BATTER UP.

Sore. Aching.

His ears still rang from the deafening sounds of the bat to the ball.

The earsplitting cheers from the audience.

The speakers booming, and the team screaming in pride and victory.

Ratio heaved a deep breath from the satisfying cracks relieved in his neck, tugging the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat on his face as a fist nudged against his shoulder in comradery.

“Great close game, Ratio.” Jing Yuan said, a triumphant smile spreading. “We managed to win thanks to you and Acheron on the last two home runs.”

“You’ve held out with your pitching as well,” Ratio said, earning a hearty chuckle as Ratio moved to rest on the bench behind.

“Well, there was a lot of things we all did. So, we’re going to do a team dinner tonight as a celebration for winning the tournament. I can send you the—”

“I’ll consider it. Thank you.”

Jing Yuan squinted, craning his head at the immediate response.

“Not going?”

“Most likely not.” Ratio deadpanned, wiping more beads of sweat with his shirt as he rummaged around in his duffel bag.

“Ah,” Jing Yuan nodded slowly in understanding before he let out a knowing smile. “I see. Got plans with your boyfriend?”

Ratio went rigid, making Jing Yuan laugh.

“I never thought you were the romantic type, but a year really does change a man, huh?”

Ratio scoffed, swatting away the hand patting him on the back. “Get out of here before Luocha and Fu Xuan ditches you.”

“Oh. Ah, yeah right. They'll probably kill me if I’m another minute too late,” Jing Yuan grinned — and with that proud look, Ratio wasn’t sure if that was something he should be proud about. “Well, I’ll see you later. Send me a text if you change your mind.”

“Sure.”

A heavy, exhausted exhale escaped him as Ratio caught the towel in the air — a gift of gratitude from his teammate — wiping away the sweat as he listened to the heavy footsteps retreat away from the locker aisle and down the room.

Tap, tap, tap.

Click.

Oh,

thank

god.

Silence finally washed through the locker room, allowing Ratio to take another deep breath through the nose and out the mouth — leaning back on the bench and tilting his head up to the ceiling with eyes closed.

Oh, how satisfying it was to relish in peace and quiet.

His damp clothes stuck to him like he had ran in the rain, sweat dripping underneath his cap and trailing down his face. His chest rose and fall — trying to steady his adrenaline-rushed heart by collecting long, slow breaths.

Though, it didn’t help that the collar of his turtleneck was nearly suffocating him that he felt urged to rip off his shirts.

Click.

Ratio shifted his eyes, straightening to the sound of light footsteps pattering close. Closer, and closer, until he caught the wisps of blonde and a smile playing within the purple-blue gaze.

“Knock, knock. Someone here?” Aventurine joked as the locker walls gave a metallic taptap from his knuckles.

Ratio scoffed — though lacked the bite when his lips couldn’t remain still as Aventurine sauntered over to his side.

“Congratulations on your win, Mr. Veritas Ratio,” Aventurine grinned, closing the distance for the other man to loop an arm around his waist.

“Mm,” Ratio rumbled, voice rough as he rested his head on Aventurine’s stomach, feeling Aventurine fingers tangle with the damp mess of hair barely secured in his hair tie. “That Firefly girl isn’t someone to be underestimated.”

“Yeah. It was her and a handful of people on that team giving you guys some grief.”

“Unfortunately. But that’s something to expect when it comes to competitive sports like baseball anyway.”

“And that’s where you did your due diligence,” Aventurine hummed, slowly pulling the hairs out of the bound to begin recollecting the strands into an organized bundle. “You should be proud of yourself.”

“I am. I am.”

Ratio pressed a breathy chuckle against Aventurine’s abdomen before Aventurine pulled away — just enough to push the cap up and wipe the trailing sweat away from Ratio’s forehead.

Fingers delicately traced along Ratio’s jawline,

guiding his face up until Ratio’s red-golden eyes met the purple gaze and the soft hum.

And god, there was something about this,

him

the way Aventurine’s hand lingered on his cheek,

pressing the cold, cold hand that made Ratio close his eyes and rumbled,

tilting his head into the hand like an icepack in scorching heat.

“Better?”

“Better.”

Aventurine’s smile quirked before the peek of a tongue traced along the inner edges of those lips.

Whether or not that was intentional, Ratio’s lips twitched, a note of observation hanging on his own tongue until his gaze wandered to the familiar white shirt draping Aventurine barely hanging past the thighs.

Ah.

There was always something about it whenever Aventurine would wear his clothes,

whenever Aventurine would wear the loose-fitting varsity jacket that tried to cling to him,

or when Aventurine would pluck the cap off of Ratio’s head to wear it himself,

or when Aventurine would be in favor of stealing Ratio’s jerseys rather than Aventurine’s own.

There was always

something

about it.

“Like what you see?”

Before Ratio could glance at the black shorts hidden underneath, Aventurine’s finger tilted Ratio’s chin up — dragging the wandering eyes back to him.

“You’re wearing my jersey.”

“Of course. I have to show my support to my boyfriend after all.”

“You haven’t worn it for a while.”

“I was saving it for a special occasion after all.”

“Was the game the special occasion?” Ratio murmured, slowly pulling Aventurine down to his lap.

“Or was it this?”

A hum ghosted Ratio’s lips — hands sliding delicately to cradle Ratio’s cheeks.

“Maybe.

Could be both.”

On some other day, they would’ve kept it short and simple.

Except this wasn’t some other day.

Not when Ratio’s hands automatically came to Aventurine’s waist to pull him in,

or when Aventurine angled his head and parted his lips for Ratio to capture him

soft moans were devoured,

enticing Ratio’s tongue to slip inside for a taste

to greedily taste every noise,

voice

breath

relishing the way Aventurine clutched tightly onto his shirt,

and Ratio’s hand roamed,

thumb slipping underneath the hem to pull Aventurine’s shirt up, up

up

to feel the soft skin undernea—

“Not right now, Ratio.”

The kiss was broken too soon, teeth leaving a parting bite that stung his bottom lip. Ratio’s eyes narrowed, sending Aventurine a stare when Aventurine pressed a finger against Ratio’s slightly parted lips.

“You need to wait until you get back from your celebratory dinner.”

“I’m not planning to go.”

Aventurine slipped away from the embrace before Ratio could make him stay — Ratio’s arms missing by a fraction of an inch when Aventurine dodged it.

“You should be celebrating with your team for winning the tournament.” Aventurine said, casually sidestepping away from the next attempt at Ratio catching him. “Otherwise, the others will get mad at you for being an anti-social hermit crab.”

Ratio’s brows wrinkled intensely.

“I’ve already been to more than enough dinners with them. But, I haven’t been able to spend time with you lately.”

“And you will. But after you go out.”

The next and last attempt to catch Aventurine was fruitless when Aventurine moved his hand away right before Ratio could grab it.

In disbelief, Ratio flickered his eyes up to see Aventurine feigning an innocent smile.

Ah.

Ratio clicked his tongue.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

Aventurine craned his neck slightly — a tiny habit Ratio was most familiar with whenever Aventurine was trying to play up some sort of act.

“Of course not. I wouldn’t dare do that to you.”

“That is what you most definitely would dare do to me.”

“I’m not sure if I’m following you, Ratio.”

Aventurine’s composure faltered when Ratio suddenly stood up from the bench — his breath hitched with every step backwards he took until—

—SLAM!

A startled shiver pleasantly shook Aventurine’s spine from pressing against the cold surface of the lockers, followed by the intense heat of the latter looming over him with half of the scowl covered by the baseball cap.

“You know how many days we haven’t spent time together, Aventurine?”

“That’s just how the circumstances were, Mr. Baseball Man,” Aventurine hummed, drumming his fingers up against Ratio’s arm that pinned him against the locker. “You had to practice for an important game. Besides, we live together. It’s not as if we weren’t seeing each other. Right?”

“Except you had to study for your own exams too.”

This time, Aventurine didn’t hold back a laugh, which deepened Ratio’s scowl.

“Trust me, I,” Aventurine murmured, trailing a fingertip along Ratio’s chest, “also wanted to spend time with you after the last — what… ten days?”

“Then why are you—”

“Because we can spend time together after your dinner, and when we are in a more…

appropriate place.”

“You—” Ratio’s scoff shattered into a raspy moan, eyes flying closed when Aventurine suddenly palmed against the growing bulge being suffocated in his pants. “You…”

“Me?” Aventurine smiled, a hint of amusement spreading through by the heavy pants hot against his neck.

On the contrary of Aventurine’s previous words, Ratio found his hand on the locker curling into a fist as Aventurine’s hand slipped inside his pants — deftly grasping onto the rigid cock like the many, many, many times before this.

Appropriate place his ass.

It was slow.

Excruciating.

The hand pumping Ratio’s cock in long, torturous strokes,

thumb pressing delicately on the tip, slicked with precome,

the ghost of a faint kiss lingering on his bottom lip when Aventurine tip-toed to whisper a breathy laugh,

the way Aventurine invited — tempted — him with parted lips, drawing Ratio in to a—

“Hold on, Baseball Man.”

This time, Aventurine’s free hand covered Ratio’s mouth — making Ratio grit teeth at the second time.

“What are you doing now?”

“Congratulating my cute, adorable, sexually frustrated boyfriend who was forced on abstinence for the last ten days to win a baseball tournament. What else would I be doing?”

“And you’re doing this?”

“I got curious on what was going on down there. That’s all.”

However, right as Aventurine retracted his hand away from the hard cock—

—BAM!

Aventurine’s voice cracked into a gasp when Ratio suddenly seized and pinned his wrists against the lockers before Aventurine’s next set of taunts were devoured.

Eyes squeezing shut, Ratio muffled the loud moans escaping from Aventurine’s mouth — his tongue sliding past Aventurine’s parted lips to catch Aventurine into a kiss like a man starving for water.

A pleasured shiver attacked Aventurine’s body like sparks as Ratio pushed him against the doors, feeling Ratio’s hand finally sliding underneath Aventurine’s oversized jersey to touch the cold, bare skin that grew warm.

On a different day, they would had dragged each other out of here as fast as they could —whether they had to shove each other in a restroom stall or shove each other into the backseat of Ratio’s car.

On a different day, they would had broken speed limits if it meant reaching their bedroom ten minutes faster.

But that would take too long.

Way too long.

The moans became louder, harder to contain, until Aventurine’s restrained hands shook intensely within Ratio’s grip as he shakily gasped at Ratio’s clothed erection pushing up against his own. The drag of friction and fabric sent waves of boiling sensations, nearly making Aventurine’s mind blank from how slowly overwhelming desperation was.

“Wait — Ratio,” Aventurine gasped through the broken kiss, environmental awareness unfortunately catching up to his head. “Someone—”

“No one’s in here.”

“Someone can walk in!”

“Everyone already went home.”

“Ratio—!'“

Ratio wrangled the next set of protests by sinking teeth into Aventurine’s neck, a moan ringing in his ears as Aventurine jerked forward from Ratio slipping into the black shorts to squeeze Aventurine’s ass roughly.

Aventurine’s attempts to control his volume was becoming more and more fruitless with the way Ratio sucked hard against his neck,

the way Ratio’s hand kept on squeezing, gripping onto the plush flesh,

or how their cocks were rutting, rubbing, grinding for friction through their clothes, and the drag of rough fabric nearly made Aventurine throw his head back against the locker.

“Be careful, Aventurine.

Someone can walk in any time.”

Aventurine glared at Ratio through bleary eyes, face flushed and hot from the crooked smile and glint taunting him from underneath that damn baseball cap.

“You’re terrible,” Aventurine cracked as his wrists go free. “You’re so,

so

terrible.”

Lacking all class and finesse, Aventurine grabbed onto Ratio’s jersey to snatch Ratio forward —

a kiss that was so messy, so heavy,

so craved,

with all tongue and saliva and teeth

biting, sinking, ravaging at each other’s lips and moans shamelessly until there was no doubt that their lips would flush deep shades of reds.

“You don't understand how much you drive me insane.” Ratio rumbled, voice grazing against Aventurine’s lips as Ratio slung one of Aventurine’s legs over his arm — Aventurine’s fingers and pants digging deep into his shirt.

“You—” Aventurine uttered breathlessly. “— you’re the one driving me crazy.”

crazy

insane

as their erections grind against each other,

rubbing,

chasing the friction in between their pants desperately

chasing each other for more

and more

and more and more and

more and more

and

more.

“Ratio,” Aventurine hardly managed through the broken noise, arms wrapping tightly around Ratio’s neck as he buried his face into the broad shoulder — hips staggering in intense excitement when Ratio pushed him further into the lockers.

“Do you like this, huh?

Do you want more?”

Ratio grinned, teeth scraping against Aventurine’s ears as he jerked his cock against Aventurine — the mouth that was once daring to provoke him broke out a breathy sob against his shoulder as Aventurine’s body started to tremble in his hold.

From that, Ratio couldn’t help but laugh.

“What were you going to do again? Huh?

You said that you were going to get all nice and ready for me if I went out to that dinner, right?

Were you going to start touching yourself in the shower, Aventurine?

Were you going to jerk yourself off or

were you going to finger yourself? Hm?

Remembering the ways how I would finger you,

How I would hit so, so deep inside of you?

Fucking you with just

my

fingers

all nice,

and rough,

until you get so, so wet,

so close,

until you start remembering how much more I can give you — how much more better to feel my cock so deep inside of you.”

Aventurine’s eyes flew open, choking on a gasp as two fingers slipped inside of him.

“Huh. For ten days, it’s easy to slide into you, huh?

And you’re wet too.”

Ratio’s smile twitched, curling his fingers inside to catch Aventurine trying to reduce the next moan into suppressed pants.

“Don’t tell me you were fingering yourself earlier before coming here.”

Aventurine bit down hard on his bottom lip, shaking and digging nails into Ratio’s shoulder as Ratio slowly worked his fingers inside of him — stretching him out and grinding against his insides until Aventurine clung tighter at the intense heat — sparks — were burning him alive.

Nearly melting, Aventurine brokenly laughed and grabbed the collar of Ratio’s jersey tightly.

“Says the one over here.

You know what I was going to do, Ratio?

I was going to finger myself while I wear your jersey,

and I was going to send you cute, little pictures of me when I’m

all nice and wet and ready for you,

maybe send you a nice video or audio message.

And then when you see it while you’re eating,

you’re going to excuse yourself to the restroom,

jerk yourself off inside the stall,

remembering how good it feels

when I squeeze around your hard, hard cock as you’re fucking me so good,

so rough, so deep inside,

and all night, the only thing you’re going to think about is fuc—”

“I was already planning to fuck you right here anyway.”

The world suddenly spun around until Aventurine’s hands landed against the cold locker doors, a surprised sound escaping him from the chills when his shorts were tugged off, pooling around his feet.

“Oh, g—god,” Aventurine swallowed hard, shameless noises drooling out of his mouth with precome leaking from his cock when the calloused hand gripped his hips to draw Aventurine’s hips back.

Before Aventurine could say anything, his lungs stuttered — breath faltering when Ratio’s fingers pushed into him, thrusting into him harder, rougher at an angle to hit Aventurine’s prostate.

“You like it like this, don’t you?” Ratio murmured, leaning over until he was barely above the tip of Aventurine’s ear. “The way you’re moaning, the way you’re saying my name while you’re pulling your hips back and squeezing around my fingers while I fuck you like this.”

A breathy laugh against Aventurine’s ears made Aventurine moaned louder, and Ratio smiled —

relishing in the sweet sweet noises that rang like music,

rang louder than the crowds’ cheers booming through the stadium,

and greed boiled over — making Ratio chase for more, more, more by stretching Aventurine wider, thrusting harder, faster, until Aventurine’s voice echoed throughout the empty locker room.

“Haah— ha—”

Aventurine’s hips suddenly jerked into the fingers and against the aching tent in Ratio’s pants, interrupting the momentum of Ratio’s fingers.

“What are you—”

Ratio’s face tightened, a crease between his brows before he caught the glimpse of Aventurine’s tongue licking the edges of the red lips curling upwards.

“C’mon, you can’t just finger me after ten days now.

This is supposed to be a celebration,

Veritas Ratio.”

The slow, intentional drawl of his full name

rolling off of Aventurine’s tongue so

terribly

sweet.

That was all he needed.

“You

drive

me

fucking

crazy.”

Aventurine sharply inhaled when the fingers pulled away, leaving him shaking from the abrupt absence until Aventurine felt the back of his jersey roll up and seized into a fist.

Aventurine had an idea of what Ratio might be looking like right now — the heavy, gritty pants and hasty shuffling from behind him being an indicator. And it was that image in his head that turned and twisted his stomach in excitement, a sly smirk spreading along his face as he tried to peer over his shoulder.

“What’s going on back there? Are you taking your sweet sweet time or wha—!”

Suddenly, Aventurine cried out a surprised moan, breath choking in his throat when Ratio jerked him back by the jersey to slam his cock into Aventurine. The purple-blue eyes nearly fluttered shut from the thick cock grinding deep into him — massaging against his prostate with the tip of Ratio’s cock.

“Ver—i—tas…!” Aventurine shuddered, each syllable broken with every inch Ratio pushed further and further inside until Ratio earned a shaky whimper and trembling legs.

“God, Aventurine,” Ratio groaned, the protruding bone in his throat bobbing with a hard swallow as Aventurine nearly bit his tongue and squeezed desperately around Ratio’s cock. “So good. So fucking good.”

Aventurine only replied to shameless, frenetic moans — something Ratio realized he had been deprived of for far too long — as Ratio drew his hips back to push forward again,

thrusting hard and rough,

fast and needy and wild.

As Ratio chased the burning friction of grinding his cock inside Aventurine,

ramming into him over and over and over again and again until he made Aventurine fill the heated air with those songs of ecstasy.

And with every thrust, Ratio felt Aventurine move his hips — trying to follow the push and pull of Ratio’s tugs on his shirt and trying to meet with Ratio’s thrusts.

“Haah — Veri—tas…!”

Ratio exhaled sharply — half of a groan, half of a wrecked breath — as he wrenched his own jersey up to bite down onto, catching the satisfying sight of Aventurine arching his shuddering back from Ratio’s cock continuously slamming into him at a ravenous rhythm.

Hearts raced madly within the heat hanging over the air,

blood and adrenaline rushing through them like they had been running around in the field —

that field being this familiar song and dance that they had done millions and millions of times before.

(And there was no way they’d ever get tired of it.)

At some point, the locker doors began to rattle vigorously, Aventurine pushed up helplessly against the cold surface as Ratio pushed up into him. Ratio’s hands locked tightly around Aventurine’s waist, pressure digging deep until the fair skin began to redden in tints of deep reds.

“So — deep,

I — I’m about to…!”

Ratio swore — muffled by the hem of his shirt in his mouth, as Aventurine tightly squeezed around his cock with Aventurine’s voice coming out louder than earlier as Aventurine turned his head.

“Veritas!”

And there, Ratio caught the glimpse of Aventurine’s face,

the teary, glassy purple-blued eyes,

the flushed reds painting his cheeks,

the opened mouth panting with wet lips quivering

begging

for more

and more

(and more)

and

(and Ratio snapped.)

Aventurine’s breath was snagged on a wordless gasp from the sudden absence, feeling too empty when Ratio pulled away. Aventurine’s bare legs struggled to still, and as Ratio’s hands leave his body, Aventurine tried to grasp onto the surface of the lockers to keep himself up.

“What are you doing?” Aventurine rasped with a strained whimper, his sensitive cock twitching from the orgasm denial as he tried to stand up straight to start complaining to Ratio.

Instead, the world spun around again — his back trembling sharply from the cold surfaces pressed against his skin.

“Take off the shirt.”

The demand almost threw Aventurine off until Ratio’s hands shot out to start tugging Aventurine’s shirt off.

A wild, breathless laugh escaped Aventurine as he helped Ratio out, clumsily wriggling off the piece of clothing. “That’s a shame. I thought you liked me in your jersey.”

“I do. But,

I like you better when you’re naked.”

The shirt was carelessly discard to the ground before the two bodies latched onto each other again — mouths collecting each other into another starved kiss.

Hot.

Heavy.

Arms tangled all over each other as they pushed and grind for friction and sharp shivers of sparks —

all senses of reservations and composure

haphazardly falling into the pile of clothes beneath them,

blood rushing,

heat boiling

pleasure spilling

all in between their bodies.

“Fuck,” Ratio groaned, cock twitching when Aventurine gripped onto his shoulders and nearly clawed nails through Ratio’s jersey as they barely parted from the kiss. “Fuck.”

“Please, Ratio — please,” Aventurine strained, cracked under a helpless choke.

If it hadn’t been ten days, Ratio would had teased Aventurine — make Aventurine beg for it until he was sputtering barely comprehensible sentences.

But unfortunately, they were both

(suffering.)

Ratio didn’t hesitate to grab onto Aventurine and haul him up against the lockers — earning a surprised hitch of breath and hands flying onto Ratio’s shoulders when Aventurine’s legs are slung over his arms, and Aventurine’s head was pushed back against the cold surface.

“Veritas,” Aventurine murmured sweetly, a clingy hand tugging Ratio back in for another wet, needy kiss.

The sores in Ratio’s arms ached satisfyingly from holding up the shaking legs, and it ached even better from the flash of excitement — anticipation — through those glassy, half-lidded purple-blue eyes.

“Look at you.

Look at you, Aventurine.”

“I,” Aventurine panted, barely able to retain a smile, “can say the same for you.”

Because he couldn’t help but admire the sight of Ratio,

sweating, panting,

unraveling underneath the uniform,

that despite the baseball cap concealing half of Ratio’s face,

Aventurine knew exactly what kind of expression Ratio held with that hidden gaze and wicked smirk.

(VORACIOUS.

AND INSATIABLE.)

Ratio’s thick cock sank into him, causing Aventurine to shudder helplessly at the feeling of the slow, slow waves of pleasure washing through him with every inch — lungs hitching breaths as Ratio slowly pushed in and —

— “Ver—ita—!”

A sharp moan was strangled out of Aventurine’s throat, head lolling back against the door when Ratio slammed his cock into him. Aventurine’s stomach twisted and turned, adrenaline drumming his nerves with every hard thrust, every grind and hit against his prostate.

A low, guttural sound bled through Ratio’s tone from the tight squeeze around his cock, and Ratio rumbled a gritty swear — relentlessly fucking up into Aventurine as Aventurine sobbed incomprehensible words of pleasure while clinging tighter onto Ratio’s shirt like a lifeline.

“Fuck.

Fuck.”

The sensations boiled Ratio’s blood — him alive — burning him enough to make him sweat further into his uniform. Though this time, he could hardly care about the discomforts and the physical toll from the effects of the game’s aftermath an hour ago.

Not when Aventurine’s eyes were dazed and simmered with want, need,

not when delicious obscenities were drooling out of those flushed red lips,

not when Aventurine looked so god awfully

beautiful.

“You’re going to drive me insane, Aventurine.” Ratio murmured, voice full of rawness as Ratio further drove Aventurine up against the lockers — fucking up deeper and grinding his cock inside Aventurine until Aventurine started to writhe, gasp, and squirm at the head of Ratio’s cock hitting constantly at the spot just so impossibly right.

“Ver—itas, “ Aventurine’s moans strained almost thinly, wrangling a groan out of Ratio when he clawed further into Ratio’s shoulders. “Please — please, please it’s— you’re so — deep!”

“Haah — “ Ratio swallowed hard before he scraped a breathless laugh against Aventurine’s red-tinged ears.

“You like this, don’t you?

The way I’m fucking you so nice and hard,

the way my cock slams inside of you over, and over, and over again,

the way you’re squeezing, shaking so, so, so much when I’m hitting your sweet spot over,

and over,

and over again and again until all you can think about is how much more you want me to keep fucking you like this.”

Ratio’s wicked curve of his lips kissed the back of Aventurine’s ear — a sensitive spot to make Aventurine whimper in response.

“How bad do you want it, Aventurine?

Tell me how bad you want me to keep fucking you right now.”

Aventurine nearly choked on his broken words.

“So — bad! Haah—!” Aventurine gasped, voice faltering halfway as he buried his wet face and drool against Ratio’s neck. “More — more…! Please, I — want more of you so — bad! Please,

please, please, please!

Veritas!”

A shudder ran through his spine from the chuckle hot against his ear before he felt a grin and teeth grazing against the edges of his ear.

“Good.

Because I’m going to

break you.”

That was when they both completely lost it.

Ratio’s cock fucked into Aventurine at a desperate rhythm, quickly becoming more and more uncontrollable as Aventurine’s fingers gnawed at Ratio — Aventurine’s cock throbbing and skidding against the fabric of Ratio’s jersey. Pleasure overrode their sex-craved brains, the intense sensations unraveling the remains of their composure until it

ruined all of their senses

“I’m — going to come! I’m going to come! Veritas, I’m —"

“Then, come,” Ratio hissed, breathing and scraping teeth against the protruding bone in Aventurine’s neck. “Come, Aventurine.

Come for me, come for me,

come for me.”

That was all it took —

— moans of Ratio’s name sobbing earnestly as Aventurine convulsed, cock twitching and paints of white spilling thick spurts all over them. Wrecked, ruined whimpers were uttered into the air with every one of Ratio’s thrusts fucking Aventurine thoroughly through the climax.

Aventurine’s voice eventually died to a soft, trembling noise as Ratio pulsed hotly inside of him, clinging and twitching to Ratio’s ragged breaths murmured in his ears.

“So good.

You’re so damn good.”

Ratio rumbled, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses alongside Aventurine’s neck and the back of Aventurine’s ear as he slowly rode their orgasms out with every last thrust until he buried deep inside Aventurine.

They stood in place for a moment, trying to collect air for their heaving lungs as it started to slick and seep down Aventurine’s thighs — some of the evidence staining wetly on the edges of Ratio’s shirt as the rest were threatening to fall into the floor below.

Aventurine sucked in a deep breath, shifting his head just enough to take a good look at Ratio’s face from underneath the cap; both of them catching glimpses of gleams in their gazes.

“Look at you, Mr. Baseball Man,” Aventurine teased, voice slightly spent as he tipped the cap upwards to see the beads of sweat slicking and trailing down the red-golden gaze staying fixed on him.

Unable to help it, Aventurine leaned forward to kiss Ratio’s lips softly.

“Was that satisfying for you?”

Ratio exhaled slowly against the the kiss hovering above his own.

“You should already know that I always want more of you, Aventurine.”

Aventurine lazily laughed.

“Of course.

We’re both insatiable after all.”

Ratio smiled at the joking provocation, capturing the lazy laughter by slipping his tongue into Aventurine’s inviting mouth — savoring every single thing he could, as much as he could,

savoring the touches from Aventurine’s hands roaming on his neck,

savoring the fingers that tangled into Ratio’s tousled hair barely attached in its messy ponytail,

and Ratio angled his head,

pushing further in

more and more into this long, sweet kiss,

savoring Aventurine’s sweet,

sweet

taste

until the heat began to boil their bloods again,

and they—

“Are you sure you left your water bottle in here?”

“I’m pretty sure I did. Just wait here.”

They snapped away from the kiss, breaking their necks to register the distant sound of heavy footsteps and a door closing.

“Ratio!” Aventurine whispered harshly.

Ratio didn’t need to be told twice as he quickly dropped Aventurine to his feet, both of them scrambling around as the footsteps came closer and closer to their locker aisle.

Tap

tap

tap

tap

tap

“Ratio? Is that you?” Jing Yuan called out, peering around the corner to see Ratio rummaging through an opened locker. “Hey, have you seen my water bottle here?”

Ratio pulled away, sending his teammate a hardened stare as he shook his head.

“No,” Ratio said, voice gruff before he cleared his throat. “Last time I saw it, you gave it to Acheron at the field.”

“Oh. Huh. She probably still has it,” Jing Yuan thought out loud before his wandering eyes landed on Aventurine sitting on the bench — a wrinkled jersey, shorts, a polite smile, and Ratio’s baseball cap sitting loosely on his head. “Oh, hey. I didn’t expect to see you here, Aventurine.”

“I wanted to give my congratulations to Ratio,” Aventurine hummed. “And congratulations to you too, Jing Yuan. You did really good during the game too.”

Jing Yuan gave a hearty chuckle.

“Thank you for the compliments. I truly appreciate it,” Jing Yuan nodded before a thought popped into mind. “Say, why don’t you join us for the celebration dinner? We’re all bringing plus ones, so it’ll be nice if you and Ratio can —”

“We actually—”

Ratio interrupted with another throat clearing as he rested a hand on top of Aventurine’s borrowed cap.

“—have some reservations later tonight. I’m afraid we can’t make it today.”

“Reservations, huh?” Jing Yuan grinned, barely missing the subtle purple-blue eyes darting at Ratio in confusion. “Well, that’s a shame. But, I hope you two have fun. I’ll head out and find Acheron before she ends up in the middle of nowhere.”

“Bye. Good luck,” Aventurine said, reciprocating the friendly wave before Jing Yuan disappeared from the aisle.

Tap

tap

tap

“Not here, Jing Yuan?”

“No, let’s head out.”

tap

tap

Click.

As soon as the peace washed in, Aventurine turned over to the other man to tease.

“Reservations?”

Ratio scoffed, finally ridding away the damp jersey to discard it carelessly into the opened duffel bag sitting on the ground.

“I’m reserving a dinner for us tonight. And yes — I’m firm on spending dinner with you tonight, so don’t think about arguing.”

Aventurine gave a meager huff, crossing his legs and propping his face up with an elbow on the knee as he watched Ratio rummage through the locker.

Then, an idea sparked in his head — making Aventurine peel off one of his shoes before he pressed the tip of his toe on Ratio’s calf. And slowly, he trailed it up until he provoked a reaction of Ratio stiffening at the motion.

“Are you reserving a dinner at a restaurant? Or, will it be somewhere a little more…

private?”

Ratio’s neck twitched as he glanced over to see the mischievous smile greeting him — disguised with feigned innocence.

“Hey. Don’t think about trying anything else if you want to walk for the next few hours, Aventurine.” Ratio scolded before he moved to take off the sweaty thin turtleneck.

The moment fresh cold air brushed satisfyingly against his overheated skin, Ratio turned rigid at the touch of fingertips pressing on his back — slowly trailing up.

“And if I don’t want to walk?”

Aventurine drawled provocatively, brushing a faint kiss on Ratio’s back —

— until Aventurine’s wrist was seized tightly, and he was met with Ratio’s gleaming red-golden eyes and a sharp smile hovering right above Aventurine’s lips.

“That’ll be a problem for later.”