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Chapter Text

Kyana pulled herself out of bed slowly, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Light barely shined through her window, the sun right at the edge of the horizon. Kyana began to stretch, only to freeze when she saw something on her arm. It looked like somebody painted all over her arm. Splotches of reds, blues, and purples covered it, golden and silver dots like the stars added over them.

Kyana scratched at her arm experimentally, trying to see if it would scratch off like the paint on a mural. It didn't, surprising Kyana. Maybe Ione would know what happened, but when Kyana looked over at Ione's bed on the other side of the room, it was already neatly made. Ione must've woken up really early. Maybe Ione pranked Kyana?

She'd have to go get Ione after she got dressed. Kyana walked over to their shared dresser, being barely taller than it. She grabbed her clothes out from the dresser, pulling on the most basic monk robes you could get at the monastery. She pushed her roll of bandages for protecting her first when sparing into her pocket, rushing out of the room.

Ione probably went to get breakfast!

-

Kyana spotted Ione in the dining hall right away. Kyana had to get food before she sat down though, having to go to the exact opposite side of the dining hall to get herself a plate. Kyana went through her day in her mind as she stood in line to grab food.

Kyana is pretty sure she's on duty to help the adults make dinner today and she gets to go outside for sparring sessions too. Cooking with the adults was always pretty stressful, but it usually means she got a treat, so Kyana didn't mind that too much.

"Blueberries or strawberries in your oatmeal?" The older teen helping to serve breakfast asked, breaking Kyana out of her thoughts. They were very obviously staring at the painting on Kyana's arm. Kyana didn't mind though.

"Can I have some of both?" Kyana asked, standing on the tips of toes to look into the eyes of the teen, a wide smile on her face.

"Yeah, of course you can." The teen agreed, pouring some strawberries and blueberries into the bowl before putting it on Kyana's tray. They also put a cup of some leafy green on the plate, which Kyana definitely wasn't touching. "Go down the line to get your drink." The teen motioned for her to move on.

Kyana rushed her way down to get her drink, getting handed something that was closer to goopy mashed fruit than juice. Maybe Ione will let Kyana trade her greens for more fruit mash drink. Kyana thanked the elderly woman serving drinks and rushed over to her usual spot next Ione.

"Ione, I woke up with something weird on my arm! Also, trade?" Kyana said, all too loudly and she plopped down next to Ione at the low table. Ione seemed to barely process the sentence before handing over her fruit mash drink and taking Kyana's greens. After a moment, Ione seemed to process the first statement and look at Kyana's arm.

"..you woke up with that?" She questioned, poking her fork at one of the veggie cups.

"I woke up with it!" Kyana confirmed. "Did you see anything?" Kyana took a sip of her fruit mash drink, adjusting how she sat.

Ione hummed to herself. "..no? I didn't see anything. You should go to Prior Sephrum about it. She could help you figure out what happened." Ione suggested, starting the process of shoveling the greens into her mouth, noticeably scowling at the taste. Not that Kyana was paying enough attention to notice that, and it's not that Ione wanted her to notice either.

"You're right! We should go see her!" Kyana said, already trying to stand up.

"Eat your food first, Kyana.."

-

"Prior Sephrum!" Kyana waved at the older monk, rushing over as soon as she spotted the prior in the hall. "Something weird appeared on my arm last night! I think somebody pranked me!"

"Is that so.." Prior Sephrum began cheerfully, only to trail off when she spotted Kyana's arm. "I must ask first, have you tried washing it off yet?"

"No! I tried scratching it off though!" Kyana said, Ione holding her hand to keep her from jumping around as she talked.

"Scratching it off..?" Ione questioned, not looking surprised or concerned. This was something to expect from Kyana.

"Paint flakes when you scratch it! This didn't!" Kyana tried to explain herself, only receiving a blank look from Ione.

"That is one way to check if it's paint!" Prior Sephrum said, all too cheerful. "I have a theory about what it may be, but let's try washing it first. Ione, why don't you head off while I help Kyana?" She suggested, receiving a nod from Ione.

"Yes, Prior Sephrum." Ione said, turning to Kyana. "Bye Kyana, see you at lunch."

"Bye, Ione!" Kyana watched Ione start to leave, immediately turning back towards the prior. "What do you think it is?" She questioned, following as the prior guided her to a nearby washroom.

Prior Sephrum was incredibly careful as she pulled Kyana's arm over a bucket of water, slowly scrubbing at the mark as to not be too rough and hurt Kyana by mistake. When no progress was made, she let go of Kyana's arm.

"This.. probably isn't the greatest place for this conversation." Prior Sephrum started, seeing Kyana tense a bit in response. "You aren't in trouble, Kyana. This is something amazing and we'll have quite a bit to celebrate today." The prior pat Kyana's hair, a soft smile on her face.

"What will we be celebrating?" Kyana questioned.

"You have a soulmark. That means you have a soulmate." The prior paused, watching Kyana expression before continuing when she saw confusion. "A soulmate is somebody who you are fated to spend a large portion of your life with, somebody who will care about you more than almost anything else. You might have more than one soulmate who shares this mark, but that is very rare."

"So, I just have somebody who'll care about me who I'll meet someday?" Kyana tilted her head. "How does that work? How do 'soulmarks' appear?"

"It looks like you might have to take a break from the sparring sessions today so I can answer your questions.."

-

Kyana ended up not doing any chores that day, being made to study soulmates and soulmarks with Prior Sephrum as the adults rushed about preparing to celebrate what was apparently very rare. Apparently there would be cake! Kyana's never had cake before!

The celebration was loud, with Kyana sitting at a table away from Ione with the adults. Apparently that was so that there was no confusion, but Kyana wanted to sit with Ione! Kyana didn't get too upset though, being immediately distracted by the slice of cake that was given to her.

Kyana quickly began shoveling cake into her mouth, much to the amusement of the adults. The cake was dry, falling apart when her spoon went into it. The overwhelming sweetness was immediately followed by equally overwhelming bitterness. Kyana didn't mind though, it was the best thing she had ever eaten, being made even better due to the excitement of the adults around her. They were all cheering her on, even if Kyana didn't fully process what was worth cheering on yet.

She already had her best friend, Ione! Why would she need a soulmate? Not that she'd say that when everyone was so excited.

Chapter Text

Dani woke up late after spending most of the previous night trying to spy on one of the many mechanics who worked Otto do their work on a passing spelljammer. She's pretty sure Otto only allowed her to watch due to the sheer rarity of something like a spelljammer. Dani pulled herself out her bed, glad for once to have the bottom bunk and being able to literally roll out her bed. Dani stretched, hearing her joints pop with the movement. She yawned, not bothering to change, and left the random spare room in the Heap which Otto had repurposed in a bedroom for any passing street rats who started to work for him.

Dani wandered her way to the staff room, which Otto and everyone else used more as a kitchen than an actual break room. She could smell food, hoping silently she could steal off the plate of whoever was cooking. Dani could make herself something, but she also really didn't want to. Maybe she could guilt one of the older kids or Otto into feeding her. Otto would probably be the easiest.

Dani popped her head into the staff room. It was Otto, perfect. Time to put on her best, 'I'm your adoptive kid, you shouldn't make me cook for myself' face.

"Dani. I can see you, sit down." Otto called, motioning for her to sit at the dining table that took up half of the staff room. It was surrounded by mismatched chairs, added on haphazardly by whoever was staying at the Heap. Dani plopped down in the only chair with any kind of cushion, which definitely was her chair. Nobody else was in the staff room at the moment. Just her and Otto. "Dani, I'll make you breakfast, but we have to talk."

Hell yeah, free breakfast. Hell no, talks. "Can I have pancakes?" Dani asked, swinging her legs under the table.

"No. You're having what I've already made." Otto replied, placing whatever food he had made onto two plates. Otto walked over, and placed a plate in front of Dani. He placed his own plate in front of the chair next to Dani, moving back over to the kitchen. "What do you want to drink, Dani?"

"Do we have fruit juice?" Dani asked, already starting to shovel what she's pretty sure was an attempt at an omelet into her mouth. It didn't really look like an omelet, but the clear pieces of meat and veggies shoved into it made it pretty clear to Dani.

"We should if Egan didn't finish off the jug this morning." Otto pulled a jug of juice out of the fridge, or what remains of the juice. There was nothing but a thin line of the juice left. Otto poured it into a glass, barely filling it up halfway. "You get half a glass."

"Can I have coffee too then?" Dani asked, mouth full of food.

"No." Otto's reply was immediate. "You aren't allowed coffee until you are 14."

"Fuck you." Dani said, tone more playful than serious.

"Language." Otto said as he poured himself a cup of coffee and moved over to the table with their respective drinks. "So, Dani. Last night, one of the older kids noticed something. I wanted to bring this up with you, as now I've seen it too."

"What did you see? Did Egan do something?" Dani took the last bite of her 'omelet,' starting on chugging her tiny amount of juice.

"Dani, if you wanted a tattoo, you could've told us. There's magical ways that are fairly cheap and removable, but they can be dangerous if you buy from the wrong place."

"What?"

"I saw it when you walked in, the galaxy tattoo on your back. I would've rather you done that safely at home with my supervision." Otto continued.

"Uncle, I didn't get a tattoo last night. I was watching the mechanics all night!" Dani said, raising her voice slightly.

"Where in the world did you get the galaxy one on your back then?" Otto kept his voice calm, looking Dani in the eye.

"I don't know! Maybe Sadie pranked me or something!"

"I already asked Sadie, she didn't visit you last night. And Marnie can vouch for her." Otto said, poking at his eggs with his fork.

"I don't know then, but I didn't get a tattoo! You said it looks like a galaxy, but why would I get the galaxy as a tattoo? I'd probably get Plug as one first!"

"That's a terrible tattoo idea, please don't ever get Plug as a tattoo." Otto sighed, putting his palm against his face.

"Fuck you!" Dani cackled.

"Language." Otto sighed again, exhausted. "If this tattoo was a prank, we'll get it removed. I'll trust you on the fact you didn't get it yourself. Not because I actually trust you, but with the knowledge that next time you want a tattoo, you'll promise to go to me first." Otto said, voice calm.

"I didn't get it! I haven't even seen it yet!" Dani was back to being upset. "But.. yeah, I'll get it removed."

"Let me finish my food, I have a magical item for removing tattoos in my office. I've been preparing for this since Sadie and you joined the Heap. I'll help you use it." Otto replied, taking a bite out of his already cold eggs.

-

"Dani. The magical item isn't working.. This works on even non-magical tattoos." Otto said, removing the cold magical item from touching her back.

"Maybe somebody painted on me while I slept?" Dani suggested.

Otto looked so tired. "Why don't you try to wash it off then? It doesn't look like paint, but maybe it is."

-

Dani couldn't wash it off, so she found herself outside of Otto's office, unsure of if she should knock and tell him or not. She slowly knocked on the office door. "Uncle Otto, I tried washing it off."

"Is something wrong, Dani? Come on in." Otto called from inside his office.

Dani walked into the office, slowly walking her way over to the desk, only speaking once she was right in front of it. "It wouldn't wash off, Sadie even tried to help me wash it."

"That's alright, Dani. I think I know what it is then. It looks like a tattoo, but can't be removed, and it couldn't be washed off, so it's probably a soulmark, as rare as those are." Otto stood up, walking around the desk as he spoke, stopping next to Dani to kneel next to her. "I guess we have something to celebrate, if I'm correct. I just have to call an old contact of mine to check my theory."

"I might have a soulmate?" Dani asked, immediately cheering up. "Fuck yeah!"

"Language, Dani."

-

"Hey, hey Egan." Dani called. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, Egan."

"What, Dani?" Egan looked over slowly, a small clock disassembled in his lap. "If you say 'Fuck you,' I'm telling Uncle Otto."

"Fuck you, I have a soulmark." Dani stuck her tongue out at him.

"Uncle Otto!" Egan yelled.

"Uncle Otto left the Heap earlier, Egan." Roy said from his project nearby. "You have a soulmark, Dani?"

"Dammit.." Egan whined, looking down at his lap.

"Yeah! I got it last night in my sleep! Uncle Otto is going to get somebody to verify it!" Dani yelled, her arms up in the air.

"So, you don't even know if it really is?" Roy tilted his head.

"It couldn't be washed off and couldn't be removed with a magic item, there's only one option after that!" Dani yelled. "Uncle Otto says we'll celebrate after it gets confirmed."

"Don't shout, we'll get in trouble." Egan whined, getting immediately ignored.

"That means-" Roy started.

"Hotpot night!" Roy and Dani shouted together, promptly high-fiving like they did something cool and bursting into giggles.

-

Dani sat through some weird old lady poking at her back with magic, barely managing to keep still as the lady pulled Otto aside to talk. She didn't complain when the lady didn't tell her directly and said Otto would. Dani was on her best behavior, for once.

"Okay, Dani. I've got some great news for you, kiddo." Otto kneeled down to be at Dani height. "It looks like that really is a soulmark. I'm incredibly happy for you. But, I know you care about celebrating more than your soulmate right now. What broth do you want for the hotpot?" Otto asked, his arms open for a hug.

"Fire chicken!!" Dani shouted, jumping out of her seat and straight into Otto's hug.

Chapter Text

"Grandma..?" Finbar called into the kitchen of his grandmother's home, slowly walking around the counters that he was barely tall enough to use.

"I'm out in the garden, sweetheart!" His grandmother called from outside. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I woke up with something and I wanted to show you." Finbar called back as he walked out into the garden. His grandmother was kneeling over a plant bed of various berries and vegetables, her gray hair in a basic braid.

"What is it, Fin?" The older firbolg wiped away her sweat and looked over Finbar with a kind smile.

"When I was changing this morning, I looked in the mirror and saw that I had soulmarks." Finbar told her motioning to the crook of his neck where a soulmark resembling a little red bell pepper lay, and then pulling up his shirt a bit to show her the red, blue, and purple galaxy which overtook his stomach.

"Oh, sweetheart." His grandmother looked though she was about to cry. "To think you'd have a soulmark like my daughter and her husband. And two? I'm so happy for you." Finbar's grandma pulled him into a big hug, keeping him close to her for as long as she could at that moment.

"So, does this mean I'll have two soulmates?" Finbar asked, letting himself rest his head against his grandmother's shoulder.

"Yes, Fin. It means you'll have two amazing people who will love you more than anything. I'm sure they'll adore each other too." His grandmother pet Finbar's blond hair. "I can't wait for them to meet us, the entire village will welcome them with open arms."

"Yeah, I can't wait to meet them too, Grandma." Finbar replied softly before settling into comfortable silence, his grandmother still not releasing him from the hug.

"Would you be fine with me telling the village today, Fin? We have to celebrate, but we can wait until you're ready to tell them." His grandmother slowly let go of him, letting Finbar pause to think for a moment.

"Yeah, I want them to know, but can you tell them for me? I don't think I can." Finbar asked, letting his grandmother take his hands into hers.

"Are you sure, Fin? We don't have to tell them if you aren't ready." His grandmother gave him the most patient look in the world.

"I want them to know." Finbar smiled back at his grandmother, letting himself get pulled into yet another hug.

-

"Brother Finbar!" A little Adelaide ran up to Finbar, tripping over her own feet a little as she did. "My mom told me that auntie was told by your grandma that you got two soulmarks!" Adelaide flapped her hands, talking at full speed as she looked up at Finbar.

"Yeah, I do!" Finbar kneeled down for the far smaller firbolg, smiling at her with the same patience his grandma holds for him. "Do you want to see?"

"Yeah, yeah! Let me see! Do you know who your soulmates are yet? Do you think you've already met them? Are they from the village?" Adelaide kept talking, bouncing from foot to foot while still flapping her hands full speed.

"I don't think I've met them, they aren't from the village, we'd know." Finbar answered quickly, watching Adelaide process the words.

"Does that mean you'll have to leave the village to find them? Don't leave, that'll be sad!"

"I won't leave, maybe they'll come to us!" Finbar assured. "I mean, they always say you meet your soulmate no matter what if you have one."

"Oh, yeah! They do!" Adelaide excitedly agreed.

-

Finbar got to sit at the adult's table for the celebration, he was the star after all. He was pretty excited about it, sitting at the too-tall table with a big glass of juice. "We're so excited for you, Fin." One of the elders told him, patting his head with a wide smile.

"You should learn how to cook, one of the best ways to bond with somebody is through their stomach!" Another told him when he got given his plate. "It'll also lighten the chore load on your soulmates!"

"Yeah, I should learn to cook.." Finbar mumbled to himself, taking a bite of his food.

"You do so much work to help take care of Adelaide, I'm sure you'll want to make sure your soulmates are even more well cared for! I'll teach you how to mend clothing!" A woman with a toddler in her lap offered him.

"Thank you, ma'am! I'll do my best." Finbar agreed, thinking through everything he could learn to make his soulmates happier. He has to be the best! They all deserve the best from him.

—

Several years later, Finbar, as a now young adult, left the Feywild and joined the chef's guild, taking classes there.

—

"I'm sorry to bother you, young man, but it's come to my attention that you have something on your neck. Is that a tattoo or a soulmark?" A teacher asked, pulling Finbar aside.

"Oh, it's a soulmark, ma'am." Finbar answered simply. "I have two, actually, one on my stomach and the bell pepper on my neck."

"Oh, well, I think your soulmate is in the guild too. I don't know about the one on your stomach, but there's a girl with a bell pepper on her wrist in one of my classes." The teacher explained. "I was hoping to introduce you too, getting to see two soulmates meeting is considered a great blessing where I grew up."

"You've met one of my soulmates? What is she like? What's her name?" Finbar asked his questions as quickly as he could speak, only to receive a pat on his shoulder from the teacher.

"Perhaps you should ask her yourself, young man." The teacher spoke calmly, turning and motioning for Finbar to follow.

"Right, you're right! I should ask her myself." Finbar replied, steeling himself to meet her.

-

"Young lady, I believe I've found your soulmate." Finbar could hear the teacher talking to his soulmate, and he could feel himself shaking as he listened.

"You what?" His soulmate asked. Oh, Silvanus, her voice was so pretty. Finbar was suddenly extremely grateful for all the practicing he did in order to try being the perfect soulmate. "Who is it? Is he a guild member?"

"He is a guild member, and a student too. He's outside the room right now, I wanted to pull you out into the hall to meet him." The teacher explained.

Finbar heard his soulmate leave her seat, and immediately start walking towards the door, not even letting the teacher guide her over. She was stomping? Why was she stomping?

His soulmate slammed the door open and Finbar almost jumped out his skin. "This is a real cruel prank- why the fuck are you so tall?" The short human starred up at him with an odd mix of confusion and anger on her face.

"I'm not pranking you, miss.." Finbar pointed at his bell pepper soulmark on his neck, seeing the woman's anger drop off her face. "..I'm sorry for being tall.."

"Oh." Was the only word that left his soulmate's mouth after he spoke.

"My name is Finbar, I'm from the village of Hunkiln in the Feywilds. What is your name?"

"I'm Elyse. I'm not sorry for questioning your tallness." His soulmate- no, Elyse replied, offering her hand to shake. "I'm definitely better at cooking than you."

Finbar heard the teacher laugh at the scene, but ignored it in favor of shaking Elyse's hand. "It's nice to meet you, I'm sure you are." Finbar found himself agreeing easily, immediately finding the agreement worth it when Elyse smiled at him.

This might end up being easier than Finbar thought.

Chapter Text

VR-LA has always had his soulmark. He had it before meeting his crew, the galaxy in reds, blues, and purples which covered both of his metal legs. It was what motivated him to join his crew, in the end. If his soulmark was a galaxy, perhaps he'd have to travel between planes to meet his soulmate. At least, that's what younger him thought.

VR-LA enjoyed his travels and his research, so, even if it didn't lead to him meeting his soulmates, he'd be happy with his choice to travel the planescape with his family- his crew.

-

A knock on the door rang out. "Hey, VR-LA! We're gonna be stopping in Sigil for a spell. AS-TR needed to turn in our maps, so was gonna pay somebody for that, and we needed to restock." MR-SN called from the hall.

VR-LA opened the door, being greeted by MR-SN's never moving face. "Did you need my help with any part of the restock?" VR-LA asked, moving out into the hall with MR-SN.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you'd come with me. K-LB is going with E-DN to get ingredients. C-RA wanted to protect the ship, and DX-TR is helping AS-TR." MR-SN said, waving his hands as he started walking back towards the upper deck. "I can't go alone, y'know."

"I'd be happy to help, MR-SN." VR-LA replied. "I have nothing to do or to get."

"That's good, thanks for help, VR-LA!" If MR-SN could smile, he probably would be. VR-LA probably would to, happy to be talking to the captain of the Per Aspera. "I needed to head into the market to get a few spell components."

"What is it that you needed exactly?" VR-LA asked, following MR-SN off the ship.

"Some plain colored powder for an experimental spell, gold dust, honestly, it's a lot of dust and powder."

"Understood. I will be on the lookout for: dust and powder." VR-LA replied, following MR-SN through a backstreet to get to a main street.

"Also, marbles. Plain colored ones." MR-SN added with a hum that was honestly closer to a whir. "I need more of those since I lost mine."

"You lost your marbles..?" VR-LA questioned, causing MR-SN to erupt into laughter. "Oh."

"I do actually need marbles though." MR-SN clarified after he finished laughing, patting VR-LA on the back. "Those are very important."

"Understood, I'll be on the lookout for your lost marbles." VR-LA replied, letting out a pleased hum when MR-SN chuckled in response. "Do you need any specific colors?"

"Red would be best, but any plain color could work, since I have multiple projects at the moment." MR-SN explained. "Oh, yeah! How is your research going? You usually tell us about it way more!"

"It has gone stagnant. I feel as though I have hit, a metaphorical, wall."

"Do you need me to be rubber duck, buddy?" MR-SN offered, looking over at VR-LA as they made their way into the outskirts of a market plaza.

VR-LA tilted his head, thinking. "I would be happy to tell you later. Just not while we are actively looking for things or out in public."

"Alright! I guess I'll just have to devote my listening energy into looking out for your soulmate!" MR-SN declared, pumping a fist in the air, tone unserious.

MR-SN had an unsubtle bounce in his steps as he walked over to a stall selling dry paint pigments. "Good evening!" MR-SN started, and VR-LA quickly tuned out the conversation about the pigments in favor of glancing around at other stalls. Perhaps he'd be able to find the marbles for MR-SN and they'd be able to "just chill" after as MR-SN would say.

After several moments, MR-SN made his purchase of an absurd amount of paint pigment and VR-LA tuned back in. "I was wondering, have you had anybody with soulmarks pass through?"

"MR-SN.." VR-LA sighed.

VR-LA was promptly ignored. "My buddy here has a soulmark and I always have to ask, y'know!" MR-SN continued, putting away the bags of paint pigment into his backpack.

The merchant hummed, feathered wings twitching as they thought to themselves. "I had a couple who were both soulmates pass through. They were looking for the stall that was here before mine. Both had bell pepper soulmarks and were both chefs! I'm sorry to say that those are the only two to pass through though."

"Oh, that's cute! And it's fine, we don't really ever expect yes, but there's always that chance." MR-SN reassured the merchant. "We should be on our way now, thank you for the pigment."

"Take some extra, any color! I hope you find your friend's soulmate." The merchant replied, letting out a happy cluck.

MR-SN took some extra red, before ending the conversation with the merchant and heading on their way with VR-LA. "Is it necessary to do that everytime?" VR-LA questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"It's not, but it gets me free stuff! Also, there's always a chance!" MR-SN tapped VR-LA faceplate lightly, tone playful. "What if one of those two had been your soulmate? There's only so many people with soulmarks in the planescape."

VR-LA sighed again, earning another chuckle from MR-SN. MR-SN's chuckle definitely made the mild embarrassment worth it. "I saw a stall with some marbles. The one with kids' toys over there." VR-LA pointed, already starting to walk towards it.

-

"We're back!" MR-SN called as they both stepped up on the ship.

"We were wondering where you both were!" E-DN called, waving at them both. "Did you get what you needed, MR-SN?"

"Yeah, and no signs from VR-LA's soulmate yet either." MR-SN replied, lifting up their backpack.

DX-TR clicked, nodding his head. "Sigil is a big place, you aren't going to just find them in some random marketplace."

"We could've! You don't know that!" MR-SN replied. "Right, VR-LA?"

"I'm going back to my room." VR-LA said, purposefully walking extremely slowly in the general direction of the way down below deck.

"Nooo..!" MR-SN yelled, chuckling at VR-LA's slow movements. "We were only playing..!"

Chapter Text

"I promise you, C-RA, the Heap is well acclaimed. You can't work on those dents alone, just trust MR-SN on this!" AS-TR assured zer wife.

"You can't just hand my baby off to some no good mechanics from Brass, no matter how well exclaimed they are!" C-RA yelled, waving their arms around wildly.

"You were fine with it just last night!" MR-SN yelled back from his spot piloting through the portal to Brass. "What changed?!"

"That was right after we got attacked! That doesn't count!" C-RA kept yelling.

"You can't do it alone. You can have them act under your supervision for this project, if you are worried, C-RA." VR-LA quickly offered a solution, taking a step back from his yelling crew.

C-RA went silent, thinking over the solution to themselves. "Fine!" Everyone let out a sigh of relief. "Only if I'm supervising and actively helping with the work. I can't let my baby get destroyed."

"I'm still wondering how my ship became her baby over the years.." VR-LA heard MR-SN mumble to themself.

"It became her 'baby' the second she became it's mechanic.." VR-LA whispered back. "All it took was that first repair."

MR-SN chuckled. "And yelling at me about touching a wrench to fix a pipe.."

-

The Per Aspera docked right next to the Heap, MR-SN, VR-LA and C-RA leaving the rest of the crew on while they went to talk to the owner of the Heap about repairs.

The trio passed by a lot of fire genasis, a singular fire giant, and an aasimar before making it to a crowded little office off to the side of the equally crowded building. A child's doodle, clearly years old, was prominent on the door. The phrase "Uncl Otto's Ofise" plainly written above the doodle, which seemed to probably be "Uncle Otto" himself.

MR-SN knocked on the door, careful not to hit any part of the doodle. It already looked worn, but it was probably precious and he didn't want to risk scrapping at it with his metal joints. "Come in!" A voice called from within the office.

MR-SN, VR-LA and C-RA stepped into the office, seeing an older fire genasi with dreads, sitting behind the desk, and a younger fire genasi with short hair, who was standing by the desk with some papers. "Welcome in! Welcome! I can assume you two are looking to be clients of the Heap, right? I'm Otto, I run this place." The older one stood up from his chair, offering a sweaty hand to shake.

MR-SN took his hand, politely shaking it. "I'm MR-SN, I'm the captain of the spelljammer parked outside, called the Per Aspera." He motioned towards C-RA. "And this is the ship's mechanic, C-RA. She's a bit unwilling to accept any help, so I should say ahead of time that she's hoping to supervise any work done. And finally, VR-LA. He's just here because he's smart."

Otto nodded. "It's good to meet you all. The one next to me is Roy, a mechanic here. You said a spelljammer? We have a mechanic specially trained for that named Dani!" VR-LA felt Otto's eyes on his soulmark.

The lights in C-RA's eyes faintly flickered. "Specially trained?" They questioned, noticeably excited now.

"Indeed, she's one of the many bright stars to make up the Heap, been training since she was a kid." Otto began to feel like a bragging dad. "Now, tell me, what sort of work are you looking for? Upgrades or repairs?"

"Repairs! We had a run in with some pirates out on the Astral sea." MR-SN explained. VR-LA listened in, of course, but instead occupied himself by subtly looking around the room.

Otto must've really loved his kids, VR-LA couldn't see the walls behind all the drawings. The wall you'd see stepping in was all designs and blueprints, but the further you looked from the main wall, the more childish the doodles got. When you looked at the wall behind Otto's desk, there seemed to be the most mix in ages of the drawings. The crown jewels seemed to be: a little metal decal of his name made out of scrap, and a blueprint for a robotic cat made by young hands. VR-LA felt a little awkward standing amongst all these things.

VR-LA tuned in again. "..he'll take a good look at your ship and give a price estimate for equal quality materials to what your ship is made of. Any negotiating or material changes will be done with him and me though, after he gets a look."

"Of course, we fully understand. We'll show Roy the Per Aspera then." MR-SN agreed, starting to usher out VR-LA and C-RA as Roy followed.

They made it about halfway towards the ship before MR-SN tried to start up a conversation. "So, have you met anybody with a galaxy soulmark?" Roy immediately looked up, wide eyed at the statement. "My buddy, VR-LA has a galaxy soulmark on his leg, so I always have to ask!" MR-SN declared, not even noticing that Roy had stopped in his tracks.

"..yes. Yes, I do." Roy said after a moment, rushing up to get a good look at VR-LA. VR-LA didn't even have time to react before Roy yelled. "Dani! Your soulmate is here! Get your ass over here!" Roy yelled, running off into the Heap still yelling.

The yelling seemed to summon Otto from his office, looking a tad grumpy about the noise. "Roy, quiet down! You'll disturb the clients!" He shouted in the general direction that Roy ran in, only to get a confused look on his face when he spotted Roy running back with Dani slowly walking behind.

Otto walked from the doorway of his office over to the ground, making it there around the same time as Dani and Roy. "So, who the hell is claiming to be my soulmate?" Dani asked, scowling as she looked between the group. Her eyes landed on VR-LA's soulmark, immediately going wide. "Oh. Roy wasn't messing with me. What the fuck."

"Hello. My name is VR-LA. You are Dani, right?" VR-LA replied, waving his hand in an awkward, square motion.

"Yeah, I'm Dani. Just Dani." Dani said, look VR-LA up and down with a mild amount of confusion. "I guess it's nice to meet you, VR-LA."

"Your crew is still paying for any ship repair done." Otto said, moving to stand next to Dani. "Even if your crew includes my niece's soulmate."

"That's completely fair, we understand." MR-SN replied, nodding at Otto.

"Anyway, Roy, go with them to check on their ship already." Otto said before his voice immediately softened. "Why don't you go with them, Dani? You can get to know your soulmate. They work on a spelljammer."

"You work on a spelljammer?" Dani parroted back at VR-LA, eyes wide and sparkling.

"Yes, we travel through dangerous areas in order to map them. I am our secondary pilot, and spend the rest of my time on personal research projects." VR-LA explained, slowly trailing after his crew so that he could focus on talking to Dani. "And you are specialized in them? In spelljammers? I'd assume you meet people who work on them often."

"Yeah!" Dani laughed awkwardly, stalling to get time to think. "I can repair them real well! I'm just amazed that my soulmate works on one! I didn't expect that!"

"I'm glad that my work makes you so happy."

"What're you working on besides piloting then? You mentioned research projects." Dani asked, casually grabbing onto VR-LA's arm as they walked, not even noticing the action herself.

"I can't go into too much detail, but I do research into a form of memory storage. I myself use it as well, as part of my research." VR-LA pointed to where he puts in his memory sphere. "It lets me organize my memories like files." VR-LA added with a happy hum.

"Like files? Does that make things easier or harder?" Dani asked, looking confused.

"It depends on the situation. It makes my research very easy, it makes remembering names and faces easy."

"What makes it harder?" Dani asked, clearly thinking it through in her own thoughts too.

"Remembering what work I have to do throughout the day if I got told the previous day." VR-LA thought to himself for a second before adding: "I don't have an excuse for that, it just means I forgot to transfer the memory properly."

"Isn't that just a normal thing to have happen?"

"You'd hope it wouldn't with memory spheres." VR-LA sighed, earning a "pat pat" or "clunk clunk" from Dani.

They fell into silence for a moment, just walking slowly together after VR-LA's crew. After a moment, Dani started up again. "What's your favorite thing in hotpot?"

"I've never had a hotpot, why do you ask?" VR-LA looked over at Dani, who let out a thoughtful hum.

"It's how the Heap celebrates. We always have hotpot, and recently, Otto has started buying cookies from a local bakery too, since the Heap has been making a lot more money." Dani explained. "I like noodles, Roy doesn't!" Dani added helpfully.

"I guess I'll have to try out different things then. I'm looking forward to it." VR-LA said as they stopped in front of the Per Aspera.

Silence.

"Oh wow. Your ship looks like shit."

-

VR-LA ended up being sat by Dani at a crowded table that night. Two big steaming pots of broth and a bunch of plates overtook the whole table and it was so loud. VR-LA felt incredibly overwhelmed, even if people were being considerate and making sure he got to try a bit of everything.

VR-LA found a favorite in the fried tofu made by Otto and dipping it in the fire chicken broth. All of it was spicy, but it was clear the Heap tried toning it down for VR-LA and his crew. Dani had a massive bowl of noodles in front of her, which reeked of strong spices, meaning it was likely meant for only her. It was all so overwhelming, all too much. All the combining smells, the clinking of tableware. The loud sounds from everybody talking were the worst of it though.

"Dani, I'm going to step out for.. a minute or two?" VR-LA whispered over at Dani, barely audible over the sounds of the room, sounding like he was questioning the statement as a whole.

"Is everything okay? I'll show you a good quiet spot nearby." Dani said, standing up, pulling VR-LA up with her. "Do you want to let everybody know or do you just want to head out quietly?"

"Head out quietly please." VR-LA said, letting himself get promptly pulled out of the room by Dani.

Dani pulled him to a little room with bunk beds, sitting on the floor at a low table at the center of the room. She patted the spot next to her, and VR-LA sat down next to her. "I know the Heap crew can be loud." Dani said, keeping her voice down.

"No, I get that. My crew is loud too. I think it's just the combination. I'm glad they get along, it's just.." VR-LA trailed off.

"Too much all in one room?"

"Far too much." VR-LA replied.

"It'll be okay, buddy." Dani patted VR-LA on the pack. "Want to talk about something until you feel better? Or do you just want to be quiet for a bit?"

"I'd like to talk, please."

"Okay, is anything fine?" Dani asked, receiving a nod from VR-LA. "Hmm, okay.. well! This place is my childhood bedroom. I don't sleep here anymore, it's used by new recruits who don't have a place mostly. I used to sleep on the bottom bunk behind us."

VR-LA hummed in response, encouraging Dani to continue. "I got my soulmark when I was sleeping there. I walked straight into the staff room for breakfast and Otto made me an omelet. He told me off for secretly getting a tattoo!"

VR-LA chuckled. "How would you have gotten a tattoo? Nobody gets their soulmark as an adult."

"A lot of magical ways! He tried to remove it with a magic item since I clearly didn't get it of my own will. That failed, so we washed it. Nothing worked!" Dani laughed, leaning onto VR-LA. "He got somebody to confirm it was a soulmark that afternoon. I ran around bragging about it because I was so excited to have something unique and to be the reason we'd have hotpot."

"Hotpot must be a very old tradition for the Heap, then?" VR-LA asked.

"Yeah, it started when I was a kid. It's a good treat for everybody and pretty cheap. We could afford expensive steaks for everybody now! But, hotpot is tradition now." Dani declared with a laugh. "How'd you get your soulmark?"

"Oh, uhm.."

Chapter Text

"VR-LA! Land around that area, it's just outside of the town, so we'll be out of the way." AS-TR guided, pointing VR-LA in the right direction. "There's also another ship over there, I might be able to trade maps with their navigator!" AS-TR was subtly shifting zer weight from foot to foot as VR-LA landed the Per Aspera just above the grass.

MR-SN dropped the plank almost immediately, and jogged down it to get it stable for everybody else. "Careful!" E-DN called down to them.

"I'm being careful!" MR-SN called back. "It should be pretty solid now!"

E-DN walked down the plank after MR-SN as C-RA and K-LB checked on everything onboard. VR-LA made his way out of the pilot's seat off the ship. "Who's going out to restock, who's staying back?" VR-LA asked MR-SN.

"I'll probably be heading out with E-DN and C-RA for our restock since we aren't familiar with the area. Everybody else should be staying back. Can you go with AS-TR when they go talk to the other ship?" MR-SN asked, motioning in the general direction of the other ship.

"Yes, I'll keep an eye on AS-TR."

"Great! Thank you!" MR-SN replied happily, moving past VR-LA to head back up onto the ship to talk to everybody else.

-

VR-LA trailed behind AS-TR, who had shoved a box into his arms, which was full of star maps. As many as AS-TR could fit in the box before walking over to the other ship nearby. The words "The Whipped Cr.." The rest was unreadable due to minor damage.

"Hey! Does your crew have a navigator? Do they want to do a map trade? I brought a bunch of copies!" AS-TR shouted at a group, who appeared to be in the middle of grilling something.

"We don't have a proper nav, but we do have somebody with maps?" An older firbolg said, looking over at the two mechanites. "That's up to him though. I doubt my boy has copies of anything."

A younger firbolg looked up from mixing something, glancing at the mechanites. "I don't have copies, but I have notes I could make copies of..?" He offered, before returning to mixing when a human woman next to him gave him a "look."

"That works! It's our job to make sure all people out on the Astral Sea remain safe!" AS-TR declared, taking the box from VR-LA and setting it down with the group.

The older firbolg looked VR-LA up and down, and smiled when he saw his soulmark. "I'm Cardamon, I'm the official chef of this crew, but that's not my only job. These two here are Finbar and Elyse."

"I'm AS-TR and this is VR-LA!" AS-TR replied, eagerly shaking hands with Cardamon.

"Say, I recognize that soulmark of his from somewhere." Cardamon said, offering his hand to VR-LA too.

"It is a galaxy, which is very recognizable. Everybody has seen it at least once." VR-LA said, shaking his hand politely.

"I'm sorry, did you say galaxy?" Finbar said, immediately setting aside his bowl to get up and walk over. "I.. that's identical."

"I'm sorry?" VR-LA said, looking at Finbar with a tilted head.

"I'm sorry, one moment.." Finbar replied, slightly lifting his shirt to show off his galaxy soulmark.

"Oh!" VR-LA immediately said, tilting his head further. "It appears I have two soulmates under one soulmark."

"You what?" Finbar asked, lowering his shirt. They both heard Cardamon chuckle.

"I've already found somebody else with a soulmark that matches us both. It is possible, although rare, to have multiple soulmates under one soulmark." VR-LA explained, straightening his head and looking Finbar in the eye.

"I ended up with a lot of rares then.." Finbar pointed to his neck. "I have a second soulmark, I share it with Elyse."

"You do indeed have a lot of rare traits then!"

"What's our other soulmate's name then? What are they like? Tell me about yourself too." Finbar asked, moving to sit back down and return to food prep. "Sit with us!"

AS-TR and VR-LA both sat down with the group, the clear smell of meat in the air from the girl Elyse was sitting next to. "Well, I'm from Mecanus. Dani is a fire genasi from Brass. She's not right, like you'd expect for the city, but she's an orphan who became a star mechanic. I just work as co-pilot on my crew's ship while doing research projects. What about you?"

"You two must be very smart. I'm from the Feywilds, a small village named Hunkiln. I work on The Whipped Crown. I am a druid and a hunter. Hunter is used more as a title than a job there, since people don't leave much.." Finbar trailed off, thinking to himself. "I'm an apprentice chef under Cardamon with Elyse. I started learning to cook out of the desire to cook for my soulmates. I wanted to care for my soulmates, which is how most of my skills came to be, honestly. Do you or Dani have a favorite food? Can mechanites eat?"

VR-LA heard AS-TR chuckle. "Yes, mechanites can indeed eat. Dani's favorite food would probably be fire chicken hotpot with heavily spiced noodles. Her adoptive family, her coworkers, have hotpot to celebrate and she apparently always has her own bowl of noodles to dip." VR-LA tilted his head a bit, thinking. "I don't know my favorite food, most food is very good, but I've come to like fried tofu a lot lately, thanks to Dani."

Finbar nodded, memorizing every word. "What do you mean by thanks to Dani, if it's alright?"

VR-LA nodded. "The celebration thrown by where she works, the Heap, was incredibly overwhelming and loud for me. She pulled aside into her childhood bedroom and we talked for a while, until I felt good enough to go back to eating."

"Awe, she sounds sweet. I can't wait to meet her." Finbar said, smiling wide.

VR-LA tensed. "Yes.. sweet.."

—

VR-LA ended up watching Elyse, Cardamon, and Finbar cook while AS-TR went to get the rest of the mechanites to celebrate. This meant being as quiet as possible to avoid bothering them, at least in VR-LA's mind.

"Elyse, you know this, don't grill fruit after meat!" Cardamon said, pulling a skewer out of Elyse's hand.

"That's for bird meat! With this kind of meat, it should be fine." Elyse countered, going to grab another skewer, which also got taken from her.

"Go clean the grill, Elyse." Cardamon told Elyse, who grumbled before putting out the fire on the grill.

Finbar had pixies surrounding him, helping him to make as many grilled vegetable skewers as he responsibly could at once.

"Finbar, my boy, be careful with the pixies. Don't let them get too close to the fire." Cardamon warned, getting to work on preparing some tofu and a pan. "How about we swap, you can make your soulmate's favorite dish?"

"Thank you!" Finbar said, quickly swapping with Cardamon as Elyse walked back over with the clean grill.

"Good job, Elyse!" Cardamon called over to her.

"I think these fruit skewers might be better roasted over the fire, can I do it like that instead?" Elyse asked.

"Good suggestion, I didn't think of that, go ahead!" Cardamon motioned for Elyse to go over to the fire next to Finbar.

VR-LA felt a bit awkward watching it all, but Finbar kept looking up at him and smiling, so VR-LA stayed.

-

"Hey, VR-LA." Finbar tapped on his arm. "You said Dani's celebration was overwhelming, right? How are you doing? Do you need to step away?"

VR-LA began to feel that Finbar was the sort to act like a mom. "I'm fine, I'll let you know if it gets too overwhelming."

Finbar nodded, handed VR-LA a fruit skewer, one that had not been roasted. "Here, try one. We've got fruit from all over." Finbar said, and VR-LA gratefully took it.

Chapter Text

Finbar and Elyse followed VR-LA through the streets of Brass towards the Heap, a full day planned with Finbar's newest soulmate. The city was overwhelmingly hot, especially for a giant-kin like Finbar. Finbar had been preparing, buying one of those waterskins that is magically almost infinite in terms of water and always cold, but that somehow only made the heat feel worse.

Elyse and VR-LA both kept borrowing it too, which wasn't bad. It made Finbar happy to know he had something helpful constantly on hand, even if it meant he had to be quick with each sip he took before passing it around. "Gods, why does it have to be fucking hot in this plane?" Elyse complained, only to look over at VR-LA and promptly say: "I don't need an actual answer to that."

VR-LA tilted his head a bit before nodding. "I understand that the question is rhetorical, you don't have to worry. I can answer any questions you have though!"

"Why is it so dusty?"

And VR-LA went off on his long explanation.

-

It took what felt like forever to get the Heap, the trio spotting Dani sitting on top of some broken down metal machine. Some kind of vehicle.

"Dani, before I introduce our soulmate and his soulmate.. what are you sitting on?" VR-LA asked, watching Dani hop off the machine, which had something that looked very similar to a long cannon on one end.

"Apparently, it's called a tank! It was made by ancient dwarfs and we got it cheap because they thought we couldn't fix it!" Dani exclaimed, her arms wide as she showed off the dented and destroyed hunk of metal. Dani smacked it, and the entire thing creaked, a fire lighting next to it from a spark.

Finbar walked out, turned over his waterskin, and put out the fire with a hiss. "It's nice to meet you, little miss. I'm Finbar. You must be Dani." Finbar said, offering his hand for her to shake. Dani took it, her hands were extremely greasy. Finbar pulled her forward into a hug, promptly receiving a clearly instinctual punch to the stomach. "Ow. That's fair."

"Don't surprise me like that, dumbass!" Dani shrieked, pulling herself free from the hug and moving back next to her tank. "You're my other soulmate then, huh? Let me see your soulmark!" Dani seemed doubtful, even if she was told by VR-LA himself about the situation.

Finbar pulled up his shirt, letting Dani slowly approach to examine it. "..it's identical." She conceded. "It's nice to meet you, Finbar." Dani turned her attention towards Elyse.

"Hi." Elyse said, waving.

"Hi." Dani returned.

"I'm Elyse. I'm Finbar's romantic soulmate."

"Okay, that's good to know." Dani returned.

"Weren't you supposed to be off work today, Dani?" VR-LA questioned, tilting his head.

"Heheh, yeah. I am off!" Dani replied, giving VR-LA a "pat-pat."

"So, the tank..?" VR-LA tilted his head further, which made Dani think of Plug.

"I'm off! That's my own project!" Dani replied.

"You repair stuff like this for fun?" Finbar asked, already amazed by his soulmate.

Dani instantly looked prideful. "Yeah, it's pretty easy once you get the basics down. I only started on the tank an hour ago, and I'm just mapping things out right now."

Finbar let out a whistle. "That's amazing."

"Heheheh, you've seen nothing yet! You should take a look at my other projects around the Heap!" Dani put her hands on her hips, head tilted toward the sky slightly.

"..Dani, we already have dinner plans though." VR-LA said, immediately drawing Dani back down to the metaphorical ground.

"I'll show you them after dinner then!" Dani declared, bouncing her way over to VR-LA and taking his arm for maybe the hundredth time in her life. "Let's go!" She began dragging VR-LA forward by his arm.

-

"Otto said he'd save hotpot for tomorrow since he wanted me to have personal time with my soulmates!" Dani explained as she dug into her piled high buffet plate.

"..Finbar and I could make the hotpot for you all." Elyse offered, picking at her plate with mild disgust over the buffet food.

"I don't think we could make it spicy enough for Brass standards based on what VR-LA told me, maybe we should leave it to them and just relax." Finbar told Elyse, happily eating away at a cheaply made steak.

"..and how do you expect me to do that?" Elyse questioned, taking a sip of her mocktail drink.

"Ever been to a rage room?" Dani asked, already halfway through her plate, and adding more hot sauce to it.

"A what?" VR-LA asked, and Elyse nodded questioningly.

"A rage room. You pay to go into a room with a bat and destroy things. Paints are often provided too." Dani explained. "They've gotten popular amongst Heap employees lately."

"..ooo, that sounds fun." Elyse replied, finally taking a bite of her food.

"I can see how it would be fun, but it's not really for me.." Finbar said, receiving a nod from VR-LA in agreement.

"Elyse, want to come next time I go?" Dani offered.

"Yes!" Elyse immediately agreed. "Are there rules there, or..?"

"Just don't hurt who you come with, only break stuff in the room, within your time slot. That's about it." Dani explained.

VR-LA gave Finbar a mild look of dread, receiving one in reply from Finbar.

-

"Do you want us to walk you back to where you live?" Finbar asked Dani as she led their way over to the hotel the trio were staying at.

"And leave y'all to find your way back? Nope! I live at the Heap and that's pretty close to your hotel." Dani said, turning down a back road.

"You live at your workplace?" Finbar questioned.

"I live with Uncle Otto, who owns the Heap." Dani replied.

"The Heap actually has some lovely rooms for workers." VR-LA said. "I told you that story about Dani, right? It was in a bedroom at the Heap."

"You told a story about me..?" Dani asked, raising an eyebrow at VR-LA.

"Yes. The one about me needing a break from the noise during the celebration." VR-LA explained.

"It was all nice things." Finbar assured.

"You didn't get a very accurate picture of me then, tough luck for you." Dani said, which received a snort from Elyse.

Chapter Text

Finbar and Elyse followed after their crew and Cardamon, trailing back a bit as they were guided in the massive monastery. "Thank you again for coming. We are well aware that teaching is not the usual job of any of you, but we are glad that you all were able to come to give classes to our monks." The prior guiding them said.

"Of course, this is basically a paid vacation for us!" Their captain assured the prior with a laugh.

"That's good to hear. Allow me to show you where the classes you teach will be. I'll also be going over what the monks do day to day and thus when the class' will have to be." The prior said, motioning to the murals on the wall. "I'd also like to discuss some things that may be useful for teaching the different age groups in our monastery."

"Is it alright to also ask some questions as we go? I'd like to know what basic knowledge they have in regards to what we'll be teaching for the next month." Cardamon asked, walking next to the captain.

"You are the one who will be leading a cooking class, yes? In regards to the knowledge our monks have on cooking, they all have participated in group cooking as a chore." The prior began, looking over the group before continuing. "They all know basic safety things, and some basic terms. Our elderly teach these things to our youngest before they are even allowed to help in the kitchen."

Cardamon nodded with a polite hum, and motioned for the prior to continue. He pulled out a notepad and started writing.

-

They all settled in quietly before all separating into their classes the next day. Finbar and Elyse were going to be assistants to Cardamon for the morning cooking classes, before Finbar separated to teach some basic gardening classes and Elyse would be going from class to class, using bardic skills to make the process of learning easier.

The first class of the day was mostly 5 to 8 year olds, who were surprisingly good learners. They all had their own aprons, which they were all happy to declare were made by a big kid. They managed to make a lot of very good fruit salads. Cardamon didn't want to have these kids around fires yet, regardless of the assurances of the adults that it would be fine.

"Mister Finbar, I spilled my bowl.." One of the younger girls said after tugging on his apron.

"Oh, that's alright! Let's clean it up together okay?" Finbar said, taking the girl's hand and letting her guide him to the mess.

-

Finbar ended up going off to his gardening class after a class full of preteens and helping make lunch for the monastery. The class had a lot of variety in terms of ages and they were right next to a group that was sparing. At one point, Finbar's shirt rode up as he was helping a younger kid replant a berry bush.

"Wow, Mister Finbar! You have a soulmark like Kyana!" The kid exclaimed, leading to the entire class dropping what they were doing to look at his soulmark.

"Oh, is Kyana another monk?" Finbar asked, letting the kids look over his soulmark. "What does her soulmark look like?" He asked, just trying to make conversation with the kids. Cardamon said to keep them engaged by talking with them, he could do that.

"Kyana has a galaxy, like yours. Same colors too." An older kid answered.

"Oh..?" Finbar questioned, wondering if he somehow had a 4th soulmate.

"Yeah! Maybe your soulmate is Kyana! You should meet her!" A younger kid said, trying to step over the plants and towards Finbar.

"Is that so? Can we keep this a secret then?" Finbar said, raising a finger to his lips, making the younger kids giggle. "If I'm not, I don't want her to be sad if she hears about me from y'all. Why don't one of y'all take me to meet her after class?"

A bunch of hands raised, volunteering to take him to meet his potential soulmate.

-

Kyana stepped out of the spar, immediately being greeted by a slightly beat up Ione with a towel, who was sitting on the ground. "Ione, you alright? How'd your spar go?"

"Bad." Ione groaned, flopping backwards onto the ground, getting a giggle from Kyana.

"That bad?" Kyana asked, sitting next to Ione.

"My sparring partner felt sick halfway, so a prior stepped in. She decided I didn't need her going easy on me." Ione groaned, rolling over towards Kyana, basking in Kyana's presence like a balm.

"She must've thought you were really skilled then." Kyana said, reaching over towards Ione to rub her back.

"She apologized and went to get me something for my pain.." Ione said, slowly scooting closer to Kyana, until she was pressed against Kyana's crossed legs.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Kyana asked, continuing to rub Ione's back.

"You wanted to go to that gardening class, didn't you? You can still go.." Ione said.

"That'll be happening all month, I can just join late." Kyana reassured.

"Alright, but we're going together once I get my pain medicine." Ione replied, pulling herself up to look Kyana in the eye.

"Are you sure?" Kyana asked, smiling at her.

"Yes, I'm sure." Ione replied.

-

Ione and Kyana walked their way to the gardening class, arriving late, seeing the class already in motion. The teacher was completely surrounded, starting to get noticeably overwhelmed by the younger kids all trying to climb him, while yelling something about him having a soulmark.

"Uh, sorry for being late?" Kyana said as she and Ione circled around the kids surrounding the teacher. Some adults were also on the outskirts of the situation, laughing at the chaos.

"Kyana is here!" One of the kids yelled, diving off Finbar's arm towards the ground. The kid caught themselves pretty easily and ran over to Kyana.

"Oh, nice job on that landing, buddy!" Kyana praised, letting the kid dive into her arms for what she thought was gonna be a hug, only for the kid to try climbing her arm. "Uhm..?"

Ione plucked the kid off Kyana's arm just in time for the rest of the kids to tackle Kyana to the ground, all squealing some variation of "Surprise attack! Yaahh!"

Kyana willingly let herself fall, yelling. "Oh no! Damned villains! You got me!" She laughed between her words, watching the kids get off her to promptly not go towards Ione. She immediately panicked, grabbed as many as she could. "No, no! Ione is hurt, don't tackle." She couldn't summon her astral arms, that'd hurt the kids, but she couldn't grab them all.

Luckily though, the few kids she couldn't grab stopped upon realizing that Kyana had stopped most of them and that Kyana was noticeably panicked. "Good job, guys. Thank you." Kyana said, releasing the kids she grabbed.

Finbar walked over, carefully avoiding stepping on any children. "Are you Miss Kyana?" He asked, offering a hand to help her up.

"Yes! It's nice to meet you! Are you the gardening teacher?" Kyana said, accepting his help.

"Among other things. I'm Finbar, nice to meet you. The kids were just telling me about you." Finbar said, shaking her hand once she was back up. "Well, telling me between tackling me and seeing if they could convince the teens to 'take me down'."

"Why were they telling you about me?" Kyana asked, looking over at the kids who were currently trying to 'help' Ione with her pain.

"They said you have a soulmark." Finbar said, pointing at Kyana's arm. "If it's okay to ask, have you met your soulmate?"

"No, I haven't! Why, have you?" Kyana asked, cheerful as ever.

"I'd hope I've met them all by now." Finbar said, pulling his shirt up to expose his soulmark. "I met two soulmates under this mark before you. It's apparently possible for a bunch of people to have the same soulmark."

"I have.. three soulmates then? Including you?" Kyana questioned, staring blankly at the mark on Finbar's stomach. Finbar held up his shirt for as long as Kyana needed.

"Yeah. A mechanite named VR-LA, who's crazy smart. And a fire genasi named Dani, who's also crazy smart. I also have a romantic soulmate under my other soulmark," Finbar pointed to the bell pepper soulmark on his neck. "Who's a human girl named Elyse. Both she and Dani are great friends now. They are all amazing, even if a little mean sometimes."

Kyana remained silent for a moment, processing. "Could you tell me about them, after you finish teaching your class?" She asked.

"Sure, if that's what you want." Finbar was glad that his final soulmate didn't seem like the sort to bully him, two of them already do.

-

"Elyse can use the spell sending. I can ask her to contact our soulmates!" Finbar declared mid-conversation with Kyana. "She can ask them to come to us, if it's okay with the higher-ups here.."

"They'll be okay with it! I can ask Prior Sephrum to ask the other priors!" Kyana said, bolting up and immediately bolting to the prior's office, leaving Finbar behind in the garden in her excitement.

-

"Elyse. I met another soulmate." Finbar said, slowly motioning for Kyana to introduce herself.

"Hello, I'm Kyana!"

"What the fuck.." Elyse said, blinking like she had dust in her eye, or like she was trying to figure out if she was hallucinating. "Another one? How?!" She shouted.

"I'm surprised too.." Finbar replied, patting Elyse on the shoulder. He decided to wait until she calmed down before asking her to do anything. Kyana seemed to already be on the same page as she awkwardly walked her way backwards and up the wall. Finbar promptly decided she wasn't on the same page anymore. "Kyana, how are you doing that?"

"..my boots stick to walls." Kyana explained.

"Do you need help getting down?" Finbar asked, glancing between Elyse, who was now just confused, and Kyana, who was walking her way back down.

"No." Kyana replied, jumping down once she was in the prime position for it. "I can get down fine!"

"Why do you have boots that can climb walls?" Elyse asked, fully distracted from her initial conundrum.

"I got them from a dead body!" Kyana declared.

Finbar didn't expect so many new issues in one day.

-

"That'll be one massive party.." Finbar said with a whistle as the monks ran around preparing.

"They said it had to be massive to celebrate me having so many soulmates.." Kyana explained. "Prior Sephrum said I should dance with my soulmates. She said it's a good way to get to know them all!"

"So, they aren't always like this?" Elyse asked.

"No, they are always like this." Kyana replied, a little confused as to why they wouldn't be like this.

"Well, I'm going to overstep in the kitchen." Elyse said, waved, and left before anybody could consider stopping her.

-

Several days later, a group of mechanites and one, somehow now blue fire genasi stepped off a spelljammer.

"You said Dani was orange, right? That's not Dani?" Kyana asked, looking over at Finbar.

"No, that's Dani.. I recognize her face.." Finbar said, just as confused as Kyana was. "Dani, what happened to you?" Finbar yelled as he quickly walked over to the group.

"She threw a bolt at our force generator! Wild magic cursed her blue!" MR-SN laughed, holding a grumpy Dani up by the back of her shirt like a cat.

Kyana rushed after Finbar, and ended up staring at the Spelljammer in amazement. "Wow.."

"Hello. I am VR-LA. You must be our soulmate, Kyana, right?" VR-LA said, giving a square wave before offering his hand to shake.

"Yeah! Hello! I'm Kyana." She very enthusiastically took his hand to shake.

"Hi, I'm Dani. Just Dani." Dani said once she was finally dropped, walking over and shaking Kyana's hand too.

"Hi, Just Dani! Your hands are greasy!" Kyana declared, still eagerly shaking Dani's hand too.

"..thanks..?" Dani said, confused by Kyana's tone.

-

Finbar, Elyse, and Cardamon had all somehow managed to talk their way into helping in the kitchen for the party. They were allowed their own space to prep things early in the morning the day before the party. Finbar was writing out recipes of various traditional dishes of the home planes of his soulmates, and then rewriting them based on available ingredients for the monks when everything got a bit crazy in the kitchen the next day.

Cardamon and Elyse were working together nearby, preparing meat and vegetables to be marinated overnight. "Y'know.. I'm very proud of you both." Cardamon started as he cut some tofu up, putting cubes of it into a bowl of sauce and seasoning.

"What's with this all of a sudden?" Elyse questioned, moving to wash her hands after dealing with some raw meat. Finbar nodded in agreement with Elyse.

"I'm just glad to have two good students like you both. You two are like my children, my own son and daughter. I'm glad you both have also found such amazing people to get along with. I hope you both will eventually be able to rely on them." Cardamon said, covering the bowl of tofu with clean beeswax paper, to let it marinate. "I hope that if you two ever get married, I get to walk Elyse down the aisle, or Finbar. Whichever one of you does, I'd like to be there."

"Cardamon!" Finbar yelped, face turning purple. "I don't either of us are anywhere close to that!"

"Oh, come on, my boy. It's been a few years now!" Cardamon laughed, moving over to teasingly slap Finbar on the back.

Elyse started laughing too, her cheeks a beautiful and vibrant red as she declared, "Yeah, Finbar! It's been a good few years!"

"Gaahh.. I'm leaving." Finbar put up his hands and turned to leave as laughter ringed out behind him from the pair.

"No, come back, my boy!" Cardamon said between gasping laughs.

"Yeah, Fin, come back, we were joking!" Elyse said too, not even trying to stop laughing.

-

"Hey, Kyana?" Ione called, approaching Kyana a few hours before the party. "I had a question."

"Yeah? What's up, Ione?" Kyana turned to face Ione, seeing a sad look on her face. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Kyana opened her arms, letting Ione fall into them for a hug.

Ione buried her face in Kyana's shoulder, holding onto Kyana like she was afraid the other would get ripped away any moment. Kyana wrapped Ione in her arms just as tightly, hoping to bring some comfort to Ione, even if she didn't know what was wrong. "What's your question, Ione?" Kyana asked quietly.

"Are you planning on leaving with your soulmates?" Ione asked, not letting go of Kyana. "I won't be upset if you are, but I want to know.."

Kyana didn't understand. "I'm not leaving permanently. They all live in different planes or travel between them. I'll visit all their homes, then I'll return here." Kyana explained the plans she had already made with her soulmates.

"You're coming back?" Ione questioned, her voice was shaking. Ione was shaking.

"Yes, of course. I'm not going to just abandon my home, I'm happy here." Kyana said, rubbing her back. "I want to travel too though, so I made plans for an in-between. Meeting my soulmate just solidified that want."

Ione was still shaking, not saying much else, just squeezing Kyana tighter. "Do you want to come with me, Ione? I've spent my entire life alongside you and I'd love for you to be there in my next step too." Kyana offered, loosening her own grip on Ione.

"You'd want me to still be there?" Ione asked, slowly letting go of Kyana, but not leaving Kyana's arms.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Kyana said, slowly dropping her arms.

"Because I'm not your soulmate? And you have three of them, so surely there is no room for me?" Ione suggested, lifting her head off Kyana's shoulder, but not looking her in the eye.

"Ione, that's not true at all. You have always been important to me. My soulmates can't just replace you." Kyana said, going to take Ione's hands. "Ione, I.."

"Kyana, can I tell you something?" Ione asked, interrupting Kyana. "If this is unwelcome, I'll fully understand and will back down."

"What is it, Ione?"

"I've always been your friend, we've basically been each other's sidekicks since we were kids.." Ione started, taking a deep breath from continuing. "I've also held a lot of feelings towards you since we were kids."

Ione let out a shuddering breath, like she was about to cry. Kyana waited, letting Ione finish. "Kyana, I've had a crush on you since I was 5, maybe 6. I don't want to lose you, ever." Tears began rolling down Ione's cheeks.

Kyana froze, processing. She knew she had to react quickly, but she couldn't. Ione looked so sad, so hurt, and only seemed to look worse with every passing second. Kyana squeezed Ione's hands, begging for more time to think inside her own mind.

"Ione.." Kyana started, almost freezing again when she saw Ione tense up. "I don't know my feelings. I don't know how to identify my feelings, but.. I do think what I feel for you is love."

Ione cried even harder, huge tears spilling out over her cheeks. "Would you give me the chance to love you, Ione?" Kyana asked, watching Ione's face.

"Yes, yes.." Ione fell against Kyana's chest, still sobbing. Kyana let her, rubbing Ione's back. Kyana doesn't cry, steeling herself to be strong for Ione and for her soulmates.

-

The party began only a few hours later, and she entered the hall holding hands with Ione, who's eyes were still puffy from crying. She proudly introduced Ione as her girlfriend to her soulmates and moved an extra chair over to her table with her soulmates, and their companions, for Ione. She sat at a table full of races from all over the planescape. She sat at a table next to Ione. She sat at a table with her soulmates.

Kyana happily ate new foods, made in the style of places she'd eventually visit. Ione didn't like spicy food, Kyana agreed that it hurt too much. Kyana got to eat a good cake, a cake that put all the cake she had ever eaten to shame! It was delicious and sweet, with no bitterness!

-

Kyana got to dance with Ione.

Ione laughed as she was spun around by Kyana, blushing brightly when she was pulled close to Kyana.

Kyana was the one to blush when Ione kissed her palms at the end of the dance. Kyana was the one to laugh when Ione dramatically handed her off to Finbar for the next dance.

Kyana got to dance with Finbar.

Finbar smiled bright when Kyana complimented the cake he made. Finbar blushed when Kyana asked for advice for dating Ione.

Kyana was the one to blush when she got her advice. Kyana was the one to smile bright when Finbar told her she wouldn't need the advice.

Kyana got to dance with VR-LA.

VR-LA laughed when Kyana picked him up to spin him. VR-LA admitted he was overwhelmed.

Kyana laughed when VR-LA warned her about Dani. Kyana told VR-LA where she goes when overwhelmed, pointing him in the right direction.

Kyana got to dance with Dani.

Dani laughed when Kyana had trouble holding onto her hands. Dani admitted she was glad to have her soulmates.

Kyana laughed when Dani kept herself from slipping in a silly. Kyana told Dani about a childhood pet she had tried to keep.

Kyana felt grateful.