Iris tried to support the basket that was draped over one of her arms; the weight of her groceries was making her wish that she had decided to get a cart that she could push instead. Trying to take some of the weight off, she leaned the basket against her hip as she looked at the display of crackers. A snack of cheese and crackers was on her list of cravings at the moment, and she was really hoping to get home quickly. The weather report was calling for thunderstorms and Iris did not want to worry about running home through a downpour while hauling bags of food.
Finally selecting a slightly pricy brand of vegetable crackers, Iris turned to head further down the aisle for the coffee and tea section—she was so stocked up on tea that she was desperate to get something different and Barry told her he liked sweet coffee so she was planning to get some just in case he spent the night again.
The thought of having him over caused a blush to rise to her cheeks, so Iris hurried down to the coffee section and looked over the shelves to try and find the tin of coffee that she had bought in the past. A huffing sigh passed her lips when she noticed that it had been raised up to the top two shelves, making it impossible for her to reach even when on her tip toes.
Taking a step back for a better reading on the height difference, she only ended with another sigh. It was probably just out of reach of her fingers if she stretched.
"Damn."
"You look like you could use a hand, Sweetie."
Gasping in surprise and turning quickly, Iris nearly dropped her basket as the words that were across her back were spoken in a deep, accented voice—was that a New York accent?—that was shockingly familiar. A hand darted out to catch the basket as it slipped precariously on her arm, nearly losing some of its contents. Iris's attention lifted to the familiar face of her soulmate, but one briefly glance confirmed her assumption that this was not Barry.
A pair of slightly worn black jeans and a soft looking blue shirt was exposed through an open leather jacket, startling Iris into leaning back slightly. Having the image of Barry still quite fresh in her mind, she hadn't really been prepared for the appearance of another personality. This one was more casual, less focused on fashionable clothing while still looking extremely attractive in what he was wearing.
"Wow, hello," Iris blurted out before she could think of her words. Her cheeks immediately grew hot as she realized what had come out of her mouth, while the man before her laughed heartily, the laugh lines on his face more prominent than they had been with Barry. Iris immediately pushed the thought of Barry aside, feeling bad that she was thinking of him while another soulmate was standing in front of her now.
"Hello to you, too, little one. So, need a hand?" he motioned to the coffee tin that she had been stretched for a minute ago, causing Iris's eyes to finally flick away from him as she glanced back to the shelves.
"Oh...yes, please." Ducking her head in embarrassment, the man deeply chuckled before he stepped up beside her and easily grabbed the tin and offered it to her slowly, as though he didn't want to startle her.
"Iris," he began carefully, taking the encounter very carefully. Those whiskey eyes finally looked up at him, the soft rose in her usually pale cheeks making his smile grow. "I believe I have you at a disadvantage. My name's Luke," he introduced, holding his hand out to her. Iris dropped the tin into her basket and reached out to shake his hand as a timid smile touched her lips.
"Nice to meet you, Luke."
"That looks heavy," he commented as he motioned to the basket. "Give it here, Sweetie. Barry'll have my hide if I make you carry that." Surprise must have shown on her face, because another laugh sounded from him as he gently extracted the basket from her hold. "He makes sure we all stay in line, and he's absolutely smitten with you."
He must have enjoyed watching Iris blush because he was on a roll at this point. "Well, do I need to bring up that you were following me or is this a coincidence?" Iris retorted, courage in her words showing more confidence than she actually felt.
Luke, however, seemed greatly amused with her comment and the smile on his face grew. "Rest assured, Sweetie, this is a complete coincidence." Luke motioned behind, turning the small woman's attention over to where there was a shopping cart piled with food. "I haven't done the groceries for a while, so I was forced out today."
Amusement flittered across Iris's face as she took stock of the cart. There was such a mixture of things that it was easy to tell it was for many different people's preferences. "Wow, that's a lot of candy," she commented offhand, noticing the amount of chocolate and sugary goods that were piled at the foot of the cart.
Luke rubbed the back of his buzzed head bashfully as he nodded in agreement. "I wasn't given a list, so I kinda just grabbed everything that I've seen in the place before. Hedwig's gunna be running around like a lunatic, though, so Patricia's gunna kill me when she finds out I bought all this." The introduction of two new names made Iris look back at him with shining eyes, filled with curiosity.
"Hedwig and Patricia?" she repeated. The way he spoke about them made Iris all the more curious about the many different personalities within this body. Hedwig sounded like he was much younger than Barry or Luke, and the fact that Patricia was distinctly female was another interesting thought.
"Yea, they're quite the pair. You'll understand when you meet them," he dodged, looking mildly worried that he had said more than he should. "So, are we finished or do I need to rescue anything else from top shelves for you?" he teased instead, walking them over to the cart that he had stocked full.
"Nope, coffee was the last thing on my list," she answered easily. She technically needed more, but she never bought too much at once since she always carried it home. "What about you? As someone as small as me, I can make it easier to get things from the bottom shelf."
"Aren't you clever today? I was just gunna make a stop in the cereal aisle, then I'm off." Placing her basket of food in the top section of the cart, Luke began to push it as Iris stuttered behind him. Was he actually holding her groceries hostage? "You did offer your help. For all I know, Hedwig's cereal is on the bottom shelf!"
"You're terrible," she stuttered, hurrying to catch up to him.
Admittedly, Iris had researched Dissociative Identity Disorder after she had found Dr. Fletcher's articles and essays on the topic. However, she hadn't been sure what to expect when it came down to actually meeting someone who had many identities for one body; especially now that she knew for certain that Kevin's body housed men, woman and possibly children. Barry and Luke were already drastically different, so it made her a mix of excited and nervous to meet the other soulmates that she was sure was ten-fold what normal people felt when meeting their soulmates.
This was one face, twenty-three different ways.
The twenty-forth mark hadn't developed any further since it first appeared, stuck as a blurry one-word mark that looked like a black smudged beneath her collarbone. While thinking of the mark, Iris's hand came to rub over the spot subconsciously.
"Hey, you alright?"
Luke's sudden question drew Iris from her thoughts as she looked up at the concerned blue eyes that were level with hers. She'd stopped walking mid-aisle and was staring into space, prompting Luke to turn around and bend in front of her so they were the same height. "Yea, sorry," she mumbled out while dropping her hand from the mark. "Just got lost in my thoughts for a second; I used to worry that I was...broken, or there was some kind of mistake with my marks and I would never actually meet any of my soulmates. Now, in little more than a week, I've met two of you and learned the truth of why I have so many. It's very..."
"Overwhelming?" Luke supplied with a soft look of understanding in his eyes; seeing that look relieved the tension that had built in Iris as her thoughts progressed.
"Yea," she breathed. "But I am happy, so that definitely makes it worth it."
Luke's expression immediately brightened before he was reaching for Iris's hand, tugging her after him as he made for the cereal aisle. Iris went silently this time, her expression growing soft as Luke began to rant about how much he hated when he was the one who had to go and get groceries. She listened closely the entire time, wanting to absorb all of the information that she could about the alters.
"And Barry, love the guy, but he is so picky," he groaned, snatching box of Lucky Charms—even though it was on the bottom shelf and he had to bend to get it. Iris was half surprised that he hadn't followed through and made her get anything that was lower on the shelves.
"He didn't seem picky when I was with him," she admitted, "But I'm not the one who's lived with him so long," she added a moment later, absentmindedly adjusting some of the items on the shelves near her—something she'd picked up from all of her years of retail.
"Lucky you," Luke retorted with a snort, glancing up and down the aisle as though to make sure that he wasn't forgetting anything.
"What about you? If I asked Barry, would he say you were picky?" Iris asked in return, pulling at her sleeves as she glanced back to him. With Barry, she had allowed herself to relax when it came to her marks, but that was in her home. Now, in an open place, it was very different. She wasn't wearing gloves, so it made things very different about her comfort level and who was looking at the mark on the back of her hand.
Even if people thought it was her only one, there were still unmarked out there who would be violent or rude toward those with marks.
Luke didn't seem to notice the movements, beginning to push the cart—and her basket—toward the cash registers. "Oh, I'll eat anything," he admitted with a broad grin. "Patricia's happy about that, at least when it's good food; isn't always happy that I'll go for just about any junk food out there."
"I don't blame her," Iris admitted. "Please tell me you don't eat fast-food."
Turning to look at him with a slightly desperate look in her eyes, Luke opened his mouth as though to deny it, but then snapped his jaw shut and looked away sheepishly. Iris's eyebrow quirked up as she paused at the end of the aisle, while stepping aside as an older woman squeezed past them to get into the cereal section.
"Only sometimes," he finally admitted quietly, peaking at her from the corner of his eye.
"Mhm," Iris hummed in understanding, though still sounding doubtful. "Barry might be picky but you're junky," she blamed, pointing at him while turning the corner to continue on without him. Luke's jaw dropped as she walked away, somehow not having expected her to actually tease him. As someone who had run off when Barry first met her, he hadn't thought she would be so comfortable with the rest of them right off the bat.
Following after her, he fought a smile as he saw a flash of her true colours. She was definitely a quiet person and much more timid than either him or Barry, but there was a bold streak within her that he definitely wanted to see more often.
Glancing down at the basket of her things that was still sitting at the front of his cart, Luke wondered if that was really enough for her. She'd told Barry that she didn't have any food left in her apartment, and this sure as hell didn't seem like enough to fill a kitchen. Knowing as little about her as he did, he could definitely say she was a practical person, so she was probably only getting enough to get by that she could manage to carry.
He barely knew her, she was very new to having people to rely on, so he wouldn't say anything about her meager shopping. There was a specific way she was used to doing things. Barry had said that she may seem underweight, but she was actually just really skinny; her arm was rather muscular beneath the skin. Looking at her, he found it somewhat hard to believe, but Barry wasn't known to lie. Sometimes, he was brutally honest.
When he turned the corner to find Iris, she was standing in front of a display of flowers that were already prepared in individual bouquets. Her fingers traced over the petals of one, feeling the silky texture as she looked over the pale violet of the bloom. He didn't even know what the flower was, looked like some kind of daisy, but it brought a smile to Iris's lips as she took in the details and feel of the delicate plant.
"Any chance your favourite flower is an Iris?" he asked as he came up behind her, leaning over her shoulder to see the flower arrangement better.
The woman in question laughed, releasing the bloom from between her fingers. "No, I think those flowers look rather strange, if I'm being honest. I used to like lilies most when I was younger, but then I successfully grew marigolds and they kinda got a special place in my heart."
"Aw, still room for the rest of us, I hope," he teased, leaning on the handle of the cart.
Iris's cheeks flushed at the question while she looked back at him over her shoulder; even leaning as he was he still had a couple of inches on her. "No one else is so close to me," she answered softly, looking up at him with those whiskey eyes. It damn near melted his heart. "I was made your soulmate for a reason. Maybe that's why my heart's been kept empty for so long; to provide more room for more people in my future."
Luke's expression softened as he just watched her for a moment. There wasn't heartbreak or sadness in her expression as she spoke of her lack of family, or love in her life, but it still pained him to know that she'd been alone for so long. Barry had chosen not to share all that he knew with everyone, saying that it was her story to tell. And in time, when she met them, she would tell them, too. So, Luke only knew basics, but it was easy to know that someone with her timidity and fear had been through hell. Abused by parents, as Fletcher had suspected, was something they were aware could leave serious damage behind.
Reaching out for her, Luke wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew in her against his chest. Iris looked surprised at the suddenness of the action, her head tipped back to look him in the eye. "Sweetheart, I promise your heart will never be empty again."
Her somber expression faded with a smile as she leaned into him just slightly, accepting his embrace. "I'm coming to understand that truth."
Giving her another tight squeeze, pulling her in close to his chest as her tiny form nearly disappeared into his leather jacket. "So, let's go check out," he offered instead, not one to stick to serious topics if he could help it.
Nodding in agreement, Iris stepped reluctantly away from him.
Luke and Barry may have shared a body, but they definitely were different people. Even their smell was different, and she knew that it wasn't because of differing brands of cologne. Barry had smelled clean, like crisp clothing and a fresh shower. Luke had more of a musky smell to him, like leather and wood-smoke. It was an interesting comparison, yet it suited their personalities perfectly as well.
Luke didn't let her wonder too far away from him, instead he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her in closer to his side as he pushed the cart with one hand. Even though a blush warmed Iris's cheeks, she was relieved to be near. Being with to a soulmate was the greatest comfort she could ever have; that anyone could have.
"You stay close to me, Sweetie—you're so tiny someone could carry you away from me." Somehow, Iris wasn't surprised that he combined a tease with a protective action and statement. Even having only been around him for a few minutes, the backwards complement/tease was right up his alley.
"I haven't blown away by wind yet, so I'm sure I'll be okay," Iris teased back. The laugh that she received in response warmed her heart and had a smile blooming across her face.
Luke smirked down at her and squeezed her shoulders as he parroted, "Yet."
"Oh, shush you," she laughed, nudging his side with her elbow as she turned her attention ahead of them to see which of the check-out lanes was free, or almost free. "Come on, so I can have my groceries back."
"I dunno, those crackers are calling to me, I might have to-"
Before he could even grab them from the basket, Iris's small hand snapped up and slapped the back of his with surprising force. He jerked back and stopped walking as he looked down at the small woman in shock—the back of his hand actually stung slightly with the suddenness of her slap, and the force behind it. Her cheeks were still flushed but there was a faint upturn to her lips that made her look like she was smirking coyly.
"No touching my crackers."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Luke was definitely looking forward to knowing Iris better over time; and if how relaxed Barry had been when he'd returned the night before had been any indication, she was going to be good for all of them. Her judgement of his food already reminded him of Patricia, but much less...scary. Even though her eyes held a haunting past in them, he was sure that they were all going to make one big weird, perfect family. Hedwig was already spending most of his time out of the light raving about her, but they all knew that he wouldn't meet her until she was comfortable enough to come to their home—body of a man or not, they would never allow a nine-year-old boy out on his own. Regardless of how badly he wanted to meet Iris.
"Although, I may have to hold your groceries hostage a little while longer," Luke continued a moment later, pulling himself back to reality as he snatched Iris's basket before she could.
"What?" the small woman stuttered in surprise; she had not been expecting him to continue the whole charade now that they were checking out.
"Until I have safely walked you home, I will not let you have your groceries."
Iris frowned faintly at him. "I can't let you do that, Luke. You have a ton of things yourself, and I'm just down the block. I've done this a million times before." Her eyes scanned over the cart, knowing that Luke was going to have several more bags than her and as strong as he seemed, she didn't want to cause any trouble for the man.
"Well, good thing I was planning on calling a cab—and Barry spilled the beans, I know that your place is near that little café that Jade loves, which means you're on my way home. So, we'll take a cab and both of us are saved from that." As he finished speaking, he pointed to the front window of the store. Iris followed the direction of his finger and gasped at the sight of the absolute downpour that was happening outside. The few people out there had umbrellas or bags over their heads and they were madly rushing for the nearest cover. It was enough that she nearly missed his mention of another name. Jade.
"Oh, no," she grumbled, already dreading the simple thought of walking through that.
"By that tone, I'm guessing I win," Luke whispered dramatically, bent forward so that he was right next to her ear. Iris sighed while her shoulders dropped, defeated. "Ha! Victory!" he called, celebrating.
Iris couldn't help but to laugh at his antics, shaking her head while she moved forward to place a divider on the cashier's belt, then reach out for her basket with a strict, no nonsense look that was usually reserved for rowdy children that were brought into her store. Luke grinned somewhat sheepishly and finally returned her basket so that she could empty it out onto the belt, placing another divider to separate their things.
The simple, everyday routine allowed them both to relax after the initial excitement of meeting. Luke had nearly fled the aisle when he'd first seen her, having thought that there was no possible way that it could really be her. He'd never had such amazing luck before, but it seemed that it was finally his time because she'd been just as Barry had told them.
The mark on the back of her hand, and the trace of another on her wrist like Fletcher and Barry had explained, just confirmed everything.
Iris, on the other hand, was already reeling from having spent time with one soulmate, who even slept over at her apartment, and now she was meeting another. It almost made her dizzy, especially since they wore the same face but had such differing styles and personalities. It made her wonder if it would get easier with each of the identities, or if she would always feel that strange mix of familiarity and nervousness that boiled over into timid excitement when she met them.