Multiple Settings Soulmate Defects [IC]

[nomuseneeded]

OOC: And the pairings are....
Liv/Emily
Asher/Charlie
Tio/Julianna
Azriel/Abigail
Liam/Shiloh

IC:

The staff were bustling about, trying to get the home prepared for the soulmates to show. It was decided that even those who only attended therapy at St Valentine's and didn't live there would still meet their soulmates at St. Valentine's. It was a more controlled environment. They wanted to control as much about this meeting as they could, particularly because the whole thing was uncontrollable.

They shut their people up in the back of the house, in the second living room, kitchen, and bedrooms. It would be fine for now, for them to stay in there while a bit was explained to the soulmates. How much was explained would be up to each person who stayed there, but the staff wanted to make sure the people who lived there felt ready. As ready as they could be anyway, this only having been sprung on them days before.
---
Asher was the first person at the house. St. Valentine's. Was it a house for people with developmental disabilities or mental illness? He knew the law that the soulmate had to be of a mental age to handle a romantic relationship, so that ruled out certain issues, but didn't explain why they needed to live in an AFC. It made him nervous. He had no idea what to expect, so even as he knocked on the door he was jumping from one foot to the other.

A staff member opened the door, took him to the living room, offered him a drink. He took ice water and perched himself on the couch, sitting on the very edge. The staff member said it would all be explained to him soon, which to be honest wasn't very promising. There was something to be explained. He glanced out the window, reading the sign again. Home for those Surviving Soulmate Defects. So that was what was going on here. His heart dropped into his stomach. He thought everything would be perfect with his soulmate. What had he gotten himself into? He said a little prayer.

There was a knock on the door, and Asher stood, though he wasn't about to let anyone else in. The staff member came back and opened the door. "Please, come in. Would you like something to drink? We're just waiting for a few more people to come." Asher walked up to the person and stuck out his hand. "Asher Lev, another soulmate here apparently."

---

Most of the people living in the house were sitting in the second living room, waiting, if nervously, but not Shiloh. They couldn't just let their soulmate come and think they got to meet them. People couldn't just show up at their house expecting them to fall in love with them. Shiloh didn't fall in love with people anymore. They knew that 21 was pretty young to swear off love, but they had done it anyway. There was no need to pretend that love was out there. People may point out that a soulmate was out there and that was exactly the problem.

But Shiloh also knew the staff at the house weren't going to happily let them sit in their room ignoring the law. Shiloh would've just said to take them to prison, but the prison would've brought the soulmate in too. This wasn't a law only the civilians followed. Still, they were about ready to punch anyone who tried to bring them out of their room or bring their soulmate in.

"Shiloh, you can't stay in there forever," the staff member said, knocking gently on the door.

"Wanna bet?" they screamed back. The staff member looked around the people living there, who Shiloh had always been getting along with better, looking for help. They sighed and went back to the room full of people.

"We need to hear who wants their story shared, and who would like to share their story for themselves," the staff member said, giving a worried, strained smile to all the people they had spent years caring for and learning to see as much more than a job.

--
Asher gets to the house first and introduces himself to people coming through the door. The staff invites every person in and offers them a drink.

Shiloh is hiding in their room, while the staff asks which soulmates want their disorder shared and which ones want to share for themselves.

 

[LoliCowboy]

Liv was tired.

There are so many types of tired, Liv had learned, and she felt like all of them. The resigned tired when you're approaching a situation that has kept you up at night, nervous. The impatient tired you get when time has seemed to plod rather than simply walk or, better yet, sprint. She firmly gripped her takeout cup of coffee in one slightly shaking fist - it was not her first - and approached the building, knocking on the door.

"Please, come in. Would you like something to drink? We're just waiting for a few more people to come."

Liv shook her head, pointing to her drink. "Got it covered, thanks." An individual nearby approached her and stuck out a hand, introducing himself as Asher. She shook it awkwardly. "I'm Liv. And apparently is right. This is all still... very weird, to me."

 

[elytra]

Character: Charlie
Interacting With: Staff, Shiloh ( nomuseneeded )​

Everyone loved the idea of soulmates, at first.

Really, who wouldn't? Finding someone you just click with instantly was probably one of the best, most intoxicating feelings in the world. Knowing that you have someone special out there for you, quite literally genetically made for you, that was something out of the sort of fairy tales people longed to be in. Without soulmates, there was chance, and doubt, and the possibility of failure. Logically, everyone should want to meet their soulmate, right?

Except they didn't. Expect Charlie would actually rather never meet his soulmate ever and skip the process entirely.

He used to want to meet his soulmate. You know, go through the whole sappy meet-cute process, go on dates, live his life. He was pretty sure he would've won a competition for 'most romcom obsessed child in the state' if given the chance, and he was shocked it didn't drive his dad insane. But....things had a tendency to change, and once his disorder worsened and he felt the full brunt of the effects without medication, he found his worldview flipped. He didn't want to end up meeting his soulmate. Or, well, maybe it was more accurate to say that he didn't want to end up like his mother. Whoever his soulmate was, they didn't deserve that.

So he just didn't take part. Not that that was really an option, but he was sort of able to slip under the radar with his disorder. He was on medication, went to therapy, went to college, got a job and an apartment. He had begun to hope that maybe the system would just pass over him entirely, leaving him to just continue on as he was with no worries. Unfortunately, it appeared that it was unrealistic to assume that, because they were told a few days back that they'd be meeting their soulmates, with little to no time to prepare.

Which led to the current moment.

If Charlie was usually jittery, he was practically vibrating at a pace that could shatter glass at this point. Putting the meeting off didn't help, but he found himself looking for ways to do it anyway. Unfortunately, he was having trouble thinking up an excuse. Using 'I'm about to puke' might've been too extreme, and 'I have something else to do today!' was easily disproved. So he was stuck. Not that he was the worst of the bunch; he didn't see Shiloh anywhere, and knowing them...well, he was sure they were freaking out.

"Uh.....I can have my story shared. Like, not by me. If that's okay." He spoke up, flashing a smile that wasn't anything more than a fake sort of happy, twisting his hands in his lap. He was only stationary a moment longer, before getting up. He didn't want to talk about his disorder with his soulmate. He didn't want to share that sort of thing, and he didn't want the discussion it'd bring up. "I'll go talk to Shiloh."

He didn't really wait for confirmation, instead slipping by and heading to where he knew their room was. They couldn't just stay in there, he knew that, and even if they wanted to....well, it'd probably make things worse later. He lifted his hand, giving the door a knock. "Hey, Shiloh? You're in there, right?" He spoke up, before tacking on "It's, uh, it's Charlie, by the way!" as if it wasn't obvious. And maybe it wasn't; he didn't want to assume.

 

[Pirate-King-Kyper]

Tio's View
Tio was beyond just 'excited'. He was this side of bouncing on his toes, for a very important reason.

He was meeting his soulmate.

The thought made him giggle and and bounce a little. He was currently standing in a room with two other people, Asher and Liv if he was thinking right, at St. Valentine's, waiting to meet that someone who would make him feel whole.

Emily's View
Emily sat on the edge of her bed, shuffling her cards. "I don't want to go out there. What if they don't want a woman? What if they don't want someone broken? What if I hurt them?" She kept mumbling while standing up, pacing as she shuffled.

 

[Kipsy]

Julianna

| Interacting With: | Charlie; Staff
| Mentions: | Shiloh
| Tags: | elytra ; nomuseneeded

Pacing back and forth around the room was probably not a very good coping technique. Julianna could just imagine her therapist scolding her for not sitting down and taking the time to meditate. "It will help soothe your nerves," he'd say. "You'll calm down a lot quicker. She snorted at the thought, folding her arms and resuming her directionless walk. Like hell it would help. All it would do would make her focus more on her thoughts and she did not want any part of that mess. She was distressed enough as it was, her mind repeating the same cruel views over and over again. Worthless, pointless, ugly, a disaster waiting to happen... It hurt how truthful it was being.

With a huff, Julianna threw herself down into an empty chair, her foot tapping nervously. To say she was stressed was an understatement. She was livid, every ounce of her being screaming at her to run back to her room and hide away until she was safe enough for comfort. Part of her wanted to hit something. Or someone. Whatever it took to be left alone.

And then, just like that, she broke down in a fit of sobs, tears trailing down her cheeks as she curled into herself. Why? Because the fact of the matter was that she didn't really want to be alone. She wanted someone, wanted a soulmate, to love her. All of her. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Who in their right mind would want a soulmate as messed up as she was? No one, that's who.

A staff member noticed her and came to her side, taking hold of her fists and reminding her to breathe. Julianna yanked her hands away, but eventually resolved herself, wiping her face with the cuff of her sweater and taking in some deep breaths. In, out. In, out. Just like she was taught to do. Soon enough, she was no longer crying. Good. This was good. She had gotten all that out of her system. That meant she most likely wasn't going to break down in front of her soulmate. Hopefully. Possibly. Maybe.

It wasn't like she could do anything to prevent the meeting. It was the law now. Everyone mature enough had to meet their soulmate, whether they wanted to or not, before they could continue to make the decision to live without them. Besides, a small portion of her brain was excited to see her soulmate for the first time. That was all, of course, outweighed by her self-hatred and desire to wait until she was "fixed", but... but if she was going to be forced to do this no matter what, then perhaps she should just get it over with and pray for the best.

Julianna listened with a heavy heart as the staff asked who wanted to speak for themselves regarding their disorder. "I'd... prefer if someone else told them," she said, her shoulders tensing up. She couldn't manage to look anyone in the eyes. If she had been required to tell her soulmate just how messed up she was, she'd break down in tears all over again. Or, worse yet, refuse to even let them know, instead striving to maintain a semblance of perfection. Neither path would result in anything good. It would be best if one of the staff members took care of it for her so she could keep focusing on staying calm.

With watery eyes, Julianna watched another patient, Charlie, get up and say he was going to go talk to Shiloh. She forced a small smile on her face and gave him a thumbs up. Whether he saw it or not, she didn't care. It was her way of wishing him good luck. However, she also wanted to go with him, if only to delay the inevitable for a few moments longer. That was incredibly selfish of her and she knew it; surely, Shiloh was having even harder of a time trying to accept this new law. Julianna wished she could comfort them somehow, but she could barely get a handle on herself as it was. How could she expect to be able to help someone else when she couldn't even help herself?

Which brought up another fear. How was she supposed to be able to love someone else when she didn't love herself? It all seemed so impossible, yet here she was, waiting with the other patients and trying to keep her mood swings on the down-low.

She pitied her soulmate.

code by RI.a

Liam

| Interacting With: | Staff; Tio; Liv; Asher
| Mentions: | N/A
| Tags: | nomuseneeded ; Pirate-King-Kyper ; LoliCowboy

Liam's feet plodded against the sidewalk with a certain heavy reluctance to them that was getting him nowhere. He knew this would do no good--it was just a futile attempt at avoidance--but he couldn't seem to help himself. After all, today is the day he meets his soulmate. A pause in his steps, his heart weighing down in his chest. Today is the day he meets his soulmate. God, that scared him. The fear inside him was stronger than his anger at the whole situation. Sure, he was undeniably pissed, being forced to do something against his will, but there was something so terrifying about having to meet someone he'd been purposefully avoiding for most of his life.

Seven years. That's how long his parents have been separated for. Seven. Whole. Years. The reason? Soulmates. His mother found her soulmate and that was the end to their happy little family. She divorced her husband and moved in with her soulmate, her son be damned. It's no wonder why Liam hates the idea of soulmates, no wonder why he's spent every minute of those last seven years single and unwilling to mingle. He wants to be with someone he loves, not just some random stranger that Fate decided to name as his "one and only". It shouldn't be the universe's decision. Hell, it shouldn't be the government's decision, either.

Yet there he was, under the order of the law, walking to some house for people with, what, disabilities? Mental illnesses? Whatever the case may be, the fact remained that he was being forced to go. Of course, he could've holed up in his apartment until a government authority came and literally dragged him to meet his soulmate, but that just wasn't... it wasn't going to change the end result. He might as well be as comfortable as possible, and that meant not being violently hauled all the way to St. Valentine's. Regardless, the decision to meet his soulmate had not been his own, and that infuriated him.

It was okay, though. Liam repeated that to himself as he stalled some more, taking a turn into a cafe and buying a cup of coffee. It was going to be okay. All he had to do was put up with three meetings over the course of a single month. That wasn't so bad. After that, he'd sign the necessary paperwork and continue on with his happy little life. Because, contrary to popular belief, he was perfectly content with the way things were. He didn't want nor need a soulmate. And yet, as he took in a sharp sip of caffeine, there was no denying the blatant fear in his eyes.

As much as Liam hated to admit it, there was the chance that his mind would fool him. That he'd actually fall in love with this person, whoever they may be. That whatever chemical in his body which made people so happy to be around their soulmate would get the better of him. He didn't have enough faith in himself to say that he wouldn't be affected by this. In fact, he was almost certain he wasn't going to be walking away from this unscathed. What if his soulmate didn't think the same way he did? What if they wanted to be with him? Could he really say no?

A sigh left Liam's chapped lips and he pulled his coat further around him, exiting the cafe with his takeout coffee in hand. All this thinking was going to be the death of him. He needed some magical way to shut off his brain for the time being or else he was going to go insane. This was so much pressure, so much unnecessary stress and he just wanted to go back home and listen to some music. But he couldn't. He couldn't just leave some poor person at St. Valentine's to sit and wait for a soulmate who's never going to show up. He wasn't that stupid, nor was he that selfish.

They were going to have to at least attempt to work things out. And even if the conclusion they reached didn't end in them being happy together forever like all the stories on the news these days... they would at least be content knowing that they'd tried. That was better than nothing, right?

Just as quickly as he reached that realization, Liam pushed it away and stuffed it down into the deepest, darkest depths of his mind. There would be no negotiating here. He was getting out of this situation soulmateless, no matter what it took.

As he approached St. Valentine's, Liam took in the sight of the building. It was in a neighborhood and looked very much like a large home, which surprised him. He wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. Perhaps he was anticipating some large facility with people in rooms akin to a prison? Some kind of giant medical ward? Honestly, it all seemed so silly now that he saw the actual place in person. It was really quite... homey. Peaceful, even. Not at all like the torturous structures his mind had conjured up.

Taking another sip of his coffee, Liam approached the house. Someone else had just entered, the front door still open, so he joined in as well. He was greeted by the staff, who offered him some water, but he, like the woman who had come in before him, already had a drink.

Awkward didn't begin to describe the feelings Liam had. He felt totally out of place, like he didn't belong here. Perhaps joining in on the conversation would help that. He swallowed. Right. Conversations. Not exactly his strongest suit, but he could manage.

"Hello," he said, greeting the others in the room with a nod of his head. "My name's Liam." Part of him wanted to add something flashy, something daring, like "and I don't want to be here", but a basic hello was all he could manage. His eyes caught sight of the other coffee-drinker in the room; they must've gone to the same cafe, the logos on their cups identical. "Glad to know I'm not the only one who needed some caffeine for this," he continued, trying his best to appear at least somewhat normal.

code by RI.a

 

[Pirate-King-Kyper]

Kipsy

Tio paused his tapping and took a deep breath. It'll be fine. He assured himself. As he calmed himself, he wondered what they would be like? Would they be like him, or much calmer? Would they like dogs more than cats? He sat and kept breathing slowly, mentally repeating. 'Be calm, and yourself'.

 

[LoliCowboy]

Kipsy

"Glad to know I'm not the only one who needed some caffeine for this."

Liv offered a small, sarcastic smile. "I need coffee for damn near everything," she said, "but this especially." She gestured around them. "Please tell me you find this as weird as I do. Government-ordered love." She shuddered a bit. "Feels like I'm getting a prescription for something."

She had spent far too long avoiding this to be here now. So many years of dodging her soul mate, trying to find anyone else. Some form of organic compatibility. She didn't want something government ordained, something forced upon her. Weren't they beyond the age of arranged marriages? This felt like a relic of the ancient past. She hated it. But, at the same time, desperately needed it. It confused her.

Why did she long for connection? Why was she so desperate for it that she allowed herself to come here, to listen to "the man" for once? She wasn't sure. She just hoped that, at the very least, the outcome of this situation would give her answers.

 

[Pirate-King-Kyper]

Emily finally stopped pacing, and stared at the door, before squaring her shoulders and exiting her room. "I'm going to tell my soulmate about my disorder." She murmured to a nurse, clenching her hands as she walked out to the room where the healthy ones were, looking around for hers before she could chicken. Please don't be fight, please don't be fight. She prayed to herself, hoping that she'd get a flight reaction, something she rarely hoped for.

 

[nomuseneeded]

Government-ordered love. What a funny phrase. Asher wasn't sure he disagreed though. What if he hadn't wanted to find his soulmate? The idea felt funny to Asher, didn't everyone want a soulmate? But there was also part of him that was worried about it. Because if he felt deeply, entirely in love, would he not tell his temple? There's no way that could last long. But at the same time, he wanted love. Not these whispered first dates as far from his temple as he could get, or late nights secretly making a dating profile on an app, but real love. It seemed like it would be special enough to risk everything. Hadn't it been for his father and mother?

Asher wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say after the introduction. They already knew his name, was that enough? And no one seemed to have any pressing questions about why he was black and wore a kippah. Though most of the time those questions came from the mouth of little Jewish kids, which should've made it harder to swallow, but didn't. He was still looking for words when a staff member came up and said, "Asher and Tio, can you follow me please?" Asher looked around, but he was pretty positive he was the only Asher in the room, so he followed.

"Wish me luck," he said, not without a little humor, before he walked away.

--


The staff member stepped back, letting Charlie talk to Shiloh. Crying could be heard on the other side, but just barely: not racking sobs, but certainly a steady stream of tears. They wanted to let Charlie in, to at least sit with them, but Shiloh thought they knew the truth. They might be unhealthy, but Charlie was fine. Or, practically fine. Charlie deserved to meet his soulmate. It was only them who screwed up badly enough, falling for some guy at the bar, that they didn't deserve a second chance.
"I'm fine," Shiloh called out. "I just want-- I want to stay in here."
"We'll just unlock it if you don't come out," the staff member called back.
Another walked over to Emily. "Give us just a second, we'll go get them. Surely you want a bit of privacy, yes? Not in front of everyone else's soulmate too?" In truth, if it went badly, they just didn't want everyone else watching like it was some sort of spectacle.
---
Asher and Tio get called to go to a separate room, and Asher asks for luck. Shiloh says their fine and wants to stay in the room, while a staff member threatens to unlock the door. Another staff member tries to convince Emily to let them go get her soulmate for her.

 

[elytra]

Character: Charlie
Interacting With: Staff, Shiloh ( nomuseneeded )
Mentions: Julianna ( Kipsy )​

One of the other patients had given him a thumbs up, probably to tell him good luck, but honestly Charlie wasn't feeling lucky. After all, it was going to be difficult telling someone that it was going to be alright and that they ought to do something if you yourself didn't want to do it. It didn't feel right to lie to them, mostly because he trusted them and hoped that Shiloh trusted him in return, and saying something like 'well, if you don't come out now, it'll just happen later, so just get it over with' was just ignorant of the situation. He was pretty sure the looming threat of having the door unlocked wasn't helping, either. It was a difficult spot to be in, and he really wanted them to calm down, for their own good at least.

"Just....give me a moment to try and talk to them, if that's okay?" He said to the staff member, trying to keep his voice down "Before unlocking the door and all." Was that rude? He hoped not, he was just trying to help. But maybe it WAS rude, and maybe this staff member resented him for coming over. Maybe he should've just stayed in the other room.

But right now wasn't the time to think that over, he was already too far into this to head back without helping more.

He raised his voice "Well, um, you don't sound okay...? Do you want me to come in?" He began, leaning against the door frame. "Or maybe we can...uh...ask to meet our soulmates at the same time or something? I'm really nervous too, and I don't think we have to do anything past introducing ourselves. But if we get it over with, we don't have to worry about it any longer, right...?" Might as well use the logic that he'd used to convince himself.

 

[Pirate-King-Kyper]

Emily's View

Emily froze. "Please." She said after a seriously long moment. In her haste to get this over with, she forgot about the others.

Tio's View
Tio bounced up, following the nurse and the other guy, subconsciously running a hand through his hair as he went. Here goes the greatest moment of my life. He thought.