Patton double-checked his bag before leaving his house. More of a habit than anything, he knew he always put his supplies back in the bag after using them.
He locked his front door as he stepped outside and waved to his neighbors as he walked down the street.
It was the first really warm day of spring, and the butterfly gardens were going to be blooming, so Patton was going to take advantage of that and get some work done.
He took a bit longer to get to the park than usual, because there were so many dogs out and who wouldn't stop to say hi? Patton finally found a spot in the gardens, on one of the benches, and began to unpack his things.
It really was a beautiful day.
Patton started with a simple pencil sketch to get warmed up, then opened his good colored pencil set and looked around. At first he thought about drawing some of the buds starting to open, then he spotted something else much more interesting.
The man in the purple-patched jacket was standing a dozen feet away or so, on his phone. He seemed to be listening to something, rolling his eyes every so often.
Patton began to sketch quickly, wanting to get the lines down before his subject moved. He found himself glancing up more than he usually would with a piece he was working on, but he told himself it was just to make sure he was still there.
The guy pulled his phone away from his face, tapping the screen once and then pocketing it.
Patton double-checked his sketch and breathed a sigh of relief. he had the base set, that meant it would be so much easier to finish it if purple-jacket boy left.
He felt a sharp jolt in his chest as the sound of someone whistling reached his ears.
Someone whistling his song, to be precise.
It had to be his song, soulmate songs were unique enough that one couldn't mistake their own for another.
Patton leapt to his feet without thinking, then scrambled to re-gather his supplies as he sent them flying. The whistling continued and he could feel his heart beginning to pound.
After making sure all of his things were safely stacked on the bench, Patton began to look around, trying to pinpoint the sound.
Finally his eyes were drawn to a now familiar sight.
Purple-Jacket Man was leaning against a tree a few feet away, scrolling on his phone and whistling to himself.
Patton stared at him for a moment. How should he approach this?
He took a deep breath and gripped his sketchbook tightly to his chest.
"I've called a thousand payphones, searched a hundred nights,
They're inspiring and amazing, but I don't want the sights."
The guy's head snapped up and he stopped whistling. Patton squeezed his eyes shut and kept singing. Now that he knew he had attention, he was suddenly terrified.
"I've walked a million sidewalks, imagining your face,
But still I've never seen you, I've got this empty space."
He heard footsteps close in front of him and took another breath.
His next line was cut off by a hand sharply covering his mouth. He opened his eyes hesitantly.
Purple-Jacket Man stared at him, eyes wide.
"How do you know that song?"
Patton tried to answer, his voice muffled by the hand, but Purple-Jacket Man cut him off.
"Who taught you that?"
He pushed the guy's hand away, giggling. "No one taught me. You can't learn a soulmate song, silly."
The reaction he got was not the one he expected.
Purple-Jacket Man's eyes narrowed and he took half a step back. "You're not serious. There's no way-"
"What do you mean?"
"You can't be my soulmate- someone put you up to this. Was it Roman?"
Patton smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I don't know anyone named Roman."
"Logan then."
He paused, thinking. "Logan Francisque? I haven't talked to him since sophomore year of high school."
Purple-Jacket Man crossed his arms, hunching in on himself defensively. The movement made Patton instinctively want to hug him, but he held himself back for the sake of keeping the man a bit placated.
"You shouldn't know that song. There's no way you're my soulmate."
"Why do you say that?"
He waved a hand around for a moment. "You're- I don't know! You're cute!"
They both blushed, but Purple-Jacket Man pressed on. "You're like, the artsy kind of guy who's clearly a huge sweetheart and ready to love anyone. That's not the kind of soulmate I'd get-"
"But that's by your own thought process." Patton butted in with a small smile, clasping his hands behind him and rocking back and forth on his feet a little. "You don't choose your soulmate... I'm Patton."
Purple-Jacket Man opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he opened it again, made a vague gesture with his hand, and shoved his hair back from his face for a moment.
"Virgil."
Patton grinned. "Aww, I like that! Virgil."
Virgil flushed a little and looked away. "Uh. Thanks."
"Do you want to go get a coffee or something?" Patton suggested.
Before he could answer, Virgil's phone buzzed loudly. He jumped and pulled it out, answering it without looking.
"What?"
Patton backed off a pace as his soulmate listened to whatever was on the other end. Busying himself with gathering his supplies, he didn't notice that Virgil had finished up until a pale hand picked up his sketchbook.
"Oh that's-"
"Is this me?"
Patton blushed but nodded. "I just kind of... picked the prettiest thing I saw."
"I'm not pretty." Virgil snorted, closing the sketchbook and handing it back.
"Yes you are!"
He rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "That was my roommate, he was going to meet me here. I asked if we could push it back an hour."
Patton perked up. "Really?"
Virgil nodded, smiling for the first time. Patton nearly gasped aloud, feeling his face heat up again.
"Let me just finish packing up my things- there's a little coffee shop down the street that serves lunch! I know the barista who works there, he's really nice."
He grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, turning to smile up at Virgil. "How lucky that you were whistling our song, huh?"
Virgil shrugged and tipped his head a little. "I've gotten into the habit, I'm not sure why... I guess I got into an argument with Roman and wanted to prove to him that I was right about not having a soulmate."
Patton frowned but his soulmate just blew out a long breath. "That's twenty dollars I'm never getting back."
"Twenty dollars is well worth a partner for life. Let's go get lunch."
~
They were just sitting down at the little shop with their food when Virgil looked up and made a face. "What are you doing here?"
Patton turned to look up at the guy who was pulling a chair up to their table.
"Wanna introduce me to your friend, Virgey?" He grinned, leaning forward and resting his chin on his fist.
Virgil just made an annoyed noise and slapped a twenty down in front of him. He gasped dramatically and snatched it, then turned to examine Patton.
"Roman, don't freak him out."
Patton giggled and picked up a chip from his plate. "He won't freak me out. I'm Patton."
Roman grinned and took the hand Patton offered him, shifting to kiss the back of it. Virgil smacked him with his napkin.
"Well you are just adorable aren't you?"
Patton waved him off with a smile. "I guess that's for Virgil to decide."
"Yeah, back off my soulmate." Virgil bounced a chip off of Roman's forehead. "Don't you have other people to bother? Your soulmate comes to mind."
While Roman made a show of checking his forehead for blood, Virgil reached over and took Patton's free hand.
"Ooh, now that you guys are together I want to hear your song! They say you can harmonize without even thinking about it."
Virgil raised his eyebrows. "Shouldn't you know whether or not that's true? You've been soulmated for a year."
Roman waved him off. "It's different when it's not my song, I've heard mine for my entire life. I want to hear yours, you never sing it at home."
"How about this, if you go away now we might sing it for you at some point." Virgil put on a falsely sweet smile that made Patton giggle.
Roman pouted, but got up. "Fiiiine. I'll see you at home."
Virgil rolled his eyes as his roommate walked away. "Sorry, he's a handful."
Patton shrugged, squeezing his soulmate's hand. He felt like his face was on fire just being around Virgil, but in a good way. "He's fine. I work at a daycare, I'm used to exuberance."
"Exuberance is one word for it." Virgil snorted. "Obnoxiousness is another."
"That's okay, I can be obnoxious too."
"I have a feeling your 'obnoxious' is much more endearing than singing Disney songs at two in the morning. And four in the morning. And whenever he's awake, basically."
Patton gasped and bounced in his seat. "Maybe but that sounds fun!"
Virgil burst out laughing and Patton's heart threatened to explode.
And to think this all started with a song.
{Prompt: Soulmates share a unique song imprinted in their mind that no one else knows or can memorize}