synflux | [CLOSED] The Golden Ratio

[ The ever familiar chip. The one chip, worth a miracle. Its design is something of a comfort to see now that they're trapped here.

His eyes trail after the gambler's every movement, gaze quiet but no less intense. He doesn't comment on the grandiose way Aventurine sweeps across the room, and how he still seems to fill the tiny space with his presence, even without his ostentatious outfit.

He accepts the alcohol without a word, swirling the tinted liquid in the opaque cup. The flimsy plastic material is hardly suited to its contents, but they are not in their home star system. Here, they have nothing to their name.

At least Aventurine has him. ]

What have you procured this time?

[ A lazy jerk of his occupied hand towards the bottle. What has Aventurine seen fit to have them try on this dilapidated, lonely planet? ]

Edited 2024-05-11 03:05 (UTC)

( He does have Ratio, and the fact that it means... a good deal to him is something Aventurine isn't ready to examine yet. But especially now, here, and this day -- it's better to have Ratio than be alone.

Because he has to know. And he knows without saying -- he's seen Aventurine's file, he's heard the reports of what happened before it had seemingly faded from interplanetary news. He's capable of putting one and one together without any input from Aventurine.

So he doesn't have to explain why he's here, aiming to get drunk on his birthday because his birthday was the day sand ran red with the blood of his clan until there was just him. Kakavasha.

What a joke. Aventurine takes a drink -- it's not bad, though certainly not anything like he'd brought to Ratio's office. )

Honkaku Umeshu. A plum wine that I was told was very popular. Not their best bottle of the stuff, but I couldn't afford the best. For once. ( A put upon, troubled sigh that he exaggerates. ) It's not bad. Careful, Doctor, it's sweeter than your taste buds allow for.

[ There are a great many things that go unsaid between them. Ratio's former desire for Nous' gaze. His shame in assisting the IPC with anti-planetary weapons. Aventurine's desire for death.

The Katica-Avgin Extinction Events, and the gambler's deep, deep grudge against Oswaldo Schneider.

Ratio raises the cup to his lips and takes a delicate sip. True to Aventurine's word, it is very sweet, and he almost wrinkles his nose in disgust. However, it has a sour note that balances out the saccharine flavour and he contemplates the taste for a moment. ]

It is not the worst you've forced upon me.

[ The honour for that would go to the Star Year 8071 Wild Shore Sanhuajiu, which had boasted 52% ABV and was one of the last batches of sanhuajiu made by a famous distillery on the Xianzhou Fanghu right before the Third Abundance War destroyed it. Whatever flavour profile that liquor was meant to have had been lost on him as the alcoholic burn had overwhelmed his taste buds, and worse, they'd had it on an empty stomach.

That was the first and last time Aventurine saw Ratio completely drunk. As it turned out, Veritas Ratio did not handle liquor well. ]

Edited 2024-05-12 07:55 (UTC)

( As much as Aventurine wants to die just so he can see his family again, to hear his sister's voice again, he knows that he and they won't rest easy if Oswaldo Schneider is still around. He's working on it, at any rate, though it's a lot harder to work from the inside here.

He'll get back to it.

At Ratio's expression a tight smile flickers across his face before he takes a seat, taking a much larger sip of his own. )

Is that a challenge, Doctor? But don't worry, I don't plan on getting you as drunk as I want to be tonight.

( He'd been charmed by it, but saying that tonight of all nights is... not the time. There won't ever be a time for it, he's sure, but he'll certainly entertain the thought of letting Ratio know how much he likes the other man. )

[ He rolls his eyes—an expression he usually doesn't make in front of others, citing a lack of professionalism, but around Aventurine, he has opted to allow himself to be more expressive.

What they have is much more than a professional relationship, he knows. The label he would venture to put upon it is friendship, though he can't be certain if Aventurine feels the same way. Not because of a lack of self-confidence—rather, it is because he knows Aventurine well. The gambler has placed many barriers around his own heart, to protect it from all the suffering he's gone through. Ratio has not tried to pry them apart. He waits, patient as ever, for Aventurine to lower the walls himself. ]

Do not expect me to carry you back to your room.

[ Though he says that, there was only one time that had been necessary, and it was the year after the dreaded Sanhuajiu, when Aventurine brought yet another spirit with an impressively high ABV. That time, Ratio had been careful to moderate the speed of consumption. Aventurine... less so.

This Honkaku Umeshu did not seem to have nearly enough alcoholic content to warrant such circumstances. ]

( There's too much at risk for Aventurine to tear down the wall he's built around himself. Not only his own heart, already battered and bruised over the length of his life, but also Ratio's wellbeing. The people he cares for, the people who care for him -- they haven't exactly ended up living long, fulfilling lives have they? It's the price of his luck, he knows, that he will keep on living and they will not.

So it's better for the both of them. Aventurine will take his friendship with Ratio over the aching fear that comes with a gamble he won't make. This way he can keep Ratio, alive and brusque and cutting, and not have to worry about losing him.

He settles in the seat fully, leaning forward to take another sip -- it's not bad, and he actually thinks he likes it more than some of the things he'd taken to drinking over the years. )

C'mon doc, that was only the once. ( It's said with a joking pout, and he leans back further into the seat. ) Unlike your office, here actually looks comfortable enough to pass out in -- so don't mind if I do, later.

[ This, too, is something Ratio is aware of. That is why he waits. It is not his decision to make, how their relationship should proceed. Not that is hoping for any more—not that he wants any more. No, he is quite satisfied with what they have already. That Aventurine chooses him, of all people, to be with on his birthdays is already indicative of the faith he has in the scholar.

He will not be the one to break the fragile trust the man has extended to him. ]

And where do you propose I sleep tonight, gambler? Do tell. Am I to walk to your quarters and take up residence there?

[ He takes another sip of the umeshu. Mm, it isn't bad at all. He doesn't dislike it. ]

Not in the mood to share your comfortable bed, doctor? ( It's a hollow tease, said out of habit rather than meaning, and he tries not sigh, tries not to run a hand through his hair and let the other man know how much he hates this day. Seeing Ratio really is the best part of it, and knowing that once he does it's a quick trip to feeling numb. ) I've slept on worse than this floor. It'll do fine.

( His next sip is longer, more, and he pours himself a refill without waiting for Ratio to finish his. )

[ There are a number of ways he could respond to that, and he even considers retorting with something equally suggestive, if only to see how Aventurine would react. But it's only a thought he entertains, because he isn't nearly as inebriated to go through with that idea (but the fact that he even entertained it means something, doesn't it?)

In the end, he decides not to respond to that, and takes another sip of his drink. ]

So you intend to make a poor host out of me. Do you really think I would let you sleep on the floor?

[ And while Aventurine is busy pouring himself another cup, Ratio stares down at his unoccupied hand, focusing for a moment and willing an Imaginary chip into existence. It is not exactly the same as Aventurine's, bearing his personal owl motif on each side instead, but that was intentional.

Nonchalantly, he plays with it, flipping the chip between his fingers the same way the gambler has shown him many times before. He doesn't draw attention to the action, waiting to see how long it will take before the other man notices. ]

I would never dream of doing such a thing, doc. I'd insist upon the floor.

( He could get his beauty sleep the next night. Which is probably more indicative of how much he dreads the concept of not being drunk on this day, this night. Taking another drink, he-- smiles, because that is something new, isn't it? Every time Ratio offers something about himself, something new -- but this is something he's learned specifically to show off to Aventurine.

Raising a brow, he looks up to the other man, away from his talented fingers. )

Have I rubbed off on you?

[ The look Ratio gives him in response is quite clear—that Ratio will not be letting him sleep on the floor, no matter how much the gambler insists. This is a fight they both know Aventurine will lose, because by the end of the night he will be far too gone to resist when Ratio picks him up off the floor and deposits him in the bed.

But that is a matter for the future as Aventurine's eyes are finally drawn to the chip moving in Ratio's hand, and the scholar's lips curl up, slight, but just enough to make it clear he's smiling. ]

Hardly. It is not difficult to learn a simple parlor trick like this.

[ Both of them know it takes quite a bit of experience to move the chip with the ease Ratio does it though—this isn't something he's learned recently.

With a sharp movement, he flicks the coin into the air, arcing towards Aventurine, perfectly calculated to land in the gambler's hand should he open it palm up to receive it. ]

Heads.

( Aventurine calls, the moment the coin sails into the air out of reflex. His palm is, in fact, and the coin lands heads up -- he twists his hand with ease to show off his own talented fingers and, of course, to show that Ratio his luck holds. )

We could be a great team out on the casino floors, doctor. Your stoic face, my luck -- they wouldn't stand a chance.

( They're a good team regardless. Sure their partnership had been... rocky to start, but it had faded into one where Aventurine could trust Ratio to an extent he couldn't he coworkers. Which isn't any fault of theirs, of course, but they didn't become Stonehearts because they were trusting. It's a fault of Topaz's, and one she knows too. )

I have no desire to indulge you in your vices.

[ Even though, for Aventurine, it's less of a vice and more of a way to collect intel and secure deals. The casino is host to loose wallets, looser lips, and loosest judgement, he has learned over his time partnering with the gambler. So he amends his statement. ]

But I am willing to assist on missions.

[ Because they are partners, and they have built a bond of trust that neither share with anyone else. ]

Oh? I remember our first meeting being one where you did, to great success.

( It's a good memory, in Aventurine's mind. And he takes another sip, pouring himself another glass as soon as he finishes it. He's certainly going overboard, but he's tired and stressed and it's... his birthday. So he'll do what he always does: do his best to pretend that it doesn't matter, that he's simply drinking just because. )

And you always do such a good job of doing so. Really, you might be the most uptight member of the IPC -- but I wouldn't trade you in for any other.

Only in an effort to understand what runs through that illogical mind of yours.

[ Ratio does not comment on Aventurine's excessive drinking today. Were it any other day, he would have said something, maybe even plucked that bottle straight out of the gambler's hands if he determined the man was being particularly self-destructive that day. But not today. Today was the one day Ratio gave him leeway.

He sighs. ]

You are not nearly inebriated enough to be making that mistake.

[ Calling him part of the IPC, that is. Even if the line between him and the IPC is paper thin, he still isn't part of it. Ratio allows it sometimes, but, again, not today. Not because he wishes to remind Aventurine that he is alone in that company, but— ]

—but I will always endeavor to assist you, regardless of my affiliations.

[ Because he cares. ]

[CLOSED] The Golden Ratio

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