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“Oh sorry,” Shiro mumbles after bumping into someone on the sidewalk, not really bothering to look up from his phone.
“Holy shit!”
His eyebrows furrow as he finally looks up at the other man. His world bursts into color, the blue of the man's shirt complimenting his eyes perfectly, someone must have helped him with that.
“This is so exciting!” The man cheers, “I’m Lance and I didn’t expect to find you today but does anyone really expect to find their soulmate any day?”
“Uhh, I guess not. I’m Shiro.”
“Shiro,” Lance repeats with a soft grin. “Nice hair, did someone pick it for you?”
“It's a nickname, actually…” Shiro mumbles, wondering why he didn’t just say his actual name first. “Takashi is my real name and I picked it myself. It’s my favorite color.”
“Oh... you’ve had a soulmate before then?” he asks, the slightest hint of hurt in his voice.
Shiro nods, smiling weakly. Lance probably thinks his soulmate died in some tragic accident but that definitely isn’t the case. He was so young and in love, thinking they would be together forever before she ripped his fucking heart out. The day he lost his colors he felt so alone in the world. He should have paid more attention the signs. His colors were fading but he chose to ignore it, having faith in his soulmate, not believing that she would ever do something to hurt him. But he was wrong, so very wrong.
He got home that day to find her with some other man, getting ready to leave as if Shiro never meant anything to her at all. Like he was some toy, just a test, someone to get her ready for the real deal. He was crushed and rightfully so. No one ever expects their soulmate to just find someone else and leave. Shiro didn’t even think he’d find another one. He thought he’d be colorless and alone for the rest of his life, but he was wrong about that too.
“Shiro?” Lance asks while waving his hand in front of his face.
“Hm?”
“Do you want to go grab dinner and get to know each other?”
“I don’t really have the time for this, I’m sorry.” He pushes past Lance, set on home.
“Hey!” Lance yells while grabbing onto Shiro’s sleeve. “What do you mean you don’t have time for this? I’m your soulmate?”
“But for how long?”
He sounds absolutely exhausted, he doesn’t have the energy to deal with getting his heart broken all over again.
“Look, I don’t know what happened between you and your last soulmate, but I am not them. I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.
Shiro sighs, not feeling up to arguing. “I’ll give you my number and we can figure something out later, okay?”
Lance frowns but agrees anyway, handing his phone over to Shiro.
—
Shiro grimaces as he runs his fingers through his lilac hair, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Since he got his colors back he’s only regretted having dyed it. If anything its just mocking him now. A reminder of what once was, it was a lot easy to ignore when he couldn’t actually see it.
“I should just dye it back,” he sighs, talking to himself. Stupid hair is only causing me problems anyway.
At one time he would have loved to have hair like this. Now it all feels wrong and… too raw. It all feels like the universe is trying to fuck him over. Giving him a soulmate that would just leave him to be with another man and then giving him another so soon after when he doesn’t even have his own feelings in check.
God, he barely even took any time to get a look at Lance. He’s probably a lovely man, his eyes were at least. But Lance isn’t what Shiro needs right now. What he needs is time to recover and heal.
—
First dates with your soulmate should never be this awkward. Since Lance got here neither of them have barely said a word. They have been texting more, mostly Lance sending Shiro memes, but this is so different and so… awkward.
“So, you changed your hair color?” Lance asks as if it isn’t obvious but Shiro knows what he’s really wanting to say.
“I—I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Shiro, are you ever going to warm up to me? We’ve known each other for a few weeks now and I know you’ve been blowing me off. If we’re supposed to spend the rest of our lives together you have to talk to me.”
“ Lance —”
“No, Shiro! I’m serious! If you want this to work you have to talk to me. I’m trying my best here and you just keep pushing me away like I mean nothing to you. Is that what it is? You want your ex back? Am I not good enough?”
“Woah, hey, that is not what this is.”
“Sure feels like it. You know what, why don’t you just give me a call when decide to actually put effort into this relationship, okay?”
“Wait, Lan—”
“Goodbye, Shiro,” Lance says and walks out, leaving Shiro all alone in his small apartment.
Good job, Shiro, you fucked yourself out of another soulmate. He deflates, sinking into the seat. His colors will probably be gone by tomorrow and there’s not much he can do about it. He could go after Lance, beg him to stay, ask for another chance but his heart isn’t in it. It feels like it's way too soon to go chasing after someone after the one he thought he loved just walked out.
Shiro sighs and pulls himself up from the seat, dragging himself to his bedroom and leaving their half-eaten food on the table. He can worry about it later, for now, the only thing he wants to do is sleep. Sleep and forget about all the pain. Wake up to no colors and get on with his life.
It doesn’t take him very long to fall asleep after cocooning himself in his blankets. However, he doesn’t stay asleep very long. The sound of pounding wakes him from his not so restful sleep. He doesn’t bother to check the time but does take note of his colors. He still has them for now at least.
The man tediously pulls himself to the door, swinging it open without much thought. Lance stands there, holding a cake with a sheepish grin. Shiro sighs, shoulders slacking slightly.
“Please don’t slam the door in my face.”
“Come on, I’m not that much an asshole.”
“Debatable,” Lance chuckles, slipping into the apartment past him.
Shiro rolls his eyes and closes the door. “Fair enough. So what’s with the cake?”
“It’s an ‘I’m sorry’ cake.” Lance places the cake on the counter then looks up at him with soft eyes. “I wanted to apologize for the way I acted earlier. I know this has been hard for you and I should be more supportive and help you through this rather than making it harder.”
“So you brought me a cake?”
“Yes, exactly.”
Shiro opens the container and swipes his finger against the frosting.
“Use a fork, you heathen,” the younger man scolds, folding his arms over his chest.
“Nah, c’mere,” he mumbles, extending his arms to Lance.
Lance happily allows Shiro to wrap his arms around him and hold him close.
“What did I ever do to deserve you?” he asks, voice soft and low.
“Shiro…”
“Seriously, you’re being so patient with me and you still want to try this even though I’ve been so closed off and frankly a giant dick. You’ve kept trying and I really appreciate it, Lance.”
“You’re my soulmate, I’m not going to just give up on you.” Lance looks up at Shiro and runs his fingers through his white tuff.
They knock their foreheads together, soft smiles lining their lips as they stand in each other's embrace. They stand like that until their eyes grow heavy, Shiro all but carries Lance to his bed, and lets the younger man curl into the plush blankets as he pleases.
—
Shiro sighs, running his fingers through Lance’s silky brown hair. He’s woken up to this so many times now and each time it gets better. He falls harder and harder without even realizing. Swallowing hard he leans down and presses a soft kiss to Lance’s forehead.
He looks so beautiful all the damn time like its easy, either way, it makes Shiro's heartache. He gently brushes Lance's hair back, enjoying silky smooth feeling between his fingers. Lance's eyes flutter open, the softest of smiles lining his lips. His eyes are such a beautiful shade of blue, Shiro can't believe it took him this long to really look at them and think about how gorgeous they are.
“I love you,” he mumbles for the first time with closed eyes, his hand rubbing circles into his soulmate’s back.
“Really?” The soft smile on his lips only grows.
“Yes, I... I love you, Lance,” he repeats, not daring to open his eyes.
“I love you too, dork,” Lance whispers. He leans up to quickly peck Shiro’s lips then scoots closer to him, sucking up as much of his warmth as he can.
Shiro’s breath gets caught in his throat as holds Lance close enough to hear his heartbeat. It's been hard for him to admit but Lance has brought so much more than colors back into his life. Lance gave him a new reason to keep trying, to keep pushing past the hard times. Shiro’s last soulmate leaving him definitely wasn’t ideal, but this is so much better. Lance is so much better.