#tsremus

Plot: Soulmate Au, a timer on your wrist counts down to the moment you meet your soulmate. Roman makes a huge mistake.

Triggers: Angst. None, I think.

Wordcount: 990

It was 1:32 a.m.

Roman wasn’t asleep.

He should have been. He had rehearsal tomorrow, and it was always important for him to get his beauty sleep. But he wasn’t. His mind was far too busy worrying about something other than proper rest. 

06:07:56:23

The clock on his wrist was counting down the seconds. 

23 22 21 20…

Tik tok tik tok tik tok tik-

Six days. Six days until Roman would meet his soulmate. The same day as the opening night of his play. Roman had already been nervous about the event, but when they had realised the show day date and put around the fliers his clock had changed. Now he was almost more of a nervous wreck than Virgil normally was. 

Roman had always dreamed of meeting his soulmate. As a child, it was all he would talk about.

“How tall are they going to be? Are they handsome? Strong? Charming? Could they be a boy? I hope so.” 

Now that day was almost upon the young actor and he didn’t know what to do. 

“Is he going to like me? What is he like? What if he’s rude? A liar? Arrogant?” 

He shook his head as if it would stop the thoughts. Roman desperately wanted to stop thinking. Maybe he should go for a walk? He thought he had heard Virgil say something about taking walks to calm him down. 

Roman saw the time on his wrist watch start to change as the thought crossed his mind but he ignored it. He doesn’t need to worry about that before a big performance. He just needs to clear his mind. Get some fresh air. Nevermind that it’s late and the college dorms have a curfew.

He took a deep breath, grabbing his coat and stepping outside the dorm. A moment later he was walking in the forever busy streets of the city, trying his best not to run into anyone. 

Roman found himself staring at all the people walking past him. He didn’t doubt that they all had clocks on their wrists. Everyone did. A timer counting down to the second you’ll meet your true love, occasionally changing times when you or your soulmate make a decision that will bring you closer together or further apart. 

He took a deep breath, lifting his gaze from in front of him to the signs above him, hoping that reading the advertisement would help him take his mind away from things. 

He frowned at the first ad he laid his hand on. It was for the ‘Freesouls.’ A group of people who purposely ignore, or even take off their watches. So that they aren’t ‘bounded’ by their soulmate. It was this new social movement and there were a lot of controversies surrounding them. Roman never truly understood why they did that, but honestly he couldn’t care. He honestly suspected Remus of being a freesoul. It seemed like something his twin would do. 

‘What if he’s one of those? What if he really wants nothing to do with m-’

Roman’s thoughts were interrupted when he collided with something in front of him pushing him down on the ground. 

“Ow! Hey-” The actor looked up, suddenly caught on his words for a reason he really couldn’t explain. 

The individual in front of him was breathtaking, and looking down at the book he had dropped and the bag that had spilled its contents on the sidewalk, as soft ginger colored hairs fell out of a bun. He also seemed to be looking for something, softly patting the ground. Roman shifted his eyes to see a pair of glasses right at his feet. He grabbed them and held them out for the other man. “Here-”

“Watch where you’re going.” The individual snapped, snatching the glasses from Roman and instantly the awe faded. 

“I was just handing you back your glasses!” Roman snapped back, standing up. “And you ran into me!” 

“Right. Because looking up at the sky was watching where you were walking, right?” The other asked, putting on his glasses and picking up his book from the ground, taking a moment to examine it to make sure it hadn’t been damaged in the fall. “You made me lose my place. Delightful.” 

“You were reading while walking!” Roman phrased it like it like a statement, but honestly it was more of a question. “How much of a nerd are you? Watch where you walk!” 

“Nerd? How-” A bus rolled pass them and the individual stopped with a scowl and hurried to throw his things in his book bag. “You’re lucky I have to catch a bus otherwise you’d get a full lecture!”

“Yeah, lucky me!” Roman yelled as he ran pass him. 

The man gave the actor one last glare before disappearing onto the bus. 

“God, if I never see him again, it’ll be too soon.” Roman muttered, running his hand through his hair, holding it for a minute so he could hear the soft ticking of the timer counting down. 

…

Except he couldn’t hear the ticking. 

He looked at his wrist confused. The second he laid his eyes on it, his mouth dropped. 

00:00:00:00

“Wait. How. When. Who-”

He turned quickly and ran for the bus that had just started to close its doors. It rolled ahead and Roman felt panic flush through him. 

“Wait! Wait! Stop the bus! Wait!” 

It didn’t. It kept driving, picking up speed slowly despite Roman’s pleads. 

He followed the bus until it had driven out of view and then he stared in disbelief where the bus had been. After a moment he looked down at his wrist. 

00:00:00:00

The timer was at zero. 

He met his soulmate. 

He had let his soulmate walk away. 

He never got his name.

He had no way to find him. 

He had lost his chance…

Roman: You can't spell DIET without DIE.

Virgil: You can't spell HOTDOG without DOG.

~Awkward Silence~