Chapter Text
Everyone had a soulmate. It was a phrase Ranboo had heard since he was young, who hadn't? Soulmates were something common in humans, something everyone had, so it was only natural that kids began learning about it early on.
There was something that connected soulmates, something that helps identify your soulmate. It forms as you get older, most call it "phantom senses". When you feel things that aren't there, when you feel what your soulmate feels.
That's was it, you felt what your soulmate felt, but not entirely. It was kind of like seeing something from the corner of your eye that wasn't really there.
When someone touched your soulmate, you may feel the same touch. When your soulmate felt a certain way, you may also get the same feeling. When your soulmate heard something, you could hear it faintly. The sensations were overall faint, unless you got closer to your soulmate. It's common knowledge that the closer you step to your soulmate, the more bold the sensations become.
Sounds become louder, feelings become stronger, touches become to feel a lot more real. It all gets bolder and bolder until you finally meet your soulmate.
When you finally meet your soulmate, the sensations dont go away persay, however they are definitely less.
Ranboo at a young age had thought that sounded terrible, and he still stands by that. It sucks.
His soulmate must be really god damn social, because it was never peaceful.
He always heard noise, he always felt something, his emotions were always somewhat altered because of his soulmate, it was like he could never live his own life!
He couldn't wait the meet his soulmate and get rid of these feelings.
Ranboo was just your average teenager, at the young age of 18. He was tall and lanky for his age, most people mistaking him for a twenty year old, which he couldn't blame them. His hair was long, reaching to the top of his back, and was split black and white right down the middle. To match his hair, he often wore a black and white outfit, he always seemed to make up an entirely new outfit every day, occasionally splashing some color here and there. The only thing that was consistent with his get-up was the black and white mask he wore often.
He worked at a cozy library owned by this guy named Philza. He was kind of like the local dad figure, everyone went to him when they needed advice, help, or basic dad stuff. Which was fitting, because the man himself was actually a dad.
He had three kids apparently, although Ranboo had only met one. Techno was pretty chill, one of the older ones, a twin apparently. Ranboo thinks he's seen the other twin around the library before, but he's never really met the guy before. Techno and Phil had said his name was Wilbur, and they claimed he was chaos itself. Apparently he had some love affair going on with a salmon. Ranboo made sure to keep some distance when Wilbur was around.
Ranboo doesn't know anything about the third kid, they never come around. According to Phil they usually stay with their soulmate on the other side of town, so they don't visit often.
Ranboo couldn't care less, he's happy to not have to deal with anymore socializing. Talking to others really wasn't his strong suit, especially since he was constantly distracted by his soulmate. Whenever he tries to talk to people, he always get distracted by things he's hearing or feeling, so it can get... kind of difficult to keep up conversation.
Though Techno and Phil don't seem to mind, they're patient with Ranboo. He appreciates that.
Today, Ranboo was checking out some old Greek mythology books for Techno. He thought that since Techno is Phil's son he'd get a free pass on the whole checking out process, guess not.
"The Odyssey? Didn't you read this in highschool?" Ranboo asked, it was a genuine question but he only realized how it might come off as teasing after he said it. He began to mutter out an apology before Techno chuckled.
"Yeah, I did. Just figured I'd come back for round two, it's a good read." Techno replied with a grin, Ranboo nodding nervously before scanning the book and handing it to Techno.
"Try to get it back within the next month, please?" He asked sheepishly, tugging on his sleeves a bit.
He and Techno chatted a bit, Techno going on one of his nerdy rants that Ranboo was happy to listen too.
"Odysseus's men tried the flowers, and oh boy that did not go well for them let me tell you..." Techno continued to ramble on about the story of Odysseus and his decade long journey, Ranboo admiring his passion for these stories. The boy listened, wanting to know more, being very deep in the conversation.
Until he wasn't.
"Dickhead... I'll kill yo..."
Ranboo flinched, snapping his head around at the sudden noise. His eyes scanned the room bemused, Techno pausing his rant.
"Your soulmate again?" He questioned, although he already knew the answer. Ranboo nodded.
"Yeah, yeah- But go on, please! What's up with those Lotus Flowers?" Ranboo pushed Techno to go on, wanting to focus on that rather than distant voices of his soulmates peers. Techno shrugged and continued his rant, however Ranboo was quickly distracted. There was a sudden feeling on his shoulder, it was harsh, harsh enough to make him flinch, though thankfully there was no pain.
Techno raised a brow, but cautiously continued on.
"Woah... no need to... angry..."
Ranboo suddenly felt agitated, tapping his nails against the front desk as he struggled to pay attention to Techno. What was he saying? Something about a bag of winds? Ranboo began to feel... aggressive. He had a growing urge to just slap Technos loud mouth shut.
Prime, what the hell was his soulmate doing?
Ranboo hadn't even noticed how his eyebrows furrowed and how his hand clenched around his pen, however, Techno did. Techno waved his hand in front of Ranboo's face, drawing his attention back to himself.
"Hey, uh, if you need a moment I can head on out. I got to meet up with Wilbur anyway, he want's me to show up to his lame band session." Techno remarked with a snicker, an understanding look in his eyes. Ranboo sighed with a slow nod.
"Yeah- That'd be nice, sorry man. Can you tell me more about the Odyssey another time?" Ranboo asked, a bit of guilt in his voice. Techno nodded with a calming smile.
"Sure thing."
They said their goodbyes and parted ways, Techno heading off to likely torment Wilbur at band practice. Ranboo sighed and slumped down on the desk, resting his head in his hand. The feeling of aggression is still there lingering in the back of his mind, pushing the urge to snap his pen in half, scratch at the desk, break something. Instead, he spins the pen in his fingers (tries to, anyway). He picks up one of the books Techno decided to leave behind, "The Complete World of Greek Mythology", seemed interesting enough. Ranboo picked up the book and began flipping the pages with one hand, the other still spinning the pen around his fingers. He tried his best to read the book, which he understood most of it, though some parts he struggled to read due to... apparent reasons.
"Chill... king... overreacting..."
"Fucked up... machines... start over..."
Now that Ranboo paid attention, it sounded like two people arguing. See, the thing with the phantom senses, were that you couldn't actually hear your soulmates voice, you could only hear what they hear. So, Ranboo figures his soulmate must be watching a fight go down, not participating. Hopefully, anyway.
Ranboo doesn't feel as aggressive, but more agitated and nervous, a bit guilty too? There are alot if emotions going on right now and Ranboo is beginning to feel overwhelmed. Ranboo shut the book with a long, exhausted, sigh.
"Sorry... n't happen again..."
Ranboo stood up, placing the book into the shelf behind him and shoving his pen into his pocket. It was a pretty slow work day, maybe he could leave work earlier and head home, maybe a hot shower could drown out all the noise. Ranboo didn't particularly like getting wet, but sometimes a hot shower just hit the spot.
"It's oka... help... remake..."
Ranboo could hear a faint groan, if he had to take a guess he'd say someone broke something and is being forced to fix it, hopefully that means the fighting is over. Prime he hopes the fighting's over. Ranboo took a glance up at the clock, it read 6:28pm. His shift ends at 7... maybe he should power it out, it's only half an hour, he could make that.
"Hey mate." Ranboo flinched at the sudden greeted, turning his head to be met with his boss, Philza Minecraft himself. He greeted Ranboo with a warm smile, one which Ranboo struggled to reciprocate. "Something on your mind?"
Curse Phil and his dad senses.
"Oh, yeah! I'm good, man- Soulmate's just causing a chaos up in here, you know?" Ranboo replied, motioning to his head.
"Ah, gotcha." Phil replied with a hum, he turned his head to glance at the clock. "Its only half an hour before your shift ends, you can head home if you'd like." He offered, tilted his head a bit. It's like this guy can read minds.
"Oh- Are you sure?" Ranboo asked, feeling a bit nervous. He really did want to go home, but he still feels a bit guilty about it. He was the only one in tonight, so if he left now Phil would have to run the place until closing... The guy might break his back from carrying books. They should really get Phil in an old folks home, soon. Before he... y'know...
"Sure thing, mate. I can close up, don't worry. Besides, you look like you need some rest." Phil remarked with a knowing look. Was it really that obvious?
He always got anxious when his soulmate acted up, but he didn't realize it was so obvious.
Ranboo nodded with a sigh. "Right, thanks man."
"No problem, mate. Take care!" Phil said as Ranboo checked out and grabbed his bag, before heading out with a wave.
Ranboo walked down the long side walk, holding his purse close to his side, listening as his keychain jangled with every step. He slowed down as he approached his apartment building, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door, walking inside.
He flicked the light switch on and set his purse on the floor, floping face first onto the couch. He snuggled his face into the cushion and exhaled. It felt nice to be home.
He had only been laying down for a few minutes before suddenly, he felt pressure on his side. He flipped around on his back, checking if he was laying on a cushion weird or something. Nope, not that. The pressure was soft, and warm. Very warm. It pushed agaisnt his side and the warmth spread to his torso, as if someone were laying on top of his chest. As if someone were... cuddling him.
Was his soulmate cuddling someone?
He sure is feeling left out.
Ranboo frowned and turned on his side, grabbing a pillow and hugging it. He imagined the pillow was his soulmate, that it was him his soulmate was cuddling, that it was him they were holding close. He imagined he finally had them in his arms.
"...love yo.."
Ranboo closed his eyes, a feeling of warmth and love lingering in the back of his mind, but even then it couldn't over shower the increasing feeling of loneliness, of longing.
"I lov... you too..."
He wondered if his soulmate could feel it too.