Chapter Text
Aventurine doesn't visit Ratio's place often, but when he does, he always makes pancakes for breakfast if he stays over. Ratio finds the smell of pancake batter on butter quite relaxing, especially when he knows the meal will taste as good as it smells.
In the middle of cooking a pancake, Aventurine peeks over to Ratio, curious as to what the other was doing as he sat at the dining table. The doctor donned a simple robe and his reading glasses, a rare combination that could only be seen by those Ratio truly trusted. He looked at the crossword puzzle book in his hand with a focused expression.
“‘What is the name of The Belobog History and Culture Museum?’,” Aventurine read, tilting his head to the side as he pondered on the question. “Oh! I know this—the trailblazer recently visited the place because someone stole one of the oil paintings,” he said. He put a finger to his chin, eyes squinting as he began to think of the answer.
In all honesty, Ratio had already solved it. He was merely spaced out, thinking about how cute Aventurine was in the new apron he had bought him. Aventurine's sudden reading of the last question had brought him back to reality, and he continued to remain silent and let the other ponder; his thinking face was quite adorable, after all. So, instead of filling in the answer, he waited for the other's response.
“I got it!” Aventurine snapped his fingers. “'Everwinter City'. Look, it fills all the boxes,” he stated with a smile, sounding very proud of his answer.
Ratio hummed, still yet to utter a single word. He filled out Aventurine's response into the remaining boxes, and marked the puzzle as complete once he cross checked with the answers provided at the back of the book—not that he needed to, but Aventurine would probably be content knowing his guess was correct.
“You did well, dear,” Ratio finally spoke, standing up from his seat. He leans in to plant a kiss on Aventurine's cheek and smiles upon seeing the other blush at the gesture.
“N-no problem, Doc,” Aventurine said. Although they weren't foreign to romantic gestures, it felt like the first time all over again whenever Ratio was the one initiating.
“Your pancakes are burning, by the way,” Ratio chuckled. Aventurine shrieks and returns to the stove, trying his best to salvage the now slightly burnt pancake.
Aventurine serves the defective pancakes to himself, but when Ratio asks him to get a glass of orange juice for him, the doctor secretly switches their plates.
“That's odd, they don't taste burnt,” Aventurine furrows his brows in confusion.
Ratio adds a little more syrup to his pancakes. “Mine taste just fine,” he said with a shrug.
Aventurine lets out a chuckle. “Of course, only the best for you, Doc.”
The other man merely hums, finding himself to enjoy the taste of slightly burnt pancakes a little more than he thought. He glances at Aventurine, who eats his pancakes with a delighted smile, and thinks that he does have the best.
Next time, perhaps he should ask the trailblazer a favour and see if there were any crossword puzzle books in the Xianzhou Luofu.