By unspoken agreement, the pair headed out the bar and started walking towards a nearby park. The short journey was made in silence, both marvelling in this wonderful new world they saw around them. It was overwhelming just how many colours made up their surroundings, and how they hadn't even realised it until they could finally see them.
Remy led them over to the first bench he saw and sat down heavily. The world truly was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the man at his side.
"How're y' holding up, cher?"
Spencer startled, and absently sat down next to Remy. Now that most of the shock had worn off, a few of his fears were creeping back to the forefront of his mind. He had to clear his throat a few times before any words formed.
"I'm, ah, I'm okay. It's really quite disconcerting. I never realised how much I was missing, you know? I didn't know even the simple things like grass could be so wonderful. I feel like I've lived my whole life inside a bubble and now it's broken and I feel so... so lost. I've heard people talk about colours before; about how beautiful they are, but to me it was just something that I would never experience."
Remy hummed in agreement. "Remy knows what y' mean. It's like a dream, non? Like it's not real an' Remy'll wake up at any second."
"Exactly. I didn't ever think I would find my soul mate. I'm not... I'm not really what anyone would want. I talk too much, and I'm too awkward, and I don't understand when people are joking, and I'm too boring, and I work too much, and I'm not attractive enough - not that I'm saying we'd get into a relationship!"
Remy just sat watching him with a furrowed brow. He knew he should have stopped Spencer, but maybe airing their insecurities early would help them in the long run.
"Spencer, Remy don't care for none of dat. I don't care. I don't care if y' work long hours, or ramble 'til y're blue in de face, or don't understand jokes. None of dat matters. But y're not boring, not from what I can tell. And y're definitely not unattractive. And we don't have t' be in a relationship if y' don't want t', mais we can be amis, and if we find we have feelings for each other, den we can talk about dat later. Right now we can just get t' know one another."
"I think I'd like that." Spencer smiled, a faint blush on his cheeks. "Okay, so what are you interested in?"
The next morning Spencer woke with a smile on his face. After talking for hours, he and Remy had decided to call it a night, with Remy escorting him to his hotel room and promising to meet him before the team left that afternoon.
He and Remy had talked a lot; they spoke about both of their work, their interests and hobbies, their friends. Just light things one talks about with a new friend. By mutual agreement they decided not to talk about anything heavy until they knew each other better and for a longer period of time.
Spencer was surprised at just how comfortable he felt around Remy already, and secretly wondered if maybe the soul bond wasn't as bad as he'd always feared. At least his soul mate didn't seem to hate him or think him weird. If anything, Remy had encouraged his rambles; just like he said, he didn't seem to care if Spencer rambled until he was 'blue in the face'. And, better yet, he seemed genuinely interested in the knowledge Spencer had and was happy to hear it. In turn, Spencer was eager to hear more about Remy's life. Remy's skill at story-telling managed to have Spencer enthralled and he just wanted to know more.
He finally got up, had a quick shower, and, after getting dressed, went down to the hotel's restaurant. He was still getting used to all the colours, so he didn't realise the woman in front of him was Penelope until she turned around. He had to fight back the smile at her clothing. He'd never understood what some people meant when they commented on her outfits, but now he did. It was just so... bright. And shocking. How did she manage to perfectly pull off an outfit with such colour if she couldn't even see what the colours were?
"Reid!" She squealed when she saw him. "Oh, I am so happy for you! How was your soul mate? Was he nice? Did you two spend the night together? You didn't come back to the bar."
"Penelope!" He laughed. "Well, he's really nice, and intelligent, and he has a wicked sense of humour. No we didn't spend the night together; we went to a little park and talked for a while. It was quite late when we wrapped things up, so I just came back here. Well, he walked me here."
"Oh my god! That's so cute. Right, come sit down and tell me everything!"
Without having much choice, and because he actually wanted to talk about Remy, he sat opposite her and told her what he was comfortable with. A part of him wanted to keep everything to himself, but a bigger part wanted to share this new, exciting part of his life with one of his dear friends. It didn't hurt that Penelope was probably his most supportive friend; he knew she would keep whatever he said to herself, and would never mock or judge him for anything.
Similarly, Remy woke up with a smile. It was a Sunday, so he didn't have a training session, and was free to lie in bed for however long he wanted. His mind turned to the night before, and he couldn't help the warm trickle that made its way up his spine when he thought of Spencer.
When he'd set off to the bar, all he was hoping for was to be able to get drunk enough to stop feeling so damn cold, for even a little bit. It seemed like the universe had heard his mental plea, and he left with much more than he'd bargained for. The most pleasing, and surprising, part of all was how well he and Spencer got along. He couldn't believe his luck!
Even though they'd only known each other for a few hours, he really felt like Spencer could be his other half. Spencer was soft-spoken where he was loud, Spencer was a warm light where he was the chill on a winter's night. Spencer was just so wonderful.
Remy continued to think about his soul mate as he got out of bed and into the shower. He paused briefly to look at himself in the mirror and was startled by his eyes. He knew they were different, even when he couldn't see colour, but he didn't realise quite how striking they were. At least now he knew why some of the people he knew when he was a child had reacted violently towards him. Oh well, he decided, he liked them. The rest of his body was much the same as he'd always thought, although he did wince when he saw the scars on his back. They seemed a lot harsher in colour. There was nothing he could do about them, and he'd long ago accepted they were a part of him, so he pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind and stepped into the stall.
He yearned to take himself in hand and take pleasure from the image of Spencer's lithe form, but he knew it wouldn't be right. Despite them being soul mates, or perhaps because of, he couldn't bring himself to do that - objectify Spencer in that way. The first time he gained pleasure from Spencer in any way, he wanted the man to actually be present, not just a memory in his mind. With that thought, he turned the temperature all the way down in the shower, and washed himself quickly.
Once dressed, Remy went outside to smoke and clear his head a bit, then headed inside for a late breakfast. He gained a few excited greetings from the younger occupants, a few grins from those who were at the bar, and a full-on wolf whistle from Logan.
"Where's ya boy at, Gumbo? I'm surprised he's not here with ya."
"He's back in his hotel room, mon ami. Ain't gonna take de po' boy t' bed when Remy only known him a few hours." He replied evenly.
"Ain't stopped ya before." Logan said, but kept his tone light. He knew what a big deal the soul bond was to Remy, so of course they would never have spent the first night together. From what he could tell about Remy's soul mate, the man would feel the same.
After seeing the curious glances, Remy sat down and admitted to finding his soul mate, which earned him an endless stream of questions from the other occupants of the mansion. Remy took it all in stride, and answered their questions as best as he could, but he was stumped by the most popular question: was his soul mate a mutant? Remy really had no idea; they hadn't spoken about mutations, and although he was sure Spencer had been curious about his use of sunglasses at night, he didn't comment. He would have to tell him, and soon, in case Spencer reacted badly. It would be better to break off the friendship early, before either got attached.