#plot was that when you meet your soulmate time will keep looping until the pair are able to meet again AND realize that they’re soulmates

[fluffypotatey]

Trope time loop

A: Love it. Spend my time combing AO3 for it.

omfg the time loop, one of the best tropes honestly. can’t go wrong with it. it’s got the angst material, comedic shenanigans, wacky situations, surreal settings, etc

there was this really good merthur au fic i read some time ago that was a time loop and gawd dam that was good 😍 Arthur was like a banker or something and the bank was being robbed and it turns out that the robbers have magic and wished to rob the vault that, conveniently, also contained magic, but then shit happens and Arthur dies then wakes up back in his room

such a good fic, I need to find it again

anyway, this trope is great, no notes, tis perfect

[buckyswinterbaby]

Always By My Side — Chapter 1

Click here to read the Prologue.

Synopsis: The fates have spent millenniums correcting the daily mishaps that interfere with soulmates ever meeting. Will they find a way to bring together Bucky and Zara, two people separated by time and circumstance, just as they’ve done a thousand times before?

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Black!OFC Ziarah Heartwell

Warnings (will change with each chapter): flashbacks, PTSD, mentions of past sexual assault, angst, bits of fluff

Word Count: 3,791

Acknowledgement: I’ve created this AU alongside my best friend Taylor in roleplays, along with many of the plots and scenes that will be featured. I’m posting this with his expressed permission as we both continue to work on the story in our chat. Credit for its creation goes to both of us.

Please like, comment, and reblog (I love that shit). The divider was created by me, please credit me if you use it. The gifs are not mine. Click here to fill out the form to be added to my tag list!

Note: Here’s chapter one of my new series “Always By My Side”. It takes place in a soulmate AU where a bond is triggered when one or both halves experience a life threatening level of distress. The bond allows them to see imaginary versions of their soulmates to help support them while they wait to meet their other half. Just a warning, up until we reach the current time in the story, there will be significant time skips for plot progression’s sake. The time changes will always be labeled.

Addition: I said I’d tag you when I posted my WOC OFC story so here’s chapter one, @bucky-the-thigh-slayer !

[Bucharest, Romania -- 2016]

The Romanian streets were bustling with early morning energy as Bucky took the final steps outside of the clearly worn apartment complex that he had been calling home for sometime. He seemed unfazed by the sixteen year old girl practically jogging to keep up in step with his longer strides. He had grown rather accustomed to her presence and her commentary since she first appeared to him in 2014. It had been during his final brainwashing session with Hydra before they fell. He couldn’t help but view her as a banshee of sorts, harkening the end of what remained of his mental stability. He couldn’t fathom another reason as to why he would hallucinate an opinionated teenage girl.

Even so, he found comfort in their conversations and how at ease she seemed around him. Almost as if she had always been with him, a piece of himself that still saw the good that was left. Never addressing him with fear or apprehension, never as the monster and killer he was forced to become.

Her features were young and innocent, seemingly unscarred by life despite the bruises that graced her skin--which he was never sure why they existed. At first, he feared that she had been one of his countless victims who had returned to haunt him in her afterlife, though the theory became less likely to him as more time passed.

The defined coils of her hair were pushed up into a messy bun, edges laid smoothly to her forehead in defined loops. When she first started showing up, Bucky had attempted to make sense of the witty phrases and references that so frequently adorned her clothes but he had long since given up on ever understanding them. He had to admit that the shirt she wore that day, a middle finger painted with pink, yellow, and blue, was quite the fashion choice. Not that he could particularly judge with his similar pieces of clothing that were practically identical besides in color.

The pair made their way down the familiar stretch of pavement on their way to the outdoor market that Bucky had made a habit of visiting. He had found that a reliable schedule throughout his week helped him better grasp the passing of time, a fact that his companion had been informing him of for weeks before it finally seemed to click.

The girl’s nose clinked as they neared the fresh fish stand, just as it did every week. Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle at her childish antics as they were so few and far between for someone who seemed quite mature despite her appearance.

“It smells like cat food,” she whined, making a clear act of breathing primarily through her mouth as she jogged to keep up. “How are you not gagging?”

“Not all of us have the luxury of being a figment of someone’s imagination, Zara. If I start gagging, I have a feeling a few people will start to notice.” The man gave her a knowing look. Drawing attention to himself was the exact opposite of what he wanted during his brief outings. “Besides, I can’t say I’ve smelt cat food or have any intention to. So I’ll just have to take your word for it.”

Zara rolled her eyes as the smell began to dissipate the further they moved past the stand, her trademark smile working its way onto her features. “Could’ve had me fooled, I thought that was your guilty pleasure. I can’t say I’ve ever intentionally gotten a whiff, but when I feed the outdoor cats at my house, it’s kinda unavoidable.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly as if it was the most natural thing in the world for an imaginary person to have their own home and animals.

Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed as he narrowed his eyes down to her smaller form beside him. “You don’t have a cat because you aren’t even real,” he retorted. Somehow the idea that she could be real made her presence in his life even harder. The idea that she was just some girl he had passed by in the street or on a mission and his brain decided she’d make the ideal emotional support apparition.

“Who are you to declare that?”

“The creepy hundred year old man who hallucinates a sixteen year old girl, occasionally in her pajamas, for one.” His voice raised a bit louder than he intended, drawing the attention of a few nearby pedestrians. Bucky offered them an awkward smile before ducking back down under the bill of his hat and picking up his pace a bit. She couldn’t argue with his logic so she focused on keeping up until they reached their destination, the produce stand that had the best plums in the city, or so Bucky described.

Zara watched as he spoke Romanian with the merchant, only catching a few words she had learnt over the past few months from their conversations. She couldn’t help but smile at how effortlessly Bucky seemed to interact with the man and how it contrasted so starkly to how he acted when he first arrived in the city. Decades of next to no positive human interaction left the soldier awkward and clunky in his exchanges, often stumbling through questions and requests, or simply forgetting them altogether. It had taken a great deal of patience and metaphorical hand holding to build up his confidence and ease his anxiety on the matter.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to blend in, in fact he was almost too good at it at times. Over their conversations, she had managed to show him that yes, blending in made him go through the motions of life, which was better than nothing. Yet, the beauty of his life now and the freedom that came with it was that he no longer had to settle for simply surviving and he could instead use it as a chance to learn to live again. It started small, like convincing him to get a pillow and blanket for the mattress on the floor, to which they compromised with a sleeping bag. Soon came two pillows for the couch and a lone floor lamp that he shoved in the corner near his bed for the late nights when night terrors had him scribbling away in his journals. They were minor improvements, in truth, but the progress spoke volumes as Bucky worked on building a place that felt a bit more permanent than his last few hideouts.

Zara had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t even registered that Bucky completed his purchase and had moved to stand at the edge of the sidewalk. She approached him curiously, watching the way he hesitantly analyzed the seemingly anxious newspaper peddler from across the street. It was very clear something was wrong from the way his demeanor had changed.

“Buchanan?” Her voice raised a bit at the end of his name, concern now replacing her curiosity as he began to make his way to the stand. He either didn’t hear her--which she found unlikely--or he simply opted to ignore her as he picked up the paper, ocean blue eyes scanning over the headline. The color seemed to drain from both of their faces as they took the accusation in, not having to speak to know what it meant.

Bucky would have to pick up his life, yet again, and run. Find a new country, new home, and start the process all over again. The ex-assassin hardly seemed surprised at the realization, as there is no rest for the wicked.

[Boston, Massachusetts -- 2016]

Zara made her way down the hallway to her bedroom, an imaginary version of Bucky trailing along behind her. She let her book bag drop to the floor once she entered the room, stepping out of her shoes before flopping down onto the soft, sunflower themed duvet of her bed. A look of weightlessness overtook her features as she let the events of the day settle in. Today she would graduate with a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from MIT, top of her class. It was the culmination of years of pouring herself over every textbook her parent’s provided, testing out and early graduations. At only sixteen, Zara would join the ranks of some of the youngest individuals to ever receive a doctoral degree. It truly seemed unreal to her.

Emerald eyes drifted to where Bucky sat at her desk, his arms crossed loosely in front of his chest.

“I wish you could be there tomorrow,” Zara commented, propping herself up on her elbows as her fingers pulled at the frayed threads on the yellow quilt folded at the end of her bed.

A smile teased the corner of Bucky’s lips as he leaned back against her swivel chair, long hair swaying as he tilted his head to the left to look at her. “I will be there, maybe not in person, but I’ll be there cheering right along with everyone else,’ he assured.

“It’s not the same and you know it, Buchanan.”

“I know. Just try to focus on the positives. Tomorrow is your day, you’ve more than earned it.”

Zara nodded, though her disappointment was still evident. On the average day, Bucky’s seemingly invisible presence to everyone else but her came in handy. As she was willing to bet her parents wouldn’t be too keen on the amount of time she spent alone with the grown man, let alone if they knew who he was. The public’s perception of James Buchanan Barnes, who she had quickly identified him as, was low to say the very least. Though it was days like this that she found herself wishing the most that he could truly exist in her life outside of her mind.

She could never quite pinpoint why she began hallucinating him two years prior. Though, the time before and after her fourteenth birthday had flown by in a post traumatic daze so it was even more difficult to analyze. The aftermath of four older boys assaulting her in her own bedroom left her wishing to repress that portion of her life altogether. Zara squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the ghost of their hands on her body. Grabbing, groping, pulling and tearing at clothes. She had hardly seen them since their attack but her mind was still trapped in the room with them.The feeling took her back to meeting Bucky that night, or more so the Winter Soldier, as he appeared at that time.

Upon entering her room, Zara failed to notice the masked man sitting silently in the corner of the room, illuminated only by the small lamp on her bedside stand. When she caught a glimpse of the figure, her body jumped to it’s fight response, just as it had an hour or so before. The young girl grabbed the closest thing she could find, a textbook on advanced chemistry, and held onto it tightly before turning to face the intruder.

“You need to leave,” she ordered, her voice wavering at the end of the demand. Her green eyes only met a pair of dark glasses securely strapped to his face. She couldn’t make out any facial features to identify him by, as all but his forehead and hair was covered.

It wasn’t just his silence that sent an unnerved shiver down her spine. It was his demeanor, cold and nearly unresponsive to her presence and defensive stance. Had his head not briefly turned her way when she started to speak, she’d question if he even heard her at all.

A large gun, likely a rifle from what she could tell, was resting across his lap. His hands weren’t actively gripping it, but something told her he could take aim in the time it took her to breathe her next breath. A variety of handguns and knives were also visible from the holsters adorning his thighs. If he had this many weapons visible, Zara could only imagine how many he had stashed under his tactical vest and heavy boots.

Her green eyes followed where she believed his gaze had drifted. He seemed laser focused on the strip of light just barely visible from under her door as a roar of laughter could be heard from just outside. His hand moved to rest just over the barrel of his gun. The young girl analyzed him for another moment before lowering the textbook, while still keeping it tightly in her hands.

“Will you at least tell me why you’re here?” There was a hint of desperation in her voice, one that vocalized all of the fear she had been trying to hide. She was met with more silence, which quickly became deafening to her. She was afraid to make a move to get his attention again, naturally unsure of how he would react. Yet, at the same time she couldn’t relax, not with him in her space.

After another few moments of no response, she allowed herself to consider the possibility that he wasn’t actually there. She had just been through something horribly traumatic and it was entirely possible that this was her brain's way of coping with the stress and fear. That it had conjured some masked figure to sit at her bedroom door and keep all the bad away.

She knew how best to test her theory, but she recognized the risk that came with it as she picked up a neon pink highlighter that she had been using earlier that night. She gripped it for a moment while weighing her options, throwing it across the room only seconds later. She didn’t put too much force behind it, hoping that if it gently came into contact, he’d be less likely to be angry. The consideration meant very little as the marker passed straight through the man and knocked against the wall before falling to the floor. She watched as it rolled across the floor and disappeared underneath her nearby dresser, a bittersweet feeling washing over her. On one hand, he wasn’t real and couldn’t hurt her. On the other, she was truly alone and definitely going crazy.

“This is fine,” Zara tried to reassure herself with very little luck.

She was pulled back from her thoughts as Bucky called her name for the third time, snapping her back to reality. Their eyes connected for a moment as she attempted to ground herself again, focusing on the small changes between how he was now versus then.

He had since lost the mask and goggles, she remembered him removing them a month or so after he first appeared. His current casual attire contrasted starkly with the hard kevlar of the tactical vest she first met him in. His features were more at ease now, no longer reflecting the fear that she could only compare to an animal in captivity. While she wasn’t fond of the comparison, following what she had learned of the real James Barnes, it wasn’t entirely far off.

As if the world was reading her mind, she faintly heard the voice of the local news anchor from the living room directly below her bedroom. Her features scrunched as she focused in on hearing the report, only catching snippets here and there. The words explosion and Sokovia Accords were most of what she could make out along with what she could’ve sworn was the suspect’s name, James Buchanan Barnes.

Before Zara could even question it further, she found herself racing down the main staircase of their suburban home, sock clad feet skidding to a halt on the polished dark oak flooring. Her eyes widened as she took in the security camera footage that was believed to place Bucky near the scene of the crime. Despite having no real proof, something deep within her gut screamed that it wasn’t true. She knew him, maybe not the real version, but he’d never do that.

Imaginary Bucky followed her into the living room a minute later, his pace slow and relaxed in comparison as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Being held responsible for the most recent atrocity was honestly just beginning to feel like the average Tuesday to him. More than anything, it was Zara’s reaction that took him the most by surprise. Her unwavering faith and loyalty was unexpected and as he believed, undeserved.

He had committed unspeakable acts over the years and this was likely far from the worst he was accused of. Sure, they had grown close in the two years since he first appeared and he imagined that made it easier for her to block out the rest of the stories, since she knew at least some version of the person in question.

Zara was good, in every sense of the word. Of course she had flaws, but who didn’t, especially at sixteen. But he saw the way that she looked at the world with love and curiosity despite the violence and violations she had experienced. It was a strength of character that he truly wished he could grow to embody. Bucky couldn’t help but find it funny that he was left looking up to a teenager who hadn’t even passed her driver’s test yet; but she honestly had more morals and heart than most of the adults he had met in his life. All of those facts being true is what made her belief in his innocence all the more confusing.

His eyes fell to her father, Gabriel, as he sat on the couch to take in the evening news. The man’s head shook in what seemed to be disappointment, or maybe it was anger, Bucky honestly couldn’t be sure anymore. They had never spoken, as Bucky’s intangible form made communication with anyone other than Zara impossible, but he knew Gabriel was a black and white kind of person. He couldn’t help but accept that to anyone who didn’t know him, the evidence would be damning.

“They need to just put him down while they have the chance,” Gabriel scoffed, speaking to no one in particular while switching the flatscreen off before they could finish the broadcast.

“He’s not a wild animal to be euthanized.” Zara’s expression twisted in disgust at her father’s casual nature. “He’s a human being. If he's guilty, and that’s a really big if with how blurry that security footage is, he deserves a trial just like anyone else!”

Gabe turned to look over the back of the couch, clearly displeased that she would defend the man. “I’m in no mood to debate with you, Ziarah.” He rose from his seat and dropped the remote onto the foot stool before leaving towards his study.

Zara watched him leave, her eye practically twitching with each step he took. She wanted to tell him he was wrong, to make him see that there were likely more sides to the story than they were seeing but she knew that it was useless. Her father rarely took her opinions or beliefs to heart on things that actually mattered to him, a topic like this would truly be a lost cause.

She looked up at Bucky as he shook his head lightly, letting her tension fade away as she accepted that it was pointless. “It’s okay, Zar,” Bucky assured, his small smile wiping away any lingering doubts she had. “There are more important battles to pick with him. This isn’t a hill worth dying on.”

Zara would’ve liked to argue that defending her friend was more than a worthy cause but she nodded nonetheless.

“How about we go find your mom. I bet she’s already working on the cake for your graduation and knowing you, you can convince her to let you lick the spoon.” His tone was playful as he coaxed her into motion, the promise of sweets and a friendly face luring her into the kitchen behind him.

Hanna was busy mixing away the different batters she would need for the next tier, the sweet aroma of baked goods filling the air. She hummed lightly as she worked, creating her own personal mix of her favorite 80’s songs together in a unique medley. Her green eyes moved to the doorway as she heard Zara walk in, a bright smile overtook her features as she set down her mixing bowl.

“There’s my little scholar,” she praised, moving around the kitchen island to take her daughter into her arms. Her warm embrace was a welcomed escape as Zara melted.

“Momma,” Zara grumbled as her mother placed a series of kisses on her forehead. “I thought you stopped doing that since I was a baby.” While Zara whined, deep down she always loved her mother’s open displays of affection. Not that she was willing to admit it.

“That’s the beauty of you always being my baby. You’re never too old for me to embarrass you. Just be grateful that I’ve opted to do it now instead of at your party.” The woman grinned away as she moved back to her work.

Zara honestly couldn’t argue with the logic as she found a seat on one of the tall bar stools. She quickly lost herself in the pleasant conversion with her mother, happily opting to clean the excess batter and frosting off of the bowls and mixing spoons like the helpful child she was. Imaginary Bucky sat quietly at the kitchen table, watching the women as they fell into the usual banter and discussion. After they finished her conversation she quickly grabbed a snack and made her way towards the door.

“I believe you’re forgetting something,” Hanna reminded, sending Zara a knowing look.

She huffed lightly before turning on her heels to grab her blood testing and insulin kit, waving it at her mother knowingly. She quickly turned back around and left the kitchen, making her way back upstairs.

Bucky didn’t hesitate to follow after her, stopping only when he saw Zara staring in her old room, which now housed her older brother Daniel. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind as she ran over the events that more often than not had her scurrying past said room without acknowledging it. It was easier to just pretend it didn’t exist.

A few more moments passed before Zara pulled herself back from the darker parts of her mind, focusing in on everything else in her life that was good and worth celebrating. She had known pain and a time in her life where she often considered if it would’ve been easier to just fade away, but she had made it through to the other side. She had a lot going for her now and that was enough to push her feet forward again.

Chapter 2

[dreamsafterhours]

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: III (donghyuk's pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff pairings: mark+my/n (fem), donghyuk+dy/n (fem), platonic!mark+dy/n, platonic!donghyuk+my/n format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college bf warning: some swearing

masterlist

or click here to meet your soulmate, eng lit!mark!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

III: 별빛이 내린다 샤라랄라랄라라 (2+2=4)

the meeting of two souls: donghyuk & dy/n

welcome! back and to the next part

in which things actually happen! yay

so. up until this point

it’s been quite obvious i hope

that this is the one where The Soulmates Meet™

and this one right here is the one where donghyuk meets his future wifenew best (not) friend

dammit this is a set plot with SET relationships

yeah

major spoilers for future parts but hey :) y’all know it i know it let’s just.

let’s get to it!!

that day you accidentally sleep in after a late night and walk into your lecture looking pretty trashier than you would normally a few weeks into the first sem and you’re already tired it’s okay bby aww

and mark suggests skipping the next lecture and going for coffee instead

you’re like ok lmfao free coffee for me yay thanks marcus i owe you one

and to make up for the lecture he suggests he join you and your roommate with his own roommate in the library later that day to study the material you’d missed out on

so you’re like sweet study group hell yeah and apparently his roommate is also in biomed like your roommate? hey they might get along pretty well it’d be nice to have roommates in the same faculty hey

little do you know you little cutie you uwu

mark takes you to a cafe to buy you your favourite drink and a croissant bc you skipped breakfast again and he cares about his friends ok plus he was eyeing that donut next to the savoury menu in the glass cabinet and he would have felt bad if he got something to eat and you didn’t

you sit down, sipping your drink at the window seats and wishing your fatigue away

laughing with mark about what you slept so late for

my/n had been ranting about her love life again or perhaps lack thereof,,

don’t worry tho

after you’d gotten her to sleep, you’d gotten major feels for an essay question that you’d been tasked with due in a week but you hadn’t touched it until last night

staring at the prompt for at least half an hour trying to get your head around it and wondering what the hell you’d write about

but like they say

starting is half of it

so when you start spinning your words and getting into the writing mood

you accidentally wrote an entire draft without realising

albeit being full of loose ends and points you need to refine, etc., it was a decent body of work that you’d tackle for a few more nights before turning in

a skeleton, you’d called it

“a skeleton?”

“yeah. next thing i need to do is.. flesh it out”

“.. literally”

cue mark’s small pause

/inhale/

/MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

you know how mark’s laugh is very how do i put this into words hm dictated

you can HEAR each HA and they’re separate syllables yet sometimes they can vary in tone and length right it’s usually the more consistent HAs before he kinda loses it and starts throwing himself around

it was that laugh

honestly man finds everything funny his laughing threshold seems so low

and no matter how unfunny you are he WILL laugh at anything you say

and you’ve been doing it a lot lately

you could say literally any random thing and he’d already be ready to laugh (see Figure 1.1)

Figure 1.1

you: /snort/

mark, already giggling: “what”

you, still sniggering: /touches his elbow/ “arm knee”

mark: /inhale/ gotta live and breathe that oxygen

mark: HAHAHAHAhahAhaHAHAhahAhHa (decrescendo.. cRESCENDO)

^ that but looped, with intermittent slaps to your arm

anyways you never fail to make him fall out of his chair in laughter

but enough of that. dy/n is donghyuk’s y/n for a REASON ahEM

so after you finish up your breakfast at the cafe you go back to your dorm to take a power nap and recharge before your library session you were going to stay awake but mark forces you to take a nap and you’re like bro you just fed me caffeine now you want me to sleep??

then he tells you he ordered your drink decaf

you turn to him real slow

“.. you sick traitor. how dare you besmirch my name so. you scorn my forefathers and our dependence on the holy bean’s juices. betrayal runs rampant in your soul and mine stands at the mercy of your choices, them informed by the devil himself”

mark: /shrug/ “placebo effect yeet. hey, it worked for a bit. now you should really go home and get your sleep”

and he drags you back to your dorm and waves you off before going to his next class

you’re lowkey grateful for it tho when you take a shower and collapse onto your bed, falling asleep in what you think could be half the time you usually take

dreaming about losing your airpods and mark yelling at you to be more careful and then you two fighting bc you’d just lost your $300 bean sprouts but you could have sworn he took them

then police sirens went off out of nowhere and both of you were being arrested for assault and thievery

why you were the one being arrested, you had no idea but it’s a dream nothing follows the guidelines of hard reality anyway

just as you’re about to be handcuffed, you think to yourself, nope. i have a library session to attend. ain’t nobody got time for this shit

and you just

wake up

but the sirens are still continuing?? so you’re like ? is my building surrounded

they’ve come for me

even though you haven’t exactly broken any laws or have you

and you realise it was the alarm you’d set in time to get ready for your library session

so you grab your stuff and leave for the library, double checking with your roommate over text to make sure she was on her way

her lab class was taking longer than usual so she tells you she’ll be 10 or so minutes late

so you tell her you’ll be saving a seat for her and call mark to let him know you’re on your way to the library

“oh i’m already here lol. alright, i’m waiting for you outside”

and sure enough, you see him leaning on the wall of the entrance, eyes on his phone

you consider calling out to him but before you actually do, he glances up and spots you walking over tf do you have psychic spatial awareness mark

smiles and takes his corded earphones out

“you seriously need to upgrade those”

“they work fine”

“nop i’m getting you airpods for your birthday”

“dUdE thEy’RE tOo ExPEnSiVe. nO dUDE NoO”

“nOP. i’m GOING to buy you EXPENSIVE BEAN SPROUTS for your LIFE DEBUT ANNIVERSARY and you CAN’T STOP ME”

at this point i should just put /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/ and you should know what laugh i’m referring to

/MARK LEE’S MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

/MLML/ for short

nvm it’s fine it’s kinda fun to type /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/

literally mark laughs in bolded italics i’m just sad i can’t underline it on tumblr unless it’s a link lmfao

n e ways

i digress

you shush him because you’re about to walk into the library

“qUIET DOWN marcus” turn that sh down for quiet new dawn

the library is almost full for the day but after a minute or two scouring the building you find an empty four seater in the middle of nowhere it’s CRAZY you can NEVER find a MIRACLE like this life couldn’t get better

i’m sorry

you speed walk to claim it even though there was no one else in your vicinity to threaten your territory

mark laughs at you trying to get to the table as fast as you could without all out running

getting out your things, you send a photo of your seat to your roommate and tell mark to send it to his roommate as well so they know where to find you

you start watching the lecture online while taking notes and since you’re not in the lecture theatre you can talk more audibly with mark not that you don’t talk in the actual lecture too,,

maybe you do text a lot,,, during class

mark usually says things like “.. implications of what now?? interpretation of huh?” to which you reply “i want cheese when i get home”

and he has to stifle his laughter while you keep your straight face and continue writing your notes he admires this ability ngl

and so while you’re watching it on your computer

you can say things like “fuck. i want pickles”

and mark will /throw himself back/ and cackle and probably say some shit like “DIDN’T YOU HATE PICKLES??” between his giggles

and you’re like “yeah. fuck pickles but like. fuck. pickles”

he almost falls off his chair at this point

but when he balances himself again he spots someone down the corridor and wave them over

“oii! over here dude”

you turn to glance at them to expect his roommate, but you see your own roommate talking to someone and wave her over as well

“heYY my/n”

you see the other person turn to your roommate and tell her something, , then she says something back

which is apparently shocking to them, because he glances over at mark and then at you

and then he looks again when your roommate points straight at you

to which you’re like ?? hi? y u look me

and then they both start laughing

you wonder if they were laughing at you or smth until mark’s like “tf is that idiot doing”

and u look at him like ? what idiot

“that idiot. the idiot roommate i told u about. the one who called u a homewrecker”

and you’re like

wait

[info clog]

wait

[error]

“wait”

“what”

“that’s your roommate?” u point at the boy next to my/n, who r both still laughing at something going all “wOW r u KIDDING” he has a loud voice

and mark’s like “? yeah”

and you go

“.. the girl next to him is my roommate”

mark: “wait what”

that’s what she said

at that point they’ve made their way over to the table, still trying to hold in their laughter

you start to introduce your roommate to mark, who’s still confused by the situation

you: “mark, this is my/n, my/n this is mark”

my/n: “nice to see you again mark”

you: “wait. again?”

mark: “yeah we’ve met. hi my/n”

you: “what”

mark: “yeah”

my/n: “yeah”

his roommate: “yeah”

you:

you: “i feeling like i’m missing something here”

turns out

surprise surprise

that one friend that my/n had made in her biology class was mark’s roommate oh my god they were roommates

whose name, you are told, is lee donghyuk

magical moment

us watching: heh 🤤

u can’t help but do a lil body scan from head to toe bc he a fine piece of cake we all know that

honey skin, oversized white t shirt, black pants, sneakers and lighter brown hair that looks fluffy the type of fluffy that makes u wanna touch it

yes he’s good looking. yes

yaaaaas

then mark tells him your name

“she’s the one i said reminded me of you”

“r u talking abt me behind my back marcus??”

donghyuk laughs and holds out a hand for you to shake

“what kinda coincidence is this?? i adopt your roommate, you’re dealing with mine”

“oh you’re gonna have to get in line to adopt her, i’m her legal guardian, sorry donghyuk”

to which he goes

“lmfao then we’ll both be her parents”

“k but i’ll keep her on the weekends. you see her on the weekdays”

then he wipes his smile off his face and he’s like “who said we’re split”

mark and my/n are doing the /MANIACAL LAUGHTER/ at this point

mark: “so ,, seriously what are the chances”

you: “this quartet,, it’s fate guys it’s fate there’s no way about it”

yes it is. yes. it is

even that four seater table was free because of fate

donghyuk: “this calls for drinks later. we all free? no 9am classes tmr?”

my/n: “we have a physics prac at 8:30 dingus”

donghyuk: “ah shit”

you barely got any notes for that lecture for at least an hour because you end up talking altogether throughout the session but once you remember you’re in a library to study you request a ceasefire and agree to study for a bit which,, you gotta admit ,, isn’t really productive because you’re so excited to meet someone new

but the best part about the day was when you notice how many times mark is glancing at your roommate while she’s reviewing her notes, completely oblivious

donghyuk complains that he’s hungry after another hour or two and you suggest you all have dinner together

donghyuk leans back in his chair in a stretch, his jumper lifting up a little over his jeans and showing a bit of his belly “ah i’m craving chinese”

you perk up, “mE TOO”

so you all go to your favourite chinese place just outside campus where you find out that mark and my/n have the same taste and so do you and donghyuk

he points and u and goes “oH?”

“jjAMPPONG? U TOO?”

“the ONLY DISH EVER”

mark and my/n: jjajang is fine : )

you and donghyuk: “JJAMPPONG IS SUPERIOR”

give him a bro five with the shoulder bump and everything

the boys walk you and my/n back to your dorm afterwards

donghyuk and my/n end up walking in a pair and mark walks alongside you

mark mentions how it’d be fun if you made a group chat together

you: “do it”

“i don’t have your roommate’s number tho”

you’re smiling wickedly at his reaction “?? ASK HER FOR IT”

“dude what?? no u make one and i’ll add donghyuk to it”

“bRO JUST ASK”

“wHAT NO U DO IT THEN”

so u go

bet

and you call out the two biomed kids walking in front of you

“hey donghyuk! give me your number i’ll make a group chat”

“sure lol” and you open up a new contact to let him type his number into your phone

he saves his name as hot boi hyuk ✌🏻

which you just leave bc you’re busy making the group chat

mark is still astounded that you asked donghyuk for his number so easily

you: hi hello good day

my/n 🌸: yeetus meetus

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: bow before me

you: here before me lie the beginnings of a new era

you: one born from blood and stone

my/n 🌸: tf is she saying

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: idk but lets go with it

you: together we rise from the rubble and sort through the debris

hot boi hyuk ✌🏻: yas queen

my/n 🌸: i hate this gc already

you: and we WILL REBUILD THIS EMPIRE

read by marcus the fool 🤡 at 8:21 pm

safe to say you stay up for a good while talking on that group chat while mark just sits idle,,

you honestly don’t know if he’s consciously reading or not maybe he just left his phone on the chat

and thus our quartet is complete,,

and they all lived

happily ever after

but this isn’t the ending tho is it

wink wonk /waggles eyebrows/

this is but the epilogue to the prologue

that doesn’t make sense but n e ways

our quartet has not yet become two pairings

y’all just don’t know what the future has in store for you :)

click here to meet your soulmate, eng lit!mark!

II ⇤ | III | ⇥ IV

taglist: @lavellanfriendliness​ 

shoot me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future parts!

[master-sass-blast]

Announcement for the CHC -11/1/2019

Okay, so, here’s the thing.

Some of you may not know this, but I do not work or go to school. A couple years ago, I suffered from a near total breakdown of my mental and physical health, and as such I had to put everything on hold to focus on stabilizing and getting better.

In that time, I really came into my own with writing fanfiction, especially for the Colossus Hyperfixation Collection. I love doing it; it’s one of my favorite things.

However, since I’m finally getting better, I need to try and at least get my career back on track. I was working on writing a novel before my health spiraled, and I still want to get it finished and try to get it published. I also have a massive series and novel-verse entailed with that novel that I want to do, along with some e-reader stories that I want to try my hand at.

The only way I’ve ever been able to post once a week for this series is because I’ve literally had nothing else going in my life. It’s been fun, and at times challenging, but... my life is changing. And that means that I won’t be able to post as often.

None of that is easy for me to admit. I have OCD, which means that any sort of deviation from my routine is very distressing for me. I’ve been keeping this schedule for over a year, so I’m sure you can imagine how deeply ingrained it is in my head.

I also don’t know what my new posting schedule is going to look like in the wake of getting back to living life and doing adult things --which is also not comfortable for my OCD. The CHC is not going away, by any means; I intend to see it through to the end of its story because I love it dearly. I’m just not sure how fast that story is going to be told after a certain point.

This change will be coming at the beginning of 2020, since that’s the time marker I set for myself to try and step back into being a professional novelist. I’ll be posting as usual up until then, but after that... we’re just going to have to see where the chips fall. The schedule will be dependent on my health and capacity first, time available second. Just because you have “time” doesn’t mean you should necessarily spend it in certain ways.

Thank you all in advance for understanding and bearing with me while I get this all figured out. This is a challenging time for me, with my OCD and whatnot, and I appreciate your patience as I try to navigate the next part of my journey.

However, since we’re about at the halfway point of the CHC (at least as far as storytelling goes, if not fic count), I thought it’d be a good time to introduce some fic concepts I’ve been toying with for a while to y’all! They’ll be listed under the cut with little descriptions and their respective “main” pairing(s). Feel free to peruse the list, and if anything strikes your fancy, let me know via reblogging, commenting, sending in an ask, and/or DM-ing me! (Hopefully, Tumblr will be nice and let me see everything.)

[Also, these aren’t all the fics I’ve been toying with, just the ones I feel most confident/passionate about. I also reserve the right to strike any of these fics from the list in the future depending on my interest and ability at the time.]

Something Wicked This Way Comes -Piotr Rasputin x Reader: Piotr winds up meeting and dating the Reader who, unbeknownst to him, is a reincarnation of Baba Yaga and operates as a vigilante in Hell’s Kitchen. He also keeps his identity as a mutant and X-Man a secret from the Reader due to fear of persecution (and also plot drama). Shit hits the fan when they discover each other’s secret identities --and then again when it’s revealed that an ancient goddess is meddling in the affairs of Hell’s Kitchen with intentions for evil. It’s up to the X-Force, the Reader, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, and the Punisher to save the day before it’s too late. (Piotr’s POV; features Frank Castle x Karen Page, Matt Murdock x Elektra Natchios, and Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson. Would probably be around 15-20 chapters.)

High School/Non-Mutant AU -Piotr Rasputin x Reader: Begins at start of sophomore year and follows through until senior year/after senior year. Follows Reader as she recovers from car accident wherein she lost both her parents and adjusts to living in New York and with her uncle. Reader meets Piotr, a Russian transfer student, in class and assigned to him as a study partner. The two initially butt heads, but eventually manage to resolve their differences and become friends. Piotr loops the Reader into his friend group (featuring Wade, Nathan, Neena, Karen Page, and Frank Castle), and the group spends the rest of high school going on adventures together and dealing with school. The Reader and Piotr also develop feelings for each other, but will they ever be brave enough to act on them? (Yes, yes they will. Reader’s POV; features Frank Castle x Karen Page and Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson. Would probably be around 30-40 chapters.)

Cinderella/Non-Mutant Retelling -Piotr Rasputin x Reader: Essentially Cinderella, but with a lot of liberties taken and extra plot jammed in. Set somewhere in Russia-ish, don’t ask me what time period. (Reader’s POV; would probably be around 12-14 chapters.)

Storyteller/Non-Mutant -Piotr Rasputin x Reader: The Reader, after dealing with too much stress while living in New York, decides to head to Maine for a multi-month sabbatical to work on her latest novel. The house she rents in next to an artist and teacher’s named Piotr Rasputin. The Reader, despite being eccentric and awkward, manages to charm Piotr with her quirky behavior, and the two wind up becoming fast friends. Set during winter, lots of fireside fluff, very meta oops. (Reader’s POV; feeling around 18 chapters but I could be wrong.)

Mafia/Non-Mutant AU -Piotr Rasputin x Reader: Aka the one I reserve the right not to do because of how much sin will be in it, but essentially: the Reader is a sex worker who meets Piotr when he hires Nathan and Wade for some mercenary work. The two decide to strike up a “professional” relationship --meaning he hires her for sex and they have a lot of it. Over the course of the story, the two grow closer and closer together, until they finally wind up in a relationship of sorts. Unfortunately, Hell’s Kitchen isn’t even a safe place for the Wicked, what with vigilantes looming around every corner. (Reader’s POV; features Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson and Frank Castle x Karen Page. Easily over 30 chapters.)

If You Get Yourself a Duckling -Frank Castle x Karen Page: Probably the one I’ve talked most about on my blog. Essentially, Frank Castle winds up accidentally adopting a murder!kid who then helps him get together with Karen. Follows the events after Season 2 of Daredevil, the events of the Punisher Seasons One and Two, Season 3 of Daredevil, and my take on Season 3 of the Punisher/Season Four of Daredevil, and yes in that order because I want Frank around when Bullseye shows up. Also has two different “after” stories attached to it, so this one’s a chonker. (Frank Castle POV.)

Rock Star/Music Critic AU -Frank Castle x Karen Page: Frank Castle is a frontman for a rock band, Karen is a music critic/journalist. The two meet through Karen’s work and hit it off. The story follows their relationship as it buds and blossoms. (Mixed POV; either 15 chapters or over 40, no way of telling until I write it.)

Close to Home -Frank Castle x Karen Page: Frank and Karen reconnect after the events of Season Two of the Punisher and try to work together (along with Matt and Foggy) to solve a string of mob-perpetrated crimes and catch whoever’s behind them. However, the true mastermind of the crimes is much closer than they ever realized... and seems to be gunning for Karen. (Frank POV; probably around 20 chapters.)

Stripper!Reader Fic -Frank Castle x Reader: The Reader is a stripper who works at one of the clubs that Frank cleans the Irish out of in Season Two of Daredevil. The two wind up running into each other several times and helping each other with various problems. Eventually, they develop a camaraderie (and feelings for each other). (Frank’s POV; definitely over 30 chapters. This one also has two AU fics based on the main fic... so yeah.) 

Your Love is My Drug -Frank Castle x Reader: The Reader is a friend of Jessica Jones and is introduced to Frank Castle --whereupon she realizes he’s her soulmate. However, the Reader is certain that he’ll want nothing to do with her due to her issues with substance abuse and her family’s history as a “mob” type family. She does her best to stay away from him and her demons, but she can’t outrun either of them forever. (Reader’s POV; definitely over 30 chapters.)

[megarowlet]

Think Me Beautiful

A Yuri!!! on Ice Fanfiction

Pairing: Viktuuri Summary: Some people's words give them a hint as to who their soulmate is. Some can tell just based on the timing of the words' appearance on their skin. Viktor's soulmate could be anyone around the world who watched his winning Junior World Championships skate broadcast when he was 16. And over a decade later, he still has no idea who they could be. Read at: ffnet / AO3

AU where words appear on your arm saying the first thing your soulmate thinks about you when they see you for the first time. I added a mechanic where the words naturally fade over time but continue to respond to touch: appearing when the owner touches the skin there, disappearing when the soulmate touches it. Because Plot Device™ and also because people like me would never wear short sleeves again if the words were always visible. 

Original Prompt

Translated into Chinese

Viktor was 16 when he received his words. The thrill of competition made him not realize it for a while, but as he got changed out of his costume after winning gold at the Junior World Championships, he noticed a slight itchy feeling on his left arm and found his skin marked by a line of words written neatly in his own handwriting: "Wow, he's amazing. Beautiful." The thoughts of his soulmate seeing him for the first time, written on the soft skin of his forearm.

Viktor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Finally, he had a soulmate, but that soulmate could be any of millions of skating fans around the world who'd watched his performance. Others' words often served as clues so they could find each other; of course Viktor wouldn't be so lucky.

So he decided to keep the words hidden. Words naturally faded with time, only reappearing when one passed their hand over them, the touch revealing the markings. So Viktor just never touched that part of his arm. Not in his choreography, not for curious reporters, not even in front of inquiring rinkmates. His soulmate could be anyone, so Viktor showed his words to no one.

As he got older, the media speculated. Viktor, have you received your words? Viktor, is there a reason you're hiding your soulmate? Viktor, is the reason you refuse to reveal your words because you don't have a soulmate? Viktor, Viktor, Viktor.

He ignored all of them with a wink and a smile. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I prefer to keep that my own business. It's much more fun that way, isn't it?"

He kept his fans close, flirting indiscriminately. His soulmate would be able to find him, he figured. Surely, they'd come find him. If he interacted with everyone who approached him, aggressively thinking his name at them, eventually one of them was bound to be his soulmate. Right?

A decade passed.

Viktor threw himself into skating to stave off the loneliness. But he was getting old for a competitive figure skater, and no matter how many gold medals he won or how many fans he greeted, he couldn't find his soulmate. Some had approached him, sure, but in the end it was obvious their words were the thoughts of someone who wasn't Viktor.

"I'm thinking of retiring after this season," he told Yakov during warmups before the Grand Prix Finals one year.

Yakov shot him a sharp glare. "You're skating the short program in a little while; keep your mind on your program."

Viktor took a long swig of water and handed the bottle back to Yakov. "I can multitask, you know."

"No you can't. Hurry and finish warming up. And don't think about useless things. We can talk about it once the finals are over."

"Yes, yes," Viktor said, heading back out to the rink. He ran through part of his step sequence, jumped a clean triple loop. He felt the cameras following him, knowing that his every movement, every nuance of his facial expression was being analyzed by announcers around the world. He was, after all, Viktor Nikiforov. And Viktor always put on the perfect show.

A loud yelp came from the wall, and Viktor turned to see one of his competitors land on his butt, his coach on the other side of the wall clearly surprised. The same skater had done a gorgeous step sequence only moments ago while Viktor was taking a drink, and Viktor trained his eye on the skater's jacket to try and recognize who they were. It was his first time seeing a Japanese skater at the Grand Prix in several years. The country had sort of fallen off Viktor's radar for a bit, but he might have to start paying attention again. Good for Japan.

The Japanese skater's coach seemed to be Celestino, who was fussing over him in English. "Yuuri, what happened? Why did you suddenly— Wait, did you just get your words?!"

Now that got the attention of everyone on the rink. The entire group of skaters stopped and turned to stare. Murmurs echoed among the audience who peered curiously to see what was happening on the ice.

Viktor felt a vague pang near his heart as he remembered his own words. Hopefully this skater would be more lucky than Viktor was, though he really didn't envy the way the skater's words appeared so publicly. Viktor was sort of glad it had taken him so long to notice his own; the attention he'd have gotten if such vague words were shown publicly was something he'd worked hard to avoid.

"Congratulations, Yuuri!" Chris called from behind Viktor. Viktor looked at him as he skated by.

"You know him?" he asked.

Chris stopped and turned. "Yeah, Yuuri Katsuki, the top skater from Japan. Really, Viktor, there's a limit to how ignorant you can be of your own competition. A privilege of being the best, I suppose."

"My attentions have been elsewhere his season," Viktor admitted. He'd been absorbed in his own loneliness and self-pity lately as his age crept up on him. It was pathetic, he knew, but so long as he kept winning gold it didn't matter what he spent his free time doing. If he spent his time moping around in his apartment alone with Makkachin, then so be it.

Back with Katsuki, it seemed he'd gotten over his shock somewhat and was talking to the others gathered around him. The auditorium was buzzing with excitement, but a hush came over the crowd as everyone's ears strained to hear the words this skater had received on live television before an international competition.

At the prodding of his coach and the other skaters, in careful English, he read them aloud, face burning: "Haven't seen him around before. Nice step sequence. He's beautiful."

Viktor's heart dropped to his stomach. No. No way. Right? There was no way. Sure, he'd noticed Katsuki a few minutes ago while observing his competitors' warmups and thought pretty much the same thing, but those words could've been thought by anyone. It wasn't him. He wouldn't get his hopes up.

Beside him, he could hear Chris trying to talk to him, but he didn't register a single word. His eyes could only see Yuuri Katsuki. His ears could only hear Katsuki's frantic stuttering about how those words could've been anyone, it didn't mean anything.

"Viktor, so you did get your words," Chris said, and Viktor realized he'd pulled up his jacket sleeve and had been been absently rubbing at his forearm. The words were clearly visible thanks to that, the Russian much neater now that Viktor was older and his handwriting more legible, but otherwise exactly the same.

"Ah, I…yeah. Many, many years ago," Viktor said.

"What's it say? You've always been so secretive about it."

"It says that I'm amazing. And beautiful."

Chris whistled. "High praise."

"I noticed it after my Junior World Championships win. It could be anyone who watched the Championships, so I didn't want to talk about it publicly."

"Knowing how some of your fans are, not a bad idea. Why'd you show them now? You know some fan with a camera already has closeups. Feeling more open about it now that Yuuri got his like this?"

"No, I just…" Viktor frowned, not wanting to voice that traitorous hope squirming in his stomach. Yes, he was secretly hoping his soulmate was a man, but that didn't mean he had to pin his hopes on the first guy whose words seemed remotely plausible as having come from Viktor. It was mostly women who approached him, so he was getting a little overexcited. That was all.

Meanwhile, Chris seemed to be piecing together the reason for Viktor's distracted state. "Viktor, don't tell me you…"

"Don't get my hopes up," Viktor snapped, turning to Chris angrily. "Please."

Chris just grinned, a slow smile that crept across his face. "Holy shit. Holy fucking shit."

"Chris, just because it's similar to what I thought…I mean, it's not possible, it's been a decade, I don't think—"

"Viktor, oh my god."

"Viktor got his, too? Today's warmups are just full of surprises," JJ said, skating over and peering curiously at Viktor's arm.

"A long time ago," Viktor said hurriedly, hiding them under his sleeve. "They're really old."

"JJ, you've talked to Yuuri before, right? Didn't he become a fan of Viktor after the Junior World Championships?" Chris said.

JJ shrugged. "I wouldn't know. We're not close."

"Chris, that doesn't mean anything."

"But it might. Yuuri's words are what you thought about him, right?"

"Chris…"

"Hey, Yuuri!"

Viktor let out a long sigh. He was really hoping to keep the whole soulmate issue private until he'd sorted it out himself. So much for that.

Viktor watched as Chris sidled up to Katsuki, whispering things into his ear. Katsuki protested vehemently, but Chris's pushiness won in the end, and soon Katsuki was being propelled toward Viktor as the whole auditorium and probably the entire skating community worldwide watched with increasing fervor.

Chris was grinning ear to ear. "Viktor, meet your #1 fan. Became a world-class figure skater chasing you. Isn't that right, Yuuri?"

"Chris!" Katsuki protested. He turned to Viktor, face flushed and panicked. "I'm Katsuki Yuuri. Err, Yuuri Katsuki. You inspired me a lot growing up, so I'm a fan. It's really so nice to meet you."

Viktor's eyes landed on the Japanese writing on Katsuki's arm. When Katsuki noticed Viktor staring, he subtly turned his arm to hide it.

"Chris, what you're saying is impossible," Katsuki muttered, gripping his left arm tightly.

"You never know until you try, right? Viktor over here seemed pretty shaken when you read your words aloud."

"Viktor doesn't have his words, though," Katsuki protested. He looked cautiously at Viktor. "…right?"

His heart pounding, Viktor pulled his track suit sleeve back up, revealing the words he'd rubbed into visibility only a minute ago. "They appeared the day of my Junior World Championship win. It says I'm amazing and beautiful. It could've been anybody."

Viktor didn't miss the way Katsuki's expression shifted. "Chris, he's right. That could've been anyone. I don't even remember what I thought back then, only that he was—" He stopped himself. "Anyway, it could've been anyone, not just me!"

"But it also could've been you," Chris said. "And Viktor here," Chris pointed at Viktor, "seems to have noticed you for the first time by watching your step sequence just now. Why he didn't know who you were until today is another issue entirely, but if those words on your arm are exactly the same as his thoughts upon seeing you for the first time, it's worth a try, right?"

"You're trying way too hard to play matchmaker, Chris," JJ said. "Let them figure it out themselves."

"What? Apparently Viktor's been keeping his words secret for over a decade, so he's not going to make the first move, and I know Yuuri well enough not to trust him to take initiative either. I'm just helping two friends out."

"Thanks, Chris, but I really don't think it's necessary," Katsuki said quietly. He looked up at Viktor with wide, sad, yet hopeful eyes. Viktor's pulse quickened. If it were anyone else, Viktor would have thought him ordinary, but for some reason this man was almost too attractive for Viktor to handle. Maybe it was just Chris's words getting to him, but he felt drawn to the skater in front of him. But it couldn't be, right?

Slowly, Viktor readjusted his sleeve, pushing it the rest of the way past his elbow so it stayed clear of his words, and held out his left arm as if offering a handshake. Since it had come to this, might as well make the leap.

"Want to try?"

Katsuki's eyes widened. He scrambled to push his own sleeve back. "S-sure," he said, voice shaking.

Viktor's heart pounded in his ears as he and Katsuki gripped each other's arms below the elbow and slowly pulled back, sliding their hands down to the wrist.

"No fucking way," JJ whispered.

Viktor felt tears start to fall.

Yuuri's touch had wiped away the words on Viktor's arm, as Viktor's had for Yuuri's.

"Viktor…" Yuuri mumbled, staring in awe at their bare arms. He grabbed Viktor's hands and forced him to reveal his words again. Then Yuuri's own hand wiped them away. Again and again.

"Congrats, Viktor, Yuuri," Chris said, self-satisfied grin on his face. "Looks like you two found your soulmates."

"Yuuri!" Viktor cried, leaping at Yuuri and throwing his arms around him. "Why did you never approach me? Why did I never see you? I'm so sorry, Yuuri. I'm so sorry."

"Viktor…" Yuuri's hands hesitantly patted Viktor's back.

"This is so great. I'm so glad. I finally found you. I finally found you." He squeezed Yuuri tightly, then pushed back to look into his eyes. "I'm not going to go easy on you today just because we're soulmates, though."

"I-I wasn't expecting you to," Yuuri said, surprised. He smiled. "I won't go easy on you, either," he said.

Viktor beamed. "That's my Yuuri!"

Chris thumped Yuuri on the back, and he stumbled into Viktor's arms. "Neither will I. You're up first, aren't you, Yuuri? Warmups are basically over, so I hope you're ready."

"Oh god," Yuuri whispered, reality setting in quickly. During all this excitement, the clock had been ticking.

Viktor pulled him into a tight hug. "I believe in you, Yuuri. I haven't paid much attention to my competitors recently, I'll admit, but your skating earlier caught my eye more than anyone else here."

"That's just because we're s…soulmates," Yuuri said.

Viktor frowned. "Hmm, I wonder."

"Viktor!" It was Yakov. "Viktor, get off the ice! I don't care what happened with your words, I expect you to be focused and win today. Got it? Warmups are over, get over here!"

Viktor released Yuuri. "My coach is calling me. Good luck, Yuuri."

Yuuri nodded, still seeming a little shell-shocked by the turn of events. "Yeah. Thanks. Uh, you too."

Viktor beamed brilliantly.

"Vitya!"

"Oops! See you on the podium, okay?" He winked, relishing in the way Yuuri blushed. Honestly, he should've watched broadcasts of the other competitions instead of being so absorbed in his own mind. Just because he'd never skated on the same ice as Yuuri before didn't give him an excuse to have never noticed this adorably handsome man. All these years, he'd been missing out on so much!

"Viktor!" Yuuri's voice called out behind him, and he turned with a smile. Yuuri had composed his expression, a fierce determination in his eyes. Viktor's heart skipped a beat. Oh. "Please watch me," Yuuri said. Then he'd turned and headed back to his coach for some last words before his turn on the ice.

Viktor watched after him a moment before finally heeding Yakov's increasingly irritated shouts. He'd been distancing himself from his competitors recently, caught up in his own mind, but now that Yuuri had drawn his attention, he wasn't sure he'd ever be able to look away.

He looked at the words on his arm, simple compliments he'd spent many hours staring at over the years, now filled with new meaning. He pressed his lips to his forearm, ignoring Yakov's lecturing at his side.

"Nice to meet you, Yuuri," he murmured. "Yakov?"

Yakov paused his lecture to give Viktor a stern glare. "What?"

"Put my retirement discussion on hold for now," Viktor said. He put a finger to his lips and grinned. "I might have another year in me after all."

Yakov fumed. "Oy, Viktor, you can't just…Viktor, are you listening?"

Katsuki Yuuri. His soulmate. His soulmate. He had a soulmate.

This skating season was going to be a good one.