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Blaring noise rang throughout the room, its persistent ringing drowning out Keith's thoughts. It didn’t seem like today was going to be his day. Looking around the room for the source of the annoying noise, he spotted his target a few metres away; his dreaded alarm clock. He groaned internally, and externally, and swung his pale legs out of the fortress that is his bed.
After successfully turning off his alarm clock, and subsequently stopping the incessant ringing, he groggily made his way to the bathroom. The morning was cold, autumn chills taking the place of the summer sun. Perhaps Keith should start wearing pyjamas again, as currently, the bitter air nipped at his bare skin, the only comfort being his alien-patterned boxer shorts.
Sighing softly at his reflection, he took a moment to observe his sleep-stricken state. His onyx hair was askew, waving around in every possible direction. Blotches of pink were smeared on his cheeks, his pale skin looking even paler under the bathroom light. A slight scowl had been plastered on his lips as he stared into his own amethyst eyes, as if they held the secrets to all of his cryptic conspiracies.
A shout from the dorm room next to him broke him from his trance. He strained to hear what the noise had been, until he could hear the faint echoes of the Sherlock theme tune coming from next door, and muted sobs interrupting it every few seconds.
Not again, Pidge.
The grimace on his lips was soon replaced with a small smile at the thought of his best friend. With that, he brushed his teeth, threw on a black t-shirt and grey jeans, slung a red-plaid jacket over his shoulder, grabbed his keys, phone and a granola bar, then exited his small room.
After locking his door, well, trying to (his keys had an argument with him.) he pranced the couple of metres to his small friends room. Knocking on the door, he waited impatiently for Pidge. After a minute or so of hearing frantic shouts and heavy footsteps, Pidge open the door, panting as they did so, giving Keith an effete glare.
“Why the hell are you banging on my door before noon?! And without any warning nonetheless!?” The angry teen shouted at Keith, in all his smug glory.
“Hello to you to Pidgeon. I’m doing fine, thanks for asking, and how are you this fine morning?”
“Screw you Kogane. Now seriously, what do you want? Here to pine again about how lonely you are?” Now it was time for Pidge to look smug.
“Ha-ha, is the hobbit trying to make a joke? I applaud you for that. And no, actually I’m just bored, and despairing of you. Why put yourself through the pain of re-watching Sherlock, again?” By now Pidge had ushered Keith into their dorm room, planting themself on their bed again.
“Why? Why?! Because it’s a paragon of cinematic excellence!” Pidge shut down their laptop, the credits still drifting down the screen. Yet there was still a cheeky grin plastered on their lips.
“Well I can’t disagree with you there. Though, I don’t think I could handle the emotional turmoil that comes with re-watching the show. Don’t think I have the self control to stop crying once I start.
“Who says I do?” Pidge jests, letting out a gentle chuckle.
Pidge really does brighten up Keith’s mood.
After their brief meeting, it wasn’t long till Keith was ushered out of Pidge’s room, after they reminded Keith that mid-term exams were coming up, and the two of them needed to study.
So here Keith was, sat once more in his room, all alone, and trying his very hardest to procrastinate the studying he should really be doing. It was too early for algebra and astronomy, really. Did Pidge really believe he would start revising when she kicked him out?
Thousands of thoughts racked Keith’s mind, distracting him from what he was supposed to be doing. Some were stupid; ideas of activities he could do to void the work, that he thing he forgot he had to do a while back, what he should have for tea tonight, whether that new Spiderman film would be any good, etcetera, etcetera. Some, however, were much more serious and draining; what would his parents think of his hatred of homework right now? He would probably have a panic attack later from fear of midterms, wouldn’t it make it easier if he started to revise now? Why had he decided to put himself through even more school, even though all it did was make his anxiety worse? These thoughts led on to more and more, until he found himself questioning, why am I alone? Why me?
Keith took a moment to glance down at his pale arm, and remained disappointed and broody when he did so. Why? Because there was nothing there.
In this world, people were born with soulmates. A person, a friend, a lover, that they were destined to be with. The way people were matched with their soulmates, well, it differed. Some people were born with timer on their wrist, counting down the days till the person would find their other half. Some people were born unable to see colour, and could only see colour when touching their soulmate. Keith had neither of these. Some people had their soulmate's name imprinted somewhere on their body, or the first words their soulmate would speak to them. Keith had neither of these either. Some people could feel what their soulmate felt, whether it be emotional or physical. Some people had images etched into their skin that represent their soulmate (ie, their job, hobbies, likes.) But Keith had neither of these either.
In fact, Keith had no sign whatsoever of who his soulmate was, or if he even had one. It frustrated him to no end, made him anxious and scared. What if he didn't have one? Why did it have to be him? Keith asked himself these questions most days.
Now was not the time though. Keith decided to go on a walk, staying cooped up in his room was not doing any favours for his crippling anxiety, and no work was going to get done here. He quickly ate the granola bar he picked up earlier, and picked up black backpack from under his bed. He shoved his textbooks in there, some writing equipment and paper as well as his wallet. Making sure he had his keys and phones, he put his plaid jacket on and proceeded to check himself in the mirror. Once he’d ruffled his hair a bit, he deemed himself worthy for the outside world, and made his way out.
Keith wasn’t exactly sure where he was going to go, but anywhere was better than his dorm, right? Apparently not. Every time he walked past someone with a soulmate tattoo, or a couple holding hands or cosying up next to each other, his heart twinged and ached. Of course it was a good idea to shake his doubts by surrounding himself with one of them. Shaking his head slightly to rid himself of the negative thoughts, he carried on walking, letting his feet take him in any direction. He didn’t exactly have a particular study venue in mind, so more or less just wandered aimlessly in hopes somewhere suitable would pop up. And, it more or less did.
About 20 minutes into his walk, he came across a small café down a pretty empty street. It seemed to call out to him, as if personally inviting him to enter. He shrugged it off and made his way to the café.
Now in front of the shop, he noticed it seemed a little out of place in the city. It looked humble, and homely, and warm, and didn’t fit in next to the tattoo parlour opposite it, or the high street shops next to it. Taking a deep breath, Keith pressed the door open, and was immediately hit with the lovely aroma of coffee, and freshly baked pastries. It warmed his stomach, and settled his nervousness a bit.
Only one person was in line at the counter, and there was quite a few tables empty, but there was still a substantial amount of business in the quaint café. The ravenette strolled casually to the queue, his palms beginning to sweat. He never did like tills, or shopping in general, it made his anxiety run through the roof. He looked anywhere except at the person serving, trying to hide behind the customer in front. His gaze skittered across the menu of options above the counter as he mentally prepared himself to talk to the cashier.
After a minute or so, the older woman in front of him in the queue walked off to find a seat, cup of tea in hand. She sent Keith a smile as she walked past him, Keith’s heart warmed at the gesture.
Now Keith was first in line, and his heart was racing.
“Good morning, I’m Lance and I’ll be serving you today, what can i get you, Mr…?” The worker welcomed him, his voice warm, and deep and enticing. Keith couldn’t help but look up at the worker. His heart stopped as their eyes met, god this stranger was pretty.
He was shaken from his ogling as he felt his wrist begin to burn. He grasped at his arm, pulling it up into his line of vision. There, etched on his pale wrist was something that wasn’t there this morning when he had awoke. Scrawled on his wrist in black ink, was one word, one name; Lance. Keith brushed his fingers lightly over his mark, and wondered, if this was his soul mark. When he looked back up, he saw Lance looking down at his own wrist. Upon sensing Keith’s gaze, he looked back up. “Keith…” He mumbled, before speaking up to address the customer. “Is your name by any chance, Keith?”
Patches of colour settled on Keith's skin, his thoughts going into override. “Uh, yes.” He managed to stutter out. Lance gulped, before a lascivious smirk tugged at his lips. He lifted his arm up in the air so Keith could see his wrist, and there, scrawled in the same way as Keith’s new mark, was written Keith on Lance’s tan wrist. “It just showed up, like literally just now.” Lance blabbered, a pink dusting the bridge of his nose as he admired Keith.
Hesitating only slightly, Keith raised his wrist too, showing off his new mark to Lance. “Mine too.” He muttered softly, gazing fondly at Lance.
“Does this mean you’re my soulmate then?” Lance questioned cautiously.
Keith shrugged and lowered his arm. “I guess so.”
“Man, am I glad to meet you then. I thought I was going to be alone forever!” Lance flailed his arms dramatically, and Keith chuckled at this, raising his hand to cover his mouth. Lance stopped flailing and gazed at Keith, his blush spreading to his ears at how cute Keith looked right now. The smile plastered on his lips grew wider. “Anyhow, I’m Lance McClain.” He reached his hand across the counter. “It’s nice to officially meet you, my supposed soulmate.”
Keith smiled brightly, for the first time in a long while. He lifted his hand to meet Lances, and they shook hands. Lance’s hand was warm and comforting against his, and he honestly didn’t want to let go. “Keith Kogane, and it’s nice to meet you too.”
Perhaps this was going to be okay. Keith wasn’t going to be alone now, and he wasn’t different after all. He had a Soulmate, a friend, a (hopefully) lover, to share his life with, to make memories with, to love and care for him, and to be someone he could love and care for. The thought sent butterflies racing through his stomach, and he couldn't help but smile as he gazed at Lance.
He wasn’t sure how this was going to work, and he wasn’t sure what the outcome would be but Keith, standing here right now and still holding Lance’s hand, was sure of one thing; he was so glad he decided to leave his dorm this morning. And boy, he couldn’t wait to fan-boy about Lance and his cheesy, effortless smirk later to Pidge.
Him and Lance exchanged numbers, and agreed to meet up again. Even if it all didn’t turn out great, Keith couldn’t help but feel happy in that moment, and let his anxieties and worries fly right over his head, because Keith was not going to let them ruin his mood.
Not today. Because today was the day, that Keith finally found his soulmate. And he couldn’t be happier.