perfectmatch | week two

[ There’s probably a park or something that they can stroll around in, while the poor camera guy has to trundle along with them.

Ah, but he does love holding Aventurine’s hand and takes it gladly. ]

You are?

[ He seemed to take losing the race well, just with a bit of surprise. This clearly goes deeper. Much deeper. ]

Mhm. Call it professional pride. No one likes to be bad at what they're supposed to be good at.

[ A bit vague, perhaps, but the implication is there: if he didn't have his luck, his inclination to win, then what else does he have?

... Right. A secret. Well, then. ]

My natural luck is why I'm still alive, but my family, my people - are not. Ironic, isn't it?

[ Oh. Very suddenly some puzzle pieces snap into place. That unfathomable loneliness and grief, that feeling of hating himself. It comes on the backs of so many dead, and Nico knows all too well the feeling of wondering why — why did it have to be them, and not me? ]

Mon étoile... truly? You are all that is left?

...Yes. [ It's been...years, years and years since his sister told him to run, since that bloody day that should have been one of providence. ] We weren't a prolific people to begin with. Famine and poverty and an age-old blood feud took care of the rest.

[ It should have been him instead of them. ]

[ He stops walking then, uses their joined hands to tug Aventurine close, and pull him into a hug. As ever, Nico is mindful of his strength, but he’s long learned what’s needed for a good hug, how much pressure and warmth. ]

I am so sorry.

[ ...Oh.

Maybe eventually, he'll stop finding himself utterly astonished at Nico's tender kindness, but in the moment, all he can do is lean into it, his free hand curling against the vampire's chest.

He's heard it before, now and again. When they realize who he is, recall the headlines that had made the rounds after. The IPC had called it an "extinction event", but he never liked that wording. It was genocide. Sigonia became a household name only because of that tragedy, and as its only survivor, others regarded him with fear or pity. I'm so sorry, but they wouldn't meet his eyes, wouldn't ask anything else. And why would they? To them, it was nothing more than a tragic story.

But Nico gives him something that he's never been given before: comfort, a warm reassurance that his words are meant, that he grasps the weight of the tragedy that spurred Aventurine down such a tumultuous, lonely path.

He doesn't say anything. He just curls his fingers in the fabric of Nico's shirt, leans his head against his chest, and lets his tired eyes fall shut, listening to the other man's heart beat. ]

[ Call it a highly educated guess, but he can’t imagine the Aventurine has ever received genuine comfort for his aching heart, someone who cared enough to make him feel not alone in the vast dark in which he shines. That breaks Nico’s heart just as much as knowing why he feels so alone in the first place.

Everyone deserves kindness, he thinks.

Aventurine simply sinks into him, and Nico’s embrace tightens just slightly, one hand coming up to slip into Aventurine’s hair in soothing little motions. ]

I have you.

[ For as long as he needs, be it a moment, an hour, or even forever. ]

[ I have you. He says it so easily, so effortlessly - doesn't he realize how such simple reassurances upend everything Aventurine has come to understand about himself? About his place in the world? They sound like words that should be meant for someone else, anyone else, but they're his.

He's in some kind of danger he's never known before, but it's...warm, here. He doesn't want to throw up his defenses, doesn't want to shore up his walls. (Nico would just fly over them, anyway.) ]

...I miss them everyday, still. [ His family, his people, all of them. For as harsh as the sands of Sigonia-IV were, it was last and only place he knew what love felt like. ] But I...realized something recently. When I see them again...I want to be ready for that day. I want to make them proud.

[ He had to accept the inevitability of his own death before he could come find meaning in his life. Hah, figures. ]

[ Nico is nothing if not that, a bastion of safety and warmth. A lighthouse in even the harshest storm. His life was changed for the better because someone loved him, someone showed him warmth and kindness. It took losing that light to realize what it meant to him.

If he can be even a fraction of that for someone else, it will have all been worth it.

He pulls away a little. Not enough to let go, but enough to look at Aventurine, curled in his arms. ]

That is beautiful, mon étoile. Living as best you can... it is the best way to honor the people you have lost.

[ Living the best he can is a goal he isn't sure he's met yet, but it's part of what brought him here in the first place. A change of pace, a different perspective...something that he wanted to do that had nothing to do with his work for the IPC. It's a work in progress, one that started with the acknowledgement that he wanted to live at all.

He meets Nico's gaze, smile soft, a little color in his cheeks before he leans in to press a quick kiss to his cheek. Kyaa... ]

...Thank you. [ He doesn't quite feel qualified to bear the legacy of living for all of them, but he's. Trying. ] Haha, I haven't put too much of a damper on our date, have I? My apologies.

[ But whether or not the vibes are off, he's still glad he shared it. Which...is an unusual and novel feeling in itself. ]

[ Nico smiles warmly in response to that kiss, leaning in just a little to touch their foreheads together. The vibes are most assuredly not off, just a little different than they were before. ]

Not at all. Thank you for telling me.

[ Aventurine seems the type to keep his business private, so knowing this much feels like something of a gift. He’ll have to be sure not to squander it. He can only hope that Aventurine feels a little less lonely knowing that someone else out there shares his secret. ]

Come, let us continue our walk.

[ Until production drags them back to the manor. ]

week two | dates

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