Content warning for general adult male creepiness.
I also wanted to clarify: Flora/Helia have not met yet, but when they were 16 they (anonymously) sent gifts to each other (via their respective governments). They don't know who the other is, but they do know the gifts came from their soulmate.
A bit confusing, I know…and it makes more sense in my head but basically, imagine that there's some presence in the Magic Dimension that knows everyone's soulmate. The governments have access to that knowledge, so in order to facilitate people meeting their soulmate without being too invasive, the solution was basically making it law so that at the age of 16, people would find a unique gift to send to their government, and then the government would send it to their soulmate. It's then expected that the soulmates have their gift on them at all times. When the soulmates eventually meet it's expected that they would recognize their gifts and realize that they've met their better half. A bit…convoluted, but this was one of the better ways that I wanted the background of the story to be to match my plan. Yes there are plot holes with this concept but.. eh, you live and you learn.
Before long, the rest of the guys showed up, Timmy arriving last after getting lost on the Magix highways. The girls apparently decided to have an impromptu shopping trip, and thus would be joining them later. Helia half suspected it was partly so the guys could have some time alone, and mostly so Stella could force Tecna to buy an actual dress. Tecna and Timmy's bonding interview was in a few days; Celebrities typically held their interview after announcing their bonding, but before the wedding, which typically takes place six months after the initial bonding.
After an afternoon of talking, drinking, and playing some video games, Helia got a pretty good sense of Timmy. He went to the University of Zenith and majored in computer science, graduating second in his class. He eventually got a job developing protected software for the Zenithian government. He and Tecna met at some sort of convention, and everything else from there was history. Timmy seemed awkward, quite nerdy, but incredibly smart and ambitious, and was apparently very trustworthy, a perfect fit for Tecna. And that made Helia very happy, he loved it when his friends got their happy endings.
"So Timmy, how are you finding everything? Are you adjusting okay?" Sky asked.
Timmy reddened a bit and pushed up his glasses, clearly still a bit nervous around the guys, particularly royalty, "I'm…a bit overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I love Tecna with all of my heart, but I never imagined for my soulmate to be so…high profile. Like I never imagined doing a bonding interview on national television."
"Ah, you'll get used to it," Brandon said as he clapped Timmy on his back, "When Riven here first bonded with Musa we thought he'd never get used to it, he was such an asshole. We were so worried their bonding was gonna fail, but look at him now, touring with her all over the Dimension and doing interviews and press tours"
Everyone looked over to Riven, expectantly waiting for a smartass response to Brandon's praise that was somehow still insulting, but the red-haired main simply scowled as he continued to nurse his drink.
"See," Brandon stated as if Riven's behavior affirmed his point, "You'll get used to it."
"Especially after you guys get married," Helia added, "Everything will naturally fall into place."
"I know," Timmy smiled, "Just a matter of time." Timmy took another sip of his drink before he pulled up the courage to ask Helia a question, "So I've heard everyone else's story, but not yours, Helia. What do you do for work?"
"I'm an…artist."
"Oh don't downplay yourself!" Brandon interrupted, "Helia's a talented actor, singer, artist, whatever. He's been everywhere and does everything, he's actually an EGT."
"An EGT?" Timmy repeated.
"Yeah man, don't you ever watch T.V.?"
"No, not really." Timmy admitted, "They're not really my interests."
"Ah, that..makes a lot of sense. Helia, explain yourself, and properly this time!"
"Yes dad…" Helia grumbled towards Brandon, before turning his attention back to Timmy, "But he's right. I haven't gone to college but I have done a lot of work in the creative industry. I received an Emmy, three Grammy's, and two Tony's, as well as a couple of other awards here and there."
" Now we're just waiting for his Oscar, that he'll probably win this year for A Tale of Two Loves," Brandon interrupted, "We're very proud of our Helia." He added in teasingly.
Helia rolled his eyes at Brandon's antics, even though deep down he appreciated them."But I have a special place in my heart for painting and drawing, I love it."
"Wow…that's pretty awesome!" Timmy praised, "And…do you have a partner?"
"Uh, not quite yet," Helia coughed awkwardly, toying with the flower charm on the choker, "But I think it's going to happen soon."
Timmy paled a bit as he realized he asked a sensitive question, a question that until a month ago, he hated people asking him, "Oh, right! I'm sure it'll happen soon."
An awkward silence descended the group, which was luckily broken as Stella and the girls burst into the hotel, each carrying about two dozen shopping bags. "We're ba-ack!" Stella sang loudly, "Snookums, did you miss me?"
"More than you'd even know," Brandon laughed as he approached Stella and kissed her cheek, taking the bags out of her hands.
Each of the couples greeted each other, and Helia felt a sense of longing pull at his stomach. He knew he was being ridiculous, he would meet his soulmate soon, but it was the moments like this he missed the most, even if he never experienced them.
"What did you girls buy?" Helia asked, although he wished he could take that question back as Stella suddenly had an evil glint in her eye while the girls groaned.
"Outfits!" Stella said as she raised up Brandon's arms which held all her bags, "Some things for Tecna and Timmy's bonding interview, and more outfits because we need a new group photo! Including some," Stella pointed a finger towards Helia, "for you, poet man." (1).
Helia did not like where this was going.
During her lunch break, Flora silently ate an apple as she tried to study for her upcoming midwifery exam. There was only a few more months before the end of the semester and the final, so she had to spend as much time as she could studying. More students fail during the final semester than any other, so while Flora was excited about her upcoming prospects of finally becoming a midwife, helping laboring women and their newborns, and moving out of her apartment, she knew she couldn't mess anything up.
"Flora?"
"Huh?" Flora focus broke at the call of her name, and she looked up to find her supervisor, Aaron, leaning over her shoulder, a bemused smile on his face. "Oh, I'm sorry Aaron, what did you say?"
"I asked what you were reading."
"Oh," Flora shifted uncomfortably, she thanked the stars when Aaron seemed to get the hint and moved away from behind her, instead choosing to sit at the chair nearest her, "I'm studying. I have an exam coming up."
"You study too much," Aaron again invaded Flora's personal space as he leaned in closely to her face, "You need to find someone to take care of you so you don't have to use that brain of yours, but your more…" Aaron had no shame as he peered down Flora's uniform shirt, " valuable assets instead."
Flora coughed awkwardly while she adjusted her shirt, but this time Aaron chose to ignore her discomfort and remained near her. "I'm sure I'm going to meet my soulmate soon, and we'll take care of each other."
"I didn't say soulmate," he purred into her ear, "I said someone ." Flora froze as he placed his hand onto her own, rubbing it slowly. She watched as his wedding band glistened in the light. (2)
Aaron leaped away from her when the door to the breakroom suddenly opened, one of the other employees arriving to take their break. Flora quickly gathered her things and shoved them into her locker, besides the swan, which she placed into her sweater pocket. She could feel Aaron's eyes bearing holes into her back as she rushed out of the breakroom and into the sales floor, ready to sell children's clothes and accessories.
She hated working with Aaron. He was an old creep, he always had dirty fingernails, and most importantly he was married, so why did he always try to flirt with the young woman at his store? He was annoying at best and predatory at worst, although Flora suspected it may have been the latter.
Only a few more months, she thought. A few more months and then she would be out of here.
The rest of her workday went as usual, with Flora assisting parents as they shopped with their children, and Aaron creeping around every corner in that weird way he did. Before long, it was 3PM and time to leave.
Flora bid farewell to her co-workers, and she was nearly on her way to freedom, just before Aaron managed to catch her at the exit and pulled her aside.
"Florence," Aaron cleared his throat, "Before you leave, I just want to inform you of some schedule changes."
"Schedule changes?"
"Yeah, we need to extend your hours, so now instead of working from 7AM-3PM, I need you to work 10AM-10PM, five days a week. So you'll be the one closing and cleaning up the store with me from now on"
"What!? B-but, Aar-what?" Flora sputtered, "I can't do that! I go to college at night! That's why I took a part-time day shift position!"
Aaron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you."
Flora stared at him with her mouth open and eyes wide. She had no idea what to even say.
"Look, you either take the hours, or we can make another arrangement…" Flora continued to stare at Aaron, completely aghast and oblivious to his suggestion, so he grabbed her arm to pull her close, then whispered in her ear, "You need someone to take care of you…I can do that, and then you wouldn't have any problems."
Flora remained speechless, even as Aaron bid her farewell with a pat on her butt while mouthing, "Think about it." She remained speechless all the way to the bus stop, the entire bus ride, and even during her class. It was only when she arrived home, with the electricity still not working and the water still brown, but the first time where she was finally alone, that she allowed herself to burst into tears.
She didn't know for how long she cried, and at some point she didn't even know why she was crying. But she sobbed for hours, the only item of comfort was her swan, her promise that was yet to be fulfilled.
Later that night, Flora found herself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, liking posts of her old friends from Lynphea and a couple of bands she followed, when a follow request from Aaron showed up. Bile rose up in her throat before she dismissed the notification.
He didn't let up, did he? Tears once again built up in the corner of her eye, and she cursed herself for wasting her precious time and battery life over Aaron, who made her feel uncomfortable and cry all day.
She needed to show him she wasn't interested. But how? She didn't want to lose her job either.
Slowly, her gaze fell over her swan that was sitting on her desk. Perfect.
People rarely even mentioned what their tokens were to others, never mind post it on social media for all to see. Most people regarded a token as a vulnerable piece of themselves, including Flora. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
Flora moved the swan to a more scenic location, her windowsill, snapped a selfie with it, and wrote the caption; Dear soulmate…I hope we get to meet soon. Her thumb hesitated over the "post" button, but with 10% battery left she decided to just go for it. With that, her swan was online, for all to see.
Welp, even if Aaron didn't get the message, maybe her soulmate would.
(1) In season two, episode 22 Timmy does actually refer to Helia as 'poet man'.
(2) So...cheating on your soulmate is unacceptable and VERY uncommon. But unfortunately, shitty people exist. Aaron is a reflection of that.
Aaron is a creep. I honestly hate him and his involvement in future chapters. SMH I can't wait until we're done with the first part of the story.