bakerstreet | i see trees that are green, red roses too

i see trees that are green, red roses too

soulmate meme ;
▸ post your character ◂
▸ you're now in a universe where destined soul mates exist! ◂
▸ rng for the type of au and for the ~situation~ ◂
▸ tag around ♥ ◂

type of au;

1. tats, your character has a tattoo of the first words the love of their life will say to them
2. familiars, your character has an animal tattoo representing their soul mate on them
3. glow, the first time your character sees their soul mate, their chests glow!
4. world in color, life is literally black and white, until you see your soul mate for the first time
5. choose your own, i'm definitely missing a milly because i'm lazy, pick your own

situation;

1. first meeting, you've never met this person before.
2. childhood mates, you've always known this person -- but on one particular birthday, everything changes.
3. together, you've been in a relationship for awhile now! happily wed or not, you decide.
4. not together, you've known you're soul mates for a long time, and yet have avoided a relationship.
5. choose your own, self explanatory c:

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Yuri was weird. As Yurio followed behind, grumbling incoherent words to express discontent that he couldn't otherwise describe, it struck him again that this was the man making him feel so unsure of his victory. What was he even on about? The scene only grew to be more strange when Yuri started taking pictures of his own back. Yurio looked away to save himself should the oddity of the scene spur him toward violence otherwise.

When he finally heard Yuri yelling at him, his eyes turned back, already unimpressed before he actually saw anything at all. His first reaction was an unwilling admittance that the mark was nice. He liked the cat symbol a lot, even if it seemed so very out of place. The fact that his name was there on Yuri's shoulder took longer to register just for the absurdity of the realization. It was his name, clear and concise, written on Yuri's back.

It was impossible. Yurio stood, speechless for once, trying to piece together the newest piece of information, but the singular word repeated like a mantra in his head, a one-word song that he needed to cling to in order to cope. Impossible, impossible, impossible.

Almost as if struck, he jerked back as he remembered the burning sensation in his own shoulder. No. Just no. Why was this man ruining his life? Why did he come into it and make so much upheaval? Was this what gave him the power to get under Yurio's skin so easily?

Finally, he was spurred into action in the minute movement of his hands, which tightened into fists squeezed tightly enough to turn his fingers white.

"No...Hell no!" One fist unclenched so he could point a finger in Yuri's direction. "Get my damn name off your back!" It was an impossible request. Soul mates took a few forms, with romantic being the most widespread and accepted. When a mark came, romance was the natural expectation, and it was one reason Yurio had been fighting against his own so valiantly. However, there were the occasion rare exceptions. There had been stories of separated siblings getting matching marks, only to discover each other years later. In some instances, family so close as to figuratively be inseparably could even get matching marks, though it was an oddity, a rarity. Finally, the rarest of them all seemed to come from destined friendships, people so interconnected that once their bond was established, it became something so separate and unique that it was a bond for life. Normally, the latter individuals eventually had two markings, one for the unusual relationship and another to guide their romance. It wasn't so unusual for Yurio, who was only 15, to not have another.

No matter the cause, it was a universal sign of connection, which made it impossible.

Yuri only had one mark. He had his somewhat gaudy tiger, and now he knew the name that matched it, and it did not fit. He started trying to see the mark for himself again, scrabbling at his own skin and twisting in place, catching flashes of black but nothing he could outright stare at. The same thoughts were rolling through his head, all at top volume, all of them discordant and scrambled and hard to keep hold of. Was he romantically destined for Yurio? No, nononono that was right out, the guy was way too young, hated him, was a guy, and did he mention that Yurio hated him?

Rubbing his hands over his back as if trying to scrub it off, still squirming in place. Weird. This was weird, so very weird, and he wanted it to start making sense again. Fat chance of that

Then he stopped, squaring his jaw and taking a step toward Yurio. He was staring hard at the little Russian's shoulder, trying to make out what was on it without having to go and grab hold of him. He was staring hard at Yurio, as if trying to get him to admit it without outright asking.

"If I have this, then you-!"

Yurio would disagree that the tiger was gaudy. It was a symbol of elegance, of confined strength, and it was definitely better than whatever the hell Yurio has stuck on his shoulder. If Yuri had to be represented on Yurio's body in some way, couldn't he be cooler? As it were, he wouldn't be showing it off to anyone.

As if he would even if the symbol was cooler. A soul mate mark did represent something intimate, a deep connection even for those who gained it without the romantic attachment. His grandpa was the only one he would admit that kind of connection to.

"Stop twitching!" he snapped when Yuri all but danced in place in order to see the markings.

And then the weirdo approached, staring far too intently at the shoulder that housed a secret Yurio had planned to keep, soul mate be damned. A dusting of red sprinkled itself across his cheeks and nose, as if Yuri had just discovered a hidden part of him. The mark was never meant to be revealed.

Adapting a faux sense of idleness, he reached up to cover his shoulder, as if Yuri would be able to see through the robe. Yurio didn't often adopt the ostrich strategy of hiding his head in the sand, but it felt like his last available course of action. The fact he had to avert his eyes only highlighted the sense of running when Yurio normally stood his ground with steadfast violence.

"So what if I do?!" But he did admit the presence of his own symbol. "The stupid thing wasn't finished yet, and Japanese people can't figure out what alphabet they wanna use so it's not like I knew it was you!" The next sound out of his mouth was a literal growl. "Why does it have to be you?! I don't want a damn soul mate at all! And why the hell does it have to be food?!"

Food...? Yuri had to pause at that, to stop and process, and then...well, he couldn't help but laugh. His hand came up over his mouth, stifling a chuckle. It wasn't an appropriate thing to laugh at by any means, but it was still silly, to him. Of course, the mark had probably changed subtly at the touch, just as his own had.

"Probably because food is important to me." He shrugged after that and pulled his robe back on straight. He continued toward the baths, trying desperately to pretend that he was ok with this. He was not ok with this, why WOULD he be ok with this? But he couldn't change it no matter how either of them might want to. So he would ignore it, until it eventually became A Problem. As much as he didn't want that to happen, it probably would. It was only a matter of time.

He looked back on his way out into the open air bath, frowning softly. "You can't actually read Kanji, can you?"

Yurio hasn't had an opportunity to see if there had been a shift in mark. While he could speak Japanese, he wasn't as proficient in writing, and he wasn't even sure if the name had been entirely finished before or not. He would die before asking someone to read the name for him. Now that he's seen his own name writing so unmistakably on Yuri's back, he knows what the name says.

It was meant to be a sign of hope, a promise that no one was alone because everyone had been born with a connection to someone else. Instead, it felt like a chain, a form of bondage Yurio planned to reject.

Then the bastard started to laugh! It wasn't funny! He was going to kick him in the face! At his side, his hands clenched in anger, a furious mood overtaking him. Anger was familiar, Yurio had mastered the art of being angry. But he didn't know how to be a soul mate, so he'll take the irritation instead.

But as he thought of rejecting the mark and the very idea, pain erupted from his shoulder. With Yuri's back to him, the flinch was well hidden, but it was enough to urge him forward as well. Why was he even taking baths with other men? He didn't want to take baths with other men. It was weird. Japanese culture was weird.

When Yuri finally did look back, Yurio was close behind, but his eyes were everywhere but forward. With a snort, Yurio shook his head in negative confirmation. "No. How would I be able to?" He wanted to keep it hidden. It almost felt as if it was only true if someone else finally saw the symbol and writing on his back. A part of him hoped the name would be different, but it was a ridiculous hope at this point.

This time, instead of his usual angry petulance, his anger actually made him look younger. Reaching up, his hand worked in short, annoyed movements as it pulled the side of his robe off the left shoulder. Yurio allowed the hand to hold the robe in place as the other moved to pull his hair out of the way before he angrily spun around. His left shoulder cleared sported Yuri's name above what the outline of a pork cutlet bowel.

"Is that your name?"

It was easier to laugh at these things, because otherwise the anxiety would get the better of him. Just like Yurio, he didn't have a damned clue how someone was supposed to act like a soul mate if they weren't romantically inclined. He'd hoped to just ignore it, or to ask someone else's advice. Possibly Yuko's, knowing how she and Nishigori got along after their marks had manifested.

When Yurio's mark had flared at being rejected, Yuri had stiffened up as if prodded hard with something sharp in the center of his own. It stopped him moving while Yurio hadn't been watching.

"I could teach you," he started to offer when Yurio approached, and his hands came up reflexively, as if ready to fend off the guy trying to hit him. Instead he was actually seeing the mark on Yurio's shoulder, and...huh. Yeah, that was the kanji for his name. He reached out, nearly touching the tip of his finger against it, but thought better of it and let his hand fall away. The katsudon bowl was simple, looking as if it had been brushed on in ink like an ancient, classical illustration. It looked kind of silly there on the other's pale skin, but he kept himself from laughing again. "Yeah, that's mine alright. Well that explains a lot."

Just as Yuri laughs, Yurio grows angry. It was a bad coping mechanism, and he really did need a healthier outlet, but it helped him handle situations.

Finding a soul mate was meant to be a life changing experience. Yurio knew it happened to everyone, but he somehow had his mind focused so strongly on skating that he never considered actually having to face someone connected to him by fate. How did you handle someone that was meant to be so special? Delicacy would never be an art Yurio perfected, and even know, even if he hadn't hated Yuri for stealing his coach, he wasn't sure what he would say or do.

As if sensing the touch was close, Yurio's spine straightened, almost like a threatened cat. Nonetheless, he remained still in stubborn refusal to have to repeat this scene at a later date so Yuri could confirm the fear that had fairly warmed its way into Yurio's head.

Once the worse was confirmed, the stiff shoulders fell. Damn it.

"How does this explain anything?! I have a tatoo of fucking food on my back!"

"Well, I had no idea what all the stripes meant until now. And you're always mad at me for no logical reason. People get more emotional in that kind of circumstance, right?"

That kind, as if it wasn't him caught in the middle of this. He pulled up on Yurio's sleeve to right it on his shoulder, turning to go back out to the public bath, intent on having his small impending emotional breakdown there out of the way. The last thing he needed right now was Yuri screaming about him being an overly-emotional, glasshearted moron. He already knew that, after all. He didn't need someone else pointing it out with flashing neon signs.

So Yuri left the other there to climb into his private bath, intent on taking the time to try and even out the shallowness in his breathing before it could overtake him and make it so much worse. This wasn't what he wanted out of the other skater's arrival here. He didn't want anything out of it to begin with, but this? So far out of left field that he wasn't even sure he was processing it right.

Don't mind him, Yuri was just going to tuck himself against the side of the spring with his chin propped on a smooth stone. He'd dwell, but he'd do so in peace.

That exact line of thought had been what drove him to keep his own symbol a secret. Once anyone knew his mark had appeared, they would assume there should be some kind of instant connection with a stranger. The only thing the mark said about the Japanese Yuri is that he liked food, and that wasn't something that endured Yurio.

Even if the Russian figure skater wouldn't admit it, however, Yuri isn't wrong. From the moment his eyes had landed on him, there had been emotion, but Yurio had played it off negatively as that was easier for him to understand. Even if that had been unfair, now Yuri had stolen Victor, and he wasn't going to ignore the theft of his coach, mark be damned.

"There's always been a logical reason! Victor promised to coach me if I won the Junior Cup, and I did!"

Fate seemed to be frowning on Yuri as his soul mate, one meant to be a friend with an especially deep connection, continued to yell loudly. Yurio wasn't being spared his own punishment, as his shoulder burned with the unreasonable attack. Almost instantly, some of his anger deflated, though he wasn't going to accept Victor's deflection so easily. Instead, he let Yuri walk away as Yurio himself stayed rooted in place. He'd have to move eventually, but for now, he listened to the water move as Yuri lowered himself into it's warm depths.

It would feel good, right? Taking a bath with other people was a strange custom he'd hadn't adopted in Russia, but the idea of being surrounded by the heat was a tempting one, especially with the ghost aches of his shoulder still fresh in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Yurio turned and allowed his face to fall into an emotion more fitting for his stubborn nature. Pretending he wasn't hesitant about just stripping in front of someone else, he dropped his robe at the side of the spring. His nervousness was betrayed by the speed in which he jumped inside and lowered himself beneath the steam, hoping it could preserve his dignity.

"You can't tell anybody."

After a few minutes of thick, physical silence, Yurio finally spoke.

Yuri was actually surprised when the other joined him there, but he knew better than to look up, and resolutely kept his eyes down on his slightly blurred reflection in the water. Yurio didn't want to be looked at naked, and honestly he didn't care to try and look in the first place.

"I won't," he assured Yurio quietly. He could only imagine what people would say if they found out. He let himself sink down into the water until he'd disappeared under its surface, staying there for several seconds before coming back up again and slicking his hair back out of his face, just to give himself something to do rather than migrating to the other side of the spring like he wanted to.

As Yurio allowed his body to sink into the heated waters, a quiet sigh of relief escapes his throat. Somehow, being surrounded by the heat feels instantly relaxing, and he can see why Yuri chooses to come here to wind down. Within seconds he feels his tense muscles giving up the fight in order to just accept the calming nature of the springs.

Things haven't changed, but his head does begin to clear. Yurio often speaks out in moments of anger and says things a bit more harshly than he meant, but there were also slivers of truth in most. He isn't sure how to be a soulmate.

The silence begins to stretch on, but Yurio finally decides to break it after Yuri resurfaces from the water. The hesitation makes the silence feel thicker until the words finally manage to form.

"It's not going to be romantic." His voice is harsh, but not yelling. Not yet. "There's other kinds, right? No way in hell is this supposed to be the romantic kind."

Yuri blinks. He hadn't actually expected it to be said out loud, but now that it had been...well, it was a relief.

At this point the mun is just going to gently retcon an earlier comment re: Yuri's soulmarks, giving him one for Victor that isn't easy for others to find but has at least been established, if downplayed. So Yuri is glad to know that if they're destined to be together, he won't have to try to be romantic at Yurio. He nods at the insistence, setting his expression into something almost matching Yurio's. How does this guy manage to stay so scowly all the time, doesn't his face get tired?

"There's someone else for you but I'm definitely not it."

His scowling stamina is just as impressive as Yuri's skating stamina, maybe even more so. But by now, he's felt a burning sensation every time he'd unfairly lost his temper at Yuri, so he was trying his best to have a normal conversation. It was hard to just pretend he wasn't angry for having Yuri try to steal the coach he'd worked so hard to win.

Sinking down, Yurio all but disappeared below the steaming water. His gaze strayed upward toward the sky.

"Do you have another one? A mark?" Yurio was rather sure he felt nothing for Yuri aside from burning hate - a connection he couldn't quell - but he had no other mark. If Yuri didn't, did that really mean...

No, he was sure it didn't.

Even pretending not to be mad makes the marks prickle, and Yuri keeps one hand at his shoulder, scratching absently at the bit that he can reach. The question makes him look up with a soft frown, lips pressing together tightly. Yuri wasn't going to like this, he was sure.

When he moved, he did so slowly, standing up with his washcloth held demurely over himself. There, on the outside of his thigh, was a pair of stylized wings with feathers trailing off of them. Victor's name was written in full in the center of the design.

"Just...don't tell anyone else, ok?"

Seeing confirmation that their relationship is never meant to be more than platonic allows a certain ease across Yuri's body. He wasn't ready to meet someone for that kind of relationship yet, and he didn't feel the spark that normally were meant to be automatic between romantic soulmates.

After forcing himself to give a quick, customary glance Yuuri's way, Yuri's eyes shoot forward quickly. Victor, huh?

"I don't care what your leg says, I'm not giving him up." As soon as the words escape from Yuri's mouth, the burning sensation returns to his shoulder. It's almost like a stab now. Sighing, he looks back to Yuuri, though he's sure to keep his eyes squarely on his face. "He made me a promise. I gave up quads and worked even harder to make sure I got that program."

With the understanding on Yuuri's face, the prickling starts to subside. The less he allows himself to be hurt by the things Yuri says, the less the mark will burn and prickle.

"I get that you came here for him and his promise, but he's...really kind of dumb about these things I think. At least you're here now instead of finding out about...you know, everything, later down the line when it'd probably make the marks worse. So we can figure out what to do from here."

Despite often speaking for the sole purpose of being hurtful, Yuri's confession isn't just meant as an attack. It's a confession. Despite much of Yuri's anger coming from sources outside of the situations themselves, he feels his anger in this scenario is valid. If he'd been allowed to use quads, the win would have been much easier.

Admittedly, it was Victor's decision to blow him off and come to Japan, but Yuri's anger was large enough to share.

"I'm not going to let him off the hook just because he's an idiot. This is pretty big, even for him, but you don't have to know him for very long to realize he's a space head." Yuri had a few chances to speak with Victor before now.

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i see trees that are green, red roses too

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