LightningJo

I want to cry.

Because I don't even like painting.

Will forever mourn whatever high I was on when I made this. Still trying to find the motivation to finish this...

*Draws them being carried bridal style*

I'm determined to write for one of my fics, but first a little doom scrolling. I run across some TikToks, and now I want to draw for something else. Start listening to music and think "this song would go perfect with a *insert fandom* animation! (I don't animate btw, but I think can).

Aether main forever.

Drew this at my favourite café in Miyazaki Japan. Best experience.

System Offline

Aventurine

> System reboot < > Files Downloading < > Files 1% < > System online <

“Ugh, my head…” Aventurine moaned, sitting up from the table he was lying on.

> Files 5% <

“Looks like you’re finally awake. Took you long enough.” A foreign voice spoke from behind, and Aventurine stiffened.

“Took one hell of a time trying to get you back onli–”

Aventurine spun on the table, jumping off to wrap his leg around the violet-haired man’s neck, hand on his head in a painful lock. The man’s strong arms immediately went up to try and pry him off, to no avail.

“How do you know what I am!?” His voice slightly wavered in fear, much to his annoyance. He wasn’t supposed to know what he was, so how did he find out? Was this man the reason he was shut down?

“Aventurine–” the man began, but Aventurine wasted no time tightening his hold, clenching his fist in the violet strands while gritting his teeth.

> Files 25% <

But just as he was about to open his mouth, his eyes widened as his scanners picked up another presence, hidden somewhere. But before he could react, he was thrown through the air by an invisible force. He hit the wall painfully, falling to the ground with a sickening thud. A thud that sounded eerily human, despite the fact that he was not, in fact, human. He looked up with blurred vision to see the man collapse to his knees, coughing violently and clutching at his throat.

“Thanks BlackSwan.”

“Don’t mention it, Ratio.”

> File download process disturbed < > Recovery process activated <

Aventurine grunted as he got to his feet, leaning against the wall while touching the back of his head. Pulling his hand back, he was relieved to find no trace of blood. At least, the android equivalent of blood. He turned his focus back on the man—Ratio—before him. Behind his back, he grabbed a dagger hiding in his cloak. His processor was working in his head, scanning every inch of the surrounding area for signs of the other mysterious person. Yet he detected no other vital signs.

“Tsk. Hiding, are we?” He mumbled. He narrowed his eyes as Ratio began to speak.

“We are not here to hurt you, gambler– I mean, Aventurine. We just want to help you.” His hands were splayed before him as his breaths still came out slightly uneven. Aventurine smirked in satisfaction at the work he had done.

“Not happening.” Then he lunged, shifting the dagger in front of him as he aimed it straight for Ratio’s heart. But once again, he felt his body grow light as an invisible force picked him up off the floor, sending him speeding through the air. But he just smiled. “Gotcha.” Predicting this, he used the opportunity for his processor to pick up where the energy signal was coming from. Once he pinpointed the location, he sent the dagger flying toward the computer. There was a digital cry before disappearing entirely, replaced with static.

“Now where was I?” He turned his attention back towards the one remaining, whose teeth were grit in annoyance.

“You really aren’t making this easy.”

Aventurine smirked.

“Nope.” He was on him in a flash, throwing a punch at his jaw. There was a sickening crunch as Ratio’s head snapped back.

“Darn it, Aventurine, we’re partners. You don’t have to fight me!” Ratio threw a punch of his own, but there was hardly any effort in it. Aventurine dodged easily, spinning behind him, aiming a kick to his side. But this time, Ratio moved away in time as Aventurine leaped backward.

“If you think you’re going to gain my trust by spewing those lies, Ratio, then you’re wrong. Humans are trying to exterminate the androids, remember? And I’m pretty sure you know what I am by now.”

Ratio halted once he heard Aventurine call him by his name. He turned toward the android, brows raised in question. “You don’t know who I am?”

> Recovery complete < > Files downloading restart < > Files 1% <

“It doesn’t matter who you are. You know what I am.”

“Aventurine…”

“Don’t say my name like you’re some friend of mine! Your lies won’t fool me.” Then he lunged again, this time increasing his speed and strength detrimentally.

> System override <

Red overtook Aventurine’s vision, and his entire body went numb as this one phrase rang in his head. His eyes shut against his will as he fell into a state of unconsciousness.

All he saw was darkness, and all he felt was strong arms keeping him from falling to the ground.

~>○<~

Ratio

All Ratio thought as he watched Aventurine fall to the ground, unconscious, was pure fear. He was in the middle of attacking him when he suddenly stopped, a look of surprise crossing his pale face before his eyes closed suddenly. A series of red squares flickered in front of him before disappearing in a blink. Then Aventurine was falling. Ratio caught him before he could completely hit the hard ground, and he hauled Aventurine into his arms. He was completely limp, face oddly peaceful in contrast to his previous rage.

“Darn it, Gambler; if I have to fix you again, I swear I will murder you myself once you’re back.” He looked over at the computer, the screen now cracked with the hilt of the dagger protruding from it. He sighed. “And after I fix BlackSwan.”

“I’m still here Doctor, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” A light voice called from above, and upon looking up, Ratio saw the smiling face of BlackSwan looking down at him from a new screen on the roof.

“If you were still here, then why didn’t you help me? He’s more agile than I initially thought.”

“It was entertaining to watch,” she chuckled, and Ratio scowled at the blue screen. “But if things got out of hand, I would have intervened, of course.”

“Of course,” Ratio mumbled, not believing a word of it. He looked back down at the sleeping Aventurine.

“Now I need to figure out what’s wrong with him.”

“I know you’ve been wanting to hit him since you first met, so why did you hold back?”

“What?” Ratio looked back at BlackSwan, whose digital face was tilted. He looked back down at Aventurine in his arms. “He’s been through enough already. I didn’t want to damage him more since I would’ve had to be the one to fix him. Besides, he’s surprisingly delicate.”

BlackSwan’s eyebrows shot up at his reply before her gaze darted down to Aventurine. Ratio’s calculating eyes followed. The android shifted, a small moan escaped his lips, and his eyes slowly blinked open.

Once his eyes had adjusted, and he realized the position he was in, there was a quick intake of breath as he jerked violently. But Ratio was prepared for this. The moment Aventurine tried to free himself from Ratio's grasp, the doctor dropped him, pressing a palm against the androids back and pulling his arm behind him. A cry of pain wrenched out of his throat as his face contorted.

“The more you fight me, the harder it's going to be to fix you later. Parts are limited, I'll have you know.”

“Why on earth would you try to fix me, human?” Aventurine grit out, body writhing below Ratio with determination.

“Darn it, Gambler, you just don't listen.” Ratio pulled Aventurine’s arm back further, earning another cry, which Aventurine desperately tried to silence.

“Ratio, see if you can hook him back up. I want to see what the problem is.” At BlackSwan's words, the android froze, a look of complete fear flickering over his features. Ratio sighed apologetically.

“You sure that's a good idea?”

“Trust me, I'll bring our Aventurine back.”

“I doubt he's going to hold still.”

“That's where you come in.”

“You know he's going to fight back, right?”

“You're more than capable.”

Ratio sighed again, pinning Aventurine’s arms behind him and forcibly picking him up before he tossed him over his broad shoulder.

“Wha– hey! Put me down!”

“Hang on, Aventurine, this is for your own good.” A disbelieving laugh sounded behind his head.

“You, human, are hooking up a wanted android to a machine. If our roles were reversed, I hardly doubt you'd be calm.” Ratio could practically feel Aventurine glaring daggers into the upside down view of his back.

“Hey Aventurine.”

“Hmm— ACK!” With the element of distraction, Ratio used that moment of unexpectancy to throw him onto the table he started on and forcibly pin his arms down.

“BlackSwan, can you hook him up?” He grunted as Aventurine pulled his knee up, connecting it with Ratio's elbow. “Darn it, Aventurine! How the hell are you so agile?” Aventurine smirked in response.

“I need you to hold his head back.” BlackSwan was levitating a cord, looking at Ratio expectantly.

“Wouldn't it just be easier to knock him out?” Ratio asked, looking down at the struggling android.

“He's an android, remember? Trying to do that would do more damage than good. You just restored him. We don't wanna go and break him immediately.”

“Tsk, can't you just use your levitation thing to hold him down?”

“Doesn't work like that, sweetie.”

“Ugh. I have a better idea. How long is that cord?” BlackSwan pulled up the cord, revealing it to be quite lengthy.

“Perfect.” Then he dragged the android off the table, quickly pulling him against his chest and locking his arms in place at his sides. Aventurine’s eyes widened in surprise before he resumed his struggle. Ratio grunted, grabbing Aventurine’s head and turning it so BlackSwan could hook him up.

“I'm not going to let you in, I hope you know.” Aventurine grit his teeth, glaring at the digital BlackSwan on the TV screen.

“I don't need your permission, but thank you for your concern, dear.”

“Can you hurry up?” Ratio bit out through clenched teeth. BlackSwan nodded, moving to plug him in.

But before the cord could connect, an explosion shook the building, and BlackSwan blacked out, dropping the cord while Aventurine and Ratio were thrown to the ground.

~>○<~

Aventurine

Aventurine hit the floor with a resounding thud, the explosion causing an unexpected ringing in his ears. He looked up to see a throng of androids pouring into the room. Then Ratio grabbed his arm, throwing him over his shoulder once more as he cursed, grabbing a drive from the computer and running. He crashed through the window, sending Aventurine rolling across the other building's roof when he landed roughly. But Aventurine quickly recovered, staggering to his feet while clutching his head. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

> Files 90% <

“Oh dear, Ratio. What are you going to do now?” Ratio winced, and Aventurine noticed he was clutching his side, red hot blood pooling to the concrete roof beneath him. Aventurine’s smile grew.

“Looks like you're stuck.” He grabbed a shard of glass from the roof, and strode over to the crouched doctor. Placing it under his chin, he tilted the violet-haired man's gaze up to meet his.

“After all that effort, you've gotten nowhere. How sad.”

> Files 98% <

“It's a shame we have to part ways. I rather enjoyed toying with you.”

> Files 99% <

“Goodbye, Ratio.” Aventurine pressed the glass against the skin of Ratio's neck.

> Files 100% < > Memory restored <

He stopped, body going rigid as his body let out a soft hum. His eyes closed, and fell once more into Ratio's arms. Ratio let out a soft grunt at the sudden weight, wincing in pain as it pulled at the wound in his side. But as soon as his eyes had closed, they were open again, the bright magenta-cyan colour blinking up at Ratio in confusion. Then they widened in horror, and Aventurine wasted no time scrambling off him, covering his mouth with his hand as he skittered over the length of the roof. Once he was safely in a corner, he pulled his hood over his head, pulling his knees to his chest and curling into a ball.

“Aventurine?” Ratio tentatively got up, taking a few steps toward the white bundle. He wiped at the thin line of blood adorning his neck. “Are you back?” There was a sort of desperate hope in his voice that made Aventurine’s stomach drop as he continued to peek at Ratio from under his hood.

“I remember everything.” At Aventurine’s words, Ratio froze, hands outstretched.

“I see.” He took another step forward, but Aventurine flinched, scooting further into the corner.

“It's not your fault, Aventurine. I–” but he never got to finish his sentence, because Aventurine’s sensors burst red in his vision, and he bolted up, tackling Ratio to the ground in the blink of an eye. A bullet whizzed past his head.

“Save the pep-talk for later, just run.” At his words, Ratio’s eyes widened. Aventurine nodded. “He found us.”

And from the window, watching them with smoke rising from the gun in his hand, was Sunday. A smirk turned up his lips as he gazed down at them in satisfaction.

“Found you, traitor.”

~>○<~

Ratio

Aventurine had grasped his hand, pulling him aimlessly across the roofs, dodging holes and sentries right and left. Although, considering what he was, he wouldn’t have been surprised if the android had pulled up an internal map. His breath came out in short gasps, growing weary from the running, and the pain in his side. It was only after he stumbled over the small gap between roofs that he pulled is hand back from the firm grasp of his friend’s. Aventurine looked back, confusion reflecting in his magenta-cyan eyes as he stumbled forward a few steps. Then his eyes flicked down, at the red staining the length of Ratio’s side, before shifting behind them at the blood trail that would lead their enemies right to them.

“Aventurine…”

“This is all my fault.” Aventurine’s words came out breathy, his eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to work out the situation. “Why didn’t I pick up that you were hurt, I never would’ve–”

“Aventurine!” Ratio winced after yelling at the hyperventilating man before him, causing Aventurine to visibly flinch, taking several steps back as he pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

“Aventurine, I need you to focus. They’re probably hot on our tail, and I can’t go anywhere right now. I need you to run.” Aventurine moved to protest, but Ratio cut him off. “They’re after me, not you. So run, run as fast and as far as you can. Run, hide, and whatever you do, don’t you dare give up, and don’t you dare die. I did not spend all that time fixing you for my precious work to be for not.”

Aventurine’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened as if to say something. But nothing came out. He pressed his lips together in a firm line, before bending down and tearing a strip off the bottom of his white cloak.

“I’m not leaving you, ya stupid doctor.” Aventurine wrapped the cloth around Ratio’s torso, covering the wound and staunching the blood flow. “And there’s no way I’d let you die.” As Aventurine threw Ratio’s arm over his shoulder, he grunted under the sheer weight. “Oh dear goodness, I never realized how heavy you were.”

To Be Continued