Soma was always repulsed by romance when he was involved in it.

The first instance of that repulsion was when he was a little kid.

A little girl around his age gave him some red roses. She was so happy and delighted to give them to Soma.

Soma shakily grabbed them from her hands. His eyes were simply glued to them. He felt a pit form in his stomach and his heart raced. His breathing became heavier. Everything around him spun with no signs of stopping.

He felt like if he walked, he would tumble over.

"I got these for you!" She happily said.

Soma looked at her with widened eyes and forcefully smiled.

"Th-Thank you."

It felt like he had poison on his tongue that slowly crept further inside.

Why did he feel like this?

It was only a gift from a friend, right?

Why was it so awful, and not in the fun way?

She looked over to her dad. "I gotta go now. See you later, Soma!"

She waved goodbye as she ran off.

Soma forced himself to turn around and walk back to Sprx and Chiro.

It was like anchors were tied to his ankles. It was hard to move. It was difficult to keep himself steady with each step. He kept his eyes on Sprx and Chiro, but his vision was starting to become blurry.

When he got close enough, Sprx snickered and wagged his tail.

"Look at ya, kiddo! Who's your little girlfriend over-"

Soma pushed the roses onto Chiro.

He vomited in the trash can next to them. He couldn't hold it in. He held onto the bin as tightly as he could.

Chiro put the flowers down and rubbed his back.

"Soma, are you okay? What's wrong, was it the food we got?"

After a moment of puking, he tried to catch his breath. Tears fell down his nose.

Soma lifted his head enough to look at Chiro. His eyebrows were slanting down and his lips were on the edge of frowning.

"Soma?"

Chiro put his free hand on his forehead. Soma felt like he was about to collapse and pass out. His breathing was heavy and audible.

"I… I don't think I like this romance thing so much."

Even saying that made him continue puking. The thought of being included in it made him feel sick.

Chiro and Sprx could only look at each other while Chiro comforted Soma. They didn't know if they should be worried or treat this as a simple repulsion towards romance.

They let Soma rest for the rest of the day and let Gibson take care of him.

Ever since then, everyone tried to keep any romantic actions to a minimal.

Chiro and Sprx let the others know what happened. Everyone didn't know how to approach this, so they ended up deciding that anything romantic should be kept out of Soma's sights. The same with any shows or movies on family days.

With how affectionate they were, it was a little difficult keeping it from where he could see it. They still tried to avoid making Soma feel nauseous like he was before.

The last thing they wanted was for him to get sick from it again.

There were a few close calls, such as when Soma came into the kitchen when Gibson and Sprx were in there.

When Gibson noticed he came in, he immediately pushed Sprx away. He cleared his throat. He turned around and grabbed his cup.

"But, yes, I'd appreciate it if you could make sure that Otto has his lunch." Gibson continued. "I know the others are going to be very busy, and you know how Otto tends to forget to eat."

"Yeah, no problem, Brain Strain." Sprx patted Gibson's chest.

Soma simply raised an eyebrow at them. His expression was fully deadpanned; he wasn't impressed with their attempts.

He knew what they were trying to do. It was appreciated, but…

No.

Sprx awkwardly laughed. "What are ya starin' at us like that for, kiddo?"

"You don't have to hide that stuff you know." Soma said. "I'm okay with it."

Gibson and Sprx looked at each other. They then looked back at him after a moment.

"So you're fine with us kissin', but if we say anythin' 'bout you having a-"

Soma covered Sprx's mouth.

"Don't say it."

He removed it after a moment.

"Young man, don't ever do that again." Gibson started. "However, we appreciate the information. It's helpful."

Soma nodded in acknowledgement.

He went into the fridge, grabbed a drink, and then left the kitchen.

"…Well, didn't expect that. Guess we don't gotta keep it toned down like that, huh?" Sprx playfully elbowed him.

"Indeed." Gibson responded.

The more he thought about it, the more he believed he had an idea on what Soma's case was. He just needed to know the full extent of how Soma was.

Gibson hummed in thought.

Soma had just gotten into his first queerplatonic relationship.

Even if he didn't feel any romantic attraction, he still liked people in a different way. He desired relationships himself, just nothing that seemed romantic in any way.

Chiro and Gibson chaperoned Soma on his "nondate"—Soma absolutely refused to call it a date—to make sure everything went alright.

They didn't interfere, but Soma felt awkward knowing they were there at all.

He had fun despite that though. He even got some nice lilies of the valley. Even when the nondate was done, he held onto them firmly and close to his chest. His tail swayed from side to side the whole way back.

When Soma got back to the room, he put the flowers next to his and Jasper's bed.

The others noticed he was back.

Jasper went up to Soma. She wrapped her arms around him. Her tail swayed.

"Hey, Thoma! How wath your hangout with your boy-"

Soma put his hand on her mouth so fast it was practically a blur.

"Don't say the B word, Jazzkie. It-" Soma put his hand up to his own mouth. He felt it come up and he swallowed it back down. "It's not what I'm comfortable with. Partner- Partner is better for me."

Jasper slumped. "Thorry, Thoma."

Marino gently guided her off Soma.

"How was your nondate, though? Did you and your partner have fun?" He asked.

Soma smiled. "Yeah, we did."

"Good," Marino smiled back, "I'm glad. We will let you rest until dinnertime."

Marino set a water bottle down on the nightstand beside the bed.

Soma grabbed a book and laid down. He pulled one of the blankets over himself. He got comfortable where he lied.

Marino pulled Jasper close to the door. Even if they were over there, Soma could still hear the both of them. He glanced that way.

"I know you can be forgetful sometimes," Marino started, "and you always mean well, but you really must remember that Soma is very… averse when it comes to romance or anything romantic, including any usage of the BF and GF words, or any other words like those. The mere thought of it makes him feel nauseous."

Jasper looked downwards, almost shrinking. She played with her braid.

"I know, I'm thorry…"

Marino gently grabbed her chin. He made her look at him again.

"I am not angry, Jasper, nor am I upset. I'm simply reminding you that you need to keep it in mind and why it's important."

Soma frowned. He quietly sighed. He simply focused on his book.

Soma hated being like this.

Soma laid back onto the grass.

Clouds moved in front of the moon and out of the way. The breeze felt nice and chilly, just how Soma loved nights like this. His tail swayed from side to side underneath him.

He felt a hand on his face. His partner made Soma look at him. Soma smiled at him.

He got closer to his face. It was nice and slow.

Soma slowly realized what he was trying to do. It wasn't going to be on his forehead, or his cheeks or nose.

He was aiming for the mouth.

Soma tensed up. His eyes widened. A pit formed in his stomach. His breathing slowed. His heart raced. He wouldn't be surprised if his body shook.

He pushed himself away with his legs. His partner looked at him with confusion.

"I'm- I'm sorry-" Soma put his hand up to his mouth, almost gagging. "I can't do kisses, not- not like that."

His partner frowned and his eyebrows slanted. He looked away and he had his legs up to his chest.

"…I'm sorry…"

"It's, uh, it's fine. You didn't mean to make me feel that way."

Soma got closer to him again.

There wasn't another word from either of them. Outside of Soma wrapping his tail around his arm, no action was made either.

It was uncomfortably long, like a harsh winter night that never seemed like it wanted to end.

They broke up a few weeks later unrelated to this.

Soma's tail swayed from side to side.

He looked up at the orange sky as the sun began to set. His optic lenses automatically adjusted so he wasn't blinded.

He looked around to see that his nondate wasn't around. He furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes wandered around to see where she went.

"Hey," Soma jumped, "sorry I disappeared like that."

"It's fine." He reassured.

"I thought I'd get you a gift when I saw it." She explained. "I know you like roses, so…"

She pulled them out from behind her back.

Soma's eyes widened.

The roses were red. Dark red.

His heart raced and he backed up. His tail puffed out like a frightened cat. His stomach began to twist and turn. The world began to spin around, however it spun to a certain point before resetting to spin to that point again. It did that over and over again.

Soma ripped his eyes away from the roses and looked at her. He weakly smiled.

"I, uh, I appreciate it, but- but they're red."

"I don't see what-"

She looked down at the roses and it hit her that it was the color of them.

He could tell that she'd forgotten what red roses symbolized. She felt so guilty about it.

"I'm so, so sorry, Soma!" She hid them from his view. "I'll get rid of them."

"No, no, you- you bought them with your own money. You- You can give those to one of- one of my siblings."

She simply nodded. Her face never brightened up, though.

Soma was able to keep himself together there. It took some water to make him feel better so he wasn't sick, but he never got to the point of puking.

Not having any romantic labels or any romantic actions be done in combination with that was a massive bonus in his eyes.

It never went beyond the first nondate, but Soma was glad to have given this a chance.

Soma leaned onto the arm of the sofa.

He simply moved his hand, letting it take its course over the drawing. While he did have a certain look for it in mind, he'd come to learn that art would end up however it wanted to come out looking. Letting it take its course was the best option, even if it didn't always end up in a result that he liked.

The doors to his art room whooshed open. He shot up at the sound.

Gibson stood at the doorway.

"I apologize for not knocking first," he started.

"You're fine, dad."

His tail lightly tapped the spot next to him. Soma didn't want to appear as too needy to have somebody beside him, but he also knew Gibson wanted to talk to him.

Gibson sat down next to Soma. He glanced at the sketch for a moment before he looked away.

Soma stopped drawing. He set the sketchbook and pencil down to the side. He kept his eyes on Gibson the whole time.

Gibson took a deep breath.

"Has everything been alright, Soma?" He started. "You know that if you don't wish to be in a relationship of any kind, you don't have to, right?"

Soma raised an eyebrow. "Of course I do. I'm not putting myself in queerplatonic relationships just because."

Gibson raised his hand. "Don't take it the wrong way, Soma. I've merely been thinking about it lately because you seem to break up with someone after they do something romantic, or at least never actually go into the relationship after it happens. I'm aware being romance averse-"

"Repulsed."

Gibson looked at him with widened eyes.

"Romance repulsed," Soma repeated his correction. "Averse sounds like I'm avoiding it rather than feeling disgusted about being a participant. I don't like how "averse" sounds for me, really."

He looked down; he put his hands on his arms. His tail moved to his lap.

"And none of the romantic stuff they've done was the reason why I never went further or broke up with them." He continued explaining.

Gibson's expression softened up. "Did it simply not feel right with those people then?"

Soma nodded. He didn't know how else to explain it.

Gibson put his hand on Soma's shoulder.

He looked at Gibson.

"While you can have a good relationship despite the repulsion, it's okay if you don't want to be in one. You're perfectly fine as you are, love. Nothing in the galaxy will change that." Gibson snickered. "However, if anyone tries to convince you otherwise, they'll have to deal with me and your other parents."

Soma snorted.

He leaned onto him.

"I know. I was never worried about that in the first place. It's like worrying about never seeing the moon again; unnecessary." He smiled. "If I happen to find someone for me, that's great. If I don't, that's fine, I'm happy as I am."

"Good. I don't want you to feel like you're missing out or that you have to be with somebody."

Soma's tail went down and wrapped around Gibson's.

He didn't think Gibson would worry about it that much, but he appreciated it. He thought it was sweet he came in here just to make sure he was fine.

It sucked being repulsed the way he was, but Soma accepted it as another part of himself.

Why wouldn't he? It was how he was made.

However life decided to go for Soma, he accepted it wholeheartedly.

A/N: If you go to offer me any commissions or anything involving money, it's an automatic no. I'm glad you enjoy my works, but scream to me about my works instead of making offers, scam or not. Do so anyways and I'll ignore you. Do so more than once and I'll block you. I'm genuinely tired of it. Thank you in advance if you respect my wishes.