A Splash Of Paint (MCYT Oneshots)

Platonic Soulmates (Tommy & Tubbo)

"Don't be silly, Tubbo. All soulmates have to be romantic."

"Platonic soulmate bonds? Hah! Man, that's one of the funniest jokes I've heard in a while! Platonic soulmate bonds aren't even real; they're soulmates, how could they be anything but romantic?!"

That was the stereotype every soulmate bond had to face. That their bond had to be romantic, otherwise they were either simply defective, or they were faking it.

It didn't matter how many people were in the soulmate bond, nor how old the difference between the soulmates' ages were. Soulmates had to be romantic; everyone knew that. The governments even implemented a rule that forced soulmate bonds to be romantic, or else they would have to have their soulmate bond be removed, because after all, nobody wanted a 'defective' soulmate bond.

The rumour started sometime around the time soulmate bonds started appearing, and ten years later, the stereotype — more like a fake fact, at this rate — was accepted by at least 90% of the world's population as the truth.

Tubbo knew better. Soulmate bonds didn't just have to be romantic; he and Tommy and all the rest of the platonic soulmate bonds out there would like to aggressively disagree.

He had known that him and Tommy were never meant to be anything more than the best of friends the first time they had met up in real life. All it took was one look into each others' eyes, and they both knew that they would be the best of friends, the best of confidants, and nothing more.

Normal people with soulmate marks to prove their soulmate bonds would be ecstatic. To have someone or some people out there wholly and truly meant for you? To know that no matter what, your bond would just have to be 'romantic'? A dream come true.

But for Tubbo and Tommy, it was a nightmare. A good one, an accepted one, but a nightmare nonetheless.

It was why Tubbo had to cover up his soulmate mark — a red, green white disc with a thread of purple string weaved around it —with makeup and his shirt's sleeves every day. It was why Tommy had to cover up his own soulmate mark — a black and yellow bumblebee with a thread of green string weaved around it — with concealers and an armband every day.

That was just the life they had to live, as platonic soulmates.

Some days, Tubbo thought that coming out would be easier. They had to just pretend to be a couple, maybe hug and show affection a few times, they could just pretend to be a couple that wasn't too high into PDA. But then he remembered that Tommy would always run up to hug his loved ones, and how Tubbo would let his family ruffle his hair and hug him without much preamble, and he knew their ruse wouldn't last.

"Do you think we'll be free one day, Tubbo?" Tommy asked in a hushed tone, over their call. Tubbo laid on his back, and stared at his ceiling from his bed.

Free. The word made it sound as if they were trapped. But then again, wasn't that how it felt like?

Tubbo's eyes landed on the clutter of papers on his desk, and the suit half-sewn and laid on the floor. Being a vigilante to fight against the government's ideals seemed like too much work for something that didn't even hurt much. But that was before the governments started rounding up soulmates, and 'testing' them, before executing their soulmate bonds and staying uncaring of the fact that, to remove a soulmate bond, there would be an 85% chance of death for at least half of the soulmate bond.

Tubbo knew exactly what he had to do, in order to make a world free for him and Tommy to be who they truly were: platonic soulmates.

"Yeah, big man," Tubbo said, with a grin. "We just gotta stay hopeful. Keep our heads high, and we'll be free one day."

He would get them their freedom, or die trying.

(A/N: I have. no idea where I was going with this at the start. what the hell.)