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The University of Veritas Prime’s academic year is soon approaching the end of its odd semester. That means this month is the last month of the system year. And that means another year-end celebration is coming. Veritas can hear his students talking to each other on how they plan to spend their holiday, and he can’t help but smile at their cheerful chatter.
Speaking of new year celebrations, he’s been pondering on what he should do together with his dearest gambler, or what to give. Aventurine has always been the one planning everything, from a private dinner in a 3-star restaurant to a 24-hour flight with a special route designed to experience midnights from all timezones in the world. He knows that Aventurine will appreciate whatever he comes up with, but it just doesn’t feel right to give less than his best for his husband.
He considers asking for ideas to his colleague, but upon further thinking, he decides not to do it to make sure whatever plan he has won’t reach Aventurine’s ears. So here he is, spending his time in the university library racking his brain off. The books there might not be of use, but he finds that ideas come up to him nicely when his mind is busy.
One particular book stands out more than the rest, as the title contains a place very familiar to him. “Unraveling the Lost Ancient Civilizations of Laurel Wreath Galaxy”… Well, this is not the topic he’d expect to be here. Curious with the content, he grabs the book from the bookshelf and begins to read the preface.
Historians have been searching for traces of the two lost civilizations among the many ancient civilizations of the Laurel Wreath Galaxy. After hundreds of years worth of research, historians have learned numerous lost stories of these two remarkable yet fleeting civilizations. This book will cover the many pieces of information we have so far about these two civilizations. However, as the second one appears to appropriate a lot of the first civilization’s laws and traditions—historians have speculated this to be an act to show superiority and strength of the empire, this book will talk about both civilizations at the same time while also highlighting the difference between them.
“Oh, how intriguing. It’s been a long time since I touched the topic of history…” he murmurs, his fingers smoothly flipping through the pages.
… There was a festival that was a bit unique than the rest. The Greeks called it Kronia, while the Romans called it Saturnalia. What made this festival unique was, while it was still a festival to honor and celebrate a God like any other festival they had, this was the only festival where slaves and servants got to taste the freedom their masters enjoyed…
“A festival where slaves and servants can forget their identity and be seen as an equal, huh…” he closes the book slowly, already getting what he needs. His mind wanders, forming the idea of what to do and give to Aventurine. He puts it back to the bookshelf, before leaving the library with a smile adorning his face.
He now knows what to do and give to his dear husband.
Veritas walks his way back to their house with light steps, a faint smile is visible on his face as he imagines how happy Aventurine would be. It fills his stomach with butterflies, and the mere imagination of Aventurine’s wide, joyful grin is enough to warm his heart.
As he daydreams along his way home, the trip doesn’t feel as long as it usually does, and now he’s back in the comfort of their home. With haste, he goes straight to his study before he sits leisurely on the couch with a book he randomly picked up from his collection.
Now, Veritas has to decide how exactly he’s going to make Aventurine feel more appreciated… Which he isn’t sure on how to. With a husband that will brag about how Veritas gives him a small peck in his cheek to his colleagues for a week, anything Veritas does will look like some Aeons-sent blessings to Aventurine.
“Perhaps I should go for things I usually won’t do…” he mumbles, his fingers fidgeting on a page’s edge of the book he holds.
The more Veritas thinks about it, the more he finds his idea doesn't really make sense. Aventurine is no longer the slave that he was, and the erasure of said status was already done long ago. His husband is no longer someone who is deprived of his basic rights, so the idea of ‘letting him taste freedom’ sounds a bit ridiculous here.
But…
“H-Ha…” Veritas can feel his husband thrashing around in his sleep. He rises up to take a better look at Aventurine’s complexion, which doesn’t look good. The blonde is frowning and he’s drenched in cold sweat.
“Sis-Sister—!” Veritas can’t hear what Aventurine wants to say after that, because he’s awake with a shocked gasp. Knowing this is not the right time to ask about that, Veritas’ hand goes to the blonde’s hair, combing it smoothly as Veritas wipes the sweat off his husband’s face and neck. His attempt to touch Aventurine’s neck is hindered by the other’s hand that covers his neck using his own palm before Veritas can even reach for him.
Veritas doesn’t make a fuss over it, but he knows what such an automatic defensive gesture could mean.
… The scars are still carved deeply within his husband, and they will never heal. They may hurt less as time flies, but they will never heal. Even when he’s here, sharing that heavy burden, the scars will still not heal. So, what he can do is just keep soothing them, lessen the pain, and tending to the ever-tender wounds for Aventurine.
When he thinks of it that way, everything starts to make sense again. If not for Aventurine, then he will do it for Kakavasha.
The IPC has lots of departments. That means the year-end audit is going to be long and tedious. And that means Aventurine is going to be swamped with his work. Veritas has been thinking about what to do to make his husband less tired, but it’s all useless if Aventurine isn’t even home. But he also doesn’t want to appear clingy by asking his husband to bring some of his work home.
Fortunately, the catcakes—being the intelligent little creatures that they are—seem to have snitched about how gloomy he is in the past few days to Aventurine, because his considerate husband begins to work from home more.
(it’s only possible thanks to Aventurine’s stoneheart benefit)
Anyway, with Aventurine now spending more time at home, Veritas is finally able to give his dear Aventurine the care he deserves. He decides to start from the beginning. First, if Aventurine is going to drown in paperworks, he needs his coffee. He never sees his husband drink his coffee with sugar, but taking note of Aventurine’s fondness for sweets, he uses the beans with sweet and creamy notes to make the coffee.
When he brings the hot cup of coffee to the blonde’s study, he’s immediately met with the delighted look of his husband. “Ah, coffee! Exactly what I need right now,” he reaches out to receive the cup from Veritas. The executive took a small sip before his eyes brighten up further. “It’s good, exactly what I like. Thank you, Veri.”
Thank you. Just a simple two words, yet it fills Veritas’ heart with pride and satisfaction. He only nods in response, before pressing a light kiss to Aventurine’s cheek and leaves the study.
Aventurine will join him at lunch time, so he spends the rest of the time before lunch cooking. The children—Aventurine loves to call the catcakes as their ‘children’—busy hopping on the kitchen’s table, wanting to help their mom, though Veritas soon told them to stay away so they don’t get hurt.
After hours of cooking—most of the time was spent to keep the catcakes away though—he finishes the dish, a hearty portion of moussaka based on an authentic recipe from his homeland. He finishes it just in time for Aventurine to come out from his study.
“Ah, smells good~ what’s today’s lunch, Veri?” He takes a deep breath, smelling the creamy scent of the food as he walks towards the kitchen. He hugs Veritas from behind, taking a peek of the fresh-from-the-oven moussaka.
Veritas turns his head just enough to meet Aventurine’s curious face, “An old recipe from my homeland. I hope this will taste good, though, because this is my first time cooking it.” His remark earns him a chuckle from Aventurine. “I’m sure anything you cook tastes divine, Veri~”
After the purple-head sets the food on the table and the blonde prepares the utensil, they begin to eat. The catcakes, despite having their own food, are keen to ask for a bite or two from them, joining the warm atmosphere between the pair.
“Oh, come on, Spade, don’t the three of you have your own food already? And since when do you all eat human food anyway?” Aventurine’s feigned annoyance only makes the other catcakes eager to bother him.
Veritas laughs at the solidarity between their three children, though as he sees the silent plea for help in his husband’s face, he gets up to fetch three smaller plates for them, before giving each of them a portion to eat. “Alright, children, stop bothering your dad and come get your own portion. Dad’s been working hard, so don’t steal his food, okay?”
“And of course they listen to their mom…” the executive sighs as he watches the three of them leave him to eat on their own plate.
“Maybe if you tease them less, they’d listen to you, Aven,” the scholar replies, pointing out Aventurine’s hobby of teasing them too much. Aventurine only hums in answer, admitting his fault although showing no intention to stop.
The blonde chews down his food, before telling Veritas about his plan after lunch. “So, uh… I’m going to have a meeting after this. It’s an online meeting, but it’s not a voice-only so I can’t lounge in the living room with you like I usually do.” He stops for a moment, before muttering his apology, “Sorry, even though I brought my work home so that we can spend more time together, I ended up locking myself in my study.”
The purple-head shakes his head, “Don’t feel sorry, Aven, we can’t help it.” He picks up the empty plates to the sink, leaving them there to be washed later. “Come, I’ll help you dress.”
Veritas makes a quick work to dress his husband with the stoneheart uniform. His hands smoothen some faint creases before they move to put on the cape and pin a lapel pin. He even put the pair of cufflinks that are made with aventurine stones, despite the blonde’s protest about being too thorough.
“If you truly hate it, you’d use a firmer tone against me, my golden ducky,” Veritas giggles as he plants a kiss to the executive’s cheek. “I’ll bring your dinner to your study later, and then we can eat there. Have fun with your fellow stonehearts, Aven.”
Veritas spends the entire afternoon playing with the catcakes, holding himself from bothering his husband in his study. As the sun finally sets, he goes up from the fluffy carpet he was sitting on to warm the remaining moussaka for tonight's dinner. While the oven does its job, Veritas takes the time to dress himself, changing into one of Aventurine’s gifts that he almost never wears due to… how revealing the clothes are.
He brings the warm moussaka with him to his husband’s study. He was about to knock on the door, but the muffled voice Aventurine’s words made it unnecessary. “Come in, Veri, the meeting’s done.”
Ignoring the way his husband’s jaw drops at the sight of him, Veritas puts the food down to the blonde’s desk, and then makes his way to sit on Aventurine’s lap. “Mmm… You’ve worked hard, Aven. Shall I feed you?”
Aventurine doesn’t immediately answer that. He’s confused about the sudden change in Veritas. He doesn’t hate it, no, he likes it, but Veritas was never one to initiate first—and he knows why, so he’s worried if there’s something bothering his husband that leads to his change.
“Indulge my curiosity, Veri… What’s this all about?” The blonde looks up to the purple-head on his lap, his arms secured on Veritas’ waist, making sure his beautiful husband stays close to him.
“Mmm… Think of it as a new-year gift from me,” Veritas replies, his hands reaching to cup his husband’s dashing face as he presses his lips to Aventurine’s forehead.
Aventurine closes his eyes, letting Veritas kiss him all he likes. “Getting pampered by my beautiful husband is certainly a good way to welcome a new year,” he chuckles, his hands moving to hold the hands that are on his face, bringing them down as he leans forward to kiss Veritas’ neck.
“But seriously, I’m curious, my brilliant dawn. What’s the occasion? I mean, normally people would give a physical gift or arrange a date when celebrating the new year…” The blonde whispers, his breath brushes softly on Veritas’ kiss-tainted neck.
Veritas lets out a low whine, enjoying the feeling of Aventurine’s lips on his neck. He tilts his head slightly to give the blonde a better access. His hands—now free from Aventurine’s grip—reach up to his husband’s shoulder, gripping it lightly as he answers his big ducky’s question.
“It was… ah… just a sudden idea…” he begins. “I read something about an ancient civilization from my homeland, and then the book mentioned a festival where, hmm… how should I say this…” the purple-head’s fingers fidget nervously, clearly scared that he might upset Aventurine with what he’s going to say.
Aventurine nibs on Veritas’ earlobe playfully, a silent gesture of trust; that he knows Veritas won’t purposely upset him. “Mhm, go on, what’s about that festival, dear?”
His husband’s whisper to his ear is enough to elicit a soft moan from Veritas’ parted lips. His brows knit adorably as he struggled to continue, “It mentioned a festival where slaves can be treated as their masters’ equals… so I was thinking to not let you do anything, to let you know the taste of being served.”
Aventurine stops his teasing at the scholar’s words, his eyes widen in surprise, not expecting Veritas to bring up his past before he gained the name Aventurine. But Veritas isn’t done with his story.
“Aside from that obvious reason, the reason I chose to do this is because I think… the whole meaning of that festival is about earning something one usually can’t get.” Veritas’ voice goes a little quieter at the last few words. “Unlike you, who’s always so forward in expressing your love for me, I find it difficult to do so. That doesn’t mean I don’t love you, but expressing myself fully has never been something I excel at, and even now, I’m still unsure how to proceed, how to make sure you feel loved.”
Aventurine’s gaze soften at his husband’s display of vulnerability. Even when he’s baring himself like this, he’s still so considerate of Aventurine, treading carefully to not touch the tender wounds inside Kakavasha’s heart… There’s no way he could ever doubt Veritas’ love.
“My brilliant dawn,” the blonde calls, his voice gentle and soft. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I know,” the purple-head gasps at the sudden touch on his nape. “I just want to.”
Veritas’ hands once again move to caress the blonde’s cheeks. “The past does not define you. But still, I want to overwrite it. So that every time you’re reminded of it, or when you’re haunted by the ghost of it, at least there’s me in those memories, to keep you company.”
The scholar leans down, pressing his forehead against his dear husband. At this distance, Aventurine can see how vibrant the color of dawn in Veritas' eyes. His heart thumps loudly hearing his husband’s words. Words that are full of love, full of determination. He really wants to kiss this adorable scholar who sits on his lap…
He starts from the plump lips, “You did great. You did really, really great.” Then each of Veritas’ cheeks. “You’ve just expressed your thoughts eloquently.” Another kiss to his beautiful husband’s eyelids. “You’re improving, and I’m so proud of you.” And another peck to his brilliant dawn’s nose.
From far away, fireworks begin to color the night sky, though the supposedly loud bang that accompanies them fade out as the two men drown each other in their embrace, whispering words of adoration to each other.
“Happy new year, my dear.”