Inked [oney x oc]

2 - Chris Makes Contact

                     (Chris's POV)

When I rolled over out of bed, it was 11:35 in the morning.

Fuck. Zach and Tomar were coming over to record in an hour.

I tossed my legs over the side of the bed and sat up, rubbing my eyes. One of the cats hopped off the bed with a loud meow. I'd feed 'em in a second. I had to take a shower and eat too. Fuck. Why was I so goddamn lazy?

I forced myself to get up, yawning as I did, and I trudged out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. Both of my cats got up and followed me, acting like they were starving. They were used to the time I fed them by now, and it wasn't like they didn't have food out always. They were fine, they were just big babies.

I grabbed their food from the pantry and made sure they were all taken care of, stooping to pet one of them. As I extended my arm, I noticed some smudgy marker on it.

That hadn't been there before I went to bed. I stood up and squinted in the light.

Hey, are you gay?
- N.

It wasn't from any of my friends. I didn't pass out in front of them or anything. We'd just been doodling on ourselves while slightly tipsy. This had to be my soulmate.

My soulmate sure was forward, huh?

I spun around to dig through all of the cabinet drawers in the kitchen, looking for a writing utensil so I could reply.

Spatula, no. Tongs? No. Turkey baster, no! Soy sauce packets? Maybe.

Why the hell didn't I keep a pen in the miscellaneous kitchen drawer? I opened the fridge and grabbed the gallon jug of milk I had, unscrewing the cap as I walked into my office/recording space in the spare room. I took a swig as I pushed open the door with my opposite hand and made a beeline for the desk, thankfully finding a pen lying on top.

I set down the milk and screwed the cap back on before uncapping the pen and clicking it a couple of times. I hunched over my arm to write a response underneath N's question. Hopefully they were okay with jokes.

'No, but your mom is.'
- O.

I wasn't gonna sign off with my real name yet. An initial would be fine for now, especially considering most people knew me as Oney and not Chris. 'N' probably wasn't even my soulmate's first name either. It could've been an alias. I capped the pen and set it back down on my desk, feeling satisfied for having responded, even if not very helpfully.

I hoped my soulmate wasn't gay. I didn't care about them being gay, that part didn't bother me - I just wanted to actually form a connection with someone for once and not be let down later like I had with so many non-soulmate dates. I was just kind of tired of being single and having one-night stands.

Frankly, I was also kinda jealous of all my other friends. Zach and Nikki were soulmates, Tomar and Jaxxy were soulmates, and while Ding Dong and Julian weren't soulmates, at least they were happy. I'd never even spoken to my soulmate before.

I don't know why I'd never reached out. I guess I just didn't want to get let down like Stamper. I tried to do things the new way, on dating sites and apps and other shit that's supposed to be unconventional and fun, but I always felt like I'd be letting down my soulmate if they were really out there waiting for me.