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Tommy knew that soulmates were dangerous. His mom had explained it perfectly clear to him too many times for him to remember. Soulmates had one job: kill the other. That's what she and his dad had always told him.
Before they died, that is.
And before Tommy got his soulmarks.
He had to count them, over and over again, when he first woke up on his fifth birthday.
Three.
One on his ankle, a pink sword.
One on his left wrist, a blue guitar.
One on his right pinky finger, a green crow.
Three. He had three soulmates.
Three people that wanted to kill him.
Tommy never knew why foster parents would congratulate him on that. How they said that they 'hoped he'd find them soon' and shit.
Tommy was six. He couldn't kill anyone, and definitely not three people.
At least some kids were nice to him. Like the older kid at the foster home he was at right now. They told him that they hoped Tommy would never find his soulmates. That was nice of them.
Tommy kind of liked the symbols, though. They were kind of pretty, even if they were really simple. He thought they made him look kind of cool, sometimes. Like tattoos!
But that probably meant his soulmates were really old, though. Kids Tommy's age can't even pick out their soulmarks yet! You can't do that until you're ten! So his soulmates have gotta be at least ten!
That was scary. So Tommy didn't like to look at his soulmarks too much, when he remembered that. It was hard to not see them, though, since there was one on each of his hands.
Tommy did watch for his soulmates, though. Anyone who had a matching symbol to his. That would mean they would be a soulmate of that person too.
Once he thought he saw someone with a crow on their wrist when he moved to a new school, but it turned out to be a cardinal. They got annoyed at him when they found out that they didn't have the same soulmate, but how would Tommy know! They looked the same from a distance!
Anyways, Tommy was moving into a new foster house today, because the older kid in the other one kept being mean to him and his foster mom didn't want to put up with it anymore.
His social worker drove further than usual to get to his new foster home. That was kind of weird. She had brought him to a really big building that she called an 'apartment complex', explaining, "You're probably gonna only be here for a bit, it's an emergency foster placement. We didn't get any warning before she gave you back to us, so it might take a bit for us to get you into a more permanent foster home."
Tommy nodded, even though he wasn't quite sure what that meant. Adults didn't usually like it when he asked too many questions, so he tried not to. Even though he kinda wanted to.
They went up an elevator, which Tommy thought was really cool. It didn't have windows, like some of the ones in movies, but he could still feel them moving up, and his social worker even let him push the buttons!
Then the elevator stopped, made a 'ding' sound, and the doors opened. When they stepped out, there was a really long hall that went both ways, which made Tommy pause. His social worker hadn't, though, and went right without a second thought. Tommy was quick to follow behind. He didn't want to get lost…
Honestly, the hallways were all a bit scary. Scarier than when he thought he might've found someone with the same soulmate as him. They had to walk around for a few minutes, and even his social worker looked confused! That wasn't good. What if they were lost, and they were stuck here?
But then his social worker found the door they were supposed to get to!
His social worker knocked on the door, and Tommy heard barking behind it.
They had a dog?
"Floof, no-" A man muttered as he opened the door, holding back a very fluffy dog. He then looked at the social worker, and explained something about the dog being excited.
Tommy wasn’t really listening, because he saw something. The man had pink hair! Pink! Hair!
The man then looked over at Tommy, and chuckled, "Tommy, right?"
Tommy realized his mouth had been open, quickly closing it and nodded. Still, pink hair! That was so fucking cool!
"Floof's not gonna do anything, he's just excited." The man assured as he opened the door wider and let them in. The dog immediately darted over to Tommy, and Tommy was about to do the thing where you let the dog sniff your hand, but Floof just started to lick Tommy's hand, making him laugh.
Tommy's social worker began talking to the man, but Tommy was happy to just play with the dog. None of the dogs he's met have ever been this friendly. They usually didn't care about him too much. Probably because they already meet a bunch of kids when one gets put in their home. But Floof was excited! Tommy liked that.
Tommy just stood there and petted Floof for a bit, only moving when the man came over to close the door.
Eventually, as the social worker and the man went over to the kitchen to keep talking about some things, Tommy got a bit bored. Floof was nice, but Tommy wanted to look around. So he did.
The apartment was nice. Tommy didn't really know what else to say about it. It's a bit smaller than the houses he's lived in, but that's gotta be big for an apartment! Probably!
He was careful not to open any doors, though. Foster parents usually didn't like it when he opened doors he wasn't supposed to. And Tommy didn't know what doors he wasn't supposed to open yet. He also didn't know if anyone else lived here, and if they would get
mad if he opened any doors. So he decided to not do that.
Floof kept following him as he looked around, though. Tommy kept petting him, thinking that it would make the dog finally decide to leave, but that did the opposite, with Floof continuing to follow Tommy.
Eventually, Tommy got back to the kitchen, and his social worker smiled down at him, "Everything okay for me to go, then?" she asked, looking over at the man then back at Tommy.
Tommy nodded, and once he did, the man gave a small smile, "Then yeah, I think we're all good."
The social worker nodded, "You can call if you need anything." she said, then left.
Tommy stared up at the man.
The man crouched down so they were at the same level, "I'm Techno. You can just call me that." He said.
Techno already knew Tommy's name, so he didn't see why he needed to say his again. Instead, he said, "Your hair's cool."
Techno smiled, "Thanks. I think so too."
Tommy nodded. Techno was right, then, because Techno's hair was cool!
"Want me to show you your room?" Techno had then asked.
Tommy nodded.
《𝒻ᵤₙₖᵧ ₗᵢₜₜₗₑ ₜᵢₘₑₛₖᵢₚ》
Tommy liked living with Techno. He was nice, and Floof was nice.
Tommy found out that Techno did have a family, but they just didn't live with him. He said that his brother was a singer! Tommy had asked who, but Techno had said that he wouldn't know him.
Tommy's been here for a week, even though his social worker said that he wouldn't be there for long. Techno had said that his social worker just couldn't find any other foster homes right now, but that was okay, because Techno could take care of Tommy for as long as the social worker needed.
Honestly, Tommy didn't like the thought of leaving at this point. Floof would be sad!
…And Tommy would be a bit sad, too. Techno was a lot nicer than a lot of Tommy's foster parents. And he didn't talk about soulmates a lot, so that was nice. A lot of his foster parents talked about soulmates. Some even asked to see his soulmarks, to see if they were any of theirs.
They never would match up, in which Tommy was glad every time. Imagine one of his soulmates was one of his foster parents… that'd be scary.
But Techno never asked him. Tommy was glad about that.
Tommy was just coloring in the living room one day. He was trying to get Floof to sit still so that he could draw him, but the dog kept getting up and licking his face.
But then, Techno suddenly got up.
Tommy had jolted, looking over to Techno, who was staring…
Who was staring at his ankle.
"I gotta make a call." Techno muttered, going into the kitchen, and grabbing his phone on the way.
Tommy looked over at his ankle.
His sock had slipped down, and his soulmark of the pink sword was showing.
Tommy got up. He stared at where Techno had left.
Tommy was gonna die.
Tommy was gonna die, and Techno was gonna kill him, because Techno was one of his soulmates, and-
No, no, no-
Tommy ran down the hallway to his room. Floof ran after him, barking. Tommy tried to shush the dog, Floof obviously not understanding how bad this was.
This was really bad.
Should Tommy try to run?
No, because one of the locks on the door was too high up for him to reach. Techno would grab him before he could get out.
Tommy went into his room, and crawled underneath the bed. Floof followed, laying down next to him.
"Shhh." Tommy tried to shush the dog. At least Floof wasn't barking anymore.
Then, Tommy heard footsteps come down the hall, "Tommy?" Techno's voice called out. When Floof heard Techno, he darted out from under Tommy's bed, going straight to the man.
Tommy stayed still. Maybe Techno hadn't seen where Floof had come from-
Tommy could see Techno's pink socks in the doorframe of his room, "C'mon, kid, nothing's wrong. Why're you hiding?" Techno walked over to Tommy's closet, opening it up, looking for a bit, then closing it again.
Tommy was gonna die. Techno was gonna kill him. He was gonna grab Tommy from under the bed and kill him, because that was what he had to do.
Tommy didn't want to die. He could feel tears well up in his eyes, because he didn't want to die and Techno was gonna kill him and-
Tommy let out a sob.
Techno stopped.
Tommy froze.
No.
Tommy scrambled to the corner of the bed, the one where the two walls met. It was way too small for him to sit up, so he laid on his side, trying to curl up and be as small as possible.
He let out another sob. It didn't matter anymore. Techno was walking towards his bed, he was crouching down, and he-
He saw Tommy.
"Hey, kid, why're you crying? Tommy, hey-" As Techno moved onto the floor, Tommy watched his hands. Techno was gonna reach out, grab him, any second now.
"Tommy. I wanna help. Can you tell me why you're so scared?" Techno asked.
Tommy didn't look at Techno. He looked at the carpet on the floor as he shook his head.
Techno sighed. Tommy braced for him to grab him, to pull him out from his hiding spot and-
"Tommy. You can't just hide under there forever, and I can't do anything to help unless you let me." Techno said calmly.
Tommy looked up at Techno for a moment. Techno was looking right at him, and gave him a small smile, "It's okay if you don't wanna talk about it right now, though. D'you want me to go?"
Tommy didn't know. Because he liked Techno. Techno was nice! But Techno was his soulmate, and that meant that Techno was supposed to kill him, but Techno wasn't. Tommy knew Techno could reach under the bed and grab him if he really wanted. But instead he just stayed there.
Tommy shook his head. He didn't want Techno to go. He just didn't want Techno to kill him.
"Then could you tell me what's wrong?" Techno asked again.
This time, Tommy managed to mumble it.
Techno paused, "I couldn't hear you, kid. Could you say it a bit louder?"
"You're- you're one of my soulmates," Tommy said, voice small through his crying, "Aren't you?"
Techno paused, then nodded, "Pretty sure, yeah." And then he smiled. Like that was a good thing.
"Then you're gonna kill me!" Tommy shouted.
Techno paused. He blinked. His smile faded.
Tommy waited again, staring at the carpet. Now he was gonna die. Techno was gonna kill him, he knew that there's no way to trick Tommy now, or whatever he was trying to do.
"Tommy." Techno paused, "Tommy, who told you- who told you I'm gonna kill you?"
Tommy paused. Techno… didn't sound mad. But then again, Tommy hasn't really heard Techno mad, so he didn't know if…
But why would he ask-? That didn't make sense. None of it made sense.
But maybe if he explained it, maybe Techno would just give up on trying to trick him. Because that's gotta be what it is! Techno thought he was dumb!
"You- that's what soulmates do! They gotta kill the other one! Or they- I dunno! But- and Mama told me so!"
Tommy looked up at Techno. Techno was staring at Tommy, face scrunched up a bit. Tommy waited.
"Your mom told you that?" Techno finally asked.
Tommy nodded, "And Dada!"
Techno took a breath, "Tommy. Tommy, that's not what soulmates do."
Tommy blinked. What?
"What?"
No, that didn't make sense. His mom and dad told him what soulmate do. They gotta kill each other. That's what happens.
Techno took another breath, "Kid, soulmates are just people that- they're people that're supposed to care about you. Look."
And then Techno stuck his hands under the bed. Tommy flinched back, but they didn't go for Tommy. Instead, his left hand was turned over, a blue guitar on his wrist. His right hand was resting flat, and there was a pink crow on his pinky finger, "They're just- they're just people you're supposed to be with. You got these too, don't you?"
Tommy nodded, "They're not- the crow's a different color for me?"
"Yeah. Just means that the person- my dad- doesn't mean the same thing to you as he does to me."
Tommy blinked, "That doesn't make sense."
The hands retreated as Techno hummed, "How about you come out, and I can explain it better?"
Tommy paused. But Techno was still being nice. He hadn't done anything to Tommy, and he told him soulmates were good.
So he crawled out.
And Techno waited, a small smile on his face, "It's okay. Let's- let's figure out what's happenin'."
Tommy nodded. Maybe- maybe his soulmates weren't so bad after all. At least this one was nice.