Chapter Nine: Very Sorry For Your Loss

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TW: mentions of death, very brief mention of hospitals, language

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Virgil opened the door and stepped into the room. He looked around and noticed that the room felt like a waiting room at a hospital, but much less terrifying. Also, the color scheme was dark and the lighting was warm. Virgil honestly wasn't quite sure where the link to hospital waiting rooms was in his brain. Perhaps it was the feeling of tension and brokenness in the air. That feeling worried Virgil.

He walked up to the check-in desk and noticed that the receptionist's smile faltered upon seeing him.

"Hi, I'm Virgil Carter. I have an appointment with Safiya?" He said

"Okay, have a seat and she will be right with you," the receptionist replied, typing something on their computer. Virgil sat down on one of the chairs and pulled out their phone. He scrolled through twitter for about 10 minutes before someone called his name.

He got out of his chair and walked over to the person who had called his name. They had shoulder-length black hair and wore light makeup, a pair of jeans, a black shirt with flared sleeves, and birkenstocks. Virgil noticed that their smile also faltered.

"Hi, I'm Safiya, she/her pronouns," she introduced herself as she led Virgil through a hallway

"I'm Virgil, he/they," Virgil replied

Eventually, Safiya lead Virgil into an office, closing the door behind them. She invited Virgil to sit down, which he did.

"First of all, I would like to say that I'm very sorry for your loss," Safiya said, causing a look of confusion to appear on Virgil's face

"...What loss?" he asked

"The loss of your soulmate," Safiya responded, as if it was obvious

"...As far as I know my soulmate is alive," Virgil replied, thoroughly confused

"Oh... I've never had this happen before... why are you here if your soulmate isn't dead?" Safiya asked

"Because I have a boyfriend and I love
him but he's not my soulmate and I don't want to have to break up with him," Virgil explained

"Well, who is your soulmate?" Safiya asked. Virgil sighed.

"I don't know. I'm only 17, my birthday's in December so my swap is almost here, but I don't know yet," they responded

"And what about your boyfriend? Does he know who his soulmate is?" Safiya questioned

"Nope. He hasn't his swap either, he's only about 7 months older than me," Virgil replied

"What makes you think your boyfriend isn't your soulmate?" Safiya inquired. Virgil sighed once again, having heard this question a few times before but still not being sure what the answer was.

"I don't know... it's just... aren't you supposed to, like, know? When you meet your soulmate? Like, yeah, sometimes people don't, but a lot of times if you meet them before your swap you know it's them... at least that's what I've heard... and yeah, I love him, I love him so fucking much... but it's just, I feel like if he's my soulmate, I'd know. And also, the world is so huge, it can't be super common that you just happen to be randomly assigned to be roommates with your soulmate," Virgil tried his best to explain

"Well, Virgil, the universe works in funny ways sometimes. In most cases, people who meet their soulmate before their swap don't know it, and an estimated 10% of people meet their soulmate and have feelings for them before their swap, so it's not incredibly unlikely that your boyfriend is your soulmate," Safiya replied. Virgil nodded slowly, taking that in. He still wasn't convinced Roman was his soulmate, but he was a bit less worried about it.

"Okay, thank you so much for your time," Virgil responded, before paying for the session and leaving, slightly less worried than he was when he went in. At least there was a chance of Roman being his soulmate... not a guarantee, of course, but a chance.

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