#at themself in the mirror and pull on their bangs for a while then blurt out 'I have your eyes' when PK asks if everything's okay. And he

[dairyfreenugget]

(Going insane boinkinh one AU in my head)

Hey hey hey

May I interest you in

(Slowly slides my FaaF AU towards you but void just Disappears without a trace one day before the accolade)

Teehee

[maybedefinitely404]

Day 14: Dukeceit

@tsshipmonth2020

Day 14 - The first words you hear your soulmate speak are written on you.

Content warning: character with vitiligo, implied rudeness towards vitiligo, Remus being Remus (in a way that could be categorized as intentions for animal abuse?? But not really. It’s not malicious in any way.)

Word count: 1.4k

What’s that on your face?

Every day he was greeted in the mirror by the same, harsh words, etched into his collarbone in startling black ink. He’d heard many variations of the question before in his life, people with too much curiosity and too little impulse control, blurting out questions about his skin before he even properly introduced himself. At this point, he’d memorized the spiel: It’s called vitiligo and yes, I was born this way. No, it doesn’t hurt. No, it’s not contagious. No, it’s not because my parents were different races. That last one still made him laugh sometimes. But, better to laugh at the absurdity than bang his head against a wall in frustration, he supposed.

So yeah, did it suck knowing that the first thing his soulmate said to him would be borderline judgy and annoyingly insensitive? Yeah. But it was just something he’d have to live with. Hopefully, the rest of their first interaction would be uphill from there, because if he got more irritated with his soulmate when they literally just met, that probably wasn’t going to be a great sign. 

With a huff, he lowered his shirt over the soulmark, lugged his book bag onto his shoulder, and exited his dorm room. His roommate had left however long ago to head to his own morning classes, so he’d had a nice peaceful morning with the room to himself to get ready. It was nice not to be constantly on guard, hiding his soulmark. It embarrassed him.

He checked his phone as he closed the door behind him and groaned loudly. Apparently his peaceful morning had been at a cost; he had to make it across campus in five minutes or risk being late to Moresi’s lecture. Moresi was a great prof, don’t get him wrong, but she had a habit of calling out anyone who walked in the doors late, and Janus really didn’t need that. 

Risk walking in late and being humiliated, or look like a fool running through campus? Maybe he should just skip class.

He decided on option two, since this single class was costing more than his laptop, and got a better grip on his book bag before taking off down the path. He struggled to down his granola bar while sprinting over the lawn. You’re going to choke, the voice of his mother shouted in his head, but he ignored it and picked up the pace just a tad.

With twenty seconds to spare, he burst through the doors of the lecture hall and took his seat in the back, one that was never surrounded by people and left him generally alone. He liked his arm space. 

“Good morning, folks. Welcome to another rousing lecture on ethics,” Moresi deadpanned, earning a few scattered chuckles through the hall, “Today we’ll be focusing a bit more on Plato’s idea that-”

The lecture hall door flew open and a figure stumbled through, leaning on his knees to catch his breath. He gave a half hearted wave as Moresi crossed her arms, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Janus didn’t recognize him, but that was to be expected of a four hundred student lecture hall. 

“Remus Kingsley, the only student of my six different lecture classes that I have the unfortunate necessity of knowing the name of. What tale of chaos and havoc brings you so late to my class once again?” The snickers slowly rose.

“I’m only three minutes late!” He complained, still panting, but a small grin was growing on his face. No matter how pissed she sounded, Moresi was never serious in her teasing. 

“That’s three minutes too many. Take a seat in the back, and don’t disrupt my class again.” 

He grumbled under his breath but took a begrudging seat next to Janus. So much for arm room. Janus stared as he gave him an impish grin, before his eyes narrowed slightly. 

���What’s that on your face?”

Janus froze. Gone was his carefully formulated monologue on his skin condition, goodbye to any suave first impressions he’d wanted to make, hello to the awkward idiot that had taken over his brain. Sure, this didn’t necessarily mean this guy was his soulmate, it could just be a coincidental question, but actually hearing the words out loud? It was a lot.

This guy, though (Remus, was it?), didn’t take his deer-in-the-headlights face into consideration and reached a finger up.

Is he seriously about to touch my face? 

Janus was in too much shock to move away as the man poked at his cheek… no. Not poking, exactly. Rubbing…?

He pulled his hand away and Janus realized with a shock that a couple granola crumbs were now resting on his fingertips. Oh, the incredible waves of mortifying embarrassment that now rolled over him. The stranger flicked them onto the ground without a second thought, smiling at him.

“All good now. I’m Remus, by the way.”

An interesting interaction, one where the person touches your face before introducing themself properly. But Janus had the feeling that just kind of summed up this guy as a whole. 

It took him a moment to process that Remus was waiting for him to introduce himself, but just as he opened his mouth, the prof spoke up again.

“I’m sorry, Kingsley, is my lecture interrupting your conversation?”

“Just a tad, Moresi. But you’re forgiven.”

She mumbled something that sounded vaguely like “shit head” before turning back to her lecture, and luckily, Remus decided to keep his mouth shut. 

---------------------------------------

Remus booked it as soon as the clock struck 11:30, so even if Janus were able to speak past the anxious lump in his throat, he wouldn’t have had the time to. So, consequently, that afternoon he had plenty of time to worry about meeting Remus the next time.

Logically, whatever he did end up saying (assuming they were in fact soulmates), would be written on Remus’ arm. But what if he decided on something to say, and then at the last minute changed it? Did he technically have any free will regarding his first statement, or could a last second decision alter that? Would the writing on Remus’ arm change? Could he even say something wrong? Soulmates had always been too vague of a concept for him to think about.

Turns out, he didn’t even have to worry about it. He had decided to calm his raging thoughts with a coffee and a walk around the campus pond, intently watching some turtles sunbathing on a half sunken log, when someone bumped into him. The lid of his coffee exploded, sending the lukewarm drink all down the stranger’s shirt and his own.

“Shit on a stick, I didn’t see you! I’m so-”

Remus. Of course. Janus stuttered to a halt as their eyes locked, Remus’ comically wide, hands frozen in what had been a pitiful attempt to clean his shirt off. Did he think he could wipe coffee away?

With no prompting whatsoever, Remus pulled down the collar of his shirt, twisting his head oddly to read the writing on his skin, in the same place that Janus’ was.

“Yep, that’s it, word for word. Does your-?”

“Yep,” Janus breathed, showing the soulmark in a similar fashion.

“You didn’t say anything to me during class. I assumed you were just awkward.”

“Me? Awkward? A preposterous proposition.”

Remus smirked, rolling his shoulders back, causing the joints to pop loudly. “You’re smart. That’s cute.”

“I agree with the smart, but I abhor the sentiment.”

“Don’t get a word you’re saying.”

“Lovely.”

Now Janus was smiling too, and dammit, he didn’t like when people made him smile. He had a reputation to keep. “I was more shocked at your statement than anything. I thought for sure the ‘what’s on your face’ would be in regard to…” He gestured vaguely to his face.

“What, the vitiligo? No way! My brother has it, actually. I’m an idiot, but not that much of an idiot. I actually think it looks really cool.”

He gave Janus a once over before reaching out a hand, fingers wiggling, and pointing with his other thumb over his shoulder.

“I was just about to go throw rocks at ducks. You wanna join me?”

“Don’t throw rocks at ducks,” Janus reprimanded lightly, taking the outstretched hand with only a moment’s hesitation. 

“Can we just throw rocks, then?”

“As long as we’re not aiming for animals, yes.”