Tony Stark's made a list. A list of his soul mates, that is. However! He's made a list, dammit, and only two names (okay, initials) are crossed off. Two! He's in his fucking forties, and of seven different marks, he's crossed off fucking two.
He's crossed of the bright red and cursive 'I just pepper sprayed your guards and you messed up, so you must be having an off day, huh? - VP' that went around the span of his waist and was, luckily, only glaringly obvious when he was naked. VP happens to be Pepper, aptly named. So far, and he only says that because there are five other marks on him when he and Pepper finally get together, she's his only "non-platie," as is the terminology.
("Platie," meaning "platonic," meaning "I am not sexually attracted to you - or, maybe I am, but it's not going to manifest." Tony says it because the alternative is discriminating and shaming and disgusting and if you use the word, you are fired!)
And, of course, he's crossed off the gray-and-outlined-by-black, slanted print, 'Don't let those asses get to you, man. - JR' that wound around his wrist like a beacon, even in it's muted color. That one was all Rhody, who was the first platie of his whole crew.
The other five - and oh my god, FIVE?! - are stupid and confusing and make his head hurt. Here they are, in order, too.
There's a steel-gray and bright red I have been told you are very smart! Is this true? - TO in giant, block letters on his stomach. Been there since he was born.
There's the blue and white I get that you don't like me, but I need somewhere to sleep. - SR in sloppy cursive that has always unsettled him, right on his left shoulder. Mom said it was the first one he'd had, and that it had excited Howard right out of his lab.
You're not scared? - BB was on his right pinkie - in a garish green that looked toxic. It had showed up the day after he'd been born. Tony had always wondered if that particular soul mate had been a day after him or it was just late somehow. BB and SR have him paranoid of everyone, pretty much, as he grows. Well, paranoid's not the best word. He already knows that whatever it is that makes BB think he'll be scared isn't going to scare him in any way, shape or form, but still! A soul mate's gotta look out for shit like that!
SR freaks him out though - Tony knows that he'd never leave a homeless (and SR has to be homeless, if he's asking for a place to stay) guy without something, much less a soul mate, so why does it seem like he's going to say no?
However, as much as BB and SR rattled him, TO and NR (Pleasure, Mr. Stark. - NR, going up his left middle finger since birth, in blood-red and black-as-the-night-black, girly print, no less) make him feel like he's going to accomplish something in life.
Can you believe that Yeah, wow, hi, fuck you, sir! - CB (purple and black and a tramp stamp, even though the font was anything but provocative)showed up before he even turned three years old? Fuck was blurred out until he was sixteen, though.
Then, Rhody's (see above) came around the next day, even though Rhody is older. (Sometimes, Mom says to a two-years-old him, the marks come late or early, sometimes without initials, sometimes never. There are people whose marks show up after their soul mate has already said their words.)
Pepper's comes when he's opening up a birthday present. On his fifth birthday, that is.
Around his ankle, there's one that says Woah! You're fucking Tony Stark! - DL. That one shows up when he's twenty-goddamn-three and is hung over. The mark it's self is a multitude of muted colors, and is written by hand, rather than font. The assistant he has at that point is all too excited, and she's never seen in the halls of Stark Industries again.
Steve Rogers is born different. He's small, he's color blind, he's nearsighted, he's allergic to allergy medicine and he's got heart problems up to his ears. However!
He has four marks - which is unheard of in a world of one's and two's, with the occasional zero's and three's.
To make matters worse, he was born with all of them, so he's younger than all four of his soul mates. Well, he thinks he is.
His stomach is littered with them - What are you waiting for! - PC (navy blue and tan, slanting left instead of right), Those boys like to rough up ever'one. You alright? - JB (completely black and in rough Irish), I have heard much of your work, Captain! I am honored to work with thee! - TO (bright red and cloudy gray, with bold lettering) and Hey, pal. -HS (fire-red and brown, jotted quickly, from a hand).
(Another oddity? Steve's got two non-Platies. JB and PC.)
(Yes, you read that right. Steve Rogers, with heart palpitations and squinty eyes, is red-faced for everyone!)
As he's by his Ma's deathbed at the tender age of ten - as if his life hasn't already been less than perfect - another one shows up, this time on his palm, in curling blood-red (and he is too well acquainted with blood-red) cursive. Did he fanboy? - NR, it reads. He decides his life is getting dangerously close to that of those he pities and it's all because what does 'fanboy' even mean? ? ?
(At least you get to be older than this one, his brain supplies him just as his mother flatlines. Yeah, Steve hates himself sometimes.)
He moves in with Bucky until the orphanage takes him in. Bucky joins him about a year later.
Then, the war comes. The war comes before he can even meet three of his soul mates. (That's actually pretty common during the war business.)
Of course, JB dies. He never meets TO, or NR. PC cries over a radio as he dies. HS finds out during an interview that Steve is shown later, (after he's collected enough of his bearings for it to be acceptable to crush him like that,) and has to leave, showing off a Hello. - SR on his wrist as he flees.
When he wakes up - and he wakes up shirtless and wearing weird pants that don't go all the way down his legs, made of weird mesh-y material and chafing his skin - he sees that there's more.
There's a mirror in the room he's woken up in - gray walls, tiled floors and a desk next to the mirror, holding a meal on it.
His chest was never impressive before he woke up, but now it is, all muscled and tatted.
HS's is faded, just an outline now, so before the files are given to him, he knows he won't be seeing Howard Stark anytime soon. Peggy's still alive. Bucky's mark had never faded, even after he'd fallen off the train, so it's no surprise to see it just as black as it had been the day it came to be on his skin.
The new ones, though - Duh, man, c'mon in! - TS (around his wrist and in the same style as Howard's, except gold instead of brown), Holy Christ on a cracker! - CB (purple and showy, spanning his collarbone), Are you really him? - BB (bright green and in large, noticeable letters bordering one side of his spine), and Want something to eat for the ride there, Captain? - VP.
(And how many is that, anyway? Born with four, got one in the hospital, and woke up with another four. So, Steve concludes, he has the most marks ever, with a total of nine.)
Two days later, he's meeting CB and it's all because his life has always been so dramatically different.
Thor grows up in Asgard, watching Loki and Sif and Fandral and even Hogun getting marks.
(Yes, marks happen in Asgard. It's basically a requirement for settling in the universe, having marks. But, you ask, what about the markless? Thor asks himself this a lot. They are exceptions to the rule. Odin says they are special, they are awaiting their soul mate. Thor finds himself tiring of the platitudes with the speed of a bildgesnipe.)
Frigga shows her sons her own marks. Loki giggles and points down to the tiny runes written upon his arm, wrist to elbow.
Now, Thor is certain that he'd have one - even if it was platonic, and trust him, he wouldn't mind where others would - if the universe allowed familial marks. However, it doesn't, so he's a Blank.
It is infuriating.
He supposes that if he had marks like Loki - and allfather almighty, Thor envious of a mark! Of Loki! - he would be as arrogant as Loki is.
Loki, with his marks and his smugness and overwhelming ego, is still not destined to become prince. Thor's waiting for when it explodes in his face.
He's what would be seventeen to Midgardians when his first mark comes around. Aw, you flatter me. It's a real honor for me, too. - SR goes from his ankle to his knee, and he's never been happier. It's blue and it's in Midgardian English and it's written in a way that says the bond will be intimate. Not necessarily platonic, but also possibly platonic. It could be sexual (and he'd be into that, and no, it's not because Asgardian teenagers are like Midgardian teenagers...) or it could be a close friendship. (There is a difference in Midgardian and Asgardian marks - Asgardian marks are much easier to figure out.)
Anyway, he goes running and whooping down the palace halls, he's so overjoyed. Loki rolls his eyes at Thor, but it's with a fondness that has slowly diminished since he was a mere babe.
Later, after showing his parents - he asks them what he might say to SR to start the friendship. They say that he might have complimented SR, saying it was an honor to work or be with SR - he lays in bed grinning to himself.
He's finally not a Blank!
For a while after, Thor almost expects this SR to just show up or maybe, the mark to jump off of his skin and dance. When it becomes clear that there's nothing more to the mark, Thor goes back to his everyday life as crown prince of a whole realm, but now he's excited at everything and is considering asking Heimdall to find this SR.
But, when he's what would be nineteen, he gets another mark. (He's tied with his brother, now, which is almost as exciting as the new soul mate.) Spanning his shoulders, in red cursive - also Midgardian English! - is Let's compromise. I'm Natasha. - NR.
Thor decides not to go to Heimdall, wanting to have a mystery in his life.
He's content with two - he'd been a Blank so long that one was enough, actually - but he gets more. (Take that, Loki!) He's surprised to find that his soul mates are all of Midgardian heritage, unlike Loki with his Asgardian and Jotun marks.
What's Asgard like? - BB (grassy green, handwritten in standard print, going down his left pointer finger), Look at those muscles, fuck. I need those arms. Where can I buy them? - CB (purple in color, block lettered - with little dots that twinkle like lights - and circling his neck, on his collar-bone), Do you need an agent, because I could totally get you one. - TS (gold and showy and over his ribs) and Please be alive! - JF (blue like the sky, written by a sloppy hand and over his chest).
And, well, he's happy with his soul mate markings, for a long time. He's hardly Blank.
Then, Loki happens. He explodes. On Thor's day, the day he is to be crowned King. Loki whispers to a loyal servant, and she tackles Thor with all the strength of a raging bull. Defending himself, he hits her, with Mjolnir. Not even that hard, either, it glances off of her and it pushes her away. Odin banishes him to Midgard with the purpose of "maturing your quick hand where violence is concerned." He gets hit by a van in New Mexico.
Natasha is born with two marks. One is Compromise, Lady Natasha? - TO. She's born Natalia, so when her father looks down at the giant, gray English with a different name on her back, she's not the most confused.
The other is I've been wondering what that meant since I was ten. - SR and it's blue and cursive and goes from elbow to shoulder, on her right arm. There's no way to know how much older your soul mate is, not in the late Russian 1930's, but she is fairly positive that this soul mate is a decade older. It's odd, knowing such a thing.
Then, her life goes to shit. Men - the men, the ones that took her from her parents, and vise versa, the ones she will kill herself - sneer that those two mean nothing, not anymore. Still, she holds onto hope that the names do mean something, that the two people - TO and SR - are out there somewhere, living a better life than her. She's not good at comforting and she knows a woman has to have a non-Platie.
Natasha isn't sure how long she's been alive - how long she's been killing people - when another one shows up. Pleasure? Likewise, gorgeous. - TS curls around her ankle in golden, chaste lettering.
The men assure her that she is ugly and only good in a fight. They say they're going to kill TS, SR and TO if they ever come in contact with them - they say they're going to make sure that TS never says those lies to such an ugly asset.
Still, Natasha bites the fingers that feed her - metaphorically, that is - and knows that TS is saying those words to her if she has to coax them out of the person with a knife and her skillset.
A year or so - she counts by people, mostly, not years, so she's not sure - later, she gets another one. Either I kill you or I recruit you. It's your choice, either one. - CB, spanning her arms in red and purple and business-like lettering.
SR has confused her since birth. TO has always seemed way-too mannered, even for the 1940's. TS flattered her, gave her new hope.
But CB is meant to kill her, and they're soul mates. (It's not actual lettering until she goes over to America. Until then, it was fingers. It was English, written in sign language. She wonders what exactly that means.)
The next one is Hi, Miss Rushman. It's good to have you here. - VP, going around the waist in black and muted pink, written like a true professional.
Whoever VP is, she's clearly part of a job.
The Earthy green Sorry, I wasn't watching were I was going. - BB showed up after VP's, written at the top of her back, under her neck and over TO's.
Goddamn, look at that rack! - DL is the only mark she gets in America. It's bright and colored like a rainbow and it looks anything but what it means. It's around her wrist, which is just embarrassing.
DL had better not be her non-Platie, or people will die.
It's flattering, though.
Bruce's father hated that Bruce had six marks, from birth no less.
Bruce knows it's not because Yeah, I am. It's good to meet you. - SR is on the curve of his ear, seen by everyone on his left. The mark is blue and black and it's handwritten.
Bruce knows it's not the blatant, red and brown and showy What do I have to be scared about? You? Not happening. - TS on his upper shoulder, also left.
Bruce knows it's not the green and purple You're Bruce? Yeah, hey. Watch this! - CB around his wrists. Yeah, it showed up twice, but Bruce only counts them as one.
Bruce knows it's not the No problem, Bruce. - NR on his right ring finger, in black manuscript.
Bruce knows it's not the It is like no other in the universe. - TO (which gets him into science, thank god for being younger than TO), which is on his stomach in gray block letters, with weird squiggly lines elongating from several letters.
Bruce even knows that it's not the Are you Dr. Banner? - BR that happens to be in pink and yellow, on his left ring finger. (And thank you BR, you have only made Bruce want to get into science more.)
He knows it's that he has six marks, compared to his father's own zero. Or, maybe, it's because his father hates him. The feeling is mostly mutual.
(Bruce wants to hate his father - but it's hard to, even though he'd been neglected and beat.)
He knows that six marks make him different - there are very few people ever born with more than four - and well, he thinks it's a blessing. He's got a bad home life, but he's got soul mates leaking out of his ears, which is way better than anything he could ask for, really.
Okay, maybe not. Bruce would ask for his mother to not be hit all the time, but it's a close second.
You will have to work for them! - TO is Clint's first of three marks, extending in dark blue letters from wrist to elbow.
That's what one of my new marks says. - SR is the second one, lining his spine in a dark-white-but-not-gray color.
Recruit me. - NR is the third one, green in color and covering each finger on his right hand, including his thumb.
He hides the marks as best as he can from everyone - Barney, Momma, Baba, that kid down the street, Mrs. Who-Cares, everyone. Momma finds the ones on his fingers, and tells him that whoever NR is, they is so goddamn important and Clinton, if you don't treat them like they are, I will fuckin' kill you.
Later, he realizes that parents aren't supposed to threaten their children, but right then, it's normal.
Baba finds the one from TO and makes Clint "work for them" at every chance he got.
Baba and Momma get in a car wreck - he and Barney are in the backseat, and neither are wearing seatbelts. Clint almost goes through the windshield. Barney actually does, though.
Clint and Barney are herded into a black car a few days after Barney gets okay. They're taken to an orphanage - which leads to boy's homes and foster parents who are one extremity or the other. Barney tells him that he can protect Clint from a particularly abusive foster-mother - and they find a circus to go live with, because Clint's only six and he doesn't understand that Barney's lying yet.
The Strongman finds the one from SR, years later, and tells Clint he's lucky to have three (everyone knows that he has three because Barney won't shut the fuck up about how his little shit of a brother is a freaking Used Canvas - which is really unoriginal, considering the whole Blank Canvas thing). Clint thought the older man would have hit him. It's surprising that that's even surprising when he just smiles at Clint and walks away.
No! Stop! Oh my- are you alright? - BB is the next one, easily hidden on his waist and in black letters, no less. It's flattering. Barney finds out. He beats the shit out of Clint, but Clint's got nobody else, so he stays. He's twelve.
What'd I do to you, man? - TS comes when he's fourteen and nursing a black eye, given to him by Bullseye, the guy who trained him. It's brown and it's small and it's around his ankle - so Clint wears the highest socks he can find.
Clint holds the marks tight to himself. When he wakes up in a closet in a hospital in Indiana when he's sixteen - and good god, ten years - and he's shirtless, he freaks out and punches a janitor's jaw.
He spends time as a Merc - people know of him as either Hawkeye or Mark's. Clint hates Mark's, so when SHIELD opens a door for him, as he steps through it, he tells them to call him "Hawkeye."
