[CLOSED] The Golden Ratio

[curingidiocy]

WHO: Dr. Ratio + Aventurine
WHAT: Permanent catch all for Ratio and Aventurine's shenanigans
WHERE: Anywhere and everywhere
WHEN: Various
WARNINGS: Patch 2.2 spoilers abound. Suicidal ideation. Now with NSFW. Other content warnings will be listed in starters

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[curingidiocy]

[ In the firelight, the faint tones of pink dusting his cheeks are near invisible, but he turns back to Aventurine with a frown. ]

Nonsense. We welcome anyone with a desire to learn, or those who simply wish to behold the efforts of our predecessors. And I--

[ He stops abruptly, looking if he'd just caught himself saying something he shouldn't, and turns away. The lack of eye contact is a clear sign that he's embarrassed. He only looks back when he's teased about children being named after him, and the look on his face could be described as displeased to anyone less familiar with him. But to Aventurine? It's downright bashful. ]

Well, that is to be expected. It is natural for people to name their children after exemplary individuals in history.

[ If it were any other person saying that, he would have brushed it off easily, as it was simply fact and one he easily acknowledges. But with Aventurine, he can't help but feel a little self-conscious. He's never felt this way before, and he knows it's because he's realized his own feelings. This was bad. He was losing control of his calm far too easily. So he tries to move on nonchalantly, onto Aventurine's next question.

What is Veritas Prime like, Aventurine asks. He has never really stopped to think about it, now that he's being asked. Always too busy with some equation or research, or his work as a teacher, he's never stopped to truly soak in the wonder that was his home planet. He closes his eyes again, recalling memories of the university. ]

It is... a beautiful planet, awash with verdure, and full of life and potential. There are bountiful oceans, and its cities gleam with white exteriors. It is peaceful but full of activity.

[ He has never been the most eloquent when it comes to describing something non-clinically. He purses his lips and frowns, finding his own words to be inadequate. ]

You will understand when you visit.

[stonehearts]

( It doesn't matter what Ratio says next, Aventurine's expression is hardly the picture of a man who has a tight reign on what he shows others -- it's a little lopsided, but the smile reaches his eyes, the slight glow warm instead of the cold glare it can be. The doctor is shy, is he? There's the temptation to tease him about it but...

Aventurine doesn't want to ruin this moment, the expression on Ratio's face and the warmth that he feels twisting through him. Instead he's going to take it and tuck it away in his mind, something as small and fragile as those other dear memories. Something to cherish when this, too, is taken away from him.

He doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to think about Ratio... not being there. Not being on his side, in his corner. So he tears his thoughts away from it, from the warmth. )

And you want to unleash me on it! Come on, Doc, does your planet really deserve that? ( Ratio doesn't have to paint any real picture for Aventurine to want to visit. He wants to go because it's Ratio inviting him, because he does want the other man to show him someplace that shaped him as much as anything else. A trip that doesn't have a secondary agenda or any other things to overshadow just... enjoying themselves. ) I'd like to see it. With you, of course. If--

( Should he survive. Should he awake from the dormancy he found himself in back in their world. But he's finding the idea even more appealing now than it had been with just the doctor's prescription in his hands. The proof that there were some things worth living for; why he should bother taking one step after the other.

It's hard still, to think like that. To believe it. But with Ratio here, bashful and inviting him to his world...

It's easier. )

[curingidiocy]

[ If he survives. But looking at Aventurine like this, laid out on the sand, features dimmed by the dark of the night, but his eyes so vibrant and warm, the smile on his face—

Ratio has no doubt that he will come back alive.

(He ignores the fierce desire to lean over the other man, to cup his face with his hand, to see those eyes widen and those cheeks flush—ignores the question gnawing in the back of his mind, 'how do those lips taste?'—ignores it all, shoves it down, far, far away from the surface, where it'll never be found.)

Ratio continues to stare down at Aventurine, his eyes never once wavering. ]

We can arrange a trip after our business in Penacony has concluded.

[ If he's in good health, he doesn't say, because he knows this whole ordeal will have strained Aventurine in some way. Physically, perhaps not, but mentally... if the nightmares were any indication, then he will need time to recover. ]

[stonehearts]

( If he has something to know that he can come back to, something that isn't his job or a promotion -- but the chance of seeing something with Ratio that isn't tied up in either of their work but simply something because they want it, and they want to do it together -- that's another reason for taking another step forward.

Does Ratio know how much those things mean to him? He hopes he does. )

Something to look forward to. Not that I haven't been enjoying this vacation from our universe, but it's not like we can be here forever.

[curingidiocy]

[ The truth is, Ratio is not a man who will give up everything for love. Should Aventurine ever succeed in his gamble with death, Ratio will not change the trajectory of his life. He will not stop teaching, he will not stop researching, and he will not stop solving problems that plague humanity. He has given nearly his all to the betterment of humanity and there is nothing that will change that.

But what little he has kept to himself, he will share with Aventurine. That's what makes their bond all the more precious, all the more fragile. To Aventurine, he is willing to give the heart of Veritas Ratio, the individual, not the genius everyone knows him as.

If things haven't moved by the time their trip to his home world has arrived upon them... perhaps he will make his move then. Until then, he will hold onto his heart and safekeep it for Aventurine. ]

Indeed. But it will be difficult to find a way home, especially if LILITH is not speaking the truth about their summoning technology.

[ He's more than certain that they are not within the IPC's sphere of influence, which is most of Akivili's star rail network. That meant it would be difficult to return to that space, what with Qlipoth's various walls obstructing them, along with other unknown perils.

The easiest method would be to get their hands on LILITH's technology and use it to send them back. That is really the only viable method that would get them back in any reasonable time. ]