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Alec was told he had green, brown, even purple and mahogany eyes throughout his life. But he knew they lied. Not of guile but out of ignorance.
Maybe having purple or mahogany eyes would be preferable though. At least they differed from the majority of the population and would catch the attention of his potential soulmate.
They said eyes are the mirror of the soul. Because nobody but your soulmate and you could see them for real.
Well, sure, others could see them but never their real colour.
The whole soulmate-identification system was as flawed and foolish as it could possibly be. Who even remembers other people’s eye colour? Even when you knew a person for a long time, you struggled to answer what eye colour your friends have when confronted.
They believed when you remember their eye colour, it means you pay close attention. But this was just stupid.
Couldn't the universe come up with something easier like a string that led you through life to the One or a stupid timer? Preferably it rings loudly when you stumble upon them.
“Alec, please,” he begged and clasped his hands in a pleading gesture.
“No,” refused Alec again.
“I will buy you your favourite pizza,” Magnus argued. As if sensing that Alec would reply that he wasn’t that easy to bribe, he added, “And I will forgive and forget you broke my coffee maker.”
Enticing. Very much so. But Alec had to keep up the facade just for a while longer. Out of principle. Or stubbornness, his sister would point out.
“It was Chairman Meow,” said Alec. Nobody believed this lie because that day the cat was at the veterinarian's.
“I have the evidence, young man,” Magnus wagged his finger, “or you claim that Chairman dyed his fur black in my absence?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” mumbled Alec in defeat.
“And you are distracting me again,” Magnus shook his head. “Please,” he blinked his eyes fast as if he was on the edge of tearing up. Low blow. “This shirt would match your eyes so much. It’s like the shade of your blue eyes. And the lacy collar—”
Stop. Wind back. Back.
“Blue?” sighed Alec in a half-whisper.
But Magnus heard him either way. “Yes. It’s blue and is covered in pastes. You are going to shine!”
“My eyes are blue,” said Alec like an idiot with his mouth open wide.
“Yes, I know?” Magnus furrowed and took a hold of Alec's hands. “Is something wrong? If you don’t want to, I’m not going to press further, you know it right?”
“You know my eye colour,” Alec kept saying incessantly. As if all other thoughts left his head in a hurry. Probably not far from the truth.
“Of course I know it,” Magnus sat down next to him on the sofa. “Alec, what’s wrong?” He caressed Alec’s shoulder.
“How do you know it?”
It should be a coincidence. It couldn’t be anything else. Surely he said it just to prove his point. No way Alec would know how Magnus saw his eyes for sure and he just chose the option that suited him the most. Alec only needed not to freak out and let it be—
“Is it not your eye colour?” Magnus’ face fell, lips trembled feebly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Don’t build your hopes and don’t get disappointed.
“It matters to me,” Magnus fixed him with a grave gaze. “What is your eye colour?” Alec's wrists were trapped between Magnus’ palms. He would like to keep them like this forever.
Should he? If he lied, Magnus wouldn’t know if he did.
Alec stared silently in Magnus’ golden eyes. Such eye colour wasn’t ordinary. It might appear but people with it had a hard time identifying their soulmates because everyone just assumed the colour wasn’t real and a trick of the system. Or that they wore lenses.
So Alec naturally thought the same. But he couldn’t imagine Magnus with any other colour than this. No else could show his flamboyant and exuberant disposition. No else was as warm as the sun's rays when he laughed. No else could shine brighter than all the glitter he applied.
It would be a shame if they weren’t real.
“Blue,” muttered Alec at last when Magnus insistently nudged him.
The man sank back onto the cushions with a blissful smile. “You scared me out of my wits, Alexander. Don’t play me like this anymore.”
Alec only stayed silent.
A swarm of thoughts buzzed in his head.
Are Magnus’ eyes really golden? Does this make them soulmates? Alec hadn’t dared to dream about this. Too engrossing.Too impossible. Too… unreachable. Should they kiss now? To cement it?
And why was Magnus so sure about his eye colour?
Magnus furrowed his eyebrows as he propped himself on the elbows. “Alexander? What’s the deal?”
“How did you know?” asked Alec.
“Knew what?”
“My eye colour?”
Why was he so calm? Did it not matter to him at all? That Alec was his soulmate? Was he disappointed? Had he already made peace with the fact that his soulmate was so unexciting?
“Um…” Magnus said with confusion. “I saw them?”
Alec chuckled with a bitter taste. “Everyone sees them. But nobody sees me.”
Perplexed at these words, Magnus straightened himself out. His face was covered in deep pondering. Alec was too enthralled by him tapping on his lower lip to notice the time passing.
“What colour do my eyes have?” he asked out of sudden.
Alec swallowed a few times before replying, “G-golden.”
Magnus jumped from his place and flung his arms around Alec’s neck. “I have the silliest soulmate in the world?” he said delightfully.
‘Soulmate’. Soulmate.
Alec couldn’t figure out whether his heart stopped when he heard these words or raced in a feverish tango. Maybe both at the same time. He could live without his heart. But not without Magnus.
“B-but how come you were so sure?” Alec whispered in Magnus’ ear.
Magnus carded Alec’s hair with his gentle fingers. “I wasn’t,” he confessed. Alec went still and Magnus went on, “I kinda went by the contrary method. When we were ten, you commented how my eyes remind you of the sun. I didn’t pay it close attention back then, only to the fact that these words made my belly flutter.”
Alec let out a chuckle and so did Magnus. He changed the uncomfortable position and rested his head on Alec’s shoulder. Alec’s top soaked in Magnus’ new tulip perfume. Would it be gross if he never washed it again? Probably. And not productive as the smell wouldn’t linger for a long time.
Alec nudged Magnus in the side, silently prompting him to continue.
Magnus pinched his cheek in revenge but went on, “When I was older and aware that staring too long in your friend’s eyes isn’t considered to be generally a friend-ish behaviour,” he made quotes with his fingers, “and these words reappeared in my head. Nobody ever said my eyes were golden. You didn’t too, of course,” he huffed, “until recently, at least. But you were the closest. So I kinda deducted the rest. I also thought that most people wouldn’t think of my eyes as real if they saw them. Too abnormal,” he said in a smaller voice.
Alec hummed. So this was how it was. Huh. How amusing. He thought eyes that stand out would help you to find your soulmate. But it only alienated you more.
“I would never want you to have any other eyes,” Alec picked up Magnus’ chin. A shy tear streamed down his soulmate’s cheek. “Because your love is golden, like they are.”