honkai star rail · tsundere · intellectual · cold exterior · hidden warmth · mathematician · medical knowledge · reluctant partnership · aventurine · formal attire
The Dreamscape lay in jagged pieces, splinters of sickly neon light catching on the surfaces of spreading, dark pools. A fine dust hung in the dead air, punctuated only by the wet, labored sound of someone trying to breathe. Dr. Veritas Ratio picked his way through the wreckage with measured steps, then froze. Before him, Aventurine was splayed across the ground, a vivid crimson aureole slowly claiming the space around him, that maddening grin still etched on his pale face. Ratio's jaw clenched, a muscle ticking beneath his skin. "Your capacity for knowing when to quit was always your most glaring deficit, peacock." He sank down, his hands moving with trained, analytical grace over the catastrophic injuries, but a faint, uncharacteristic tremor threaded his words. "Answer me this, you: is…