#soulword

[alyakthedorklord]

Dead on Main Soulmate AU

First words your soulmate says to you are written on your skin. Jason didn’t understand his for a long time- it looks like an insult, but he has absolutely no idea what it means, both before and after his death.

Eventually, it starts to make a slight bit more sense as Trendy Lingo advanced, and he hears Steph and Tim and some other teens using something similar. Still, he doesn’t understand why they’re said, and so Jason is completely unprepared for when he’s approached randomly by some guy while walking down the street after a particularly violent pit rage.

“Sir, your vibes are rancid.”

Jason freezes. The pit writhes in offense, because what the fuck, but at the same time his heart is beating out of his chest, because what the fuck?

“Oh ancients that sounded rude.” The guy says, eyes widening like he can’t believe he said that. “I mean- I just- are you okay? You don’t feel okay. You feel really, really sick, like your soul got marinated in corrupted ecto, and do you want help?”

Jason keeps staring. The guy is cute, dark hair and blue eyes that seem just a bit too bright to be human, freckles disappearing behind an embarrassed flush.

“I don’t want to overstep, because you’re giving off a whole lot of “fuck off don’t talk to me”, but I didn’t wanna just ignore you because I’m pretty sure a lot of the anger and bad vibes are coming from the corrupted stuff and I’m pretty sure I can help with that? If you don’t want help just tell me to fuck off or punch me in the face and I’ll leave but-”

The stranger takes a nervous step away, and Jason lunges forwards before he can think, everything in him rebelling at the thought of his soulmate leaving, from his own thoughts to the pits themselves.

“Please don’t leave.” He gasps, hands squeezed tight to his soulmates arm despite the twinge of pain from his bloodied knuckles. His soulmate’s eyes widen in shock, mouth dropped open, before he breaks into a bright, amazed grin.

“I won’t, I promise.” His soulmate says, reaching up to hold onto Jason’s arms in turn. His touch is cold, even through Jason’s jacket. “I’m staying right here.”

Jason leans into the touch, sagging with relief. He can feel the pits receding, the anger and pain and fear fading as his soulmate gently runs his hand over his back.

He feels, for the first time in a long time, at peace.

“…seriously though, wtf happened to you, you reek of bad death juice.”

[acowardinmordor]

Something about not-everyone-has soulmate words and Steve’s say ‘Mr Harrington’ on his collarbone and he hears that a thousand times a day now that he’s touring as a pop star. Eddie, who comes in as a replacement guitar guy - not playing, just swapping Steve’s guitars, tuning, restringing - and on their first meeting, Steve is exhausted, pissy, and his bodyguard let him get ambushed by three different fake-soulword fans.

“Mr Harrington”

“You better not say you’re my soulmate, I think I’d actually throw myself into traffic”

And even if Steve has managed to hold onto a bit of romantic optimism, Eddie has had those words on his ribs all his life, so he’s always known his soulmate didn’t want him.

[themculibrary]

Winteriron Oneshots Masterlist

111 + 1 (ao3) - SleepsWithCoyotes T, 9k

Summary: Bucky knows a thing or two about taking care of people. It’s just been a while since anyone’s tried to do the same for him.

A Helping Hand (ao3) - KandiSheek E, 5k

Summary: On their last mission Tony had to hack into Bucky’s arm with Extremis and Bucky can’t get the feeling out of his head. He never would’ve guessed that losing control like that could turn him on so much.

All the Best Things Come in Threes (ao3) - Potrix M, 3k

Summary: “I can’t be pregnant. I’m 47 years old, it’s not possible. I haven’t had a heat in over eight months, I’m menopausal, I can’t be pregnant.”

Aye, aye, Captain! (ao3) - ApolloFishes (WinterSabbath) G, 4k

Summary: Captain Bucky Barnes is one of the most fearsome pirates, feared by everyone, even his own crew. That was, until Tony Stark came along. Turns out, Bucky has a bit of a soft spot for him.

Or 5 times Tony saved someone from Bucky’s wrath, and one time he didn’t.

Baby, I Ain’t Ever Found Anyone Like You (ao3) - maroon E, 19k

Summary: Five times people thought Tony and Bucky were dating different people, one time people thought Bucky and Tony were dating but weren’t, and one time people finally got it right.

(Don’t) Believe My Words (ao3) - FreyaS G, 4k

Summary: Tony Stark grew up knowing he was a disappointment and a failure in the eyes of not only his father but his eventual soulmate. After all, the words “I wish I’d never met you” can only be a rejection, right?

Bucky knew that he’d love the soulmate that would give him his beautiful soulwords but sometimes he feared they would never measure up to his celebrity crush, Tony Stark.

don’t take too long (ao3) - avengersincamphalfbloodstardis E, 9k

Summary: Years ago, Bucky and Tony were high school sweethearts who in love and ready to take on the world. Going to different colleges didn’t treat them kindly and their breakup was too painful to see each other again. But now, they’re both at the same conference; bumping into each other constantly, bringing up old memories, and even worse—they’re both competing for the same research grant.

Full Disclosure (ao3) - Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar) E, 32k

Summary: Prompt: Our asshole mutual friends set us up on a blind date and didn’t tell us it was a blind date, so instead of getting to know each other we spent the entire ‘date’ scheming against them and decided an awesome way to get back at them would be to pretend to date and then have a horrendous breakup but now that we’re two months into this charade we’re not sure what’s real and what’s fake anymore.

In which Bucky and Tony forget that sex and love are not a game. A game is something you can win.

Hold Me Up (Pin Me Down) (ao3) - iam93percentstardust, Sagana_Rojana_Olt E, 9k

Summary: Tony discovers he might have a teensy weensy, itty bitty, little bit of a strength kink.

If it’s Not Hate… (ao3) - RiotFalling E, 5k

Summary: There’s a mission, pretty standard. There’s a bomb, also pretty standard. Tony throwing himself at the bomb before anyone else gets a chance? Yeah just another day at the office.

What is new is Bucky tracking Tony down and cornering him, looking pissed when he usually avoids looking at Tony at all. Tony is kind of expecting some more yelling.

That is not what Tony gets.

I’ll Sneak Into Your Heart As You Did Mine (ao3) - Trashcanakin T, 6k

Summary: After the rogues returned to the states, things were a little hairy, at best. The rift between Team Cap and Team Iron Man was still, unfortunately, a thing. So Bucky and Tony come up with the plan to sneak out when no one’s looking to spend time together.

The other’s may not approve of their friendship, but their choices are their own.

Make Some Noise (ao3) - MagpieWords E, 5k

Summary: Bucky could happily perform at this festival forever- if only the EDM group across the way would stop stealing his music. If Iron Man wont stop when Bucky asks nicely, he’ll have to deal with the problem a little less nicely.

Paths Are Made by Walking (ao3) - Potrix T, 4k

Summary: The road to recovery is long, winding and a different one for every person walking it. Bucky chooses to help himself the only way he knows how; by doing what he does best.

Or, alternatively; the one in which Tony is a mess and accidentally kick-starts Bucky’s protective mother hen instincts.

Place in Your Heart (ao3) - Potrix T, 3k

Summary: They try to hide it, Bucky can see the effort they all put into making him more comfortable, but Bucky isn’t stupid, he knows they’d rather have him somewhere else, somewhere far away from their home, the place where they’re supposed to feel happy and safe.

Reckless (ao3) - The_Winter_Writer N/R, 3k

Summary: Tony had always been warned about recklessly running towards danger. He just figured that danger was a lab explosion, an ill-advised experiment or doing something that embarrassed Howard in public. This had not even made his top fifty possible situations.

Save Me: I’m Naked and Far from Home (ao3) - Julesmonster T, 27k

Summary: After Ultron, Omega Tony goes off to his private tropical island to lick his wounds. He knows that he screwed up, and if he didn’t know it, the people he thought of as his friends were sure to point it out to him. Repeatedly. At maximum volume. Ad nauseam. Even Pepper dumped him. He had nothing left to stay for. He spends his days in his workshop, producing the projects that Pepper and SI need. His only companions are Vision, FRIDAY and his bots, though Rhodey flies by when he can get away from his duties.

Six months after hiding away, Tony is as content as he can be with his solitary life.

Of course, that’s when an unexpected visitor shows up and shakes up everything

Shameless (ao3) - Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar) M, 2k

Summary: Tony isn’t actually sure which of them starts it—he’d like to take credit, but if he’s learned anything it’s that Barnes is by no means a wilting flower. Besides, the start doesn’t matter as much as figuring out who’s going to actually finish it.

Soft Summer Darkness (ao3) - iam93percentstardust G, 4k

Summary: Bucky decides to retire instead of becoming a superhero again

the hatred you harbor (ao3) - bukowsking E, 2k

Summary: bucky and tony hate each other. bucky and tony get paired up for the science fair. bucky and tony maybe don’t hate each other as much as they thought.

worst fears (ao3) - imposterhuman G, 5k

Summary: the avengers are captured by a witch who makes them see their worst fears

tony takes it on himself to save them

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Soulmate AU where a person's "Soulwords" are the last thing their Soulmate says to them.

LWJ, depending on continuity, has either "Go away/Get lost" or "Lan Zhan, let me go" on his wrist

[patheticpeoplesupreme]

Soulmates exist in this universe. Most people have many soulmates, whether or not it makes a visible mark.

The Doctor has soulmates too. Whether it be soulmates of family, of friends and lovers.

Each person he cares about appears different in each of his body but they never disappear. He can always feel them. Through the regenerations, through aborted timelines, through missing memories, he can feel them with him.

Some of his soulmates have visible marks, like a tattoo, like a rose or a ticking clock. He liked those. It’s like they have a piece of him too.

Some don’t have very detailed marks, but instead, vague yet phenomenal colours wrapped around their arms. The TARDIS blue melding with the other shades, the beauty of their soul.

Some have red strings wrapped around their pinkie, this one’s tough to have, knowing that your soulmate is out there in the stars but never being able to fully be together, but it’s comforting to the Doctor nonetheless, to know that they’re there. It tells him that he has someone to come back to. Sometimes, he follows the end of the strings and he finds two people by the pond with no ducks.

He loves every single one of his soulmates even if some marks don’t stay with every body. The connection still remains

There’s one type of soulmate that makes him so incredibly sad however. Only a few companions have had this kind of mark on him. He traces a word on his wrist.

Normally, humans would get the first word their soulmates ever tells them, no matter how vague or generic or wacky, they always find their soulmate. For him, it was the last word they’d ever say to him.

Spoilers.

He wished that fate had included the entirety of what she said. He remembers it clearly, of course, but he wants to read it.

“It's okay, It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come.” She smiles at him, a sad pained look visible in her eyes, but she continues talking.

“You and me, Time and space. You watch us run.”

How he’d like it so much to believe that they could meet after all that, after Darillium, after the library. How he wishes so badly that it will come true. But he knows it won’t.

He wished River had said her usual catchphrase again. “Hello, sweetie.”

But no, he’d been left with the word, spoilers. Something she would never ever say to him again. Just like everything else.

He wonders what kind of words were on River’s body. Was it their first words? He hopes not. His first word to her in his tenth regeneration was “get out.”

He wouldn’t want her to live with that horrible word.

The Doctor wished he could write on her soul words. He wished he could see her and say,

“I love you. Always and completely.” And it would be written on her wrist, and she would reply with the same, and it’d be on his wrist too.

—

(More alternatives soulword quote for river and the doctor lol

River: I hate you

Doctor: no you don’t

And River would look at it in the library data core and would whisper sadly, “no I don’t.”

—

Bonus: Clara mention

“Run, you clever boy, and remember.”

Bonus bonus, alternative soul thing for the ponds:

(Amy and Rory have a red string, but if I had an alternative for them,)

Doctor: Goodbye, Raggedy man or Don’t be, alone Doctor.

The Doctor smiles sadly as he stares at those words. He misses her. He misses his ponds.

Amy: Fish Fingers and Custard

(Stuck in New York, she looks at the strange dish written on her shoulder very fondly. Rory laughs sadly as he traces the word. He also misses the Doctor. He remembers a time they sat on their couch and watched a movie and ate fish fingers and custard.)

Rory: maybe his soulword is “Rory pond, or Rory the Roman” because it’s all he ever calls him and there’s nobody else in the world who would call him that and understand what he’s gone through

It’s hard to say what Rory’s words would be on the Doctor but I’d imagine it be something fatherly lol

—

Now that I’m thinking about it, if Rory and Amy had soulwords, and the soul words were words that your soulmate says when they die, imagine how many these two has

Like, each time Rory dies, or, sometimes when an amy dies

A quote appears even if the timeline gets reset

—

Oh my gosh I just remembered the time Amy forgot Rory???

Like….

Imagine Amy staring at a quote that Rory has said to her and she doesn’t know where it came from 😀

And the Doctor looking at it too, and thinking, “Oh, Rory Pond…” his hearts breaking

—

Another consideration is the Timer soulmates, like, it counts down the day your soulmate dies, but the Doctor’s one is forever stuck at 0 and River’s is glitching always

Or the one where it counts down the day you meet your soulmate and River’s has always been at 0

[multiplicity-positivity]

Hii hope you&'re having a good day/night! Here's the thing uhm, one of our sysmates really likes Judaism and wants to convert; however the body isn't Jewish and conversions are finicky in our country, not to mention not free and we're disabled and unemployed... It's only them; not all of us. We were wondering if any Jewish system can help us on what to do responding on this post as we're unsure on going off anon out of fear of judgement.; while we do support them, it's a process of their own; not a collective one.

hi! we’re actually in the process of converting to judaism! it’s definitely a long road for us (we’ve been walking this path for 4 years now!) but it’s absolutely enriched our lives and helped us find purpose.

we’re not jewish (yet!) but we will say that you don’t have to be jewish to learn about judsism! you don’t have to speak to a rabbi or attend a synagogue in order to begin the learning process.

we’ll open this up to any of our jewish followers! but we’re adding a potential reading list and a personal note under a cut :)

🐢 kip and 💫 parker

here are some excellent books we’ve added to our jewish library which have been insightful for us!

1) the tanach!! you don’t have to be jewish to read the tanach - we bought ours at a used bookstore for $14 usd :)

2 & 3) choosing a jewish life and living a jewish life, both by anita diamont

4) essential judaism by george robinson (an essential read - it’s a big text but it’s easy to digest!!)

5) jewish literacy by rabbi joseph telushkin (also a big text, but chock-full of info)

6) to life! a celebration of jewish being and thinking by rabbi harold kushner

also we’re a system who’s really into podcasts - here’s some jewish pods we listen to!

1) unorthodox

2) queer yid podcast

3) rabbi shais taub’s soulwords

4) take one - daf yomi

5) unsettled podcast

and here’s a note, from one convert-in-progress to, potentially, another:

one thing we wish we knew more about when we started learning about judaism is palestine, its people’s struggle for freedom, and the occupation of its land by israel. this is an incredibly difficult topic, and one that many jews we’ve spoken to are incredibly willing to ignore. information and news surrounding the israeli occupation of palestine and the ethnic cleansing of the palestinian people is rife with propaganda and disinformation. even our own rabbi for our intro to judaism class would not field questions regarding palestine, and refused to acknowledge the displacement and suffering of the palestinian people in our class.

please, please educate yourself and learn from all sides, if you can. israeli sources regarding the state’s formation are vague, secretive, and delicately worded. the truth is, over 700,000 people were displaced by zionists in the nakba of 1948, and even today 5.6 million palestinians are refugees. we’re including some links to sources where you can learn more. it’s worth noting that the unsettled podcast is an anti-occupation podcast put together by jews fighting for palestinian liberation! there are anti-occupation jews out there, but they can be hard to come by, especially in public spaces.

(^ this is the first in a documentary series. if you can stomach it, we suggest watching the whole series!)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

It is Well with My SoulWords by Horatio G. Spafford (1873). Music by Philip P. Bliss (1876).

[knitwit1912]

Phyl took a deep breath as she leaned back into the cushions of the loveseat. “So I guess you know what I wasn’t telling you back in ‘43.”

“If you mean everything, then yes.” Stella looked down at where her right arm was propped on the back of the loveseat, Bucky’s soulwords just visible. “Did you know about what was going to happen to Bucky after he fell?”

There was a momentary pause before Phyl looked Stella in the eye and nodded.

___________

Trigger warnings: a small metntion of loss and grief, as well as a mention of a dead body, but nothing graphically descriptive.

Okay guys, this is it. After more than eight years, the final chapter. I can hardly believe it. Thanks so much to everyone that has read to the end, subscribed, bookmarked, left kudos and comments, reblogged or liked it on Tumblr...it means so much that even a small number of people gave it a chance and were with me to the end of the line. ;) There might be more in this universe, but I should probably take a break and switch it up for a while, especially as there are other fic ideas that have been burning a hole in my brain waiting for me to finish this. :D

Side note with a thing that tickles me and only me, I created a playlist of a few songs from Stella's time to help me get in the headspace. As I finished the last few words in the edit a few minutes ago, the Shuffle Gods decided to play "It's Been a Long, Long Time", as as I posted the final chapter, it was "We'll Meet Again". I should also mention that the song lyrics I've quoted in the fic are from Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields' "The Way You Look Tonight", as performed by Peggy Lee.

Thanks again, everyone!

[hazelcephalopod]

I wonder, tbh I’m guessing, the PC in Skyrim and several other elder scroll games probably is weird for being like “oh cool, a spell book” and immediately learns the spells. For the Dragonborn, well you’re already looking at magical soulword walls or whatever to learn ancient dragon magic. But with the books, presumably people have to read them. And I’m kinda disappointed I don’t remember more “wait you learned it that fast?” Or a comment like “well that’s one way to do it” -because I’m just imagining the PC eating the book, fully somehow swallows it whole like a snake as the NPC looks on not even in horror but completely dumbfounded as they fail to understand what just happened.

[plinkcat-gif]

i need to go to bed

[trusouldavis]

WHERE DOES THIS STUFF COME FROM 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️😂😂😂😝😝 #trusouldavis #soulword #sheseenitfirst👑 #cleveland https://www.instagram.com/p/B5VFGsFg55g/?igshid=nj0o9i4qm2ef

[tossawary]

I bookmarked a “first words your soulmate says to you are tattooed on your body” fic the other day, because I enjoy seeing people use the canonical words for character study. Which made me curious about Moshang’s first words to each other! I skimmed the Airplane Extras, so I’m not totally sure, but I think their first words to each other are: 

Airplane: “My king, please let me follow you the rest of my life!”

Airplane, again: “My king, please accept me. I’m very useful!”

Mobei-Jun: “Oh? What use are you?”

Very them. I can definitely see like 20+ years of the both of them knowing the other is their soulmate but never acknowledging it or talking about it, so they’re not even completely sure if the other one knows. 

[authoressofdarkness]

Guide Me Safely To Shore

Only one thing ever made Tony Stark think twice about fulfilling his full potential. Two little words on the inside of his wrist, where his soulmark sits, ghostly, waiting for him to recognize his soulmate in some unredeemable way. He always knew he’d hurt them. But when he discovers his soulmate is none other than the feisty little Spiderling swinging around his streets, he realizes things are a lot worse than he ever could have thought.

Notes: So this just hit me in the middle of the night while reading fanfiction and avoiding hw the other night. I’ve got several ideas for it going forward, so this isn’t a one shot, but with midterms right around the corner I can promise nothing. Sorry. But I love you all and I’m hoping to get the next part out soon. <3 Enjoy, and I’d love to hear what you think!

This is unbetaed, so sorry for any mistakes.

Also, if anyone is interested, I realized while titling this that the song I took inspiration from is actually a lot more relevant to this story than I thought, and even more so the play itself. You can consider it the theme song for this story. The song is called “All That Matters,” from the Broadway cast of Finding Neverland. If you ever get the chance to see it, you most definitely should, or at least listen to the soundtrack. So listen to that if y’all get a chance, and do with that what you will.Okay, now enjoy! 💙

Only one thing in the world had made Tony think twice about fulfilling his full potential.

It wasn’t his friends. Or family — not that he really had any to speak of. Not his position at SI, not fear for his life, his work, his legacy, or anything of the sort.

It was the last thing someone would expect, honestly. Even for a man like Tony, an alpha with such power, who commanded such respect, had to have a soulmate. One he was expected to love, cherish, and yes, even a man like him craved that. He hadn’t met them yet, though, his soulmate, but the two words branding him, marking him with the words from his soulmate that will seal their bond, are there, have always been there, carefully hidden away from the public eye… and terrifying him in a deeper way than anything else could.

Please don’t.

Those two little words, branded onto his skin, reminding him every day of the horrors he may be wreaking on his soulmate without knowing it. There was no way to interpret them in a good light; and he knows that they mean, to some extent, he is going to hurt them.

And what’s worse, is that he hears them so often. People begging. It’s almost become part of his reason behind his cruel reputation — forcing people to beg, just to make them say it, just to make absolutely certain before he does something irreversible that it's not his soulmate he holds. Each time, he has to hold his breath, think about everything he’s ever done in that split second while he waits to see if hearing the words this time will change his life.

It’s the only thing that’s ever made him think twice about the things that he does. If there’s one person he doesn’t want to hurt, that he’d protect with his life at all costs, it’s his soulmate.

Yet he has no idea who it is, and the only thing he does know is he’s destined to fucking hurt them. Probably make them beg for their life before he realizes that they’re his soulmate. That he’s hurting his other half.

Most of the time he relishes the power, the fear and respect he gets from other people. But the idea of his soulmate being afraid of him just makes him sick to his stomach.

Tonight, the thoughts weigh heavy on his mind as he flies around the city in his suit.

In the years since he’s come to power — subtly, of course, then slowly less so — there had been little resistance from the masses. His influence is good for them, for the most part. It’s more peaceful than it’s been in years. Most people go about their lives business as usual. So long as they don’t challenge him.

Except there’s still a couple of people who challenge him.

The Avengers are, by far, the most pesky. But in recent times they’ve rather given up. There’s bigger problems in the rest of the world, still, and they can’t trick him or infiltrate him, can’t operate in secrecy the way they usually do. Tony is isolated — few friends, and none that would dare betray him, especially not after what happened to Obie. His company is firmly in his own hands, and his technology gives him virtually limitless access to information. He can see virtually anyone, anywhere, anytime he wants. There’s no way to hide from him. And what’s worse for them — he doesn’t try to hide what he’s doing. There’s nothing to expose when you’re honest from the start. He’s practically untouchable.

But… wait, did he say no way? That’s not… entirely true. He doesn’t know how, but someone has found a way around it.

Because there’s one person other than the Avengers that still bothers him.

Spider-Man.

He’d let him go for a while. It’s his own fault they’ve gotten so confident, if he’s being honest. Letting them run around and play vigilante. At first, they’d been a help, in truth — dragging in some of the street trash even he couldn’t control, and couldn’t be bothered to deal with personally. But then he’d started to get bolder. Bold enough to interfere with him. And while he couldn’t do any major damage, he sure was annoying.

Mostly because he was succeeding. In interrupting little things, at least. And, going back to his earlier thought, because he can’t fucking find him.

Whoever the guy is, he’s careful. Smart. Smart enough that Tony hasn’t been able to find basically any footage of him, anything to link Spider-Man with a normal persona. And he’s obviously just a normal person under the suit. He has to be. And there’s no way he lives in that thing all the time. Especially not with the way he’s avoided his detection so well.

He’s made all the harder to track by his erratic schedule. He can come out at night or during the day, every day for a month and not be seen again for a month the following days. The only consistency is that he tends to be out and about in the Queens borough. Even that is a wide enough area that he has a hard time using it to pin the man’s identity down. He’s narrowed it, certainly, but calculating the amount of people that could make it there every so many days, accounting for the inconsistent schedule and what it could mean, age, height, and hell, even gender — because really, all they would have to do is use a voice modulator and let people see what they wanted to for the rest — means that the number of suspects is still in the thousands.

Speaking of pinning the other man down…

He hopes to be able to do that tonight. He’s let the vigilante go unhindered for long enough. It was time for them to have a little talk. Preferably a short one. He’s tired and temperamental tonight. The day has been long, and all he really wants is someone to help bear the load, but… he can never be so vulnerable. Not with just anyone, particularly, and there’s no one he trusts around tonight. That’s part of the reason why he’d decided to come out and fly around.

That, and because he’d gotten a pretty reliable tip that Spider-Man was going to be out and about himself tonight. And they have some business to attend to.

He finds the vigilante, to his surprise, perched on the edge of the roof, legs swinging in the breeze, looking out over the city through his lense-covered eyes.

He descends from a distance, loudly enough there’s no way the other man doesn’t hear as he’s approaching. But he doesn’t move. In fact, Tony is surprised to hear it when he comes up behind him and he still hasn’t moved at all except to suddenly say, “I wondered how long it would take.”

“For what?” Tony can’t help himself; he bites, immediately, curious. Fascinated, he’d dare say. The confidence in his own abilities he must have to sound so calm, to stay put upon hearing him approach, is almost unbelievable. Either that, or he doubts his own ability to make a clean escape, and so didn’t bother. He’s not sure which option he prefers, but either way, this will be interesting.

“For you to come looking for me. Everything I’ve done to keep my identity a secret, I’m sure you’re dying to know by now.”

He says it so matter-of-fact, emotion undistinguishable in his voice. Tony tilts his head, unsure whether he should be impressed with his ability to sound so cool and self assured, or annoyed with the fact his assessment was correct.

It hardly matters. Part of the reason they had to have this chat in person was so that Tony could begin to work on figuring it out. The AI in his suit is no doubt already working on it. And he doesn’t sound like, for all his seeming self-assuredness, that he was smart enough to use a voice filter, so no doubt Jarvis is well on his way. Not that it would have stopped him, but it might have delayed the inevitable enough that he may actually have had a chance to escape this time before a verdict came in.

“I suppose you’ve got me there,” Tony finally says, after a long moment of deliberation. “I don’t suppose now that I’m here you’ll just tell me? I can go easier on you if you come quietly.”

Spider-Man lets out a bitter laugh and shakes his head. “Can. But you won’t. You could just let me go. But we both know you wouldn’t have come all the way out here just to do that.”

“Well you could go back to fighting low-level crime instead of infringing on my operations, couldn’t you?” Tony retorts. “And flattered as I am by your assessment of me-“ he can’t say much, as he’s not entirely wrong, “-I thought I’d at least give you a fair chance, first, before we go quite that far.”

“I don’t think your definition of fair chance and mine are the same.”

Tony ignores him, continuing on. “Go back to fighting your low level crime and having a good time and whatever else it is you do. Stop interfering with my operations. I’ll even give you my endorsement so the police won’t bother you.”

It’s a generous enough offer, all things considered, but the vigilante is having none of it.

He snorts. “Is that all you’ve got? Really? I expected some kind of bribe, at least.”

“Maybe if you show me you can keep your word, we could talk about it.”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m not giving you my word on anything.”

“Shame. Here I thought we’d make a good team.”

“In your dreams, Stark. Just because the Avengers have given into you doesn’t mean everyone else has.”

“That would be a dream, wouldn’t it?” Tony muses, then heaves a sigh. “Fine then. Have it your way.”

For a moment, neither of them move. Then, by some unspoken signal, Tony’s hand comes up, repulsor glowing red hot, just as Spider-Man shoots his first web.

The shot hits the web halfway, making them both disintegrate into thin air. Already moving, Tony flies up in the suit, only to feel a tug on his leg halting his upward momentum — a web. In the second it takes for his suit to disintegrate that one, as well, he’s being covered in more, the force of them pelting him back into the roof, feet sticking to the concrete and torso forced back against one of the light poles, sticky and irritating.

Of course he’d figured out a way to make it so the webs didn’t stick long to his suit as soon as the Spider-Man had made an appearance, but it wasn’t perfect, yet. Couldn’t be without the formula. So while he wasn’t pinned down for long, it’s just enough to get on his nerves.

Even more so because for all his big talk, he’s not actually fighting. Spider-Man pinned him down… and fled.

Well, that just wouldn’t do, would it?

Tony engages the full force of his throttles to just break through the webs faster, and gives chase. He can’t just let him get away with that, after all.

As he flies, he gives himself a minute to focus on the internal calculations flashing in front of his eyes. “How are we doing, Jarvis?”

“Nearly there, sir. Calculations based on body scan and public records have erased quite a few suspects. Cross referencing voice clips with all accessible video including the remaining suspects, but the sheer number is immense. I require a bit of time.”

“I’ve given you a bit of time. I need a name, Jarvis. Something for blackmail. I need to end this tonight.” He doesn’t have time for playing games with the Spider-Man, especially because he’s managed to disappear so effectively every time he tries to. He doesn’t know when he’ll find him again if he doesn’t tonight, and he has a lot of things happening in the near future he does not want messed with.

If he doesn’t find the information he needs, then this night isn’t going to end near as pleasantly as he’d hoped.

Spider-Man is fast, swinging through the city, but not fast enough to shake him. Especially not with his AI’s ability to analyze his every move and know where he’s going to turn next.

He lets him swing around for several minutes, pretending to give chase and hoping to tire him out. He has to just be waiting for him to get bored or lose sight of him so he can drop in somewhere and hide until he leaves or take off the suit to blend in with everyone else. Unfortunately for him, that trick isn’t going to work on him the way it probably does for normal people.

Tony just lets him swing around and tire himself out with him in hot pursuit, then, when he’s sure he has to be running out of energy — and webbing, he could hope — he flies up, into the clouds, dodging and weaving and utilizing his tech to keep an eye on the vigilante while staying out of his line of sight.

It works. Spider-Man drops onto a nearby roof, stumbling a little and bracing himself against a light pole. With a dangerous grin, Tony swoops down to meet him.

By the time he hears him coming and spins around, it’s too late. Tony closes the suit’s hand around his throat and flies him forcefully into the wall of the rooftop exit. Brick crumbles around his outline at the force of the impact, and the lenses of the suit go wide as he claws at his throat.

Almost at the same time as the impact, a picture flashes up in the visor of his helmet. “One almost perfect potential match, sir.”

For a second, Tony just stares at it. Looks through the analytics and double checks them. Then he laughs, unable to help himself. It’s just unbelievable enough that it explains so much. So young — hardly even a man. Spiderling, then, more so than Spider-Man. And even better — an omega. No wonder no one looked twice at this kid before as a potential threat.

He lets the helmet melt away, now, and looks down at the kid, grip around his throat tightening just a little as he watches him wheeze out a breath. His hand around Tony’s wrist is tight, tight enough his suit issues a warning, but not enough to actually dislodge his hand.

“So.” Tony tilts his head. “We meet again, Spiderling. Should probably stop doing that, hm?” He gets a strangled sound in answer, which is about all he could expect, really. He just shrugs. “Oh well. It’s not like it’ll happen much after tonight. Because I’m going to put an end to this, right here.” He leans forward, helmet reappearing— just in case he would do something like try to head butt him, because frankly, while it wouldn’t work, it would hurt — until their noses are almost brushing through their respective suits. “Last chance, Spiderling. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Are you gonna be a big boy about this or not?”

Tony releases his throat just enough for him to draw in a few breaths to answer. He holds his breath as the vigilante sucks in a few huge gulps of air before spitting out, “Go to hell, Stark.”

Tony just chuckles, clicking his tongue. “Oh, I will, I’m sure. But at this rate, you’re going to get there first.” He presses him a little harder against the wall, grip tightening again and ignoring the way the bits of brick and concrete pour down around them like rain. “I didn’t want to do this, kid, truly. But if you think I won’t kill you, you’re wrong. And if you think your loved ones won’t be targets if you don’t quit your shit, you’d also be wrong. I don’t like to be cruel, but I am what you make me, and I won’t stand for this any longer, Peter.”

The use of his name has a visible impact on the kid. He gasps, and his grip on his wrist tightens enough around the metal of his suit that it bends around his fingers and it actually hurts. Tony’s grip around his throat slackens a little automatically, and he frowns. It’s weird. It almost… burns? That’s not what a bruise or metal cut should feel like...

And then he hears it. The teen sucks in a breath, and in a broken, raspy whisper, gasps, “Please don’t...”

The effect is instantaneous. The slight burning in his wrist turns into a wildfire, like a brand, hot and burning and fuck does it hurt for that second. He responds automatically, jerking his hand back as if scalded, and watching almost in slow motion as the younger man crumples to the floor. It takes a moment longer than it probably should for him to realize exactly what’s happening, and then the suit melts off his body and he stares in horror as the color seems to settle in his soul words, now shining a bold black from where they sit on the inside of his left wrist.

Heart thundering in his chest, he stares for a long minute before snapping out of it and rushing to his side. He’s passed out, now, though from lack of oxygen or shock or what, he can’t be sure right now.

Carefully, so carefully, he tugs off his mask, both wanting to see his face for real and knowing he should see how bad the damage to his throat is. It catches him off guard at first, how gorgeous he is, and then how young, despite Jarvis already showing him both of those things earlier. He’s still marveling, though. Could this really be his soulmate? Oh, what is he going to do?

He forces the thoughts away for a moment, checking Peter’s throat. It’s ringed with finger-shaped bruises, but it doesn’t look too severe. He leans his head down, listening at his chest. Now that he’s got proper airflow back he doesn’t seem to be wheezing or otherwise struggling to breathe. So he should be fine.

Fine, physically, except for the fact that he’s Tony’s soulmate. That they’re branded together now, a link between their very souls keeping them from being able to end this in a way either of them would have imagined.

It’s funny. With how long he’d wanted this, he should be ecstatic. Instead he’s just… numb. A whole host of emotions rages inside him, and he can’t allow himself to acknowledge any of them until he figures out what to do.

For now, there’s only really one thing he can do. His soulmate is hurt, in more ways than one. He needs medical attention, to a certain extent, and they need to talk. Waiting around here until Peter wakes up isn’t going to be ideal for fixing either of those things.

So he bends down and scoops Peter up, cradling his unconscious form close to him. Then, with a tired sigh, he takes to the skies again, carrying them back towards the tower, glowing in the distance like a lighthouse in the sand, beckoning him to shore.

He has a feeling actually finding the shore is going to be a long time coming, but this is the first step he can take to finding it. He just hopes they’ll both be able to tread through these rough waters long enough to get there.

[midrashic]

the criticism about first words soulmate aus being unrealistic always annoys me because clearly in a society like that social conventions wouldn't require you to say "hello" or "nice to meet you" when introducing yourself & most people would very much try to make their first words to everyone distinctive

[merthur-she-wrote]

Art prompt:

Arthur: I knew it was you when we first met.

Arthur skin bearing the words ‘There’s something about him’.

Merlin: I knew too.

Merlin’s words? ‘What a clotpole’.

[tonystarksgirl]

Soulmates Peter and Tony

For the first 23 years of Tony’s life he didn’t believe he had a soulmate that is until August 27, 1993 the day the words “Um..What-what are you doing..? Hey! Um I’m-I’m-I’m Peter.” showed up on his wrist. It was then that he know his soulmate was 23 years younger than him.

Peter has had the words “Nice Work Kid” tattooed on his wrist since the day he was born. His family just that his soulmate would be a couple years older than him. Ben and May took him to the Hammer Expo as a early birthday present when the Hammer Drone attack him and Iron Man saved him. Right before Iron Man left he said Peter’s soulwords. He tried to tell May and Ben but they didn’t believe him