ratio, who seemed nervous- which was unlike him. Usually he was very confident and sure of himself, but right now he was the opposite.

“Veritas I know you’re in there, come on, it's your mother,” said the cheerful voice from behind the door. Aventurine perked up at the word mother, and impulsively opened the door for her before putting two and two together and realizing that Ratio was probably nervous because of his mom. He tried to close the door out of guilt.

“It’s fine Aven, just let her in,” Ratio said, defeated. Aventurine slowly opened back up the door for the woman, looking at his boyfriend with apologetic eyes before greeting his mother.

“Hello Miss, my name’s Aventurine, and I’m training as an intern for the IPC. I’m also your son's roommate,” he said with as positive a face as he could put on. He held his hand out but was met with no response. He awkwardly put his hand back in his pocket.

The woman scoffed at the attempt at an introduction. “Guess they’re just hiring anyone these days…” she said, staring at the blonde and looking him up and down. “Anyways, how are you doing Veritas, do you regret leaving home yet?” she said, sitting down on the couch next to her son.

“I do not regret it, mother. In fact I think that it is one of the best decisions I’ve made in this lifetime,” he said with immediate regret as his mother slapped him with the force of a jet. Ratio quickly took back his word. “I- I mean I suppose I could spend some more time with you,”

“That’s what I love to hear, Veri!” She responded joyfully.

“Can you please not call me that,” Ratio asked calmly.

“Why, does it remind you of your father,” she had a grin on her face now, she knew what she was doing. And it was working, Ratio got immediately uncomfortable when she mentioned his father.

Aventurine decided to go make a quick dinner for everyone before things escalated too much. The blonde looked at Ratio and stepped into the kitchen. For a moment he considered mixing bleach into the food he would be making for Miss Ratio, but he decided against those intrusive thoughts. As he cooked, he thought about how he shouldn’t have opened the door for her. Ratio clearly didn’t want him too, but he still decided to be selfish. Before he knew it, the food was done.

He took a deep breath and walked into the living room. Aventurine slowly put down the food and soon enough everyone was eating. Tension filled the air as the three ate. When Ratio thought that he would finally be able to eat dinner in peace, he was proven wrong by the sound of his mothers voice.

“You know I really think that you could be making better friends. I don’t think your father would be very proud of what you have right now.” Once again, the mention of Ratio’s father got him extremely uncomfortable, this time upset.

“My father did not die so that you could use his name to guilt me!” Ratio said, slightly raising his voice in irritation.

“I can say whatever I want about that man, I’m your **mother**.”

“Since when?! You have never been there for me, you have never accepted me for who I am, and what kind of mother hits her child?”

Miss Ratio smiled and gripped Ratio’s shoulder. “Oh, so you think I should just die, is that what you’re saying?”

“No I never said-” Ratio sputtered out. “No. You know what, you say this every time. I’m done with this. Please leave,” he said pointing at the door. His mother scowled and grabbed her purse before leaving.

Aventurine turned to him when he closed the door with a look of concern. “Why did you open the door?” Ratio asked. The blonde looked down with a look of guilt.

“I’m really sorry I just-” Aventurine sighed. “I heard about a mom and I thought maybe she could be kind of a mother figure for me? And I know that’s a really selfish reason and I’m so sorry,” he said quickly before being pulled into a hug. “My parents died when I was a kid.”

“It’s fine. And I’m sorry you had to see all of that. She’s just so frustrating sometimes and I know it’s probably because of me.” Ratio said, staying in the hug.

“It’s not your fault, I think she’s just a bitch,” said Aventurine in an attempt to reassure him. And he truly did believe this.

“What is it with you and that profane language of yours?”

Aventurine laughed. “You know there’s a theatre thing that a… friend told me about that’s next week. Do you wanna come with me?”

“Sure. And again, sorry about today.”

”It’s okay, it’s not your fault.”

And so they stayed together that night, still knowing even more now that if they have nothing else, they’ll always have each other.