Virgil had just turned 22 which meant despite the stable job he had in his village, he was required to go on a quest to find his soulmate. He didn't want to uproot the life that he had to go on a quest to find a soulmate that he wasn't even sure he had. He had already rebuilt his life after his parents kicked him out, deciding that he was the reason that their relationship was failing. Virgil had fought his way through life and he was completely comfortable. He didn't need a soulmate. He had never seen the gentle colored smoke that was supposed to follow a person's soulmate. He had never known what people meant about how the smoke grew in thickness until it wrapped its way around the person you were fated to be with, and he didn't care. He enjoyed his life with his cat and his little home, but societal 'laws' meant he had to go out and find his soulmate. The village was already beginning to ostracize him and this birthday had really been the last straw.

His boss, the closest thing he had to a parent, had bought him a cake from the local bakery, and a traveling backpack, then he told Virgil he wouldn't have a job in the morning. Customers were beginning to come less frequently because he was employing a young adult without a soulmate. It wouldn't help either of them for him to stay. Virgil wasn't being given a choice anymore. No one in his town would hire him and Virgil knew that his best option was to move. Maybe he could find another town, or village to move too. He didn't want to live in a large town or city where the busy life could overwhelm him, and he was certain that other villages would probably be just as strict about hiring people who didn't have soulmates. He might have no other choice.

Surprisingly, selling off what little furniture he had was easy. People were more than happy to buy off his furniture knowing that the money would go to his travels to find his soulmate, and that was probably the only good part of the whole ordeal. It had made the process of getting rid of his life in this town much easier. Now all that was left was him and his cat with pitch black fur. With a sigh, Virgil pulled at the straps of his travel bag and began to walk out of his house. There was a merchant cart leaving for the next town over, he had been told he could catch a ride. "Alright Sunshine, let's go."

Virgil ended up traveling to a few cities and villages, learning to lay low and conserve his money to make it last. The longer it went on the more he thought about other alternatives. Sure it would be nice to have a perfect someone but what if he screwed it up? There were a lot of other thoughts that went through his head but everything came to a screeching halt when he finally saw it, the mists. Something was wrong though, everyone said the mists were one color, but he saw two, a beautiful intertwining of light blue and yellow, it reminded him of the sky and Virgil's heart skipped a beat for a moment.

He followed the path of the smoke, watching as it got thicker. Two colors, what could that mean? What if he had already messed it up? He looked into the window of the small cafe and saw two men smiling and holding hands, one of them with big round glasses that were almost as big as his bright blue eyes. Two people, and Virgil knew he was meant to be alone. He could always just move onto the next town, tell them he had lost his soulmate young. He wouldn't be able to get a great job, but it would at least be something.

Rubbing the back of his head before scratching Sunshine's ears, Virgil sighed. "Looks like it's just you and I sunshine, but I'm fine with that." They two walked off, looking for a place to take shelter for the night. He didn't have a lot of money left, and it would probably be best to save what he could for a ride tomorrow and a place to clean off when he reached the next city. He could probably find a decent enough place on the streets to stay tonight. In fact he had gotten pretty good at finding hidden alley ways to hide in and it was still early summer, so it was comfortable enough outside to sleep at night.

Virgil found a place far enough away from the cafe and curled up. He hadn't seen the mist in this area so those two probably didn't come out this far very often. He should be fairly safe. He didn't want to intrude on their life, and he hadn't really wanted a soulmate anyway.

It wasn't long before Virgil slowly began to fall asleep, his eyes heavy from all the uncertainty and traveling. At least now he had a plan. He had come up with an idea and he would get himself out of here soon.

"Patton let me check first." A voice called from the other end of the alley before the sound of boots started getting closer.

Virgil bolted up, trying to be quiet, it normally wasn't good to be caught sleeping on the streets especially when you still had coin in your pockets. Sunshine apparently didn't get the message though, bolting up onto a pile of trash.

"A cat?" The voice was obviously confused and quiet but the other person they had been speaking to, Patton, squealed loudly.

"Come here kitten! Is our new soulmate a kitten?"

"Doubtful, and don't pet that cat, you are allergic." The voice turned back before saying "we are your soulmates, you can come out."

Virgil debated on coming out but, realizing it wasn't the city guard here to take him, he went ahead and stood up.

"If he's allergic to cats probably wasn't meant to be your soulmate."

"Nonsense," The man at the end of the alley seemed to be all happiness and optimism. "If I die from this kitty witty it will be an adorable death."

"Why don't you come with us? We will give you a place to stay for the night and we can all discuss this in the morning. But the cat stays outside."

"No." Virgil said adamantly. "Sunshine stays with me, besides, I don't need your help."

"You named your black cat Sunshine?"

"Awe that's so adorable!"

The man who was standing between Virgil and his cat began to walk closer to Virgil, making him feel cornered. "I almost think you don't want to meet us?" His voice was calm and cool.

"And what if I don't?"

"Wait... you... you don't want us?" Virgil heard sunshine fall from the other man's arms. She didn't come running back, instead rubbing herself on the other man's legs as she slowly walked to Virgil. This was followed by a light sneeze.

"You two have each other. You don't need a third person, society doesn't like things that are different."

"Yeah, like I give a fuck about society."

"Hey, language, we don't know if there are kids on the streets."

"Come on, I want to get home, you are coming with us so we can discuss this somewhere that isn't a dark alley. If you want to leave afterwards, fine." He turned on his heel, walking back to his soulmate and Virgil scowled. He didn't really like being told what to do, but he scooped up Sunshine and followed, only because he couldn't stand the sad look on the other man's face.

They walked in silence for a while, it was uncomfortable and awkward, or maybe that was just him. Then again, maybe it wasn't just him.

"Oh! I didn't introduce myself, I'm Patton." The soft man said with a smile. He had been sniffling and trying not to sneeze this entire time.

"Virgil," this wasn't going to work if Patton was so allergic to cats, though, his allergy didn't stop him from reaching out to try to pet Sunshine again.

"What are you doing?"

"Awe, I'm sorry, she is just so cute."

"Just keep your hands to yourself." It was a dumb idea for Patton to try to pet Sunshine if he was allergic, but Virgil could tell by the look on Patton's face that he didn't understand why Virgil was asking him to keep his hands to himself.

"Look, I don't mind you petting Sunshine, but if she makes you sneeze and stop breathing I'm pretty sure that your soulmate over there is going to have my head. He looks like the type."

"Janus? No, he's really just a protective softy underneath it all, plus he is your soulmate too. I don't think he'd hurt you kiddo." Patton reached out to pet sunshine again and this time Virgil didn't stop him, it wasn't like he had a choice. Patton seemed completely determined to love on his cat even if it hurt him in the process. This man was a strange one.

"We're here." Janus spoke up, standing in front of a rather nice house, something further away from the merchant areas which led Virgil to believe they had a bit of money. Great, so his soulmates were well off, probably nobles of some kind, he should have noticed by the way that they were dressed.

"You really don't need to put me up for the night."

"But we want you." Patton hesitantly reached out for Virgil's hands and when Virgil didn't shy away Patton held his hands with a warm and comforting smile.

Virgil frowned but let Patton lead him in slowly. "Why? You don't even know me?"

"I didn't know Janus when I first met him either, but now I don't want to imagine a life without him. I want that with you too." He said softly and Virgil had to fight against his melting heart. This man was so soft and gentle, and maybe he could see himself having a life with them.

"I don't need you to care about me." He said but his fight was slipping.

"I know, you seem very capable, but I want to care about you." Virgil paused, about the cross over the threshold. This man didn't even know if Virgil had any kind of value but he said he wanted to care about him. Even his boss had only kept him around while he was useful.

"I... I guess it wouldn't hurt." He whispered, stepping into their house and wondering if this might actually be a change for the better.