Chapter Text
Stanley liked to summarize his days up with a word, or an emotion. He wrote down the word and its definition in a notebook, it helped him organize his thoughts and emotions. Normally, the word was quite simple and easy to understand, but sometimes his days were more complicated than a simple word could describe.
Yesterday's word took a while to think of. Stanley's day was long, and rough to get through, and all of Stanley's normal words just didn't fit the day he had. Days like yesterday frustrated Stanley, this singular part of his life was supposed to be simple. Straight-forward, easy to understand, calming to do.
But sometimes it just wasn't. When his days were hard to describe, it made him feel.. infuriated or annoyed. But, then again, he couldn't control how rough his days were to describe.
Yesterdays word was "Perplexed."
Perplexed definition is: "completely baffled; very puzzled."
Stanley didn't like how the word felt when he said it aloud, or how it felt while it sat on his tongue. But, confused didn't match what he felt, and disillusioned didn't fit either.
Stanley still didn't feel like perplexed described how he felt yesterday, but he knew he shouldn't dwell on it forever. Dwelling on small things like a word isn't going to benefit him later on.
Speaking of yesterday, it was rough. The day felt like it was racing by. He felt like he couldn't get a singular thought in before another popped up. It was exhausting.
Stanley woke up an hour after all of his alarms went off, which never ever happened. He showered way too fast, and ate even faster, only to figure out he was taken off the work schedule for the rest of the week.
The only word that popped into Stanley's mind was: "What."
What was a unique word, one of Stanley's many favorites. The word had multiple parts in language, multiple definitions, and multiple uses. Stanley knew the origin of the word came from Germanic to Old English (hwæt), and the word also came from Dutch (wat) and German (was).
Anyways. Stanley just decided to brush the confusion off and work on his latest art project. It was a sculpture, his design was rough and he wasn't too sure if he could accomplish the goal he set on himself, but he had hope.
Hours flew by like seconds, which wasn't surprising, but definitely wasn't welcomed. Stanley heard his front door open, and knew it was Marjorine.
Marjorine was his best friend, by definition, but Stanley always felt that soulmate fit better. Marjorine was his other half, the only person who ever saw him. Marjorine just.. understood Stan in a way no one ever did before. Marjorine didn't like her words, and neither did Stanley. They were the perfect duo.
Marjorine’s words were: “You’re that cute blonde my friend hit on a few days ago! He was right, you are cute.”
Marjorine’s words didn’t make sense to Stanley, mainly because Marjorine rarely ever got hit on, but then again, Soulmate Words weren't supposed to make sense.
Anyways. Marjorine came into Stanley's art room, her face looked warm, her eyes were bright, and her words weren't white anymore. They were pink.
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Oh, yeah, sorry I never explained the words.
Everyone in Stanley's world is born with a set of words their Soulmate first speaks to them when they meet. The words are fragments of conversations and are not supposed to make sense.
Your words start off white, signifying the purity of new starts, new relationships, and the want of your Soulmate.
Then, after you meet, the words turn Pink. Pink signifies the beginning of a true relationship. Pink is the falling in love stage, you and your soulmate are shaky and new to each other, and Pink is supposed to show that you're ready for this.
The next color is Red. Red signifies the unconditional love and acceptance. Admiration, adoration, affection, pure and unfiltered euphoria. This color is normally the color that most words stop at.
But some don't. Some soulmates fall apart.
The last and final color is Black. Black only occurs when your soulmate hates you or when your soulmate is dead. Black signifies the lonely and emptiness of being alone and soulmate-less.
Stanley's words are: "I'm so sorry- I really didn't mean to- wow.. you're really pretty."
Confusing, right?
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Marjorine had met her soulmate. Marjorine explained what happened, who her soulmate is, and how unbelievably astonished she was.
The two talked for hours, all about Marjorine’s soulmate (Kenny, who was the blonde barista at the new cafe Stanley had went to a few days ago, he was nice so Stanley approved) and how cute he was.
After their long and tiring conversation, Marjorine was always so excited to talk to Stan, Stanley finally went to huddle up in his bed and sleep.
But, before that, he sat there and stared at his notebook with a frown. Stanley's brain took a while to work, and that was tiring. He just wanted to organize his thoughts and sleep.
He did, eventually, but afterwards he felt weird. Okay, well not weird. But.. kind of.. empty? Stanley couldn't describe it, which bugged him, but he couldn't just fix that part of his brain.
The feeling still confused him today. It didn't make sense for him to feel empty, but he did. It was a terrible feeling, and Stanley didn't like it.
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Stanley didn't have work today, or tomorrow, or the next day, so he decided to go on a walk. Marjorine & Stan moved to Bozeman, Montana after graduating High School. It was a really pretty town, super clean and normally pretty quiet. The town was absolutely perfect for Stanley.
Stanley was wearing a pair of flared light-wash jeans, a cream color turtle neck, a navy blue zip up over it, and a navy blue pair of converses. It was a pretty normal outfit for him, and it was paired with his favorite gold jewelry and his favorite cream and white backpack.
Stanley was planning on finding a cafe, getting a tea and maybe a pastry, and drawing. He normally drew other people, mainly elders or children since they symbolized the beginning and ending of life.
Stanley was walking down his favorite street. From the street, you could see the green hills (mountains?) and the gorgeous sun. He has about a million sketches of the scene, but he loved each one more than the last.
Stanley supposed he was floating around in his own brain, because the next thing he knows, he's bumping into someone and then there's hot coffee staining his shirt and burning his skin beneath.
Stanley felt his eyes prickle with tears, today? Seriously? But, before any of them could fall, he heard and felt the words he's had memorized for years.
"I'm so sorry- I really didn't mean to-" A pause, a longer than expected pause, "Wow.. you're really pretty." The voice was deep, but it sounded like honey. The man had a slight accent, he was probably born in the south, the voice had a slight rasp as well, he sounded tired.
Stanley forced his blue eyes up to meet dark brown ones. The man in front of him had fiery red hair which was unbelievably curly, but it looked so soft. He had his ears pierced, and he was wearing a few pieces of silver jewelry to match. The man had a green over shirt with a white one underneath. Dark wash jeans and a pair of white air forces. He had an brown over the shoulder bag, and he had an open folder in his left hand, and an (now) empty coffee cup in the other.
Stanley searched for a word to describe what he was feeling, and the only word that came to mind was Awe.
The feeling was subsided, because wow, that coffee was hot.
Stanley felt the tears fall down his face before he muttered the softest, "Ow.." he could muster. Before finally becoming overwhelmed with the feeling of anger.
As tears fell down his face, he looked this beautiful doe eyed stranger in the face and babbled out a loud, "How hot do you need your fucking coffee to be!? That hurt." Stanley basically sobbed out the last part, cause it did hurt.
The man in front of him looked astonished.
"W-what did you just say?" He stuttered out nervously.
"What?" Stanley asked bitterly.
"W-what you just said- those are my-" The man couldn't finish his sentence before he pulled his right sleeve up, and there they both stared at the Pink words. The man's brown eyes met Stanley's again before a pink hue spread across the man’s freckled face. The man's soft red lips curled into a smile, and he started laughing.
The sound calmed Stanley down an extreme amount. And before he knew it, he was giggling himself. "I always wondered why my soulmate was talking about coffee so angrily.. guess I know now." The man said in between laughs.
"I always wondered why my soulmate was apologizing." Stanley said softly.
"I am sorry, y'know. I really didn't mean to. Med school is a lot harder than expected and I guess I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings." The man explained calmly. He sounded so genuine, and the tone made Stanley's face grow warm.
"It's- its okay. I get the stress of school, so it's okay. Plus, you did compliment me, so I think you made up for the coffee stains." Stanley giggled softly as the man's face turned even pinker.
"Uh- I'm Kyle.." Kyle introduced himself softly.
"Stanley, but my friends call me Stan." Stanley introduced himself back, politely.
The two giggled about the situation, Stanley helped Kyle put his weird medical papers back into the empty folder, and then they exchanged numbers.
That night, the only word on his mind was Awe.
Awe: a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.