“Since you’re always here anyway, do you want a key to my place?”
Ratio looked at Aventurine from where he was standing. The gambler was laying on his side, completely nude and showing no sign of embarrassment. Ratio observed how Aventurine’s muscles rippled as he stretched, languid and cat-like. There was beauty in his vibrant eyes, in his flushed skin, in the red lines that Ratio carved on his back with his nails. The doctor looked away before his gaze lingered for too long.
“Always is an exaggeration,” Ratio muttered, buttoning up his silk pyjamas. “Put on some clothes. You cleaned up before I did—how are you still undressed? Don’t tell me you intend on sleeping nude.”
“You know what I mean,” Aventurine said, paying no heed to Ratio’s grumbling. “What do you think?”
It took less than a second for Ratio to consider it.
“A key?” Ratio scoffed. “I fail to see an occasion in which I’ll be here and you won’t be.”
Aventurine shrugged. The action seemed a bit stiff.
“Just a thought.”
Ratio couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about the interaction seemed… off.
Nonetheless, he brushed it aside. He finished dressing and slathered some moisturiser on his face. When he finally climbed into bed, Aventurine was already dressed and staring at Ratio with an indiscernible look on his face.
“What is it?” Ratio asked, frowning.
“Nothing,” Aventurine said. He smiled like he always did and brushed a stray strand of hair away from Ratio’s face. “Just thinking that we should’ve gone for another round.”
Ratio huffed. What nonsense.
They went to bed peacefully that night.
Usually, Ratio would have already forgotten about this incident, but a strange feeling niggled in the back of his mind.
His thoughts kept coming back to that same scenario. He couldn’t place the emotion on Aventurine’s face. If Ratio were to describe it, he’d say that his expression was neutral, perhaps carefully so. Had Aventurine been hurt by his rejection? Ratio couldn’t fathom it. It was merely a key; there was hardly any benefit in Ratio’s ownership of it. Though admittedly, Ratio had been ignorant in matters of the heart and the flesh until he met Aventurine.
Ratio had been spellbound since their very first meeting. His thoughts drifted to the man unintentionally and inevitably, like the way a planet would orbit around the sun. It was impossible to forget the coldness of the gun in his hand and the sight of Aventurine’s wild, striking eyes. Ratio stood frozen as Aventurine pulled the trigger one, two, three times without hesitation. He looked directly into Ratio’s eyes, his gaze unwavering and smile perfectly in place, and Ratio had never felt so shaken.
And thus, Ratio’s mind continued to wander. In one mortifying occasion, he had abruptly stopped speaking in the middle of lecture, to the confusion of his students.
It was then that Ratio vowed to put a stop to these intrusive thoughts. There was no use in ruminating about it endlessly. Clearing his mind should suffice—truth eludes all filth, after all. Eventually, he found the solution to his problem in welcoming Aventurine inside of him. He found it in the meeting of their gazes and in the brush of their fingertips. This time should be no different.
Unexpectedly, he arrived at his answer before he could plan a course of action.
Ratio was tidying up the items on his desk when two girls in his class broke into a fit of giggles. The scholar would prefer not to listen, but they sat in the front row and talked rather loudly. From the bits and pieces that he heard involuntarily, they were talking about their significant others.
“He gave me a spare key to his place!” A student gushed.
“No way!” her friend gasped. “Congrats! Doesn’t it mean that he’s serious?”
Suddenly, Ratio realised he made a grave mistake.
The chalk he was holding clattered to the floor.
The two girls turned to him.
“What’s wrong, doctor?”
“It’s nothing,” Ratio said in a strangled voice. He cleared his throat and proceeded to start his lecture as he normally would.
When his classes finally ended, Ratio packed up his belongings and went to Aventurine’s home straight away. Aventurine answered the door in just a few rings of his doorbell. He was clad in his usual work clothes; it seemed that he had returned from IPC headquarters not too long ago. Ratio resisted the urge to take a peek at the tempting patch of skin on Aventurine’s chest.
“Ratio?!” Aventurine exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting you here today.”
In his haste, Ratio realised he had forgotten to give Aventurine a heads up for his impromptu visit. Ratio mentally scolded himself for his discourtesy.
“If I am unwelcome, then I will leave,” Ratio said seriously.
“Wait, wait—of course you’re welcome,” Aventurine sputtered. “I was just surprised, that’s all. What’s up?”
Ratio hesitated.
“The offer for your key—is it… is it still available?”
Aventurine gaped like a fish.
“Wha—why of course. Just wait a sec.”
Aventurine went back inside his house without delay. Ratio could hear the sounds of him rummaging through his things with great effort. At one point, he heard the dull thud of something falling to the floor. While Ratio appreciated Aventurine’s enthusiasm, he would have preferred it if the man invited him in first before doing so. As it were, Ratio crossed his arms and awkwardly waited for Aventurine to return.
As he bided his time, Ratio began to ponder. What was the courtesy for these sorts of things? Was Ratio obligated to give Aventurine a key to his place as well?
Unfortunately, Ratio had missed the timing to give his own key in turn.
“Here,” Aventurine said, emerging from his door once again. He dropped the key into Ratio’s hand.
The weight in his hand was surprisingly heavy. When Ratio looked down, his eyes caught a dazzling glimmer. The key was attached to a large, golden spade with a blue sapphire in the centre. Of course Aventurine’s keychain would be as gaudy as the man himself. From the weight, Ratio hypothesised that the keychain was made out of real gold.
Upon closer inspection, Ratio realised that it was almost an exact replica of the keychain that Aventurine had on his own set of keys. It was missing the faint scratches from the daily wear and tear that accumulated over the years. So it was new, then. How long ago had Aventurine planned to give Ratio his spare key? The keychain was too inline with Aventurine’s tastes for it to be anything but custom-made, but Ratio wouldn’t put it beneath him to pay more money to expedite the process. Regardless, it must’ve taken Aventurine some thought.
The blond man was baffling as always. How could he be so persistent in one aspect but not in another? He had no problems pestering him in bed, but apparently he was shy when it came to something as simplistic as this. If he wanted Ratio to have his keys, then he shouldn’t have posed it as a question. As long as the gift wasn’t too egregious, Ratio rarely declined.
“What changed your mind?” Aventurine asked, breathless. His eyes were alight with wonder. Ratio’s breath caught in his throat.
He scrambled for an excuse.
“Upon further reflection, I realised that there was no harm in having access to your home if it meant there would be less fuss in coordinating our… meetings.”
Aventurine looked sceptical. His vivid eyes went up and down Ratio’s body, assessing.
Ratio began to sweat.
The gambler’s wicked smile didn’t bode well for him.
“What a pretty way of saying you couldn’t wait for us to f*ck.”
“I’m leaving,” Ratio said, immediately turning around to do just that.
Aventurine grabbed his arm.
“Never mind that, doc. Would you like to come in? You’re not here just for the key, are you?”
“Of course not,” Ratio said, gritting his teeth.
“Well then,” Aventurine purred, sliding his arm around the curve of Ratio’s waist. The warmth of his body pressed against Ratio’s back. “Do come in.”
