swallows- soulmate au

one

You'd never find out about this place if you didn't live here. Most people who live here don't know where it is either. A tiny coffee shop by the name of ShiroNeko, warm and cozy with soft music and string lights and comfy sofas, tucked away behind a large office block and obscured from the front by a little copse of trees in the nearby park. But somehow, when I messaged her asking to meet up, we both knew where it was.

The waitress sets down my third cortado with a smile. She's pretty, purple hair and deep blue eyes, but she looks concerned. "Everything okay? You really need to slow down with the cortados, they're strong little bastards."

"Didn't get much sleep last night, innit." I grin and stretch in my seat. "I'm meeting my new flatmate today."

"That's cool! You talked much yet?"

"Kinda, yeah." I smile up at her once more before a customer pulls her back to her job. As she turns, I notice her tattoo- a white love heart on her wrist. I think for a bit. The tattoos are something everyone has. From the age of 5, we discover where they are on our bodies and what they are- then our whole lives revolve around them. We spend years looking for them. The one person in the world with the same tattoo as us. It's always been a thing, it's in history books, and no one really knows why. I haven't found my soulmate yet, and I'm pretty excited, but in all honesty I just want to finish uni without going insane. My tattoo is a tiny swallow bird on my left collarbone, with elaborate long tail feathers, and it's in such a place that most of my clothes hide it, thank god. I sip my cortado, closing my eyes, and when I open them again there's someone stood next to my sofa.

It's not the waitress this time.

-

She's stood kind of awkwardly, holding a yellow kånken bag in one hand. She can't be very tall, from the looks of it she's just under a foot shorter than me, and quite slim. She's dressed in very similar clothes to me, with significantly less pastel pink, and when I look up at her face I'm stunned. Her eyes are an alluring shade of brown at first, but as the light shifts I notice they're more hazel-green. She looks like the modern-day incarnation of the Greek goddess Artemis and I'm sure as hell not complaining. She touches my shoulder and I jump.

"You're Izzy, right?"
"Yeah, I am. Uh..." I shuffle over on my sofa. "You're Alex, aren't you?"

She flops down next to me. "Yep. So, we're flatmates now, huh?"

"Yeah. I've sorted your room out for you, and my mum says she'll help you move in since your family can't."

"Oh, thank you so much!" She smiles a wonky smile. "How much do you want for rent?"

"Alex." I turn to face her. "You don't have to pay rent. Maybe I should've told you earlier, but I just want someone to keep me company and help clean the place. You can pay me in friendship." I wink awkwardly and laugh, and to my relief she laughs too.

"Are you sure?"

"Alex, for god's sake just buy your own food and pick up your socks and I'll be happy."

The waitress comes back over with a large milkshake. She sets it in front of Alex and smiles discreetly at me. Alex looks at me and laughs awkwardly. "We should probably introduce ourselves properly."

"I agree. I'll go first, you concentrate on that milkshake. Which one did you get?"

"Chocolate fudge sundae." She shuffles a bit.

"That's my favourite flavour as well!" I take my cortado spoon and steal some whipped cream from the top. Alex whines and I smirk at her. "Should I go on now?"

"Fine. Don't steal any more of my milkshake though!" She pouts in mock indignation.

"Very well.

I was born in some crappy town in England. I don't speak to my dad anymore, and my granddad is my main father figure. My favourite things are sushi and cuddles, and I'm gay." I sip my cortado, waiting for Alex to yell at me.

"I'm gay too."

I almost spit out my cortado. "Holy shit. I thought you'd hate me."

"I couldn't hate you."

I grin at her and continue. "I'm studying fine art in uni. I think we go to the same one. As if coursework wasn't enough I'm teaching myself French as well. I'm depressed and I don't cope well. That's about it." I down the rest of my coffee. Alex adjusts her hair and looks up at me. "We're pretty similar, except I'm studying psychology and learning Spanish. And yeah, you go to the Royal, don't you?"

"Mhmm." I notice she's almost finished her milkshake. "Should we go home?"

"Home." She repeats me, stares at her hands, then at my hands, then back at me. "Let's do it. I think the moving guys get here soon anyway."

"Snazzy." I stand up, and she does too, quickly finishing her milkshake. She's tiny compared to me, and I can't help but smile. The waitress catches my eye and smirks. I wink at her and turn to Alex. "C'mon. It's only a few blocks away from here."

She picks up her bag and follows me out the door. As I step out into the warm September afternoon I feel something. I can't tell what it is, but something tells me it's not gonna be good. Alex grabs onto my arm and the feeling goes away. Slowly, we make our way home.