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Their first meeting on Penacony in the lobby of the Reverie Hotel involves Aventurine kissing ass a lot, and the IPC representative makes an… interesting first impression.
“This guy kinda seems like an ass,” Stelle whispers to Astra and March.
“I wouldn’t have said it like that, but…” March’s voice trails off, unfinished sentence signaling her agreement. Astra looks back towards the man, making a scene in the center of the lobby.
“I dunno about that…” Astra whispers back. “He just seems really… fake?” Stelle and March desperately hold back laughs at that, though Astra doesn’t really understand why. It just makes them kind of sad.
Himeko seems to be seething under her cool exterior when she returns to the group, their reservations sorted thanks to Aventurine. As they head towards the elevator, Astra can’t help but wonder why he did that.
~~~~
Aventurine, as Astra soon learns, is a lot of things, but he’s not someone who does things out of the goodness of his heart, not usually anyway. Helping the Express Crew with their rooms is no exception. When he corners Astra in theirs and Stelle’s room, Astra briefly thinks that he is trying to intimidate them, but he’s not… very intimidating.
“Why corner me? Why not Stelle?” Astra asks, eyes holding firm contact with Aventurine’s behind his tinted glasses.
“Because, little Stellaron, you seem more honest,” Aventurine replies bluntly. Astra’s pretty sure he means naive, but at the same time, the way he holds their gaze feels like an earnest statement. Maybe his poker face is just that good.
“I suppose I am. Why?” His mouth pulls up into a wolfish grin, almost predatory, and again Astra feels like they should be intimidated, but he doesn’t seem to be putting much effort into it.
“I’d like to collaborate with the Astral Express. I think we have aligned goals, and you really can’t trust everyone you meet here in Penacony.” His voice is smooth, buttery, like he’s selling a marketing pitch for a new product. Well, he is sort of doing that, Astra figures.
“But we should trust you?” Astra’s counter is expected, and Aventurine’s eyes shut briefly as he shrugs.
“Well, you don’t have to. This partnership can work without trust.”
Ah, he’s bluffing.
It’s the same sort of rhetoric Caelus uses when he’s trying to insist he’s not upset. Aventurine leans further into Astra’s personal space, so close they can feel his breath on their face, a light fog now covering their glasses.
“Do you trust me?” His voice is barely above a whisper, certainly another tactic of his.
“Yes, Aventurine, I’ll trust you,” Astra answers easily. His eyes widen in surprise, and he searches their face for… Well, Astra’s not really sure. The air is charged, both waiting for the other to speak first.
“Ah! Miss Acheron, I think this is your room, isn’t it?” Astra nearly jumps out of their skin at the sound of Stelle’s voice. Aventurine’s mask seems to slip for a moment, irritation coloring his face before he slips into an easy smile and backs away from Astra.
“It is. Now please get out.” Acheron’s low voice is stern as she glares daggers into Aventurine’s back.
“My bad, my bad.” Aventurine backs towards the door, still facing Astra. “Until next time. Consider my offer.” And then he’s gone. Astra looks from his retreating form to Acheron.
“This… is our room..?” Acheron just shrugs in reply to Astra’s confusion and follows Stelle in.
Astra explains what transpired between them and Aventurine, and over the next few days as they investigate Penacony and begin to genuinely work with Aventurine, Astra notices two things.
First, every time Aventurine speaks with Stelle or Welt, their carefully measured responses don’t surprise him at all; in fact he seems to anticipate anything they could possibly say to him in that regard. Further, he doesn’t seem to be good with honesty, as any time Astra expresses their thoughts without any of the talking around it or veiled words, Aventurine doesn’t know how to respond for a couple seconds, seemingly stunned.
Second, throughout all of their conversations, Aventurine hasn’t used Astra’s name even once. Once Astra notices this, they notice that he actually doesn’t use anybody’s names. Stelle is only ever called “the Trailblazer”; he exclusively refers to Black Swan as “that memokeeper”; Acheron is “Emanator” or “Annihilator”; and Astra has only ever been “little Stellaron” (they’re certain he’s aware that Stelle actually houses the Stellaron, not them, which only baffles them further). Astra’s also certain that Welt and March have exclusively been referred to as “you”.
Despite this, Astra wants to put their trust in him. Even if he won’t trust them enough to refer to them by name.
~~~~
Astra’s heart pounds as they run after the rest of the Express crew (plus Acheron) through Clock Studios Theme Park, anxiety filling their lungs more than the air they’re gasping in. That announcement… The tone in Aventurine’s voice had sent chills down Astra’s spine. Something is seriously wrong, but Astra fears they’ll be too late.
When the group arrives in the screening area, it’s suspiciously empty.
“Woah… That screen is huge…” March says in wonder, looking around her as if she might find Aventurine hiding in plain sight, waiting to ambush them.
“Stay on your guard,” Acheron warns, hand poised over the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it if she absolutely has to. Astra wanders up to stand next to Stelle. The screen flickers on, showing a wide shot of Stelle’s and Astra’s faces, staring up at the screen before them. Astra can’t see any cameras, but in a Dreamscape like this, they suppose a camera could be hidden anywhere.
“Welcome, esteemed guests, to the best - and last - show you will ever see featuring Aventurine of the Ten Stonehearts!” His voice rings clear throughout the area, filling every inch of Astra’s body with dread. Last… show..? He couldn’t possibly…
“You gonna keep shouting at us from nowhere or are you gonna come fight us?” Stelle shouts, boredom lacing her voice as she twirls her baseball bat around lazily.
“Cocky as always, aren’t you, Trailblazer?” Stelle smirks at that.
“It’s one of my better qualities, actually.” She punctuates this with a casual shrug. Astra’s gaze wanders from their sister up to the screen, then down at their feet, unsure where to look without Aventurine standing in front of them.
“What… what exactly are you planning..?” Astra asks, voice strained by fear. The IPC representative lets out a hearty laugh over the speakers.
“An excellent question, little Stellaron! I need the two of you to cause a very large explosion, one that can break this entire Dreamscape apart.” Astra’s eyes widen in shock, and they whip their head up to look at the screen just as it switches off the two Trailblazers to show Aventurine’s face.
“Certainly you aren’t serious,” Welt protests. Himeko steps forward towards the two Trailblazers.
“Do you realize how many people would suffer brain death, if not physical death from an explosion like that?!” Himeko shouts. Her grip on her suitcase tightens, and though Astra doesn’t look back, they can see the dark tendrils starting to spill from Welt’s cane as they creep around Astra’s feet.
“ARE YOU INSANE?!” March shouts. Short and to the point. Aventurine laughs.
“If it makes you feel better to think that, go ahead.” The IPC rep turns his gaze back to the two Trailblazers in front of the screen. “Little Stellaron, I really do regret we couldn’t spend more time together. You’re quite fascinating.”
“You don’t have to do this!” Astra pleads, stepping forward before Stelle’s hand on their chest halts them. Aventurine’s cruel smile softens for half a second, enough for Astra to notice, and then the screen goes black.
There’s no other option, is there?
The battle ends in an instant. One second, Astra makes eye contact with Aventurine through the crack in his mask - left by a well-timed strike from Stelle’s bat. The next, there’s a flash and it’s as if Aventurine had never been there. He’s replaced by a huge slash in the screen that seems to extend through the entire dreamscape.
Acheron is standing right in front of Astra and Stelle, sheathing her katana with a slow exhale. Astra stares up at her, unable to form the words needed to ask what had just happened.
To be honest, Astra can’t wrap their mind around anything that had just happened. Aventurine’s last words to them before the battle started had left them reeling, off-kilter, and quite a burden on their friends. Astra just… couldn’t bring themself to attack him. And now… All they want is to know he’s safe.
Acheron finally turns her head toward Astra, gaze softening into something close to pity when she sees Astra. They suppose they must look pretty bad for Acheron of all people to show a reaction.
“He’ll live. Probably,” Acheron says simply, answering an unspoken question lingering in the air. “He has his own demons to face before he can return.” Astra feels the tears pricking their eyes as alarm crosses Acheron’s face. Stelle rushes over and gathers Astra into her arms.
“Hey, calm down, Astra,” Stelle coos. “There’s no way in hell a flashy bastard like that would go out so easy.” She pets Astra’s head soothingly, and Astra nods, taking shaky breaths to steady themself. She’s right. She’s definitely right.
“I hate to come across as insensitive, but we have other matters to worry about right now,” Acheron adds, voice back to its usual stoicness. “You’ll need to trust that he can handle himself.” Astra nods again against Stelle’s shoulder and pulls away from their sister, wiping their eyes behind their glasses.
“Y-you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll just focus on our mission and try not to worry.” Astra’s voice is still a little wobbly, but the tears have stopped finally. Stelle gives them a bright smile.
“We’ll be right here with ya. You’re bound to get sidetracked if you’re left on your own anyway.” Well, it’s not Stelle if she isn’t ribbing Astra for something, but the normality of it helps ease the knots in Astra’s stomach more.
“I… can’t argue with that,” Astra concedes. Stelle barks out a laugh and slings her arm over Astra’s shoulders to steer them away from the stadium and towards the rest of the crew.
As they walk away, Astra looks back over their shoulder for one last look, the edges of the cut in the screen flickering with a strange red power as the only reminder of what happened.
~~~~
“Astra. Astra!” Fingers snap in front of their face. Astra blinks, looking over to Stelle. “How are we doing this?” She gestures at the audition grounds before them.
“Umm… There’s two routes right?” Astra checks. March nods from beside them. “Then we just split up? Stelle, Firefly, you guys take the right side. I’ll go with March and Himeko.” Stelle and Firefly exchange a glance and blush lightly before looking back to Astra and nodding.
“See you guys at the end.” Firefly waves as she and Stelle set off. March turns to Astra with a cheeky grin.
“You did that on purpose.” A statement of fact, as if March has read Astra’s mind. Astra stammers a bit trying to form a reply before Himeko interrupts.
“Now, now, it’s not polite to interfere with Stelle’s love life, so why don’t we head on?” She steps between the younger crew members and places a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing them along in front of her.
The audition tests are easy, so easy in fact that Astra finds their mind wandering. That’s been happening a lot lately, and Astra isn’t entirely sure what to make of it. They want to focus on the mission - they do! - but instead, their mind is dead set on worrying about one Aventurine of the Ten Stonehearts. It’s frustrating, actually, to realize that they care this much; yet they couldn’t say anything to him before…
Astra shakes their head to clear their thoughts away, just as they approach the final test. A man stands on a platform a ways ahead of them, and though Astra’s eyesight isn’t great, the shock of red hair and gleaming silver armor is hard not to recognize.
“You’ve gotta be fucking joking,” Astra mumbles. Himeko tuts. “Sorry.” They both know Astra’s not sorry.
“Is that… Argenti..?” March whispers, annoyance already drawing her brows down.
“It appears to be so.” Himeko’s voice is light, maintaining her ever-present politeness. She steps forward towards the Knight of Beauty. “We’ll have to face him to meet up with the others so let’s get to it.” March and Astra let out twin groans but follow behind obediently.
As they draw near, Argenti’s face lights up in delight at the sight of the Express crew.
“My friends!” he shouts. “What a marvelous thing that we should meet here!” He closes his eyes and brings a hand to his chest dramatically. “Truly, Idrila’s beauty shines even in the most unexpected meetings.”
“Erm, yeah, sure,” March replies flatly.
“What are you doing here, Argenti?” Astra asks, voice betraying their genuine confusion.
“Ah! I’m the champion of this test.” The knight brandishes his spear, summoned out of thin air, with a flourish. “You’ll need to defeat me in a grand battle if you wish to proceed.”
“That seems quite simple…” Himeko sounds suspicious, and Astra doesn’t blame her. All of the tests have been way too easy for something that was supposed to hinder their progress (not that Astra is complaining).
“Ah, what a glorious reunion this is, to face you all in combat once more!” Argenti’s completely lost in his own thoughts, and Astra considers making a cheeky comment about how they’ve actually fought him several times in the Simulated Universe, but they decide against it. Not worth explaining all of that now.
“I guess let’s get this over with,” sighs Astra. Their bat is at the ready, and they suddenly remember that they… don’t usually do a lot of combat. Caelus and Stelle tend to handle that.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” March asks.
Astra, in fact, is not okay. They’re gasping for breath, hands on their knees, while Argenti waxes poetic about how marvelous their duel was. Astra is not built for combat. March rubs their back soothingly but they can hear her holding back giggles.
“You can laugh; I already hear you,” Astra manages between gasps. March loses it once given permission. After a minute or two, both of them have gathered themselves. Astra straightens up to see March wiping tears from her eyes.
“I just didn’t realize how low your stamina was,” March finally says between lingering giggles. Astra simply rolls their eyes.
“Now that you’re both under control, we need to move on,” Himeko chides lovingly. She heads off, March and Astra following behind. Before they get too far, Astra stops and turns to Argenti.
“Sorry to trouble you, Argenti,” they start, “but if you see or hear anything about a blonde IPC representative, could you text me and let me know? You’ll know it’s him; he’s pretty flashy.” Astra feels a bit embarrassed asking this, but they’re struggling to contain their worry and knowing someone else is keeping an eye out for Aventurine eases their heart.
They just need to see him again.
“It’ll be no trouble at all,” assures Argenti. “If I find someone like that, you’ll know immediately.” Astra gives an awkward smile in thanks and turns back to their friends, running to catch up with them.
~~~~
Astra flops face down on one of the couches in their room, Stelle occupying the other to play games on her phone. After all the craziness with Sunday, Astra wants nothing more than to stare at a wall and dissociate for their last few days on Penacony. They don’t even wanna go back into the dreamscape.
They flop an arm up to set their phone on the table by the couch, internally cursing the next person to text them.
Bzzt.
Astra glares at their phone, daring it to do that again. The moment stretches on before it buzzes again, reminding Astra of their unread message. They groan and grab the phone, fully ready to put their phone on “do not disturb”, but they figure they should check the message first. It’s probably March or Dan Heng - aka, not important.
Miss me?
It is a simple text, but it makes Astra's heart race when they see the sender. They bolt up off the couch and rub their eyes, wondering if maybe they’re hallucinating, but nope. The name is still there at the top of their messages. Astra replies quickly, fingers shaking a little.
rude of you to go off and die like that >:(
Astra tries to play it cool, keeping their usual banter in hopes they can calm their heart (it doesn’t work). Aventurine's reply is quick.
Don’t they say distance makes the heart grow fonder, little Stellaron?
Will you meet me in the VIP lounge of the hotel?
Astra doesn’t hesitate. They jump to their feet and hurry to the door.
“You off to do something fun?” Stelle queries lazily, not looking up from her phone.
“Uh, just gonna… go down to the lounge. Don’t-don’t worry about it,” Astra replies, stumbling over words as they try to act like nothing is going on.
“Mkay, well, tell your boyfriend I said hi.” Astra doesn’t fully catch that last part, the door already shutting behind them as Stelle says it.
Astra tries so hard not to run down the hallway to the stairs. They don’t even make it to the second landing of the staircase when they spot a familiar hat sitting at the bar, his back to the stairs. Astra can’t help the grin that breaks out on their face, nearly tripping down the stairs as they bolt towards him and fling their arms around his neck from behind. Aventurine laughs at their enthusiasm.
“I didn’t think you’d miss me this much,” he teases. Astra tightens their grip into a chokehold for a second and shushes him.
“I don't know what possessed me to do it either so just let me have this,” they reply quietly after a moment, face pressed against Aventurine’s shoulder. “Acheron said she didn’t know how to get you out of there, that void..”
“Ah, I spent a while looking for a way out and then the strangest thing happened,” Aventurine starts. He lets out a soft chuckle at the absurdity of it all. “A Knight of Beauty made his way in there and helped me out.” Astra feels their cheeks heat up; they’d only asked Argenti if he’d keep an eye out, not to track the IPC rep down. They’ll have to thank him later (and get onto him for not telling them as soon as he found Aventurine).
“Wh-what a strange thing… ah ha ha,” Astra agrees, voice strangled over their unintentional involvement and embarrassment. They feel Aventurine’s laugh before they hear it, looking up finally and resting their chin on his shoulder. “What's so funny, mister?”
“You really are the most interesting person I’ve ever met,” he replies simply, voice dripping with fondness.
“That’s what Dan Heng says every time I say something stupid.” That earns another laugh, heartier this time. Aventurine shakes his head in disbelief, hair tickling Astra's ear and cheek. There’s a moment of silence, Aventurine seeming to ponder his next words.
“Thank you, for putting your trust in me,” he says finally. “I did nothing to earn your wholehearted trust but you gave it to me anyway. It… means a lot.”
“What do you mean ‘did nothing’? When you told me about your proposal, you clearly believed in your ideas with everything you had.” Astra's voice is firm with conviction, and they unwind their arms from his neck so they can sit on the stool next to him and face him. “That's enough for me. I knew you had ulterior motives but you still believed it’d benefit the Express despite that." Aventurine looks taken aback at that before his face softens into a gentle smile.
“I can't win against you.” Astra's head tilts in confusion, their cheeks quickly heating up in embarrassment as Aventurine grabs their hand.
“I- uh. Um… I-is this…?” Astra stammers, voice hitching as their confusion mounts. Look, they’ve come to terms with their feelings for Aventurine, but never did they imagine it’d be returned. If that’s what this is.
“Hm? I wonder…" Aventurine's voice takes on a teasing tone, smile quirking up in amusement as Astra's blush deepens. They squint at him in annoyance despite clearly being flustered.
“I just need you to tell me yes or no. I don't wanna play a buncha mind games, Aventurine.” Astra means to sound firm, but it comes out as more of a plea. Aventurine lets a laugh slip before catching himself.
“Aeons above, you can be so dense. Yes, Astra.”
Oh. That’s the first time he’s actually said their name, and Astra feels a knot forming in their stomach. They’re not sure if they want him to say it more or never again. It sounds… so right coming out of his mouth.
“To be honest,” Aventurine continues, “I'm not sure exactly what I'm asking here since we can’t really see each other all the time, but any time of yours that I can monopolize, I'd like you to give to me.” Well. That is straightforward enough. Astra doesn’t trust their voice after a confession like that, so they just nod, glasses slipping down their nose and nearly falling off.
“Maybe… maybe we can go hang out somewhere where Stelle won’t see us and give me a buncha shit about it?” Astra asks, eyes wandering the VIP lounge.
“I have it on very good authority that she’s on a date with a certain Stellaron Hunter in the dreamscape, so we don’t need to worry about that,” Aventurine assures. Astra lets out a breath they hadn’t realized they’d been holding.
“Then my entire evening is yours.”
“Just this evening?” That teasing lilt is back. He’s gonna be the death of them.
“Oh don't give me that. You know what I meant.” Astra pouts, turning their face away from Aventurine a bit as he grins like he just won the lottery (Astra wonders briefly if he actually has done that). A glass of Soulglad slides in front of Astra, and they look back at their companion.
“To the future,” Aventurine says, smiling softly as he tilts his glass towards Astra. They pick theirs up and clink it against his.
“To the future.”