Day 9
Prompt: When you write something on your own skin it appears on your soulmate’s skin as well.
Word Count: 1,896
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“It feels like the whole world is closing in. I’m starting to get claustrophobic.” Logan saw the words appear on his leg. Lying in bed in nothing but a pair of gym shorts, most of his skin was covered in black and purple ink. He paused, his black pen hovering over the skin just below the purple.
Finally, he put pen to skin. “That’s understandable. Sometimes, you just need to distance yourself from the world. Put up a barrier and exist behind it, give yourself a mental personal bubble and stick to it. Have things you enjoy set aside in a way that you can interact with them without having to interact with the world.”
The purple gave a dot of acknowledgement. Logan knew Virgil would eventually tired himself out and fall asleep so waited for any indicator. Soon, the ink left a small dot before a trail dropped off the limb, cutting through the previous conversation. Logan chuckled, knowing his soulmate had fallen asleep.
He stood, crossing to the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the tub as he took a washcloth to the pen marks. He smiled, thinking of the many conversations he’d had with Virgil. He’d known his name his whole life, or so it felt. In reality, he’d been five when ink had first shown up on his arm. It was a simple hello from Virgil’s parents to test if his soulmate was older or younger than him. Logan had run up to his mom and she and Mama wrote on his other arm.
After that, he was encouraged to write little notes to his soulmate on his arms, telling him about his day and things he’d learned in school. He was told that Virgil wouldn’t be able to respond for a few years but that didn’t stop him from trying.
He was eleven when he first got a response. It was shakily written, clearly by a child holding a crayon in a fist. He’d been so happy, running to Mama to show her. Mama had encouraged him to write back and he could picture the giggles that arose from his soulmate.
Soon, they were holding full conversations. Those progressed to late night conversations, pens sliding off skin as sleep took over, the hurried scrawls of notes or ideas, getting to know his soulmate by his personality and penmanship, getting to see that penmanship change as he learned how he wrote best, getting to know his mood by his wording and the spacing between letters. He got to know his tastes in food by his grocery lists, his daily activities by to-do lists. He saw when tears or rain obscured important information and made sure to write it higher up so it wasn’t smudged. This was usually accompanied by hearts and stars from Virgil drawn next to them as a way of thanks.
He made sure to do the same, writing grocery and to-do lists on his arms, chuckling when Virgil thought it was his own list and started crossing things off. His favorite thing to do was to play simple table games on his arms, tic tac toe, dots and boxes, sprouts, and others. They both eventually solved little arguments of who won which game by choosing different pen colors.
At one point during a day, it must have been when he was about fifteen or so, he got a note on his arm that Virgil had been diagnosed with ADHD. He’d researched as much about it as he could in the hopes of helping in any way he could. He’d give reminders, encourage Virgil to write task lists on his arm, even if it was ‘I need to make dinner in fifteen minutes’ so Logan could give a reminder at the five minute mark. He noticed when Virgil didn’t respond and would ask if it was a bad sensory day and would use a different pen in case that was triggering his hypersensitivity.
One day, he noticed a building number written on his arm when he woke up. It was a very familiar building number as it was his place of work. He smiled as he adjusted his tie, going into work with a spring in his step. When he got to the break room, he thought he’d ask around. “Does anyone have a Virgil for an appointment?”
He got a few smirks from coworkers but some others gave him genuine smiles. “Is it your soulmate?” Someone asked, clear teasing in her voice.
Logan nodded, a smile creeping across his face. He twisted his arm, letting the rest of them see the note with the building address. “I woke up to this and assumed. So, does anyone have an appointment with him?”
Patton raised his hand with a giggle. “I do! It’s a one o'clock appointment. I’m pretty sure you’ve got a one-thirty appointment. I’m willing to swap with you.”
Logan nodded as he poured creamer into his coffee. “That would be fine, thank you.”
He went back to his office and completed paperwork, dealing with the few clients he had in the morning. He went out and grabbed a quick lunch during his noon break before sitting in his office, trying not to stand every five minutes to look for Virgil.
Finally, the clock struck one and his head swiveled to the door. His secretary knocked on it and he called for him to come in. Roman peeked his head in. “I have a Virgil Storm that Patton said is for you?”
“Yes! Send him in, please.” He tried to keep his excitement to a minimum but after falling for his soulmate twelve years ago, he was excited to see him for the first time. He stood as his soulmate entered, a shy looking young man in a purple and black hoodie with ripped black jeans.
“Virgil Storm, welcome.” He reached over the desk for a handshake, the address clear on his arm.
Virgil raised his head, eyes locking onto the purple writing that matched the pen he usually used. He shifted his gaze to Logan’s eyes. “Logan?” His voice was hesitant, as if he were already regretting the decision to ask.
Logan nodded, his attempts to contain his smile succeeding for the most part. “That’s right, soulmate.”
Virgil smiled, dropping his hood as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Logan sat as his soulmate looked around the room. Logan couldn’t take his eyes off the man, his hair tousled from the hood, his shoulders looking more relaxed than when he came in, he looked nice. Finally, he turned back to face Logan. “So, law office, huh?” He smirked.
Logan nodded, folding his hands on his desk. “Yes. I find the work . . . fulfilling.” He reached for the documents Patton had provided for him earlier. “So, what caused you to need a lawyer?”
Virgil seemed to draw in on himself. “Well, I want to get custody of my younger brother from my parents.”
Logan nodded, making a note on a clean sheet of paper. “Okay, and do you have any reasons to know that they are unfit parents? Any reasons to believe that you would be a better guardian?” He looked up, an apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry, dearest, you must understand that these are standard questions.”
Virgil squirmed slightly in his seat. “Dearest?”
Logan nodded, avoiding eye contact. “I have no excuse for that one.”
Virgil’s hand came across the desk to rest on Logan’s. “I wouldn’t expect an excuse. I guess I just didn’t expect an exclamation of love so soon after meeting. Then again, we met when I was born, didn’t we?”
Logan looked up at him and saw a look that his own face must have mirrored. “That’s right. I’ve known you all my life and couldn’t imagine loving anyone else.” After a period of silence, he cleared his throat and straightened the papers. “We should get back on track.”
Virgil nodded, settling back in his chair. “Right. Uhh, they are abusive to him. I’d never been abused by them but when Remus came knocking at my door with some large bruises on his wrists, I knew I had to do something.”
Logan nodded. “Okay, are you aware of a moment of instigation of the abuse? You mention not being abused yourself so I’m wondering if there is a specific thing about your brother that your parents saw but didn’t like.”
“He’s transgender. That’s the only thing I can think of that they don’t like about him. I mean, I’m pretty alternative and emo myself so I can’t imagine them snapping over something as simple as a teenager who plays music too loud or watches too many horror movies.”
Logan jotted a note down. “Okay, can we circle back around to my question of how you could make a better guardian? This is a simple argument we can use in court against your parents.”
“I have a stable income that is capable of providing for two people, he’s already been living at my place for a few weeks at the moment, and . . . I’ve contacted my soulmate.” Logan looked up from his notes just in time to see Virgil wink at him.
“Flirt,” he muttered as he went back to his notes.
Virgil leaned forward, his face confident. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
Logan shook his head. “Nothing.” Looking back over his notes, he underlined certain things before looking back up at Virgil. “Okay, I think I’ll need to talk to Remus for a little bit but other than that, I think we might have a strong case. I will have to ask that you are not in the room while I talk to him but you can wait directly outside. The only reason for this is so I know he’s speaking of his own free will and isn’t allowing you to speak for him, which is something your parents might try to hold against us.”
Virgil nodded. “May I ask why you need to speak to him?”
“It’s to make sure that he understands what’s happening and is okay with you taking custody. I also have to ask him some cursory questions to know the extent of the abuse. I might also have to have some pictures taken of bruises as evidence for court.”
Virgil nodded, making a note on his arm. Logan smiled. Once that was done, Virgil leaned forward. “Are there any rules against dating your lawyer?”
Logan smiled along with him. “None that I can recall. Why, are you thinking about it?”
Virgil smirked. “Only if he’s willing to date me back.” Logan nodded, leaning forward in a silent invitation for a kiss, which Virgil accepted.
The case took a few months and was hard fought, but Virgil eventually got custody of Remus. He and Logan continued to date until Virgil and Remus moved in with Logan. The lawyer was the one to propose, much to his coworkers’ enjoyment. The wedding was a simple one but they were happy in their life. Logan asked Remus if he would prefer to be under only Virgil’s custody or if he wanted Logan to have joint custody and, when told Remus preferred the second option, quickly petitioned for joint custody, which was easily obtained. Their life was a busy one but it was happy, and it was theirs.