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Keith loved stars. As a kid, he had hundreds of those glow-in-the-dark stars plastered above his bed. Countless posters of the planets and distant galaxies covered the walls of his bedroom. He loved space in general, but stars had a special place in his heart. Keith would’ve liked to think it's for their majesty, and etherealness, but he knew it was just because his arms have been covered in them since he was two years old.
His aunt first thought the toddler had gotten into her desk and messily inked himself with a pen. She laughed when she realized the lines were a little too clean for a two year old. Tiny five-point stars, crescent moons, and suns covered his tiny arms. His soulmate must have been a few years older, his aunt deduced, since the sender could write cute misspelled words and sentences like "helo" and "I luv u."
Keith smiled down at his arm, a warmth having spread across his left forearm. Familiar five-points stars freckled his arm. Keith ran his finger across the warm, pale skin of his forearm, appreciating the simple doodles littered across it.
He should have been paying attention to his teacher, Physics was an important class after all. But as his teacher boringly droned on about velocity and acceleration, more stars had burst into life on his earthly body. It was like his skin was a nebula, beautiful clouds of dust and matter where stars were born, and his soulmate’s pen was the tingling energy of the universe.
Keith and his soulmate had never spoken about themselves. All he ever got were the stars and, sometimes, one or two words. And while the stars were exceedingly romantic in Keith’s eyes, he almost resented the mystery behind them. He would settle for just a name. But then he remembered how he himself had never supplied his either.
Keith thought about how easy it would be just to write down his name. Keith, it's simple, he knows how to spell it, he has since he was five. Keith, it wasn't a bad name. They probably wouldn't even care what his name was, they had been telling Keith they loved him since they could write. He wondered what it would be like to hear his soulmate say his name. Keith.
Keith.
Keith.
"Keith!" Keith jolted and looked around with wide eyes. He met Pidge's narrow gaze. Her brow was pulled down in suspicion.
“Oh… sorry.”
"Hmm, I wonder what exactly you could have been thinking about." She reached over and tugged at Keith's arm, smirking when she found the black stars. "You know, I'm sure starmate actually enjoys making you fail your classes."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Keith pulled back his arm and cradled it to his chest, looking offended. "I've only gotten one mark under an A this entire semester."
Pidge snorted and raised one of her brows. "That mark was a B-, you cried for like, two hours, man. You can't tell me it wasn't because starboy had decided to be romantic during the vector direction lecture."
"As much as it hurt my gpa... and my soul... a B- isn't a failing mark." Keith stuck his tongue out at her. "You're just jealous because your soulmate is your brother."
"Keith Kogane!" Pidge gasped theatrically. "Are you implying platonic soulmates are not as valid as romantic ones?" She laughed.
"Not at all, Pidge. Not at all."
"Eh, at least it's handy for reminding each other to get milk or to do our homework." She shrugged and smiled fondly at the thought Matt. "He's coming home for Thanksgiving, you know. Apparently he's bringing home some friend from his astrophysics class."
"Sounds like a blast, have fun." Keith waved his hand in lazy gestures and turned back to pay attention to their teacher.
"Oh, I will. And so will you, since you're coming."
"Wait, what?"
____
"I can't believe I let you drag me to this." Keith was playing with the buttons on his dress-shirt. Nothing fancy, just a red button up, but he twitched under the ironed collar.
"I can't believe my parents forced me to wear a dress." Pidge sat on her bed. Her nose was turned up as she picked lint away from her green skirt. "You're lucky those jeans look like dress pants."
"It's the black. Tricks the eye." Keith lifted his leg of the floor to eye his pants. "Hear from Matt yet?"
"Uh, yeah. He texted saying he was fifteen minutes out." Pidge said, tapping away on her phone screen. Keith grunted in response. He absent-mindedly tapped on his arm.
"Starboy wish you a happy Thanksgiving?" Pidge asked.
"No," Keith said. "Didn't even get the usual today."
"Maybe he's busy."
"Maybe..." Keith furrowed his brows then, wondering why he never questioned Pidge's teasing. "Why do you think my soulmate's a boy?"
"What?" Pidge looked confused.
"You call them ‘starboy’ all the time. Why do you think they're a dude?"
"Oh! I dunno... the writing? It's a bit messy for a girl." She waved her hand around a little. "I'm shocked you two still haven't tried to find each other. Lance and Hunk found each other within the first week of ninth grade."
Keith looked up at the ceiling. Pidge was right. It was a little bizarre that he and his soulmate had never tried to find each other. Most soulmates nowadays were too impatient to wait for their “fated” meeting. Choosing instead to set up dates by telling one another to meet somewhere.
Most nights, when his arm became warm with the words I love you, Keith would daydream about meeting his partner. What they would look like, how they would sound. But those surface things paled in comparison to what Keith truly wanted to know about his soulmate. Were they kind? Did they have a good heart? Were they just as in love with stars as Keith? He figured they had to be.
"Kathleen! Keith!" Pidge and Keith both looked at her closed bedroom door. Pidge groaned.
"Ha, Kathleen." Keith snorted and pushed off from the carpet.
"Shut it, Kogane." Pidge rolled her eyes. "Come on, supper's ready."
Keith followed Pidge out of her room and they clamoured down the stairs together. Keith’s nose twitched at the warm smells wafting from the kitchen. Hardy spices and savoury aromas made his mouth water. It had been a long time since Keith had gotten to enjoy the full thanksgiving experience. His aunt’s passing left him without the warmth of family. He was lucky he had Pidge, and her family, who welcomed him full-heartedly. Pidge's mom was pulling the turkey out of the oven when they reached the tiny kitchen. "You two can set the table!" She smiled at the two of them. "You can use the nice plates, Katie."
"You got it, Mom." Keith arched his brow as Pidge saluted her mom with two fingers and skipped over to a cabinet to pull out pristine, white plates. "Grab the cutlery, loser," she said to Keith as she walked past and bumped their hips.
Keith was placing the last knife down onto the table when the sound of the front door opening rang through the house. Pidge looked up, her face plastered with a small look of hope, and ran out the dining room. Keith laughed at the loud Matty! and the characteristic grunt that came from the main hallway. He stepped into the hallway off of the dining room and leaned against the wall, smirking at the scene in front of him.
Pidge dangled off of Matt's neck, pressing her face into his shoulder. Matt struggled to put down his suitcase as he wrapped an arm around Pidge's shoulders. "Well, hello to you too, sis." He laughed.
Pidge dropped to her feet and excitedly started telling Matt anything and everything he missed while he was away. It was mostly about her physics grades. Keith's smirk turned into a soft smile at the two of them.
Their parents found out they were soulmates when Pidge was two. Matt had been playing with paint that day, and the parents both laughed when they found the same splotches of green paint along both Matt and Pidge's tiny arms.
Keith had always been slightly jealous of them. A little because Pidge was lucky enough to have a soul bond with her brother. Platonic soulmates had been documented to be the closest type of soul bond, and even stronger between family. But Keith was mainly jealous of the two of them because they found each other so early. He was the last of his friends to find their soulmate.
A warm chuckle came from behind Matt, then. Keith's eyes flicked back to the door as he watched who must have been Matt's friend step into the house. Keith choked on his tongue a little. He was handsome. Tall, wide-shouldered, a strong jawline.
Keith watched as Matt's handsome friend plopped down his travel bag and slung his arm over Matt's shoulders. He offered his free hand to Pidge. Pidge arched her brow and took the stranger's hand to shake.
"You must be Pidge." His voice was as warm as his laugh. "I'm Shiro. Your brother talks about you a lot. I hear you're into physics."
Pidge laughed. "Ah, well, you know... I find it interesting." Keith laughed loudly at this and walked over to elbow Pidge's side.
"You find it interesting," Keith said, sarcastically. He looked up at Shiro, "She's top of our class."
"Technically you are, Keith." Pidge shook her head.
Matt smirked at the two of them, then lightly jabbed at Keith's arm. "Long time no see, kid." He turned to Shiro then, "Shiro, this is Keith, Pidge's resident best friend."
Shiro smiled and stuck out his hand to Keith. Big hands, Keith thought, looking at this stranger's hand. He politely took Shiro's (big) hand to shake it firmly. “Nice to meet you, Keith,” he said, meeting Keith’s eyes. They dropped their hands, but Keith’s brow twitched when he noticed Shiro holding their eye contact. Gray.
“Is that my Matthew?” Pidge and Matt’s mom called, breaking Shiro’s gaze.
“Hey, Mom!”
____
They sat around the table as Mrs. Holt placed down a porcelain gravy-boat and sat down herself. She clapped her hands happily and gestured to the food. “Dig in, everyone!”
Pidge bumped her elbows with Keith as she careened forward to grab a brown bun that sat under the whole stack, Matt cursing as his own hand grabbed empty air. “Dad. That’s totally not fair, I’m the one who hasn’t been home in months, I should get that one.”
Mr. Holt just rolled his eyes. “There are other ones just as warm.”
“But the bottom’s the best…” Matt mumbled as he grabbed another bun he deemed warm enough. Pidge smiled smugly at him and spread a dollop of butter onto her bun, which was hot enough to instantly melt it.
“So, Matt, Shiro, what do you think of Astrophysics 251?” Mr. Holt looked excitedly at his son and his friend as he cut into his turkey. Keith looked up from his plate, the words ‘astro’ and ‘physics’ peaking his interest. Keith knew it would be a course he’d be taking when he and Pidge were in their second years, it was also one of the courses Pidge’s dad helped create.
“It’s great.” Shiro had placed his utensils down, ready to use his hands to help himself talk. Keith fingers twitch a little at the older boy’s enthusiasm in responding to Mr. Holt. “You know, I really did enjoy 161, but I really like how this course focuses more on the inter-solar system aspect of our galaxy. We just go so much farther into the universe in this course.” Shiro answered in earnest. Keith watched how his eyes almost sparkled at the thought of other star systems.
“Well, that’s great. The course was definitely meant to spark interest in interstellar space.” Mr. Holt laughed, nodding his head.
“Spark an interest…” Matt said around a mouthful of perogies. “This kid wants to be an astronaut.” He poked Shiro’s bicep with the end of his fork.
“An astronaut, huh?” Mr. Holt’s own interest peaked, his tone more inquisitive than his last question. “That’s a lot of work.”
Shiro nodded his head, a light pink blush dancing on his cheeks. Keith was enamored by the colour. “I want to touch the stars, someday. It’s funny, my mom used to read me stories about people that could touch the stars. I definitely thought I could too, but that was before I learnt stars are big balls of fire and fusion.” Everyone around the table laughed, including Keith. He understood what Shiro meant though. To touch the stars far from their own was a dream he shared.
____
“So, Shiro.” Pidge’s mom turned to Shiro, her eyes devious. “Do you have anyone… special in your life?”
Keith perked up at this. The man would no doubt have found his soulmate, he was in college after all. And even if he hadn’t, he was certainly handsome enough to have some sort of partner.
“Oh, if you’re talking about a soulmate, no, I haven’t found mine yet.” Shiro scratched at his neck. Keith looked up from his plate, his mouth stopped chewing. That was… surprising. This Shiro seemed like the type of guy to be quite the heartthrob. Keith was surprised to find that may not have been the case. Shiro’s awkward delivery and gesture spoke to a much more humble person.
“Really? Have you tried to find them?” Pidge’s mom asked.
Shiro laughed. “No. I come from a pretty traditional family. My parents want me to wait to find them naturally as much as I do.” Everyone around the table nodded. The concept wasn’t foreign, just old-fashioned. Keith appreciated Shiro’s honesty. It was rare for someone their age to choose to wait, and most thought of those who did wait as ridiculous.
“That’s okay, Keith hasn’t found his either.” Pidge declared, unaware of Keith looking down at his potatoes with a burning face. “But his soulmate is super cute. He draws stars and shit on Keith all the time.”
“Pidge!” Keith cried, sending a decent punch into her arm.
“Stars?” Shiro had his brow pulled down, looking almost offended. His eyes wide with confusion.
“Yeah, man. Totally distracts him during class.” Pidge’s words didn’t seem to have any effect on Shiro, his gaze now on Keith’s red face and not daring to move away. Keith placed his hands on the tables edge, like he was ready to push away from the table at any moment.
“Mrs. Holt? Do you have a pen?” Shiro asked, his eyes now inspecting Keith’s arms. Keith caught on then, to what Shiro was thinking. But, there was no way. There’s no way. He dug his fingers into the tablecloth.
“Oh! Yes, dear, one moment.” Mrs. Holt stood from the table and dug into the top drawer of a wall-runner at the side of the room. She pulled a sharpie out and tested it on the back of her hand, the black ink appearing on both her and Mr. Holt’s hands. “Here you are, dear.”
Shiro mumbled a thanks and let the sharpie hover over his skin as he met Keith’s eyes again. Keith gulped for air, waiting for that familiar heat to hit his hand. But there was no way, right? It couldn’t be that easy, Keith didn’t believe it to be. But then Shiro let the marker rest on his hand, dragging it in the familiar pattern of a five-point star, and Keith’s hand tingled with warmth. A black, five-point star faded into view on his hand. Pidge gasped, Mrs. Holt let out a high-pitched squeal, Matt uttered an indifferent huh, and Keith’s breath hitched. He made a slight choking noise, then looked up to meet the grey eyes of this boy, who was his soulmate. Shiro’s eyes looked dreamy, a small smile playing at his lips. “Hi,” he breathed.
“Hey.” Keith let himself smile back at Shiro. He was… shocked, and happy, and confused, and… Keith really liked the idea of this man being his soulmate. His handsome jawline and ambitious personality had Keith’s heart forgetting to beat. But it wasn’t just his looks or the enthusiasm he bled. Keith could see himself falling in love with this man who certainly loved the stars as much as him.
____
“So…” Keith stood on the Holt’s door step. Shiro, his… soulmate, stood in front of him on a lower step. Even though he was on lower ground he still stole an inch or two over Keith’s head. Cold air nipped at their noses and cheeks and Keith reasoned that was why his face was red and not the man standing a foot away.
“So…” Shiro echoed, his fingers tapping each other before he decided to be bold and reach for Keith’s hand. Keith let him take it. Shiro’s nearly enveloped Keith’s completely, the size difference almost startled him. He searched Shiro’s face for some sort of answer as to what he should do next. Shiro chuckled a little at Keith’s wandering eyes and slowly twined their fingers together. “I distract you in class, huh?”
“Only during important lectures,” Keith deadpanned, but his fingers playing with Shiro’s lead on that he was joking.
Shiro let a wolfish grin cross his face. “I’ve been told I’m quite the attention-grabber.” He ran his thumb along the lines of the star on Keith's hand.
“Like in the middle of the night when…” Keith trailed off, his face infinitely red, unable to finish his statement. Shiro’s face light up with realisation, anyhow, a blush much deeper than Keith’s heating his face.
“Well… I mean,” Shiro gulped, before deciding to be brave. Keith appreciated it. “I always knew I’d end up loving you, no matter who you were. It might take a bit, since we don’t really know each other yet… but someday…”
Keith nodded, understanding what Shiro had meant. He squeezed Shiro’s fingers lightly. “Well, we seem like a good match. I think we both love the stars too fondly.”
Shiro’s smile lit up his face. Keith decided that even if he didn’t touch the stars beyond his own solar system, he now had his own star, one much closer and brighter than any other.