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Dream never placed much stock into soulmates. Or, at least, he tried not to. They were a cool concept and he understood why people went so insane over them. The thought of having a second-half was reassuring when things feel hard. Someone who understood you inside and out, someone who you could share anything with, someone you were meant to be with it, be it romantic or platonic or somewhere between that.
When he was feeling daydreamy (pun intended), he liked to imagine stumbling across a random stripe of color on the ground, following the trail until he stumbled across an angel. When he was particularly indulgent, the stripe was a bright sky blue, leading the way to George’s feet, walking towards him through the airport.
Wherever your soulmate walked, they left behind a trail of color that only you could see. It was magical, a special bond only you and one other person held. When the line was fresh, it pulsated, the neon glow fading after a day. The lines lasted for a month, disappearing slowly over time. That was always his mom’s favorite part; she talked often about how she loved grocery shopping just because she would get to retrace the trip she had taken last time, following after his dad and watching as he refreshed the path.
Dream knew he had problems with placing all of his eggs into one basket though, which is why he always shut down his more sappy thought processes before they could even start. He wouldn’t let himself place all of his faith into that. It would hurt too much when it came crashing down. Somehow, even with all those precautions, it still sort of stung when George finally made it to Florida, his feet unaccompanied by any trail of color. Dream allowed himself a moment of disappointment even as he raised a hand, beckoning his best friend over. Then George screamed and threw himself into Dream’s arms and the feeling melted away into joy.
“You guys really aren’t soulmates? That’s crazy, I totally would’ve thought you were,” Bad mused.
“Uh oh, Bad’s on his DNF bullshit again,” Quackity said, choking on his own laughter, and Bad spluttered.
“Language!”
“Nah, Bad is right, that’s crazy,” Karl agreed. “Hey, since George is in Florida finally, can we do a big group meet-up? Or are you hoarding him like a dragon?”
“I’m not going to hoard George,” Dream said, rolling his eyes as if they could see him. Though Karl and Quackity had their webcams on, Dream and Bad had decided not to. Karl was just showing his wall anyways, walking around somewhere else in his room with his wireless headphones, and Quackity’s camera was tilted down to show his chest and the keyboard on his desk after an off-hand joke about hand cam streams. “I don’t know if he wants to do a meet-up though, that sounds hectic. He’s moving in right now and all.”
“You’re totally gatekeeping George from us. You’re afraid he’ll like us better in real life,” Quackity said, voice dramatic, and Dream groaned. “Which is fair! I’m so epic, everyone swoons at my feet.”
“I know I do. I’m on my knees right now,” Karl purred and Quackity burst out laughing.
“A meet-up could be fun,” Bad said, sounding almost absent-minded, and the call fell silent besides the sudden clacking on Dream’s keyboard. “Uh. You know. For you gu-”
“BAD’S COMING TO THE MEET-UP!” Quackity screamed over Bad’s protests, going straight back into his cackling laugh. “FUCK YES!”
“Dream, you have to now, Bad’s coming to the honking meet up!” Karl whined.
“I never agreed to-!”
“I already bought Bad’s bus ticket,” Dream confirmed, sending the email to Bad. “Bad, look, I even got you a bus instead of a plane. That’s expensive, you know. You can’t just throw away that money I spent on you.”
“Yes, yes I can,” Bad deadpanned, then sighed, already defeated. There was a pointedly loud click as Bad opened the mail. “Oh, muffins. That’s a nice bus.”
“When did you buy it for, Dream? We gotta make sure we’re all free that time!”
“Or I can just meet up with Bad. Who said I wanted to see you two?” Dream teased, wheezing at the cries of protest he got in return.
In the end, they all managed to get tickets to arrive around the same time, shouting at one another and dragging Sapnap and George into the planning. And they needed tons of planning for this, they quickly realized. Had to be ready to surprise the fans, of course, because who announced plans. They had to film lots of streams and short mini-vlogs for Karl’s Twitter. They had to find good selfie locations to make Quackity’s fans lose their minds at his hair growth. They had to find space for everyone just in Dream’s house because he was running out of rooms to stick a futon in. After a long argument about that was settled with Bad on the couch and Quackity and Karl sharing the guest bed (surprisingly, or not, it was just Bad and Quackity arguing who would take the burden of the couch, Karl immediately refusing to), they looked over everything one last time.
“Oh,” Karl said. “I bought tickets for a day early.”
Which was why Dream ended up at the airport, alone in the middle of the night because Karl’s flight ended when Quackity was in the middle of streaming. He decided to stop and grab Karl some Taco Bell, though of course that ended up making him late, and then Karl’s flight arrived early - what flight ever arrived early?! - and so now Dream was rushing even more as he parked, knowing that Karl was wandering around. Dream was slightly panicked about this all. Karl found it funnier than anything, promising to turn the pickup into a game of hide and seek and ignoring the loud ‘NO’ he got in response.
So Karl was hiding somewhere in the airport. Cool.
Dream sat in the car for a moment, staring tiredly out the windshield. It was a quiet night, shockingly so for an airport, probably because it was getting past midnight and it was pouring buckets outside. Barely anything was visible beside the bright blaring light of the main building, just sheets of rain and clouds overhead. Dream didn’t have an umbrella so he sunk further into his seat, moping for a moment before pushing out of the car. He trudged through the full puddles on the parking lot, thoroughly drenched by the time he got to the automatic doors. He tilted his head to the side, trying to wring out his hair and barely noticing the bright purple streaked across the ground.
He shook out his hair after a moment like a dog, giving up on maintaining his dignity. Whatever. No one here would know who he was anyways. He closed his eyes, thinking for a moment of every hidey-hole he could think of in the sprawling building. He had been there two and half weeks ago when he picked up George, but that was just a quick walkthrough. He didn’t internalize much of the layout. His eyes squeezed shut tighter, then they shot back open.
Wait.
Purple streak?
He panned his gaze down, looking at the floor. There, in long loop-de-loops that went around support beams and got covered in spots by people walking around, was a purple trail. It almost seemed to sparkle in the white sterile lighting. Maybe it did. It was a bright and bold color, the only thing that filled Dream’s vision as he stared at it. It pulsed around the edges, faint but noticeable, and he sucked a deep breath in. That was a soulmate line. A fresh one. He had seen a thousand artistic recreations of this exact thing, in various colors and shapes but they always, always, always had that pulsating glowing edge.
He wasn’t ashamed to say he immediately forgot about Karl. There was a twinge of guilt in the back of his mind, but he knew his friend would understand. Karl was just as overeager about soulmates as Dream could be, openly prattling on about various romantic ways he could meet his soulmate or talking at length about how his friends met theirs. He was a hopeless romantic, utterly gone on the concept of soulmates, he would understand Dream getting sidetracked.
Dream followed the line with his eyes for a moment, watching how it wound up the stairs towards the security checkpoint. It hadn’t left the entrance yet, so presumably, they had come from there. He glanced in the other direction, turning on his heel and walking to the other end of the line.
Whoever his soulmate was, they either had time on their hands or they didn’t know how to walk in a straight line. They seemed to swing around half the poles they walked by and in a few places, there was a gap in the line as if they had jumped. Maybe they had. Dream felt a smile spread on his face at that thought.
Maybe his soulmate was jumping with joy or they had skipped for a couple of steps. He always wanted a soulmate who was happy. He would take a clumsy soulmate too, maybe they tripped over their feet and missed a step. He liked the thought of catching someone by the hand, pulling them securely back to his side. Maybe they would meet eyes and share a smile. Maybe Dream would pull them to his chest, holding the back of their head carefully. Sue him. He was a dreamer, the name was chosen accurately.
The trail wound around to the baggage pick up and Dream’s eyes tracked along the ground for a moment, feeling like a hunter in the woods. Though instead of searching for trampled leaves or animal trails, he was analyzing the swoop of his soulmate’s movements. The line was thick in some sections. Maybe his soulmate had been pacing back and forth, waiting for their bags? So his soulmate had trouble sitting still, maybe fidgety. It’d explain the swinging around the poles thing. A happy-go-lucky fidgety soulmate. Dream’s grin grew. They would definitely get along well.
“Are you looking for your bag, sir?” a voice cut through his thoughts and he startled. An older woman smiled kindly at him and he realized he was very in the way, stood in front of the baggage claim.
“Ah, uh, no, sorry.” He had no idea what Karl’s bag looked like and he was assuming Karl had already grabbed it. It would be so like Karl to go run off without it, but he would place his faith in him for now. Unable to restrain himself, Dream added, “I’m actually following my soulmate line. It’s super fresh. Still pulsing and everything.”
The lady’s eyes widened before she gave him a bright grin. “Oh, that’s fantastic! I wish you the best! Don’t let them get too far away now. If they get in a car, it’ll be much harder to find them.”
Dream took a moment to process that, like ice dripping slow down the back of his neck. Right. If they got in a car, the line would vanish. They wouldn’t be touching the ground. “Oh, shit,” he muttered. The woman stifled a laugh and patted his arm. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Have a nice night, dear.”
And with that, he bustled off after the line again.
From the baggage claim, it led to the bathrooms, then back out. He didn’t bother checking in there besides a cursory glance. Empty. The line swung by a vending machine. Once again, they seemed to pace for a moment, the line getting thick and fat in front of the drinks. Dream paused, clicking the button for the white Monster. Empty.
“Damn,” he said softly. He’d have to grab some for Karl on the way home.
His brain kicked back to the task at hand. He followed the line to a different bathroom, where his soulmate just seemed to dart to the sink then back out. Dream traced the movement, glancing up at himself in the mirror. No hints scattered around about his soulmate, except maybe that they were just as distractable as he was. The streak trailed through the gift shop, only checking one aisle before leaving. Dream smiled fondly when he realized it went straight to the stuffed animals, picking up one of the plush alligators there. It was dedicated to the Florida Gators because of course it was, cartoony and wearing a blue jersey. The trail didn’t go to the cash register but he walked over anyway, buying the stuffed toy as quickly as he could.
If his soulmate was in this airport, it was likely they were just visiting. They might even have a connecting flight, which would explain why they were wandering aimlessly, no flights were going out for about an hour. If he couldn’t spend much time with them, he wanted them to have a small gift from him. And his phone number. Duh.
He got back to following the line. It slid closer to one of the restaurants along the wall but didn’t dip it. It strayed towards the large windows as if avoiding a large group of people walking by. It ended up on one of those flat escalators, something Dream bypassed to not get in the way of people who needed to go fast. Then it curved to follow the back wall, leading the way to the bus depot.
Dream’s heart pounded at the thought of them being gone, but at the last moment, it took a sharp right. Dream stopped, slowly raising his eyes when he realized the line ended there at someone’s hand-painted shoes.
Painted was generous; they were colored on by Sharpies, sloppy and disorganized. He hardly processed the pictures and flat planes of color, though they seemed oddly familiar. His soulmate’s pants were a neat contrast, nice brown corduroy with pinstripes. Their sweater was plain, also brown with light tan detailing, and finally, Dream met the back of Karl’s head. He seemed to be looking out the window, head tilted back enough to see the clouds. He looked… sad, clutching his backpack to his chest. Another rolling suitcase sat by his side. Dream’s chest sang and ached in turn.
“Karl,” he said, more breathed. Karl heard him anyways, startled to look back at him. “It’s you.”
“It’s me!” Karl beamed, swinging his luggage around. Dream stepped closer to take his bag from him. “It’s wild, you know, I think my soulmate was here.”
He hadn’t noticed. Dream’s heart was pounding in his ears. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. The line is super faint, it must have been a few weeks ago, but they’re there. I wanted to follow them around for a bit, just in case it was from an employee or something, but they just head out the front entrance.” Karl smiled, a bit wistful. “Kinda sucks, huh? Are you holding a stuffed animal? I saw that guy earlier, he’s cute.”
A few weeks ago. Dream flashed back to picking George up from the airport and the stark disappointment he felt at no soulmate trail. He felt so stupid for that now.
“Yeah. I was following my soulmate line and they looked at it, I think, so I figured I’d buy it as a gift.” That was less than subtle. It’d take an idiot to ignore that.
“Your soulmate was also here?!” An idiot, as Dream said. Karl’s eyes went wide, the sadness in his voice melting away as he clapped his hands. “Wow. That’s awesome! How fresh was your line?”
“Today. Right now,” Dream said and Karl gasped. “Karl.”
“Did you see them?”
“Karl.”
“What are you talking to me for?! Go give them the plushie!”
“Karl,” Dream repeated. He let go of Karl’s luggage, letting it fall and grabbing his hands instead. Karl blinked as he pressed the alligator into his friend’s arms. “Look down.”
There was a moment’s pause as Karl processed the command, a pause that felt like a million years. Dream squeezed his hand and Karl finally obeyed, turning his head downwards. He leaned to the side as if the toy in their clasped embrace was blocking the ground. From the bright sparkle of his eyes, he knew that Karl had seen it immediately. He was just memorizing the moment.
“Oh,” Karl said, soft and surprised. A broad grin broke out on his face and Dream’s heart soared. Karl crashed into his chest, flinging his arms around his back and holding him tightly. Dream returned the hug just as enthusiastically, burying his face into his shoulder. “It’s you.”
“It’s me,” he confirmed.