Chapter Text
Final Chapter: "Ratio, Get Out of My Bathtub (But Not Really)"
The lights in Jade's office were always too white—clinical, artificial. Ratio stood with perfect posture, hands behind his back, as Jade set a single stamped document between them on the desk.
"You've neglected every supervisor duty I assigned you," she said without looking up. Her voice was sharp, not angry, but composed, like someone laying down cards in a game she already won. "No evaluation reports. No feedback logs. No scheduled one-on-ones. And I’ve heard of your... outburst. Toward Sugilite."
Ratio didn’t flinch. "He insulted Aventurine."
"And you lost your temper," Jade replied. Her gaze finally lifted to meet his. "That’s not like you."
He said nothing. She tapped her fingers once against the desk.
"So I’ll ask you this: Was it your judgment that failed? Or is it affection?"
That word sat between them heavily. Ratio felt it in his spine.
She slid the document toward him. He saw his name, the reassignment notice.
Aventurine’s name next to someone else’s. Ratio stared.
"I’ve reassigned Aventurine to a new supervisor. Effective immediately."
He should’ve felt disappointment. Or embarrassment. But all he felt was... clarity.
He smiled. Just a small one.
"If I’m no longer his supervisor," Ratio said, voice quiet but certain, "then there’s no conflict of interest. No breach of professionalism. Just... me. And him."
Jade sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking—perhaps for the first time—genuinely tired. Or amused.
"Finally," she muttered. "Go. Before I change my mind."
===========
The apartment was warm. The scent of citrus soap clung to the air, steam curling beneath the bathroom door. Aventurine lingered in the hallway for a moment, hesitant.
He stood outside the bathroom door for almost 10 minutes. Towel in hand and heart strangely uneasy. The hallway was quiet, save for the sound of bathwater shifting beyond the threshold.
He had expected to feel angry. Confused. Embarrassed. But all he felt was a slow-burning ache in his chest.
It wasn't just Ratio defending him in the office, though that had been the final nudge. It was all the little things that built up, brick by brick, until they formed something warm and real. Ratio remembering how he liked his tea. Preparing breakfast during Aventurine's post-breakup sulk. Offering an umbrella without words when the rain came. Folding his laundry. How his expression changed whenever he ranted about Topaz. That was actually his jealousy face and Aventurine was so oblivious to it!
Aventurine had chased after people who sparkled from afar. He’d told himself that meant they were worth loving. But Ratio? Ratio had been beside him this whole time, not dazzling him with unreachable light, but shining quietly in the everyday.
He remembered the way Ratio would glance at him over the rim of a mug, how his sharp tongue softened at home, how he looked freshly woken with his glasses off, how he buried his mutilated rubber duckies at the back lot complete with full eulogies for each of them.
And the worst part was—no, the truth was—he had never really minded Ratio's presence. He found him attractive, in a way that wasn’t just about looks. It was about how Ratio saw him. Not as a project. Not as a joke. Just... him.
He pressed his palm to the door. Breathed in.
Then knocked.
"Ratio," he called, stepping inside.
Ratio looked up from the bathtub where he sat already half-submerged, arms resting on either side. His wet black hair clung to his forehead.
Aventurine, holding a towel and half a dozen tangled emotions, cleared his throat.
"I, uh... heard what happened in the office. About Sugilite. And Jade."
"Yes," Ratio said simply. "It’s true."
Aventurine hesitated. "You defended me."
Ratio nodded. "It felt... necessary."
The silence grew intimate. The only sound was the soft ripple of water.
"Why were you so nice to me?" Aventurine asked, voice barely above a whisper. "The tea. The umbrella. The breakfast. No one’s ever—"
"There’s room in the tub," Ratio interrupted gently.
Aventurine blinked. "You’re inviting me into the bath?"
"It’s warm," Ratio said. "And I want you here."
For a moment, Aventurine could only stare. But something inside him untangled. And he stepped forward.
He slid in beside Ratio, still modest in a tank top and boxers, bubbles curling around them. The warmth was soothing, like being swaddled in something soft and real. They sat, side by side, water lapping at their arms.
Aventurine turned to look at him. "Back when I had my date with Topaz... she said that I only kept talking about you."
Ratio blinked, his cheeks pink but that was probably from the water's heat. "Is that so?"
Aventurine nodded, "She said we sounded close. That I smiled when I said your name."
He looked up, eyes searching Ratio’s.
"She was right."
Ratio, who had spent his life surrounded by numbers, logic as well as made it his life's mission to cure the world of a disease called Idiocy... He realized that love was none of those things. It was this: shared warmth. Lingering glances. The soft sigh of someone daring to be seen.
"I think," he said, slowly, "I loved you before I knew what love was." Aventurine’s heart clenched. "I spent so long chasing people who didn’t choose me," he murmured. "And you were here. The whole time. Just waiting."
Ratio turned toward him fully, fingers brushing over Aventurine’s hand beneath the water.
"I wasn’t waiting. I was hoping."
"Ratio..."
"Aventurine..."
They leaned in. Closer. Steam curled between them like a secret. Lips almost touching—
MEOW.
A bottle clattered onto the tiles.
Cake the cat stared at them with judgmental, glinting eyes from the sink, tail flicking.
Aventurine groaned. "CAKE."
Ratio wiped a droplet of conditioner off his nose. "Sabotage."
===============
Later, in the bedroom, they locked the door behind them.
"Sorry, Cake," Aventurine said. "You’re banned."
They sat on the bed, both freshly dried, Aventurine in one of Ratio’s oversized shirts, and Ratio only in his pants. Their shoulders touched. Then their knees.
Aventurine reached out, his palm resting over Ratio’s chest.
"Your heart beats fast when I’m close," he murmured. "Are you that happy for me or dreading me?"
Ratio chuckled and gave his answer by sealing their lips together.
Their fist kiss.
Softly, slowly, like turning the final page of a long-awaited book. There was no rush. Just relief.
Aventurine smiled into the kiss.
"I guess we’re not housemates anymore."
Ratio nodded. "We’re something else now."
They fell back into the pillows, fingers linked.
Cake scratched at the door.
They ignored him as they made love til sunrise.
============
They told the landlady together the next morning.
Lack of sleep, sore but stupidly in love.
"We’d like to rent the apartment together. Permanently," Aventurine said.
The landlady didn’t even blink. "Cake already told me."
"You talk to our cat?" Ratio asked, concerned.
"Cats know everything," she said with a wink.
===================
Epilogue:
Sugilite dragged his feet into the meeting room, muttering under his breath. He expected another ancient senior to babysit him. Instead, the screen on the wall flickered on.
Screwllum’s mechanical face appeared.
"Conjecture: Your behavioral issues stem from misdirected envy and undeclared feelings."
Sugilite blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Conclusion: You admired Ratio. Possibly desired mentorship. Possibly more. Aventurine’s proximity triggered perceived rivalry, resulting in antagonistic behavior."
Sugilite crossed his arms. "That's ridiculous."
"Counterpoint: Your insults toward Aventurine were targeted, frequent, and laced with competitiveness disproportionate to his actual behavior."
"He was always around Ratio! Always talking to him, laughing with him like—"
"Observation: You internalized Ratio’s affection for Aventurine as a personal loss, despite never expressing your own admiration."
Sugilite scowled, looking away.
"Affirmative: I am your new supervisor. I will shadow you very diligently."
Sugilite dropped his face into his hands, "I want a transfer..."
.........
.................
...................................
The End