Hero [Ironstrange]

04 - Emerald Green

Tony

I watch Stephen walk out of the room before turning to my stuff and immersing myself in my thoughts.

Ok, I guess they seem like a nice family. I mean, the little boy seemed nice. I didn't really interact with the girl that much. Stephen seems like he could secretly be a jerk, but I'll let that slide. The mom was way too happy, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Stephen's side of the room was neat, with a few posters on the walls and trinkets on his nightstand. His desk was the only messy part of his room, with papers everywhere all spread out. I stare at my side of the room, a totally blank canvas. I guess I should unpack.

I roll up my sleeves, ready to get some work done. Wait, I don't wear sleeves.

Wait, what's that. Oh, no.

My soul mark, which happened to be empty a few minutes ago, was now filled with a green color. The same green color that Stephen's necklace happens to be.

Stephen. Shit, I found my soulmate.

Wait, does he know? He has to know right? Wait, no, I haven't said his name yet.

I quickly grab my jacket from my backpack, knocking over a lamp. Thankfully the lamp doesn't break, but it does make a bit of noise.

"Tony?" Stephen pokes his head into the room. "Is everything all right? I heard a noise coming fro-"

"Yeah, it's fine, I just knocked over a lamp." I nervously interrupt. He raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry." He smiles before replying.

"It's fine." Don't pity me, mortal.

"Yeah."

"You can call me Stephen, ya know."

"Hmm? OH... yeah, I'll keep that in mind." He raises his eyebrow once again. How does he do that? "....Stephen." I add, trying not to make eye contact. Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit. He walks out of the room nonchalantly, closing the door behind him. 

I try to stay stoic while unpacking, but that fails when five minutes later I have a somewhat obvious epiphany. I run around the house trying to find Stephen until Beverly kindly points me to the direction of the living room.

"Uh...Stephen."

"Yeah?" He looks up from his book, lying upside down on the couch.

"Well...um...nevermind." I quickly walk away and head back to his room, keeping my head down. He obviously hasn't noticed yet, I mean, he's always wearing the red jacket, so he might not ever notice. Wouldn't that be great? God, this is so awkward since we have to live in the same room, and OH NO we're probably going to go to the same school. Oh god. Though, I wonder what having a soulmate is really like. I wonder what color his soul mark turned. It's either cherry red or golden canary yellow. Maybe cobalt blue? I should really settle on one color. 

I lay face down on my bed contemplating the meaning of life with some large doses of internal screaming mixed in. 

After a few, okay maybe a little more than a few, minutes of that, I grab my sketchbook from my backpack and start to design ideas to decorate my half of the room. I usually don't decorate when I go to foster homes but the emerald green square on my wrist convinces me that I'm probably going to stay here a while. 

- - -

"Whatcha doing?" Stephen looks over my shoulder causing me to jump and slam my sketchbook closed. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." 

"It's fine. Just drawing." 

"Oh. Can I see?" I reluctantly hand over the book to him, turning to the page with all the decorating ideas. He flips through them, his eyes wide, either with shock or amazement or maybe something else, I don't know how to read emotions. "Wow."

"'Wow, that's so good' or 'wow, Tony, you really suck'?" I mutter though I think thankfully he doesn't hear me.

"These are great!" He steps back to his side of the room looking back and forth from my planning sketches and the room. "I think this one's the best out of all of them." He points to a sketch with a bunch of posters on the walls. He hands me back the book, leaving it open to that page. "Anyway, since you skipped lunch, Mom was wondering if you'd come down for dinner." 

I shrug and follow him down, heading to the dining room where everyone else was seated, except Beverly who was still cooking something. I take a seat next to Stephen and across from the little brother, who grinned when he saw me. What was his name? Vincent? Vander?

"Victor, stop staring at Anthony, you look creepy." Stephen's sister whispered loudly. I chuckled at the comment. Okay, so the small one is Victor and I'm pretty sure the girl is Donna. 

"It's not creepy! I'm being nice!" Victor argued but was silenced when Beverly walked in holding a chocolate cake. "Wow." Victor looked at the cake like it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Stephen and Donna just stared at their mom with a confused look.

"Since it's Anthony's first night with us, dessert first!" Victor and Donna's jaws dropped like it was the most exciting thing that had happened to them in their entire life. Stephen sat there frozen but smiled after he noticed his mom staring at him. Well, there's definitely some emotional tension about dessert before dinner. Who knew I wasn't the only angsty teen in this house?

Beverly sets a slice of cake on each of our plates and the family immediately starts eating. I'm so glad they didn't make me say some sort of prayer before eating as most other homes do. The second foster home I was in was super religious and kicked me out the second they found out I was an Atheist. I start eating, amazed by the delicious taste of the cake. I eat the cake somewhat quickly, only beaten by Victor who messily scarfed down his slice. 

"Anthony, have you found your soulmate yet?" Donna asks smirking, ignoring the quite obvious glare she receives from her mother. I can feel myself lightly blush at the question. Yes, and he happens to be sitting right next to me as a matter of fact. Stephen rolls his eyes.

"Excuse her, she's obsessed with soulmates." 

"It's fine," I assure, lifting my wrist to show the emerald green square. Donna gasps dramatically at my revelation. 

"Hmm, nice color," Stephen comments before turning back to his slice of cake. 

"Do you know who she is? Or is it a he? They? When did you meet them? Are you in love? Did you meet at a foster home? Are you goin-" Donna stammers before being cut off.

"Donna, don't overwhelm him with questions. I'm sure all that stuff is private." Beverly puts spaghetti on each of our plates, along with some garlic bread. All introverts like garlic bread. 

"Are you fun or boring?" Victor asked struggling to get his spaghetti onto his spoon. 

"Um..." I start before being saved by Stephen.

"Of course he's fun, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed here," Stephen answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Yeah, totally."

Every few minutes I would get a new question, which was entertaining, but still exhausting. 

By the time I got to bed, I felt like I was basically going to pass out the moment my head hit the pillow. But of course, since life is cruel, I lay there for what seems like the whole night without sleep. 

I better not get myself kicked out of this one, is the ever reoccurring thought as I lay in total darkness surrounded only be Stephen's soft snores.