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Aventurine had been enjoying a nice day of bed rotting, undisturbed until there was finally a knock at the door. The gambler managed untangle himself from the sheets and waddled to the door while he fixed his pyjamas, finally opening up to find Veritas Ratio.
“Ratio, didn’t expect-”
“I’ll get to the point. Ruan Mei made me deliver this to you.” Veritas grumbled under his breath about being reduced to a messenger. “Just take it.”
Aventurine was going to make a joke, but the moment he opened up the box, any quips he had died on his tongue.
Sitting in the box, rubbing its crosshair-patterned eyes and yawning with sharp teeth from having just woken up, was a critter.
Its body was white, with a black tuft of fur partially obscuring its right eye and a black mark at the end of its tail. The housing was black and red, patterned to resemble how a certain cowboy’s cape hung from his back, with a silver trim around the base.
Nestled atop its housing was a little cowboy hat, accurate down to the bullet pattern on the front and the tattered brown feathers attached to the silver pins on the side.
“I’m not sure what compelled her to create it.” Veritas’ voice snapped Aventurine back to the present. “She said she’d “found” a sample of that Galaxy Ranger’s DNA.”
“Meaning she stole it off him.”
“Most likely. Regardless,” Veritas continued, “She decided to study his genetics briefly but found little of interest. Not wanting the sample to go to waste, she decided this was the best course of action, for reasons beyond me.”
Aventurine gave a small hum of acknowledgment and took the critter out of the box. Its squishy little body wiggled in his arms for a moment, supposedly trying to get comfy, and eventually settled.
“I’ll be off now. Whatever you do with it is your business.”
Veritas left before Aventurine could respond, leaving the gambler in silence.
The feeling of paws tugging Aventurine’s sleeve caught his attention, and he looked down to see the critter staring up him with big, expectant eyes.
“Are you hungry?”
It continued staring at him, pawing more insistently.
“Do you… want a hug?”
The critter raised its paws and began purring.
“Alright…” Aventurine held it close to his chest, feeling it rumbling against him. “Guess you’re with me now.”
— — —
That night, Aventurine sat back in his bed again, calling Boothill like he did every night the cowboy was away.
“By the way,” Aventurine spoke up. “Have you met Ruan Mei recently?”
“Oh, the uh, Genius Society lady? Brown hair, really likes desserts?”
“Yep.”
“Sure, a while ago. Crossed paths on a desert world I was passin’ through. She tried to offer me somethin’ to eat, but I’d heard some sketchy rumours so I declined. She was mighty disappointed.” The cowboy chuckled.
“Good choice.” Aventurine smiled, at least glad his boyfriend didn’t get himself drugged. “What happened?”
“Eh, talked for a minute, nothin’ special. Asked a lotta questions about my “achievements”, as she put it. Then she tried askin’ about my past.” Boothill let out a small, irritated sigh. “Told her there wasn’t much to say.”
“Did she believe you?” Aventurine already knew the answer.
“Nope. But it was time I headed out anyway, so we parted ways there.”
“Did she…” Aventurine considered how to say this, “By any chance, snag a piece of your DNA? Like a strand of hair, or something?”
Boothill went silent on the other side of the phone.
“Why?”
The gambler sighed.
“It’s… complicated. Did she or not?”
“…” The cowboy thought back. “She did start runnin’ her fingers through my hair at one point. I shut that down real quick, though. That ain’t for just anybody.”
“Am I on that exclusive list?” Aventurine teased.
“How many times have I let you mess with my hair? ‘Course you’re on the list.” Boothill let out a small laugh. “But now that you mention it, I think I felt a little tug when I shrugged her off. Maybe she did take some hair?”
“Ah.”
“You gonna tell me why, now?”
Aventurine sighed.
“Yeah, just a sec.”
The gambler angled his phone to take a half-decent picture of the lookalike critter making biscuits in his lap.
“Sent a pic.”
There was silence for a moment as the cowboy processed what he was looking at.
“Is that… me?”
“Yep. A lifeform built from your DNA.” Aventurine patted it. “Created by Miss Ruan Mei herself.”
“Huh.” Boothill took a moment to look over his critter self some more. He had to give Ruan Mei credit: it was pretty cute. “Is the hat part of it?”
Aventurine hummed a little in consideration.
“Not sure. Whenever I try touching it, it bats my hand away.” The gambler tried again while he spoke, and as always, got batted. The critter huffed and went back to kneading his leg.
“Heh. Takes after me then.” It was true that Boothill did the same when he got unwanted attention. Try to take his hat, and prepare for a metal slap. Aventurine had the elusive boyfriend pass, but even then he was on thin ice at times.
“It’s not as noisy as you, thankfully.” Aventurine teased. “Can’t say the same about your recklessness, though.”
The gambler grimaced at the memory of having to climb the kitchen counter to rescue it after it somehow got stuck on top of the fridge.
“Good to know it’s makin’ its old man proud.” Boothill grinned, “The lil guy got a name yet?”
“Actually no.” Aventurine gently patted the critter’s butt. “I figured if anyone should have the honours, it’d be you.”
“Huh…” Boothill scratched his chin in thought. The gambler braced himself for a name that was probably far too cheesy. “How about Bullet?”
Aventurine sighed in half relief, half resignation.
“Okay. Could be worse.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Boothill’s pout was audible.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Aventurine held back a chuckle. “Come back soon so you can meet him.”
“You say that like I don’t already have a reason to scurry on back.” The cowboy smiled up at the stars. He was a free spirit at heart, always on the move. He would never give up travelling the cosmos, but that didn’t mean he didn’t find solace tucked away comfy in his partner’s apartment, even if only for a while. Aventurine was his respite, somewhere- someone he could always return to. He finally understood what people meant when they said “home is where the heart is”.
“Well, now you have two- hey, no need for that.” Aventurine whispered and took hold of Bullet’s paws.
“Huh?”
“Bullet just stuck his claws in my leg, it’s fine.” The gambler gently squeezed the critter’s little feet as he addressed it. “Bad. Bad baby.”
“Ain’t he technically my baby?” Boothill laughed, “Hey, maybe we should get Ruan Mei to make one of you too, they can be buddies!”
“Haha, no.” The list of things Aventurine was unwilling to do was worryingly short, but handing out his DNA was one of them. “We’ll just share custody of Bullet.”
“Fine.” Boothill didn’t even pretend to be begrudging. “I’m almost wrapped up out here, so I should be able to hitch a ride back sometime tomorrow. Will see you in a couple days tops.”
“Mhm.” The gambler smiled. “See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too, peacock.”
With that, the phone went quiet, and Aventurine looked down to see Bullet yawn.
“Wanna sleep with me?”
The critter started purring.