Chapter Text
Lance McClain was outgoing, bubbly, extroverted. Everyone at school knew who he was, and he was very well liked. His best friends, Pidge and Hunk, were two of his favorite people in the whole world and he rarely spent a moment without them. His parents and siblings were amazing, even if they weren’t the richest people in the world and he sometimes didn’t have a lunch. But he still had a pretty great life.
Every day he would write something on his arm. Whether it be a reminder or some other random thing, it had become a habit. And when he looked down one day to see a response, well let’s just say he was more than surprised. In actuality, he screamed really loudly, resulting in Hunk screaming really loudly and Pidge telling them to shut up. Lance shoved his arm towards the two, his eyes wide and mouth slacked open. “s-someone- LOOK!” he screeched, his voice unnaturally high.
“Woah,” Pidge muttered, looking at Lance’s arm.
“They wrote in red pen,” Hunk mused.
“No shit,” Pidge said with a smirk. “GUYS!” Lance shrieked again. His arm was shaking slightly. “What the FUCK IS THIS!” Pidge looked as his arm and adjusted her glasses. “Well, it seems like you have a ~soooul maaate~,” Pidge laughed. “I- what?” He shook his head. A soul mate? Oh quiznak. How the hell did this even happen? He didn’t even know that this kind of thing ever even happened. He had seen text posts on Doneblr about it but that was it. Nothing else, only a text post online. But now- this shit was actually happening to him?
“It can’t be. That’s just- made up. Not real.” He shook his head back and forth. “holy shit, dude. It’s not a big deal. In fact,” Hunk paused. “Maybe we know this mystery girl.” Lance’s face heated up. It wasn’t a girl. He’d always known he was bi, ever since he had watched Henry Porter and fallen in love with Donald Measely for approximately 5 minutes. And he could just tell his soulmate was a guy. He didn't know how but he did. It was just something about the writing and the tone.
He peaked out for behind his fingers. “uhhh… what if… it wasn’t a girl?” Pidge and Hunk stared at him for a second. “Dude, what else could it be? An alien?” Pidge shoved Hunk gently. “Then what if we know who /he/ is?” Pidge asked, pointedly staring at Hunk. "Wh- oHHHH! Oh! Well- yeah! What if?" He stared at Lance excitedly. "What if- what if it's someone who goes here? There are so many people on campus, it could be! Or what if-" "Hunk," Pidge said softly, glancing at Lance. "Let's- uh- let's just ask him some questions." Taking Lance's arm, she looked at the response in red letters. "Alright," she started, squinting her eyes and adjusting her glasses. "What do we say?"
Lance pondered this for a second. "Umm.. well..." he looked back down at the two line conversations.
'remember: don't fuck this up'
'you're going to fuck it up'
What the hell does he say to that?! And why was this guy such an asshole? "What do I say?!" he asked again, his voice cracking. After a few seconds, Hunk's face lit up. "What about... 'Thanks a lot. What's your name?'" Lance groaned. "Too open. This needs to be... me? I DON'T KNOW!" He groaned again before looking back at his friends. "What about..." he grabbed a blue marker and scribbled some words on his arm. Pidge and Hunk leaned over his shoulder. "Lance- what the FUCK," Pidge said, suppressing a laugh.
'you too, hot stuff. so. soulmate, huh?'
"Smoooooth," Hunk said. He was also suppressing a laugh, badly at that. "I really want to figure out who this guy is! I mean- if he really is my soulmate, I want to get to know him." A small smile found his face despite Lance's fears. A soulmate... maybe he wouldn't have to deal with heartbreak again. Or one-sided pining. Maybe, just maybe, he would feel good about a relationship.
"What if he isn't so hot, huh, Lance?" Pidge asked through a laugh. "I mean, if he's my soulmate, he would be to me." Pidge and Hunk went quiet for a moment. It was one of the deepest things they'd heard Lance say, even if it wasn't that big of a deal. It was still... different.
"Alright, Lance," Pidge finally said. "Sounds good." The three sat there for a few minutes, silent. Waiting for this soul mate's answer.
Lance could feel his pulse increasing with ever tick of the clock on the wall, but it wasn't a nervous increase. It was almost a... a happy increase. Like, he knew that soon, he hoped, he would get a reply. And then he could get to know this guy on the other side of his arm.
Wait that wasn't a good way of putting it- but he still wanted to learn about him. He had to be a good guy, because Lance knew himself. His soulmate couldn't be that big of an asshole.
He hoped, at least.
And hey, maybe he did know him. Maybe, maybe it was that guy he saw sometimes. Or someone else entirely. He had no idea. All he knew from what he had talked to for one sentence was that this guy was an asshole. Which Lance was not going to have. If this- guy- wanted to play the whole asshole routine, Lance would too. And the flirting routine, but that was a given.
After a few more minutes of no reply, Hunk fell asleep, snoring softly. This prompted Pidge to raise her eyebrows, laughing softly. "Goodnight, Lance." And with that, she, too, was out like a light.
Lance lay awake for a few more hours, before his eyelids fluttered shut and his body relaxed from the tension of be hunched over, staring at his arm for hours straight. Heh. Straight.