#gt soulmates

[the-hidden-posts-gt]

Sunny & Gideon (Part 2)

Borrower short story (turning into a series) based on a dream I had where the Giant and Tiny switch bodies

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sidebar 1 | Part 4 (WIP)

Sorry it’s been awhile I had finals and I’m just now getting back into relaxing and writing. Though, I was actually worried my brain was going to refused to give me the dopamine necessary to keep going with this, but I’m happy to say that is not the case! Almost all of this chapter was from Gideon’s POV, so I hope you will like him. I’m honestly not sure why, it’s just how this one shook out.

And another thing: Sunny is non-binary, idk if I made that clear in the first part.

POV Gideon

The hand I was in was shaking. The muscles underneath me were tense and stiff, like they were trying, rather unsuccessfully, not to jostle me rather.

I couldn’t see the ground from where I sat, but there were gaps in between the fingers that hid me from the world. I focused on the ceiling, and based on what little I could see of the walls, I was being carried to my room.

Then a loud boom sounded. Instinctively, I covered my ears and pulled my legs closer to me, before realizing it was probably the door closing.

The hand interrupting my view of the outside world, lifted away and I was met once again with my face. It looked strange somehow, but I couldn’t place why. The hand I was sitting in lifted upwards, on to the dresser.

The massive columns surrounding me, flattened out, allowing me the freedom to leave the massive hand. I scrambled off carefully, but as soon as I was on a stable surface, I broke ino a sprint.

Once I was safely behind the lamp on my dresser, I was able to take a moment to breathe. 10. In. 9. Out. 8. In. 7. Out. I continued the pattern until the roaring in my ears finally ceased.

When I finally plucked up the courage to, I peaked out from behind the body of the lamp, only to be met with the giant imposter eyes, staring straight into my soul. I quickly turned back around, heart race once more.

They had my blocky chin, my round nose, and my almond-shaped eyes. All of which, were now massive. Is this how Sunny sees me? My stomach churned once more, as my mind attempted to comprehend everything, but I was able to quiet it down with one thought. I need to find them. They’d know what to do.

“Is this real?” whispered the imposter, more to themselves than to me. Then after an awkward moment of silence, “Gideon!? Is that you?” This time directing their questions at me, just a little louder than before. Well now I had to respond.

“Who else would I be?” I called, my sarcasm refusing to let up.

“Well … me.” There was a long pause and then a small surprised “Oh.” And a louder, “Sorry, I meant, you look like Sunny.”

What was that even supposed to mean? I searched the back of the dresser. How does Sunny get off the dresser? I’d honestly never seen them climbing it before, they would just show up when they wanted to hang out. It makes sense, Sunny was 5 inches tall, and had spent most of their life sneaking around, that is, before we met.

I eyed the wire snaking to back and down the dresser. A feeling of malaise settled over me as I contemplated climbing down, only to have my contemplation interrupted.

“I’m sorry that I grabbed you.” The imposter said and when I peaked out from behind the lamp they looked genuinely sorry. “I- um- I don’t know. I know I shouldn’t have, and it’s terrifying! I panicked. I- well, you probably didn’t want your roommate seeing you.” Their eyes were downcast and their fingers were fiddling with the edge of their t-shirt. I immediately recognized the gesture, but it felt weird, very out of place. As I stared trying to remember where I’d seen that before, I realized that the dark blue short sleeve shirt they’re wearing is mine! In fact, I remember putting it on this morning.

I glanced down at my own clothing and was shocked to see a crocheted sweater, made of super thick yarn. It looked a lot like a larger copy of the one Sunny likes to wear. Wait! If Sunny’s size, then, not copy!?

It was like my critical thinking skills had finally started rebooting and I found myself staring down at my hands. They were not the hands I’d come to know and tolerate.

There was a forlorn sigh on the opposite side of the barrier I’d put between me and … myself, or whoever that was. I opted to ignore it for now, as there were no offensive gestures being made. I focused instead on the current predicament, and the reality I refused to accept. At least, I need a little more evidence just to prove I wasn’t insane or unconscious. My fingers pulling now in my hair, I could tell it was short and pretty straight, a lot like mine, but as I pulled it down over my forehead to inspect the color, I was presented with two shades of brown, one a bit more orange than the other.

As I made this discovery, the giant moved and from my vantage point it looked as though they were walking away.

“Wait!” I yelled, not entirely sure if I wanted to be heard, but as I said it, having connected at least some dots, confidence pushed me out from behind my hiding spot.

The figure turned their head back towards me, and their eyes glistened with hope, and before I could regret it, the regular sized- by my previous standards anyway- person said something insane.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think this could happen with a Bean.”

POV Sunny

“Sunny?” questioned the borrower hesitantly, standing in front of me staring wide eyed at my face, before parroting my own sentiments upon realizing our current predicament. “Is this real?”

“Yes,” I replied, “… I think so.” I lifted my hand and pinched my bicep for good measure, and was 1 part relieved, and 2 parts surprised that it did actually hurt.

“I need a mirror!” Gideon exclaimed, tiny arms now rested expectantly on his hips. It was both worrying and intensely cute. “And then you are going to explain what you meant by ‘didn’t think this could happen.’”

***

Part 3

Lore foreshadowing! 😈😈😈

Also, bc Gideon is currently in Sunny’s body and Sunny is in Gideon’s body I’m using their respective pronouns for the bodies they are currently inhabiting. When I refer to Gideon in Sunny’s body with the pronouns he/him that is not me putting masculine pronouns on Sunny. Sunny’s current pronouns are they/them.

[tinyundercover]

pepper & felix

part one

In this universe, when a person turns 21, they gain the ability to communicate with their soulmate telepathically. For the borrower Pepper, this turns out to be quite a shock. MASTERPOST word count: 2.9k

“Can you hear me?”

The words floated around Pepper’s mind for a moment, soft and fuzzy as if he was hearing them from a distance. 

“Hello? Can you hear this?”

Pepper spun in a circle, searching for the source of the strange voice, but he was completely alone in the secluded area under a floorboard. He tensed up, briefly remembering a myth he had been told as a child, of soulmates and telepathic connections. He hadn’t thought it had been real, but…

“I’ll just try again later.”

After that, the voice went quiet, and the fuzzy feeling in Pepper’s mind vanished. He spent the next few seconds staring around at his surroundings, heart heavy. Once he was certain that he was completely alone, he tightened his grip on his satchel and continued his trek back home.

He could worry about the messages after he rationed out his food for the week.

—

The second time Pepper’s mind was filled with someone’s else’s voice, he felt more prepared.

The wiry black-haired borrower was sitting in his hammock, a thick piece of fabric being held up by two push pins in the wall. He had been absentmindedly scribbling in his journal when he heard it.

“Hello?”

Pepper bit his lip. He briefly thought back to the myth, stomach currently twisting in knots.

“It’s me. Your soulmate.”

A chill settled into Pepper’s stomach, and he drew his knees closer to his chest. 

“Um, if you want to talk back, just interlock your fingers and press them to your chest. And then I’ll be able to hear you.”

Pepper didn’t really understand how moving his hands somehow would allow this mystery voice to hear him, but he knew that being heard was not something borrowers wanted. He drew his bottom lip into his mouth, vaguely wondering if he was going crazy.

The voice had gone quiet for a moment, clearly waiting for him to respond.

Pepper could hear the disappointment as the voice said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. I don’t even know if you can hear this. But, I just wanted to say hi. We’re… We’re soulmates.”

Soulmates? Pepper swallowed hard. Most borrowers go their whole lives without seeing more than fifty others of their kind, and they needed to be incredibly lucky to find someone they liked enough to start a relationship with. The idea that there was another borrower out there, that was supposedly “perfect” for Pepper, was astounding.

What if his soulmate was hundreds of miles away, hiding somewhere across the country? Pepper would never be able to meet them. 

“I just turned twenty-one a few days ago. You know, soulmate-connection age. Oh… maybe you’re not twenty-one yet and that’s why you can’t hear me. This is a little embarrassing, then. But I guess if you’re not listening, it doesn’t matter, right?”

Pepper was struggling to follow. He himself was twenty-two. You had to be at least twenty-one to communicate with your soulmate, then?

“I like to sing. I’ve always thought that my soulmate would maybe be a singer too. Or maybe not. I just get the feeling that you are artsy, too, you know?”

The borrower shifted in his hammock, peering down at the journal in his hands. He had ripped up thick sheets of paper and sewn them together with thread. He supposed he did enjoy making things.

“Are you artsy?”

The voice had lifted up a little, clearly hopeful that Pepper would respond. The borrower didn’t move an inch.

“...That’s okay. I’ll tune in later. Remember— interlocked hands on your chest. If you wanna talk.”

Pepper was left in silence. His small chest heaved with uneasy breaths, while tan arms hugged his journal close to his torso. 

Despite his apprehension, it was kind of nice to hear about his… “soulmate.” His soulmate might even be sort of brave, considering the fact that he is apparently a singer. Pepper hadn’t met a single borrower that felt comfortable enough to even speak loudly, let alone identify themselves as a singer. A strange feeling of appreciation wormed its way into Pepper’s chest. Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

Maybe it’s just nice to hear from someone, the borrower concluded. He had lived alone in the walls of this apartment for a little over two years, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had had a real conversation with someone. 

A smile settling over his face, Pepper continued doodling in his journal.

—

“Hey. My sister came to visit today.”

Pepper nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around, tiny hands clutched around a grape twice the size of his head. When he realized that he was alone in the kitchen, he relaxed microscopically.

“She just wanted to stop by to wish me a belated happy birthday. And she made me a bracelet, which is so sweet! I moved out a few years ago, and since we’re both so busy it’s hard to see each other. It was really nice.”

Pepper’s mind wandered to his own sister. She was a few years older than him, but they could be twins, sharing tan skin and shaggy black hair, two dark features that every borrower wished to have. Basil, Pepper's sister, had moved out when Pepper was fourteen. He had seen her twice since then, on the rare occasion she was able to stop home and say hi.

He really did understand his soulmate. If his hands weren’t holding the grape, he might have considered saying so.

“I don’t have any roommates, or anything, so I’m alone a lot.”

Pepper was trekking across the counter, one arm holding the grape to his hip. He reached the edge, where his hook was latched onto the smooth surface.

“I’m an introvert, so it’s fine, but it’s definitely nice to hear from the people that I care about. You know?”

It only took a few seconds for Pepper to slide all the way to the floor, carefully holding the grape in one arm to prevent it from falling. 

“My sister asked me if I had heard from my soulmate, now that I’m twenty-one. She’s really into the soulmate thing, but she’s only eighteen, so she has to wait. Anyways, I told her that I had reached out to you, but I think you might be younger than me, and you can’t hear me, maybe. Or you’re just shy?”

Pepper found the crack at the base of the counter and eased his way through, yanking his hook and his grape with him. He was met by a familiar darkness, and he subconsciously relaxed in the safety of the walls.

“Anyways, well… It’s late, and I should probably get some sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Pepper murmured, wishing he had the strength to truly say it back.

—

It had been a week since Pepper had first heard from his soulmate. Since then, the soft voice had entered his mind a total of five times— chatting about his sister, sometimes, or his favorite songs. Pepper was always left with a fondness, followed by a feeling of guilt, that he was ignoring his brave soulmate for the safety of his own comfort.

He was afraid that he would fall in love with this person. He would tell them all of his secrets and thoughts and desires, only to learn that they were miles and miles apart. Hell, even if his soulmate lived down the street, they would still be out of reach for a borrower.

But— why give up before even trying? Was it really that harmful to say hello?

So, Pepper pressed his shaky hands against his chest, feeling the pounding of his heart. He closed his eyes, focusing on the fuzziness in the back of his mind, tuning in. “Hello? Are you there?”

He felt his own heartbeat quicken as a voice immediately responded, bright and ecstatic.

“Yes! Hello! Oh my gosh!”

Pepper let out a sharp breath, a mix of a gasp and a laugh. Biting his tongue, he tried again. “It’s… nice to meet you. I’ve been wanting to talk back to you, but… I don’t know, I get scared every time. Um, yeah. I’m Pepper…”

Something strange happened, when he tried to say his name. He knew that he was saying “Pepper,” but as he did so, static had filled his mind, clouding the word.

“Oh! I guess you didn’t know. Soulmate telepathy doesn’t let you say your name. I didn’t catch that, I’m sorry.”

Huh. 

“Why? That’s dumb.” Pepper’s brow furrowed.

“I don’t know. The universe makes the rules.”

Pepper laughed again, pressing his hands further against his chest. The warmth of his hammock surrounded him, but he was solely focused on the warmth of the voice in his mind. “Well, I guess I’ll always be a mystery to you.”

“I guess you will,” his soulmate said teasingly. Pepper smiled to himself, thinking hard before proposing his next question.

“Did you have a good day?”

“I did! I called my sister.”

Pepper blinked curiously. “You called her?”

“Yeah. To say thank you again, for the bracelet. I haven’t taken it off since she gave it to me!”

The borrower stared at the wall, trying to fit the pieces together in his mind. “Do you live close to her?”

“Oh yeah, she’s only like twenty minutes away. I just called her because I was out all day.”

Pepper nodded to himself. That made more sense, he supposed. If his soulmate lived that close to his sister he could easily call out to her while on a borrowing trip.

“I have a sister too,” Pepper admitted. “But I haven’t seen her in… maybe a year? She’s six years older than me, and once we both moved out, well… you know how it is. We are not nearly as close as you and your sister.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Were you two close growing up?”

“Yeah, definitely. We actually lived right next to a bakery, and she would always come home with the best stuff. She got me a big piece of this brownie thing once, and it was incredible.” 

Pepper found himself smiling at the memory of Basil coming home with a big chunk of chocolate, beaming as she showed it to her younger brother. They had shared it and it had been the best thing Pepper had ever tasted.

He wondered how Basil was doing.

“Aww, that’s sweet! She seems like a nice sister.”

“She was.” Pepper relaxed into the hammock, closing his eyes. “I’d like to run out and visit her soon. Especially now that it’s getting warmer, and I can actually walk outside without drowning in snow.”

“Yeah, I get that,” his soulmate said with a note of amusement. “I still have a bruise on my leg from where I slipped on ice last December.”

Pepper raised an eyebrow. His soulmate must really be brave, going outside in the middle of winter! “I couldn’t imagine trying to walk on ice.”

“No need to rub it in,” his soulmate giggled, and he once again was left in confusion. 

When Pepper said nothing, his soulmate continued. “So, how old are you? What do you do for fun?”

Pepper chewed his lip. “I’m twenty-two. And I’m crafty, I guess? I like to draw sometimes, when I have the materials. I really like to make things.”

“I knew you would be artsy!” His soulmate said brightly. “What do you make?”

Pepper stared around his room from the height of his hammock. A scrappy rug, fairy lights, and assorted articles of clothing surrounded him. “Decorations for my room. I’ve really started getting into clothing, too. I just finished up a jacket, actually.”

“That’s so cool!”

“…Thank you,” Pepper responded, mildly surprised.

“I’m not very good with my hands, but I’m pretty good at singing. I like to perform.”

“That’s cool, too,” Pepper admitted. “I’ve never sang in my life. I don’t really know how, and I would be so scared of getting caught.”

“Aw, that’s okay. I used to be super shy when I was younger, but the stage fright eventually goes away, I promise!”

Pepper blinked up at the ceiling. “…Thanks?”

“Oh— sorry, I should probably go. I’ve got to get up early tomorrow. But… I’ll talk to you tomorrow..? If that’s okay?”

“Yes,” Pepper said immediately.

“Okay, great! Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight.”

—

Pepper’s heart was pounding out of his chest.

He stood stiffly, back pressed against a metal thermos. He was currently stranded on the counter in the early hours of the morning, and he had greatly underestimated how early the resident human would be getting up today.

The heavy sound of footsteps filled his ears. Pepper swallowed hard, praying that the human wouldn’t touch his thermos of coffee anytime soon. The human usually forgot his coffee half the time, as sporadic as he was. Hopefully Pepper will be lucky this time.

The borrower shuffled to the side, peering around the edge of the thermos. His stomach chilled at the sight of the massive human.

The human’s hands alone dwarfed Pepper in size. A torso the size of a house moved around the room, easily carrying an enormous backpack that Pepper couldn’t even imagine trying to budge. A head of sand-colored hair was turned away from the borrower, much to his relief. The human seemed to be typing something on his phone.

The human left his apartment at different times each day, which was frustrating for Pepper. The borrower wouldn’t have ventured out this morning if he knew the human would be up before the sun rose.

Pepper’s gaze darted over to a thin crack on the wall, a few feet to the side. He could make a dash for it, but it would take about fifteen seconds to get there, and the human could turn around in any of those seconds… Pepper could wait for the human to leave the apartment, but the human might not leave without grabbing his thermos first…

The sound of keys jangling filled his ears, and Pepper’s blood ran cold. He begged for the human to leave.

He heard enormous footsteps receding, moving away from him, and he nearly sobbed in relief before a murmur filled the air. “Fuck, almost forgot—“

It took less than three seconds for the human to cross the room, and Pepper slapped his hands over his mouth at the sight of massive pale fingers closing around the thermos. He instinctively flinched away, staring up as the thermos was pulled away, leaving him stranded on the counter with a human who was sure to snatch him up the moment he laid his eyes on the defensiveness borrower—

But… the human wasn’t even looking at him.

Pepper swayed on his feet, staring at the human who was now opening his front door and stepping outside. The human had grabbed his thermos and left the apartment without even sparing a glance in Pepper’s direction.

The front door clicked shut, and the second Pepper was alone he collapsed to his knees, hugging his chest. Heavy gasps left his mouth, as the terror of the last thirty seconds left his body in shaky waves. “Oh my god, oh my god…”

He swallowed thickly, squeezing his eyes shut. Without even realizing what he was doing, he slid his hands to his chest, clasping his fingers together. “Hello? Hello? Are you there?”

It took a few agonizing seconds to receive a response, and Pepper almost sobbed in relief at the familiar soft voice that filled his mind. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I almost just got caught,” Pepper blurted, heart pounding.

“What do you mean?”

“Caught! I almost got caught! I was out, and the bean almost saw me, I almost— oh my god, I could have… this could have been so bad. Oh my god.”

His soulmate was silent for a long time, and Pepper’s stomach twisted in apprehension, a feeling that quickly morphed into irritation, that his soulmate would just ignore him when he was so clearly upset.

“Did you hear me?” He demanded with more anger that he intended.

“Uh, yeah, I— yeah, I heard you, I’m just a little confused. Sorry. Are you okay?”

Pepper swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut. Suddenly filled with the horrifying thought that the human could return at any moment, he jumped to his feet, beginning to jog towards the crack in the wall. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine now, he’s gone. I— I’m sorry, I’m just shaken up. That was just a really close call.”

“Uh,” his soulmate said. “Were you in danger? Did someone attack you? Maybe you should call nine-one-one?”

Pepper nearly laughed at the absurdity. “Of course I was in d—“

He skidded to a halt suddenly. “…nine… one one?”

“Yeah? Oh, I’m sorry— are you not in America? What’s your emergency line?”

Ice seeped into Pepper’s veins. His hands remained clasped against his chest, although they were significantly shakier than they were before.

“Are you… a…”

Pepper couldn’t bring himself to ask. Despite being alone, terror was sinking into his stomach like a rock. There was no way. No way!

“I’m sorry,” Pepper said numbly, staggering towards the crack in the wall. “I have to go.”

“Wha— are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Sorry. I promise I’m fine. Bye.”

His hands fell from his chest as he squeezed into the walls, immediately stumbling against a piece of wood to catch his balance. His soulmate was sending him a confused farewell, but he could barely hear it over the blood pounding in his ears.

“I can’t believe this,” Pepper heaved, burying his face in his hands.  “My— my soulmate is a human?”

thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed :]

reposts are appreciated <3

[so-very-small]

im always like “write cringe! create guilty pleasures! be free!” to others but then when i sit down to write my own cringeass indulgent g/t shit i just stare at the blank document like ohhhhhh my god oh my god ohhhooohmy god. oh. my god. and then i close it and take a nap

[awkwardgtace]

Dancing Hug

back in the universe where borrowers meet their perfect partner in a dream. I need to update my master list, but this is a little follow up to Mira and Corus meeting each other.

Corus wants to dance with Mira.

Dancing Hug

Mira and Corus stood close together in a ballroom. The spotlight on them as Corus led them in a waltz. Music crescendoed in time with each step. The light of the chandelier hanging over them changed colors as they moved. Red, blue, purple, and more. A scene that he’d created just for her. Where the dance lessons he’d taken as a child could finally be used. A thing Mira could-

“Ow!” Corus lost his thoughts as he winced. They’d been at this for hours, maybe hours. He hadn’t gotten a good idea of how time passed in the dreams yet. Mira always seemed to know.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“It’s ok, you’re getting better.” He smiled down at her. Continuing to try and lead her steps to the music that played from nothing. “Just follow my lead, we’ll get this.”

“You’ve said that every time we do this.” Mira’s hold on his hands tightened. A glint in her eyes followed by a huff only solidified her annoyance. “I don’t get this. Dancing is just weird. How are you leading me when I can’t even look down at your feet? All of this is just too…”

The silence hung heavy. Corus leaned his forehead against hers. “Too human?”

The pink of her eyes disappeared behind pale eyelids. She didn’t speak, merely let her tight hold on his hands ebb. Eventually her arms fell to her sides and Corus stood with his arms kept up in their poor attempt to waltz. Mira pulled away, creating the distance refused to close. Everything he tried to show her failed. Each time she wound up confused… The worst times she didn’t talk to him, barely slept, for days.

“Mira, I just wanted to show you something I had been taught,” he whispered. That didn’t change the distance. Mira’s hesitance reflected in the world. The music stuttered, constant stops and starts. The nice ballroom filled with cracks. Plaster fell to the ground, even the chandelier shattered into a glittering dust.

“It’s just a human thing. It wouldn’t matter in the real world,” she said while wrapping her arms around herself. A tight hug that closed off the progress the two were making. The life Corus wouldn’t stop trying to build. Times like this she looked as small as her true height.

“It’s not a human thing, it’s a me thing. I have another idea.”

Corus stepped forward and offered his hand. Mira stared at him, but the ballroom continued to fall apart. Eventually it even grew. Shadows came to tower over them. Turning their private dance into a spectacle. The spotlight on them burned his skin.

“Corus I don’t… I’m not going to get it. There’s just too much and I don’t-”

He closed the distance, wrapping his arms around her and placing his lips against her ear. “Wake up with me.”

Corus blinked, happy to see the real world again. The world where Mira slept on the pillow next to him. The precious seconds he could watch her sleep had no match. He’d never give them up. At these times, the stern look on her face disappeared. A soft smile, her brow relaxed, her posture calm. No hint of the nerves she held inside constantly.

Those same signs told him when she started to wake up. Slowly her posture tensed, making her look smaller. A crease he doubted made sense for him to see appeared on her brow. The smile changed into a thin line. Finally the pink eyes blinked open, adjusting to the world before landing on him. Corus used a finger to pet the hair splayed out around her. It caused a spark of fear until she realized it was just him, just the human she trusted… The one who loved her.

“So what’s the plan?” she croaked. The tiny voice always had an edge to it. A warning that she couldn’t be taken advantage of. Corus loved that edge, loved everything about her.

“Give me a second,” he whispered.

He reached over the pillow Mira laid upon to his desk. A few taps woke up the screen of his phone. He purposely left it leaning against the wall so he could do this, just in case. A swipe of his password and the music app appeared. One quick tap to hit play and the same waltz music from the dream started. The small noise from Mira made him smile.

Next he sat up. A few movements to bounce Mira, each made her glare at him. Each made him smirk at her. He climbed to his feet then placed his hand down next to her. If she couldn’t make dancing work in the dream world, he’d make it work in reality.

“May I have this dance?” he asked. Mira shook her head, he knew all the objections racing through her mind. “Trust me, give this dance a try.”

Mira huffed before climbing to her feet. Slow, stiff steps forward until she reached his fingers. A nervous glance followed by, “You may.” Then her miniscule weight landed on his palm.

Corus wasted no time in bringing her up from the bed. He placed her tiny body against his neck, hugging her tightly to himself. His other arm spread wide as though he had a partner. Then he danced, a simple one two movement. Mira stayed frozen for a short period, not long enough for the song to end.

“Corus, what are you doing?” she squirmed as she spoke.

“I’m dancing with you,” he hummed. The song stayed as the only noise for a minute. As it faded to a new one she squirmed more.

“This is ridiculous, you’re just dancing with yourself.”

“No, you’re my partner. Leaning against my neck. It’s the same as when I tried to slow dance with you and held you close.”

“It’s not the same!”

“Is it different because you can’t try to break my toes anymore?”

“No! Just…” The squirming stopped. Corus slowed his own steps. Carefully, he wrapped his fingers around Mira and pulled her into his view. The damp spots on her face were almost too painful. “If anyone saw you they’d say you’re crazy. This… Maybe we shouldn’t be pushing this. We can both walk away still, a borrower will enter my dreams and you can forget about me. Meet someone the human way.”

“Mira, I don’t care what others see, what someone might say. The second we met I knew you were the only person I could love. I don’t plan to walk away from you.”

“I don’t… I’m not-”

“Don’t say it.” He brought his hand up to his eyes. A quick tilt of his palm left her sitting in the open. Just his fingers beneath her prone form. “Whatever it is, I know you’re wrong. You’re the only one I care about. I want to dance with you, the same dances I had been taught. The ones we will share in the dreams as I take you to all the things I want us to experience together.”

“I don’t understand you.”

Corus smiled. The smile turned to a smirk as he pulled his hand close. Mira’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t stop him. She had about one second to object before he made his decision. The hand holding her pressed against his cheek. As much pressure as she could handle. The strongest hug he could give her.

“What are you doing!?” she shouted. No squirms, no fighting, she wasn’t trying to get away.

“Hugging the best woman I’ve ever met,” he laughed. They stayed quietly like that. Corus knew if anyone walked in they’d see him holding his hand against his face. A strange sight for an outsider. That would never matter to him. Mira was more than he could have ever hoped to find.

She knew him. Knew the things he could do. Saw the darkest parts of humans. Even then she gave him a chance. She trusted his words about his anger. Slept next to him without fear. Blushed when he let his own steps grow heavier than they had to be. Worried about his own view of their relationship.

“...do you still want to dance?” she mumbled. Corus moved her away and smiled at her.

“If you’ll be my partner.”

“...I will.”

This time Corus moved slower. Carefully cupping his hand against his heart. Leaving her space to move a bit more, but still hugging her to him. Mira was perfect. That was the only thought in his head as he started to waltz once more with his tiny girlfriend hugged against his heart.

[i-am-beckyu]

Okay so initially this started because @mysterious-gizem wanted bee duo prompts but this felt too perfect to not be bench trio. So I tried to make this fit one of the fake fic titles but nothing fit. SO HAVE THIS REALLY COOL IDEA WHICH I WANT SOMEONE TO MAKE!

Ranboo has Heterochromia eyes.

One Red. One Green.

Its a part of himself he didn't particularly like at first. That was until he started having the visions.

Soulmate visions.

Or at least he thinks they're visions.

Red and Green, as he called them. His soulmates.

Its odd. One day he might see through the eyes of Red: a blonde, chaotic and daring character, and another he'll see through Green: a brunette, still chaotic but a much more easy going than red.

Whenever he sees through one of his soulmates eyes, its always in his house but way bigger. Which is why he's not sure if its a vision, or a really bizarre dream. But they're too consistent and real looking to be dreams.

Its extremely rare that a soulmate has the ability to see through their significant others eyes. Its often only one way too, meaning Red and Green probably can't see through his eyes. And while this would be great for Ranboo, it does nothing but confuse him.

For one, he knows what Red and Green look like. He knows this because it seems that Red and Green have already found each other because he's seen their soul marks, and they're identical to his. A yellow sunflower, a white tulip and a purple allium. But it still made no sense to him how Red and Green saw everything so big!

That is until one night, he wakes up in a panic, after he watched himself tumble over the edge of a cabinet tangled in his rope as Red.

He knows its pointless, but he rushes down stairs in search of Red and Green from where he saw himself fall. He's tried to do this before and found nothing, but he couldn't help the dread that bubbled up inside of him as he rounded the corner to the kitchen.

And that's when his eyes look with two sets of small beady eyes. There's a small person dangling from a rope as a second one is trying to help them from up above: both frozen in fear at his presence. Its them.

His soulmates.

They were real, and they were tiny.

Or a world in which soulmates exist and some have the rare ability to see through the others eyes. Just like how Ranboo can see through his platonic soulmates eyes: Tommy and Tubbo, who live in Ranboos walls and have no idea that their 3rd soulmate is the Human they live with.

SEE WHY IT HAD TO BE BENCH TRIO!!! MMMMMMMMMMM SOMEBODY WRITE THIS AND TAG ME! I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER! THIS WOULD JUST BE SO GREAT!

[reborrowing]

this is my favorite writing trick, until I have to come back and replace the bracket text

[nonbinary-octopus]

Lovely

this is fabulous and I love it

Bernard is quickly becoming my favorite character

btw when you said that maybe you should've given Tim a pocket Bernard in the Damian Gets a Pocket fic, to more clearly distinguish the two storylines, my brain absolutely did not interpret that as "Bernard instead of Core Four Polyamory" but as "Tim with FOUR pockets"

I cannot IMAGINE how the rest of the Core Four would SEETHE over just NOT GETTING TO MEET TIM'S NEW SOULMATE. 🤣

Cassie, Bart, and Kon: TIM. TIM, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT STUPID SECRET BAT-RULES, WE WANT TO MEET OUR NEW BOYFRIEND.

Tim: listen, we don't even know if the rest of you ARE soulmates, that's really jumping the gun--

Cassie, Bart, and Kon: you are sleeping on the couch forever, actually, boyfriend-hogger.

meanwhile, somewhere in Gotham:

Bernard, carefully preparing his Tim-Pocket a sampling of tiny desserts to figure out which ones to "accidentally" make a quadruple batch of: So anyway how long do you think Big You's gonna keep trying to hide three super-powered Pockets in his camera bag every time he sees us like he thinks he's slick? And also keeping Mini-Me stuck in his utility belt when he's on-duty instead of just getting the poor little guy a mask already. Also that. Like, rough estimate. I need to know when I need to be prepared to trot out my oblivious civilian face, that's all.

Pocket!Tim: /chirpchirpsqueak

Bernard, reasonably: You're right, I should just start stalking Young Justice until I can trick them into meeting me with weaponized pastry. Good plan, Clicker.

[kxttsstuff]

gt prompt (?)

I've been thinking about this concept and I really dig it sm. Imagine a world where, the moment any human is born, a tiny/borrower/fae/whatever term you use is born at the same place and time connected to them, but in the opposite gender and not blood related, and they don't normally look alike (kind of like His Dark Materials). They would be like soulmates but not in a romantic way. Whenever the human dies or gets injured, their tiny companion also dies/gets injured and viceversa, depending on the protection of each other. They grow up beside each other.

Of course you can take this one step further and make it so they can read each other thoughts, know where each other is, see through the other's eyes.

[the-hidden-posts-gt]

Sunny & Gideon (Part 1)

Borrower short story (turning into a series) based on a dream I had where the Giant and Tiny switch bodies (Part 1)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Sidebar 1 | Part 4 (WIP)

Sunshine/Sunny (yeah that’s their name, it was sunny the day they were born and their mom was just like, “yeah, that makes sense, definitely!” 😅) is 5”/~13cm, average height by borrower standards. They have brown hair, with a tiny -not so tiny- patch, bleached slightly lighter than the rest of their hair (Gideon is messy with his hair dye/bleach, and somehow it always gets everywhere. Sunny was not spared.) They have hazel colored eyes, thick brown eyebrows, crooked nose, and an ovular face.

Gideon/G/Giddy(when Sunny wants to mess with him) is a 5’10”, kind of a lanky guy, with purple hair (he dyed it), and thin blonde/light-brown eyebrows. He doesn’t look well rest, ever. He has green-blue eyes, his nose is surprisingly button-shaped, (Idk why, but that’s the description that made itself available in my head) and his face is kinda diamond shaped. (Not sure if that is handsome, but he is supposed to be kind of handsome, just underslept.)

POV Sunny

When I opened my eyes, he wasn’t there. The dizziness had subsided, but where was he?! I needed to find him. He was too big to just vanish. He was human after all. I heard my pulse roar in my ears. Why is it so loud? My breaths were shallow, but also too much.

I heard a door open and close and I saw Gideon’s roommate. He could help. Fighting my instincts, I stood up from the couch. Why are my limbs so bulky? As he walked into the kitchenette I rushed over to him. My legs felt weighted and slow, and yet I surged forward.

“Where’s Gideon?!” My instincts urged me once more to hide from this Bean, but I needed Gideon. I needed to find him! I need to know he’s alright! Gideon had said his roommate was kind. I just hope Gideon was right.

“Dude,” the roommate smiled, far too nonchalant for an emergency. “How high are you right now?”

I blinked, taken aback. This was not the reaction I was expecting. What does that even mean? My surprise taking over instead of the panic, and I was able to really tale in my surroundings.

I am taller than him. I am taller than G’s roommate. I looked around, the room was smaller, everything was smaller than I remembered it. It was honestly claustrophobic, like the walls had squeezed in on me. Everything was … my size, I guess.

My eyes found their way back to my hands, only to realize, these aren’t my hands.

The roommate just smiled, taking a step towards me and patting my (is it mine?) elbow. “Oh yeah, you have fun with that,” he said as he guided me back to the couch where I’d been sitting. I let myself be lead, now staring at the arms attached to me, they were familiar, just … not mine.

As I was sitting down, the couch squeaked, no shrieked. I felt my pulse quicken, as the body’s instincts took over, and I was suddenly standing back up faster than I thought possible. I know that sound? No. This body knew that sound.

“You good, man?”

I didn’t respond. I just slowly picked up the pillow I’d almost crushed. I peered down at the couch, careful not to let the roommate see what I suspected was there, but that didn’t prepare me for seeing my own face staring back at me.

POV Gideon

Light blinded me, as the entire space shook, I had been unceremoniously tossed into a dark and stuffy prison, where there was a bunch of panicked mumbling, and then something had just attempted to crush me. Now there’s an earthquake. Great! I thought sarcastically, before I attempted to steady myself against the wall behind me, as I held up my hand trying to block out the light and possibly understand why my world was suddenly shaken.

Instead of usable answers, I saw a shock of purple hair, before realizing I was staring at a giant version of my face. It stared down at me with eyebrows raised high. I didn’t even know they could reach that part of my forehead.

There was no respite from the chaos, however, as I was hastily snatched up into giant hands. I rapidly went from free, to shooting into the air clasped surprisingly gently within giant hands the size of me, to between two cupped hands, like I’d been caught by a kid who wanted to show a critter to their friends.

“Ugh.” My stomach was not a fan of all this jostling.

“Sorry!” My voice whispered down at me, before we slowed down enough for me to get my barrings. This must be what Sunny feels like all the time. My heart stopped, before speeding up again, to twice the speed. Where is Sunny?! If When I get out of this, I need to find them. I just need to survive whatever giant me is up to.

***

Part 2

That’s it for now. I like these two enough that I’ll probably end up writing about them a lot, so idk stay tuned? 🤷

[nonbinary-octopus]

CUTE!!

Original bellow:

TT03 #1 page 28

Another edited panel bellow:

I couldn't resist XD

[tinyundercover]

masterpost :)

pepper and felix

“In this universe, when a person turns 21, they gain the ability to communicate with their soulmate telepathically. For the borrower Pepper, this turns out to be quite a shock.”

part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

part six

part seven

part eight

part nine

part ten

part eleven

part twelve

part thirteen

part fourteen

part fifteen

part sixteen

part seventeen

part eighteen

part nineteen

part twenty

epilogue

size swap: human!pepper meets borrower!felix

instincts (one-shot)

cassie! (one-shot)

voice claims!

more of my writing

the half-pint (GT Gotcha 4 Gaza)

unveiling the truth (GT Gotcha 4 Gaza)

my art

the gang!! (most accurate designs)

pepper and felix character sheets

basil character sheet

alice character sheet

breanna and owen character sheets

scared pepper and basil

genderswapped felix and pepper

aftermath of cassie!

more art <3

gtzel art (pepper + felix)

pygmy anon art (pepper + felix)

pygmy anon silly art (pepper)

pygmy anon mermay (pepper + felix)

pygmy chopsticks comic (pepper + felix)

eyesofawriter dragon art (pepper + felix)

eyesofawriter dragon art (basil + owen)

guax art (pepper + felix)

[greenerteacups]

hihi i saw you were semi-active on tumblr and figured i would ask if you'd be willing to elaborate a bit on the whole push/pull relationship theo and daphne have in lionheart? i've done a couple rereads but i still can't quite figure out how they feel about one another.

hope you're having a great christmas gt <3

i've got good news and bad news. the good news: you've read it perfectly well, because "can't figure out how they feel about one another" is exactly what's going on with them at any given moment. so this is greatly vindicating for both you as reader and myself as author. the bad news: you have just given me license to talk about theodore nott and daphne greengrass, a dynamic that gets an understandably small amount of attention and yet consumes large volumes of my headspace. so. spoilers ahead!

daphne and theo break my heart, because they're a story in wasted potential. theo and pansy are obviously old childhood friends, but i think daphne is just someone who knew them socially and only really got close to them at school — cf. her conversation with draco at the yule ball — because first year forced theo to make friends who weren't pansy for the first time, and daphne finally had a chance to socialize without her parents coddling her. they get along like a house on fire, pansy rocks up to join them in second year, and this is the cute little nega-Trio draco meets in book 2. it's a fashionable nucleus of dry humor and ferocious mutual protectiveness, which theo demonstrates especially in the hospital wing at the end of book 3.

but theo continues to suffer the chronic condition of Being Theodore Nott, and so when the plot comes knocking, things go south for him expeditiously, especially his personal relationships. daphne develops a crush on him as early as book 3, and being daphne, she's incredibly obvious about it, but being (1) a teenage boy and also (2) an incipient domestic terrorist, he naturally avoids dwelling on it — and then maybe-kind-of-starts-to-reciprocate, because hey huh wait a second you sure do care about this girl a lot, don't you, theodore? — but by that point the war's started revving up in the background and he has Other Shit To Deal With.

it doesn't help that the two of them are being drawn in radically different political directions, partly because of her friendship with draco, but also because of her own choices. theo's mistake here isn't malicious, but he really does ice daphne out (as he does everyone but pansy, pretty much, in fairness) for most of book 4, and by the time he realizes that he could actually lose her, it's too late. probably he doesn't realize how far she's migrating once she drifts out of his influence — daphne is incredibly susceptible to suggestion and is deeply influenced by those around her, which becomes clear once she's transplanted into gryffindor and discovers this much kinder, more chivalrous side of her nature. given that chameleon-quality of hers, it's understandable for theo to be shocked when she pivots away from him and pansy the space of less than a year. but also, I think it's telling that he's that surprised, since daphne hasn't been in good with the rest of slytherin for months at this point. and in turn, this surprise angers her, because like — dude, seriously? forget the romantic stuff; you're supposed to be her best friend, and you couldn't tell that she was doing a Character Arc behind your back? (strains of this feeling heavily inform what she says to draco during the Yule Ball, especially re: theo and pansy being each other's platonic soulmates. she feels locked out, in every sense: from slytherin, from her friends, from her parents, from everything. she wants in on something, and it drives her to do something pretty callous to draco and hermione, as she realizes and regrets. daphne is not always a kind person, even when she's a nice one.)

that anger, and theo's unfortunate failure to do anything useful about it whatsoever — slytherins! purebloods! low EQ! not great at the whole making-amends thing! — is what makes it possible for her to sever ties with slytherin completely, effectively terminating the close friendship she had with him and pansy (who's slightly less reconciled to that separation, but pansy is also much less politically involved than theo both philosophically and functionally, so it's easier for her to double-dip). it's my headcanon that if theo had even 15% less to worry about, he'd be making more of an effort to revive that relationship, but kid is in hardcore Survival Mode for most of book 4, and just knowing that daphne's not in immediate physical danger has to be enough for him. meanwhile, upstairs, daphne is discovering the Life-Changing Magic of Real Friendship, and like, it's kind of a blast? and lavender and parvati are really cool? and gosh now that theo isn't the center of her living universe, isn't it funny how all these tall good-looking boys are wandering around? funny, that!!

this isn't to say that their story is finished — it isn't! there's still a lot of gas left in this tank, and many, many things these two have left to say to each other — but that's where the story leaves us. they were close; there was a real possibility of something, and likely some degree of mutual interest; but the timing was never right, and it's not going to get any easier if things keep going in the direction they are now. (but who knows?)

[maccreadysbaby]

how do you name your characters? You come up with such cool names!

y’all are going to be so underwhelmed by this lmaoooooooo

my names are basically a collection of all the words ive heard throughout my life… its just about the dumbest process i think any writer in the world has… it isnt even a process, help

Bentley - dream car (Bentley Continental GT if any of you care about cars) Whittaker - one of my cousins names I thought sounded cool

Asten - also dream car (Asten Martin DBH coupe… in white) (if I don’t get one of these why am I even here) Evans - collected from captain america

Nico - I know nothing about percy Jackson but you best bet I scouted for and collected this name Rockefeller - old money, thought it sounded cool, have had this surname collected since learning about it in high school

Varian - variant of a name I made up, Valerian, which I made up after wanting to use the nickname Val in something I wrote forever ago Bray - unashamedly stolen from Destiny 2

Valor - there’s a white tiger named this in one of my sister’s storybooks Torres - thought it sounded good with Valor

Rockie - made a character by this name like three or four years ago, played by the same fc, so I recycled his name Winchester - collected from Supernatural, which I ended up being too much of a baby to watch

Koa - I actually have no clue it just sounds beachy McClaine - stolen straight from Voltron

Bellamy - stolen from a hunger games fanfiction I read when I was like 11 Callahan - stolen from BIG HERO 6 LMAO

Vera - one of my sisters Barbies is named this Levante - collected the last name from Destiny 2

Layla - I have a family friend named this Benjamin - this was my previous neighbors name (storytime I thought he was my soulmate… he wasn’t)

Summer - collected from Scott & Alex Summers who I THOUGHT WAS FREAKING DC THIS WHOLE TIME BUT THEYRE LITERALLY FROM XMEN???? McCall - stolen from right beneath Scott’s werewolf nose (teen wolf)

Georgia - i grew up there Vallie - is actually my dogs name right this second

here’s some characters not from Project Killcode under this… for a little more reference

Riot - the literal word riot Kildare - I think it’s an island

Tuesday - the literal day of the week Jones - keeping up with the joneses

Mercury - the element, not the planet Delgado - collected from LEMONADE MOUTH ANFNSKFJND

Heartley - added some letters onto the word heart Hathaway - I’m pretty sure I used a generator for this one

Valentine - literally valentines day (he's a french guy so something with val sounded good) Amiéle - grabbed the name Aimé and added letters and accents, turned it into an abomination

Evyn - grabbed an overused boys name, changed the a to a y, suddenly had a edgy girls name Ivankov - russian sounding last name, i think i may have just blurted russian syllables until this came out of my mouth

Adavera - put the name “vera” and the elvish word for father “ada” together to make a random girls name she has no last name lmao sorry

Haha… there you go. It’s basically just a tornado of chaos and words and things I steal from fandoms I’m not even in (I’m a collector not a theif)

[nonbinary-octopus]

Oh I LOVE that soulmates idea!! That's awesome.

Does the tiny portion ever merge back into the large one? Or are they forever two people? I assume their memories split at the same point as their souls do.

I want to read an absolutely ridiculous Gt soulmates!au.

Like, picture this.

You're going about your day, and bump into someone on the street. You turn to say something but they make some snotty comment and you get into a bit of a confrontation with them. Nothing serious but enough that it leaves you in a foul mood.

What a cold personality. Who raised someone who could be that rude to a stranger? Maybe you fantasize a little about them tripping into a puddle. You definitely replay that argument over in your head a few times, wishing you could replay that moment and say that banger of a comeback you thought of just a smidge too late.

As the day passes, this mood lingers. Isn't it funny how one bad interaction can just ruin a perfectly good d-

You hear a yelp.

You turn to face the direction, and it's like the world falls out from underneath your feet. You almost missed them initially, but you caught the movement at the very periphery of your vision. That nasty person from earlier stands right at your feet, tiny ... and absolutely terrified.

No.

No. No. No. No.

Not them.

Why them??

It wasn't supposed to go like this! You'd spent so long daydreaming of the day you'd meet your soulmate. It was supposed to be cute and fun. Maybe a little awkward, but this???

You feel your stomach in knots as you look at them. A thought that a piece of your soul that small was with them right now was chilling. Maybe it was a mistake? Could you accidentally drop a bit of your soul?

You sigh. As much as you want to doubt it, you know there's no doubting... something to do with compatible frequencies that create an attraction? You never paid much attention during that class in high-school...

You bend down to get a better look at them. They aren't bad looking... quite the opposite... and at this size? They're pretty cute. You take a deep breath. Everybody had bad days, right? They're probably-

"This has got to be a mistake."

Nope. That's it. They suck.

------

OK OK OK LIKE???

When you meet your soulmate this sort of metaphysical reaction occurs where the souls have complimentary frequencies and this somehow acts as a sort of magnetic reaction, pulling a small bit of someone's soul away from their whole. That small bit of the soul then physically manifests as them.

BASICALLY, soulmate au where your soulmate finds a tiny version of you, and vice versa.

You don't share a consciousness with your shed bit of soul, maybe some kind of shared dreams or something, so you have no idea what some part of you is dealing with.

AHH I love it. It's stupid and silly and adorable.

Angst potential?? Fluff potential?? CONSTANT SIZE SWAP DYNAMICS???

I beg of thee

Please use this silly au.

SoulSwap au? SoulShard? I dunno.

If anyone has any cutesy names for this, please share

[asimpwithfreetime]

Avatar incorrect quotes because I want to post daily but it is taking me some time to write a bunch of stories. (Sorry in advance for the long wait)

Tsireya: We have fun, don’t we, Y/n?

Y/n: I have never been more stressed out in my entire life.

╌──═❁═──╌

Ao’nung : You’re an idiot.

Neteyam: That’s the charm.

╌──═❁═──╌

Ronal: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”.

Ronal: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

╌──═❁═──╌

Tonowari: Don’t you have any dignity, Jake?

Jake: Uh, no.

╌──═❁═──╌

Y/n: Did you hear that!? Lo’ak just threatened to destroy my lego AT-AT!

Neteyam: ...You just threatened to kill him in his sleep.

╌──═❁═──╌

Tsu’tey: Who the fuck added me to a fucking group chat?

Neytiri: &gt;:O language

Jake: Yeah watch your fucking language

Spider : Okay, who taught Jake the fuck word?!

Ronal: 'The fuck word'.

Norm: Are you stupid? You guys use the f word all the time

Jake: Oh my god they censored it

Ronal: Say fuck, Norm.

Jake: Do it, Norm. Say fuck.

╌──═❁═──╌

Jake: Can I have your number?

Tsu’tey, visible texting: I don't have a phone.

╌──═❁═──╌

Quaritch: Next time I'm at the pet store, I'm gonna take a hamster and drop it in the scorpion cage. I wanna see what a hamster's face looks like when it goes, "oh, fuck."

╌──═❁═──╌

Quaritch: Sorry I'm late, I was doing stuff.

Spider : YOU PUSHED ME DOWN THE FUCKING STAIRS!

╌──═❁═──╌

Neteyam: We wouldn’t last two minutes without Y/n.

Neteyam:

Neteyam: Don’t tell them I said that.

╌──═❁═──╌

Neteyam: There. How do I look?

Tuk: Like a cheap French harlot.

Neteyam: French?!

╌──═❁═──╌

Ao’nung : I truly go into housewife mode when I'm someone's soulmate- like, I'll make you pancakes and bacon every morning.

Y/n: This is a lie.

Y/n: I'm literally dating him. This is a lie.

Y/n: HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO COOK A PANCAKE, WHAT IS THIS.

╌──═❁═──╌

Tonowari, at the slightest provocation: I came into this earth screaming and covered in someone else's blood and and I'm not afraid to leave the same way.

[reborrowing]

Hands of Fate

so, gt soulmates huh? a concept that could turn into a full story, maybe, where humans don’t get soulmates. usually.

Fate wasn’t fair.

In most ways, it couldn’t be predicted much better than the weather or your hosts’ comings and goings. It was fickle and anything you thought you saw coming turned up on its own twisted terms.

As the sun went down over an old farmhouse, a young borrower beneath the floor woke up with a prim white handmark on her forearm, a sign that she was soon to meet a soulmate. She was seventeen, a good age for that sort of thing, and her family living with her in the walls of the old house was all abuzz with celebration and speculation.

Her siblings all pressed their own hands against the mark to try to imagine what sort of person the soulmate might be—young or old, male or female, delicate or rough. Her uncle and grandparents argued about whether it meant Stepha would be leaving or a stranger would come creeping into the walls of the old house, and which would be better for the lot of them. Once a mark appears, fate starts to pull you into place to make sure the two of you will meet. That was the whole point of the old magic—to ensure that no borrower ever got too isolated.

Excitement spread through each crack and crevice of the old house until all the hidden little households heard the news. Very little ever changed in the quiet eaves where they lived their lives so rumor of a newcomer was hot news indeed. All were happy to titter on about planning a welcome party of some when the time came, gathering the families like it was a holiday. It was unlikely they’d actually pull anything so grand, but for now the musty walls were full of congratulations and excitement.

Cob, meanwhile, seethed.

He had grown up hearing about the heroic rescue from a flooding storm drain that brought his parents together and the garden walk where his aunts Kit and Melly stumbled into each other under a romantic rain of cherry blossom petals. He had admired the bond between Mix and Daisy, not romantically inclined, but so close they could outwit the and outmaneuver the neighbor’s cat without speaking a word to the other. Even the souls-tied rivalry between his grandmother and the garden trader was endearing, in its way. The connection soulmates had was deeper and more enduring than that in any relationship without…and Cob was still waiting.

It was childish to be jealous, he knew, but the bitterness was not so easily dismissed. He was old enough now to consider seeking out a partner in a more mundane manner before he missed his chance at raising a family of his own.

Why would Fate send a newcomer to his baby cousin instead of to him? It was well past his turn, wasn’t it?

Fate wasn’t fair and it seemed to have a grudge against Cob.

Rather than get caught sulking, he volunteered to go out and see if he couldn’t find something fresh and sweet to bring to the gathering. That took his mother by surprise, since Cob rarely went out into the house unless someone dragged him.

It was a decent trek down into the kitchen and it felt good to stretch his legs and get away from talk of soulmates. His agitated mood started to relax as he rappelled down the spice rack to look around the counter for a good prize. He imagined the best food would be in the fridge, but he didn’t have a good way to open it on his own. Instead he crept toward a wooden bowl on the other end of the room that ought to have fruit of some sort. Maybe, so long as no one made a habit of it, he could get away with slicing away a bit of apple or…

The bowl was lighter then it looked and tipped over when he tried to climb its side, flinging out its precious contents. Cob scrambled back to avoid getting trapped underneath. A pair of apples rolled to the floor and bounced heavily across the hardwood, easily audible in the next room over.

Cob hurried to get out of sight as he heard the door. He hid in the shadows behind the toaster as the rest of the room lit up with electric light. His heart raced. He clenched his teeth so hard to keep quiet, he thought his molars might crack. His gear was still hanging down the spice rack in plain sight to anyone who thought to look Loud footsteps drew near and with them, the looming giant. Cob closed his eyes, lest the reflections give away his position, and mouthed a quick prayer to any power that might care to help keep him hidden—though Fate was the only one he knew by name. Thankfully, someone answered.

The human picked up the mess and walked off without even glancing in his direction, muttering something unintelligible as they turned off the light and retreated to the other room. Cob breathed out a sigh of relief but his skin still prickled and burned with fear and shame over nearly getting caught right after lashing out that anyone would question his competence. Today had gone so badly that it made him feel ill. Cob hastily made his way back home, suffered through dinner, and went straight to bed.

He woke up to a whispering crowd gathered around her hammock. His father shook her and wanted to know what had happened to her in the kitchen the previous night. He scowled tiredly. He was still hot, almost feverish, and he wanted nothing more than to roll back over fall back asleep. Someone grabbed his arm and he thought his heart might stop.

His whole right forearm was newly white—as was the rest of the arm and the entirety of his left. He inhaled sharply as he ran his now-pale hands over the new development and nervously pulled up his shirt. His skin glistened soulmark white from the neck down. He’d never seen anything like it. No one had ever even heard of such a thing. This wasn’t a handprint from another borrower’s touch, the mark was everywhere.

And there, on his chest, was the faint whorl of a human thumbprint.

Fate had decided that his destiny was intertwined with a human, for good or for ill, til death do they part.

-

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