written for my friend aph-denmark on tumblr, who asked for swissaus and a soulmate au

Basch was in the middle of the market when the muted gray world around him began to slowly bleed with color.

He jerked up from examining the cheeses, eyes round and blood rushing in his ears. He looked down at his trembling hands and noticed the tan return to them. "Again?!" he breathed in disbelief, watching his jacket turn green. "This is the fourth time this has happened! Why again, in a crowded store of all places?!"

"What's happened, big brother?" Lili sounded concerned as she put a hand on his arm and looked up at him. The ribbon in her hair was dark violet, her dress was deep red, and her eyes were a beseeching shade of moss green. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm seeing colors, Lili," Basch growled, turning away from the aisle. The beat of his heart was pounding in his ears as he watched each person who passed, eyes peeled for the moment when the colors brightened even more.

Lili gasped, her eyes now the color of emeralds. "Oh my! That's wonderful!" she remarked gleefully, clapping her little hands together. "I'm so happy for you, big brother!"

"Don't get too happy just yet. There's a problem." Basch scowled at each person who walked past him, earning some quizzical stares. "I have no idea who it is."

"Are you going to go looking for them?" Lili's dress stayed dark red, but her eyes kept growing lighter green. They were the color of a lush, grassy hill as she blinked pleadingly up at him.

Basch paused, then shook his head. "No. I'm going to stay right here, and finish my shopping."

Lili gasped again, only out of surprise rather than happiness. "Why?" she asked. "Isn't this an important time?"

"To some it is, but to me? Not so much." Basch turned back to the aisle and narrowed his eyes, the harsh white of the price tags making them sting a little. The rush of stimulating color was beginning to give him an headache. "Besides, what if I don't like them?"

"I thought you had to like them. They're your soulmate for a reason, aren't they?" Lili cocked her head.

Basch frowned, the image of a rambunctious American and his bushy-eyebrowed partner popping into his head. "Maybe we won't get along well. Maybe they'll be annoying, or they'll hate me. And the last thing I need is another pain in my ass."

"Believe me, that's the last thing I need, too, and yet here we are."

Basch's blood turned cold. His heart leaped into his throat, but his stomach sank down, down, into the floor. With stiff shoulders, he threw a glare over his shoulder.

The sinking feeling had been right; there he stood in glorious, beautiful color.

"I can't believe it's YOU," Basch spat, turning on his heel and taking a step back. He scowled at the choice of the other's clothes. "Who the hell wears a purple suit to go shopping?"

Roderich's eyes were still a deep indigo; they flashed behind his glasses as he rolled them. "I wear clothes like this all the time," he retorted. "Just like you and those dark green jackets of yours."

Basch closed his eyes, his heart giving a squeeze as Roderich confirmed what he'd been afraid of. "Just great," he muttered, looking behind him. Lili had slipped away when she'd come to the same conclusions, taking their basket with her. "You… you can.."

"See color? Because of you? I'm not pleased either, believe me." Roderich frowned at him, a light dust of pink tinging his cheeks. "I'm… very far from pleased."

"Well then, good!" Basch said hotly. "That gives us each a reason to stay away from each other!"

"Fine by me." Roderich was the opposite, as usual; his voice was cold and detached as he studied the cheeses.

Basch scowled and turned on his heel, the brightness of the colors already beginning to sadly fade as he stalked away from his former friend. His chest was tight as the world dulled, gray licking at his surroundings. The boring color lit an irrational spark of anger in the pit of his stomach. He'd never wanted to see color, especially if it was because of someone who didn't like him, and vice versa…

…yet, as his marching faltered, there was an urge gripping him. Now that he'd been given the taste of color, whether he'd wanted it or not, part of him was screaming at him to turn back and flee from the gray, back to Roderich's side.

"Basch, wait."

Basch realized that he'd stopped in the middle of the next aisle while he was thinking, and that had given Roderich a chance to catch up to him. The other was frowning at him, eyes stormy blue serious behind his spectacles. The color had returned as he approached, and Basch felt a stab of appreciation for the rich shades of everything, despite the way it nearly overstimulated his nerves and made his eyeballs ache.

"I…" Roderich's bit his lip; it was pale pink. "…lied."

Basch narrowed his eyes, pulling himself out of his battling thoughts and focusing on his newly discovered soulmate. "About what?"

"Being displeased about… these new developments." Roderich gave him a weak smile. A lock of brown hair fell into one eye, and he pushed it away. "I never knew your eyes were such a nice green."

Basch scowled, feeling his ears turn hot. "Yeah, well," he mumbled, casting his attention down to a scuff on the floor. He kicked it with the toe of his boot.

Roderich continued, clearing his throat with a small, deliberate cough. "Since we can't escape the situation that fate has placed us in…"

Basch hunched his shoulders at what he knew was to come, blush spreading down the back of his neck. "…would you care to embrace it with me?"

"…."

"…I'll pay for lunch."

"…I guess I could try, then…"

Basch glanced up from underneath the ridge of his eyebrows, and quickly looked back down as an appreciation for the color pink darkening Roderich's smiling face surged through him. "Wonderful."