Chapter Text
Tommy didn’t have a bad life so to say.
His parents were kind people, even if a bit tone-deaf. They consisted of a tall creeper hybrid named Sam and his partner, Ponk, a human who hid most of his face with a warmly coloured mask.
His siblings were nice too, the second youngest to him being a duck hybrid named Quackity, twin second oldest siblings being a fairy named Hannah and a frog hybrid named Boomer, and a weird oldest brother named George who he hasn’t seen in like 3 fuckin’ years.
He grew up in a comfortable environment, money was never tight and he got along well enough in school.
In sum, Tommy T.D.K Innit (a much better name than Thomas Dude) lived a normal life with a normal family in a normal town.
And then, one fateful morning, Tommy awoke to find a glowing purple tattoo on his inner wrist.
Not normal.
The teen sucked in a surprised breath, trying to clear his head of sleepiness. His brows creased together in confusion, gingerly tracing the skin with careful hands.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t actually glowing, it just looked like it. The lines were drawn together into a perfectly symmetrical pattern, graceful and whimsical dashes that danced around his wrist before ending with a flourish on both sides. If it weren’t for the careful craftsmanship, he would pawn it off on one of his siblings as a prank.
Tommy scrubbed his eyes with the heels of his palm with a frustrated grumble and he tumbled from his side to a sitting position. Nobody could draw like that in this house, but Hannah probably used him as an experiment for one of her charms in his sleep again. His anxieties melted away at that, it seemed like something she’d do.
He pawed open his wardrobe, a large, white block that had crooked nails on the inside from Ponk’s attempt at building and the rest being smooth and confident, obviously by his dad.
Inside sat an array of shirts, trousers, cardigans, and socks. He chose a big blue jumper that was about 2 sizes too big, it fell naturally down his shoulder and he had to pull up the cuffs so they didn’t cover his hands. It was a well-loved birthday gift from Hannah, threadbare at the seams with multicoloured threads down the front from the countless mending he’s had to do to the thing.
Slipping on a pair of baby blue slippers, he tiptoed down the stairwell cautiously. Tommy knew well from experience the consequences of waking up his siblings before they were ready, and it’s not pretty.
The stairs connected directly to the kitchen, where he met Quackity, who was pouring a bowl of terribly sweet cereal with a look of unsubtle glee. His wings ruffled excitedly at the sight and Tommy snorted, amused at their antics.
Quackity noticed Tommy standing in the doorway and waved casually, smiling at the blonde,
“Dad’s out getting groceries” he opened, passing a brightly coloured post-it note to the youngest who took it with an acknowledging hum.
‘@ farmers market!!
B back soon ~Sam <3’
Tommy gave a smile at the message and placed it on the fridge for others to see, he pointed to the cereal box with an ever so slightly serious face,
“If that's the dinosaur one I get the free toy” Tommy deadpanned which Quackity responded to with a distracted thumbs up. Tommy bent down to the bottom cabinet, scooping up a pound of dog food for Fran out of a big pink plastic cup. The family unofficially agreed that Tommy would be the one to feed the animals since he loved them much more than everyone else, which is quite a feat with how much Sam loves Fran.
He dumped the dry dog food and set down a bowl of water (the label says ‘Fern’ because they made the mistake of sending Boomer to get it) then walked to the entryway and switched out his slippers for tattered white converse that had an abundance of doodles on them. This was definitely his favourite part of the day, when he got to take care of Henry.
Henry is a baby calf that Tommy got at a state fair about 2 years ago by guessing its weight correctly. His coat is a silky brown with white spots and a mark on its forehead that almost looks like a heart, and needless to say, Tommy adored this cow. After relentless begging, he got Sam to keep him and build a fenced-off area in the backyard for them to roam.
The teen entered the backyard with a grin, Henry staring back, ears perking up at the sight of his friend. Tommy cooed at the sight, chest practically bursting with adoration. He walked over to the fence and reached a hand out toward him, Henry’s head filling his palm with an equal amount of affection.
He entered the fence carefully, closing it behind him. It was a pretty day, sunny and windy, but not in an aggressive way. The breeze tickled his cheeks as he laid in the field, Henry’s face draped lazily over Tommy’s chest with complete trust. He smiled fondly at the gesture like it was the only thing that mattered in the world.
Pulling out his phone, he clicked on Spotify and clicked on the first song in the playlist, he had completely forgotten about the mark until now, when he suddenly felt an alien sensation run through his wrist. He shivered which startled Henry slightly, but otherwise didn’t move. Tommy brought his arm up to see, watching as new lines erupted under the original pattern. These were janky and chaotic, forest green strokes that split from his skin like a surfacing volcano.
A warm rush went through his body like a forest fire, it didn’t burn or ache in his chest though, he felt whole, he felt alive. Just as soon as it came, it disappeared, like a snuffed flame. He didn’t feel the same though, the hole in his chest grew. Tommy needed to feel that again, the warmth.
Not one of Hannah’s charms, but she would know what to do.
He clicked the pause button on the song and left Henry with a pet and a small wave, now on a mission to find his sister.
Tommy opened the door to Hannah’s room, embroidered with a slew of keep out signs. The inside was a pretty magenta colour, littered with an abundance of flowers sprouting from every crevice in the room.
“Quackity if I have to throw you out ONE more time I-” She paused looking towards Tommy, thorns that sprouted from the ground retreating back,
“Oh! Hi Toms, sorry about that” she laughed nervously, “What can I do for you?” the brunette asked in a saccharine voice, smiling sweetly towards him. Tommy closed the door quietly, and Hannah’s face dropped slightly in confusion.
“Are you alright?” she asked quietly, tilting her head with furrowed brows.
Tommy nodded and exhaled slowly, “Hey, so. I figured since you’re like a fairy an’ shit you’d know more about magic than anyone else here, but I like, woke up and there were these marks on my arm and I’m not sure what they’re about?” he rambled, pulling up his cardigan sleeve to show his sister, “I just wanna make sure I’m not like, fuckin’ dying or something” he laughed nervously.
Hannah’s eyes lit up suddenly and glanced up to Tommy, much to his confusion, “These are soulmarks, Tom!” she exclaimed, unable to mask her excitement as she gripped Tommy’s wrist to examine it.
“This means you have soulmates, two even!” she giggled, wings flittering violently behind her. Tommy couldn’t help but let a smile creep onto his face, usually, he’d make a joke about being great enough for a billion soulmates, but he was too distracted to do it. Soulmates, the word felt comfortable on his tongue like a spoonful of warm tea. He has soulmates.
Somewhere in the distance, two teens would celebrate as a red pattern appeared on both of their wrists, sharing glances through eyes scrunched up with eagerness and hopeful smiles.