Aventurine refused to stay cooped up inside for long. It was less wanting to be outside... and more wanting to get away from Ratio's far too watchful gaze. Usually when he felt like this, he'd get drunk and find some random person- man or woman, it didn't matter to him -to spend the night with, but he was stuck in the role of being "Vergil"'s partner, so that was out of the question. Instead, he decided to sit on a bench and observe the people going by.
The scenery was breathtaking, and no one so much as cast a parting glance to him. Which was for the best, because he didn't particularly want to be seen. He was trying to ignore his thoughts, under the facade of gathering intel about behaviors. Oh, that girl has just tucked a flower in her hair, given to her by a boy in a flower crown.
He couldn't help but wonder why the IPC had assigned them this mission- and only booked one room. Oh well, at least it had two beds. A child playing in a sprinkler with an older kid, an adult chuckling from the sideline.
Aventurine liked water. On Sigonia VI, the water was scarce, and he cherished the life-giving liquid more than other people. "Catch me if you can!!" A rowdy teenage boy rushes past, followed by a woman carrying a toddler in one hand, and pushing a stroller with the other. "Lesley, don't rush off!"
She seems to have her hands full. Well, another reason to never have children, he supposed. Not that he'd ever have the choice to raise a kid, even if he biologically could, since the IPC wasn't very lenient with that kind of thing. Especially not someone like him- or Topaz, for that matter. Since he more or less gave his life to the IPC, they were, in a sense, entitled to everything he owned. It wasn't much different from being a slave, which was evident from the way they had tattooed over the fading burn in his skin. But at least he had a sense of freedom- and wasn't at risk of being hurt or sold because he didn't do exactly what was requested of him. In the case of Topaz... it probably directly connected to her being a Stoneheart. The indentured servants certainly had more freedoms than Aventurine did, since they weren't "property" of the IPC. A pair of girls walked past, one of them practically hanging off the other.
Well, that did give an answer to the question about how couples acted on this planet. Taunting Ratio with that could be fun. He'd get a tour guide to show them around later, it could be fun. And useful, of course. The IPC probably wasn't expecting much out of this planet- hence the reason their budget was so low. And since the task was low risk, at least according to IPC standards, it wouldn't cost him significantly if he failed. Not that he would fail, of course. Not even Penacony was a complete failure. Of course, that again brought the subject of why the IPC chose him for a mission that valued stealth, when Aventurine preferred dramatic actions. Though he was good at acting. "Get off of me!" A young woman shouts, kicking a young man who had grabbed her purse.
Of course, it couldn't be perfect. The other people on the street completely ignored her as she struggled against the thief. Aventurine wasn't one to allow something like that. He's not a monster. But he didn't know if the people here knew about Pathstriders and Aeons- he certainly didn't before the massacre that had him fleeing his home, and it's not unheard of for planets that were completely detached from the rest of the universe to be unfamiliar with the Aeons. So, his already weakened connection to Qlipoth (Preservation) was rendered completely useless.
But he still had hands, and that was enough. "Did nobody ever teach you that it is disrespectful to put your hands on a lady?" Aventurine hissed into the man's ear. "You apologize to her right now or you won't be able to say anything." The thief stammers out a frantic apology. "Good!" Aventurine smiles, knowing full well that his sudden mood swing would freak the guy out even further. "And don't let me catch you doing something like this again, or I will not hesitate to punch your nose into your brain. If you even have one, that is." The thief scampers off like a kicked puppy.
___
I regained my motivation to work on this. You'd be surprised how much one comment can affect someone.
Basically just Aventurine having ADHD thoughts, but only because this is how my thoughts were when doing this.
(HC: Aventurine cannot have children, because of when he was a slave. Since he is the last Avgin, and everyone hates Avgins... so... yeah. Just another way of them making his life terrible. May or may not be mentioned again.)
Quote: "Maybe this is the result of me finally accepting/ that I'll be alone forever/ that I deserve forgetting/ it's a pointless endeavor, and maybe it's upsetting/ but I've never felt more comfortable in the concept with things ending." - Ramblings of a Lunatic by Bears in Trees
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.'~𝑨𝒏 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚~'. 【Ｒａｔｉｏ ｘ Ａｖｅｎｔｕｒｉｎｅ】
Fiksi PenggemarVeritas Ratio has been growing increasingly concerned about Aventurine's self-destructive tendencies- desperate gambles that throw his life in a minefield- though he's lucky enough to narrowly avoid each mine. But what will happen when that luck fin...
