You were humming softly to yourself in the kitchen, doing random chores to wile away the time until your husband got home from work. It was valentines day after all, and you had prepared a special surprise for him... One that was baking away patiently inside the oven, spreading a mouth-wateringly delicious scent all around the room. You smiled; Veritas had insisted that you didn't make any 'grand romantic gestures' to symbolise valentines day... But since you loved to bake already, you figured he wouldn't mind one measly cherry pie as a token of your affection.
Suddenly, a sharp knocking sound found it ways to your ears from your front door. Giddy with excitement, you patted your skirt and checked your hair in the mirror before finally opening the door to welcome your Doctor home.
However, the man standing in your doorway wasn't the tidy, regular husband that you were used to: Ratio was almost doubled over in apparent pain, his hair was in messy clumps around his face and his breaths were raggedy. You gasped and ushered him inside, the butterflies in your stomach morphing from ones of excitement to ones of worry. Wrapping one of his broad arms around your shoulders, you helped him over to the sofa.
Once he was finally sat down, Ratio breathed an audible sigh of exhaustion. You could see the rapid rise and fall of his chest– his uniform was a little torn, nothing you couldn't fix... But the bloody scratched beneath the tears had a whole hurricane of questions storming through your mind, and the wind was so loud that you couldn't even bring yourself to utter a single word for a solid minute and a half.
"I-I'll get you some tea..." You croaked after a moment, trying not to let your voice shake. Your husband grimaced and nodded, a brusque sign of gratitude. Bowing your head so as not to look as his disheveled form, you shuffled out of the room and shut the kitchen door behind you as you entered.
Leaning your back up against the concrete wall of yours and Ratio's apartment, you tried your best to breathe in deeply. This wasn't the first scuffle that Veritas had been involved in... Although you were a little bit too used to seeing him come out on top. How on earth someone had managed to get the better of him was astonishing to you, and you couldn't think of a single reason why he would even be attacked in the first place. Gritting your teeth, you poured some hot water into a mug and carried it through to the main room, along with a fistful of bandages.
You sat yourself down next to him as gingerly as possible, almost as if you were afraid he would startle like a wild animal. Contrarily, he remained stock still as you dressed his wounds; slow, fatigued blinking motions were the only movements he made. After dressing him up thoroughly in bandages, you placed a hand on his knee and turned to face him.
An almost shameful expression spread over Ratio's face, and he averted his eyes from your gaze. You sighed and shook your head.
"Honey... Are you going to explain to me what the hell happened to you?" You ran your thumb over his knee and squeezed it unconsciously. "Cmon, tell me whose ass I need to kick for you. Who thinks they have the right to rough up my husband, hm?!"
Ratio sighed, all but ignoring your attempts to punish the culprit. Usually he would be amused by your fervour, a tiny woman like you insisting on going toe to toe with the bad guy. But today... Today he stayed silent.
Your gaze softened. "Veritas... Please, talk to me."
Ratio grunted and finally turned to meet your gaze, his deep golden eyes baring into yours. "Fine, I'll talk. But don't blame me when you don't like what I have to say."
A/n: Pt 2 coming soon lol
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✧ Honkai star rail oneshots ✧
Fanfiction✧ Honkai Star Rail oneshots, headcannons and alphabets ✧
