Chapter Text
Ink, and Skin. To all on earth, they were the original duo and the one that couldn't be beaten.
Soulmates. It was notoriously easy to find your soulmate.
90% of people have found their soulmate by the age of 30, at most.
Everyone in the precinct had their soulmate. Olivia had Alex, Munch had Fin (I know, they were shocked too), and everyone else just had someone.
Except for Elliot, and except for George. Elliot had only ever been with Kathy because they'd always been best friends as teenagers, but neither ever found their soulmate.
Admittedly, in the words of Dickie 'You knocked up mom?'. Indeed he had, but it had never meant anything. They'd then married because it was expected, and they had kids because, again, it was expected of them. Maureen and Kathleen knew, but Dickie, Elizabeth and, of course Eli, didn't.
George didn't have time to worry about soulmates, and he convinced himself that he didn't care, that it didn't upset him. Funny, he did exactly what he, as a psychiatrist, told people not to. He suppressed it, and wouldn't talk to anyone. He had Alex, his best friend, and he didn't even talk to her about it.
Elliot didn't draw. Growing up, he'd had two sisters and three brothers. His brothers took drawing on board, it was natural. But their father… Let’s just say, Elliot was discouraged from drawing by the toxically ‘masculine’ man. As he'd grown up, it had stuck and he'd adopted that idea too.
George was fantastic at drawing. If he ever decided he wanted to quit his job, he could easily make a living as an artist. He hadn't drawn in a long time though, never having the time. Plus, he never knew what to draw, on paper or his skin.
Recently, Olivia had been urging Elliot to pick up drawing again because 'How are you going to find your soulmate if you don't at least try?'.
Well, it was on a rainy afternoon that he had gone to get something and Maureen had helpfully come over to watch Dickie and Elizabeth for him. When Elliot got back, Maureen was sitting on the couch with Dickie and Elizabeth either side of her with markers and a wash cloth in front of them. She was explaining to them about how they should draw really pretty things on their skin so their soulmate could see.
As Elliot watched them, he decided that maybe he'd at least try. Not there and then, of course not, but he would try. Just to get Olivia off his back...Yeah. He paid careful attention to how Maureen drew as examples for the two enamored kids besides her.
It did take a while for Elliot to regain his skills from when he was younger, but when he did? It was amazing. And Kathleen sure thought so too. That event was humiliating for Elliot, although the others were only interested in when he'd picked up drawing again.
Kathleen was visiting with Dickie and Elizabeth, and they were play wrestling on the couch. Elizabeth was winning so far. Kathleen and Elliot were sitting in chairs across from each other and having a conversation. Amazing, I know. Elliot was making a gesture with his hand when Kathleen suddenly gasped, her hand coming up to her mouth. Elliot stopped mid movement, leaving his hand in the air.
'You okay?' He asked, slightly concerned.
Kathleen didn't move for a second, before her hands shot forward and she grabbed his hand, pulling it closer to her.
'That's not an - fuck.' Elliot started, cutting himself off when he realized what she wanted to see.
Earlier, before they'd came over, he'd been practicing again and he must've forgotten to get rid of the one on his hand. It was one that Olivia had drawn on him the week before when she found out he was practicing because of her, and he'd liked it enough to copy it.
It was a yin and yang symbol, one side was a fiery red, and the other a sky blue. Olivia had explained the colors by 'I think your soulmate would be a really calm person, so the blue is them and the red is you', which Elliot accepted.
'This is beautiful! Did you draw this, dad?' Kathleen asked, looking up at him and still holding his hand.
Elliot paused for a long moment, debating whether to lie or to tell the truth. Then, the situation got very much worse, at least for him.
Elizabeth had won the wrestling match, and she and Dickie had noticed what was going on. Elizabeth had leapt off the couch and had scampered over to them. As soon as she caught sight of the symbol on his hand, she smiled, showing how much she liked it. Dickie followed, and he reacted the same way Elizabeth had, oohing and ahhing in awe. Their consistently positive reactions gave Elliot enough courage to speak.
'Yeah, I did.' Elliot finally said, cringing internally at the sentence.
'This is amazing! Why didn't you tell me you started drawing again?' Kathleen asked, looking up at him and finally releasing his hand, only for Elizabeth to pull it down to her height.
Elliot visibly winced, and Kathleen frowned, but before she could mention it, Elliot spoke.
'Don't say that.' Elliot said, his voice a little quieter.
He was really having trouble with this. He knew it was normal to draw on your skin, it was literally what everyone did, but it was so hard to just accept it now. (Really, he was scared of looking weak, but he refused to acknowledge that.)
'Dad, don't be embarrassed, this is really good! Isn't it Lizzie? Dickie?' Kathleen asked, looking down at them.
'Yeah, this is pretty!' Elizabeth affirmed, then turning to Elliot and jumping up into his lap and giving him a hug.
'You know you're going to be too big for this soon.' Elliot said to her, trying to divert attention away from the drawing.
Kathleen understood and, thankfully, let it go....For then.
It was a few weeks later, when Elliot was more comfortable with drawing and now wasn't afraid to do it in front of Munch and Fin on a slow day, that George decided he would pick up drawing again.
Elliot tossed the red marker over to Olivia, having finished the yin and yang symbol that he had decided to stick with. He swung his chair back and forth, leaning back. With a sigh of boredom, he kicked his feet up onto his desk, crossing his arms across his chest. Olivia glanced up for a moment and froze, actually dropping the marker in her hand.
Alex, who was sitting beside her, frowned and put her arm around her shoulders. Elliot frowned as well, his eyes narrowing in confusion. He dropped his feet to the floor and leaning forward, picking up the marker for her.
'You alright there Liv?' He asked, holding the marker out to her.
Slowly, she took the marker, putting the cap back on. She looked up at him then, and spoke.
'Your arm.' She said breathlessly, pointing to his right arm.
Elliot looked down at his arm, and froze up as well. On his forearm, a design was being drawn in black ink and for how quick it was going, it was incredibly detailed and delicate and...beautiful. It was only, say, 30 seconds later that it was finished. While it was pretty, Elliot couldn't quite tell what it was. It was some sort of...symbol. After a moment's silence, Olivia let out a small noise of realization.
'I recognize that symbol. It represents loneliness.' Olivia explained, leaning over the desk to get a better look at it.
'Where did you learn that?' Alex asked, turning her head to look at her.
'A perp had those drawn all over his walls. He told me what they meant.' Olivia murmured, her attention focused on the design on Elliot's arm.
Elliot felt an inexplicably sharp pain in his chest at hearing what the symbol meant, and he internally scoffed.
How could he feel bad for someone he'd never even met?
Elliot looked up at Olivia and he reached over, grabbing the marker away from her. He looked down at his arm, the symbol, and then on his left arm, the man swiftly drew his own, one Kathleen and Maureen had done for their soulmates when they were apart. He finished within a few seconds and set the marker back down, hoping his soulmate might know what the symbol meant. All three of them paused for a long moment, before the first symbol disappeared, and was replaced with another.
''Thanks'...What does yours mean?' Olivia asked, looking up at him. This time Alex smiled proudly, having been the one to teach Olivia what that symbol meant.
Elliot paused for a moment, and answered then without looking away from his arm.
''Have courage.''