7.Ā the one where you and your soulmate share an emotional link.
Tarvekās never met his soulmate. He knows the emotions, though, the ones that get stronger as he gets older. Theyāre hazy when heās young, and clearer as he gets older.
By the time Tarvek is old enough to understand the echoes of emotions he receives, he can best describe them as resigned sorrow. A general malaise. Tired.
Tarvekās soulmate is someone whoās given up, and Tarvek is too young to know how to fix that.
When Tarvek is older, heās so busy trying to fix himselfĀ and his sisterĀ and his familyĀ that he canāt think about his soulmate.
Dimoās had soulmates before. He still has some, even, though none are romantic. His sister, Oggie and Maxim, and thereās something in the distance, growing. It has been since a year or two before the Masters disappeared.
It feels like fear and tension, usually. Old pains and new pains and the lash of a spark in fugue. Hatred on occasion. Loathing of the self and of others.
Dimoās not sure what to think of the fact that it all starts so young. Heād guess that his soulmate is eight or nine, maybe when there are a few spots of happiness. Heās almost cheering up about it all, too, and then itās gone and everything is somehow worse.
(He wishes he had something better to offer than the pains of an old soldier searching for his Heterodyne. The kid needs it.)
There are a few years of happiness, maybe two or three, perhaps when theyāre... oh, twenty at the oldest, certainly. Young, still.
Those donāt last either.
Everything gets worse again, so much worse, thereās endless fuguing and guilt and pain and sorrow. Thereās a lot of grief.
Dimoās had worse, but itās not something heād wish on anyone, not really.
Tarvek is only just figuring out that Anevkaās dead when he feels a spark of happiness from down the line.
Something good happens to his soulmate, and for the first time, Tarvek actually feels peace from down the line. Contentment. Excitement, sometimes, but that constant low-level gloom is gone.
He wishes he could be happier for his soulmate.
Itās hard to do that when heās digging his hands into the catafalqueās wiring and finding only dials that show little more than zero.
Dimoās running around with his brothers and Miss Zeetha and that Lars kid when he feels the most intense grief his soulmateās had yet.
The past few days have been haywire for both him andĀ his soulmate, and this... this is so much worse than any of it.
This is the grief of losing a sibling.
This is... Dimoās felt this before. Once. Oggie had needed to mercy kill another jager, and...
Dimoās felt this before and itās bad.
He doesnāt know what to--
He needs to find Miss Agatha.
(He feels his soulmate get shotĀ and then the fear of losing someone before he ever meets them is back.)
Tarvek is insensate in the Hospital.
The worry-unease-happy-love that he feels from his soulmate is comforting.
Violettaās comforting, too.
Dimo can feel the tangle of emotions, sickness and pain and a vagueness thatās more worrying than any of the rest, he can feel them pass through his soulmate while he waits for the Doom Bell to ring.
His soulmate is involved in this mess, he knows it, but he doesnāt know who.
Pride-Anger-Approval-Worry pass through Tarvek in waves that come from somewhere he canāt pinpoint. Something is very red. And purple. Is that Violetta? Violetta! Hi, Violetta.
Dimo clutches his chest and stumbles.
Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying-Dying
Over and over and over again.
Heās had soulmates before, theyāve died before itās never been like thisĀ and he canāt make it stop.
āHoy, Dimo! Iz hyu--ā
āSometheenk iz wrong!ā
Tarvek survives, heās fine, heās great, thereās a muse here, kind of, and Violetta is fine, and Agatha and Gil are fine, and everything is fine-fine-fineĀ in a way he doesnāt let himself think about.
There are waves and waves and waves of worry from his soulmate. If he could make it clearer, give it words and images, he would, but he canāt. He just tries to send back satisfaction. Heās fine. Heās alive. Isnāt that enough?
Dimoās ready to fight something for a lot of reasons, but the extended worry about his youngest soulmate is pretty near the top of his list. The kid--not a kid, an adult by now, he needs to remember that--keeps having wild swings of emotion, most of which involve fear or frustration, and at least one bout of unconsciousness that had followed a brief flash of pain.
Dimo wishes he could meet his soulmate if only to convince himself they could take care of themselves.
Tarvek wants to fight something. Heās not sure why. Heās blaming his soulmate.
Heās also standing on the table justĀ so he can shout down at Gil, but thatās besides the point.
Dimo finds Agatha, brings her the zappy stick, and then tries to step back to let the Sparks and Minion work. He joins his brothers in getting new parts, and--
āHe... Well... I donāt know. I... thinkĀ thatās going to depend on how smart a guy he really is.ā
Resignation-worry-affection-annoyance
Dimo teases the minion, slaps him on the back and--
āYou know, we could just chuck it all and turn to piracy.ā Resignation-resignation-irritation-humor-hope?-affectionĀ āItād be a lot easier.ā
There are sparks of shock-fear-wonder-hope-irritation-resignation-affection-fondness-fugue-fugue-fugueĀ as they travel along the city. Each matches a word or an action or a visible thought.
Tarvek Sturmvoraus is very good at hiding his emotions, but...
Dimo sends a silent apology and squeezes the stump of his arm so it hurts.
Sturmvoraus stumbles and hisses and assures Maxim that heās fine, when the question is asked.
Dimo grabs him by the collar and pulls him back when Othar shows up.
Tarvek stares at Dimo like heās never seen him before in his life, which is only half fair. They only met today, but theyāve been running around together for miles, now.
āVe need to talk,ā Dimo says.Ā āAbout hyu soulmate.ā
āI donāt have a--ah!ā
Dimo lets go of his stump. He hopes he didnāt make it start bleeding again.Ā āHyām theenkink dot hyu do. Hyāve been theenkink dot hyu need somevun votās beeg und scary on hyu side since ve connected, und now Hyām theenkink dotās still true.ā
Tarvek stares at him, unreadable in the face but crystal clear in the emotions heās struggling to control, and then sharply nods.Ā āFine. Letās talk.ā
Dimo loses his Heterodyne, his soulmate, and well over a thousand siblings to the time bubble.