TW: Soulmate!AU references prostitution and sex, but nothing is graphic.

Title:~Words Like Violence~

When Will woke up on the morning of his eighteenth birthday, the insides of his wrists were painted blood red. Not a word in sight, just angry red slashes across his blue veins. That was normal, kind of. Sometimes the word wasn’t visible until later, becoming more distinct over time, particularly if it was going to be a common phrase, the first word one’s intended spoke. Otherwise Jacks and Jills would always be fawning over the wrong person when it turned out their word was “Hello” or “Sorry.” The letters sometimes came when the time was right, black ink swirling and twirling while one slept, spelling out the sweet or acidic words of the other person sure to be one’s salvation or demise.

But not the red, never in red.

By the time he was twenty-four, Will had sort of accepted his lot in life. Got a good job, a great job. Climbed the ranks quickly, his red slashes might have actually helped with that. If he wasn’t destined for anyone, wasn’t it just great that he could devote all his time to work and toil. Yeah, great.

He didn’t hide them, choosing instead to wear his slashes as a badge of honor, shirt cuffs rolled up to the elbow more days than not. His fingers typed away at his PDA even while enjoying expensive dinners in romantically lit restaurants. From the outside it looked like Will worked through his loneliness, but the more nuanced answer was that he had forgotten entirely how to be lonely. He was dull, maybe, but no longer lonely.

Silly children, they were, staring at their wrists for the answer to some great life question. “Who am I meant to be with?” But now Will knew better, he knew that instead of words one might see red slash marks, bright and beautiful and destined to be something else. And that was fine, just fine. Bigger things, better things. A senior Vice President by twenty-six. Never would have been possible with a spouse, with a trivial thing like romance.

There were others, he learned over time, who had no marks at all, not even a violent slash of red. They bought and sold sex and intimacy, rarely both at the same time, though. Pick your poison.

Preferable in Will’s eyes were those who sold their bodies over those who sold lies. Though his wrists were marked, if only in a bastardized way, Will chose to throw his lot in with the unmarred.

Lomadia sold herself with her naked wrists and long, fine hair. Will very much liked how it felt sliding between his fingers. Early in their arrangement, he made her promise never to lie to him, if she thought him disgusting, that was quite fine, her prerogative. His steady visits and subsequent payments put her under no obligation to like him. Always cool and professional at first, Will considered it an achievement that, even if she may hate him, her skin would sometimes goose flesh under his fingers. Because he trusted her not to lie, because he gave her no motivation to lie, he could believe that as she came undone around his fingers it was wholly sincere. Couldn’t make Lomadia like him, could make her come for him.

Finished up the loose ends for a large project, sure to increase earnings, but more importantly, visibility. On the way to his appointment, he bought Lomadia flowers, on a whim. Not because it was romantic, but because she liked big, red blossoms. Will was a successful man, and had few obligations. So if his favored escort liked red flowers, he would buy her red flowers. Wasn’t all that extravagant.

They looked rather huge in his hands, spilling out over the confines of the fine tissue paper they were wrapped in with both color and scent. Looked more extravagant than they really were.

Will took the stairs two at a time up to Lom’s flat. As he headed up, another tall, lanky figure was headed down. Carelessly, the rush of flesh and bones and black hair crashed into him full force. Idiot wasn’t looking where he was going.

Will tumbled backwards, twisting his ankle and hitting the back of his head against the landing. He groaned and the idiot, who had landed gracelessly on top of him, screamed. It was a shout of surprise, rather than pain or fear or anger. Despite seeming oddly oversized, the stranger’s body was light against his. Once the shouting and mutual cursing at each other stopped, the stranger started laughing.

The flowers were crushed between their bodies and Will began cursing anew. Crisp petals snapped, pressed, and faded. Fair enough, it was too silly a gesture in the first place. Lomadia could buy her own flowers with the large bills he left behind with each visit.

"Sorry, friend," the stranger said. "Going up?"

"I was." The question seemed far too personal. It was an insinuation about the activities that happened behind these walls.

"Me too, I mean, I just finished."

That wasn’t what Will wanted to hear. Why the fuck was this guy even talking? Were they going to exchange notes on their choice of prostitutes? Will was fairly sure this was breaking etiquette, but the stranger with dark hair and dark eyes stayed on top of him, breathing heavily and asking silly questions. Strange eyes, brown, but something else too, something behind the brown. Will was staring too long. He was contributing to the weirdness.

"Are you going to get off of me?"

"Right, right." The stranger clamored up and offered his hand to Will. "Parvis!"

Will didn’t think it right to offer his name but accepted the hand. “Okay.”

"Wait, you too?" Instead of releasing Will’s hand, Parvis held on, lifting the blond’s wrist so it was visible. "Me too, I’ve never seen…another one with a color."

Will swallowed hard. “What?” He already had some idea.

Parvis finally dropped his hand and rolled up his shirt sleeve. Across his wrist, a heavy green slash, thick and unnatural against Parvis’ skin. The brunet looked at his own hand with a puzzled expression. “It normally doesn’t look like this. I mean, it does, but not this bright it looks like…” He scrunched his face and held his hand sort of awkwardly beside Will’s face. The longer he looked the wider his eyes got. “It matches your eyes.”

Will was about to tell him to fuck off, but looked at his own wrist instead. Whereas Parvis claimed his mark was brighter, Will’s had grown darker, moving from blood red to a deep brown, the tinge of red still behind it.

No fucking way.

~~~

TW: Very angst, blood and death.

Title: ~Losing You~

I was working on nothing to be honest, just milling around tending to wires and moving awkwardly placed machines into more convenient slots.

Then Nilsey appeared from nowhere calling my name desperately. When he located me, his facial expression was a mix of fear, guilt and as if he had lost hope. He took a second to catch his breath before telling me why he was here.

“Xephos I… You need to come with me, Lomadia and I… In the twilight forest… about to leave… wolves attacked… manged t-to kill them… Lomadia… side bitten… I thought it was nothing but…. got home and she collapsed… bleeding and… you need to come now. Strife is… trying to help…”
I didn’t realise at the time the extent of your injuries, and I honestly believed that Nilsey had simply overreacted, but I followed him regardless. I wanted to make sure you were ok.

We arrived were you used to spend everyday, delving into your magic at which you were a natural. It was beautiful home, as it always was. But the place seemed to be in mourning. The owls who are now long gone lay on the ground twitching surrounded by dogs who were whimpering. I realised too late the true situation you were in and darted towards and through the door.

Strife was there tending to your wounds. Most were minor and looked like nothing but that one… is an image I can never forget. Your side had a large chunk missing, blood soaked ypur clothes and had pooled around you. Your skin was white and soaked bandages lay tossed aside. Strife leaned back and sighed he turned to Nilsey and myself and said:

“That’s the fourth lot of bandages she’s gone through and they’ve done nothing. Her pulse is slowing down and her breathing is quieter and less frequent, there’s nothing more I can do. I’m sorry but, she dying.” I tried to deny what he was saying, or at least make a sound, but there was nothing… I was going to lose you. Nilsey had accepted your fate and sat down beside you.

“I’ll take cake of all the pets I promise, I look after the farm and the cat train will go on forever I swear.” He leaned in and pecked you on the forehead. You two loved each other like siblings and now, Nilsey was losing his sister. I leant down in front of you forcing myself not to cry. I picked you up in my arms and held you close. Your blood almost immediately started to stain my shirt, but I didn’t care. You moved your head to look at me. I could no longer take it and broke down into tears. You lifted your hand to face and gently stroked my cheek with your thumb I could feel you growing cold. I cry harder but you simply brush away my tears with a finger and smiled sadly. You open your mouth and I lean in to hear and you whisper: 

“I’m sorry I’m leaving you this soon, forgive me. But please be happy for me and love others the way you loved myself. Take care of Nilsey like Honeydew as you always have. I’ll miss you sweetheart, goodbye my spaceman.” Your voice wavers and you let out your final breath. Your eyes close and… You’re gone. I cry, just… cry rocking your body back and forth in regret. Regretting all the things I never said to you. The things we never did together. All the minor things I forgot, I don’t want to forget anymore, I don’t want to forget you.

"Lomadia, please… come back to me."