The Soulmate System

14. If Your Primary Soulmates Dies, the Glow Shifts to the Secondary Soulmate

They remained on the shingle beach for some time after Dylan spoke, the sounds of the seaside city behind and the ocean in front, as if nothing else existed in the world. Breath slow and hair ruffled by the wind, Dylan achieved an unimaginable amount of satisfaction from being in that single spot, moving only to stretch his limbs momentarily before going back to watching the sea.

Bryce was, admittedly, growing restless of watching the Channel. He was also growing uneasy, the large stones of the shore digging into his backside, but couldn't interrupt Dylan's time with his surroundings. If it wasn't clear to the man how pleased Dylan was just from being there, Bryce must've been blind; he did notice, and opted not to speak to allow his Soulmate to enjoy this before returning to the seaside city. He simply couldn't rob Dylan of this moment.

The two returned to listening to the waves. The water heaved up towards them, sprinkling the rocks with foam.

Seagulls cried out above them.

The silence between the two was only interrupted when Dylan suddenly asked, "What would it be like to be friends with the seagulls?"

An amusing mental image of Dylan frolicking with a flock of seagulls in one of the City's parks made Bryce chuckle; several more images followed. "I think it would be weird."

"Why?" Dylan asked, glancing at the man beside him. "It isn't like I want to be, supreme overlord of all birds in the country. I just want to be friends with them." Dylan glanced back to the sea before adding, "They could hoard stuff for me."

"What?"

Dylan returned his gaze to Bryce with an enthusiastic, childish excitement. "Imagine how many loose coins they could collect. I'd be rich."

Bryce laughed. "You're really weird, Dylan."

Dylan looked at him, a bemused frown on his face. "What does that mean?"

"It's a compliment, I promise," Bryce assured him.

The frown began dissolving. Dylan sighed and allowed the wind to ruffle his hair further. "I don't want to go back," he whispered after several moments of silence, letting his eyes flutter shut. A relaxed smile had now replaced the frown. "I really like it here."

Bryce frowned and opened his mouth for a second. What he wanted to say seemed so trivial, so he looked away, sighing.

"Why does it bother you so much?" Dylan asked. When Bryce turned back, he met his Soulmate's gaze with the answer to a question.

He swallowed and forced himself to look away again. "It...never really...occurred to me that...you went through all that." Bryce ruffled his hair, and then fixed it, only for a sea breeze to mess it up again. "How can people do that?"

Dylan shrugged and glanced back at the churning waves. "People are cruel, Bryce. There's no getting around that fact. We were cruel then, we're cruel now."

Bryce shuffled himself down the rocks to sit in front of Dylan. "Doesn't that bother you? It bothers me."

"Of course it bothers me," Dylan insisted, his voice coming out louder than anticipated. "Wh-why wouldn't it?"

"Then why don't you do anything about it?" Bryce asked, kneeling in front of him.

"It doesn't matter what I do, Bryce. I'll always be a 'False Alarm'er, and there's nothing I can do to change that." He took in a slow breath and dropped his gaze again. Running a hand through his hair, Dylan added, "Why does it bother you?"

Three little words hung so easily on the tip of Bryce's tongue. He swallowed it back and just whispered, "Friends look out for each other. That's why."