Lyra isn’t here.
Aventurine spends all of one single panic-inducing moment wondering how in the world Lyra could’ve disappeared into thin air in a total span of less than thirty seconds of being left alone in his apartment, before there’s suddenly a soft meowing sound that comes from somewhere behind the table.
He cranes over, and looks down. Lyra is sprawled out on his hardwood floor, stomach-down; the table had been large enough to hide her completely, it seems.
In front of her, the little cat-cake meows again.
Bemused, Aventurine leans down, “What are you doing?”
“Aventurine.” Bejeweled blue eyes raise up to look at him in acknowledgment, before returning to stare at the little critter that’s being joined by another one of its companions. “What is this? … A cat?”
“Not exactly.” He could certainly see why she would think so, though. To the uninformed, the little cat-cake looked to be… well, a cat stuck in a little cake. The one staring curiously back at Lyra is clearly the bravest one of the lot than Aventurine has been gifted with in his home. “They’re actually a new life form –created in Herta Station by another Genius Society member, number eighty-one Ruan Mei.”
Failed experiments, according to the Genius’ standards, and supposedly it was the Nameless Stellaron host who had taken up working with them. Ruan Mei herself had lost interest and abandoned the project, apparently.
“… You like pets?”
“Ehh, well. They were a gift from a coworker, I guess you could say? Dr. Veritas Ratio said that the station was starting to get overrun, and these guys wanted out, so.” Aventurine shrugs casually. “Honestly, it feels more like these little guys picked me instead.”
One of the little cat-cakes waddles over to Aventurine on its stubby little legs, and starts meowing insistently. Obligingly, Aventurine picks them up. It feels less like he’s holding a cat and more like he’s hugging a warm cushion. The small critter snuggles into him, evidently pleased with Aventurine’s own body heat.
“Dr. Ratio.” Lyra is thoughtful for a moment, “Your… liaison with the Intelligentsia Guild?”
“Yeah, he’s the one.” Aventurine raises an eyebrow, “You’ve met him before? Funny, he’s never mentioned that.”
“No,” the Halovian girl shakes her head. “But you’ve talked about him before. I remember.”
Oh. Well, if that’s how it was…
The little cat-cake in front of Lyra suddenly leans forward, poking her directly on the tip of her nose. Lyra blinks, her attention shifting back to the pleased little thing. Stares at it for a moment, and then leans forward to return the same gesture to it.
Aventurine lets out a startled little laugh. Lyra lifts her gaze towards him –zero embarrassment, zero shame.
… Not that he would’ve expected anything else from her. He shakes his head fondly.
“Alright,” Aventurine says, and reaches down to pull her up, “Let’s get you off the ground already, yeah? There’s a third one of these little guys hiding in one of the other rooms –c’mon, I’ll introduce you to all of them.”
