Stelle slumped against the Clockie statue, ignoring the protests of tourists trying to take photos, and let out a heavy sigh. In her hands was her phone, screen still showing the message exchange she'd had with Aventurine (not dead!) not five minutes ago.
Given everything they'd been through from first meeting to now, Stelle wasn't sure she'd classify their relationship as friends, but at the very least she could say she was glad to hear he was still in once piece after everything.
The scheduled message she'd received from him after their fight had been… surprisingly emotional. Both from him in his phrasing and in her own reaction to it. After all it wasn't often you fought a kind-of-ally to maybe-death only to posthumously have them send you sincere blessings and hopes for the future.
But hey! Aventurine's luck won out and he made it through to the other side. Stelle could let herself stop feeling strange and conflicted over that deathbed message, and instead turn those emotions to their most recent conversation.
While it was admittedly nice to hear from him and confirm he was alive, there was something infuriatingly sad about the way he felt the need to disguise his desire to talk beneath games of chance.
Just how much had that man boasted about his good luck? He wanted to lose their little game so he could pretend that he was being forced to talk, as if he thought no one would listen to him if it wasn't information they thought they had won.
People would tell Stelle the weirdest shit regardless of whether or not she asked in the first place. Why would she not be curious about how he survived? They may have had a purposefully monetary relationship - which was all Aventurine's fault for instigating it in the first place - but that didn't mean she was going to shut him down if he wanted to talk about something that didn't involve sending her credits.
The Dreamscape may be a bustling place, but there aren't many 'friends'.
Thanks for helping me through the tough times. Hope I wasn't a bother.
Stelle… kind of wanted to throttle him. Just a little. He definitely hadn't intended to make her depressed with his explanation, but that didn't stop it from happening. It might actually be worse, if he didn't understand how sad and lonely his words sounded.
"Clockie, do you ever wish you didn't care about people?"
The golden statue didn't respond, but Stelle felt like he was probably chiding her anyway. Clockie would never abandon a friend. Aventurine might not exactly be a friend, but aeons did it sound like he needed one.
Getting the Doctors of Chaos to give him a once-over was a good start, but Stelle didn't have a lot of faith in the IPC's employee care policies. If there was one thing she'd learned about them through various encounters it was that, despite the PR, they were definitely a results first company. Even though Aventurine had literally put his life on the line for the chance of getting their desired outcome, giving him a break from work would be getting in the way of whatever assignment they wanted to send him out on next.
Stelle didn't exactly have the power to contact the Big Boss, but she did have stubbornness, unpredictability, and the number for one of the other Stonehearts at her disposal.
As far as she could tell Topaz was… technically… lower in the hierarchy than Aventurine? But that didn't matter. Topaz knew who needed to do what and how to contact them.
Flicking to a different message log Stelle typed out her (totally reasonable) demands.
'Get Aventurine paid vacation time or I riot at Pier Point.'
Truthfully Stelle had no idea where Pier Point was in relation to, well, anything else in the vast galaxy, but at the very least she knew it was where the IPC had their headquarters. Boothill mentioned something about the IPC. They could always go smash in their lobby together if need be.
With that decided she tucked away her phone, ignoring Topaz's many follow-up messages and hoping that Aventurine's luck worked when other people were trying to do things for him, not just when he was doing the gambling himself.
When Stelle woke from a nap on the Express several days later she found a new message from Aventurine on her phone.
A: I just had the strangest meeting with Miss Jade.
A: She told me I have two weeks of vacation time and that a 'good friend' was playing dangerous games on my behalf.
Looked like Topaz had made it work. Stelle would have to send her a thank you/apology gift at some point.
Straight-faced, ignoring the very real sense that this Jade lady was threatening her by proxy, she sent back a reply.
S: Congrats!
S: Shouldn't everyone be entitled to vacation time after a near-death experience?
S: Wait, no, maybe that's just an Express rule. It should definitely be a general company rule though imo.
A: So it was you.
S: Hey now, keep those accusations in check. My baseball bat and I have done nothing wrong.
S: Anyway, since you're on vacay now meet me at Herta Space Station in two days.
A: …
A: Dare I ask why?
S: Surprise.
He didn't respond again until Stelle was halfway through a very not-approved-by-Pom-Pom breakfast of too many slices of fairy bread.
A: Well, I guess I'm not one to back away from a gamble, right?
A: Herta Space Station. I'll be there.
With her free hand she sent back a bunch of affirmative and celebratory Pom-Pom stickers.
Step one: success.
Stelle lounged about near the main hangar bay, watching the space station staff wander about.
Ever since the Doomsday Beast Incident they'd gotten so used to the Express crew - mainly Stelle herself - coming and going at random that she practically blended into the scenery these days (unless some unfortunate researcher wanted her help with something of course).
Somehow she didn't imagine someone like Aventurine getting that same lack of attention. Herta did have a business relationship with the IPC after all; you couldn't afford to risk offending the big-wigs by ignoring them.
And, just as she expected, some time later a ripple of murmuring washed through the room, staff members whispering to each other and glancing not-very-subtly towards the entrance.
(There must be a photo list somewhere they were supposed to memorise of important people. It wasn't like he pulled up in an IPC branded cruiser.)
Nonchalantly climbing to her feet Stelle weaved through the gathering crowd.
"Look at you, in one piece and everything."
It might have been her imagination, but Aventurine's expression seemed to ease when he caught sight of her.
"Indeed, all limbs accounted for." He spread his arms to prove his point.
Looking at him Stelle couldn't decide whether he was dressed for work or personal time. He was certainly dressed down a little from Penacony, having ditched the fur trim coat for the day, but even a dumpster diver like Stelle could tell that everything he was wearing was still ridiculously expensive.
But hey, if a person liked dressing fancy then they liked dressing fancy. Nothing wrong with that.
Adjusting his gloves Aventurine eyed their audience and asked, "Do I get to know why I'm here yet?"
"Don't worry, I didn't invite you here to get gawked at by researchers." Stelle waved her arms dismissively at the curious on-lookers. "Nothing to see here people, back to work!"
She didn't bother waiting for them to acknowledge her, grabbing Aventurine's wrist and tugging him along behind her as she made her own exit.
He only resisted for an instant, surrendering himself to her whims.
"We're going somewhere fun," she assured, following the familiar path to the elevators.
"Fun? In a research station?" Stelle glanced back over her shoulder to catch the incredulity in his eyes. "Forgive me for being doubtful my friend but I can't seem to imagine any favourable scenarios. Are you actually mad at me?"
Herding him into the empty elevator Stelle pondered the accusation for a moment.
"I guess I am still mad about that one message." She scanned her access pass and pressed the button for the seclusion bay. "What kind of person schedules in-case-of-death messages? It was super depressing! But no, I'm not taking you to a dark corner of the space station to stab you in the back."
Aventurine huffed a tired chuckle at the jab. That's what he got for constantly throwing that phrase around when trying to make deals with people.
The doors opened onto the thankfully well-lit main area. If it was still rocking the horror movie vibes of her first trip down here with all the broken lights, well, Aventurine would be justified to worry about her intentions.
One of the little helper robots floated over to greet them.
"Welcome, Ruan Mei and guest."
"...Is there something you want to tell me?" Aventurine asked slowly, voice purposefully mild.
Stelle snickered.
She gave the robot a little pat on the head, turned to face Aventurine, and started walking backwards.
"Ruan Mei keyed me into her personal access a while back. It felt like a hassle to do anything about it later on and she didn't erase my data so why bother, you know? Besides, we're not going anywhere super classified. Technically Asta is in charge of looking after it now."
Taking him on the safest route (no need to chance an encounter with a swarm bug that totally shouldn't be there) they eventually arrived at Stelle's intended destination.
"Now it's time for Snack Therapy," she announced cheerfully.
"Snack… therapy?"
"Exactly."
She strode across the room to a table occupied by a trio of her hand-crafted snack creatures.
"These little guys are March 9th, Danny, and The Lord of Trash." She pet them each in turn as she named them.
Aventurine stared at her, no longer pretending he was anything other than totally bewildered.
"March… 9th?"
"Yeah. March 8this out in Belobog, so this is March 9th."
"..."
Rolling her eyes Stelle scooped up the Lord of Trash, gave them a brief squishy hug, then held them out insistently to Aventurine.
"Think of them like cats or something," she instructed as he hesitantly accepted the snack. "They're hypo-allergenic, pretty docile, and they've never tried to bite me. Sometimes they might say something, but only a couple of them are properly intelligent enough for actual conversation. Speaking of which, if you see one that kinda reminds you of Herta don't make direct eye contact. That one loves talking science and we're here to relax, not get lectured."
"...Right."
When he was convinced the Lord of Trash wasn't going to protest being held Aventurine gingerly tightened his grip.
"Why do they…"
"Look like that?" Stelle guessed. He shrugged, then nodded. "In the general sense, that's just the way the experiment worked out. These little flower-shaped cake babies." She picked up Danny and gave them a good squeeze. "Specifically, I spent a lot of time providing testing data messing around with things and got pretty good at predicting the outcomes, if I do say so myself. So I tried making little snack versions of lots of people I knew. For the record I did not make the Herta snack though."
Picking up March 9thtoo for good measure - no need to leave one of them behind - Stelle headed for the opposite end of the room.
"This is where the magic happens."
She sat March down next to GuiGui on the couch and carefully balanced Danny on her head. Aventurine barked out a startled laugh at the sight. He wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last. No one ever expected Stelle's amazing balancing act.
"I made my trash baby by accident, but after seeing them I didn't want them to be lonely here by themselves, so I gave them a March and Dan Heng of their own so they could always be together here. It makes me feel good to see them like that." She glanced at the far corner from the corner of her eye. "Uh, for a somewhat related reason absolutely don't look behind you because there definitely isn't a corner full of IPC's Most Wanted snacks."
He immediately looked, as she knew he would. (She would too if someone said the same to her.)
"Oh, wow, you weren't kidding."
"Right? Anyway, in light of the occasion I think this is a great opportunity for someone new to join the gang."
Stelle dived into the lifeform oven's data manipulation screens. Her instincts for unique patterns had been sharply honed and she knew exactly what she was going for today. Taking the black and green palette of his jacket as the base she skimmed through all the dna strands and material bases until she found something that felt right.
"Would you like to do the honours and press the magic button?"
She gestured dramatically at the start button, one hand on Danny as they tilted to one side.
"I. Uh. Okay?"
Privately Stelle was having a lot of fun seeing him so constantly off-kilter, considering the absolute confidence with which he breezed through all of their previous in-person encounters. But that wasn't the point of today - only a fun side-effect.
With the Lord of Trash comfortably settled in his arms he stepped up beside her and pressed the button.
It would never not be amazing that Ruan Mei had built a machine that could literally create new lifeforms as easily as if she were making a, well, a snack. It still took a minute, but that was nothingcompared to any kind of normal gestation period.
Soon enough, her latest creation was seated before them.
Stelle gasped happily, sweeping the newborn snack up into her arms and staring them down.
"Yes! The eyes came out perfectly! Man I'm good at this." She carefully nuzzled their green face before turning them around to see Aventurine. "Look, this one's you. They have your pretty eyes."
The Lord of Trash reached out one paw and gently bopped the newbie on the nose. A complicated mix of emotions made themselves at home on Aventurine's face as he absently moved his passenger out of smacking distance.
"You… like my eyes?"
"Yeah? The colours are nice. Kinda soothing, you know, when you're not up in my face because you're threatening me. Is that one of those things I'm not supposed to say out loud? No one's ever complained before, but I'm usually way better at filtering rude thoughts than March is at least…"
"No, it's not… rude. Just. Unexpected." His expression softened as he reached out to give his mini-me a gentle pat. "People don't often have nice things to say about them."
Stelle sensed there was a story there, but it wouldn't be a happy one and she wasn't interested in digging for trauma today. That was in fact the very opposite direction to head down. This man needed trauma recovery time, not trauma rehashing time.
"Well, the only people here are you, me, the robots, the snacks, and occasionally Asta. No one's going to be bullying this little baby any time soon."
Aventurine laughed, lips curling into a small but more genuine smile.
"Would you like to name them?"
"Me?"
Stelle nodded firmly.
He crouched down so he was at eye-level with them. The Lord of Trash wriggled out of his arms to jump down onto the floor and nuzzle at his ankles instead.
"A safe place," he whispered to himself. "A second chance."
There was a devastatingly gentle sadness in his gaze. It tugged at her heartstrings.
"How about… Kakavasha."
Stelle offered the newly dubbed Kakavasha to Aventurine to hold.
"Why don't you guys sit down on the couch and we can introduce Kakavasha to the others."
Kakavasha didn't leave Aventurine's lap for a long while after that, as Stelle rounded up all the snacks and introduced them one by one to their new friend.
"How are you feeling?" Stelle asked quietly as they stood in the doorway, preparing to head out after a lengthy afternoon of snack cuddling and companionable silence.
Gaze lingering on the slightly unusual grouping of Kakavasha, the Express snacks, the precious mini-Clara (too pure for one of Stelle's silly nicknames), and Slacker Queen, Aventurine nodded thoughtfully.
"I feel… good. Not rested, exactly, but calmer than I've felt in a while."
"See?" She lightly punched him in the shoulder. "Snack therapy. I told you it would be good."
"That name makes it sound like we went to some sort of all-you-can-eat dessert buffet."
"So? We could still do that some other day. Snack therapy can come in many shapes and sizes."
Aventurine chuckled.
"You know, Miss Stellaron,"
"Stelle."
"Stelle. You are somehow both exactly who I thought you were and nothing at all what I expected of you. It's… refreshing. There was no reason for you to reach out to me after leaving Penacony."
"I could say the same to you," she shot back mildly. "I'm not always a good problem solver, but I'm a decent listener. Next time you want to talk about something just do it, don't hide it under coin tosses and feigned reluctance."
He sighed.
"Yes, I do recall you calling me out on that at the time. I'll do my best to refrain in the future, but do forgive me if I slip up."
"I'll just call you out again." Satisfied that she'd said what she wanted to say on that topic without dragging the mood down Stelle shifted gears again. "By the way, I talked it over with Asta and she's agreed that, unless Herta decides to protest it, you can come back and visit whenever you want."
Although she had allowed it to go uncommented upon it was clear that there was serious weight behind Aventurine's naming decision. If it would help him feel better to come here and see the little snack living the good life and making friends she didn't want there to be restrictions getting in his way.
"Huh?"
"Cuddling cute things is good for your mental health. I'm sure Topaz would back me up on that. Besides, that way you can check in on Kakavasha."
"You…" Smiling helplessly he shook his head. "I really don't know what to do with you."
"Embrace the chaos. That's all you can do."
Without a decent comeback Aventurine turned in silence to head for the elevator. Smiling to herself Stelle followed unhurriedly behind him.
She was happy to call this plan a success.
A/N:
And then Aventurine negotiated snack ownership with Asta and that's how he got his three pets in the concert trailer lmao it's a canon event now.
Fellow Aventurine Havers, do his chat messages make you immensely emotional or is that just a me problem?
(For non-Aventurine Havers, the messages referenced at the beginning of the fic are actual messages he sends)
Anyway I've been itching to write something nice for him since 2.1 but I wanted to wait and see how everything played out first so I knew what I was working with and then my brain wasn't cooperating any more so it took a while but here we are.