Colorful

Pain and Panic

Roman Stokes winced, hissing in pain as he was slammed against the lockers in passing. He felt a tinge of sympathy, knowing his soulmate was able to feel his pain as well. He was able to feel theirs. He had felt it every time they stubbed their toe or tripped over something. But it wasn't as if he could control the way the school bully, James, treated him any more than he could control the fact that his soulmate felt his pain.

"Leave me the fuck alone," Roman said with more bravado than he felt.

He pushed James back, causing him to collide with his friend. The two of them turned to him, and he froze in a moment of panic, his eyes widening, before he squared his shoulders, fists raised to defend himself. He whispered a silent apology that he knew his soulmate couldn't hear before the first hit landed.

***

Virgil Mercer was walking down the hallway quickly when he felt the pain. It trickled along his back and sides like he'd been splashed with boiling water. He stuttered in his steps, leaning against the lockers as he tried to breathe away the pain. His soulmate had to be, and he meant this with love, an idiot. Someone with an insane amount of bravado-fueled stupidity.

The pain hit more intensely on his cheek before rapidly increasing and spreading all over him.

What the hell was going on?

Was his soulmate in a fight, or... or worse?

He could barely stand, his knees threatening to buckle beneath him as he leaned back with more force against the wall, clutching the front of his shirt as if that would help him be able to catch his breath.

Being as lost in the pain as he was, he scarcely registered the students rushing past him to get a teacher.

Hardly noticed being ushered into the nearest classroom by his best friend, Remy, to recover.

He was too distracted to care.

Later, he would just be written a pass, as this sort of thing happened often with students.

"Come on, babe," Remy murmured, concern seeping into his voice as he helped Virgil to sit down in one of the chairs in the theater classroom.

The pain was subsiding, though it was still definitely there - a dull, constant ache - but Virgil allowed himself to be led to the seat. He was still highly anxious, his mind flooding him with images of different scenarios of what could have happened to his soulmate. He could have gotten into a car accident, or gotten beaten up, or fallen down a flight of stairs.

"I... I'm okay now," he stuttered out, giving a small, shaky smile up to Remy to thank him.

***

Roman had been pulled away from James by a teacher before he'd so much as managed to get one punch in. A second teacher rushed forward and led James and his friend to the principal's office with hushed chastisements. The teacher who had pulled Roman away decided against sending him to the principal's office as well, claiming that if he wanted to see him, he would simply call, and she sent Roman to class.

He rushed to the theatre classroom, not wanting to be even later than he already was. When he burst in, he saw - amongst all the other students, who were huddled around, watching with caution and intrigue the way one does when anything interesting happens in high school - Virgil. Roman nodded a quick hello, wondering why he and Remy were in here, considering they weren't in this class, before looking to the teacher.

"Sorry I'm late, I..." he motioned to the bruise already beginning to blossom in varying shades of purple and red on his cheek. "You know."

Virgil shifted slightly in his seat when he saw Roman's bruise; he didn't like when anyone from their friend group got hurt, but Roman seemed to get hurt more often than the others. He wished he was around to stop it when it happened...