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Vertias Ratio has never deemed himself as a ‘soft’ person. What the other researchers were saying about him should be none of his business. What idiocy to be surrounded by, people that could barely formulate a quadratic formula without doing calculations on paper. Wasted time, when you could do it mentally. But he digresses- What could possibly make these idiotic colleagues of his call him soft?
Is it his hair? Or his appearance? Perhaps he should ask Mei for her help. Still, he shouldn’t rely on her too much. He wants to see something else besides her exasperated pout at him sometimes, even if he found it cute.
He takes his leave from the meeting room, giving his colleagues a tough glare to signal him to bury their heads back in their work. A glare not quite as fierce as usual, however, as he spots one of her signature creations near the door of his office in the building. He attempts to show no farce of excitement outwards to the people pacing around his office hoping to get approval for their mediocre solutions and concepts they’d like him to analyse.
“Dr Ratio-perhaps this solution could work? You’ve mentioned trying this particular formula before-”
“Move. Stop blocking the area around my office, would you?” He almost sighs as he manages to catch a quick glance at the numbers on the waving paper in their hand. He could already spot a human error on the second line of the whole formula.
“You have no more meetings today, surely you could spare some-”
His glare and tone should have been enough to chase off this persistent researchers by now, but he supposed some have a hidden level of supreme idiocy.
“I said move. I’m being extremely respectful and considerate to you here. Remember your place.”
The researcher that he hasn’t bothered to take note the name of still opens their mouth in an attempt to annoy him further with their pathetic excuses of ‘precise calculations’.
“I have a meeting with a member of the genius society soon. I wish to get ready.”
What he has just said was a complete lie, but the sudden shock in her eyes and tremble in her legs tell him that she truly believes whatever he is spouting. Her lips finally quiver shut and the papers in her waving hand stop fluttering in his face.
“Apologies, Dr Ratio. May I inquire which member of the genius society is it? It is required to key it in to security.”
He sighs and almost rubs his temple for what seems like the hundredth time in the same day.
“Member 81 of the Genius Society. Mdm Ruan Mei.”
After she finally scampers off like a scared rat with her tail behind her, he can finally proceed to his office. Today’s signature creation she left near his door looks just like him. It has his lavender hair shade as it’s outer shell, and the golden hue of his eyes. He notices it even has a small laurel pattern near the back of its shell, as if to mirror the one he wears on his head currently.
She’s gotten better at making them recently. Whether as a by-product of her bigger experiments or something else, she is improving. It even has the smell of his signature cologne– He’s shocked that she has managed to replicate the scent, but perhaps it was a result of being close to him often.
He scoops up the little creature into his arms as it lets out a soft purr of stubborness. It’s tail angrily spikes up and directs to the floor, where a red box with a ribbon has been left. It’s obviously been sent by her, as he can tell by the faint aura emitting from it. The smell of plum tea and sex as they both wake up in the same bed in the morning, her nursing hand feeding him a piece of pastry. Once he picks up the box, the creature is suddenly happy again. Mood swings, honestly. It quite reminded him of himself. How she managed to retain his inmate traits into the creature would forever remain a mystery to his unadled brain. He was a genius, but she was simply on a different scale. The knowledge to parallel universes, the ingenuity to be able to partake in the simulated universe.
The cat nips his finger to get him to pay attention to it. Its face has returned to a grumpy look, but instead of pouting it just looks at him like how he looks at his fellow colleagues.
“Stop glaring like that. Whatever have I done?” His brain tells him there’s no point in reasoning with a cat, but he does so anyway.
The cat glares more at him, its golden gaze feeling all too familiar. The cat turns its head away from him in a pompous manner, as if mocking his own behaviour.
He needs to tell her they are far too similar.
He shifts the position of the cat more comfortably in his arms, and it’s happy again.
When he finally manages to open the dastardly complicated lock on his office door, for ‘Security purposes’, he’s greeted by an engulfing scent of plum blossoms. He recognises this scent all too well. Even so, he turns his head to his desk to acknowledge her presence.
And she’s there, sitting on his desk, dressed in a white gown with blue accents running down. The pearls near the waist of the dress hang delicately, and the dress opens up in the middle to reveal her thighs in matching white stockings. The fabrics on her body all mold together to her, as his gaze travels slowly to her hair. A braid circles around the back of her hair as it’s no longer constrained in her usual messy bun. She lets it down, and he sees the blue in her hair that matches her dress perfectly. He goes down to her hands, her wrists clad in white fabric with a blue ribbon trailing out of him.
And lastly, he focuses on her face. He hears her breath draw back slowly, and he knows she’s realised he’s been staring at her. He lets his gaze trail over her face slowly until it meets her blue eyes. He stares at it like he’s trapped in the endless sea. He is hers, the way the sea belongs to the moon and the moon belongs to the sea and he knows that as long as he exists she will be loved.
“Vertias, I thought your meeting ended earlier. Do you know how long I waited for you?”
She breathes, the sound swallowed by the room.
“Such a problem could be easily solved, Ruan Mei, if you had simply informed me of your visit beforehand. Surely a genius like you could comprehend the fact of doing something called scheduling.”
He expects a teasing rebuttal to his petty speak, but she leans further down, still on his desk, and murmurs, “No pet names today, Vertias?”
He feels his ears flush at her words, the way five words had such an impact on him. And she knows it. He can feel her teasing gaze directed at him as he walks towards her. He places himself two steps before where she's seated on his desk. Here, they are almost the same height, even though he's still at least an inch taller. He takes advantage of their height difference to pull her into an unexpected kiss, which makes her squeak slightly in surprise before she lets her lips flow with his. She pushes herself closer to him, so they're pressing again each other. Their foreheads almost brush as he continues kissing her lips. As she allows his tongue to slip slightly into her mouth, he tastes sugar. She's clearly not been heeding his advice to reduce his sugar intake.
But then again, he was the one that secretly bought her sweets to place in her lab and his office.
After they break apart, her cheeks are flushed heavily, and he's sure his are no different, if not worse. Gaining back her demeanor, she leans slightly back.
“Have you opened the gift I left for you?”
She clearly spots it in his hand, but refuses to acknowledge it. He lets her have it.
“No, Mei. Why, is it something important?” He speaks to her in a Cheshire tone, his turn in an attempt to tease her back for her words previously. It works, he supposes, when her cheeks flush slightly more and she ruffles her hair. She gestures for him to open it, and after a moment, he decides to stop the suspense and undoes the ribbon.
He lifts the lid of the box. Inside is an array of chocolates, some dusted with icing sugar, others with delicate decor, and some with flower petals on them. He takes a chocolate from the box and brings it close to her lips. She leans back to avoid pressing it against her lips as she gently shakes her head at him.
“They're for you, Vertias.”
“And I wish to share them with you. If you're thanking me for something, at least heed one of my wishes.”
She rolls her eyes and parts her lips. He places the chocolate between her teeth, and her gaze is blank for a second before he dives in for a second kiss. He allows her to bite down on the chocolate, the flavoring spilling out into both their mouths. He meets no resistance as she allows his tongue to explore the walls of her mouth. He devours her, and the flavoring of caramel filling both their mouths accentuates the taste of her. He feels pleasure coursing through his veins as he presses her against the desk.
She cuts the kiss short right before it gets too heated.
“Vertias, I have a society dinner tonight, why else would I be dressed like this. We can't ruin this outfit, Herta will have my head on a platter.
He almost groans at the sudden absence of her lips, even if he knows he has to abstain himself to avoid Herta's warth. He's seen it before, and personally would love to avoid it.
They stay in his office until her dinner time arrives and half the chocolates in the box are gone, crushed between their lips.
-
He ends up attending the dinner along with her. He tells her that it was a convenient mistake made by one of the guild members, forgetting to address a letter to be sent to his desk informing him about his participation in the event. He tells her that while getting hurriedly tailored into a suit for the event that matches hers. She sees completely through him. In fact, he’s certain that she’s understood the hidden underlying meaning between every one of those half-truths. He doesn’t even know why he lies to her anymore.
He was never invited to the event of geniuses. Being acknowledged by nous was the most pivotal requirement, it seemed. Nous liked those whose determination led them close to obsession, so that he could trail them in, sink them deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that they created themselves. And as he acknowledges the very genius beside him, he sees why Nous only acknowledges them. The woman beside him is an absolutely phenomenal being, beautiful in every aspect down to the bone. Her gaze tells him her brain is just as beautiful as she looks. She sits upon the invisible throne that his heart has built up for her as he acknowledges her in all her beauty and worth; he is simply not good enough. Their worth doesn’t match up. Probability wise, they should never be together. By all fundamental laws of math, she is distantly far away from him on a high pedestal.
But if he cannot reach her high, he will think of imaginary numbers, quadratic equations that lead to infinite solutions until he finds one possibility that leads him to her.
Perhaps this is why Ruan Mei chooses more interest in science than maths. Her morals are simply, her heart is frosted over and her obsession is deeper than any abyss. Their morals do not align, but he finds her perfect. Being with her feels like a step too close to the sun, a meter too deep in the water, a mile too far in the sky. He feels every warning blare at him, every danger possible playing in his head. He stays close to her even if he gets burnt, even if he drowns. He will follow her into the internal abyss that her mind is till the day he dies, and in a way, this is his obsession.
-
“Ah, Madam Ruan Mei, and Dr Vertias Ratio. Please come in.”
They’ve arrived at the dinner.
-
Her dinner is over. She seems exhausted, and she mumbles something about multiple reporters pestering her about her relationship with himself. Was it his comment that he had a meeting with her that set it off that day?
Possibly. The odds of that are quite high, probably around 80 percent. But she doesn't need to know that.
Her eyelids slowly close and she looks like she about to drift off any moment. He sweeps her off her feet, carrying her in his arms as he allows her drooping head to rest on his shoulder.
She smiles at the comfort, and yawns slightly, and he decides she's the most adorable thing he's even heard.
“Did you have a good time?”
“It was alright. Herta was, as usual, a nuisance… but helpful. She wanted off most of the reporters without asking questions. Pushing that aside, we really have to talk to the reporters about this. We're about to be on the new tomorrow based on whatever they concluded by the rumours.” She mutters, in a slightly lower tone than normal, and he can tell she's about to doze off.
“Well, Mei, what would you like me to say to them?” He kisses her forehead softly, brushing her hair aside and taking off the headpiece she's wearing.
“Anything… just don't interfere with our work…”
She's really about to doze off now. Her eyes are closed, and her hands wrap around his shoulders. Her legs finally relax in his arms.
“You have a fond love of the arts, don't you? Especially Opera. And you're quite poetic yourself ironically, considering your occupation.”
She doesn't answer, little snores echoing in the area around them, her eyelids fully closed. He smiles at the sight of her in his arms. She trusts him.
She loves him, consistently, continually, constantly, him, and he doesn't deserve her love. But that doesn't mean that he won't devour it whole. She is a plot twist in his life, the person he's never expected to fall for.
He's become rather poetic all of a sudden. Perhaps it's the atmosphere, or maybe it's the influence of the person in his arms. She's made him a poet.
As he sets her down on their bed, he scribbles a note for her to find the next morning, before whispering into her ear.
“L'amour de ma vie.”
He doesn't see her small smile when he goes to turn off the light switch.
-
Ruan Mei wakes up the next morning with a splitting headache and Vertias not next to her. He must have left early.
She sits up and spots a note he's clearly left for her. He's written another math equation, this time a solution meant to be put in a graphing calculator, it seems. She solves it.
She flushes slightly.
She thinks he's adorable.
-