Chapter Text
Damian ran his thumb over the three letters on his other wrist, pondering in silence. Talk over dinner had turned to soulmates as Dick and Babs discussed Tim and Steph’s upcoming nuptials with Selina and Bruce. Jason had added crass commentary, and Cass had laughed along with some of the ribbing. Damian had stayed quiet for most of the conversation, but he had followed the discourse for the most part. Now alone in his room he thought about his own mark. Where the others had words or sentences, he only had one word, “Huh.”
His mother Talia had been so thankful when she had found the small soul mark. Her own soulmate had been killed by Ra’s, as he wanted to choose his daughter’s spouse to ensure loyalty to himself. Not long after she met Bruce her father had instructed her to seduce him. After she became pregnant it was clear that Bruce would never be completely loyal to Ra’s ideals, but Talia had fallen in love with Bruce, and decided to send him away to protect him from her father. Not too long after she had heard he met his soulmate, and despite everything she was happy for him. He wouldn’t be trapped by her father. Talia had hoped that her own fate could be avoided by her son. She had used concealer on his word to cover it for most of his youth, claiming that he was born without soul words and was therefore soulmateless. She swore him to secrecy on the subject until the death of Ra’s meant her son need no longer worry about hiding his word.
Damian had lived with his father for eight years now while his mother tried to recreate the league into something she could feel proud of. She needed to take the ruins of her evil father’s life and turn it into her own empire, separate from his putrid influence. Damian understood to a small extent. In a way he was also remaking himself from what his grandfather had originally wanted. Discovering himself was an ongoing process, and overcoming years of ingrained propaganda was not an easy task. He knew he was different than that half feral child his mother had dropped off on Bruce Wayne’s doorstep at the age of ten, but sometimes he doubted anyone else saw his progress. His brothers still called him demon spawn to his infinite displeasure. Dick used the term less, but had traded one nickname for another of almost equal annoyance, calling him instead baby bird.
The circle of skin under his thumb turned red against the word from the light pressure he applied. The soul word was still light tan, almost blending in with the many scars that covered most of his skin from years of training with weapons. He wondered who would be the one to burn this word black into his skin when they first spoke it. What kind of person would the universe deem his other half? What would be the context for the “Huh” on his wrist?
——
Marinette looked around the room at her best friends. Soulmates paired off with Adrien and Kagami, Alya and Nino, Chloe and Luka, Kim and Ondine, Max and Sabrina, Ivan and Mylene. The party was a celebration of graduation, and the few of the guests who were not paired off Marinette had known for years. Watching one friend after another find their other half had made her wonder if she really even had a soulmate.
The doctors at her birth had almost missed her mark entirely, and it was no wonder. The two letters on her wrist were easy to miss unless one looked hard, and it wasn’t even a real word. Someday, somewhere, someone would say “Tt” to her and it would be forever burned black into her wrist. It was almost laughable, but for the sadness that thinking about meeting her soulmate filled her with. She has long given up hope of having a relationship with her soulmate. It hadn’t worked for Fu until he lost his memory. What person could put up with a guardian for a soulmate? Her life was insane, and graduation was just going to make it crazier.
Last year she and Chat had defeated hawkmoth, putting Gabriel Agrest and Nathalie Sancoer behind bars. Adrien had sold Gabriel the company to his cousin Felix who had refused to buy it without negotiating a deal to have Marinette become the lead designer in his Uncle’s place. They had rebranded the company to MDC and were Co-CEO’s together. Most of Marinette’ s final year of lychee credit came from work experience for her real life company. The next year she would be working remotely for MDC while traveling on miraculous business.
Not long after Hawkmoth’s defeat Suhan had decided to transfer his title of celestial guardian to Marinette, so she needed to finally travel to the temple in Tibet to get an understanding of where the order stands now. Adrien had testified at his father’s trial, and revealed his identity as Chat Noir to clear himself of involvement in his father’s crimes. He then turned the ring over to ladybug publicly to show his retirement so that no one would come after him for the jewel.
This meant that in order to keep balance Marinette was taking turns wielding the black cat and the ladybug until she could find another suitable wielder. Secretly after the trial she had given Adrien the rooster to protect himself should the need arise, and Kagami still held the dragon. They planned to move to Japan next week, and they were planning a wedding in the fall, which Marinette would be attending. Those under her protection were going to be spreading out across three continents, between Asia, Europe, and North America. Thankfully she had Khalki, so travel would be less of an issue. Between her duties as celestial guardian and her design business Marinette barely would have time to breath for many years to come. There was no way she could see fitting a relationship in with all of that mess. She barely slept as it was. She looked down at her wrist and frowned, feeling an odd twinge of pity for the poor soul who the universe decided she would complete. She hoped at least their first meeting would be years off yet so that she could delay their disappointment.