Chapter Text
Despite what rumors may plague the campus, Ratio would consider himself a decent professor.
He maintains semi-regular office hours (unless the Guild is dragging him across the universe for some IPC-related conundrum), holds online classes when he is off-campus (unless he is trapped in a doomed dreamscape because of some IPC-related conundrum), and always aims to arrive to class early to take any last minute questions for those unable to reach him during IPC-related conundrums.
Today, Ratio is late because it’s raining.
Victim of the idiocy of some backwash meteorologist and the twat that hired them, Ratio spends precious time that could have been used to enhance the spread of knowledge by digging out, lint-rolling, and ironing the emergency suit he keeps in his office while his robes lay pitifully on the bathroom hanger.
Still, as much as his schedule has been violated, Ratio is on-time regardless and the syllabus will not be affected. So it surprises him when he finally unlocks his door to a doe-eyed student worrying their lip in the hallway.
“Doctor Ratio, sir!” they peep up. Who was this again? Adamos? Ariti?
“Quit your quivering, I won’t eat you,” growls Ratio. He hates it when freshmen treat him like some sort of vicious creature. Fear hinders education. “Apologies for the wait, but I still will not take questions at this time unless in the classroom.”
“T-That’s just it, Doctor!” Aeons, Ratio feels like he could pop this student like a balloon. “There’s a strange man in your classroom!”
Ratio squints. “What?”
“An omega!” The student puffs out their chest, finally showing some semblance of the heroism they so deeply crave. “H-He sat at your desk and claimed that he’s allowed to be there because you would g-give him special treatment!”
The thought of this makes the student look sick. For different reasons, Ratio begins to feel the same.
“None of us believed him of course. B-But he said that anyone that could beat him at Blackjack could convince him to leave but I wouldn’t put up with his nonsense so I came to get you and—”
A violent headache begins to throb at Ratio’s temples. “Excuse me.” The student flails away and then scurries after him as Ratio barrels down the hallway.
Ratio should have never trusted Aventurine to maintain a sense of propriety when it came to their schedules.
The thing is, he’s been telling the omega for months now that it would be alright if he wanted to come to the university to see Ratio. Offhandedly, as one does, although with the intent of having more opportunities to spend time together. They both have busy schedules, and while it’s not like Aventurine can drag Ratio onto every trans-galactic mission of his, the university is a much more available, not to mention safer, place to nurture their budding relationship.
Which is why Ratio has been giving Aventurine his schedule every week for three months hoping he’d take the hint. And yet the first time he actually makes to drop by is during an inconvenience. Ratio knows he’s not short on time today because Aventurine is on sick leave recovering from a concussion.
Sometimes, Ratio wonders if Qlipoth even tries.
He takes a deep breath before pushing open the door to the classroom.
Those closest to the door jump three feet in the air, scattering like pigeons to get out of his way, while those closest to the desk are so entranced by whatever’s there that they don’t even notice when Ratio walks up to a gap in the crowd and glares punishingly at the main protagonist of this nonsense.
“Come on, you can do better than that.”
Incomprehensible Specimen A, fluttering his pretty lashes behind his glasses, poking at the shiny watch on the desk, raises a brow at his opponent, who Ratio recognizes as Koutsis, a pick-me loudmouth who likes to pepper Ratio’s lectures with foolish, ill-mannered questions. He is currently red-faced and bug-eyed and, evidently, missing his watch.
“You’re cheating,” he declares. “You’re conning me, omega!”
“Now, now, don’t pull out your sore loser face just yet. Veritas’s students should at least leave their professor some dignity.”
Ratio pauses in his interrupting at the bare look of pride on Aventurine’s face. Pink cheeks, wide smile, yet the same, arrogant glint in his eyes as if to say Try me, fool.
“Besides, this thing isn’t worth that much.” Aventurine twirls the watch between his fingers as a couple students raise their brows at poor Koutsis, who opens his mouth to protest. “Please, spare me. I know real AP when I see it, and it’s not this. Veritas probably knows as well, it’s just not worth his time to say it.”
The crowd whispers, and Koutsis knocks over a couple cards when he slams his hands down and shouts, “Listen here, you conniving wh—”
“I would suggest you shut your trap before you say something that gets you suspended, Koutsis, so sit down,” Ratio snaps, his voice so penetrating the it disperses the entire crowd. Koutsis, on the other hand, drops down into the pulled-up seat he’d been manning as if he wouldn’t dare disobey. “You too, Kakavasha.”
“Aw, baby!” Even with his back turned, Ratio shivers at the sheer weight of what he knows to be the gazes of nearly forty wide-eyed students trained on his back. Ignoring this, Aventurine throws his hands in the air and waves him over. “You’re late! Did the poor doctor get caught in the rain? Haha, you look like a wet dog.”
Ratio takes a long, measured breath through his nose. He’d bid the last goodbyes of his academic reputation when he’d first realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life with a walking financial hazard.
So he just lets it out and goes right over.
He gives Koutsis one last warning look until the student scrambles away and takes the chair with him. Behind the desk with his lover, Ratio can now see the cluster of ogling students, who stare down with a mixture of curiosity, shock, and amusement when Ratio doesn’t immediately brain the intrusive stranger with his book.
As promised, Aventurine tips over into Ratio’s side and wraps his arms around the doctor’s waist possessively. The students watch this with comical fluidity, their eyes following the motion, and then back again when Ratio pats the gambler's shoulder, expression a cross between pinched and indulgent.
Then they gape, some giggling, some looking like dead fish, and Ratio looks down to see Aventurine giving his audience a cat-in-cream smirk.
“Stop,” says Ratio, finally yanking at Aventurine’s collar, to which the gambler only laughs. “Aetos, quit gawking and get in here. We’re already behind schedule.”
The yammering student from before scurries from the door to their seat. The female student next to them raises her hand.
Whatever. This one tends to questions that are actually relevant so he accepts it.
“What is it, Galanis?”
“Mister Vasha said he would teach us about game theory if you let him.”
“And why on the Prime would I let him? Just take the elective.”
“He said he would teach us real game theory.”
“And you let him get away with that useless explanation? Perhaps you should take classes from the Law department instead.” Ratio turns to Aventurine, who looks pleased with himself. “Real game theory? What are you going to do, shoot them?”
“Hey, you’re alive, aren’t you?” Aventurine testifies unhelpfully.
Ratio has half a mind to bite back. Half a mind to ask the actual questions plaguing him.
Why are you here now? What made you decide to finally come? Do you want to stay? Should we have lunch? Is your brain working right?
There are a couple more hands up. They must think that since Ratio answered one question, then he may answer more.
However, from the puppy-dog look he’s getting from his partner to the bright-eyed look he’s getting from one of his best students, he instead asks her, “Do you want this fool to teach you?”
After a pause, she nods.
“Then you can ask him after class. While he may not look like it, Kakavasha has an astute mind and a vast amount of experience. I would implore you to pay close attention to whatever he information he shares with you. Direct, he is not.” He glances at Aventurine, who he is surprised to see embarrassingly smitten. Ratio clears his throat. “Just do not give him anything valuable, and respect his time and boundaries. He is not a member of the faculty and does not get paid to deal with idiocy.”
“Is he your mate, Doctor?” a bold student from the back asks, unprompted.
“How many times have I said that I do not take questions without—”
Half the class raises their hands. Ratio is about to have an aneurysm.
Fine.
“No, we are not mates. Yes, we are dating. No, I will not be canceling class to galavant off somewhere with him. You may call him whatever he told you was acceptable. And no, Koutsis, I will not give you your watch back. I know what you were going to call him and I will see you in my office after class while Kakavasha is poisoning impressionable minds. No more questions.”
He finally turns to Aventurine, who continues to stare at him with that disgustingly bubbly look on his face, like he’s won the lottery. It does something to Ratio’s chest that his entire body, wound like a taught fishing line, releases with a breath.
“If you want to stay, you may have a seat in the back,” Ratio tells him, pointing to the spot where his partner will be the least distracting.
Aventurine smirks, shuffling a bit closer. Too close to be professional. He blinks his gorgeous eyes up at Ratio and smiles.
“Do you want me to stay?” asks the omega.
The students can see this, the students can see this.
Ratio wants to bite out a negative but he just can’t. Harsh and blunt and destructively oblivious he can be, he does not lie. Especially not to Aventurine.
A student coughs.
“Yes,” Ratio mutters quickly, briefly meeting his partner’s eyes. Aventurine blinks. “Now hurry up before I kick you out.”
Aventurine hops away with a too-wide grin and plops down dramatically in the aforementioned seat, looking nothing like a proper student and attracting way too many eyes. Ratio breaks their gaping with the slam of his book onto his desk, which makes the entire class scramble for their notepads like a bunch of Pavlovian dogs.
“Since we are short on time, now, I will be spot-checking how many of you did your assigned readings. Who wants to go first? Don’t answer. I’ll choose.”
Ratios gaze cuts through the cowering students, returning the class into the familiar air of order he knows. The only difference is the sole Avgin in the back, looking down at Ratio in amusement and admiration.
It throws him off his game. But Ratio finds that he could get used to it.
About two hours later, Ratio walks out to the steps of the Philosophy building, where a gaggle of students collects on the stairway around a familiar blonde. Many have their notebooks out, but few are writing, too invested by whatever tangent Aventurine is sure to have gone on in the facade he calls ‘teaching’.
“Did they die?” is unfortunately the first thing Ratio hears someone ask his partner.
Aventurine smirks. “Well, you see, the funny thing about pressurized cabins is—”
“You realize these students are paying to be here, correct?” Ratio asks, gathering their eyes. Unlike before, none of them hop away in fear, and some even giggle. Aeons know what Aventurine has been telling them. “Are you even providing them with useful information?”
“Of course, dear. Every good method needs a real-life example.” Aventurine winks, and Ratio would be a fool to call it pretty. So foolish, he is. “Many of these sheltered young’ins are far from going on any perilous space adventures any time soon, so I took it upon myself to share my own experiences.”
“It’s been very helpful!” Galanis declares, a bit too strongly.
“Do you think we should inquire with Professor Papadakis about ecological preservation in Jarlovian planets?”
“Maybe we should approach their economic crisis first…”
“You guys think I should learn how to use a gun?”
“But I wanted to know about what happened to the cabin guy…”
“Would Doctor Ratio be mad if I asked his mate to help me with my thesis?”
“I think I want Mister Vasha to be my thesis.”
“Do not objectify him. Kakavasha, I know you haven’t eaten. Would you like to find a place off-campus?” Ratio asks.
“And miss out on the delectable cafeteria food? How daring.” Aventurine grins and holds out a hand so that Ratio can help him up. “Alright, my adorable miniature Ratios, be free and flourish.”
“Are you coming back, Mister Vasha?” one student inquires, backed by a crowd of curious gazes.
Aventurine doesn’t reply for a moment, seemingly mischievous in his silence. However, Ratio can see the nervous twitch of his lips, hidden by an artfully-placed hand, that makes him once again question why it took so long for his lover to come here.
He slips his hand out of Aventurines and places it on the small of his back, feeling the omega flinch, so minute only Ratio notices.
And Aventurine soon melts into it, grin wide.
“Only if your handsome professor lets me,” he trills, pressing their bodies together. The students watch in awe as if they’re at a zoo.
Ratio sighs. “I told you you’re allowed to visit whenever you want as long as you behave.”
“I’ve behaved plenty, haven’t I?” Aventurine pouts.
“By whose standards?”
“Ours, of course.” The gambler hooks an arm through Ratio's. “Well, my owner’s here to feed me—”
“Kakavasha.”
“—so I guess we should be off! Feel free to place your bets.” Bets? Bets on what?
Without explaining further, the students wave them off gleefully, the most positive attention not related to academics that Ratio's received in his entire time tenuring.
“Come back soon Mister Vasha!”
“See you later, Doctor!”
“The place next to the Business building has great Xianzhouian!”
“Congrats on snagging the Doctor, Mister Vasha!”
“Did you enjoy your social?” Ratio eventually asks, when they're far, far off campus, watching closely as Aventurine ponders the menu. “Or was it more entertaining to make a show of claiming me?”
Aventurine raises a brow. His glasses are off, as he usually keeps them when he's around his boyfriend. A privilege Ratio relishes in.
“I was just measuring the primal instincts of overworked college students against the shamelessness of one fantastically sculpted educator who usually makes a point of leaving one arm bare at all times.”
“So the latter.”
“I don't know, said educator had to show up in an incredible suit today instead.” A slim hand inches over and tugs at the cuff of Ratio’s jacket. “Findings are invalid. Guess I'll have to try again.”
“Does this have anything to do with catching me off-guard this morning? You could have told me you were coming. I would have picked you up.”
“And enjoyed the rain with you?” Aventurine smirks.
“Kakavasha.”
“Yeees?”
“Does the university make you uncomfortable?” Ratio asks. Aventurine purses his lips, then hides it with the flick of the menu. “It's alright if it does. As much as it pleases me for you to be here, I would never force you to do anything that disrespects your boundaries.”
Aventurine's eyes peek over the menu, the curtain of his bangs accentuating his age. Despite calling them young, earlier, the man before Ratio is younger than plenty of the senior students at the university, and is just as intelligent. He is a creature of rare beauty, both physically and mentally, and somehow, he shares his life with Ratio.
Ratio wants nothing more than to preserve that.
“It doesn't,” Aventurine mutters. The menu lowers, and his mouth is a flat line. “Your students didn't know about me before I came.”
“I don't particularly make it a habit of indulging my students in my private life, so yes,” Ratio says. “Do you think I was keeping you a secret? If I were to share every good thing that happened in my life, my classroom would be much less manageable.”
Aventurine shakes his head. “It's not that. You know my past. My home planet didn't have a formal schooling system, and after that was slavery parts one and two.” He waves a hand in that casual way he does when he tries to pass these things off as less awful than they were. “I was just preparing myself to not be an embarrassment.”
“Considering your position and experience, you have seen that it is quite the opposite. However, judging by the display I walked in on, it was something you either failed to mention or downplayed in an effort to goad unsuspecting idiots out of their wallets.”
“Oh, come on, Doc, not you too. I'm not a conman! I told the Fools no.”
“Which I am grateful for considering Aha would have turned you into a mind-shattering hellspawn. Aeons help us all if THEY ever seduce you to leave Qlipoth’s muck.”
“Aw, you know there's only one for me, dear.” Aventurine's thumb strokes the inside of Veritas's wrist, right over his lesser scent gland, an action that Ratio feels deep in his gut. “Who else would I brave the big, bad schooling system for?”
Ratio grabs Aventurine’s hand before he can test any more dangerous waters, and the omega seems to enjoy this just as much, kicking his feet like a schoolgirl under the table so that they knock with Ratio's.
Eventually, someone comes to take their orders, also evidently surprised that a beautiful man is accompanying the Veritas Ratio out for lunch, something Aventurine definitely notices and takes enjoyment in. For a moment, Ratio feels the gambler’s hand tense his own, to which Ratio gives an assuring squeeze.
When the waiter leaves, Ratio sighs out a delayed, “Thank you.”
“Mm? For what?”
“For braving the big, bad schooling system for me,” Ratio explains, cradling Aventurine's smaller fingers in his hand, his knuckles raw and scarred. “I do want you here.”
Aventurine’s face twitches with a rare show of sheepishness. “Yeah, I know.”
“I want the campus to get used to you,” Ratio further explains. “I want you for as long as you would… No, that is inaccurate.
"I want you forever, if you would agree to it. And sharing our lives together would mean that those in my workplace would understand that I have someone important to me. Someone I take care of and prioritize above all else.”
Ratio's thumb stops on one of Aventurine’s fingers, squeezing it as thoughts of the future flicker though his mind. In truth, looking up right now unnerves him, but fear is the enemy of all things, so he faces it and just hopes that Aventurine doesn't look like he wants to throw up.
He doesn't.
“U-Uh…”
Aventurine’s hand quivers in his own, mirroring the shaken look on his face. He doesn't seem… afraid, which is a good sign, but he does seem flustered, something the gambler rarely is. Even when he does get embarrassed, he's keen to hide it away behind a false smile or cunning words.
But now, Aventurine is laid bare, unable to hold back.
“T-That's a a bold statement, Doctor,” he eventually chuckles. He doesn't take back his hand. Good. “I mean, really? Forever? With me?”
“You of all people should know that I do not waste words,” Ratio tells him.
“Careful, Alpha, you almost sound like you're proposing.”
“Perhaps I am.”
Aventurine sucks in a breath, and Ratio gathers all that he needs to. The rapid pulse against Aventurine's wrist. The way his eyes never stray from Ratio's. The soft parting and stutter of his lips, but Ratio can see the rest in his eyes. Shock. Terror. Confusion. Denial.
Hope.
“Or perhaps I am just preparing you for the possibility,” he continues, not wanting to scare the omega too strongly. Aventurine blinks, then quickly rubs his face, breathing steadying. “Because you should know that everything I said is sincere. Do think about it, Kakavasha.”
“Right… H-Ha... Gaiathra, what did you just drop on me?”
“The truth. Daunting thing, is it not?”
“O-Over lunch! And no ring! Doc, you made me rethink this relationship for a hot minute there.”
“I did not. Now, tell me, what did you think of today’s lecture? Did you pay attention?”
“Aw, cut me some slack, your darling has a brain injury.”
“Poor thing.” Ratio rolls his eyes. “If you leave before me, go back to my place. It's better to have you here and looked after for the remainder of your recovery.”
Surprisingly, after a moment, Aventurine gives him a soft smile.
“I already left the cats there.”
“A good thing, huh?”
Aventurine whispers this just before they part at this station, back turned.
Ratio takes in his small form, much smaller when his chin isn’t haughtily tilted up, without a weapon or mind game to protect himself with. Just a simple sports jacket with one of Ratio’s scarves draped around his neck like a comfort blanket.
Ratio remembers meeting this person long ago, gun to his chest, heart in his throat, the burning gaze of a madman crying Do it, do it, destroy me.
Ratio had recognized that look. He’d seen it on himself in the mirror, just after he’d heard of what had been done to his work. The weapon. The planets. The people. He’d looked into Aventurine’s eyes that day and saw the man he could have become.
“Yes,” Ratio replies. “A good thing.”
Fear is the enemy of knowledge. Had I given into it, I would have given up on knowing you.
UVP Student Forums
s/PHILOS146realthoughts (🔒)
5: Met Dr R’s bf (!!!) today!! He’s an Avgin??
339: u sure it wasnt contacts lmao saw those going for astro prices on BEMU
5: IDK no one was really brave enough to ask. Dr R was giving srs Kill vibes
8612: To yall or him?
5: US LMAO Like the guy gives super secret agent energy but ISTG he looked like a lil Wubbawoo next to how bad Dr R was growling at us for breathing his air.
41: i dunno… this is dr r were talking abt rite? like hes hot but i think dating him wd make me wanna die
222: oh dw boo i was there blondie had his paws ALL over the doc. they even flirted for like five whole minutes beforehand and mans was drooling for like the rest of class.
339: dr r let some rando stay in class for free??
5: Not a rando that's his boyfriend!!!! They're in love!!
41: sorry not buying this. nice try clickbait.
90: No really I saw him too. Kora was grilling him abt murder or smth outside of the building.
222: LMAO i know u aren't u the simp who sent in the Kora Galanis love letter to Dear Nous.
90: IT WAS A LETTER OF ACADEMIC APPRECIATION FUCK OFF
5: UGH GUYS anyways he's a cool guy!! Just watch out bc I think Dr R really likes him and I want him to be happy!!
8621: lol happy dr r. funny.
41: taking bets on their breakup.
222: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA y'all are taking bets on dr r’s bf??? see you in hell bc thats where nick koutsis ended up.
7999: Hold up did Nick K finally incur the wrath of Dr R how could you leave this out
222: was actually talking about what dr r’s bf did to him but ty for reminding me