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When You Were Young

Strange Magic Week – Day 4: Soulmates AU

AO3

Marianne had settled for Roland, and that was her first mistake. Marianne had known Roland wasn’t her Soulmate, how could he be? The mark she bared on her left forearm reflected nothing of him. Still, she thought they could make it work, after all so many other people did. She never imagined either of them would find their Soulmates. The latest statistics showed only about 10-15 percent of Americans actually found their Soulmates, compared to 25-30 percent of Europeans.

Roland had found his other half, his Soulmate, and Marianne knew she should try to be happy for him but, why did it have to be the day before their wedding! Marianne had found them together when she went to surprise Roland with his boutonniere. She had of course been devastated, she had thought she loved him and he her but it seemed the whole thing had been a ruse.

He had called the woman “Buttercup” and endearment he had used on Marianne too. It was because Roland’s mark was a yellow buttercup. Every girl to him had been “buttercup” until he found the right one. The woman had a narcissus flower on her shoulder, and if that wasn’t Roland, Marianne didn’t know what was.

Heartbroken Marianne ran off into the night. She yelled and screeched until her voice went hoarse and cried and cried until she couldn’t breathe and only shuddering sobs escaped her. Marianne clutched at her chest trying to ease the pain of her shattered heart, and let loose a final scream of frustration into the night.

She would never fall in love again.

***

Bog King awoke in the middle of the night, his forehead covered in sweat, his throat raw from crying out in to the dark night, and shooting pains flaring up in his chest. It was the chest pains that woke him. He turned his head to read the time on the clock, the red blur eventually arranged it’s self into numbers; 2:30.

Bog sat up in bed and rubbed at his bare chest, the pain was beginning to subside. After a few deep breaths Bog tried to get out of bed and almost collapsed under his own weight, his legs were shaky and unsteady.

Bog looked even worse under the glare of the bathroom light, he had dark circles under his eyes and the cut on his chin had started bleeding again. His chest was still rising and falling at a rapid rate. For one horrible moment when he first woke Bog thought someone must have died. Not just any someone but his Soulmate. Never in his whole life had Bog felt so much pain. The mark was still there though, bright as day on the front of his left shoulder.

The mark had changed again, like people, soul marks grew and changed in relation to the person they were connected to. Bog remembered when his had just been a tiny thing, a small lilac coloured butterfly. As the person who was supposedly his Soulmate aged the butterfly had grown bigger and darker in colour around its edges, but still faded to that lighter colour near the body of the insect.

It was obvious something major had affected this person he was connected to; the very edges of the wings were now black. Gently Bog rubbed his hand over the mark as if he we’re rubbing someone’s back to comfort them. Instantly emotions that weren’t his own washed over Bog, rage, betrayal, an overwhelming sense of loneliness. His lips curled into a sneer of disgust that was not his.

In the days that followed Bog was more irritable than usual. He snapped over little things he could usually let go. The anger was always there, burning just under the surface. At night when he laid down for bed he would often sing aloud while trying to sooth the burning mark on his arm. Odds were pretty good he would never meet this person but their happiness was supposed to be his responsibility so he did what he could, hoping to ease their pain even for a little while.

~ Two Years Later~

“How was your flight Mr. King?” the perky blonde asked.

“Adequate” Bog replied, drowsy with jetlag. He wanted nothing more than to lie down in his hotel room and take a long nap.

He was also somewhat sour over the fact he had flown all the way to America for a business meeting and that the company head couldn’t even be bothered to meet him at the airport but instead sent company representatives.

“I’m Dawn” the blonde woman said, engaging him in a hand shake he hadn’t asked for.

“And that bump on a log is my sister, Marianne” Dawn pointed to a woman with short brunette hair that was gelled out on the sides.

She sat in the arrivals area, unmoving, wearing sunglasses and a scowl that rivaled Bog’s. Marianne did not get up and walk over to them. She clearly didn’t want to be there any more than he did. Bog rather thought she looked like an undercover FBI agent doing surveillance; all that was missing was an ear piece. Until she turned her head and Bog caught sight of the Bluetooth speaker attached to her ear, he may even have quirked his thin lips up into a smile.

“Do you have much luggage?” Dawn inquired looking up at him with bright and eager eyes.

“Just one case, I ah, pack light.”

Bog was quick to find out the “company representatives” were not just any pair of sisters but the daughters of the CEO. At least that made some kind of sense that they should be the ones meeting him at the airport. He was having a hard time reconciling the two as sisters though, Dawn hadn’t stopped talking, chatting his ear off the whole time they waited for his suitcase, and while they walked to the waiting car. Meanwhile Marianne hadn’t said a word, even when they got to the waiting limo, Marianne had simply fist-bumped the driver, who then opened the door for them.

***

The month seemed to fly by and before he knew it Bog was re-packing his case and getting ready for the flight back home. He checked his watch, nearly 8:00pm, the sisters would be here any minute. Dawn had been promising him all month to take him to their favourite spot in the city to eat, but time had got away from them, and now it was his last night in the city.

It wasn’t long before there was a knock on his door and Bog opened it to find the limousine driver, Pare, standing there holding out a plastic container. Bog looked in it and frowned.

“What is that?” he asked, nose crinkled.

“It’s a boutonniere” the man replied in his deep southern voice, “Miss Dawn requests you wear it. She had it made special, for the occasion” Pare explained.

Bog was at a loss for words, for me? He thought. No one had ever done something like that for him before and he felt deeply touched. He would have to remember to thank Dawn for the kind gesture.

“Oh, well then, in that case” Bog said, accepting the gift.

He fumbled awkwardly with the pin, stabbing his fingers several times before getting it on right. The boutonniere was made up of dyed blue and purple mini-carnations with a tiny sprig of baby’s breath. It added a nice splash of colour to his light grey suit.

***

“I told you he would look handsome” Dawn said to her sister as the two watched Bog and Pare exit the hotel where Bog had been staying for the past month.

“Dawn” Marianne hissed, even as her cheeks heated up. There was no way Bog could have heard her but still.

The sight of him made her heart race and her head feel light. Honestly Marianne didn’t know what had come over her in the last month. She and Bog had formed a close working relationship but on more than one occasion Dawn had accused them of flirting, leaving both of them red-faced and sputtering protests. Marianne took advantage of the tinted windows to get a really good look at Bog, he was tall and lean, yet muscly and his face was full of wonderful sharp angles that highlighted his bright blue eyes.

***

At the restaurant Bog escorted the sisters inside, one on each arm. Tonight Marianne and Dawn were wearing almost identical dresses. Dawn was in a light blue, while Marianne favoured a rich purple. Why it almost matched the colour of his Soulmark Bog thought. They also each had on a corsage that matched Bog’s boutonniere. Marianne wore her corsage on her right wrist Bog noticed, because she had a brown leather vambrace on her left forearm. That must be where her Soulmark is, he thought.

Soulmarks were very personal things and people often covered them up to protect them from prying eyes if they were in highly visible spots. Bog was thankful his was in a place that was usually covered. A bolt of nervous energy came through his arm and he longed to comfort it.

“Are you okay?” Marianne asked him quietly; obviously picking up on his subtle hint of residual distress.

“I’m good” he assured her, “shall we?”

They made it through dinner without a hitch, Bog was ready to call it a night and declare his trip a success when Dawn brought up the subject of Soulmates, as she so often did.

As a young teenager Dawn had flipped through countless magazines, doing every available quiz, and testing every method of finding her Soulmate. Dawn was one of the lucky ones though, she had found her Soulmate, and she didn’t have to look very far. Dawn had been both extremely pleased and pleasantly surprised to discover her best friend Sunny was her Soulmate.

Sunny, who had met them at the restaurant for dinner, sheepishly showed the table the pink and orange butterfly mark on his left bicep at Dawn’s urging. Bog who had never met a matched couple, other than his own parents was fascinated by how the mark reflected Dawn’s Dawness… even its colours were that of a sunrise.

Soulmates, if they found each other weren’t married in the usual way, but instead had a Soulbonding Ceremony.

Marianne only half listened to her sister talking about Soulmarks and mates, and the stupid bonding ceremony her and Sunny were planning for the Vernal Equinox. Her arm was beginning to get itchy under the brace and she longed to scratch it. She hated covering her mark but she refused to bare someone else’s soul to the world when she could barely manage to show her own. She hoped her Soulmate, whoever and wherever they were, showed her the same curiosity.

Dawn’s voice eventually cut back through Marianne’s introspection.

“I made Marianne do all those quizzes too” she gushed, “I think my favourite was the one that said your Soulmate would have the mark of a green Praying Mantis.”

Dawn brought her fingers up close to her mouth and made a series of weird clicking noises, obviously trying, and failing to imitate a praying mantis.

Dawn snorted, then giggled, and Marianne soon found herself laughing along too. The quizzes in those magazines were fun to do, but less than accurate. They just couldn’t account for all possible options. Some people had flowers, some had insects, some people had animal paw prints, or a patch of skin with an animal skin print on it. They all varied so much. They didn’t always match up either; for instance, Dawn’s mark that represented Sunny was a red capped mushroom.

“Mine’s probably a cockroach” Bog said, seemingly out of nowhere, instantly killing the joy that had surrounded the table only moments before.

Marianne hadn’t noticed how quiet he’d become at all the Soulmark talk. He had seemed so interested before. Now a darkness clouded his eyes and his shoulders where hunched forward.

“Now why would you say that?” Dawn scolded, “I bet yours is a lovely water plant, or thistle! Thistle is Scottish.”

Dawn was doing her thing trying to bring goodwill and cheer to the world, but it didn’t seem to be working for Bog, who if anything looked more forlorn. Things had gotten to awkward to repair.

“Well, I guess I should be off” Bog announced, getting ready to stand, “Ah’ve got a long flight tomorrow.”

Marianne couldn’t stand it anymore; she couldn’t just watch him leave. Her heart felt like it was breaking all over again, and she wouldn’t even admit she liked him! Not waiting for Bog to give his good-byes Marianne sprung from her chair and began running towards the door.

“Marianne, wait!” Bog called after her.

With his long legs he easily caught up her, he reached out with his left hand and grabbed onto her arm, her left arm, and pulling her around. His large hand completely covering where her mark would be. Marianne was quick to retaliate; her hand came up and pushed against his shoulder, his left shoulder, in an attempt to get him to let her go. This resulted in them both suffering a wave of electric energy coursing through their bodies.

For a minute they simply stood there, staring at one another as the implications of what had just happened began to sink in. Soulmates, they were Soulmates.

Marianne felt her pulse jump and realign until their hearts were beating simpatico. Bog dragged his thumb down the inside of Marianne’s forearm and he shivered.

“Will you show me yours, if I show you mine?” he asked, rather cheekily.

It did the trick, Marianne’s lips pulled up into an involuntary smile.

Bog was quick to shuck off his suit jacket and began up buttoning his shirt, while Marianne worked on the laces of her vambrace. Bog only undid the shirt enough so that he could pull the collar to the side.

Marianne gasped audibly at the sight of the large purple butterfly that was her very essence. It was beautiful, possibly the most beautiful Soulmark she had ever seen, except for maybe the one on her own arm.

Gently, Marianne removed the brace that covered her mark.

Bog was in awe, tears sprang to his eyes and he tried to hold them at by. There on Marianne’s forearm, taking up all the space between her wrist and the inside of her elbow was an amber coloured dragonfly. The four wings completely surrounded her arm, nearly touching on the other side. They were a little ratty in some places, weather worn Bog decided, he had not had an easy life after all, but it was beautiful, and it was him.

“Soulmarks reflect what is in a person’s heart, not what’s on the outside” Marianne said softly, bringing her hand up and dragging it gently down the side of Bog’s face.

Bog closed his eyes at the pleasure of being touched, and his heart pounded in his ears. Every beat screaming for him to just kiss her already, so he did.

When their lips met, it was like fireworks going off on the Fourth of July. The kissed until Marianne dug her nails into Bog’s bared chest which caused him to emit a rather indecent moan for such a public space and they quickly separated.

“What do we do now?” Marianne asked, well aware that Bog still had to leave in the morning and that he’d be taking her heart with him.

“This” he whispered to her, before capturing her lips once more. This time he wrapped his arms around her and picking her up carried her out to the Limo. Back at the hotel room the newly formed pair made love for the rest of the night. They would figure things out in the morning.

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