Soulmarks – everyone had them.
Everyone except, Levi. Most people were born with them, or they appeared within a few years.
Levi was now seventeen, and he had yet, to see even a hint of a mark appearing.
The thought had crossed his mind, that he simply did not have someone out there for him - that not one person was perfectly suited to him.
But he soon shook off the darkness, he knew plenty of people who were not with their soulmates, and were perfectly happy and in love. Besides, even if he had his soulmark – the likelihood of him finding them was slim; the world was a fucking big place. In fact, 7.4 billion people occupied this plant - the odds of him finding one person with an identical soulmark was unlikely.
He lived alone, having lost his mother from a young age, and being raised by his uncle until he left at age sixteen. He had no clue who his dad was, and could not care less where the fucker was.
When he had hit the low point in the past, it was due to him thinking that he was destined to be alone. Friends and loved ones had come and gone - none stayed for long. He had two friends - both meant everything to him, although, he would never tell them that. Erwin and Hanji were not the types of people, that needed sappy declarations of love - they knew, it went unsaid. Just a mutual understanding that they could rely on one another.
Thankful for his friends at least, he climbed the stairs to his apartment. He'd recently finished a gruelling session at the gym, he was determined to get into shape. To be strong, to not be perceived as weak, to be able to protect himself.
Turning the key in the lock, and pushing his door open, he stripped his clothes off, putting the sweat-soaked garments straight in the wash. Heading for a shower – he always felt so dirty after a workout.
He had washed and rinsed his hair and was just cleaning his body when something on his forearm caught his eye. He stared down at it in shock.
Hysteria starting to creep in. He did not understand, it was as if his brain short-circuited and needed to be rebooted.
Everything around him carried on, the shower still ran, the water hitting his shoulder blades and running down his back; taking a shower forgotten. All the while he was motionless - rooted to the spot.
How could this happen?
He watched as an outline, a shape and the definition of his soulmark took shape. Spreading the length of his forearm, from the crook of his elbow to his wrist.
He sat down in the shower tray, a trembling heap.
He was seventeen years old – he had spent all this time thinking he did not have a soulmate. To suddenly see that he did have one, they just had not been born yet – was a relief, and it took him a long time to continue with his shower.
March 30th. That was the day his soulmate was born. A date that he would never forget.
He was far too relieved, to know there was now someone out there, for him – that he did not realise the obvious right away. He was seventeen years older than his soulmate. Seventeen already and his soulmate mere hours old. Which meant, he had years and years of his life still to live in loneliness.
Of course, not always, but most people were matched with people their own age, or near to their age.
The fact that he would be so much older than his soulmate scared him. What if, one day he finally found them and they refused to be with him because he was older. The mere thought of not being accepted by his soulmate terrified him.
He knew nothing could happen until his soulmate was of the age where they would be seeking relationships. So, he pushed them to the back of his mind and did his best to not imagine what they would be like. However, he studied his soulmark daily, and on March 30th every year he wished his soulmate a happy birthday.
OoOoO
"Happy 21st Birthday," his friends and family cheered as he walked through his front door.
Fuck, a surprise party!
"Hey," he called with a smile, "you sneaky bunch of bast.."
"Eren," his father warned laughing.
Eren knew his dad disliked swearing and his mum even more so. Thankfully his dad had cut him off before he said the offensive word.
The group of people surged forwards, hugging him, giving birthday wishes and handing over gifts.
An hour into the party, he found himself sat alone, on the sofa, contemplating his life.
His mother noticed that he looked glum and joined him, "Oh Eren, it's your birthday please cheer up. Tell me what's wrong." She asked warmly, worry etched in the lines of her face.
He sighed, "Nothing mum, not really. It's just, I'm another year older and have yet to find my soulmate."
His mum reached out and squeezed his knee, "You will one day." She reassured, her voice held complete conviction in her words.
He looked at her, eyes intense and face serious, "Tell me again about my soulmark." He asked.
She smiled at him, a small tender and sympathetic smile, "You know the story off by heart by now." She teased, "As you know, you were born with yours. Not partially formed – not an outline, but a full soulmark."
"Which means they're older than me right?" He asked again, even though he already knew the answer. It just comforted him to talk about it.
"Yes, although we have no way of knowing how much older they are. It could be days, weeks, months or even years." She pointed out.
"But, we know it is not someone younger than me because I would have been born without a soulmark." He declared content with this knowledge.
"Exactly. You would not have one, and say your soulmate was two years younger than you, then on the day they were born, your mark would have appeared." She explained.
Eren nodded. He liked the idea that somewhere out there, someone held an identical mark to his, that it appeared the moment he entered the world. If his soulmate was, say, only a month older than him, then they would not remember when their mark appeared. However, someone close to them – maybe their parents, they would have noticed the change in their child. Surely they would have recorded the date and told their child when they were older. That way they knew that their soulmate was younger, could work out how much younger they were, and that they were born on a set date.
Someone out there knew so much about him. His age, his birthday. Yet, he knew nothing. He was born with his mark, he just knew his soulmate was older, but not how much older. He also did not know their birthday.
Whoever was born last, would complete the bond and the soulmarks would activate when they were born. The older soulmate would have no mark until their soulmate came into the world. The younger one would be born with it already visible.
Some had outlines of one, or they were faint – and no one knew why. Of course, people speculated and theories were out there. Most centred around age – if your soulmate was older than you, but not by much the mark was still forming, usually taking a few hours after birth to complete. If like Eren, he was born with an already fully distinguishable mark – people theorised that the soulmate was at least a few years older. Being born with no mark meant your soulmate had yet to be born.
He made the effort to smile and be happy around his loved ones. When he finally said goodbye to the last party guest, he closed the door and sighed heavily.
Another year has gone, another year without anyone to love. Mikasa often told him he thought too much about it. Put too much stock into the whole soulmate thing. She said she could not understand why he could not be happy with being single and concentrate on making something of his life.
A week after his birthday he was on his way to a job interview, he was running late. He just made it in the building with a few minutes to spare, he could see the lift up ahead.
Someone was stood inside, he called out, "Hold the lift, please."
The man looked directly at him, eyed him, and then Eren saw his hand move to press a button, the close door button.
"Hey!" He yelled indignantly, picking up his pace.
He made it in time, sticking his foot between the two doors to prevent them closing. The doors opened once they connected with his foot, and Eren slid inside.
He frowned at the only other occupant of the lift, "What was that all about!" He cried in outrage.
The other man just sent him a deadly glare, he clearly did not want Eren talking to him. He tilted his head down and away, from Eren, his dark black hair falling around his face.
Eren noted the button for the floor he wanted had already been activated, meaning the jerk was going to the same floor.
Feeling far too hot from his running to get here on time, Eren removed his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves.
Before he had any clue what happened, he was being shoved up against the wall, a hand fisted at the front of his shirt and the other man asking almost desperately, "Show me you arm!"
His voice was so deep, so powerful – Eren dare not refuse.
He angled his arm away from him, turning it over so his forearm was visible. His soulmark on full display as he had previously rolled his sleeves up.
The fist gripping his shirt slackened and then let go. The other man took two steps back, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, rubbing his face. He uttered, "Well I'll be damned." He was clearly in shock from something.
Eren scowled at him, "What the hell was that all about?" He asked, his voice uncertain and wavering.
The other guy did not respond, instead, he hit the 'stop lift' button, it shuddered to a halt.
Eren was about to repeat his previous question when the other guy removed his own jacket and started rolling up his shirt sleeve. He thrust his arm out, the soulmark facing upwards and moved it under Eren's face.
"Fuck," Eren muttered, his voice just above a whisper.
It was his soulmark – his exact same one, just on someone else.
He looked up from the soulmark and his eyes connected with dull blue ones - the pupils alert and searching his face. Neither knew where to go from here, what to do next.
"You're.." Eren began, his sentence left unspoken.
Levi closed his eyes briefly before opening them once again, after a deep breath, "Old," He finished what he thought the kid in front of him was about to say.
"What?! No." Eren protested, "You don't look old." He rubbed the nape of his neck, suddenly feeling nervous, "I was going to say that, you're...you're a man."
Levi arched an eyebrow, "Not what you were expecting, huh?"
Eren felt embarrassed now, not only did he have no clue previously to the age of his soulmate, he had been looking for them amongst the wrong gender.
"Not exactly." He answered sheepishly.
Levi stuck his hand out, "Levi, by the way."
Eren hesitated but took his hand and shook it, "Eren."
Eren kept hold of Levi's hand, tugging on it - pulling his arm forward a bit more, he used his free hand to trace the soulmark. Running his fingertips up and down the design as he stared at it in awe.
Levi's heartbeat had sped up, his stomach was in knots and he held his breath slightly as he watched Eren take in his forearm. His fingers were so soft and gentle in their movements, it made his stomach flutter - it was mildly ticklish too. The lift was full of a nervous kind of energy, anticipation hung in the air.
Eren dropped his arm when he heard someone call through the closed lift doors, "Hey, everything okay in there?"
"Everything is fine," Levi coolly answered.
He pressed the button to get the lift moving again. Eren suddenly remembering why he was here, exclaimed, "Shit, I'm well and truly late for my job interview."
Levi offered no apologies but continued to watch him intently. Taking in every detail he could memorise in the short time between now and the lift reaching its destination.
The lift came to a stop on the requested floor, the door pinging open, "I...um...I better go." Eren reluctantly informed Levi.
Feeling like this cannot be it, he cannot find his soulmate after all these years and walk away. Who cares if he was male? He certainly did not. He was just taken by surprise. He wanted to learn all about Levi, find out why they were soulmates - discover the connection between them and strengthen it.
Eren rushed out, "Can I see you again?"
Levi nodded, "Of course." He answered firmly, "When you're done with your interview, ask the receptionist to direct you to, Levi Ackerman's office. We can arrange a time to meet then."
The weight on Eren's chest loosened up, he smiled in relief, "Okay,"
Levi eyed him.
Eren grinned, "Great. Brilliant..."
"Eren," Levi called his name softly, "Don't you have somewhere to be?" he reminded him.
Eren laughed nervously, "Right, yes - you're right." He walked away, looking back over his shoulder to say, "Until later, Levi."
Levi was truly looking forward to something for the first time in a long time.