Work Text:
It hadn’t been long since the cybernetics department became the mixology department but Darnold found himself right at home, starting from day one on the list of potions the company wanted him to work on. It was good work though, even with the push of the job he still found his own motivation to work on. Sometimes he even made potions outside of the ones asked of him, working towards different goals was nice busy work for a scientist like him, one always on the move. While he was ordered to work towards more Powerade flavors, he worked on something for himself.
Potion of Soulmate! Ever since he could remember soulmates were a big thing. Often times people would tell Darnold how to tell when he meets his other half, how he’d see them in his early adulthood to pave not only his own future but that of his partner. Tales of how eventually they would appear in a dream, maybe a few, and Darnold would just know by the feeling he woke with. Apparently many other people experienced this to the point Darnold must have been the only person alive without a soulmate! Which was exactly why he created his latest potion!
It had taken a little while but Darnold’s potion was ready, mostly. He couldn’t wait much longer, the need to find his other half and finally be complete made the man impatient. With little hesitation he drank it up sipping every drop he could with his Black Mesa issued silly straw. Any moment it would work giving him a soulmate to find! Any minute! It was probable that he wouldn’t experience any changes until he slept though. So he gave it time.
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It had been about a week since Darnold drank his potion and so far he didn’t have any dreams. It seemed he would have to return to the lab to create another potion of soulmate, of course on top of his other work related potions. He had to get it right.
He had to turn his attention to his work potion however, counting the different flavors in the latest potion his job had him create. Counting out loud he almost missed as someone tried to get his attention. Darnold turned to the intruders who immediately began to ask him questions after a quick greeting. They were a chaotic group, hard for one person to keep up with them.
“Hey! Be careful around my research!” Darnold couldn’t risk loosing any progress he had made on any of those projects but especially his personal one. The group seemed to respect it for the most part as they resorted to just reading what the labels said, still something to be worried about. Especially once his major worry became a reality.
“Soulmates? What does that do?” The younger of the two scientists asked upon reading the secret potion.
“Uh, well. I shouldn’t tell you but...” Darnold trailed off for a moment before continuing, “It gives you a soulmate if you don’t have one.”
“Wait, why would you need something for that?” The one in the HEV suit questioned. The others around them also chimed in with their own opinions but Darnold tried to just answer the question.
“Well, everyone else has one. Everyone but me.” Why did he need to confess? He just wanted to do in the end it seemed. The way the asked it seemed like they also needed help with that.
“But you don’t really need that?”
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I?” These strangers just drop into his lab and question all about his potions. All Darnold’s life he was told he would experience the dreams, he would know his soulmate, and they would be together. They must have also heard the same exact thing so why did they think they could just bother his work.
“Ok, ok, look. There’s no reason to force yourself to have a soulmate. It’s perfectly fine without one. But we do have more pressing matters.” The HEV suit user said, drawing Darnold’s attention to the stub where the man’s hand should have been. That immediately got Darnold off the subject just as fast as he turned to needing to help the poor guy. He would have enough time later to truly question the words spoken to him, to question if he really needed a soulmate or if he was complete.