Chapter Text
There are four rules everyone knows about soulmates. They are as follows:
- Everyone is born with the first words their soulmate would say to them.
- The color of the words conveys the emotion with which it is said.
- The location of the words indicates an important aspect of their future relationship.
- When your soulmate dies the words turn grey.
Robb knew his soulmate was foulmouthed, would be angry when they met, and that he would love them more than anything else in the world. How does he know these things? The bright red words right over his heart reading:
Goddamn motherfucking assclown, shit, fuck
When he was a little kid his mother would put a big bandage over it so he couldn’t see it. When he would ask she would tell him he was too young to understand and he could read it when he was older.
The first time he read it he was ten and the bandage had come off in the shower. When he asked his father what it meant his father told him he would explain in a few years but Robb mustn’t repeat the words until he was older.
He finally understood it when he was about thirteen. He understood why he couldn’t tell his friends growing up, even when Renly proudly displayed the green ‘Yes, your grace’ on his wrist since they met in second grade. He understood why he had to wear a swim shirt at the beach and in pools. He understood why his mother always spoke of his siblings finding their soulmates with a fond smile but barely hidden contempt if she ever spoke of his, which she rarely did. Robb was tired of telling his siblings they could see his words when they were older.
By the time he was seventeen he’d figured out his soulmate was most likely a guy. Girls just didn’t really do it for him. He also couldn’t wait to go to college far away from home. He loved his family. He loved his mother. But he wasn’t what she wanted him to be and that meant he couldn’t be himself around any of them. His youngest siblings still didn’t know his words. He couldn’t get the tattoos he wanted, or the piercings, or the motorcycle. He couldn’t let them know he smoked and drank with Renly. He couldn’t wear the clothes he wanted. He had to be the put together golden boy. His mother had flipped when he’d shaved the sides of his head, leaving his curls long and wild at the top in a sort of mohawk. He would pay good money to the look on his mother’s face when she had first seen his soulmark. He’s just glad he managed to get his math grade back up before she found out he had been failing. He couldn’t wait till he was older.
He and Renly went to college together, getting an apartment together just off the King’s Landing University campus, and Robb finally felt like he could breathe. Miles away from home he felt free. He pierced his ears, his cartilage, and his nose. He got a few tattoos, mostly quotes. By the time he’s twenty three he has the ones that follow:
No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and a multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.
Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution.
We were the people who were not on the page. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edge of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between stories.
I simply am not there
I am tired of myself tonight
That I may be of some use in this world
How do you know who you are, when all you know is people screaming for you to be someone else?
He also had a paw print and a semicolon.
He was happy. He hadn’t gone home since he left, but he kept in contact with all of them. He was only a little guilty that he talked to his mom far less than the others and their conversations were stilted at best.
Renly found his soulmate their sophomore year. Robb loves Loras, he’s awesome. And he especially loves making fun of Renly once he hears how they met. It was one of the rare occasions Robb had prioritized studying for a test over going out with Renly. The Baratheon had gotten himself drunk enough to participate in karaoke, declared himself Karaoke king, ordered the hot blonde in front of the stage to ‘get me a drink peasant’, and got the sarcastic remark of ‘Yes, your grace’. Loras fit right in with them.
Robb would be lying if he couldn’t admit to himself that it made him long for his own soulmate. Renly and Loras are awesome, he loves them, but neither of them ever had to hide themselves. Renly’s family was never around to have expectations and Loras’s family accepted him for everything he is without hesitation. Soulmates are supposed to be able to understand each other completely. Robb’s spent his entire life searching for someone to understand him.
Maybe that’s why he decided to major in child psychology with a minor in sociology. He wants to become a school counselor. He wants to be someone kids can go to when they have no one else that they feel they can talk to. He wants them to have someone that understands them. He doesn’t want other kids to grow up feeling alone.
He’s doing his thesis on how soulmarks affect children’s development and relationships. This means he’s done a lot of research on soulmarks.
Red is angry, green is happy, yellow is scared, purple is disgusted, blue is sad, orange is afraid, and pink is flirty. There are nine common places.
Heart - extreme love
Wrist - unbreakable trust
Hip - playfulness
Thigh - intimacy
Bicep - protection
Forearm - openness
Ankle - support
Lower back - vulnerability
Back of the neck - communication
He spends a lot of free time researching and finds chat rooms online with other people whose soulmarks had negative effects on their relationships with their family. He feels a little less alone. But he still aches for his soulmate.
-oOo-
“Renly stop freaking out. It’s Loras, I’ve heard him wax poetic about you going grocery shopping together. He will love anything you plan because he loves you. And if it helps, I think I’m half in love with you after hearing what you’ve planned” Robb tried to talk Renly out of his last minute panic as he walked to his next class. He heard Renly sigh through the phone and knew he had gotten through.
“You’re right, I know you’re right. What should I wear?” He asked and Robb rolled his eyes.
“Renly we both know out of the two of us you have the better sense of style. But if you really want my opinion, the tight black jeans, the dark turquoise button up, and your black boots”
“Robb you’re a genius”
“I know, now go make yourself look good for your boyfriend”
“See you later”
“Yeah see you later” Robb hung up his phone and put it in his pocket. He was almost to his classroom when someone suddenly turned a corner from an adjoining hallway and slammed right into Robb. They both dropped what they were holding and Robb was pretty sure the person had spilled the coffee they had been carrying on themself.
“Goddamn motherfucking assclown, shit, fuck!” The guy exclaimed, trying to keep his shirt from touching his skin and Robb’s eyes widened.
“You’re the bitch!” Robb exclaimed and the guy’s eyes snapped up to look at Robb. It was then that Robb noticed how gorgeous he is. He has long dark hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a nose ring.
“Shit you’re hot” The guy, his soulmate , said and Robb blushed but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.
“My thoughts exactly” Robb said and now his soulmate blushed before his eyes widened.
“Shit did I really stick you with a string of swears?” He asked and Robb nodded, “Well, I guess I definitely deserve the one I have”
“I’m Robb” He introduced himself and held out his hand which his soulmate took.
“Theon”
“Theon, I suddenly have the urge to skip my next class, would you want to go get coffee?”
“I would love to get coffee with you, especially seeing as I’m wearing my last one. Would you mind if we stop at my dorm first though?” Theon asked, gesturing at his coffee soaked shirt.
“Do you think there’s a possibility I’d say no and make you go out covered in coffee?”
“I should have known my soulmate would be a sarcastic shit” Theon laughed and Robb did too. They picked up their stuff and headed out of the building.
“So, do I get a last name?” Theon asked as they walked to his dorm.
“Stark. You?”
“Greyjoy”
“Where are you from?”
“Pyke, where are you from?”
“Winterfell”
“Of course you’re a bloody northerner” Theon rolled his eyes and Robb chuckled.
“If it makes you feel better, I haven’t been home about four years. Not since I came here”
“Why?”
“It’s, complicated” Robb hesitated to say and looked away until he felt Theon grab his hand.
“You don’t have to tell me until you’re ready. I get it. I haven’t gone home since I came here either” Theon gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and Robb could’ve cried at how lucky he already felt.
“Can I suggest a change in plans?” Robb asked.
“Sure”
“I drop you at your dorm, you change while I can us coffee, and then we can talk somewhere without a bunch of people around”
“I think that sounds like a plan”
They made idle small talk until they got to Theon’s dorm. There they exchanged numbers and Theon told Robb his coffee order before he went inside and Robb went to the nearby cafe.
Twenty minutes later they were sitting side by side on Theon’s bed.
“You got any siblings?” Theon asked as he drank his frankly way to sweet coffee.
“Four actually. Five if you count Jon, and I usually do. He’s my cousin but he lived with us since I was like, three”
“That’s a lot of siblings, where do you fall in the order?”
“I’m the oldest”
“That must have been a lot of babysitting. I’m so glad I’m the youngest”
“How many do you have?”
“Three, but only one that I like and still talk to”
“I talk to my siblings a lot. More my older siblings but they let the younger two use their phones to call me sometimes”
“You miss them?” Theon asked, rubbing soothing circles onto the back of Robb’s hand.
“Yeah, I do. Jon come to visit occasionally and I’ve gone up to him a couple times. He goes to North U. And my sister Sansa is probably coming here next year”
“You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not ready to talk about, but if you wanted to you can tell me anything. It’s what soulmates are for right? Being there for one another and understanding each other”
“I’m a bit of a mess to be honest. Kind of have been most of my life. I love my family, my siblings are great and my dad is the best man I know. But my mom, I love her, but it’s not the same. I love her on principle because she’s my mother but I don’t feel like she’s my mother. I haven’t in a long time. We barely talk and when we do, it’s robotic. I’ve never been what she wanted me to be. She wanted me to be this picturesque golden boy, football quarterback, straight A student and that’s not me. I spent my whole life having to pretend to be something I’m not. I want nothing more than to go home and see my siblings and my dad. My youngest brother was six when I left home, he barely remembers actually knowing me. But I can’t go back without seeing her and I remember how I felt by the time I left. Being around her made me feel like I was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe in my own home. When I came here I felt like I could breathe for the first time in my life. No one screams at me for my haircut, I got piercings, I got tattoos. I can wear clothes I want. I can smoke. I can drink. I’m me. I don’t want to go back to how it was before. She wouldn’t even let me see my words when I was a kid. She covered them until I accidentally saw them when I was ten. She always hated them. She couldn’t wait for my siblings to meet their soulmates and get their happy lives, but with me I think she hoped I’d never meet you” At some point Theon had put down his coffee and wrapped his arms around Robb. By the end he was crying some but he felt so relieved to have said all of it.
“I’m so sorry” Theon said as he stroked Robb’s hair.
“For what?” Robb asked, pulling his face away from Theon’s neck to look up at him.
“Being a crude prick that can’t control his tongue and sticking you with possibly the worst words in history. For causing a rift between you and your mother”
“Don’t apologize for that. You didn’t know I was your soulmate and like you said you didn’t mean to say it, it just slipped out. Besides, I’ve always been fond of my words. They’re definitely unique. I think my relationship with my mother would be strained anyway. Yes she didn’t like my words and even if I didn’t realize until years later, that is where my resentment started. But she wanted me to be a completely different person, and tried to force me to be what she wanted. That wouldn’t have changed no matter the words over my heart”
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you. Sometimes your words were the only thing keeping me going. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone with me. You can just be you” Theon said and Robb’s eyes started watering again.
“All I’ve ever wanted was someone who I could be myself around and who understands me”
“I know how it feels not to be able to be yourself. I only talk to one of my siblings because she’s the only one that has ever given a damn about me and is the only member of my family that still acknowledges my existence. My mother died when I was young and my father was no father. He drank a lot. My brothers have been in and out of prison since they were teenagers, both of them are currently doing stints and won’t be out until I’m in my late thirties. He wanted us all to go into the fishing business like him and my siblings did. My sister owns her own boat and she’s happy about it. But I never wanted to do that. I hate the whole damn process. Every time I even mentioned doing something else it didn’t end well. And if I had told anyone besides Yara that I’m gay, all hell would have broken loose. So I got good at acting. So good, that I’m making a career out of it. The look on my father’s face when I told him I was majoring in theater was priceless. I wish I’d gotten a picture before I left” Theon said as Robb stroked his arm.
“Your face would look good up on a big screen” Robb said and Theon smirked, raising an eyebrow.
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do,” Robb answered. Neither noticed how they were leaning in.
“You’re face isn’t bad either” They were so close their noses were almost touching.
“Can I kiss you?” Robb whispered.
“God yes” Theon said and then they were kissing. Robb felt like time had frozen and all he wanted to do was keep kissing Theon. They fit perfectly together. Robb felt complete.
-oOo-
Two hours later they were pressed against each other, backs to the wall, with Theon’s laptop and a bowl of popcorn on their laps. They’d been watching Community for an hour and half after they each said it was their favorite show. They kissed occasionally and Theon kept his hand in Robb’s hair. Every so often one of them would ask the other what their favorite of something was and they would both answer.
“You’re really comfy” Robb said quietly, cuddling further into Theon.
“Really? My friend Loras says I’m bony” Theon said and Robb immediately sat back to look at him.
“Hang on, you’re a theater major. Are you talking about Loras Tyrell?”
“Yeah?”
“I fucking live with him. He’s my best friend's soulmate, I’ve known him for two years”
“Holy shit, what are the odds? We were roommates sophomore year, how did we not meet?” Theon asks and Robb looks away.
“I wasn’t really in a great place sophomore year, especially not long before Renly met Loras so when Loras came around I was still not doing great. Meeting new people wasn’t really a good thing to be doing”
“How are you now?” Theon asked and Robb turned back to him.
“Better. I haven’t had any bad days in a couple months, which is almost a new record. Granted some days are still better than others, but none have been as bad as they used to be” He answered honestly.
“I’m here for whatever you need”
“Right now all I need is this” Robb gestures to the laptop and how they’re still pressed against each other before kissing Theon softly.
Yeah, they’re both a little fucked up. Finding each other isn’t going to magically fix that, this isn’t some cheesy fairytale But now they have someone to be fucked up with. They don’t have to hide anything. They have someone who understands and can help them when they have bad days or even just a bad hour. They can heal together now.