dreaming of angels

Dmitri smiled, shrugging his shoulders and chuckling. “I’m a romantic.” He confessed with a soft expression. He wanted to show James that side of him already. Wanted to woo him and make him fall just as hard and fast as Dmitri had fallen. “I can handle mediocre coffee in exchange for amazing pancakes.” He decided with a laugh, nose crinkling as he took another bite of his cookie. “What about you? Do you have a favorite breakfast? I’m more of a baker but I’m not THAT bad at cooking.”

“Perfect. I can’t wait to be romanced by you,” James winked as he took the last sip of his hot cocoa, frowning when he realized it was already gone. He set it aside, opting to finish up his muffin instead.

He shrugged, “I’m an eggs and bacon kind of guy, I like to keep it simple. Maybe some french toast if I feel like treating myself.”

James could already see it - waking up with Dmitri next to him, getting out of bed quietly and making him pancakes and coffee. He could see it so clearly it would have scared him if he didn’t want it so much. They’d known each other for less than an hour but when James looked at Dmitri, it was like they had known each other their whole lives.

dancing on my own. my muse getting close and personal on the dancefloor.

Dmitri smiled, taking all the information in. His soulmate was perfect. He worked with kids, he liked any kind of music… God, Dmitri was already so smitten. And it was his soulmate, so hopefully, he wouldn’t end up with his heart broken. “Well, my favorite color is blue, and I really like oldies music the best… Sinatra’s my favorite.” He confessed with a chuckle, biting his lower lip. “I usually take my coffee black with two sugars, but sometimes you just need one of those drinks that have way more sugar and flavoring than coffee. And my favorite thing to eat for breakfast is… pancakes, if I have time to make them.”

James was caught between filing away all of this information for later and absentmindedly admiring Dmitri. He managed to be one of the most gorgeous people he’d ever seen yet so adorable and demure at the same time. “Sinatra,” he repeated, watching Dmitri bite his lip, “That’s pretty romantic, not gonna lie.” 

“I am too.” Dmitri assured him with a shy smile, taking a small sip of cocoa and licking the whipped cream off his top lip before clearing his throat. “Okay um…” He looked him over, chuckling softly. “Where do I start? How long have you been in the city? Where do you work?” He asked, cheeks going pink. “What’s your favorite color? Favorite kind of music?”

James hummed as he mulled the questions over in his head. “I’ve lived here most of my life. Went away for college but ultimately wanted to come back. And I work around the corner, actually, at the high school - I’m an English teacher. Exciting stuff so far, huh?” He chuckled and took another sip of his drink. “Favorite color is probably dark green, and I’ll listen to any music if the lyrics are good.”

Dmitri smiled widely as he approved of the cookies, shaking his head as he took a much needed sip of his cocoa. “I’m really glad you like them.” He said honestly before biting his lip at the question. James knowing everything was where this would surely go wrong… there were things he didn’t want his soulmate to know about him, about his past. “Well… I’ve moved around a lot, I’ve been in town for only a few months or so.” He explained before shaking his head. “God I’m really bad at talking about myself.” He confessed with a weak chuckle, letting his head fall forward.

“A few months, huh? Maybe that’s why you were so hard to find,” James teased.

Dmitri couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the cheesy comment, cheeks going red. His soulmate was an adorable dork, and it was perfect. He watched almost nervously as he picked up the muffin, laughing at his reaction. “I’m really glad you like it. I found this recipe for them online and people really seem to like them.” He wrinkled his nose. “I can cook a little but I’m definitely better at baking. I can make some amazing pancakes though… though I guess that can also be baking, can’t it?” He asked with a laugh, sliding the plate of chocolate chip cookies towards him. “I know you said blueberry muffins were your favorite, but I need you to try these. They’re my mom’s recipe.”

James eagerly took a bite of the cookie which elicited just as dramatic a reaction as the muffin did, “God, these are so good. Your mom is a genius.” How did he get so lucky that his soulmate was gorgeous and an amazing baker? He must have done something right in a past life.

Blueberry muffins. He made a mental note of that, of how James lit up like a child when he saw them in the case. He chuckled quietly, nodding at his words. “Go sit at the booth back there. I’ll bring you some.” He told him gently before pulling away to talk to his coworker. His coworker looked at him with a wide smile, asking if that was his soulmate and squealing quietly when Dmitri nodded shyly. Dmitri got two muffins and two cups of cocoa, adding some of his chocolate chip cookies to the order before carrying the tray over to the table and sitting across from him. “And yeah, to answer you before, I made pretty much everything in there today.” He confessed with a bush.

“Okay, I’ll miss you though,” he joked with a wink before taking a seat. He took the opportunity to take out his phone and text his sister, ‘MET MY SOULMATE AND HE’S PERFECT DETAILS LATER DON’T TALK TO ME RIGHT NOW BYE’. He looked up as he heard excited squeals come from the cash register and smiled as he saw Dmitri making his way over. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much but he just couldn’t help himself.

Dmitri couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle at James’s words, shaking his head as he took his hand. He looked down at their interlaced fingers with a shy smile before looking back up at him. “Come on…” He tugged him back down the street, past a few buildings and right back into the bakery he just left. He tugged him over to the case, smiling at his coworker before looking over at his soulmate. God, that was something he knew he wasn’t going to ever get over. “What kind of sweets do you like? Everyone has a favorite thing they get from the bakery.” Whichever James picked and claimed as his favorite, Dmitri already knew he’d make it for him whenever he wanted.

To think, his soulmate worked in the very bakery he passed by going to and from work everyday. He wondered for a moment if they could have met sooner if James had just walked in, but quickly pushed the thought away. To have met Dmitri at all was more than he could have asked for.

Usually, Dmitri was scared as hell around men. Women were soft, as sexist as that sounded. He always felt safe with girls… men reminded him too much of violence, of the pain he endured when he was younger. James didn’t give him that fear. No… James made him feel safe and secure immediately. And once James pulled him into his arms, he knew then that that was home, and that he would always be safe there. 

His arms wrapped around him tightly, sighing softly as he breathed him in. “So was I…” He confessed, pressing his face into his shoulder and smiling to himself. “But we’re here now… about time.” He chuckled quietly, pulling back and looking at James shyly. “Do you wanna go get a cup of coffee…? I um… I actually just got off work at the bakery and um… well it’s right there.” He pointed just a few shops down, letting out a soft laugh. “We have the best cocoa in town and well, I’m biased but I think we have some pretty good sweets…”

James savored the feeling of Dmitri’s head on his shoulder. The way they fit together just felt so right. It comforted him knowing that Dmitri had the same fears that he did, but he was right, they were here now and that’s what mattered. 

Dmitri couldn’t help but laugh with him, his laughter a little breathless as he looked at the man before him. How the HELL was this guy his soulmate? He had to be the most attractive man that Dmitri had ever seen in his life, and the world had assigned him to him? It was like the world had taken all the shit Dmitri had to endure in the past and had rewarded him with… some sort of God, if he was being honest. 

“I don’t think you’re dreaming? We’d be having the same dream. And I’m covered in flour so it seems pretty realistic to me.” Dmitri shook his head as he looked down at himself, cheeks flushing at the compliment. He looked back up at him with a shy smile, shaking his head. “Don’t be sorry… I’m Dmitri. It’s nice to meet you James… oh God it’s so nice to finally meet you.”

James smiled even wider as he saw the man blush, automatically knowing he wanted to make it happen for the rest of his life.

So this was the feeling everyone had described. The feeling of just knowing when you had met your soulmate. The instant connection. The attraction. The joy. The nerves. He never wanted it to end.

Dmitri swallowed hard as the man didn’t immediately go on his way, heart starting to pound in his chest. There was no expression of pity on his face… it was more nervous. Hopefully. He swallowed hard, looking down at the man’s arm as he rolled up his sleeve. He took a shaky breath as he looked at the words- they had just come right out of his mouth after all. Dmitri’s hand shook as he rolled up the sleeve of his sweater, showing the man the words etched into his skin. “I-I think it might be…” He confirmed, looking up at him with wide eyes. “Whoa….”

“Holy shit,” James chuckled. It wasn’t the most eloquent thing to say, but it was all he could muster up. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The thing he had been searching his whole life for appeared when he had least expected it.

It had been an incredibly strange day for Ezekiel and truthfully, he had trouble remembering the day’s tasks. It all started with an alarm that hadn’t rung, that never happened. The catalyst. From then on, it felt like the male couldn’t do a single thing right. He was late for his morning meeting, spilt hot coffee all over his shirt,  and fumbled words whilst interviewing an up and coming celebrity. In his own humble opinion, today was a write-off and he was fully resigned to the fact that nothing good would come from this day. 

In an attempt to soothe himself, Ezekiel decided to stop by the local bakery and pick up a few dozen sweet treats that he would ultimately gorge himself on until he fell asleep in front of the television. He was on his way home until he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and smiled at the attractive stranger. He exhaled in defeat and glanced down before reaching for the wallet. “Oh, thank you.” When his eyes met the stranger’s once again, he couldn’t help but feel as though they were supposed to meet and while he hoped that it could be under better circumstances, he felt a strange connection. He nervously tore his gaze away from the stranger and glanced down at his forearm, hardly believing his eyes as he read the words, “hey, I think you dropped this,” for what felt like the millionth time. “I—” He glanced back up at the stranger and chuckled. “I—”

“What’s wrong? Isn’t that your-” James’s eyes followed the stranger’s down to his forearm, heart jumping as he saw the words there. “Oh, holy shit.” He rushed to roll up his sleeve to reveal the words written on his arm. They matched up.

All the time he spent searching, and all the sleepless nights he spent picturing meeting the love of his life had lead up to this. It happened when he least expected it. Looking at the man, he couldn’t deny that there was a connection, not just because of how handsome he was. There was something else there reaching out.

Living in a world where soulmates were a thing could be… a disappointment. The sentence written on Dmitri’s arm was a pretty common sentence in itself, one that he found himself fantasizing about the circumstances of how he’d meet his soulmate. Sometimes the fantasies were realistic, other times he was swept into their arms and carried off into the sunset. Either way… it hadn’t happened yet, and Dmitri was starting to wonder if it ever would. 

He was on his way home from another long shift at the bakery, not even aware that his wallet had fallen out of his pocket. He glanced up as someone tapped him on the shoulder, turning around and seeing what had to be the most handsome man he had ever seen in his life. And then those words came out of his mouth, wallet in hand. Dmitri swallowed hard, unable to stop the feeling of hope from rising in his chest as he reached out and took the wallet. “Oh, thank you.” He told him with a shy smile, hoping that same expression of hope would blossom over the man’s face and not another look of pity.

James felt his throat tighten as he heard those words from the handsome stranger. “Yeah, no problem,” he smiled.

He’d spent so much time and energy trying not to get his hopes up, and trying to live his life without the pressure and disappointment that went into searching for his soulmate. But there was something behind the man’s eyes that rekindled that joyous hope he used to feel when he heard those words. 

He was going to try.