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Impulse knows his soulmate is still out there somewhere.
It’s hard to believe, sometimes. The wasteland left behind after the three dimensions collided and fused is a dangerous place. He’s seen the bodies; heard things crawling in the shadows. Whole cities burn with the heat of the Nether, not a mile away from pits of pure End void. So many people are dead–even Impulse himself being alive feels like a miracle.
But the same magic that killed the world lets him know that someone is alive; drawn together, inexorable. Impulse remembers the first moment he felt the second heartbeat behind his own–racing double-time, on the run from something. The bite on his ankle from nothing he could see, and the feeling of bandages wrapped around it afterwards.
The survivors figure it out quickly enough. When the worlds merged, so did souls–paired up in sensations, no matter the distance, and a feeling like compass pointing them towards one another. Why, they don't fully understand.
There's a lot they don't understand, these days. They make do.
He knows his name; they’ve taken turns scrawling it on their own skin, pressing gentle fingernails in, and feeling the response. Single words at a time–they can’t say much–but it’s enough.
His name is Bdubs. He’s a builder. He’s short, and in his own words, “damn funny”. (Impulse thinks so, too, so far. He can't wait to hear him laugh for real.)
Impulse describes himself in turn as “stubborn”. He thinks it’s appropriate enough; stubborn enough to live through the end of the world, even when it drops a bastion on his house.
At night, Impulse can feel the shadow of arms wrapped around him. The imprint of warmth pressed against his back.
The ghost of lips across his own.
Impulse knows the name of those arms, too. Etho. An old friend of Bdubs who’s already found his soulmate–Joel–and is traveling with him to find Impulse. To find Bdubs his partner. Protection on the road; three is safer than one.
Impulse knows his jealousy is unhelpful. Of course Bdubs would have friends from before–perhaps even a lover. The soulmate bond ties them together, but it does not isolate them from all others. And the nights are cold; even Impulse finds a small comfort in Etho’s hold, all these miles away.
And yet. Bdubs is his soulmate.
Impulse has never been good at sharing.