Chapter Text
Eddie was eight-years-old, when the drawings first appeared. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a homework packet in front of him. Folded with two staples at the top of the page. A math assignment lays open in front of him questions half answered. They were small and bland in simple black ink. Nothing more than little swirls and squiggle lines, and a little further up his arm a simple game of tic-tac-toe. The game seemed one-sided, only x’s appearing in the uneven squares and apparently losing. He quickly shot up in excitement rushing toward his mother, pulling lightly on her skirt. “Mama! Mama, look!” He waves his arm eagerly.
His mother quickly looks down at her son, her eyes trying to track the frantic limb. “Eddie, I can’t see anything with you moving around like that.” She reaches out, grabbing his arm. She quickly glanced at his arm only finding smudge lines. “What’s these smudges on your arm?” Confused Eddie looks at his arm. The once lined art was now gone. Replaced with smudged ink and faded drawings. “Well, there were some drawings but now they're gone.” His mother lets go of his arm “Have you been doodling on your arm, I thought I told you to finish your math work”
Eddie shakes his head, “No! If they just appeared on my arm, it was filled with weird lines, a flower, and a game of tic-tac-toe. But now they're gone.” Helen’s once disgruntled face shifted to an expression of pure joy. “Oh Eddie! This is great, that means your soulmate is reaching out to you!” Eddie stared at his arm, saddened with the new information those drawings were gone, sure they were kind weird and boring, but they were from his soulmate. So they were special, at least to him there were. Maybe his soulmate didn’t like them and wanted to draw something different, maybe they wanted to add some colors next time.
He was pulled from his thoughts when his mom pressed a cheerful kiss to his forehead, “We have to tell everyone, my little Edmundo has a soulmate!” She guides him back to the table, motion for him to continue homework. She then reaches for the house phone on the counter behind him. She quickly scrolls through the contacts, and starts calling the first family member's name she saw.
Eddie drowns his mother out, staring at his arm. The drawings are almost completely gone now, the only traces of them were the faint lines that stained his skin. What if…what if he draws something back, would he get in trouble, would his soulmate try to wash his message away, would he respond or just ignore him. What if he gets in trouble? Like his sister did, he remembered his mom scolding Sophia, when she came home with an arm colored with pink and blue flowers. But he wouldn’t fill his arms, like his sister and he doesn’t have to draw anything too big to be noticed.
He decided he’ll draw a small picture, but of what he’s not very artistic but he can practice. He turned back to his homework packet, going to the bottom of the page and started drawing on the big left over space. After a few poorly drawn doodles he settled on a drawing of the sun, it was the best out of the others. Opening his pencil case and pulling out a blue marker. It should be fine to use right? It said it was washable so he won’t get into trouble because it won’t stain. He found a spot on the inside of his left arm –near the center, but still close to his wrist– and started drawing. Starting with a small uneven circle, coloring it in to make it stand out, then drawing six small lines around it.
He leans back admiring his work. It looked better than he thought it would, but something was missing? He couldn’t figure what it was, and the longer he looked the longer he felt stumped. Then it came to him, he quickly switched the blue marker with a red one. He uncaps it before drawing several small stars around the sun, they were wonky and some points were longer than others but to him. It was perfect.
Finally satisfied with how grabbed his pencil and continued with his homework. Smiling even though he hated math, and his mom was still squealing in the background he felt peaceful.
After he finished his homework, and cleaned the table he felt a cold tingle in his right arm. He quickly brought his arm to eye level, seeing a new drawing this time it had color. It was small –about the size of a quarter, maybe slightly bigger– but it shimmers brightly, like it was freshly drawn. The drawing ink was slightly brighter than his markers, but were the same colors. The blue sun on his left arm was now mirrored with a blue crescent moon, and the red stars replaced with loopy clouds. It was squiggly and uneven just like his, but it was also the perfect contrast to his.
Thin pen lines compared to his thick marker strokes, and while theirs is just an outline of the night sky his is colored in making it seem bulky they match in some bizarre way. His smile widened; he didn't think he'd get a response so soon, let alone this late at night. But he was glad he did and glad he was awake to see it freshly marked. “What’s that?” Except his happiness is short lived; as Sophia’s pitched voice blared in his ear, a freshly painted hand reaches out and grabs his arm. “Mom! Eddie’s drawing on his arm!” Before he even gets a chance to explain his sister is quick to tell their mom about the drawings.
This is it; he was going to get yelled at by his mom and be forced to wash off the drawings. “Oh? And what did he draw?” His mom turns her attention to his newly inked arm, she eyes them before smiling “They look nice and it she like your soulmate agrees, hm? Now you both go wash up dinners ready.” “What! The last time I drew on myself I was lectured for an hour and got grounded for two weeks!” Helen huffed. “Sophia, please this is different. Eddie is drawing for his soulmate, you were drawing because you didn’t want to pay attention in class.” Before Sophia can even open her mouth Helen waves them off.
And that was that, everything was good. He didn’t get in trouble, no yelling, no punishment. Apart from that he was also confused, why was he brushed off but his sister didn't? That was kind of unfair. What if she was also drawing for her soulmate and got carried away. And she has good grades, way better then his so he doubts she was really distracted in class. Maybe he should bring it up sometime soon.
Except he doesn’t bring it up for a long while. Not because he didn’t care but because he was seen as ‘too young’ to understand adult stuff. So he waits for when he’s older and can be treated more seriously. But until then he’ll just listen and wait.
He gets ready for bed being as careful as he can to not mess up any of the drawings. He brushes his teeth, changes into his pajamas, says a quick prayer, and climbs into bed. As he drifts off he dreams of a beautiful man with ocean blue eyes, blonde curls, and a pink mark just above their left eye.
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Evan was nine-years-old when he first drew on right arm. It wasn’t anything special, just random swirls, random lines, and a stupid game of tic-tac-toe – that he didn’t lose, shut up! – it was something to pass the time. Time he had a lot of that especially now that Maddie spent more time talking to her new boyfriend. She still helps with his homework and does play with him when she can, but she is still a teen and sometimes they want their own space. So here he was sitting in bed waiting for his parents to call them down for dinner.
As time passed painstakingly slow for the young boy, before his sister knocked on his door to call him for dinner. He slowly walks down the stairs being careful so as to not have another accident. He makes his way to the dining table and he can see a disappointed look in their eye. “Evan what is that stuff on your arm?” His mother asked, her disdain clear. Her eyes were glued to his arm, a strained expression followed as she got a better look. “Is that pen? Now why would you do something like that Evan? It's probably gonna stain. Go wash that off now.” She dismissed him with a pointed look turning her back on him.
That was it, like always. He would do something that his parents disapproved of and was left alone for Maddie to fix the problem. But he didn’t want to make his mom even more upset so he reluctantly walked to the bathroom. He scrubs, and scrubs, and scrubs but there were still faint black lines where his drawings once were. And even though they were made out of boredom, they were still nice.
A little piece of his unique art skills visualized in a unique way were somewhere other than a cabinet. But like all his drawings they were shoved away, hidden from any and everyone. He just needs to practice, that's it! Maybe if he practices and his art gets better his parents will finally put it on the fridge, like his friend's parents do with their art.
Evan dries his hands, staring at the faint lines feeling a new sadness he never felt before. It was like he could see the drawings through someone else's eyes, viewing it on someone else's skin. But he ignores it, pulls down his sweater sleeves and walks back to the dining room. Taking his seat next to his sister, and started eating. The meal was like all the other meals his mother cooks.
Bland, boring, and flavorless it like there is something missing he just doesn’t know what. But what else is there really his mother makes the same few meals all different but taste the same. Today is a mushy tuna casserole, tomorrow would be some kind of pasta, the next day some kind of soup, same old same old. He wished for a little excitement, but it will never happen.
Until today, apparently! It was faint at first, a cold wet feeling something he never felt. It felt like a paint brush on his skin, pressing gently in his upper forearm. Drawing some unseen picture covered by his sleeve. He tries to ignore it and for a few seconds it does, no drawing, no cold brush. Then the sensation returned this time quicker and in random spots. He looks back at his wrist, wondering what would be there and wondering who put it there.
He discreetly moves his arm under the table, glancing around the table so see if anyone noticed. Glad, for once, that his parents weren’t paying him any attention. He slowly rolls up his sleeve, only rolling it up his forearm halfway, The he sees is a small drawing of a light blue sun surrounded by smaller red stars. It was kinda sloppy but it was pretty now less, but who drew it and how did it appear on him?
He knew not to ask his parents; he knows they’ll just make him get rid of it. So he waits, after dinner and clean up he knocks on Maddie’s door, waiting for her to allow him inside. Maddie was sitting at her vanity finishing up her night time routine as she watched her little brother walk up to her, arm held out. She reaches for her mini first-aid kit assuming she was hurt, only to see a little drawing instead. “Aww Evan, did you draw that it looks so pretty!” Her voice a happy whisper as she gently grabs ahold of his arm, moving slightly to get a clearer view. Evan shook his head “No, I didn’t draw it. It just appeared during dinner, do you know where it came from?”
“Well, the only way it could have appeared must mean that your soulmate drew it.” A soulmate? He remembers hearing about it during class, mainly in passing with mild whispers from girls in his class. “What’s a soulmate?” His sister quickly locks eyes with him, silently thinking of a simple reason to explain it. “Well a soulmate is a special type of person. They were made just for you in a way, they’re a person who loves you no matter what, they’re like a best friend but better. Everyone has one and when we draw on your arms it appears on them, and the same happens when they draw on their arms.”
He stands there and ponders her explanation, he then gazes at her arms but there blank, “If everyone has a soulmate then how come your arms are blank?” She shrugged “I just haven’t felt the need to, I mean I have Doug now so there’s no point in trying to find them. After all, some people choose to be with someone else, and that's fine too if that's what you choose.” She ruffles his hair, but the boy just stands there stuck, staring at the drawing. If a soulmate is a perfect match, why choose someone else?
Maybe he should look more into that later, because right now he wants to draw something for his soulmate. “Do you have any blue and red pens? I want to draw something back.” Maddie wordlessly reaches for her backpack, digging through her small front pouch pulling out multiple blue pens and her only red pen. She holds them out for the boy to watch as he tries to find the right shade to use. He settled for a blue click pen, he liked the sound it made and the little penguin that sat on it.
He thinks for a moment before drawing a crescent, he slowly moves the pen to try to make the lines as neat as possible; when he finishes he looks at the drawing proud of how it turned out. He then reaches for the red pen, there was nothing special about except the small cat sticker Maddie added. He uncaps the pen and starts drawing several small clouds around the moon.
Finished with the drawing he recaps the pen, and looks back at his arm before proudly showing Maddie. “That looks great Evan, I’m sure your soulmate is gonna love it!” He beams at her praise, looking back at the drawing light running his finger tips over it being careful not to smudge it. “Yeah, I think so too.” He quietly thanks his sister and heads back to his room. He lays down, slowly drifting off to sleep dreaming of a pretty man with honey brown eyes, beautiful dimples and a beauty mark just under his left eye.