Aventurine arched his back over the edge of the couch in his apartment as he scrolled through his phone. Seriously, where was that doctor? He was never late like this. They were supposed to have left for dinner fifteen minutes ago! He continually reloaded his messaging app, waiting for Ratio to send him some explanation as for his tardiness.

But time went on and on, and Ratio never said anything. Their last messages to each other were the confirmation of the plans, where the good doctor had chided the gambler for his tendency to be late and insisted he make an effort to be ready on time.

"You always take too long putting on makeup, damn gambler," Aventurine read his coworker's text aloud in a mocking tone. "Do try not to delay our departure for once." Aventurine rolled his eyes and refreshed the text again. Still nothing. "Ugh! You're the one making us late now, doctor!"

He swung his legs back and forth and tapped at his phone screen irritably. "Do you have any idea what Jade is going to say when we show up late to a meeting this important?" He paled a little as he thought of her reaction. She was going to be furious. Not to mention this client… well, he hadn't exactly been looking forward to dealing with this specific client to start with, but it simply had to be done.

"Of course you don't! You're always too busy shoving your face into the nearest book to have any idea how I feel about things! I do my makeup so carefully for a reason, you know! It's not easy to think you look nice when your eyes are a reason for people to hate you!" He took a deep breath and shook his head. "But you're just so perfect, good doctor. Everybody likes you. You're so strong. So smart. So handsome. Gah, I can't stand it!" A blush crept onto his face and he quickly forced it aside. He was mad at Ratio, nothing more! "You have your talents and I have mine. I'm ever so sorry that you don't like what I can do. That I use my body to get what I want, that my confidence in my luck far exceeds your precious mathematics. I'm so sorry that I don't make sense to you the way everything else does. So there." He huffed and looked back down at his phone.

Only to see Ratio's completely unimpressed face staring back at him. "Are you done?" the doctor asked flatly over the video call that Aventurine himself had initiated on accident. "Or do you have more thoughts to get off your chest? It just won't do to let them simmer inside of you for all this time."

Aventurine sputtered and gasped for air. "Wh–Ratio! You–I didn't–it's not–"

"Silence, gambler. If you have more to say, I want to hear it." His expression was drawn, as always. His real face was no easier to read than his lifeless alabaster headpiece.

Aventurine stared at him, hardly daring to breathe.

Ratio was completely silent.

Aventurine set the phone down and buried his head in his hands. "You weren't supposed to hear that!"

"Well, I did. I had no idea you felt that way about me."

"I don't feel anything about you! We're coworkers!"

"Yes, we are. But we will be more effective if we better understand each other. So, if you must know, my dislike of your gambling habits has nothing to do with 'my precious mathematics.'"

"Of course it does! You hate it because it makes no sense!"

"You wound me, gambler. I would be a horrible scholar if I hated everything that doesn't make sense to me. In your case, I simply hate to see someone close to me suffering in the way that you so often force yourself to just to complete a job for the IPC."

Aventurine stared silently at the phone.

"I wish that you would take your own sanity into account when you craft plans that always only marginally work out in your favor. I know that you often think only of Jade and Diamond's approval."

"As long as the job gets done–"

"Yes, yes, I know. Just shut up and listen, damn gambler. Someday you're going to get yourself into a mess that will only be solvable if you have other people on your side. You should start trying to make real allies instead of cheating your way through every interaction. Maybe I'd be willing to help you if you'd actually talk to me like this more often."

"You…want to help me?" Aventurine whispered.

"I'll be at your apartment in five minutes," Ratio replied, evidently not having heard his question. "And then we'll head to dinner. I'll explain to Madam Jade that our tardiness was entirely my fault, and surely she will be the one to handle this client from now on, as we cannot be trusted with it."

Aventurine's eyes widened and he recovered some of his usual bravado "...Well, look at you, doctor. Clearly you can be as crafty as me when you want to. Now we don't have to mess with this client that neither of us liked to begin with."

"Hmph. So you saw through that scheme. You must be rubbing off on me. Pity. I will see you soon, gambler. I'm glad we got to talk like this."

"...Right. Sure. See you soon."

Ratio hung up.

Aventurine held his phone close to his chest and saved the recording of that call. Just in case he did end up in a mess that required somebody else's support to get out of, he thought he wanted to hear Ratio's voice like that again.