Roses and Delphinia [Pumpkin Scissors] [OreMar]
Oct. 19, 2022 12:24 PM
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naivetteRoses and Delphinia
by Kiyama (@kkknekko)
In a world with soulmarks, it was easy to know if someone was another person’s “soulmate”. It was a delightful and joyous occasion to see two lovers walking down the street, with colorful marks in full view, bright from young, newly discovered romance. Likewise, seeing an older couple with faded designs that had grown to cover their arms or upper torso, proudly proclaiming the strength of their love, was a heartwarming sight to see.
The marks started out small, appearing in childhood. They appeared as thin black lines, gradually appearing and revealing their design. The designs were varied but similar to tattoos: however, flowers, natural landscapes and even animals were common themes. Couples often had matching themes, but there were so many people out there with flower designs, it was impossible to guess who was a pair just from that.
Most importantly, the soulmarks didn’t start gaining color until the person had either met their soulmate, or properly fallen in love with them, depending on the type of person. The process of someone’s mark changing into its final form was, while not overly painful, carried a noticeable sensation. Some people claimed that it burned, while others felt a sting. Many also claimed that it was a numb, aching, or chill sensation. If one was lucky to find their soulmate, the marks’ designs grew in splendor over time.
Marches wondered what that felt like. Even before he had joined Section III, he hadn’t known many people who had actually found their soulmates. It wasn’t a red string of fate, and there was no guarantee one would run into their intended. Even his own parents weren’t soulmates, happy as they were.
So he never thought too deeply about the subject, though it was always the topic of the girls’ gossip he would sometimes overhear while walking through the halls. The women in the military office always seemed to hope that they would run into their beloved, surrounded by so many people of marriageable age.
Well, even if they didn’t find their soulmate , finding their “soulmate” was good enough anyways, in these times. Happiness was hard to come by for most people.
And of course, the most famously eligible bachelor at the Army Intelligence Unit was Oreldo. It was a common sight, to see his soulmark proudly displayed over his heart, when he was too lazy to button up his shirt all the way.
By the time that Marches had joined Section III, Oreldo’s rose outline had already been filled in with a dark, passionate red. A burgundy rose (undying love).
Every single one of his girlfriends at the time had desperately tried spending time with him, waiting to see if their own soulmark would fully develop. Sadly, none of theirs ever did.
Once, when Oreldo was being particularly egregious about not buttoning up his shirt (before 2nd Lieutenant had arrived that morning) Stecchin had attempted to ask about it.
“Oreldo-san, have you ever tried to talk to your soulmate?” She questioned him innocently.
Oreldo quirked his eyebrows. “Peanut, what are you talking about? Of course I have!”
“Then why do you spend so much time chasing other women? You guys are destined for eachother! You have to chase her down!” She spoke, waving her arms dramatically.
Oreldo chuckled, but didn’t say a word. Marches turned to watch him with curiosity. Honestly, he had wondered that same question too.
“Why haven’t you? I can’t imagine she would turn you down.”
“Well it’s not like I haven’t spent time with my soulmate, but their mark hasn’t developed.” He said, with a neutral expression on his face. “There’s no point in forcing the issue, really.”
Stecchin pouted. “Well it’ll be unrequited if you keep up with your philanthropic ways!”
Marches tried not to laugh, but a giggle burst out. “I think you mean ‘philandering’ Lili”.
“Hmph!” she faced down at her desk, and continued to sort paperwork. Her soulmark was an undeveloped little hummingbird on her left ankle, befitting of her personality.
At that moment, Lieutenant and Oland had walked in. In Section III, it wasn’t just Oreldo who had appeared to be at a crossroads when it came to love.
Neither the Lieutenant’s, nor Corporal Oland’s soulmarks were visible when they were in full uniform; But Oland’s clothes had been destroyed often enough that everyone had seen it. A proud lioness on his upper right arm with no color.
As a noble, Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin had her mark on her upper left arm covered with a special skin-colored bandage, meant to keep it a secret. Nobles had no need for romance and soulmates when their marriages were always political anyways. It was an exceedingly rare occasion to see anyone noble with their soulmarks bright and full of love. Alice’s sisters, Elis and Solis, were a rare exception. Elis had blooming white daisies (purity and innocence) and while Solis had white daffodils (rebirth and hope) on each of their arms, proof of their earnest feelings. Their husbands had corresponding soulmarks on their arms too.
But Alice had nothing to hide, she had freely shown her coworkers when Stecchin had asked; It was a many-antlered buck head, branching out into intricate fractals. Once the team had seen Oland’s soulmark while he was in the hospital, it had become painfully obvious. The Lioness mark was Alice’s, and the buck was meant to represent Randel. In the future, when they finally came to terms with their feelings, the colors would appear on their marks, with the fervor of the eternally burning sun.
Not that those two would come to such an easy conclusion, Marches smiled at himself. They still had a long way to go.
What about his own soulmark? He hadn’t felt even the slightest sensation. He had met many people who had made his heart skip (like Lieutenant Webner, or Princess Septieme), but his mark hadn’t so much as even itched a little.
Not that he minded. He had once looked up the meaning of the flowers crawling up his right arm.
Delphinium. A flower that meant ardent love, trust, cheerfulness, and an open heart. The meanings varied depending on the color, and for obvious reasons, Marches didn’t know what color flower he had on his arm.
It didn’t bother him; even if he never found out the color, he would fall in love eventually. Even if they weren’t his soulmate. Plus, he was happy now, spending time with his friends and working in Section III. Discussing news with Hunks, making coffee with Lili, getting dragged around by Alice, getting bitten by Mercury, playing chess with Randel, and even going bar-hopping with Oreldo. He wouldn’t want to change what he has now, in some misplaced panicked search for a person he may never run into.
Unbeknownst to Marches, small splotches of color started appearing in his mark, without any sensation at all.
If you had asked Oreldo when he was younger, ‘What kind of person do you think your soulmate would be?’, he would have gotten it all wrong. He would have guessed that his future partner would be a woman, for one. Probably someone who was his type, pretty or sexy or some combination of the two. Definitely someone with a fierce personality.
Well… Marches was definitely someone with a fierce personality at least, especially when he was mad.
They had been best friends since childhood, playing and getting into trouble like all boys did around that age. They must have been around ten years old when their marks started appearing. Oreldo’s rose mark had appeared first. Just a single, intricate flower, the petals clearly defined with black outlines. He remembered how disappointed he was that his mark was so boring. Why couldn’t he get something cool, like a wolf or something!
Then Marches’ mark appeared not long after. The day that Marches’ had shown him, it was a clear afternoon, perfect for skipping chores. Oreldo had convinced the other boy that the day was too nice to sit around in the shop reading watch manuals. The blond haired boy dragged the other out of the store, grabbing his arm tightly.
Marches’ dad had seen the commotion, but simply waved the boys off with a smile before proceeding with his work.
Without much to actually do, they both decided to visit the local river. It was already autumn, so there weren’t any other kids there, since the water was too cold to swim in. But it was perfect for skipping stones. So they sat there on a riverbank, skipping stones lazily and chatting until the sun started to set.
Eventually, they got into a bit of a competition to see who could throw the stones the furthest, with the most skips.
Oreldo stood up and walked around, picking the smoothest rock he could find. When he finally found a good rock, he waved to Marches.
“Ready?”
Marches walked over to him, with a similarly smooth rock in hand. “I’ll definitely beat you this time!”
“Haha, yeah right.”
Both Marches and Oreldo rolled up their sleeves.
“3…2….1….go!”
The two boys threw the rocks. Oreldo used brute force, and the rock skipped 7 times before sinking into the river. Marches used a wrist flick while throwing the rock, and managed to get a smooth throw, the rock skipping 12 times in quick succession before finally sinking. The rock had also traveled quite a bit farther.
“Seriously!” Oreldo exclaimed.
Marches cheered, bouncing up and down. He pumped his right fist into the air in a victory pose that Oreldo couldn’t help but laugh at. But the victory was well earned. While watching Marches’ silly dance, Oreldo noticed the dark lines on his right arm.
“Marches, what’s that on your arm?”
“Huh?” The glasses-wearing boy glanced down at the inside of his right arm, near his wrist. Little, pretty flowers all bunched up together had appeared on his arm, climbing all the way up to the inside of his elbow. He couldn’t tell what it was the day before, just a random collection of black lines all over his arm in an unknown pattern.
Oreldo leaned in to take a closer look, reaching out for Marches hand. Marches acquiesced, holding his hand out, palm side up so that they could both study the design.
“Woah, it’s a lot of tiny flowers!” Oreldo said.
Marches frowned. “Isn’t this too girly?”
Oreldo hummed. “Well, sometimes the marks represent your partner? I have a rose too.”
“Well I don’t think roses are girly! When boys give girls flowers, it’s always roses!” Marches sighed. “Well, maybe girls will like whatever these are too.”
Oreldo grinned. “I’m sure they will. C’mon, I’m hungry! It’s time for dinner.”
The conversation was left at that, and the two boys returned to Marches’ house.
+++
Oreldo hadn’t thought much of the soulmarks after that. Truthfully, he didn’t care if he ever found his soulmate; he didn’t know his parents that well, but he had been told by other people in the neighborhood that they were soulmates. He didn’t have many memories of them, but what he did recall, times weren’t great. His parents had fought a lot, and eventually left him, one after the other.
He had done his best, stealing scraps from behind restaurants and bakeries to survive. One day, he was running away from an angry store owner who had caught him rummaging through the leftovers when he ran into Marches’ mom in the back alley behind their watch store. Shocked at his appearance, the woman had quickly ushered him inside their backroom and then shut the door without another word.
The man ran around the corner, and spotted the woman. “Mrs. Marches! Did you see a little rascal run this way? He’s been stealing bread from the store!”
The woman looked at the man with an innocent look, accentuated by bottle glasses that only served to make her eyes look more childlike.
“Why sir, I don’t have any clue! I might have seen someone run in that direction, but I was too busy to see who they really were.” She replied.
“Alright, thanks ma'am! Have a good day.” He said curtly, before running off in the same direction.
The woman sighed, and then opened the door. She flashed a kind smile at the boy. “You look like you’ve had a rough day, let’s get you cleaned up!”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Mr. and Mrs. Marches had shown Oreldo what it felt like to have a kind and loving family. Although he never tried to impose on them for longer than necessary, they had always welcomed him for dinner.
When he got older, Oreldo had hoped that whoever he fell in love with, he could have created a family like that, with someone just as kind.
+++
When Oreldo got old enough to work, he decided to join the army. The war had been ongoing, and he wanted to earn his own keep. The easiest way to feed himself was entering the military service; Although he was independent and had been doing odd jobs here and there ever since he was thirteen, it wasn’t stable. He didn’t want to cause worry for the Marches family, so he decided to enter the army as soon as possible.
Being accepted into the Army Academy wasn’t easy, especially since he didn’t have any family who could confirm his moral character, but Mr. and Mrs. Marches had helped him even then. With their approval and assistance, he was able to enroll and enter basic training.
One year later, when the new recruits were introduced to the academy, Oreldo was shocked to see that Marches had also joined the army.
After the entrance ceremony had ended, Oreldo made eye contact with Marches, indicating for the other to follow him.
Marches nodded, following him into a relatively quiet hallway. It had been a year since he had seen the glasses-wearing dork, and he couldn't help but feel conflicted.
Oreldo smiled ruefully. “Oi, idiot, what do you think you’re doing here? Weren’t you going to help run your family’s shop?”
Marches, who up till now had a pleasant expression on his face, began to frown. “My older brother is already taking over the whole store, they don’t need me there.”
“That doesn’t mean that you had to join the army! You could have gotten a job somewhere else!” Oreldo frowned. Why had he gone out of his way to put himself in danger?
Marches furrowed his brows, and looked like had some choice curses to yell at Oreldo, but he caught himself and sighed. Obviously, it’s because of you!
“Anything you can do, I can do better.”
“Wha- no way your scrawny ass can survive in basic training!”
“Just watch me then.” Marches scoffed and then walked away.
Oreldo almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous his reasoning was. Marches joined the army just to one-up him? It was beyond stupid. He was definitely hiding something.
He didn’t know what it was exactly, but Oreldo decided to let that be a worry for a different day. He felt a warm, bubbly sensation gracing his chest, right where his mark was. It wasn’t strong enough to immediately draw attention to itself, but Oreldo briefly scratched at his chest unknowingly. A deep red began to fill in his rose.
Well… Marches was definitely someone with a fierce personality at least, especially when he was mad.
They had been best friends since childhood, playing and getting into trouble like all boys did around that age. They must have been around ten years old when their marks started appearing. Oreldo’s rose mark had appeared first. Just a single, intricate flower, the petals clearly defined with black outlines. He remembered how disappointed he was that his mark was so boring. Why couldn’t he get something cool, like a wolf or something!
Then Marches’ mark appeared not long after. The day that Marches’ had shown him, it was a clear afternoon, perfect for skipping chores. Oreldo had convinced the other boy that the day was too nice to sit around in the shop reading watch manuals. The blond haired boy dragged the other out of the store, grabbing his arm tightly.
Marches’ dad had seen the commotion, but simply waved the boys off with a smile before proceeding with his work.
Without much to actually do, they both decided to visit the local river. It was already autumn, so there weren’t any other kids there, since the water was too cold to swim in. But it was perfect for skipping stones. So they sat there on a riverbank, skipping stones lazily and chatting until the sun started to set.
Eventually, they got into a bit of a competition to see who could throw the stones the furthest, with the most skips.
Oreldo stood up and walked around, picking the smoothest rock he could find. When he finally found a good rock, he waved to Marches.
“Ready?”
Marches walked over to him, with a similarly smooth rock in hand. “I’ll definitely beat you this time!”
“Haha, yeah right.”
Both Marches and Oreldo rolled up their sleeves.
“3…2….1….go!”
The two boys threw the rocks. Oreldo used brute force, and the rock skipped 7 times before sinking into the river. Marches used a wrist flick while throwing the rock, and managed to get a smooth throw, the rock skipping 12 times in quick succession before finally sinking. The rock had also traveled quite a bit farther.
“Seriously!” Oreldo exclaimed.
Marches cheered, bouncing up and down. He pumped his right fist into the air in a victory pose that Oreldo couldn’t help but laugh at. But the victory was well earned. While watching Marches’ silly dance, Oreldo noticed the dark lines on his right arm.
“Marches, what’s that on your arm?”
“Huh?” The glasses-wearing boy glanced down at the inside of his right arm, near his wrist. Little, pretty flowers all bunched up together had appeared on his arm, climbing all the way up to the inside of his elbow. He couldn’t tell what it was the day before, just a random collection of black lines all over his arm in an unknown pattern.
Oreldo leaned in to take a closer look, reaching out for Marches hand. Marches acquiesced, holding his hand out, palm side up so that they could both study the design.
“Woah, it’s a lot of tiny flowers!” Oreldo said.
Marches frowned. “Isn’t this too girly?”
Oreldo hummed. “Well, sometimes the marks represent your partner? I have a rose too.”
“Well I don’t think roses are girly! When boys give girls flowers, it’s always roses!” Marches sighed. “Well, maybe girls will like whatever these are too.”
Oreldo grinned. “I’m sure they will. C’mon, I’m hungry! It’s time for dinner.”
The conversation was left at that, and the two boys returned to Marches’ house.
+++
Oreldo hadn’t thought much of the soulmarks after that. Truthfully, he didn’t care if he ever found his soulmate; he didn’t know his parents that well, but he had been told by other people in the neighborhood that they were soulmates. He didn’t have many memories of them, but what he did recall, times weren’t great. His parents had fought a lot, and eventually left him, one after the other.
He had done his best, stealing scraps from behind restaurants and bakeries to survive. One day, he was running away from an angry store owner who had caught him rummaging through the leftovers when he ran into Marches’ mom in the back alley behind their watch store. Shocked at his appearance, the woman had quickly ushered him inside their backroom and then shut the door without another word.
The man ran around the corner, and spotted the woman. “Mrs. Marches! Did you see a little rascal run this way? He’s been stealing bread from the store!”
The woman looked at the man with an innocent look, accentuated by bottle glasses that only served to make her eyes look more childlike.
“Why sir, I don’t have any clue! I might have seen someone run in that direction, but I was too busy to see who they really were.” She replied.
“Alright, thanks ma'am! Have a good day.” He said curtly, before running off in the same direction.
The woman sighed, and then opened the door. She flashed a kind smile at the boy. “You look like you’ve had a rough day, let’s get you cleaned up!”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Mr. and Mrs. Marches had shown Oreldo what it felt like to have a kind and loving family. Although he never tried to impose on them for longer than necessary, they had always welcomed him for dinner.
When he got older, Oreldo had hoped that whoever he fell in love with, he could have created a family like that, with someone just as kind.
+++
When Oreldo got old enough to work, he decided to join the army. The war had been ongoing, and he wanted to earn his own keep. The easiest way to feed himself was entering the military service; Although he was independent and had been doing odd jobs here and there ever since he was thirteen, it wasn’t stable. He didn’t want to cause worry for the Marches family, so he decided to enter the army as soon as possible.
Being accepted into the Army Academy wasn’t easy, especially since he didn’t have any family who could confirm his moral character, but Mr. and Mrs. Marches had helped him even then. With their approval and assistance, he was able to enroll and enter basic training.
One year later, when the new recruits were introduced to the academy, Oreldo was shocked to see that Marches had also joined the army.
After the entrance ceremony had ended, Oreldo made eye contact with Marches, indicating for the other to follow him.
Marches nodded, following him into a relatively quiet hallway. It had been a year since he had seen the glasses-wearing dork, and he couldn't help but feel conflicted.
Oreldo smiled ruefully. “Oi, idiot, what do you think you’re doing here? Weren’t you going to help run your family’s shop?”
Marches, who up till now had a pleasant expression on his face, began to frown. “My older brother is already taking over the whole store, they don’t need me there.”
“That doesn’t mean that you had to join the army! You could have gotten a job somewhere else!” Oreldo frowned. Why had he gone out of his way to put himself in danger?
Marches furrowed his brows, and looked like had some choice curses to yell at Oreldo, but he caught himself and sighed. Obviously, it’s because of you!
“Anything you can do, I can do better.”
“Wha- no way your scrawny ass can survive in basic training!”
“Just watch me then.” Marches scoffed and then walked away.
Oreldo almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous his reasoning was. Marches joined the army just to one-up him? It was beyond stupid. He was definitely hiding something.
He didn’t know what it was exactly, but Oreldo decided to let that be a worry for a different day. He felt a warm, bubbly sensation gracing his chest, right where his mark was. It wasn’t strong enough to immediately draw attention to itself, but Oreldo briefly scratched at his chest unknowingly. A deep red began to fill in his rose.
The next morning, Oreldo went about his normal routine, getting ready for the regular daily exercises when he spotted his soulmark in the mirror. Red splotches had nearly filled the rose already, and he almost panicked.
Who did he run into yesterday that could have triggered it to develop? He pulled his shirt on quickly.
He didn’t remember running into any of the girls he had been flirting with recently… but he had seen Marches. “No fucking way.” he couldn’t help but utter to himself.
Of all the people in the world, his soulmate was Marches?! Unbelievable! First of all, he didn’t even swing that way. He wasn’t interested in men. And even if he was, he would like to think that he had better taste-
No… that wasn’t correct. A hidden memory that he had repressed had floated to the surface. When he first met Marches as a kid, the other boy had slightly longer hair, and long eyelashes accentuating his cute round eyes. Oreldo remembered that he had marveled at how anybody could be that adorable, so small and innocent looking with blushy cheeks. Definitely someone to be protected. Oreldo had turned bright red, just meeting him.
He had mistaken Marches as a girl, until Mrs. Marches had shoved the two of them into a bath together, and he realized to his horror that the girl he had been admiring had really been a boy. Oreldo had subsequently buried the memory deep inside, mortified about his mistake.
His soulmark turned hot as he thought about his childhood friend. So it really was him. Oreldo started to chuckle before progressing into a heartier, uncontrollable laugh.
His heart was filled with joy, but also dread at the thought of explaining it to Marches. No, it was probably better to wait, until the other man’s mark developed too. He would wait as long as he needed.
Oreldo covered up his soulmark with bandages during his time at the academy, and continued to do so even when they had officially received their job assignments at the army. However, one day he had gotten careless while flirting with a girl from the records department, and his sticky bandage fell off of his chest. The girl had shrieked, shocked to see the soulmark. She quickly checked her own mark on her left hand. Still just black lines.
“Oreldo-san! You already had a soulmate?” She said tearfully. Oreldo gave her a placid smile, stroking her hair as she continued to complain into his arms.
“It doesn’t change anything between us.” He said, a little sad.
Word quickly spread of Oreldo’s developed soulmark.
+++
Marches went to the cafeteria to have dinner after work, and Oreldo followed him. Even when the Lieutenant and Randel had come back, it was only to inform them that Section III’s assignments had to wait until tomorrow anyways, so they were free to go home for the night.
For some reason, the others had other things they wanted to work on, so it was just the two of them for today, which wasn’t anything unusual or out of the ordinary. They took their food and sat down at one of the smaller empty tables towards the edge of the room. The two sat across from each other; Marches proceeded to roll up his sleeves, which is when Oreldo noticed it.
On Marches' right arm, his flowers showed splashes of color everywhere. The colors hadn’t yet filled in the design, but it was distributed evenly, leaving almost purposeful blank spaces akin to watercolor. Soft, beautiful pastel reds, blues, and purples interspersed with white. Oreldo gasped, dropping his spoon, eyes wide.
Marches had a fork in his right hand, but Oreldo grabbed his arm immediately, causing the other man to drop the utensil.
“-Hey! Why are you-” Marches was stunned, seeing what had happened to his soulmark. They both knew what this meant.
“Did you… did you meet anyone else recently?” Oreldo asked, uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer to that question.
Marches wasn’t able to say anything, but he shook his head. He gave Oreldo a pointed look, before jerking away his arm from Oreldo’s grip. The blonde man’s heart was about to shatter to pieces, before Marches smiled coyly.
“Just eat, we’ll talk about this later.” he said. Oreldo agreed, this wasn’t the time or place to discuss this.
They ate in relative silence. Oreldo ate nervously, glancing at Marches before looking away. Marches ate comfortably, studying the soulmark on his arm.
It was unusual for two men to be soulmates, but not unheard of. So his mark had multiple colors huh? He didn’t understand why, but he felt that it was too cute for him.
Marches would like to say that he was shocked, but he spent too much time with the man to really say that it was a surprise.
After they finished their meals, they went to a bench that was adjacent to the building’s garden, a quiet place that very few people would go near considering how late it was. They both sat on the same bench, as far apart as possible, unsure of how to start the conversation.
Marches went first. “When did your mark really develop?”
“Huh? Why are you asking that now?”
“...”
“Alright fine, you have a point.” Oreldo sighed. “It was right after you joined the military academy.”
“I see.”
“What about yours? It happened today?” said Oreldo leaving out his real question. Why? Why now?
Marches crossed his arms, forming a thinking pose. “I definitely didn’t see any changes yesterday, so yes, it had to have happened today.”
A beat passed.
“But-” Oreldo started.
“Well-” Marches said at the same time.
Oreldo stayed quiet again, motioning for Marches to continue.
“This is just a theory, but what if your mark is actually mine?” Marches said. He looked at Oreldo before glancing away, staring out into the garden. “I have always thought that roses were cool.” the man said, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Oreldo however, turned bright red, and stuttered his next sentence. “B-but then… that’s not possible! Aren’t the soulmarks supposed to develop when our own feelings are ready?”
Marches looked back at the man next to him, and sent him a knowing smile. “And when do you think my feelings were ready? It wasn’t today. That rose represents my feelings for you.”
It was Oreldo’s turn to look away. He got up from the bench quickly, and started pacing. “Then your mark… today was…” he stood still and faced Marches directly. “Why would your.. I guess mine? Why would my mark wait till now?”
At this, Marches laughed. “Idiot. Just like I can’t lie to you, you can’t lie to me.”
He held out his arm once more, beckoning the other man to come closer. Oreldo sat down on the bench again, this time directly next to Marches, their sides and thighs in contact. Marches rolled up his sleeves further, and showed him the soulmark. Oreldo grabbed his arm, holding on to his hand.
Oreldo looked at the design again, but in the dim light of the garden, he couldn’t really see anything other than the filled in delphinium flowers.
“What am I looking for here?” said Oreldo.
Marches grinned. He pointed at some of the lines closer to his elbow. To someone just glancing at the design, it looked like the regular black lines one would expect. However, now that he looked closer, Oreldo could see that the lines were smudged, blending with the colors of the flower mark.
“The lines of this section are actually purple. The color started appearing a long while ago. Probably not long after the design appeared itself.” said Marches.
Oreldo facepalmed. “And what does that mean again, in the flower language?”
Marches squeezed Oreldo’s hand. “It means first love.”
“Shit!”
Marches laughed. “I’ll tell you about the other colors too. Red, Blue, and White. The red means pure love, obviously,”
“Obviously.” Oreldo rolled his eyes.
“Blue stands for peace and serenity.”
“Mhmn”
“And the white indicates protection.”
Oreldo’s face was bright red, but he struggled not to look away in embarrassment. To think that his innocent childhood mistake would catch up to him now!
“Do you wanna explain to me why this mark is so girly?” Marches said. His expression didn’t match his question at all though. The bastard looked like he already knew the truth.
“I’m only gonna say this once.” Oreldo said.
Marches smiled. “Go ahead.”
“When we first met…I had a stupid crush on you… but I thought you were a girl!”
Marches let go of Oreldo’s hand to laugh, and kept laughing, for a long while.
“I guess… the great Oreldo got his girl after all!” Marches said, after he managed to calm down. Oreldo huffed, sitting with his arms crossed. But he had a smile on his face too.
His heart felt light, like he had wings and could lift off from the ground at any moment now.
Marches looked at Oreldo once more, full of mirth. He gently cupped Oreldo’s face, bringing him closer.
“But I’ll have you know, I’m 100% a man.”
“Yeah and?-”
Marches forcefully grabbed Oreldo, and kissed him greedily. Oreldo was no stranger to an exciting kiss, but he hadn’t been expecting such ferocity from Marches in that moment. He returned the heated kisses passionately, trading off their push and pull, back and forth.
Oreldo grabbed Marches by the waist, and lifted the smaller man on top of him so that he was straddling his legs. They continued to kiss, when Marches pulled away, looking thoroughly debauched.
“We should move.”
“Yeah.”
+++
The two of them showed up to work the next, both of them looking suspiciously well put-together. Even Oreldo had his uniform on properly, and they had both showed up to work on time.
Stecchin took one look at them, and giggled. “Congratulations!”
Who did he run into yesterday that could have triggered it to develop? He pulled his shirt on quickly.
He didn’t remember running into any of the girls he had been flirting with recently… but he had seen Marches. “No fucking way.” he couldn’t help but utter to himself.
Of all the people in the world, his soulmate was Marches?! Unbelievable! First of all, he didn’t even swing that way. He wasn’t interested in men. And even if he was, he would like to think that he had better taste-
No… that wasn’t correct. A hidden memory that he had repressed had floated to the surface. When he first met Marches as a kid, the other boy had slightly longer hair, and long eyelashes accentuating his cute round eyes. Oreldo remembered that he had marveled at how anybody could be that adorable, so small and innocent looking with blushy cheeks. Definitely someone to be protected. Oreldo had turned bright red, just meeting him.
He had mistaken Marches as a girl, until Mrs. Marches had shoved the two of them into a bath together, and he realized to his horror that the girl he had been admiring had really been a boy. Oreldo had subsequently buried the memory deep inside, mortified about his mistake.
His soulmark turned hot as he thought about his childhood friend. So it really was him. Oreldo started to chuckle before progressing into a heartier, uncontrollable laugh.
His heart was filled with joy, but also dread at the thought of explaining it to Marches. No, it was probably better to wait, until the other man’s mark developed too. He would wait as long as he needed.
Oreldo covered up his soulmark with bandages during his time at the academy, and continued to do so even when they had officially received their job assignments at the army. However, one day he had gotten careless while flirting with a girl from the records department, and his sticky bandage fell off of his chest. The girl had shrieked, shocked to see the soulmark. She quickly checked her own mark on her left hand. Still just black lines.
“Oreldo-san! You already had a soulmate?” She said tearfully. Oreldo gave her a placid smile, stroking her hair as she continued to complain into his arms.
“It doesn’t change anything between us.” He said, a little sad.
Word quickly spread of Oreldo’s developed soulmark.
+++
Marches went to the cafeteria to have dinner after work, and Oreldo followed him. Even when the Lieutenant and Randel had come back, it was only to inform them that Section III’s assignments had to wait until tomorrow anyways, so they were free to go home for the night.
For some reason, the others had other things they wanted to work on, so it was just the two of them for today, which wasn’t anything unusual or out of the ordinary. They took their food and sat down at one of the smaller empty tables towards the edge of the room. The two sat across from each other; Marches proceeded to roll up his sleeves, which is when Oreldo noticed it.
On Marches' right arm, his flowers showed splashes of color everywhere. The colors hadn’t yet filled in the design, but it was distributed evenly, leaving almost purposeful blank spaces akin to watercolor. Soft, beautiful pastel reds, blues, and purples interspersed with white. Oreldo gasped, dropping his spoon, eyes wide.
Marches had a fork in his right hand, but Oreldo grabbed his arm immediately, causing the other man to drop the utensil.
“-Hey! Why are you-” Marches was stunned, seeing what had happened to his soulmark. They both knew what this meant.
“Did you… did you meet anyone else recently?” Oreldo asked, uncertain if he wanted to hear the answer to that question.
Marches wasn’t able to say anything, but he shook his head. He gave Oreldo a pointed look, before jerking away his arm from Oreldo’s grip. The blonde man’s heart was about to shatter to pieces, before Marches smiled coyly.
“Just eat, we’ll talk about this later.” he said. Oreldo agreed, this wasn’t the time or place to discuss this.
They ate in relative silence. Oreldo ate nervously, glancing at Marches before looking away. Marches ate comfortably, studying the soulmark on his arm.
It was unusual for two men to be soulmates, but not unheard of. So his mark had multiple colors huh? He didn’t understand why, but he felt that it was too cute for him.
Marches would like to say that he was shocked, but he spent too much time with the man to really say that it was a surprise.
After they finished their meals, they went to a bench that was adjacent to the building’s garden, a quiet place that very few people would go near considering how late it was. They both sat on the same bench, as far apart as possible, unsure of how to start the conversation.
Marches went first. “When did your mark really develop?”
“Huh? Why are you asking that now?”
“...”
“Alright fine, you have a point.” Oreldo sighed. “It was right after you joined the military academy.”
“I see.”
“What about yours? It happened today?” said Oreldo leaving out his real question. Why? Why now?
Marches crossed his arms, forming a thinking pose. “I definitely didn’t see any changes yesterday, so yes, it had to have happened today.”
A beat passed.
“But-” Oreldo started.
“Well-” Marches said at the same time.
Oreldo stayed quiet again, motioning for Marches to continue.
“This is just a theory, but what if your mark is actually mine?” Marches said. He looked at Oreldo before glancing away, staring out into the garden. “I have always thought that roses were cool.” the man said, a slight blush on his cheeks.
Oreldo however, turned bright red, and stuttered his next sentence. “B-but then… that’s not possible! Aren’t the soulmarks supposed to develop when our own feelings are ready?”
Marches looked back at the man next to him, and sent him a knowing smile. “And when do you think my feelings were ready? It wasn’t today. That rose represents my feelings for you.”
It was Oreldo’s turn to look away. He got up from the bench quickly, and started pacing. “Then your mark… today was…” he stood still and faced Marches directly. “Why would your.. I guess mine? Why would my mark wait till now?”
At this, Marches laughed. “Idiot. Just like I can’t lie to you, you can’t lie to me.”
He held out his arm once more, beckoning the other man to come closer. Oreldo sat down on the bench again, this time directly next to Marches, their sides and thighs in contact. Marches rolled up his sleeves further, and showed him the soulmark. Oreldo grabbed his arm, holding on to his hand.
Oreldo looked at the design again, but in the dim light of the garden, he couldn’t really see anything other than the filled in delphinium flowers.
“What am I looking for here?” said Oreldo.
Marches grinned. He pointed at some of the lines closer to his elbow. To someone just glancing at the design, it looked like the regular black lines one would expect. However, now that he looked closer, Oreldo could see that the lines were smudged, blending with the colors of the flower mark.
“The lines of this section are actually purple. The color started appearing a long while ago. Probably not long after the design appeared itself.” said Marches.
Oreldo facepalmed. “And what does that mean again, in the flower language?”
Marches squeezed Oreldo’s hand. “It means first love.”
“Shit!”
Marches laughed. “I’ll tell you about the other colors too. Red, Blue, and White. The red means pure love, obviously,”
“Obviously.” Oreldo rolled his eyes.
“Blue stands for peace and serenity.”
“Mhmn”
“And the white indicates protection.”
Oreldo’s face was bright red, but he struggled not to look away in embarrassment. To think that his innocent childhood mistake would catch up to him now!
“Do you wanna explain to me why this mark is so girly?” Marches said. His expression didn’t match his question at all though. The bastard looked like he already knew the truth.
“I’m only gonna say this once.” Oreldo said.
Marches smiled. “Go ahead.”
“When we first met…I had a stupid crush on you… but I thought you were a girl!”
Marches let go of Oreldo’s hand to laugh, and kept laughing, for a long while.
“I guess… the great Oreldo got his girl after all!” Marches said, after he managed to calm down. Oreldo huffed, sitting with his arms crossed. But he had a smile on his face too.
His heart felt light, like he had wings and could lift off from the ground at any moment now.
Marches looked at Oreldo once more, full of mirth. He gently cupped Oreldo’s face, bringing him closer.
“But I’ll have you know, I’m 100% a man.”
“Yeah and?-”
Marches forcefully grabbed Oreldo, and kissed him greedily. Oreldo was no stranger to an exciting kiss, but he hadn’t been expecting such ferocity from Marches in that moment. He returned the heated kisses passionately, trading off their push and pull, back and forth.
Oreldo grabbed Marches by the waist, and lifted the smaller man on top of him so that he was straddling his legs. They continued to kiss, when Marches pulled away, looking thoroughly debauched.
“We should move.”
“Yeah.”
+++
The two of them showed up to work the next, both of them looking suspiciously well put-together. Even Oreldo had his uniform on properly, and they had both showed up to work on time.
Stecchin took one look at them, and giggled. “Congratulations!”