Chapter Text
Unexpected Red String
In order not to freak out about what he’s just noticed starting to happen he begins thinking hard about what he knows about the science of soul mates. For starters its an accepted fact that the red string of fate or rather the glowing discharge of red electricity folks call the red string of fate can only be seen by the folks affected and they don’t have to deal with it until both of them can see it. So far it looks like his new Soul Mate hasn’t noticed yet which is probably for the best since they just saved the world and Captain America is busy giving an inspiring speech to the press not noticing his right wrist is now connected to his. Also most folks had more than one potential soul mate but they wouldn't show up if either person was happy in a relationship unless it was with the person you were in a relationship with though it not showing up was often seen as a sign of trouble. Of course he’d been mostly single since his last soul mate died and the one person he thought might change that had left. He sighed to himself and turned his thoughts to Steve well Steve never talked about his past and any soul mates he may or may not have had.
The problem was unless things changed sooner or later Steve would notice and then they’d face the choice. A soul mate connection would fade in time but it took a long time far easier for most folks to just cut it by having a one night stand to satisfy the connection and then walking away from each other. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done that before when he and Harry had the red string show up just after their sixteenth birthdays. Harry had been adamant that they had to get rid of it quickly since rumor had it someone was working on a way for folks to detect them and Harry couldn’t face his dad having a male for his first soul mate.
So after their fumbling romp in his room they had never talked about it again and he’d been a bit hurt but in time he’d gotten over it. He’d had other soul mates who came and went after that until Gwen after she’d finally warmed up to him and stopped disliking him the string had appeared and that had been the first real relationship that felt like the classic myth about Soul Mates that maybe it was more than just some weird marker of attraction and compatibility that it could actually mean something.
Then she’d died and he’d been alone until Mary Jane, He’d loved her and he’d thought he and Mary Jane could have been heading toward a string but then she’d landed a role out on the West Coast and left to live her dreams of stardom. He saw it then the moment Captain America spotted the string connected to his wrist and resigned himself to an awkward moment when he saw him but to his surprise Steve just kept giving the interview without even looking around. He wasn’t sure how to take that.
Later once they were done with the press and busy helping with the clean up he noticed Steve watching him so he gave a little wave of his hand as a joke and saw Steve smile slightly not the formal Captain America smile but instead the friendly Steve in civies smile they didn’t see too often. It made him a little less apprehensive about their upcoming talk.