Piinemartens - ➶ Arden 🌸

Aventurine would like to say that stepping out of the IPC building for the last time is like a breath of fresh air, but instead it just feels like a slap in the chest. It makes him breathless and his chest tight. His shirt wraps around his waist too tightly; he can feel the way his pants hang on his hips, digging into the side of them. The world around him is blurry, and the sounds all too loud. 

“Well now, dear Gambler, what are you going to do now?” Ratio’s voice cuts through the world like a sharp, static-y knife. The rest of the world withers away as Ratio steps in front of Aventurine, his head slightly tilted. “What’s your plan now that you have been freed from the IPC?” 

Aventurine brings in a shaky breath — one that Ratio hopefully doesn’t notice but knowing him he does. “I suppose I'll have to find my way in the world without them. A place to live is probably a good start, wouldn’t you agree, Doctor?” The IPC had owned everything that had ever “belonged” to Aventurine after all — the only thing he had left to his name was a bank account with a hefty sum left in it. It’ll last him for a while, thankfully, but it won’t last forever.

Ratio’s eyes furrow. “Do you mean to tell me you don’t have lodgings anymore?” 

“I lived in the IPC building, Ratio. Can’t exactly live there anymore if I’m no longer working for them,” Aventurine explains with a shrug. So he’ll have to find a place to live, that surely can’t be too hard. He’ll just have to hang out in hotels until then. With how impulsive this break away had been, Aventurine certainly hadn’t gone out looking for places beforehand. 

“Live with me,” Ratio all but blurts out suddenly — it sounds nearly more like a demand than a suggestion. The usually stoic doctor covers his mouth with his hand as he clears his throat. “I have a spare room in my apartment that I do not use. You are welcome to use it if you wish until you are able to find your own place.” 

“Oh?” Aventurine laughs with a shake of his head. “And here I would have thought you would never want to see me again after this. Are you saying you want to live with little old me, Doctor?” Ratio only scowls at him in answer — and Aventurine knows that it's used to tell him that he’s wrong in that regard. “Thank you,” Aventurine breathes out, and he knows that it’s more than just for the offer to stay at his place. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer, if you don’t mind.” 

“I would not have offered if I had minded, Aventurine. If you are free now, I’ll show you the way and grab you a spare key.” Ratio begins to walk, only getting a few steps before he stops and turns back around to Aventurine. “You do not mind cats, do you? Or, cat adjacent creatures, at the very least.” 

Aventurine lets out a true laugh — not a forced one that he feels he needs to continue his act, and he finds that it feels good to laugh like that. He decides that he’ll try to do it more often. “Animals love me, Doctor, you should know that by now.” They tend to flock to him — he thinks it's because he usually runs warm and they treat him like a heater. 

Ratio lets out his own rare laugh. “I suppose they do, don’t they?” He shakes his head. “Come along then, Gambler. We best be going.” 

Aventurine smiles. “Lead the way, Doctor.” 

here, have the first 600 words of my latest wip. it's totally not a present to you guys because i got 2k into it and then scrapped it all since i thought it worked better another way lmao

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Dr.Ratio fanart 🍎

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