Chapter Text
This was it. It was real. He could feel it.
Keith stared down at the brown sun-shaped mark on the inside of his bicep. He ran his fingers over the delicate spot for the thousandth time that day and he felt goosebumps prickle the skin of his shirtless body as he stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
He didn’t know when it had finally happened, he just knew that he knew. He’d found his soulmate.
Since he was born, Keith had a soulmark. A indication, a constant annoyance and a tiny flare of hope, telling him that there was someone out there waiting for him in the universe. A promise that if he stayed alive and awake, eventually he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
Keith sighed as he removed the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower. Dried blood washed away from his bruised body though thankfully, most of it wasn’t his own. Another successful strike against the Galra empire led them one step closer to a free universe. Each battle was a life or death risk and yet somehow Keith couldn’t see himself doing anything else. His world had meaning now. And he had Lance.
It was rough, at first, especially with both of their competitive nature getting in the way, but somehow it made them both better. The desire to one-up each other made them train harder, push further, and take on more work. In the end, after all the episodes of petty bickering and slowly getting to know one another, they stopped pushing against one another, and started pushing for each other. And they were better off for it.
As Keith mindlessly washed away the day’s sweat and grime and blood, lathered suds floating down his arm, sliding over the purple-brown sun on his bicep, he knew he would have to take the risk and approach Lance.
You see, there was a catch. You could never talk about it. If you tried to mention your soulmark to the wrong person, the spell would be broken. You might lose whatever chance at happiness you had if you just threw yourself out into the world chasing after anyone you thought you might like. No. It had to happen naturally. Slowly. And in time, you would just know.
And Keith knew, now. After so much time, he just knew.