AN: Commissioned by Smartcookie727 on tumblr.
Through Rose-Colored Lenses
Lisanna Strauss has always believed in soulmates. She loves the idea of being destined to find someone, even if she's never meant to love them. She loves the idea of forever, of being bound to someone, even though they both have the option to walk away. She loves the idea of being loved by someone despite her flaws, even though she knows the prospect of finding them may be harder than anything else she's ever had to do. Soulmates aren't found easily, practically ghosts, wanderers, and Lisanna can only pray she finds her match someday, even if it takes years. She seems to be the only one that hasn't found hers yet, and that's more disappointing than she'd care to admit.
She's been told she's living life looking through rose-colored lenses, but people don't know how true that is. Her life is a mix of reds and pinks as she looks through the eyes of her soulmate, the tint of color the only thing she's been able to see for as long as she can remember.
No one knows why or how it happened, but years ago people starting seeing less and less color, all others disappearing until their soulmate is found. They called it a phenomenon once, a curiosity, but it's more of a curse than anything else. Seeing only a handful of colors is a pain, making life difficult for those who haven't found their matches and sometimes even dangerous. She's heard stories of people walking into traffic, unable to tell what color the lights were.
For Lisanna it's more annoying than anything else. As a baker and cake decorator, it's always been a pain in her ass to have to ask one of her coworkers at the Bakery what color frosting she's using, or if it's the right kind of sprinkles. She's gotten into trouble with customers before because they specifically wanted orange frosting and she used yellow frosting. She's gotten better at recognizing tints, but it's always a gamble.
Lisanna doesn't have the faintest idea who her soulmate might be, only knowing that she sees things in red and they must see things in blue, her own eye color. In a way, she hates it, the not knowing and the muted tones surrounding her. She wants to see things how they truly are, all the colors and shades, not just red. And she wants to be angry about the entire situation and how unfair it all is, but she knows things could be worse.
She could not have a soulmate at all, like her friend Cana. The girl sees nothing but shades of gray, and for the longest time she hoped it was simply her matches eye-color, but then it came out that people seeing in black and white never had a soulmate at all, and were never destined to find anyone. Lisanna never once saw Cana cry before the day she learned she was never meant for anyone, and she'll never be able to forget the way Cana looked at herself in the mirror like a part of her was broken.
Cana has a girlfriend now, but even after all this time Lisanna knows she's still bitter on the bad days, though there seems to be less and less of them with every passing month.
She could also be stuck with an unattractive color. Her oldest friend, Natsu, can only see in shades of brown, something he's always lamented, the world dark and, though beautiful at times, always muted. He admitted to her once that in just the right lighting everything would turn gold, and that's what's always kept him searching for his match. He figures that her eyes must turn that same shade, and Natsu thinks he could get lost in it.
Things could be worse, she reasons with herself. Sure, she's beginning to hate the color pink, which is a shame because it was always her favorite. Not that she had a lot of options to choose from, considering it's all she's ever been able to see. Rose-colored lenses indeed. Lisanna may be a romantic and find the idea of destiny more passionate than anything else, but she's also finding it to be very inconvenient.
She can't dress herself without looking like a fashion disaster, thus constantly needing help from her older sister, insanely lucky that Mira met her soulmate in early high school during a game of dodge ball. She threw the ball at Laxus so hard it broke his nose, and they've been at each others throats ever since. They aren't dating, but they certainly bring out the best in each other. Laxus has calmed down considerably since they first met, less of an asshole than he was as a teenager, and he keeps Mira from floating off into outer space or walking into traffic.
Lisanna wonders if that's how she'll be with her own soulmate, if they'll simply be friends, or if they'll become lovers like her brother Elfman and his new fiancée Evergreen. They had a bit of a rocky start, with Elfman accidentally insulting Ever and Ever overreacting just the slightest. They danced around their feelings for years in high school and even college, their relationship nothing short of antagonistic.
It came as a shock to everyone when Elfman asked her to marry him just a week ago, completely out of the blue, and even more of a shock when Evergreen actually said yes.
And that's how Lisanna finds herself struggling into a cute, blue dress that Mira says brings out her eyes. One week ago, she was definitely not expecting to go to an engagement party for her only brother, and now Lisanna's even more desperate to find her soulmate. It's not because she feels left out, or anything petty like that, it's just that she wants to see her brother's wedding in all it's colors, experiencing everything there is to see.
Mira pokes her head into the room, grinning widely and practically vibrating with excitement. She doesn't say anything, smiling too big to speak, though her gaze implores Lisanna to hurry up, promising pain should she take too long. Lisanna smiles back at her sister, smoothing down her dress one final time and practically skipping towards the door, scooping up her clutch as she goes.
She follows Mira down the steps, taking a deep breath as she glances at the clock, eyes widening when she realizes the dinner is in only an hour. Nerves prick at her skin, Lisanna's stomach twisting, and she sighs, wishing not for the first time that she could actually see her brother and his fiancée in true color for once.
Her fingers twist through the fabric of her dress, Lisanna sighing as she realizes she might never know its true color, but she slaps on a smile when Mirajane turns around, Laxus waiting for them by the front door, nose wrinkling as he glances at his watch, but he smiles just the slightest when he sees Mira, softening slightly.
Lisanna giggles as Mira skips up to her friend and platonic soulmate, shoving their present for Elfman and Evergreen into his arms without so much as a word before slipping passed him. Laxus blanches, shooting her a nasty look, but it slips into something slightly more fond as he follows her with his eyes.
Lisanna snorts, steeling herself as she follows her sister towards the car, deciding that this is going to be a good night. She's not going to let anything make this sour for her.
His tie is crooked.
Bixlow wrinkles his nose as he squints at it, trying to figure out where he needs to shift it to make it look right. The knot is sloppy, too loose and the tail end of it is too long. He lifts his hand to his tie, feeling the soft, blue fabric beneath his fingers, his frown only deepening as he smooths it down. Evergreen told him the color matches his hair, the dark blue his favorite color.
Rather, it's the only fucking shade of blue he can still tolerate at this point. He's almost positive that he's going to shave his head and burn half his wardrobe once this soulmate bullshit is finished. He has no love for this color anymore. The blue shades have plagued him for almost fifteen years and it's very unfortunate that he's going to have to destroy everything that reminds him of the color one day. It's all rather depressing, but that's just how the world works.
He can't count how many times he's wanted to punch Laxus for cracking jokes at his expense, though, he can't really fault the man. Laxus was in his exact position just a few years back, his life nothing but a sea of fucking blue until he met Mira. Bixlow guesses he'd have to make jokes too just to keep himself from going mad.
Everything was fine until he turned ten, the designated age the universe has decided to tell them all "fuck you! you only get color if you spend half your damn life searching for the supposed love of your life!" Yeah, the universe can get fucked. Bixlow's parents never met their soulmates and they're perfectly fine! Well, fine might be stretching it, but they haven't killed each other, so he considers that to be a win.
Rolling his eyes, Bixlow moves to fix his hair, straightening his Mohawk just a bit and deciding he really doesn't care about the tie. Ever threw it at him twenty minutes ago and told to wear it "or else" and since Bixlow doesn't feel like dying tonight, he did what she told him to. He loves Ever, he really does, she's like a sister, but she can be the devil when she wants to be.
Regardless, he'll wear the stupid tie, but he's not going to be happy about it. A bowtie he could do, especially if it was a clip on, but he has no patience for the death trap around his throat at the moment. He's pretty sure Ever only wanted him to wear it so she could choke him out when he inevitably gets piss ass drunk and starts talking about her embarrassing secrets to all o the party guests.
He hopes Elfman can handle it, but then again, he also really doesn't care. He's never actually met the guy, which is bullshit because everyone else has. Laxus is buddy-buddy with Mira and gets to go to family night, and Ever was practically living there for a while. During the year Laxus and Freed were dating, he got to go over for dinner. But not Bixlow! Nope! He just gets to sit at home on Fridays and eat cold Mongolian take-out by himself.
If he sounds bitter about never being invited over, that's because he is.
Hell, Evergreen just kind of sprung the marriage thing on him this morning. He literally found out less than twelve hours ago. At this rate, he'll probably learn she was pregnant when she's already in the delivery room. He better be getting a godchild named after him because considering how much he puts up with, he fucking deserves it.
He hates being the fifth wheel, or however many wheels there are at this point. He really can't keep track anymore, between the soul matches and the non-matched dating pairs. It's all rather confusing, and he also just doesn't give a shit. All he knows is that he's alone and everyone else is off being happy with their match while he's fighting to keep Laxus' cousin's dog from eating all of his cold pizza.
And really, it was kind of a dick move for Lucy to just drop off her dog at seven in the morning on a Saturday. Granted, he did promise to watch the dog for her while she was doing… whatever it was she said she would be doing, but Saturday's are for nursing hangovers, not dog sitting.
Add to that, Ever springing an engagement party on him while he's still trying to dog sit, and it's just been an absolutely shitty Saturday. Lucy is probably going to kill him for shirking his doggy daycare duties, but he couldn't exactly bring Plue as his plus one.
Bixlow's beginning to learn that he leads a very lonely existence.
Sighing, he runs a hand down the side of his face, head shaking slightly. He almost wishes he could just skip the dinner, but Ever is like his sister and he's not going to make her upset tonight. Mostly because he cares about her, but also because she might beat him up for it, and he'd like to live to see tomorrow, thank you very much.
Besides, it won't be all bad. Free food, good music, pretty guys and girls to flirt with. He could think of worse Saturday nights, if he's being honest. Besides, not going would require him to sneak out and he's pretty sure that if he leaves this bathroom Evergreen is going to spot him in an instant and then he'll have to help set up decorations and Bixlow doesn't feel like falling on his ass and dying.
There's only twenty minutes until dinner starts, he'll be fine. Probably. It's a very strong maybe.
Groaning to himself, Bixlow again goes back to fiddling with his tie, wishing it wasn't so blue. Gods, he thinks he's going to hate his soulmate's eyes, which is a real shame, considering he'll probably have to look at them for a good long time, unless he never meets them. Though, he figures they don't have it much better than he does. A life seen through red eyes would probably get pretty irritating. At least, that's what Evergreen told him once.
Dear lord, his soulmate might actually just kill him when they meet.
Bixlow blinks rapidly, shaking himself, and takes a deep breath, silently begging for mercy from the gods as he decides he's been hiding in the bathroom for too long already. The worst that can happen tonight is that he dies, but the chances of that happening are very slim, unless he happens to anger Evergreen. The chances of that happening are significantly higher, but he's choosing not to think about that at the moment.
Everything will be fine.
It sounds like a lie, he thinks as he pushes away the mirror, giving up on his tie and hair and simply deciding that he's done the best he can today. He'll just have to keep his mouth shut and hope for the best. Nodding to himself one more time, Bixlow shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans and ambles towards the door, shoving it open wide and strolling right into the rented venue, wondering not for the first time how he ended up roped into helping.
Probably because he had nothing better to do. Other than dog sit, of course, but he really couldn't say no to Evergreen when she was already pulling him out the door, Bixlow practically catatonic after she mentioned her engagement.
Evergreen catches sight of him first, her smile tight as she looks at him, looking pretty in her dress that probably isn't blue, but considering that's the only fucking color Bixlow can see at the moment, that's what he's going to assume it is. Hell, his tie could be bright orange for all he knows. He could be walking around looking like an idiot and he'd be none the wiser. Though, he knows that isn't true. Bixlow can tell real blue things from things that only look that color.
He really hates the color blue.
Somehow, Lisanna ends up standing alone towards the back of the room, a glass of red wine in one hand, her fingers curled delicately around the thin stem. The liquid is rich, dark, and the only true color in the room she can see, everything else still tinted with a faint pink hue. The occupants of the room blur together, people chatting animatedly, hands whipping around them, heads thrown back in laughter. From across the room, she can hear Elfman's deep, booming voice, his words lost on her as he chats with one of Evergreen's friends, a tall, thin man with long hair. He seems less than interested in what Elfman is saying, but doesn't stop her brother's long tirade.
Lisanna sighs, blowing her bangs away from her face and leaning back against the wall. She swirls her drink slowly, making a face at the red liquid and wishing she could see something else for a change. She can't say that she particularly dislikes the color, given she has nothing else to compare it to, but it becomes taxing after awhile. Grimacing, Lisanna takes a sip of wine, nose wrinkling and eyes narrowing at the taste. She never has liked wine much, the taste a bit much for her, but she doesn't mind the bitterness tonight.
She meant to have fun tonight. Honestly, she did, but after hours and hours of watching people dance with their soulmates and tell stories of how they met, Lisanna is about ready to just go home and drink the bottle of rum Mira keeps hidden in the cupboard. Though, she thinks she's probably had enough to drink by now. It's not enough to make her drunk, but it is enough for her to go from bubbly to bitter in the span of only a few seconds, which is only slightly concerning.
So far, the engagement party hasn't been anything spectacular, just a lot of drinking and mingling, which isn't much different from her usual Saturday nights, though she's not likely to lose her clothes this time, or be roped into a game of bear pong. The night is still young, though, so who knows what might happen.
Her free hand curls around her bicep, fingers drumming against her skin as she casts another look around the room, looking for something even mildly interesting. For a moment, she thinks she sees Natsu across the room, but before Lisanna can push away from the wall for a better look he's swallowed by the crowed. Lisanna doesn't miss the grin on his face, his head tilted down as he speaks excitedly to an unfamiliar girl standing beside him, her smile almost as wide as his.
She catches her lip between her teeth, worrying it, and begins to tap her fingers against her arm faster, humming under her breath. She never thought engagement parties would be so… dull? She supposes that's not quite the right word for it, but she was expecting something a bit more wild. Though, it's only eight, so there should be time for that later. It's not really a Strauss party without broken chairs and at least one fight.
"Hi," someone speaks up from her left, startling her. Lisanna nearly drops her wine glass, but manages to catch it before it can shatter into a billion tiny pieces on the floor. "I'm Mister Right, someone said you were looking for me."
Bixlow is busy scanning the room for anyone that looks interesting enough to talk to when he spots the bane of his existence. Originally, he was planning to mingle with the important people for an hour or so, find some cute people to flirt with, and, hopefully, duck out of the room with said cute person to make out in the bathroom or something. Unfortunately, the room seems utterly void of cute people. At least of the single variety. Bixlow isn't really into cheating. He doesn't get the thrill.
Anyway, he's about three glasses of rum and coke into the night when he catches sight of Loke fucking Celeste from across the room. He doesn't understand why Loke's even here, considering he isn't friends with Evergreen in the slightest, and he doubts the man is anything short of hostile with Elfman, given Elfman's overbearing personality and Loke's inability to not make a sexual pass at anything that moves.
And it's not that Bixlow hates Loke, but yeah he kind of hates Loke. The guy is a sleaze ball. And he's definitely not just saying that because Loke cheated him out of five hundred dollars during their last poker match. No, that's definitely not the reason. Well, it may be part of the reason, but really, Bixlow just can't stand Loke's fake charming personality and his shitty pick-up lines that should never work, but somehow do because Loke has the face of a God chiseled from marble.
Bixlow would probably make-out with him if he didn't hate him so much.
Loke is too busy making eyes at someone to notice Bixlow glowering at him, but that doesn't stop Bixlow from mentally calling the other man names. He would pick a fight if it weren't for the occasion. He really should pick a fight at an engagement party, but it's bound to happen at some point. It's, evidentially, not a Strauss party unless someone has a chair smashed over their head, or so he's been told.
He follows Loke's line of sight to a pretty girl standing on the fringe of the crowd, looking lonely with her glass of wine and her blue dress. And it's blue blue, not tinged blue like everything else in the room, which is a curiosity in itself. For some reason, it gains his attention, though he thinks it should be a turnoff, really. He's so sick of blue at this point, but it looks nice on her. It's a good color, not too dark but not icy either.
Bixlow takes a deep breath, making a split second decision that's mostly based on spite and the amount of alcohol he's had, but also because she's cute, and takes a step towards the girl. Then another, and another, until he's right next to her, slightly smug because eat a dick, Loke, but then he realizes he has no idea what the hell he's supposed to say.
He's usually better at this whole flirting thing, but that's usually only when the other person is making eyes back at him. For all he knows, this girl might want to be left the hell alone.
Opening his mouth, Bixlow decides to say the stupidest thing he can think of in that moment, channeling his inner Loke charm.
Lisanna's head snaps up, her eyes wide as they lock with a pair of red eyes that are both strange and also entirely familiar to her. For a moment, everything around her goes white, and then red, and then suddenly she's staring at a stranger, a dull ache forming behind her eyes, annoying, but not painful. She sucks in a sharp breath, blinking rapidly, and notices the man doing the same, like there's dust in his eyes. The room seems to shrink and then grow large again, her world expanding as colors bleed into the room, the pink tint morphing into a thousand different colors that Lisanna can only vaguely remember from her childhood before she turned ten.
She can't do anything but gape at him, overwhelmed, and also appalled by the shitty but scarily accurate pickup line he just said to her.
Bixlow, meanwhile, has no idea why she's staring at him like that, all big, blue eyes full of wonder and something like confusion and terror swirling through her gaze. He, personally, thought that line could have been a lot worse. It wasn't as cliché as the fall from heaven variety of lines, and it wasn't as dirty as some of the others he could have used. It was harmless, if not stupid.
His vision blurs for a moment, but he attests that to the alcohol. He blinks to clear away the fuzzy dots in his vision, and when he opens them again, nothing has changed. She's still all blue eyes and blue dress, and he shouldn't like that on principle, but he's finding that he doesn't hate it on her.
The girl doesn't say anything to him, only blinks like she can't believe he's standing there.
Lisanna considers pinching herself as her gaze slips from his to the sudden sea of color forming behind him, his broad shoulders partly blocking out her view of the party. Inevitably, her eyes slide back to his, entranced by the deep red of his eyes. It's the only color she's been able to see for years and somehow it's one thing that keeps drawing her attention now, though she should be loath to look at it any longer.
He's her soulmate. She blinks, unable to process it. This random guy is her soulmate, and she's acting like she's seeing the moon for the first time, utterly stunned and speechless.
Bixlow wets his lips, trying to figure out why she's staring at him like that when they've only just met. He bites his lip, fingers running through his hair awkwardly as he forces himself to look away from her. His shirt sleeve slips down, revealing the tattoo on his wrist, and he goes very still when he sees it. The colors staring back at him aren't the familiar blue, but an amazing assortment of color that he can only vaguely remember from when he was too young to appreciate it.
He can see in color again.
His gaze snaps back to hers, his eyes blown wide and his mouth dropping open in shock. He tries to speak, but his tongue sticks to his mouth and all he can do is sputter out something unintelligible.
"Bixlow," he manages to blurt after an awkward moment. "I think you were looking for me."
It surprises a laugh out of her. The girl raises her free hand to her mouth, hiding her red painted lips behind her hand. "Lisanna," she tells him, a little impish. "And I was definitely looking for you."
Three months, seventeen dates, and a Strauss wedding later, Bixlow decides that blue is definitely his favorite color.