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Virgil was a nervous child, and it didn’t help that he had had to change schools yet again. He was only in elementary and this was the third time they’d moved. His parents assured him that this was actually the last time. His dad had gotten a stable job, and his mom was looking for her own, so this was really going to be where they stayed.
Ok, so that was great and all. But it didn’t make Virgil any less nervous to be standing just outside the door that from the inside of the school to the playground. It was his first recess and he was intimidated beyond belief. There were so many kids, running around and yelling and playing together… And he didn’t know a single one. Making friends was a little scary, but maybe it would be easier if these kids weren’t all in such big groups.
He found himself absently rubbing the words written on his wrist, it was something he did when he was especially nervous before doing something. His parents had explained to him that those were his soulmate’s words. And that his soulmate would be his very best friend and love him no matter what. Virgil was even lucky enough to have three sets of words on him, that was three whole soulmates! The words were tricky though, because they were the first thing your soulmate thought about you after seeing you. So you had to be careful sometimes, you didn’t want to miss them.
The thought of having soulmates who’d love him and want to be his best friends made him feel a lot better, that even though he was nervous a lot of the time, they wouldn’t be upset about that. He exhaled softly, still rubbing the words on his wrist for comfort as he looked around. The small boy perked up a little bit when he spotted someone sitting by themselves, under a tree. They were reading a book, not running around and being loud. …Maybe they would be a good friend to try and make. They couldn’t be that scary, right?
It took another steadying breath before Virgil started walking toward the other child, noticing as he got closer that they were another boy, and he had big thick glasses. He had a head of sorta messy dark brown hair, almost as dark as Virgil’s own - and his was black, with his eyes trained downward. By the time he’d reached him, he’d chickened out just a little bit, and had for some reason decided to just sit beside him instead of saying anything.
It wasn’t the ideal situation, but he still liked the idea that wasn’t alone. Even if he was just sitting quietly with this other person, it was still kinda nice. He ended up hugging his knees to his chest as he sat and watched recess from the safety of the shade and this quiet other boy.
Recess went on, but it was only a short while before Virgil noticed the boy moving out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look over at him and found that he’d finally noticed him. They were staring at each other, dark brown eyes meeting slightly lighter ones, almost like they were justifying the other’s existence there beside them.
“…Hello.” The other boy said after a moment, still looking Virgil over.
“Uh, h-hello. Sorry if I bothered you, I just.. I’m new and I didn’t know where else to be and.. I just hoped you wouldn’t mind if I came over here instead of going over there.” He quickly explained, a little panicked that this may have been a bad idea afterall, and he instinctively started to get to his feet to flee.
The boy’s eyes widened. “Wait, wait. What did you just say? The.. The last thing.”
Virgil paused, trying to recall everything that had come out in his nervous ramble. “Uhh.. That.. I hoped you wouldn’t mind me joining you?” He answered slowly.
He responded only by reaching down to the bottom of his pants and pulling them up a little bit, showing Virgil the words written there on his ankle. “I hope he doesn’t mind if I sit with him.”
Virgil immediately sat back down, staring at the words written there. Very slowly he pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and showed him the words on his wrist, the ones he rubbed for comfort. “Oh, when did he get there?”
“…Is this, your’s?” He asked softly, still looking at the other boy. He gave him a small smile and nodded.
“I think that means we’re soulmates. I’m Logan.” He answered, looking back at him.
Virgil smiled wide, so excited to have found one of his very best friends. “I’m Virgil.”
The two of them immediately became fast friends, spending the bulk of their recess time talking and getting to know things about each other. It wasn’t until nearly the end of their break that Logan finally asked him a specific question - one that Virgil hadn’t been sure how to ask.
Neither of them seemed to know how to bring it up, unsure if the other had the same situation. But Logan was much less nervous than Virgil when it came down to it, so it wasn’t all that surprising that it was the glasses clad boy that finally said something.
“Am I your only soulmate?” He somewhat blurted out at one point, looking over at him.
Virgil was surprised, but he shook his head after a moment. “Uh, no. I have two more.”
Thankfully, Logan looked relieved. “I do too. I was hoping that you did.. Do you think they might be the same people?”
Virgil was equally relieved. “Maybe we could compare them? Maybe we’ll be able to tell.”
Logan nodded, finally putting down his book. Once he had, he showed his hand to his soulmate, showing him that the back of his left hand read, “Ohh... It was a people.”
Virgil read it a couple times. “…isn’t that.. Not how you would say that?” He asked, looking up at Logan.
He sighed and nodded. “Yes.. It should say ‘it was a person’ or ‘it was people.’ But, yes. That is what it says.”
It was not hard to tell that even at this young age, that sort of grammar didn’t sit well with the young brainiac. So his soulmate just decided to move on. “Um.. On my leg, it says “Ah, what was that?!” But I can’t show you right now because of my pants.. But that would sorta go with your’s?” Virgil explained, gesturing to his thigh.
“I think so, that would make sense. Um, what about your other one?” Logan asked, actually blushing a little bit.
“I don’t know exactly what it means, but umm..” Virgil reached up and pulled his shirt collar away from his neck, revealing his collarbone and the words there. “Oh god, even the emo one.”
Logan was a bit pink, but he turned away from Virgil and lifted his shirt a little bit, showing that written on his lower back, just above the waistband of his pants it said “Lord, look at that hot nerd.”
Even Virgil turned a little pink as Logan turned back to him. “…I’m guessing that could be the same person too.”
“Yeah.. Uh, probably..” Logan managed, still looking a bit embarrassed.
Virgil gave him a shy smile. “Well.. We’ll find out together, right?”
Logan nodded, matching the small smile. “Yeah, definitely.”
The two of them were happy to have one another as they made their way through school, their relationship becoming a romantic one as they got older. They were still the best of friends, spending weekends together and hanging out after school.. But as they’d become teenagers they added in hand holding and swapping soft kisses. Sometimes it was even an anxious Virgil snuggling up against Logan’s chest while he read aloud to him, or a stressed Logan finally feeling the tension leave his neck and shoulders after a massage from Virgil.
They never forgot that they had more soulmates to find, but it wasn’t at the forefront of their thoughts, seeing as they had each other already. The idea was an exceptionally welcome one, but they certainly weren’t suffering in the meantime.
One day, toward the end of their junior year of high school, the two boys had settled in their usual spot in the library during lunch. They had unofficially claimed a quiet section of wall, able to rest back against it and spend time together. Normally the area they sat in was predominantly undisturbed, but that didn’t mean the librarian hadn’t scolded Virgil about 87 times for blocking the walkway with his long legs. He had a tendency to put them out straight as he sat back against the wall, and seeing as the boy had become somewhat gangly as he’d aged, his legs did take up a fair amount of space.
Nothing had ever come of it, and lunch was only half an hour long, so he certainly didn’t see what the big issue was. So one day when someone was rushing past them, not only were they not paying enough attention to notice two other teenagers sitting against the wall, they certainly didn’t see those long skinny jean clad legs sticking out in the middle of the path.
With a solid whack followed quickly by a muffled thud, Logan and Virgil found themselves looking at another boy, laying facedown on the floor with his ankles snagged on the emo’s shin.
“Are you alright?” Logan asked him, them both watching as he somewhat righted himself, sitting up on the floor and reaching to fix his glasses.
“Uh, I think so. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” The boy said, looking at them both and giving them a small smile as he reached up to make sure his reddish curls hadn’t gone everywhere.
“No, it’s my fault..” Virgil admitted, pulling in his legs and rubbing his shin a bit.
“Aw, but I’m still sorry! I didn’t mean to kick you! …I was really worried at first, I had no idea what it was that I had tripped over.” The boy laughed a little, his smile growing into more of an adorably toothy grin.
His smile was infectious, but Virgil’s only lasted a moment before a lightbulb went off in his head. “…Wait, wait.” He spread his legs back out, going to one of the rips in his jeans near the middle of his thigh. Carefully, he slipped his fingers under the fabric and scooted the material until the words written there were visible. “Ah, what was that?!” The other boy tilted his head to the side in confusion but leaned in and read them, his eyes widening.
“Oh my gosh! I think that’s me!” He said excitedly.
Logan gave him a slightly exasperated look as he held up his left hand, showing him the back where it read, “Ohh.. It was a people.” This only made the boy giggle even more, nodding even more excitedly. Somehow, even Logan couldn’t stay frustrated, sure he had a lifetime of incorrect grammar on his hand… But he couldn’t say this adorable boy wasn’t clearly going to be worth it.
“I’m Patton! What are your names?” He asked, moving to sit crosslegged, looking at them.
“Virgil.”
“And I’m Logan. If I may, what are our phrases?” Logan asked, looking at Patton curiously.
“Oh! Umm…” The boy shifted a bit to the side and pushed up one of his short sleeves, showing his upper arm where it read, “That didn’t look pleasant.”
“That must be mine.” Logan nodded, looking over it.
“Yeah! And uh..” Patton put his sleeve back down and scooted back to face them again. His cheeks darkened a little but he lifted the bottom of his shirt to show that just below his belly button were the words, “Ow, what the hell?”
Virgil blushed, reading his lower stomach. “…ah, uh.. Sorry.”
Patton just smiled and dropped his shirt. “It’s ok! I’m just glad I found you two! …Wait, you two have another one, right?” The two of them nodded, only causing Patton’s smile to widen. “Do you think we all have the same one?”
"What does your’s say? I have a feeling we do.” Virgil asked, looking at him.
The newcomer shifted up onto his knees, pulling down the hem of his pants slightly to reveal words right there on his hip. “How does he make that preppy cardigan look so good?”
Both Virgil and Logan let out little breaths of laughter, looking back up at Patton’s face. “We’re pretty much positive.”
Logan and Virgil hadn’t expected how well Patton would fit into their dynamic. It seemed like he was so different from them, not nearly as quiet, calm, or introverted. But it hadn’t taken more than a few days before it was as though he’d been there all along. He slotted right in like another piece of their puzzle, and now they only had one piece left to find.
High school moved along at a normal speed, the three of them able to spend many of their teenage milestones together. After a while it came and went, and they began to figure out what sort of direction they wanted their lives to head in. They’d somehow managed to find a university that they all could go to, despite wishing to study exceptionally different things, and with a few part time jobs and a little help from family, they even found an apartment all to themselves.
Things seemed just about perfect, but they definitely were more than curious about their final soulmate. Seeing as all of their remaining soulmarks said something fairly specific, each of them had fallen into their own personal styles fairly early on. Virgil wasn’t sure if he would have even discovered his emo style if he hadn’t looked up what that meant in middle school. Logan never intentionally tried to be a nerd, but the smart young man enjoyed looking as put together as he could, so the title came to fit him quite well. Patton wasn’t sure exactly why the ‘preppy cardigan’ felt so right around his shoulders, but it just did. So in a weird way, it was as though their final soulmate had made a substantial impact on them without even having met them yet.
One thing they were especially curious about was how they’d be meeting them, it certainly seemed like it was going to be all at once, as their soulmarks seemed to be from one stream of consciousness. Once again, they didn’t dwell, knowing that it would happen when it was supposed to.
A year or two into college, they’d been lucky enough to schedule one of their big breaks during the day for about the same time, and they would use this time to meet up in the cafeteria and eat lunch together. One day found Virgil running a bit late from his class, so Logan and Patton were stood off to the side to wait for him before they went to get their food. They were talking casually, both turning as Virgil finally joined them.
But it was as they were turning back to talk to one another, another student caught Patton’s eye. He seemed to be looking over the three of them, in a way that brought a flush to his cheeks. Logan and Virgil were quick to follow his gaze to see the person in question, also immediately turning a bit pink just from the look in his eye.
It took a moment to break the gaze he was somehow managing to share with all three of them, allowing them all to glance around at each other and silently come to an agreement.
With Patton at the lead, the three of them made their way over to where he was seated, the attractive young man actually blushing as the three of him headed for him.
“Oh, hello.” He greeted, looking up at them from his seat.
“Something tells me that you might be looking for us?” Virgil asked, a slight smirk crossing his lips.
“Well, I certainly hope so.” He smiled, returning the smirk as he stood up, moving around the table to stand with them. The three boyfriends all had their blushes darken somewhat, getting a much better look at this student as he stood. He was taller than they expected, and he clearly worked out.. He was gorgeous, and something told them that he was quite aware of it.
“What’s your name?” Patton asked, his adorably toothy grin on full display.
“Roman, it’s a pleasure.” Roman smiled, his suave quirk of the lips unlike anything the three of them wore.
Logan gestured around at the group of them. “Logan, Patton, and Virgil.”
Virgil was the first to reach up and pull his collar to the side, showing Roman the words written there, earning a slight grin from the sporty boy in front of them. “Now, as confident as I am… How about you show us your’s?”
That was when they actually saw Roman blush rather darkly himself, his hands moving to grip the edges of his open letterman’s jacket. “…I suppose I could do that.” Roman nodded, pulling off the jacket and dropping it on the table.
The first things anyone noticed were his toned, muscular arms, built shoulders, and broad chest. But the second thing was the fact that his undershirt was not a tank top, it was actually a halter top.
Before much could be thought about that, Roman had turned around to show the three of them his back, and once they managed to focus on the words there - rather than the sculpted muscles, they realized what it was that was written there.
Roman’s soulmarks were all exactly the same. A single sentence written there three times just below one another as though they were written on lined paper.
“Did he just look me up and down and then bite his lip?”