The Watcher's hands weave threads of green and gold and red throughout those Grian loves.
And in those threads the Watchers tie souls. Souls bound in love. Souls bound in pain. Souls bound between one another. Some try to fight it--insisting that they are not soulmates, that their soul belongs to another, but it's a tiresome, futile effort to reject the manipulation of the soul.
Not that Grian thinks so.
He's seen how the others react as they try to reject their soulmates. Scott thinks of Pearl constantly, dotes on her well-being, obsessively calls her to him under the guise of toying with her. Martyn sobs for Cleo. BDubs panics when Impulse is too far from him.
The Watcher's threads are strong.
"We're not soulmates," he insists one evening, the harsh words riding on the breeze rushing pass their base and off into the ravine.
He's perched atop pointed dripstone, watching lazily as Scar puts the Jellie pandas to sleep. His friend looks up at Grian with a start, brow quirked in a teasing glance. "Oh?"
"Yep," Grian goes on. Clipped wings help him leap from the cake and onto the perimeter of the Jellie Sanctuary. "Big B's my soulmate now. Just so you know."
Scar snorts then turns back the Jellies, feeding one bamboo. "Well, alright then!"
Grian squints. "Seriously. I'm leaving you. Big B and I are running away together."
"Far away," Grian says, placing emphasis on the distance as he looks to the sky, pretending not to be drinking in Scar's every reaction. "We're gonna build our own ranch in the mountains. Farm goats."
"Just remember to eat," Scar says with hum, scratching beneath a Jellie's chin. "I'll try not to get us on Red!"
But the red has already infiltrated Grian's soul, shown through a burning in his cheeks. He puffs them out in frustration (a little more bird-like than he'd prefer) feathers at his back fluffing in a similar response as he jumps into the sanctuary.
It spooks the Jellies and a few grumble in response, the one nearly tipping Scar's chair backwards. Scar rights himself with a laugh, finally meeting Grian's eyes.
And he's fine. No hidden jealousy, no subtle longing. Nothing. He's...
Grian puffs up a bit more. "Do you not care if I leave?"
Scar finally seems to register Grian's tone and sobers. He tilts his head, full attention on Grian.
"Do you want me to?" Scar asks, and Grian feels like he could explode.
"YES!! We're soulmates! We should be doing what the others are, shouldn't we? Being alone should sound miserable!"
Scar just offers a confused chuckle, looking around the sanctuary as if the Jellies could help him escape. "Well it doesn't sound fun but I don't own you, G. If you want to leave, you can leave!"
"But--" Grian fumbles for words, trying his best to soothe a soul that won't calm. He ends up just crossing his arms. "This isn't how the game goes. Everyone else--they want to be together, they're obsessed with each other. Why aren't we?"
"Because we're not them?" Scar guesses. He's clicked off his brakes so he can move closer to Grian, offering a hand. "Why do you want to be?"
Grian looks away from the open palm.
He doesn't know. He doesn't know why this is so important to him, why he wants to see Scar get worked up and angry and insist that they're meant to be together. He doesn't know why this has him panicking.
Everyone else--their soulmates are their everythings, but no matter what Grian does, Scar's attention can easily find something else. Does that mean he doesn't care?
Grian sniffs. "You do care, right? About me? You like being soulmates?"
Scar laughs, a bit more genuine in his surprise. "Of course I do! Did you think I didn't?"
"Maybe?" Grian shrugs and, finally, places a hand in Scar's offered palm. Familiar fingers wrap around his, and he's happy to let the sensation calm him. "I just don't get why it hasn't affected us like everyone else. Guess I figured something was wrong."
"Something wrong--?" Scar shakes his head and tugs an unsuspecting Grian forward, the man squawking a bit as he falls forward and into Scar's lap. Scar immediately traps him in a hug, pressing their foreheads together.
When he speaks again it's with a fond smile and a faux British accent. "'I am in your service until you lose your first life'."
The anger disperses at the poor mockery and Grian snorts, making an attempt to shove Scar away. "That's borderline offensive!"
Scar only pulls Grian closer, a teasing glint in his eye. "'I don't want to see him go! I just can't let him go!'"
"Alright," Grian laughs, and he gives in. He melts in Scar's arms, wings a curtain of feathers separating them from the Jellies. And they're alone. And they're together. And Grian is putty in Scar's lap, sturdy arms holding him close. "What's all this then?"
"Proof," Scar says, voice normal again. "And accent practice."
Grian shakes his head. "Needs work. And proof of what?"
"That we're soulmates." Scar's hand moves from Grian's back to his chest, plucking the ethereal thread between them. "The Watchers didn't tie this, Grian. We did. Back when this all started."
"If we aren't like everyone else, it's because they're all new to this! They've never been bound to someone else before. But we have." Scar's fingers roll into an open palm pressed firmly over Grian's heart. He can feel his heart race at the sensation, and Scar's follows. "We're soulmates, Grian."
And Grian collapses. Tears which threatened his eyes spill and he shifts to wrap his arms around Scar, chests pressed together so that two synced hearts might combine. He buries his face in Scar's neck and Scar holds him.
"We're soulmates," Grian whispers to the wind and the evening stars.
And a loyal partner whispers back: "We're soulmates."
