Chapter Text
The first few days of living with Aventurine are a little awkward.
You don’t really know how much you should intrude, how long you’re welcome. It’s not that Aventurine is a bad host - on the contrary, he’s actually quite hospitable. The man is perfectly fine with showering you with the best luxuries he can find (which is mostly just deliciously ripe produce, since credits are rendered useless here), giving you his rather comfortable makeshift spare bed, and letting you wander wherever you want.
You try to do your best to adjust, helping out around the house and not prying him about personal matters or anything he might not want to talk about - especially what happened in Penacony, or his dark past that Topaz alluded to when you asked her about him before leaving the planet.
It’s only one night when you hear a muffled sound that you startle, body stilling in the kitchen where you’d been getting water. Normally, the house is quiet when the sun has gone down, only the faint sound of waves outside coming through. Tonight, however, there’s something coming from Aventurine’s room. At first you think that maybe it was just your imagination, but then it happens again.
Curious - and cautious - you tiptoe closer to Aventurine’s door, brows furrowed, and then your eyes widen when you recognize the sound. It’s…sniffling? And a hiccup or two…
…is Aventurine crying ?
Your bare feet feel like they’re rooted to the wooden floor as you try and figure out what to do. You feel bad, want to go and comfort him, but that would be an invasion of privacy, no? If his door is closed, clearly he doesn’t want you inside. After a few moments, you exhale, tearing yourself away from his door as the sniffling continues. It tugs at your heartstrings, but the last thing you want to do is abuse his goodwill for letting you stay in his house while you investigate The Blue on the behalf of Herta and the Express.
Instead, you just drink your water, heading back to the makeshift bed of cloth stuffed with leaves once you’re done. Fluffing your pillow, you lay down, letting out a little sigh as you close your eyes once more. The day was tiring, as you’d had to go to the far end of the island this time for the substance that Herta had asked you to collect samples of on Ruan Mei’s behalf - “principium vitae”. It was quite the effort, and your limbs sink into the bed as you relax.
However, sleeping proves difficult when you can still hear the muffled sounds from Aventurine’s room. You’d thought he would hopefully calm down soon, but the noises only grow in intensity. You toss and turn, guilt gnawing away at you as you hear what sounds like him calling out for someone, perhaps? It’s only a few moments later when your eyes snap open, realization dawning. If Aventurine specifically locked himself away to cry in private, why would he be loud? And who is he calling out to?
You jump up, stumbling in haste as you grab your bat. What if he’s in trouble, or-?! Deciding to just go for it, you hold your breath and throw open your door, poised to fight. What you see, though, is not an intruder or anything that could hurt Aventurine, nor do you see him injured.
Instead, the man is in bed, clutching his blanket for dear life as his frame wracks with sobs. His face is buried into a pillow, blonde hair strewn as he twitches and mumbles something you can’t understand.
Your eyes widen as you slowly lower your bat, heart pounding. Then, without thinking, your body moves on autopilot, hurrying to his side and gently tugging the pillow out of his arms. Sure enough, his eyes are closed, clear distress on his sleeping face. Nightmares…
At first, you’re not sure what to do - will he be angry if you see him in this state? Ashamed? Never meet your eyes again? - but when Aventurine lets out a broken “...Big Sis…don’t go…”, you can’t take it anymore. Your hands find his shoulders, carefully shaking him.
“Aventurine?” you whisper softly. “Aventurine, it’s me.” He lets out a sleepy sound, relaxing for a second before he startles awake, bolting upright with wide, frenzied eyes. His body is completely stiff, hands shaking as his manic gaze lands on you.
“W-what- who-” he gasps, and you quickly dodge when he lunges at you.
“Aventurine, it’s me!” you repeat frantically, putting your hands up. “You’re in your house, you’re safe now, it’s okay…” Your voice is soft, trying to soothe him, and when realization dawns on Aventurine’s face, he immediately stops trying to fight against you, panting.
“____? I…” he whispers, at a loss for words. He looks so lost that you want to reach out and take him into your arms, but you stay still, letting him calm down.
“I’m sorry for coming in,” you say instead. “I heard noises, and then realized you were having a nightmare…”
Aventurine is quiet as he slumps back against the bed. Eventually, he lets out a shuddering breath, wiping his eyes. “It’s fine. Thanks, friend.”
You wait for him to say something else, but he doesn’t, so you awkwardly get up. “Alright then, I guess I’ll just-”
“Wait.” You feel a hand grab your wrist, looking back in surprise to see Aventurine’s eyes on you as he prevents you from leaving. “I’d appreciate it if you could, ah…” He struggles a little to try and figure out what to say, gaze dropping. “Well. You see, nightmares are…common for me, but if someone’s nearby it’s not as bad. And since we’re friends, you won’t mind staying for a bit, right?” He glances back up at you, his usual charming smile back on his face, but it’s weaker this time, perhaps because you can clearly see the tiredness in his eyes.
A sad smile makes its way onto your face, feeling sympathy for the man. Aventurine may act high and mighty all the time, but he doesn’t seem to have any friends or family other than the Stonehearts and Dr. Ratio, all of whom he hasn’t seen since he left Penacony. Sometimes you wonder how lonely he must truly be.
“Sure, I’ll stay,” you tell him, once again sitting on the corner of the bed. “What should I-” The question doesn’t even fully leave your mouth before Aventurine is shifting, making more space next to him before patting it.
“Lay down, at least. You don’t think I’m going to make you sit and do nothing all night for my sake, do you?” His smile is wry, and you laugh a little, masking your surprise at the invitation.
“Alright, if you say so.” You carefully ease yourself onto the bed, making sure to keep a respectable distance between yourself and the blonde. Aventurine sighs, curling up on his side as well, facing you. For a few seconds, his beautiful Avgin eyes search yours, heavy with sleep and melancholy. Then he reaches out, almost as if testing the boundaries. A little shocked and more than curious as to what he wants, you let him, eyebrows lifting as he takes the invitation to tug you closer by the shirt.
“You took my pillow away, so unfortunately you’ll have to fill that role now.” That’s his only explanation as Aventurine buries his face in your chest, leaving you wondering if he perhaps got poisoned or something to behave like this. As his breathing slows down, though, lulled back into sleep, you tentatively put an arm around him. When he’s just in nightclothes, not running his mouth and loudly proclaiming his schemes, Aventurine seems so small, so pitiful in your arms.
It’s so strange, yet it tugs at your heartstrings, makes you want to protect him.