soulmates lovers and other useless human relations

xviii

Well into the night, Aesop slowly and carefully sits on your bed, groaning at the feel of every muscle in his body aching. He knew he shouldn't have played after a long day of missions, but it just seemed too fun to let pass.

"You know, I've been meaning to speak to you about something." He spoke, fiddling with his gloves before placing them on the bedside table. Looking up, he watched as you wrote down some new math problems for Robbie to figure out during the weekend which was quickly coming up.

"Mhm?"

He sighed, running an aching hand through his hair. "Well, you know-" he started, and when hearing his uneasy tone, you turned and tilted your head. "Norton. He's not that bad."

You gave a light snort, turning back to continue writing. "Yeah I know. We've been over this though; we're all on good terms now, you can be his friend."

"That's not what I mean." He frowned.

"Then what do you mean?"

Feeling a cold hand land on your shoulder, you curiously turned around to meet the saddened eyes of the embalmer. "Let's break up."

You froze, mouth parted with your eyes blown wide. "Aesop what?" Standing from your chair, you turned your body to face him fully, stuck in pure disbelief. "This is a joke, right?"

His silence was all you needed to hear.

"Aesop, where did this even come from? Didn't you yourself say you loved me? It was just the other day too!"

"Y/n please understand-"

"Understand what?!"

"I do not want to be the man who stole someone else's soulmate!"

You rolled your eyes, scoffing. "But I thought we agreed that soulmates don't control who we love. What even made you do this?! Did Norton tell you to do this?!"

"No, I'm doing this out of my own free will. It's just- isn't this best for you?" He frowned, lowering his volume in consideration of the other manor occupants.

Your hand reached out to hold his cheeks, eyes welling up with tears. With a sad smile, you shook your head. "I love you Aesop, what's best for me; is you."

He stared at you in silence, eyes stuck in an inner battle. Deep down he wanted to accept this - to be stuck in the same blissful ignorance that he had been in before befriending Norton.

Norton.

Snapping back to reality, he turned his face away from your hold - your heart chipping at the feel of his hands grabbing your wrists and pulling them away from him. His eyes closed and a long sigh left his lips. "You'll find better with Norton." He replied simply, letting you go to quickly walk out of the room.

With the door shut behind him, you stood petrified, staring at the spot he once stood. A tear left your eyes, trailing down your cheek before slipping off and falling to the floor with a 'tap'. Then another followed, and another - it wasn't until your breath got caught in your throat and a sob left you when you noticed you were crying. Crouching down, you brought your arms into yourself - hugging your body in search of comfort.

Outside, not even five steps away, stood the embalmer - eyes closed tightly in refusal to allow his own tears to escape. He could hear behind the thin door as you broke down, still trying to keep quiet for those around you. How badly he wanted to return and hold you tight - apologize and promise he'll be a better boyfriend and that, together, you'll find a solution to the whole soulmate none sense.

But with the dark haired prospector in mind, with the not-so-secret glances Norton would steal of you, with the sweet words he would say about you. With the fact your soulmate was alive, well and so close. He pushed his feet forward towards the safety of his own room.

—————————

"Say, has y/n not woken up?" Vera hummed to both Patricia and Fiona, the two girls shrugging with the redhead turning to the familiar masked man.

"Hey Aesop, is y/n still asleep?"

He halted in his steps, the plate of breakfast that rested in his hands wobbling. Slowly, he shrugged before continuing on his way to the table - sitting on a spot between Eli and Jose. Both men looking at him quizzically.

The three girls watched in pure confusion before something seemed to reveal itself to Patricia and Vera - the two girls sharing a look before running off to the familiar room of the teacher.

Fiona turned and gasped at the retreating figures of her friends. "Eh?! Wait for me!"

Outside the closed door, Patricia sent a worried glance to Vera - the perfumer returning it with a saddened nod. Slowly, the enchantress knocked. "Hey sugar cube. Everything alright in there?"

No noise was heard for a minute before a soft 'yes' sounded out. Not the least bit convinced, Vera spoke. "Sweetheart can we come in? It's only Fiona, Patricia and I. We just want to talk a bit."

Half expecting them to refuse, Vera was incredibly surprised to see the door slowly creak open - the red, puffy eyes of the teacher making her heart break. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry." She cried, walking in to wrap her arms around you.

The two girls followed her in, with Fiona softly closing the door. Joining the hug, they stroked your hair and back - allowing you to cry in the safety of their arms. "I was so happy!" You wailed, body shaking in painful sobs.

"I know sweet pea." Patricia sighed. "I know."

After a few minutes of silent hugs with the only noise coming from your cries, Fiona excused herself, saying she was going to go bring everyone's breakfast in. Vera lead to back to your bed, Patricia making sure to put some discarded objects on the floor back where they belonged. When Fiona returned, Vera tried to make small talk into getting you to talk about what had happened.

"He broke up with me. Said he wanted me to be happy with Norton." You admitted, eyes tearing up again as the sight of your plate became blurry.

Patricia scoffed. "The nerve he had to do that. You two were so happy together! Who cares if Norton is your soulmate?"

"No, he kind of has a point." You sighed, rubbing the tears away. "If his soulmate was here I'd also want him to go with them instead."

"But they're not here." Fiona spoke with a tilt of her head.

Vera nodded. "And you two were happily in love. Truly; I think happiness and love overrules any nature of soulmates."

You sighed, bringing the fork up to your mouth and biting into your food. "Well it doesn't matter now, we broke up. It's already over and done with."

The three girls sat around you, faces saddened. It was true that soulmates were the norm and going against the unspoken rules would cause criticism and some backlash. But you were happy. Eventually, everyone was happy, and now Norton is in love with you but you're in love with Aesop - the embalmer refusing to allow your relationship to further develop.

They could do nothing to help, nothing but wait and see how your luck would play out.