Work Text:
“Is that a tattoo?”
Theo’s voice startles Liam from where he’s toweling off his hair in his bedroom. He’s facing Theo but he’d been so distracted that he hadn’t noticed the chimera enter the room.
“What was that?” Liam asks.
“I asked if that’s a tattoo,” Theo says, gesturing towards Liam’s wrist.
Liam is about to tell him he’s crazy when he looks down and spots the black ink swirling across his left wrist. His eyes widen as he whirls around to look in the mirror, holding his arm out in front of him. It’s still there but it’s moving, changing. Upon closer inspection he realizes that they’re words.
“What the hell?” He squints down at it, trying to make out what the words say, but they keep changing.
“I know Derek and Scott have tattoos but that’s not normal,” Theo points out, “so it’s not like you could go out and get drunk and get a tattoo.”
“Obviously,” Liam says, shielding himself when Theo tries to move closer, “it wasn’t there when I went to sleep last night. And I would’ve noticed someone burning something into my skin. Plus it’s not normal. It changes.”
“Changes? Like it could be magic?”
Liam shrugs, “Yeah I guess so.”
Theo is silent for a moment, allowing Liam to focus and finally catch a glimpse of the words before they change ‘Maybe Stiles did it.’
He doesn’t get to question how his tattoo knows about Stiles because Theo is speaking again, “Do you think Stiles could have magicked the words there as a joke?”
Liam’s breath catches in his throat causing Theo’s brow to furrow in worry. ‘It’s a legitimate question,’ the words say. Theo steps closer, reaching out to touch Liam but Liam backs up, his eyes meeting Theo’s.
“Liam? What’s wrong?”
“I just… I have to go.”
He throws his shoes on, barely remembering to grab a shirt before he does the only thing he can think of. He runs. He runs until he reaches Mason’s house, letting himself in like he usually does and making his way up to Mason’s room.
“Mase? Are you here?”
Mason’s bedroom door opens, revealing a confused looking Mason, “Liam? Did I forget we were supposed to hang out?”
Liam shakes his head, walking into Mason’s room, seeing Corey sitting on his bed, “I’m sorry for just showing up like this. I left so fast that I forgot my phone.”
Liam glances down to see more words there, ‘Idiot just taking off like that and not even bringing his phone.’ They disappear and then a moment later more appear in their place, ‘Maybe I should try Mason.’
Liam’s head snaps up, the words leaving his mouth before he can stop them, “Don’t answer it!”
“My phones not even…” Mason trails off when his phone starts ringing. He looks at the phone and then back at Liam, “Momentarily ignoring the fact that you somehow knew my phone was going to ring before it actually did, why am I not allowed to talk to Theo? Did he do something?”
“No it’s just… complicated.”
Liam sighs in relief when the phone stops ringing, only to have it disappear when more text appears on his arm and he feels guilt settle in instead, ‘Why would he just take off like that?’ ‘I don’t think I did anything wrong.’ ‘Maybe I did and didn’t realize it.” ‘Maybe I should go look for him.’
“Liam!”
Liam’s eyes snap up to meet Mason’s, who's looking even more concerned, “What is going on with you? Why do you keep looking at your wrist?”
Liam sighs, holding out his wrist to show Mason, “Because of this?”
“You got a tattoo?” Mason asks, “Wait, is this magic? The words just changed! Why does your tattoo say ‘Mason’s probably hiding him’ what the hell Liam? How does it know who I am?”
“The tattoo doesn’t know who you are, Theo does.”
“Okay.”
Liam sits heavily on the bed next to Corey who’s wearing a look of understanding, “It shows you Theo’s thoughts, doesn’t it? That’s how you knew he was going to call.”
Liam nods, “Yeah. I didn’t realize that at first. I didn’t even notice until Theo pointed it out to me. I just thought it was words, they were changing so fast at first. Then it showed something about Stiles magicking the tattoo on me and a few seconds later Theo said almost the same thing. I may have panicked and left when I realized what was happening.”
“Why did you panic?” Mason asks, “I think it’s kind of cool.”
“You wouldn’t think it was cool if your thoughts were suddenly appearing on someone’s skin,” Liam says, “Theo’s a private person. This just feels like such an invasion of his privacy. I should not know these things unless he wants me to.”
“But that doesn’t explain why you panicked.”
“I don’t know, okay? Whatever this is, it feels big. Like it’s more than just words appearing on my skin. I need to talk to Deaton or Stiles. One of them has to know something.”
“Do you want us to go with you?” Mason asks.
“I kind of need a ride. I ran all the way here,” Liam says.
“Of course you did,” Mason rolls his eyes, “let me get my shoes on and then I’ll take you to Deaton’s.”
Liam tries to keep his eyes focused ahead, anywhere but on his wrist, but as they start to leave the house he finds himself involuntarily looking down, ‘Come on Liam, where are you?’
“Can you text Theo and tell him I’m alright?” Liam asks his best friend.
“Are you going to tell him what’s happening?” Corey asks.
“Not until I know what this even means.”
“As long as you tell him,” Mason says, “he has a right to know what’s happening.”
Liam nods, “Yeah I know. Let’s just go talk to Deaton and get this figured out.”
“Well this is interesting,” Deaton says, examining the words as they come and go on Liam’s skin, “I’ve heard of such things happening but never actually seen it for myself.”
“What is it?” Liam asks, “What does it mean?”
“What you have here is a soulmark, Mr. Dunbar,” Deaton says, voice calm as if he hadn’t just dropped such a huge bomb on Liam.
“A soulmark? Those things are real? How is that even possible? I’ve never heard of anyone having a soulmark before.”
“They’re very rare,” Deaton tells him, “Extremely. One in a million as some would say. Chances are Mr. Raeken has one himself or he will.”
“Theo is my soulmate? But how? He doesn’t see me like that.” Liam’s voice is quiet as he stares down on his wrist, confused when he sees the words ‘What the hell?’ written there before being replaced with ‘Liam you fucking idiot.’
The next moment the door flies open and Theo is striding in, eyes stormy as he stares at Liam, “You do not get to determine for me how I feel. And this,” he strides towards Liam, taking his wrist in his hand, “you didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell me you knew my thoughts?”
“I wasn’t sure what was going on and I panicked!” Liam says, “I tried to avoid looking at it, okay? I didn’t want to invade your privacy. I just wanted to figure out what was happening.”
“You still should have told me,” he hears the words slip past Theo’s lips at the same time they appear on his wrist, “We could have figured it out together. You had me worried when you just took off like that.”
“I know. And I’m sorry,” he looks up to find Theo staring at him, his eyes no longer holding the anger from before. He looks more hesitant now, unsure, “so what now?”
“I don’t know,” Theo says, voice quiet, “it depends on what you want.”
“What I want? What about you?”
“I know what I want, Liam. I know that I want to be with you. I’ve wanted it for so long. Soulmark or not, it doesn’t matter. I fell in love with you, not because fate decided I should or some bullshit like that, but because you’re you and you’ve made my life so much better, made me better. You put your trust me in even after everything I did to you and your pack. If you don’t want this, I understand. You shouldn’t let some mark on your wrist decide what you’re supposed to do. You need to want it.”
“You stupid…” Liam pinches the bridge of his nose, before looking back at Theo a grin appearing on his face, “Of course I want you. And it has nothing to do with the damn soulmark, okay? I can keep it covered up if that’s what you want. I love you. You drive me fucking crazy sometimes, sure. But you’re so much more than you think you are.”
Theo smiles, holding Liam’s wrist up so that he can see the words as they appear there, ‘Get over here and kiss me.’
Liam rolls his eyes but leans in, placing a soft kiss to Theo’s lips which Theo happily returns.
Liam doesn’t think to ask whether Theo has a soulmark. They’re together and that’s all that matters. A smile still appears on his face when he makes up the next morning to see Theo has a matching mark on his right wrist, lining up perfectly with Liam’s when he laces their fingers together.
Neither one pay much attention to the marks, except for when they’re away from each other for extended periods of time. It becomes their silent form of communication, letting the other know they’re alright and miss them. The rest of the time they keep them covered up, wanting to keep the words private. They say whatever they need to say through their words and gestures, and that’s good enough for them.