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“Are you finished yet? It feels like you’re dragging this out on purpose.”
“Now what would ever make you think that, Doctor? I almost have it, I’m just going to look inside one of these model shops.”
Aventurine could hear Veritas scoff. It was a joke but, knowing another comment about wasting time was coming, he continued to work diligently to figure out the model city. But the comment never came. Which caught his attention.
“Oh? Did I bother you enough that you’re giving me the silent treatment?”
He never took Veritas for being childish like that. And yet he still didn’t respond. Now actually pausing, Aventurine called out to him.
“Hello? Penacony to Ratio!”
All he received was silence. Unsettling, chilling silence.
“…Ratio?”
Still nothing. Something was wrong. Horribly wrong. Aventurine walked out from behind one of the buildings, very carefully creeping around the corner. His voice grew quiet as he called out one last time.
“…Veritas…?”
Another voice answered. One that sent a chill down his spine.
“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Aventurine. But your dear Veritas is a bit preoccupied at the moment.”
Sunday. Aventurine’s first thought, before anything else, was to hide. He couldn’t be caught. Not now, not while he was so vulnerable, not when Veritas wouldn’t be able to save him. He looked for somewhere, anywhere that wouldn’t be caught under Sunday’s malevolent gaze. Yet he could still feel him approaching, his eyes scanning over the model city, searching for him.
“What was that you said before?” Sunday asked, looking down on the model city.
“Three chips was enough?”
“How did you-”
“I have eyes everywhere, Mr. Aventurine. Nothing escapes my notice, especially in the dreamscape.”
The sound of chains rattling then echoed from behind Sunday, bringing back horrible memories. Despite them creeping closer and closer to the surface, Aventurine tried to force them back down. His entire body began shaking, bile rose in his throat. He covered his mouth to not only prevent himself from getting sick on the spot, but to make sure a scream didn’t escape either to give away his hiding place. He then heard Veritas finally speak.
“What is the meaning of this?! Why exactly are you treating us like criminals when you invited us here to begin with?!”
Sunday looked over, a mildly disappointed, yet intrigued expression on his face.
“Interesting…that silencing charm was supposed to last longer. Perhaps the rumors I’ve heard of you have some merit, Doctor.”
Aventurine felt more than saw Veritas tense up at the mention of that. He himself couldn’t help but begin to shake more violently as well at the thought of Sunday finding Veritas’s true home. Only for Sunday to then sigh in resignation.
“Ah, but unfortunately I cannot look further into that. Despite you being a rather well known figure, it is near impossible to find any reliable information on your origins.”
A minimal comfort at best, but a comfort nonetheless. Sunday then turned his attention back to the model city, his search for Aventurine continuing. His eyes carefully scanned every corner of the model as he kept talking.
“I will admit, the plan you and Ratio came up with was rather ingenious. Falsifying a betrayal between you two so you would have a man inside, had I not learned of it, I’m sure I would’ve been fooled.”
So he knew everything. Those “eyes” he had figured out the entire scheme and blew it up before it could even start. Aventurine was at a loss. Veritas was captured. He himself was functionally useless. There were no obvious moves to make. Hell, there were no obtuse ones either. If this was a game of poker, the wisest decision at this point would be to fold. There was no way of coming back from this.
But that wasn’t an option here.
It was then Aventurine made the mistake of looking up. Directly into Sunday’s eyes. He froze, horror completely overtaking him. Sunday smiled, then reached down towards him. Aventurine tried to run, to at least prevent himself from being caught for a moment longer. Yet moments later, he felt Sunday’s fingers wrap around him, stopping him from escaping any further. He was then lifted from the model towards Sunday. Aventurine tried all he could to escape, kicking, squirming, even attempting to bite him. But in response, Sunday’s grip on him only tightened to the point where it hurt. He was then staring into the eyes of his captor once again.
“So I heard you’re very excited to be this small,” Sunday said with a teasing lilt.
“Even bold enough to say you want to slip into my collar.”
He then laughed as the horror and terror continued to mount in Aventurine.
“Maybe I should keep you like this to myself forever. How does that sound?”
Aventurine wished he had the capacity to respond. If not wittily, then in a jokingly flirtatious manner to throw him off. But all his thoughts were consumed with Sunday planning to take him. Like he was simply an object, a means of mild entertainment.
No…that wasn’t it. It wasn’t that simple.
He was a plaything, a prize won in some game of wits.
“Unhand him this instant!” Veritas shouted.
“He is not a trinket for you to keep!”
Sunday turned back to Veritas, looking almost annoyed he was dragged away from his new toy.
“Or what, Doctor? There really isn’t much you can do at the moment to make me. The IPC wouldn’t really care that he’s gone, and no one else would really find any use in looking for the last Avgin.”
He looked at Aventurine once again.
“But that’s what makes you so special, isn’t it? You’re a one of a kind gemstone. There’s no one else like you left.”
His grasp around Aventurine tightened, beginning to squeeze him once again. Aventurine let out a cry of pain as Sunday did so, only receiving a sadistic smile from the man.
“Yes. Yes, I think I will find much amusement in holding on to you.”
Veritas was about to interject a second time, but Sunday just waved his free hand before he could. In an instant, Veritas’s voice was stolen, no sound being able to escape him. He could then only look on in horror as Sunday carried Aventurine away. He desperately tried to shatter the chains restraining him, wanting to do anything he could to save Aventurine.
But nothing could be done.
Aventurine reached out for him, tears now streaming down his face.
“Veritas!”
And that was all he could say before his world spun and went white.
He then sat up abruptly, surrounded by darkness. Moving just as suddenly he fell from something a foot or two off the ground. He didn’t know what.
He felt those eyes still on him, never letting him out of their sight. He kept looking all around himself. Everywhere he turned he saw Sunday’s eyes staring at him. He knew he was smiling at him, looking down on him in a way that made Aventurine feel as if he was going to eat him alive.
He felt the phantom touch of Sunday’s hand still wrapped around him, threatening to crush him. He knew if he moved an inch in the wrong direction, Sunday would not hesitate to kill him like he was nothing.
He didn’t know where he even was now.
He certainly didn’t know what to do.
He knew Veritas was still trapped, unable to actually free himself. Unable to rescue him from Sunday’s grasp. Yet, desperately, through his tears and his quivering form, he called out to him.
“V…Veritas…help me…”
“How cute. Or it would be more accurate to say how pathetic,” Sunday’s voice whispered in his ears.
“Do you really think he can save you?”
He tried to ignore the jeering. Another quiet cry escaped him.
“Veritas…help me…D-Don’t…let him take me…”
He backed himself even more into the palm of Sunday’s hand, having nowhere else to go.
“Please…Don’t let him take me…”
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What woke Veritas was a loud thud near the bed. He startled awake, soon realizing the noise was Aventurine falling off it. It wouldn’t have been the first time this happened, nightmares did plague the man he loved frequently. During the first many times, Veritas would immediately go to comfort him. More recently, Aventurine had told him he could manage them himself. And he had for some time, so this occurrence felt the slightest bit unfamiliar. But he still knew what to do. Carefully getting out of the bed, he approached Aventurine.
Only to then see the almost manic look on his face. He had himself pressed into a corner, hands flat against both walls. His entire body was shaking, as if he’d shatter like glass at any moment. His eyes kept darting all around the room, as if he was seeing something everywhere, while tears flowed freely from them.
That was when Veritas finally heard what he was saying, his voice being far too quiet and shaky for him to really understand at first.
“...I…I can’t be someone’s toy…not again…”
Aventurine took in a shallow, rattling breath before looking up at Veritas. Or rather looking through him.
“Please, Veritas…help me…!”
Fear began to overtake Veritas as well. He hadn’t seen Aventurine this deep in his own mind in a while. He wasn’t aware of anything around him, not even Veritas sitting in front of him. Logically, he knew Aventurine was not experiencing an ordinary nightmare, but rather a night terror. Yet even with that more than logical explanation, fear still laid deep in Veritas, seeing the person he cared about more than anything being so...trapped for lack of any better term. On instinct, he reached out to take Aventurine’s hand in an effort to pull him back to reality. Only to hesitate. He had to remember. Physical touch wasn’t comforting to him. It only made him sink further into wherever his mind put him. So instead he just got closer, making sure he was in Aventurine’s direct line of sight before speaking.
“It’s okay. I won’t let anyone take you, I promise.”
He moved ever so slightly closer.
“You’re safe, Vasha.”
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“You’re safe, Vasha.”
Veritas’s voice cut through everything else. The eyes, the touch, the cruel taunting, Aventurine felt their power fade when he heard that name.
Vasha
Veritas never called him that while they were on Penacony together. He either just looked at him while speaking to him or simply called him “gambler”. No, Vasha was a nickname Veritas used only when he dropped his own facade of indifference and annoyance. He only started calling him that when he felt comfortable enough to show that he genuinely cared for him.
He’d never call him that during a job.
And he’d especially never call him that in front of someone like Sunday, who would take full advantage of that vulnerability.
Which could only mean…
“...Veritas…?”
Aventurine’s vision ceased swirling. The first thing he saw was his husband’s eyes, red and amber like the dawn. He then smiled.
“I’m right here.”
Then the world began to solidify around him. His thoughts became more clear.
They were in their bedroom. In the apartment they shared. On a world no one would ever think of traveling to. On a world where they could never be found.
He was free.
He was safe.
Seeing the look on his face, Veritas shifted himself and opened his arms, expecting Aventurine to move slowly towards him. Only for Aventurine to immediately catch him off guard by practically flying into his arms, nearly knocking him to the ground. Recovering quickly, Veritas pulled him into a tight embrace, still whispering those words of comfort to him.
“It’s alright, Vasha. I’m here.”
And again, that name filled him with a warmth he didn’t even know how to describe. But it felt right. Aventurine moved in even closer.
“Never stop calling me that, Ver.”
Veritas raised his head a bit, a somewhat playful smile on his face. But Aventurine could tell. It was masking a confusion.
“Hm? Do you like it that much?”
Aventurine nodded. He knew a simple nickname wouldn’t mean much to Veritas, him just thinking of it as something simple but sweet. But to Aventurine, it held far more meaning than that.
“It sounds cliche, but…it makes me feel like this life we have now is truly mine.”
And that wasn’t a lie, or even a half truth. As simple as it was, it reminded him that he was far away from everything that hurt him. The faceless people who wanted him dead for simply being an Avgin, his captors, the IPC, Sunday, all of them would never be able to touch him again. His life was his and his alone.
He was then pulled out of his thoughts by Veritas speaking.
“I’m going to carry you back to bed. Is that okay?”
“Only if you hold me for the rest of the night.”
Veritas brushed Aventurine’s hair away from his face. A small kiss was planted on his forehead.
“As you wish, Vasha.”