Chapter Text
General consensus was that the whole idea had been somewhat poorly designed. The philosophy and ethics of “soulmates” were hotly debated by skeptics and the phenomenon studied by scientists and anthropologists alike. The one thing no one could deny was that on your 17th birthday, the tattoo appeared. For centuries no one had ever explained how the tattoo worked and yet it did. A simple digital countdown, numbers changing each second until the next time you would see your “soulmate”. For some, this was reassuring that there was someone out there for you that you could anticipate seeing. For others, it was a challenge to go find that person as soon as possible.
For Virgil, the moment the clock struck midnight the morning of his birthday, all he could feel was panic as the numbers appeared on his wrist.
00:00:10
Eyes growing wide, Virgil watched as the seconds counted down, mind reeling because who could he possibly be seeing in 7 seconds during winter break alone in his room? He looked around the room wildly, convinced a burglar was about to break down the door and end up being his soulmate when a scatter of pebbles hit his bedroom window, causing him to jump and fall off the bed. 3 seconds, whoever it was had to be outside. Virgil had thought he would have at least had the night to prepare for this, maybe a few years even before they met at college but fate had decided otherwise. He stood and looked out the window while pushing it open.
“Roman?!” he hissed.
“And me!” shouted Roman’s older brother, Remus.
Both brothers stood in the yard waving while Roman held a sign that said “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, V!”
“Remus shush it’s late you’re going to disturb someone,” Roman chastised.
“Oh, I do hope so!” Remus laughed.
Roman rolled his eyes, “Virge, get down here we’re gonna celebrate!”
Virgil turned from the window and sunk down with his back against the wall. He’d been best friends with Roman since middle school. He’d even briefly thought he had a crush on him when Roman came out to him as bi. Virgil was still confused about his feelings, but the tattoos didn’t lie. Roman had shown up, right when his countdown said he would see his soulmate.
“Virgil? You still there?” Roman’s voice carried easily though he was speaking softly.
“Yeah... Be right down in a minute,” Virgil called back, trying to figure out how he would explain the clock showing 00:00:00 around his friend. Looking around his room he found a marker and added a small line, making the tattoo read 08:00:00. He could explain later and this at least bought him time until tomorrow.
Virgil watched as the timer reset, now showing about a minute (plus his 8 hours addition) as he pulled on shoes and his favorite patched together hoodie to sneak out and see the two brothers.
Roman tapped his foot impatiently and tried not to shiver in the cool December air. It wasn't outright cold, being Florida and all but it was still winter.
Remus chuckled to himself, lightly tossing a rock in his hand. Without looking he threw it directly at the door just as Virgil walked out. "THINK FAST, VEE!" He giggled as Virgil caught the rock on instinctive reflex.
"A stone from a stoner, nice," Virgil said sarcastically, throwing the rock back at Remus who let it hit him in the chest without flinching.
"You're welcome!"
Roman rolled his eyes, "Come on we parked down the street." He started walking and Virgil jogged to keep up as Remus trailed behind the other two.
"So, why'd you bring him with you?" Virgil's contempt was barely disguised in his low whisper.
"Wellll, the driving exam didn't go so well..."
"Oh my god, this is what, the fifth time?" Virgil snickered and held a hand to his mouth to get himself under control before he actually hurt Roman's feelings.
"The instructor was so flippin' cute!" Roman protested, blush only visible because of the overhead streetlight.
"Were you gonna drive your way into his heart?" Virgil poked at the other boy who lightly pushed him away.
"Well, I can take my chances until I get my soul mark. OMG, you got yours, didn't you?? Let me see it!" Roman stopped in the middle of the street grabbing at Virgil's arm. By now Remus had caught up and looked mildly interested while chewing on a hoodie string. Virgil took a deep breath and pulled back the sleeve to show off the clock.
As he expected it showed the fake 08:00:00 as he watched Roman jealously trace the numbers.
"8 hours huh?" Remus sounded a bit dissociated, "who ya meeting up with tomorrow, Virgie?"
"I don't know!" Virgil snapped and pulled his arm back and sleeve back down.
Remus shrugged, "bet he has a cute ass."
Roman groaned, "Bro, seriously? Leave him alone. Come on are we going to stand out here all night?"
"No," Virgil said emphatically, continuing on to the car and trying to hide his blushing. He didn't like lying to Roman about his soul mark but for right now, with Remus around it was probably unintentionally the smartest idea he'd had all night. It would have just been too awkward trying to admit the truth with that nosey skateboard-stoner reject hanging around. But Remus was right about one thing.
Roman's butt was hella cute.
Remus climbed in the driver’s seat while Roman and Virgil opted to climb over the piles of trash in the back.
“Hey Virgil, did Ro tell you about his driving exam? He choked imagining sucking the instructor’s-”
“REMUS SHUT UP!” Roman lunged from the backseat, trying to get his brother in a chokehold. Virgil snickered to himself and curled into a ball on the seat, trying not to touch anything that looked like it was growing. The brothers fought for a minute or two before Remus managed to shove Roman back in his seat.
“So, where are you two kidnapping me tonight?” Virgil smirked, hoping he didn’t sound as worried about this unexpected trip as he felt. Remus’ laughing didn’t really help to put him at ease.
Roman looked him in the eyes, “Don’t worry you’ll love it, Vee.”
That helped a lot.