Cersei and Robert's kids always knew that Soulmates was not a conversation topic to be brought up without great caution. After all they knew their parents had never been in love and that their father had other children with other women, Gendry moved in when his mother died after his sixth birthday and their house was never the same again.
But the rules had been set in stone and nothing could change that. However there was nothing wrong with wishing for your words to disappear...right?
Myrcella found her Soulmate first. Their father wanted them to go someplace while he took Gendry on a father-son bonding trip, Cersei meeting with her brothers that day, all three were sent to the Starks house for the day. Joffrey didn't leave Sansa alone, except for a minute or two when he pissed off both Arya and Theon within a few seconds of each other. Tommen hung out with Bran and Rickon, the three playing with Lego's and action figures. Myrcella didn't have much interest in playing with swords and knives like Arya, although both were fake, so she spent most of her time following Robb and Jon around. She was certain both found her terribly annoying by the time Theon got there and loudly announced that he'd be playing video games with the oldest Stark sons.
Myrcella resigned herself to hanging out with Arya for the rest of the night, but when she got a little hungry and asked Robb if his parents would mind if she had some of the ice cream Arya was busy grabbing she was surprised by the slight burn on the back of her neck when Robb replied with, "Just don't eat it all". Not the most romantic words (however Gendry simply had asshole written on his left arm, on the inside of his elbow to be exact) but she figured it could've been worse. After all Joffrey had told her such horrible things about Soulmates, so the green eyed girl was relieved that Robb Stark was her Soulmate (mostly because he was always kind and the fact that she had a crush definitely helped).
Gendry vaguely remembered his mom trying to scrub his word off of his arm when she was still alive. It was a ritual at every bath; he get cleaned up, mess around a little with the wash cloth and soap, shampoo and condition his hair, then try and scrub the word off. Before he even knew how to read Gendry knew that his word was considered bad language and was told repeatedly not to use it. Then his mom died and his dad took him in, along with his wife and their three kids.
Gendry was used to his half siblings by that point and the only one he didn't like was Joffrey, the other two agreed with his opinion that Joffrey was a spoiled brat. He'd known of the Starks but he hadn't met them. Ned and Catelyn seemed to be pretty happy together, something Gendry hadn't seen with Soulmates yet. They had five kids, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Ned also had a son with another woman who was Robb's age, his name was Jon. He first met them at Robb's thirteenth birthday. Evidently they had been injured because Ned and Catelyn had Robb explain to Robert and Cersei that sweet, little Myrcella was his Soulmate.
He'd left the room when Cersei exploded and went outside to see Joffrey fighting with Arya, blood on the grass and their clothes. Gendry groaned and grabbed the two, separating them and saying, "If you really want to fight at least do it away from the house." Once he let go he heard Arya mutter "Asshole" under her breath and his arm burned slightly. He groaned and went back inside, not thinking about the stubborn girl outside who had managed to break Joffrey's nose (he'd have to send her a thank you gift later).
Joffrey was never disappointed that he didn't have words anywhere on his body, of anything he was glad because when would he ever have time to focus on them? Even if he ever learned to care about them he doubted he'd even need one to be happy. He was perfectly happy being the oldest and fiving Myrcella and Tommen to do what he wanted. However Gendry moved in when Joffrey was five and the blond but didn't like the spot of oldest child being taken away from him and given to Gendry who want even a legitimate child.
Of course he did like it when a girl found him cute. Joffrey would put on the charm and then he'd do as he wished, usually they would tell someone and the two were forced to break up. But Joffrey knew that sooner or later he'd convince someone to marry him, maybe he'd even get them to leave their Soulmate. The idea made him happy alongside the notion that he could do whatever he wanted one he married the girl.
Tommen figured that he'd probably find out his Soulmate was already with someone once he found them. After all the words, 'Sorry, but I have plans tonight' practically said everything that the bond boy figured. He was half to know that he was wrong when it turned out his Soulmate, Elaine Tarly, was simply talking about her brother Sam's birthday. They'd been paired up for a history project in college and Tommen asked if she would meet him at the library around four to get started. The youngest Baratheon child was glad that his situation wasn't as bad as he thought. He was also happy when Elaine told him that she'd gladly go to his sister's wedding as his old one after only saying for a few weeks.
His mom wasn't happy at all that day. In her mind Myrcella deserved a better Soulmate than Robb Stark, on top of that Joffrey wasn't allowed to show, Gendry was taking about proposing to Arya, ans Tommen's Soulmate evidently 'left much to be desired'. Tommen knew that Cersei airways favored Joffrey, but the young boy didn't realize how much until there was a big event that Joffrey wasn't allowed anywhere near. If anything Tommen agreed with Myrcella, and if he ever married Joffrey was not allowed either.
