#day 23 soulmates

Soulmates: Icarus (Team CRDL/Team SSSN)

Cardin never had to find his soulmate. He’d just always been there, seemingly from birth, though he knew they’d been five when their parents- also soulmates- had met. And he considered himself lucky. As he got older, he learned just how long some had to wait to meet their soulmate. The years or decades they had to wonder- who would share my semblance? When all he’d had to do was follow his máthair to find his other half.

Going to Shade was strange, in a way. He hadn’t really had the desire to be a huntsman. But Russel had wanted to go, and he had followed. Followed all throughout schooling; through Oscuro into Shade.

There was never a question that Russel Thrush was his soulmate. That he had a bright boy who he sometimes didn’t feel like he deserved, who rambled and smiled and valued other’s happiness above his own. It had just never occurred to Cardin that Russel wasn’t his only soulmate. That the two of them would run into more.

Sky Lark is… fun, in a way. He reminds Cardin of Russel. Smiling and rambling. A class clown in all ways minus funny shoes and red nose. Sometimes he questions Sky being made leader, but then he sees the way Sky’s eyes flick between them and he thinks he understands. It’s Russel who realizes that Sky is their soulmate. He’d come barging into the room, eyes wide and brown swirling almost widely in blue. It was rare for Russel to get too worried. Usually that was Cardin’s job. After all, he’d kept them both from dying throughout their childhood. But Russel didn’t notice the role reversal, just rushed up to Cardin and grabbed onto his forearms. If not for their size difference, Russel would likely be shaking him. The boy certainly gave a valiant try. “Cardin- Sky- I saw- semblance!”

Cardin blinked down at Russel, trying subtly to remove himself from the grip before his brains were scrambled. “You saw Sky’s semblance?” He didn’t understand why that was important.

“Yes!!” Russel said emphatically. His whole face lit up as he smiled, every bit of worry melted into excitement like it hadn’t even been there.

“Okay…?” Cardin said, still not understanding.

“He rewound time,” Russel said, trusting Cardin to understand. And he finally did. It felt like his heart hammered to a sudden stop. He wasn’t sure what emotion he felt at the moment. They had a third soulmate.

Russel had a third soulmate.

Had he not been enough?

In front of him, Russel’s face dropped, and he cursed himself for apparently being too obvious. Being raised together did him no favours with hiding his emotions. Immediately Russel’s hands squished his cheeks and he leaned his forehead down against Cardin’s. “Absolutely not,” Russel said with certainty, with the rare tone that left no room for arguments. The one that was serious and said he was right- The one that Cardin couldn’t help but trust even on his worst days, when his brain really had it out for him, because he used it with Cardin and Cardin alone. Cardin wondered if that would change, now. “You’re always enough. Fate just knew our hearts were big, that they’d have so much room it’d be a shame to share between only two soulmates.”

Cardin snorted despite himself. It was dumb and cheesy. He knew it was almost exactly what he himself would say, in the quiet between the two of them. Especially about Russel. Cardin had never known anyone with a bigger heart. That was one of a hundred different things he loved about Russel. His hands came up to cover Russel’s. “Fate knew we could love multiple people.”

“Exactly.” Russel smiled and kissed him. After they parted, Cardin gently pushed him away.

“Worry and being poetic, you’re taking my jobs today,” Cardin said and crossed his arms. Russel grinned at him.

“I guess this means you have to smile more, then,” Russel said.

Cardin rolled his eyes. “I smile plenty.” Russel took his cheeks again and pushed them upward into a faux smile until the faux faded to real at Russel’s ridiculousness. His soulmate- one of his soulmates? first soulmate? - always had a desire to make everyone happy. Something that seemed to go double for him. He wondered how much a third soulmate would change that.

Not much, turns out. Which Cardin really should have expected. Looking at Russel now, Cardin felt bad for ever doubting Russel. Because Russel was right, despite what his brain wanted to say, they really did work well in a group.

And Fate just seemed to want to keep that going.

Now, if he wanted to, Cardin could deny that Sage Ayana made his mouth go dry. But as stated, that’d be a denial. Sage was tall and seemed to be built like a tree and had neck tattoos and Cardin felt his chest stop and go hot just seeing him, like he was some protagonist in a cheesy romance novel. It was a purely aesthetic attraction, really. Though the way his heart seemed to want to stutter the longer they got to know team SSSN and the longer golden eyes looked at him was scarily reminiscent of the effect Russel had always had on him and Sky had long begun to have. When Cardin saw him use his semblance, it seemed fitting. He’d have to tell Russel their little group got larger.

From the way Russel brightened, he didn’t seem to mind.

Somehow, Cardin managed to find the next one as well. Dove Bronzewing. Somehow it only seemed appropriate their team was seemingly fated to be together. Though Cardin wasn’t sure about the strategic advantage of having a team built up of the same semblance. Dove seemed convinced they could use it, though. And Cardin found he believed him.

Russel did as well. Which Cardin wanted to say was a good sign. But he knew it wasn’t. Ever since they were kids, he saw the good in everybody even to his own endangerment. So Cardin had to make sure he was more wary in his views of those around him. He wasn’t sure if it was the soulmate thing or not, but as he said, he found himself trusting Dove even despite the boy’s prickly nature.

Scarlet David was next, discovered by Russel. Cardin began to wonder what they would do for a bed. Or beds. Multiple would be better- there were some nights he felt sure Russel would feel more comfortable alone. Though the idiot refused to say anything. Too kind for his own good. That was one reason he liked Scarlet. The boy was stubborn and confident in a way even Sky wasn’t. He was good for Russel, even when Cardin worried about his influence on him— because not only was Scarlet confident, he was chaotic in a way that matched Russel perfectly. Something that was beautiful yet terrifying nonetheless.

During a training exercise Russel found Sun Wukong. The boy saved him from what would’ve been a nasty wound by rewinding time a few seconds to provide him with enough to move out of the way. Whether or not the grimm almost got him because he wasn’t paying attention, he wouldn’t answer. (Which was an answer in itself.) Either way, Cardin was eternally grateful to Sun for saving Russel. He was incredibly kind and bright like Russel. But he also had the foulest mouth Cardin had ever heard (and that was saying something) and was a spitfire- though not as much as Scarlet was. Nobody could out spitfire Scarlet. (It was probably a safety measure for the world.)

They figured out Neptune Vasilias together. One semblance tying two complete teams together. Somehow, Cardin knew they were done now. And Russel agreed with the feeling. The boy was quiet and a serial flirt. Especially after the soulmate realization. Cardin personally had been flirted with multiple times and winked at more times then he could count- his face heating treacherously with each. It was unfair that the others didn’t seem particularly prone to blushing except on the rarest occasions.