SOULMATE AU!!!

[was_no_monster]

FOR ALL GOOFY SOULMATE NEEDS :3c

Comments

[feelthisnoiz]

Yeah. I've got rough tracking on them.

[was_no_monster]

Smart. Was there a bust or something?

[feelthisnoiz]

They get shitty about Rhyme.

[was_no_monster]

...Ah.

That's stupid, doesn't Toue practically own them both?

[feelthisnoiz]

[shrugs]

An excuse is an excuse.

[was_no_monster]

...Point.

[ sitting down where he can keep an eye on that screen. something on his person makes a muted whirr in response to the movement ]

[feelthisnoiz]

[seems to be done with the typing now, and leans back against the wall to also watch the tracking screen. the whirr doesn't get any more out of him than a brief, curious glance.]

[was_no_monster]

[ ...fuck. he hasn't done the whole rusty machinery thing in years; if he's started up again, he really needs to try to take better care of himself...

frowning before he can quite stop the impulse and carefully shifting and resettling himself— without any tells, this time. ]

[feelthisnoiz]

[just keeps watching the screen. the police don't seem to be checking this building, at least not yet]

[was_no_monster]

If it looks like they're coming up, there are stairs up to the roof; it's pretty easy to roofhop the hell away faster than they can follow.

[feelthisnoiz]

Sure.

[it's not really an invitation to further conversation, but it's not really rejecting, either. just short and matter-of-fact.]

[was_no_monster]

[ and yet, still awkward. after a moment's hesitation he decides not to try to resuscitate the conversation and leans back against the wall instead.

it's more habit than any actual expectation that makes him glance down at the other man's hands, one of those little things that nearly everyone marked but unpaired ended up doing. most people didn't even have much to look for— size, most—but human nature being what it was, they looked anyway. he's always counted himself lucky to have something more to go off than that—

—and it takes him a moment to realize he's looking at it. it's the familiar crook to the outer two fingers of the left hand; the same one he knows from time spent when he was younger, using mirrors to look wondering at the back of his own neck and that proof that he was human enough for someone else's soul to reach out to his own.

his mind goes completely blank with shot as he jerks back up, eyes wide ]

[feelthisnoiz]

[looks over again in response to the sudden motion, brows furrowing]

What?

[was_no_monster]

Your left hand.

[feelthisnoiz]

[it isn't like Noiz doesn't know about soul marks. everyone knows about soul marks. you can't escape it. romantic, even erotic focus on hands is a cultural constant. how isolated would someone have to be, not to know what that sudden urgency means, after seeing his hand?

but his expression betrays no excitement, no curiosity. no hope.]

What about it?

[was_no_monster]

[ ...that... hurts. it's not a rejection, but it falls kind of close, and the sudden sense of vibrating urgency means he can't really manage to wrap himself around why that might be the case or even a response in words.

he shakes himself instead, wiggling out of his jacket enough so that the collar isn't obscuring anything and pulling the shaggy mess of his hair out of the way. only then does he half turn, exposing the green-and-yellow healing bruise mottling of the print on the back of his neck.

it's a risque move, and he can feel his face heating up in response— leaving the mark exposed was one thing, but deliberate presentation... it was like an invitation to touch. but he can't manage anything else, at least until he's no longer looking at the other man's lack of expression ]

...Your fingers match.

[feelthisnoiz]

[he does almost reach out, a little flickering movement of his hand - but it's stifled almost before it starts.]

It's someone else. I don't have a mark.

/2

[was_no_monster]

[ oh. ]

[was_no_monster]

[ he lets his hair fall back into place, but doesn't turn back ]

...That doesn't mean it's not yours.

I wouldn't- I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't leave a mark.

[feelthisnoiz]

[it's pointless to get involved with other people, it's stupid, there's no point in- in hoping--]

...why?

[was_no_monster]

[ silently grabbing one shoulder to wiggle the joint— and there's that mechanical grinding whirr from before, the same sort of sound a damaged Allmate joint would make ]

Something artificial probably wouldn't have enough of a soul for that.

[feelthisnoiz]

[oh.

he's still not sure he believes - wants to believe? dares to believe? - but... it would just figure, wouldn't it?

he always knew he was cut off from the rest of the world, from humanity. this doesn't change anything, really.

he lets out a short, bitter laugh.]

[was_no_monster]

[ flinches, and abruptly draws his knees up so he can thump his forehead into them. you'd have to be deaf not to hear the undertone of pain in that laugh, and if the mark on his neck really does belong to that man...



this is his fault. ]

I'm sorry.

[feelthisnoiz]

[reaches out and touches the mark]

[was_no_monster]

[ it reacts immediately, almost like it was impatient— bright, arterial red slicing out from the point of contact and then seeping outward until the entire handprint is stained bloody.

he jumps a little at the sudden contact, the sudden feeling of a hand on his neck... and then relaxes with a soft, stunned "oh." he recognizes the touch in a way he doesn't have words for— it feels almost like coming home, or the moment of relief as he went back to his father after another round of testing.

this is the person he chose. ]