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What...the fuck...is that.
As Roman stared down at his chest, his mind grew increasingly confused. Last night, he had been preparing for the most perfectly placed soulmark in the world. He had daydreamed about his soulmate caressing his cheek, wrapping their arms around him, or maybe even kissing him as their first contact ever since he had learned of soulmarks. But this…
Remus had been cackling for the past thirty minutes, and was still going. “Stop laughing at me!” Roman shouted.
“Your...your soulmate!” He gasped out, his body curled up as much as it could be as he continued to giggle. Roman huffed.
“What about them?”
“That’s a whole-ass human foot on your chest!” Remus squealed. Roman’s cheeks went red, running a hand over the mark again. It made no sense.
“Maybe they’re a drider with some kind of...genetic disorder?”
“You have a human for a soulmate! Your soulmate is like one of those monster-fuckers I’ve heard about!” Roman ran a hand through his hair, his front two legs tapping at the stone floor as he thought.
What if his other soulmates were also humans? What if he was the only drider? What if they all got together without him? How would his human soulmates react to seeing him? Would they even want to be with him? He felt as though all of his romantic fantasies and desires for love were being swept down the river.
And then those thoughts promptly flew out of his mind thanks to Remus punching him in the face. “Ow, what the hell?” Remus just stared wide-eyed, a small grin on his face.
“Oh my gods, this just keeps getting better!” He put one of his fists against Roman’s cheek, over one of Roman’s other soulmarks, then began cackling again. “One of your other soulmates is gonna punch you in the face!”
He then proceeded to slap Roman’s other cheek, over one of Roman’s other soulmarks. “Oh you’re gonna get fucked up!” Roman punched and slapped him back, huffing and crawling into his web to sulk.
Gaining your soulmarks was meant to be one of the most exhilarating, heart-warming experiences in the world, second only to actually meeting your soulmates. It was meant to make you feel less alone, and as if you had something to look forward to.
But now Roman felt more alone and hopeless than ever.
Patton hummed as he walked down the forest path, twirling his parasol, enjoying the feeling of dirt under his feet.
“You didn’t have to come with me, you know.” Virgil spoke, tying his jacket around his waist as he realized how warm it was. They had to move into a new house due to a few accidents involving a few too many murders in their area, and Virgil wanted to explore the forest and check out the wildlife.
“I wanna try and find some cool rocks for my rock collection!” Patton chirped. “Besides, I like the outdoors. Might not be able to enjoy the sunlight, but I can enjoy everything else!” Virgil hummed, spotting a river and snapping a picture.
They continued their walk through the forest, Patton collecting a pocket-full of stones as they followed the river, Virgil taking pictures of anything even remotely cool, knowing Logan would be interested. He had decided to stay home to continue cleaning up after their move, as well as to keep Janus company while he sunbathed.
That’s when Patton and Virgil came across a cave. The opening was fairly small, maybe three normal-sized people wide and one tall, but it seemed to open up enough to fit a house inside. Patton came closer, taking a look around before reeling back with a yelp.
“What? What’s wrong?” Patton whimpered, pointing at the ground. At the entrance of the cave was what looked like a giant piece of spider webbing. Virgil gulped, remembering Arachne and Aragog from the Greek myths and Harry Potter books he read back in high school. He gently pulled Patton away from the entrance, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight.
“Stay out here, alright? I’ll check it out.” He thought for a moment, before smirking. “Five bucks this is our last soulmate.” Patton laughed awkwardly, clearly not finding the idea funny.
“Logan? I think you might want to read this.” Janus spoke up, staring down at an article he had pulled up on Virgil’s laptop. Logan peered over Janus’s shoulder, his eyes quickly scanning the article.
“People have gone missing in this forest?” Janus nodded.
“I have a feeling there might be something in there. Something Patton and Virgil might not be capable of handling.” Logan hummed, taking the laptop and looking through a few more news articles.
“It appears there are multiple reports of a large creature as well as some animals being found covered in spider webs. How curious. I suppose since creatures such as you and I exist, it isn’t too far-fetched to believe that giant spiders exist as well.” Janus stared out into the forest.
“Patton has arachnophobia and Virgil’s just a human.”
“If they come across one of these creatures, they’re likely doomed.” Logan muttered to himself. Janus nodded thoughtfully for a moment, before beginning to slither into the forest as fast as he could. “Let’s find them before Virgil tries to fuck with the wrong thing.” Logan thought for a moment, biting his lip before racing into the forest, unable to escape the anxious pit in his stomach.
Virgil ventured into the cave, the web seeming to glisten as the light was shone onto them. Spider silk covered every inch of the cave, as well as shapes that looked to be animals and a few humans wrapped up in web. He gulped as he stared up at them. Seeing human bodies hanging limp and wrapped up like that was unsettling, and that was saying something, considering he’s seen Janus swallow a live rabbit whole.
That’s when he heard clicking from the ceiling above him. A large body dropped down behind him. Virgil spun around, his stomach lurching and prepared to vomit in case a web-encased human had just fallen from the sky.
Standing there was a large red-eyed drider, baring its fangs. There was clicking behind Virgil, and he glanced back to see a green-eyed drider grinning eagerly at him. Well, he wasn’t expecting two. They looked like twins though, so he wasn’t too surprised.
He noticed the red-eyed drider had soulmarks covering his hands, similar to the hand marks on Virgil’s shoulders. The green-eyed one’s hands were clean. He then saw the footprint on his chest and had to bite his lip to stop from laughing. So that was why Patton’s foot had a soulmark on it. He raised an eyebrow with a grin at the drider in front of him. “Lemme guess, you’re my soulmate too?”
The driders moved into action, the one behind him beginning to wrap him in webbing. Virgil’s potential soulmate grabbed Virgil by the arms—right where his soulmarks were—and attached him to their larger web, where they kept the rest of their victims. Virgil felt his soulmarks leave.
“...Yup. Hey man, you might wanna let me go before this gets awkward.” His soulmate gave him a confused look. Virgil nodded down at his hands. “Something’s missing there.” The drider looked down at his hands, his eyes going blank as his mind processed what he was seeing. The green-eyed drider began to laugh.
“Hey you met one of your soulmates! And he’s already all tied up for you to...y’know,” he proceeded to make gross kissing and moaning sounds as he made out with his hand. Virgil’s soulmate snapped out of his daze, scowling at his twin. He slowly turned to look up at Virgil, his eight eyes suddenly showing so much vulnerability and uncertainty as he looked Virgil over.
“You don’t look scared.” He stated quietly.
“Bitch, this isn’t my first rodeo. Don’t think you’re special in your attempt to eat me.” His soulmate spluttered, unsure of what that meant. His twin was too confused about what a rodeo was to process anything else.
“You mind letting me down now? This is cool and all, but I prefer not being wrapped up and hanging above the ground thank you very much.” His soulmate smiled at that, slowly grabbing his shoulders again and beginning to pull him down.
That’s when a rock came flying through the air at them. Patton had aimed it at the red-eyed drider, but it ended up missing and hitting Virgil square in the face. Their soulmate turned to see Patton, trembling with fear as he tried his best to intimidate a drider with five feet of overprotectiveness.
Virgil groaned, trying to shake off the pain of the rock, turning to look over at Patton. “Hey Pat, you owe me five bucks.” Their soulmate glanced back at Virgil, seeming to understand what that meant, and trying to smile at Patton.
“Ah, so we’re soulmates too? Well it’s an honor to meet you, my name is Roman. And you are?” Roman crawled closer to Patton, who whimpered with every click of his claws on the stone. Roman hadn’t really noticed Patton’s fear, instead wanting to come closer, Virgil having brought back some of his hope of an actual relationship.
“I’m Patton. Hi.” Patton squeaked out. Roman stepped a few inches closer and extended a hand for Patton to shake, apparently too fast for Patton’s comfort, as he screamed and kicked Roman in the chest.
Roman stumbled back, the hope in his eyes seeming to shatter. He tried to come closer again to apologize for whatever he did, when he heard pounding footsteps approaching. Then his head was sent to the side as a fist connected with his cheek. Logan growled menacingly, pulling Patton behind him. Roman felt his soulmarks fade, dread filling his stomach as his worst nightmares came true.
Remus had processed the situation, realizing that the people who had come in definitely weren’t human. He eyed his brother’s soulmate for a moment, ripping him off the web and breaking him loose. “You owe me one meatbag.”
“Yeah sure, whatever Spiderman.” Remus clearly didn’t get the reference, but he cackled all the same. Virgil went ahead and got in between Roman and Logan. “Everyone calm the fuck down.”
“He tied you up and was gonna eat you!” Patton whimpered, clutching to Logan’s shirt.
“As if you guys didn’t?” Patton blinked, his cheeks going red.
“This is our soulmate, his name is Roman.” Virgil turned around to look at Roman, “Roman, I’m Virgil, that’s Logan, that’s Patton, and...where’s Jan?” He furrowed his brow, poking his head out of the cave entrance. Janus was just reaching the cave, grumbling to himself about “filthy two-leggers.” He spotted Virgil, scowled at him, then proceeded to mess up Virgil’s hair just to annoy him as he slithered into the cave.
Virgil huffed, fixing his hair and following him in. Janus studied Roman for a moment. “I’m assuming you’re our last soulmate then?” Roman nodded, bracing himself to be slapped in the face like Remus had thought. He had already scared Patton and tied up Virgil, so he would deserve it.
Janus laid a gentle hand on Roman’s last soulmark, noticing how he had tensed up and shut his eyes. “There’s no need to be afraid, darling. It’s alright.” Janus leaned in and pressed a light kiss onto Roman’s lips.
As he pulled away (with much pouting on Roman’s part) he said, “I’m assuming you tried to kill or do harm to Virgil in some way, correct? We’ve all been there, don’t go sulking about it. He does have a rather delectable scent.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Virgil asked.
“Interpret it as you will.” Janus waved his hand dismissively. Logan stepped forward, clearing his throat. “Well, I apologize for attacking you, Roman. I heard Patton scream, and couldn’t help but think the worst. If you would like something to make up for it, I’m sure none of us would mind you coming by for dinner.” He glanced back at Patton as he spoke.
Patton winced at the thought of having dinner with a half-spider person, but nodded, taking a deep breath as he stepped a bit closer. “I’ll be honest, Roman. I...feel a bit scared of you. But I want this to work. And...I know it’ll work. Virgil got over his fear of us killing him, so I can get over my fear of you.” He smiled shakily up at Roman, before hesitating, and pulling him into a hug.
Roman had never been hugged by any warm-blooded creatures. It just didn’t happen. But holy fuck did it feel good. He hugged Patton back, the warmth unbelievably comforting. He had loved Janus’s kiss, it had made his heart stop and his body completely relax. But it was a different kind of comforting having a warm-blooded creature hold him.
He whined as Patton stepped back. Patton giggled, nodding for the cave entrance and asking for Roman to follow them home. Roman nodded immediately, before pausing and turning back to Remus.
“Do you want to join, Rem?” Remus shrugged, relaxing into his web. “Nah, I’ll stay here, don’t wanna fuck up your first night having sex, y’know?” Roman scoffed, outraged.
“How would that work? Human sex organs are very different from spider organs, and I’m assuming you—” Patton slapped a hand over Logan’s mouth, shouting random nonsense over him in an attempt to get him to stop.
As they left, Remus traced the handprint on his chest. Knowing at least one of Roman’s soulmates was human had always left the door open for even more possibilities for him. Unlike Roman, he only had one person to look forward to.
Remus huffed, staring out the cave entrance as the sky grew slowly darker. Figures. Of course he would have to keep waiting while Roman thrived. He was so tired of waiting.