#but what about...

When he was younger, Logan had thought that having something your soulmate said that day show up on your arm was a really ineffective way to help you find them, but now Logan could almost see the merit in it - he would probably know who his soulmate was as soon as he met them, as whoever they were was so unique in what they said that Logan thought it highly unlikely he wouldn't be able to recognise them within ten minutes of them interacting.

He wondered vaguely why his soulmate thought crocs were sexy, before realising it was probably a joke he didn't understand. That often happened, and people seemed to think it funny when he missed the point of a joke, and would often not explain it. Logan thought his relationship with his soulmate would probably not be very enjoyable if they were like that.

-----

"Actually, to simply say 'the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell' is a gross oversimplification of respiration, and glosses over the most fascinating minutiae of how that organelle performs its function."

Remus reread the words on his wrist several times in confusion. This wasn't very on brand for his soulmate! Sure, they often talked about science and sounded very smart doing it, but they would usually explain things in a way that meant people could actually understand, not blind someone with nonsense words!

Maybe they were trying to show off, or make a point to someone. Yes that would make most sense. Based on all the things his soulmate had said over the years, Remus was pretty sure this scientific nonsense was probably them making a point to some teacher about oversimplifying the information they were teaching the class.

It wasn't that Remus particularly minded his soulmate sounding so intelligent, he actually loved it. That was why he had a crush on the nerd in his chemistry class, he was just so smart and a better teacher than the actual teacher. Whenever Logan spoke, Remus was always just as fascinated by what he said as he was by the words that appeared on his arm every evening.

Sometimes Remus felt bad for liking someone who wasn't his soulmate, but he would always tell himself that Logan just reminded him of his soulmate, so Remus was just crushing on him because he was getting impatient of waiting to find them.

He decided to look up mitochondria to try and impress him.

-----

Logan found himself smiling quite a lot in chemistry these days, and it definitely wasn't because of the lesson content. Honestly the teacher was a reason to do the opposite of smiling, just like his biology teacher who decided to use out of date 'memes' to teach the class instead of the actual course material.

Actually, the reason for the half-smile Logan was trying to push down at the moment was the antics of Remus, the only other competent person in this class. Competent at chemistry did not, however, mean he was actually a good student. Remus was loud and chaotic, made inappropriate jokes, and had no regard for lab safety, so really he was the opposite of a good student, despite how he got As and Bs without trying.

But intelligence wasn't really the reason Logan liked - wait, he didn't like Remus, he just found him amusing - rather, Logan appreciated his company, because he was so genuine. He didn't mess around with double meanings and subtleties, he would say exactly what he meant, the moment the thought crossed his mind. This led to some very inappropriate, often very 'cursed' outbursts, but Logan always found it amusing.

And there was how Remus never let Logan feel left out. It probably wasn't intentional, Remus would just always say what he was thinking all the time, but he would always explain the jokes Logan didn't understand. He also wouldn't give Logan that look of derision when he talked about some random fact he found interesting, he would actually act like he was interested.

Logan just liked being around Remus. He liked his smile, the way his eyes lit up when he discovered some gross fact, the way he was perpetually buzzing with excitement that made Logan feel excited too.

Logan just really liked Remus.

Oh.

Oh no.

Logan really liked Remus.

The realisation, as he sat in chemistry class that morning, was far more of a relief than it was distressing. It turned out there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Logan always felt his heart rate go up when he was around Remus, why it was such a struggle not to smile giddily all the time, why he frequently got the urge to take him out to a field at night and look at the stars together.

And now Logan had the diagnosis of his problem, he could begin to remedy it. He of course couldn't just ignore the feelings, that would be illogical, but it would be just as illogical to entertain the thought that Remus might ever return them. For now, he resolved to continue as normal and hope the crush would fade on its own.

-----

Remus decided he really really liked seeing Logan smile. He'd been doing it a lot lately and Remus hoped it was because of him. He wouldn't even mind if Logan was laughing at him instead of with him, so long as he got to be a source of happiness for him.

He'd had a crush on Logan for a while, being increasingly loud and ridiculous in an attempt to get the nerd to notice him. It was hard though - Logan was so smart, he probably had a million things to worry about more than the weirdo from chemistry - but Remus always tried. He wore outrageous clothing, and was noisy, and made jokes constantly, and only recently had it seemed to be working. Even then, Logan would just give a small smile or an eye roll and that would be it. Sure, it was progress, but Remus was getting impatient.

Logan was just so intelligent, and handsome, and he really did have the prettiest smile, and the loveliest eyes, and if Remus had been a more traditional romantic he would probably have swooned every time the nerd so much as looked at him. But instead he'd just say something crass or inappropriate to hide just how much he wanted to throw his arms around Logan and kiss him senseless.

Recently, Remus had been trying some different tactics to get Logan's attention. He still kept up his brash and uncaring act but after school he would study extremely hard to maintain As and Bs. It wasn't as good as Logan, obviously, but he thought maybe the nerd would like him more if he got good grades. After all, he didn't want Logan to think he was just an idiot that couldn't hold a conversation like a normal person.

But Remus was definitely getting impatient. He was starting to think it was time do something a bit more drastic.

-----

"When someone does a wet fart, for a moment they are a human bottle of spray paint."

Logan grimaced at the words that had appeared on his arm. It was the mental image the words conjured up that Logan didn't like, and he couldn't help but wish for any other words at all. It was almost as if his soulmate deliberately didn't speak all day except to say one extremely gross thing so it would be sure to show up on Logan's arm.

That was probably something Remus would do though, and Logan highly doubted there could be anyone out there so similar to him, so it probably was just coincidence that he kept getting the strangest things written on him.

At that point his thoughts were derailed with musings of what Remus thought of him. Did he think he was just some uptight nerd? Or maybe he barely even noticed Logan at all, it wouldn't be all that unlikely. Logan was aware he was quickly beginning to sound like a giant cliche but he could help it. He was too far gone.

-----

"Imbeciles, the lot of them."

Remus sighed at the words. They sounded so derogatory and dismissive, clearly his soulmate hated stupid people, which didn't bode well for grade-A-dumbass Remus. What if his soulmate didn't like him because he was stupid? Actually, scratch that, what if Logan didn't like him because he was stupid? After all, Remus could fake being good at schoolwork but he couldn't fake having common sense or tact.

But maybe Logan liked that he was a dumbass. He did usually laugh (or at least smile) when Remus did something silly.

And then Remus hit on an idea of how to test it.

-----

Logan trudged through the door of his house and made his way up to his room, still reliving the events of that day's chemistry lesson - specifically when Remus had mixed together some random chemicals, had declared "lab safety can eat my toes for all I care", and promptly moved to down the whole thing.

If Logan used metaphors, he would have sworn his heart stopped.

He'd knocked the beaker out Remus' hands, sending it expertly into the sink (where it smashed and took forever to clear up), before proceeding to scold Remus for the rest of the lesson. As they parted ways, Logan had gripped Remus' shoulders and made him promise he would never do such a thing again.

It was only now, lying on his bed and finally able to calm down, that he realised he hadn't been angry when Remus had done that, he'd been terrified. He just...wanted to be with Remus constantly to make sure he wouldn't get properly hurt. Or maybe he just wanted to be with Remus.

There was a tingle on his arm and Logan shifted to look at the words, grateful for something to take his mind off his illogical crush.

"Lab safety can eat my toes for all I care."

Oh.

Oh for crying out loud, how could he have been so blind?!? Of course his soulmate reminded him of Remus, they were the same goddamn person. This was a disaster, it was terrifying, it was...wonderful.

Remus, the only person Logan ever felt actually cared about what he had to say, the funny, smart, ridiculous guy he had a crush on, was his soulmate.

Logan threw his head back on the pillows and laughed, letting the sudden tears of what felt like relief spill over and run down his face.

-----

Remus felt like he was walking on air when he got home. Not only had his crush noticed him, he'd basically saved his life and then been so concerned afterwards! He knew it had been a risky tactic to call Logan's bluff like that but he'd been sneaky about it and it proved his crush cared more about him than he let on!

He wasn't stupid, he wasn't actually going to drink something that could actually make him ill, or worse, he'd actually swapped his toxic concoction with a that beaker that just contained water and green food colouring, so even if he had drunk it nothing bad would have happened. Perhaps that was a bit extreme but hey, it worked!

And more than worked, Logan had looked so hot when he he had grabbed Remus' shoulders and made him promise to be careful, and his tone of voice throughout the entire scolding session gave away that he wasn't angry but concerned. It made Remus' heart flutter just thinking about it.

Remus almost ignored the tingle on his arm, not particularly caring about his soulmate when he had just made progress with his crush, but he thought he should probably just check, you never knew.

Remus was instantly glad he did.

"One day, Remus, you will have to face the consequences of your actions and no defence attorney will be able to win your case."

Those had been the parting words Logan had given him just before he'd hurried off to his next class. Logan was his soulmate. Logan the handsomest, smartest, cutest guy ever, was his freaking soulmate!

For several minutes all Remus could do was dance around in excitement before something bought him up short. What if Logan actually didn't like him? What if Remus had misread him and Logan actually was annoyed by what Remus did? What if Logan was disgusted by him, or hated him for not having basic common sense?

Remus tried to tell himself that fate wouldn't have put him with a person who couldn't stand him, but it was very difficult to push out those worries. What ifs and excitement warred around his head all through the evening and late into the night until he eventually fell asleep.

-----

Logan walked towards the chemistry lab with some degree of trepidation. He was early, as he always was, but Remus was always late to class which meant Logan would have to wait until the end of the lesson before he would be able to tell Remus what he'd found out. And all that waiting time would only make him more likely to loose his nerve.

But when he opened the door and entered the classroom he was pulled up short.

Remus was already there, sitting on one of the lab benches.

Well this at least meant it was now or never.

Remus did look odd though, he was practically vibrating, bouncing up and down in his seat and fiddling with his pen. Logan wasn't good enough at reading people to tell what the matter was but if he had to guess he would have said Remus was either excited or terrified, which were two completely different things so that wasn't helpful in the slightest.

"Good morning Remus, you are here early."

"Logan!" Remus went to say more but abruptly shut his mouth. He tried a few more times but soon gave up. Only once Logan was sure Remus wasn't going to say what was on his mind did he try to speak again.

He walked over to Remus, proud of his ability to remain calm even while his emotions were a raging, indecipherable turmoil.

"Remus this may be a bit out of the blue, and I apologise if this is is not a good time to say so but-" Remus almost looked like he flinched and Logan felt worry spike through him. "Remus? Are you alright?"

"Yep! I'm great, just spit it out! But be careful not to spit any teeth out too-" Remus broke off and winced but Logan figured if he was going to say this he had better not get distracted.

"Remus it would appear that we are soulmates."

-----

Remus tensed when he heard Logan's words, trying not to read Logan's monotone voice as disgusted but failing miserably.

"Yeah I worked that out last night," even to his own ears he sounded nothing like himself, "is...is that ok?" He waited for the inevitable derision.

"I am not disappointed Remus, if that is what you are wondering. On the contrary, I am quite happy. I...I believe I harbour romantic feelings towards you."

The words were so stiff and formal, Remus couldn't help but giggle even as he was trying very hard not to throw himself at the nerd in happiness.

"Gee Lo, find a less sexy way of saying that!" Then he couldn't help himself any longer. "I like you too Logan! I really really like you! Can...can I hug you?"

He remembered Logan didn't like surprise contact and held down his instinct to jump up and cling to him just long enough for Logan so give him one of those soft smiles and hold out his arms. Then Remus launched himself across the few feet of space between them, threw his arms around him, and clung on tight.

Logan gave a small oof and then a little laugh. "You know, Remus, you actually are rather adorable."

Remus felt his face flush and he buried his neck further into his soulmate's shoulder. Then a thought struck him and he leant back far enough to see Logan's face.

"So you don't hate me cause I'm an idiot, and disgusting, and rude, and coarse, and-"

Logan looked heartbroken for a second, then shook his head. "Absolutely not, Remus. On the contrary, I adore you. I could give you an itemised list of all the reasons with in depth explanations for each one, if that would help."

Remus blushed more at that and hid in Logan's shoulder again. He stiffened when he felt Logan drop a kiss to the top of his head, then he looked up again.

"You missed" then Remus was leaning forward and pressing his lips to Logan's, feeling a giddiness overcome him completely as Logan immediately kissed back. It was short and gentle but Remus hardly cared, especially when he saw Logan's bright blush matching his own.

~~*~~

One day, I will learn to start these pieces earlier in the morning so I'm not finishing them when my brain is fried. I'm sorry if this was lacklustre because of that, but thank you for reading!