#lab experiments

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

BOOM.

The ground trembled violently, the kind of shake that went deeper than the bones—one that echoed in the soul. A high-pitched whine followed, then an eruption of smoke and rubble. Debris flew past like shrapnel kisses from a dying building.

"Behind me!" Aventurine snapped, arm shooting out. A radiant, hexagonal shield of gold flickered into existence, its glow momentarily cutting through the smoke like a holy flare.

"I told you to leave," Ratio said, breath tight, as he knelt beside him, scanning their collapsing surroundings.

"And I told you to shut up and let me win this one," Aventurine retorted, his voice hoarse but eyes burning.

He reinforced the barrier with a flick of his wrist. Coins spun midair like orbiting stars, each one a symbol of his defiance. Behind them, pillars fell like dying gods.

Ratio's fingers curled around his chalk-gun. He scribbled in midair, each equation precise, and with a sound like heaven cracking, summoned a white-hot pillar that struck down on an enemy crawler.

"You're gambling with your life."

"I’m gambling with ours," Aventurine shot back. "Try to keep up."

There was a heartbeat of quiet as they stood back-to-back. A symphony of chaos surrounded them. But for a brief second, they were a single, unbroken line in a collapsing world.

Then came the explosion from below.

Blinding. Consuming.

Aventurine's last thought before blacking out: I should've told him to run.

==========

Two Days Earlier in a meeting room of the IPC...

"This mission is off-record," Topaz stated crisply. Behind her, a glowing map pulsed with marked interference zones. "Unstable coordinates, Aha cultists on the fringe. I want both combat and brainpower."

"Which is why he's here," Aventurine said, gesturing lazily toward Ratio without looking.

Ratio adjusted his glasses. "Someone has to make sure you don’t bring the ceiling down on us."

"Only when you’re in the room," Aventurine quipped, smirking.

Topaz rolled her eyes, "Boys, please keep it in your pants.”

Jade barely hid her grin.

What the rest of the team knew but didn't say aloud: the two were sleeping together. It was an open secret, threaded through quiet meetings, conveniently locked rooms, and an odd softness Ratio never showed anyone else.

Still, this mission felt... different.

Ratio glanced at Aventurine. The man was already looking at him.

Something unspoken passed between them.

==========

That night, Ratio lay on Aventurine's couch, glasses resting on the edge of the armrest.

"You’re staring," he murmured.

Aventurine smiled faintly. "Just confirming you’re real."

Ratio cracked an eye open. "You always think you’re dreaming when I’m soft on you?"

"Only with you."

A kiss pressed to his forehead. Ratio shifted, leaning into it.

They didn’t say more. They didn’t need to.

=========

In the present day at the IPC Medical Ward, the ceiling was twirling the moment Aventurine opened his eyes.

He winced in pain. Ache in his chest, ribs, a broken arm in a sling. Taste of metal in his mouth. He shifted, and a figure loomed.

"You're awake," Jade said quietly.

"Where—"

"You're safe but… the mission failed. You were pulled from the debris. We lost contact."

Aventurine's heart thudded.

"Ratio?"

Jade was silent.

Then she handed him something: Ratio’s laurel clip, bent and charred.

"We found this. No body. No signal from his phone... We’re still searching."