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Summary:

“Oh stop being all Alpha-y.” She flexes her foot, rolling her ankle as if to prove a point, and he doesn’t miss the wince that crosses her expression. “You aren’t my Alpha, and you definitely aren't my soulmate,” she mutters.

He can’t help but let out a dry laugh. “Thank god for small mercies.”

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Chapter 1

Notes:

This fic is already written (thanks Nanowrimo!) and I'll be posting at least once a week while I use December to wrap up some other WIPs. This one is... ridiculous. Maybe. It's inspired by a funny poll Jeeno put on twitter asking what the 14,000th Reylo fic would be. "ABO Professor Roommates" almost won and I volunteered to write it. Obviously I've also tossed in a bunch of other things, so this has been a hell of a fic to write. Try not to take it too seriously. Note: Neither Ben nor Rey are professors here, but this is a University setting. I adjusted the prompt. I'm also playing around with html for future chapters, so be patient with my formatting.

Chapter Text

It’s where the heart is. Where you are known, and safe, and loved. There’s no place like it, where dreams and hopes reside. It’s other people—the people who love you and help you through life. It’s a soulmate.

And perhaps that’s all true, but Rey wouldn’t know. It’s a funny, fickle thing. A harder thing to find than many think, more so for someone who’s never had it. Often she wonders if she needs it at all, or she wonders if, after all this time, she would know it if she found it. If she finds it, will she be struck by a bolt or hit with some realization? Is it like falling in love? Will she feel butterflies? Will she someday enter a room and still, and say ‘Yes, this is it, I’ve found it’? Will she finally feel something other than lost?

Rey doesn’t know, but it’s one of the last things on her mind, because right now, something in her has ignited. Set aflame, and she’s been left to burn with the man whose arms she’s in.

Right now, she’s not just lost, she’s— 

His hot breath comes out in pants against her skin, and he presses bruising marks into her hips and thighs with his fingers.

She’s lost in Ben, and in the way he thrusts up into her and plays her body like she’s an extension of him. She grips the headboard and gives him everything, everything she has, everything she is.

His mouth finds hers, kissing her like they’ll never get to kiss again, and she— 

There’s something building between them, overwhelming her and pulling her under, drowning her in him, in fire, in this heat, and in the tidal wave that is whatever this is.

She shivers at the feeling of his swelling knot that catches in her, at the feeling of his arms around her, in the feeling of being surrounded by him. Ben’s head drops to rest on her shoulder, and he groans against her skin as she rolls her hips and nuzzles into his neck. That’s when it happens. She cries out, muffling the sound with her teeth in the flesh of his mating gland. Her teeth press in, breaking skin in a bite that’s far from an innocent or accidental nip. There's lightning under her skin and even that's nothing to the molten core that is Ben's body, melded with hers.

Silence—save for their breaths and pounding hearts—falls between them, and while stuck on his knot, Rey has time. Time to process the indelible mark she’s given Ben, and not her soulmate. Time to think, which is the most dangerous thing she can do.

Her eyes well with tears as she gazes at the beautiful summer sun’s light, stretching across his alabaster chest. That’s when it hits her. It’s an overwhelming thing. Seconds of pure joy stretched out into epochs as time does funny things, because this is it

Her home. It’s Ben.

Pure joy, and then breathtaking pain.

How will she ever tell Kylo?

~

The library computer starts up with a low hum, prompting her for login credentials faster than her bulky laptop would. She types her university login, clicking open her email and the calendar that keeps her life from imploding. 

Despite all the windows and the air purification system that blasts out chilly air and keeps Alphas and Omegas from spreading their scents everywhere, it’s blissfully warm in the library. It’s a welcome refuge from the frigid winter that’s blasting and howling just outside.

Rey winces at how many emails are waiting, but this is what she gets for not checking it over break. Thirty-two out of her fifty-nine new emails are from travel sites urging her to book a vacation to somewhere warmer and kinder. Somewhere that doesn’t involve frigid wind burning through her layers. The thought is tempting, and Rey hovers over each of them, studying the countries the sites suggest she visit. It’s a routine of hers. She picks a country, plans a trip down to the hour, painstakingly plans the budget and… doesn’t go. 

As she scans the rest of her inbox, ignoring the twinge in her chest when she scrolls past the travel offers, there’s a set of emails from a few weeks ago that catch her eye and send her reeling. Her palms go clammy.

SoulBond Subject: Your SoulBond Results Are A... Jan 1 2019 4:13 AM 

SoulBond Subject: FW: New Message From Kylo… Jan 1 2019 7:46 AM

Oh god, it happened. 

She leans back in her seat, staring at the screen.

At a basic level, she’s known this day would come. Most people receive their results before they turn twenty-five, and that’s less than a year away. Plus, she received a gift through the SoulBond system yesterday, a clear sign she should have checked her email. Still, it never felt real, that she’d receive this news.

Rey’s breath turns shaky as an IV of caffeine and paralyzing adrenaline rushes through her. There are two distinct feelings swirling in her, fighting for control. Fear, pure and cold and terrible, and something a little lighter, but still miles from joy. It’s not the normal reaction, she guesses, but it’s hers. Full of trepidation, she hovers over the message.

She clicks it.


From: SoulBond Account Forwarding Service

Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2019 7:46 AM

To: Rey Johnson

Subject: FW: New Message From Kylo Ren Available

From: [email protected]

Sent: Tuesday, January 1, 2019 7:34 AM

To: [email protected]  

Subject: Hi

Kira,

Happy New Year.

I hope it’s warm wherever you live. I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but if it’s warm wherever you are, I suggest we live there instead of here. If we ever live together. Soulmates don’t always, I guess? Either way, every winter here makes me want to move. Even for January it’s freezing. It was below zero this morning. That’s Fahrenheit. I don’t know if you use that or celsius.

I’m sorry. My first message to my soulmate and I’m talking about the weather. If you’re wondering, yes, I’m this awkward in real life. I’m also a master of self-depreciation.

Anyway, by the time you read this, I’ll have sent you a package. I plan to send it this morning, assuming the post office is open. The SoulBond delivery system looks questionable, so I hope you receive it, because my mother will kill me if it’s lost in the mail. I’m sending it to one of the SoulBond distribution centers and they send it to you from there? Like I said, questionable.

That’s enough awkward babbling before I ask the question.

Do you want to meet? Exchange info? Do you want to know anything about me? I’m a man, and Kylo isn’t my real name. Kira isn’t yours, either? My friend said the names they assign for anonymity are usually more normal, but Kylo’s an interesting one. 

I guess that was more than one question.

I’d love to tell you my name. Name, address, phone number, designation, anything.

I hope you want to meet. If you’d rather wait, that's okay, too. Meeting you is something I’ve wanted for a long time, but I would wait years longer if you need.

I hope to hear from you soon. 

Yours,

Kylo

 

Please do not respond to this message. To respond or to see further attachments, please log into your SoulBond account.


As she sinks into the chair she picked when she walked into the library—the chair that’s at a perfect vantage point to spot whether one of the librarians is coming to scold her again—Rey stares at the email, reading it over and over.

She has a soulmate. He exists. He’s a real person, somewhere out in the world. Her “perfect match.” The gift she received was proof, but this is even more proof. It’s not a surprise. Everyone has a soulmate (or two, or even three, though that’s rare). Most meet and sometimes even marry within days and live happily ever after (supposedly), but some are platonic. Some are even family, and the soulmate status acts as a way of deepening their friendship.

Kylo, or whatever his real name is, could be either kind—platonic, or romantic, but she doubts it’s romantic. It’s one thing to assume the system can match her to someone who might make an exceptional friend and a different thing to trust the system could match her to the person she will, without a doubt, fall in love with.

The temptation to stand and start pacing is overwhelming. Rey settles for biting at her lips.

Someone she could fall in love with.

That part sounds foolish. It sounds like a child’s fairytale, like the kind she heard from other kids at the orphanage: the tale where a poor beggar girl receives a letter and discovers her soulmate is a prince. It’s as unbelievable and starry-eyed as the stories of young sweethearts who refuse to read their soulmate results, only to find later they are each other’s perfect match.

As she rereads Kylo’s message, she decides not to share this specific opinion with him. He sounds hopeful, like the sort of person who trusts the system to find love. Sharing her thoughts outright seems cruel.

She taps her fingers in a drumming pattern on the desk and considers what information to share. It’s inadvisable to share everything within initial letters, though some do. The initial package all young adults receive warns against that for a very specific reason: the truth of having a soulmate is terrifying and overwhelming. It’s not unheard of for people to struggle with processing the news, especially in the case of sibling soulmates, though nobody else has handled it quite so poorly as the Boleyn sisters did.

Sitcoms and romantic movies that tell stories of enemies discovering their soulmate status are wildly popular, but in real life the results are more severe. What does a person do when they receive their results and discover their soulmate is their sibling’s boyfriend? Or when they find they’ve been matched to someone thirty years their senior? Or when an Omega, wishing to be mated to an Alpha, finds their soulmate is a Beta? There are countless reasons the system starts a new pair off with anonymous names and an anonymous messaging system. Easing into the new reality of being a soulmate and having a soulmate is crucial. The system has good reasons for being careful. 

Her fingers fiddle with the necklace she wears. She’s never been a jewelry person—whether it's a lack of interest or lack of jewelry, she’s not sure—but from the moment she checked her PO box and found the little wooden box, it hasn’t felt right to leave it in her backpack. Kylo went through a lot of effort to get it to her, and while he clearly has different expectations for their match, the gift was heartfelt. Rey glances down at it, her mouth curling up on one side at the tiny functional compass pendant that hangs from a long chain. It’s long enough so the pendant lands between her breasts, so she’s been wearing it under her sweater. The compass itself has a glass face, protecting the tiny dial inside. It’s barely the size of a quarter.

She stares for only another moment before tucking it back under her sweater and looking back to her computer. Kylo’s message is sitting there on her screen, waiting for a reply. The work she planned to do this morning is also sitting there waiting for her, but making him wait longer seems unfair when he’s already waited over two weeks. Steeling herself, she logs into her SoulBond account and begins to type.


From: [email protected]  

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Hi [DRAFT]

Kylo,

The necklace is beautiful. Thank you. I also don’t wish to presume anything related to our living situations.

For now, I prefer we use our anonymous names, because


Rey pauses, frowning at her screen and reading the words back to herself. She sounds like she’s accepting a job interview. It’s almost cold, which is perhaps not fair. At the very least, this man is guaranteed to make an exceptional friend, and right now she’s responding as though they are and will forever be strangers. She takes a calming breath, and tries again—tries to talk with him as she might a friend. 


From: [email protected]  

Sent:  Thursday, January 17, 2019 10:16 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: Hi

Kylo,

Hi.  Don't worry, all early messages between soulmates are probably awkward. What are we supposed to say? Hi, nice to meet you, sorry you’re stuck with me? 

For the record, the weather here is miserable. Winters are a mess of snow and freezing rain, springs are a mix of slushy melted snow and rain, summers are scorching, and fall is early winter. 

I appreciate you saying you’d be okay with waiting. I don’t mean to disappoint, but I’d like to get to know each other this way first. For now, I suppose I don’t mind saying my name is also not Kira, though it’s prettier than my real name. As far as designation, I’m an Omega, though I’m not sure I’m a very good one, and I’m a woman. 

It’s kind of you to have sent me a gift. I haven’t taken it off since it arrived, and I hope it wasn’t too much trouble to send me. Is there any significance behind the compass? It’s beautiful.

Can I ask, what’s your opinion on soulmates? What sort do you think we are?

Sorry, that’s an intense thing to ask in a first letter.

Thanks for writing, and thank you, again, for this necklace. It’s beautiful.

Kira 


Most of it is a vast improvement, though she already regrets asking him what sort of soulmates he thinks they are. It's clear he assumes they’re the traditional type, but the question is worth asking.

Kylo’s response is so quick it surprises her. She glances around to see if anyone noticed her computer chime before diving in, but the library is still just as empty as it was ten minutes earlier. Two grad students, ones she recognizes as fellow coffee-chugging library regulars, are lounging in the circle of uncomfortable red armchairs that splits the fiction section from the start of non-fiction, but the area is silent.


From: [email protected]  

Sent:  Thursday, January 17, 2019 10:24 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: RE: Hi

Kira,

Sorry, my message will be short since I’m at work, but I can’t believe you wrote back. 

We can wait as long as you want.

The compass. Forgive me, but it’s sappy and sentimental. It’s meant to guide you home, which is me, I hope. Or, maybe it might be me in the future.

As far as what kind of soulmates we are. Are you talking about how some soulmates are relatives, or close friends? I have one of those soulmate pairs in my family—siblings, my mother and uncle. Given how small my family is, we can cross family off the list, and I’ve never met a non-related and non-romantic Alpha-Omega soulmate pair, though I suppose it’s possible.

It’s up to you whether we meet or even exchange information, and I don’t want you to feel pressured to do either. I want to get to know you in whatever way you’re comfortable with.

I doubt Kira is prettier, but if you tell me your real name, we’ll know for sure.

Yours,

Kylo


Rey huffs, but she’s not annoyed. There’s a lot to process just from a handful of words. The compass hanging from her neck has a whole new meaning, and she’s not sure how to feel about it, so she moves on to the next bombshell—Alpha. Her soulmate is an Alpha, and he’s right. Given her designation and their lack of relation, the odds of them being anything but intended romantic soulmates is almost unheard of. 

She isn’t sure how to react to most of that, so she doesn’t.


From: [email protected]  

Sent:  Thursday, January 17, 2019 10:35 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: RE: RE: RE: Hi

Kylo,

It’s possible Kira is prettier than my real name. What if my parents were like the celebrities who give their kids strange names? What if my name is ‘Apple’, or ‘Camera’, or ‘Moon Unit’?

Kira


From: [email protected]

Sent:  Thursday, January 17, 2019 10:42 AM

To: [email protected]

Subject: [pretend I came up with a witty subject, I haven’t had coffee]

I have a feeling you might make a very cute Apple.

Sorry, I need to make coffee and get back to work.

Talk to you later?

Yours,

Kylo


Rey can’t help her laugh when she sees the subject line. 

It’s a little annoying how at-ease she is after just a few messages, so she closes the SoulBond messaging system and returns to what she came here to do—try to figure out what the hell she might write her thesis on. Per their shared calendar, her graduate adviser has them scheduled to meet tomorrow, and Rey cringes at the thought. He’s a wonderful person to work with, but she’s far from prepared. It’s not a meeting she’s looking forward to.

Spring semester at ChandrilaU is five days from starting, which means undergrad move-in starts tomorrow. It also means she can finally move into her new on-campus apartment, a blessing since she’s been sleeping on Finn’s couch for the entire three weeks of winter break. There’s only one day left. One more glorious day of having ChandrilaU’s library all to herself. These moments of quiet before thousands of undergrads return are priceless.

Rey leans back in one of the fancy neon green ergonomic desk chairs the University recently bought and props her feet up on the desk in front of her. The textbook she stole from reserves is propped on her lap, and she’s doing her best to avoid getting crumbs from her chips on it.

An annoyed throat clears from behind her, and Rey startles. The book slips from her lap as she attempts to slide her feet off the desk, and in catching it, she spills her bag of chips all over the floor. With a muttered swear, she glances back at whoever interrupted.

Shit.

She wants to sink into the floor. The new librarian, the one replacing Amilyn now that she’s taking a sabbatical, is staring at her, wearing a stony grimace and looking like the personification of a pissed off gargoyle. He’s exactly the person she was looking to avoid today. She should have stolen the book outright and taken it back to Finn’s.

His size only adds to the underlying threat in his glare. He’s massive. Typical for an Alpha. Rey doesn’t even need to sniff the air to know he is one, but she still takes a deep breath. Even from a distance he smells better than an armful of new books. It’s frustrating how just an inhale raises goosebumps over her skin.

“You again,” he sighs. His voice is rich, and deep. He gestures to her bag of chips, “I assume by now you know eating in the library—” Mid-sentence, his head tilts down, and she notices how his hair curls. It’s tousled, like he runs his hands through it whenever he’s lost in thought. An annoyed, strangled sound slips from his mouth. “Is that one of our reserve books?”

With her mouth full of chips, she shakes her head dumbly, and then swallows.

His eyes narrow. “It is, isn’t it? Look, there’s a blue sticker on the spine.”

“Okay, yes,” she groans. “Yes, it’s a reserve book, so sue me. The chairs in the reserve section have no lower back support and there’s someone using the photocopier, and that machine is obnoxiously loud. Is it a crime that I want to read in peace?”

He stares her down and folds his arms over his chest, his forearms straining against his rolled-up sleeves. “Library rules. Reserve books stay in the reserve room unless you want to buy a new copy for the library. I’m happy to look up the price for you. I can bill it to your student account.”

He says it as though there’s extra cash in her student account.

Rey groans again, grabs the book, and holds it out to him. “Fine. Take your stupid book.” 

The man huffs. He takes the text from her and studies it for a moment, then hums. “A Good Match: The Cultural Impact of Soulmates … interesting reading material.” 

She doesn’t bother snapping back the way she wants to, and instead logs out of the computer and shoves her things in her polka-dotted purple backpack that’s possibly a little too childish for a grad student. He’s still there, watching her with a burning curiosity. Under his gaze, there’s a fluttering in her chest, a shiver that goes up her spine. Typical, stupid Omega reactions.

Rey rolls her eyes, mostly at herself. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Why?” His head tilts again. He’s studying her like she’s prey, and it only firms her resolve. “Plan to submit another complaint about me?”

Ah, right. Slowly, she grins. “You were rude. And is that why you don’t wear a name-tag? Too many people would submit complaints?”

“So far I’ve only caught your attention,” he comments, the corner of his mouth twitching into a semblance of a smile. “Do you have any idea how long it took to fix what you did?”

“Don’t blame me for your books not being organized.”

He snorts. “I worry for the person who taught you how to organize books.”

“You didn’t even have them sorted!” she argues, finally snapping. “You had Ackbar’s book on soulmates stacks away from his autobiography! I did you a favor.”

“A favor?” He’s looking at her as though he’s bewildered and can’t decide whether to laugh or kick her out. “It took days to undo your mess. And why would those books be next to each other? Biographies and books on culture are in two different classes, of course they wouldn’t be—” he pauses then, and gives an exasperated sigh. “Do you know anything of the Dewey Decimal Classification System, or did you assume we organize all non-fiction by author and alphabetically?”

That gives her pause. “Dewey Decimal? I—well—no, but you didn’t need to be such an ass about it.”

“Probably not, no,” he admits. “But you didn’t need to submit a complaint. I know that was you.”

Rey glowers at him. “You yelled at me.”

“You deserved it.” 

She’s not above admitting that’s true, especially if she did cause that much additional work, and she’s about to mutter an apology when he mumbles, “Mouthy for an Omega, aren’t you?”

The sound she lets out is akin to an angry hiss. “Bringing designation into this was unnecessary, but now that you have, might I suggest stronger scent-blockers? You’re far from subtle.”

“Subtle? You want to talk subtle?”

From behind him, a throat clears, and Rey peeks past him to see a petite woman with a dark bob standing there with her arms crossed. It’s Rose, she thinks. One of the archivists.  “Did you both forget this is a library?” she asks tiredly, as though she’s in desperate need of coffee, or perhaps something stronger. If she works with him, Rey’s not surprised she sounds exhausted.

The man shuts up, his jaw working. It’s clear he’s struggling not to snap at her, and after a minute, he huffs and storms off. Just as well. Alphas can be a nightmare. It’s likely he can tell exactly how she’s reacting to his scent, and that’s not something Rey wants to dwell on.

Even though he’s stormed off, she slings her backpack on and gives the archivist a polite nod that hopefully counts for an apology as she leaves.

Studying at Finn’s will have to do.

~

Ben’s still trying to calm down when he gets to the library’s staff lounge. He runs through a breathing exercise, relaxing more and more by the minute now that he can’t smell her anymore. It’s almost regrettable. All Omegas smell of something to him—most good, though there’s the occasional person he’ll meet who is an obvious mismatch. She is not a mismatch. Most Omegas smell of fruits or like they’re wearing a nice perfume, but her scent isn’t a scent. It’s more like a feeling that comes over him when she’s nearby. Like a cozy, crackling fire bringing warmth despite a raging snowstorm outside. Like a fresh mug of tea enjoyed with his favorite book, or like sleeping in on a Sunday morning.

He sounds delusional.

Ben shakes his head and pours himself a cup of coffee. It’s nothing like a proper cup he’d make at home, but it’s better than nothing. He adds in a bit too much of the creamer he often swipes from Rose’s shelf in the fridge, and takes out his phone. It’s clear this is already becoming a bad habit of his—checking his SoulBond inbox obsessively, even during work.

Kira hasn’t messaged back in twenty-two minutes. He tries not to be disappointed. It’s a miracle she’s even replied at all. The idea that there’s someone out there for him is more than he could have asked for.

Ben stares at her last message to him, trying not to despair over her not jumping at the chance to meet, or at least exchange phone numbers. He’d do anything to hear her voice and not use this anonymous messaging system to talk with her.

“She reply?”

He glances back and sees Rose quirking an eyebrow at him, leaning against the entry to the staff lounge.

“Kira,” Rose clarifies, though she doesn’t need to. With a smile, the woman points out, “You’ve been staring at your phone for weeks. Better not let Snoke catch you. You know how he is about that stuff.”

Ben cringes. “I know. And, yes. She did.” Even he can hear the softness seep into his voice. “We emailed a bit this morning.”

“So when do I get to meet her?” Rose’s face is a cross between delighted and downright predatory. “I have lots of questions for anyone matched to you.”

He shakes his head, trying to muster up a meager grin, but her question makes his heart sink. “I don’t think she’s ready to meet. She wants to stick to anonymous messaging and the fake names for a while.”

“Oh. Well, that’s normal. Don’t let it bother you,” Rose says kindly. She crosses the room to get coffee for herself, giving him a look when she notices her creamer is already out on the counter. Ben has no doubt that if anyone save for him or Hux stole her sacred creamer, they might be ripped to shreds. She sighs. “You’re a menace. Anyway, it took Armie months before he even replied. I was frantic, but some people need time to adjust.”

The reminder is a relief. Rose, another Alpha, has been mated and married to her soulmate for almost a year now. The two of them are the closest thing Ben’s had to friends in a very long time. 

Rose clinks her coffee mug to his as if in celebration. “Hey, she messaged back. That’s huge, Ben. A big first step. What did you say? How did the conversation go? You declare your undying love yet?”

He hesitates for only a moment before the blush sets in. “No. I spent a whole paragraph talking about the weather.”

Rose snorts. “You bitch about it to everyone, why wouldn’t you include that in your message? Did you send the necklace? Did she like it? C’mon,” she prods, “I’ve been waiting forever to see you matched up. God knows it’ll take a hell of a person to be your soulmate. What’d she say? What’s she like?”

“Yeah, I sent it. She liked it, I think. She’s…” He hesitates, thinking over their brief conversation. “She’s funny. She wouldn’t tell me her real name, but said she’s an Omega, and she asked what kind of soulmates I think we are.”

As she sips her coffee, Rose hums. “Isn’t it something like less than five or ten percent of soulmate pairs are non-romantic? Must be a lot less for an Alpha-Omega pairings. Kind of a weird thing to ask.”

He shrugs. “Maybe it’s daunting. It is scary to think we’re a perfect match. There’s pressure there.”

“Mm, that’s true. I was terrified when Armie and I picked a day to meet. I kept worrying he wouldn’t like me once he met me—wouldn’t like my scent, or a woman being his Alpha. Paige was so annoyed with me. I spent the whole morning pacing around the airport waiting for his flight to get in until she laughed and told me I was worrying for nothing. She was right. It was silly. We were in love the moment we met.” Her smile falls, and she shrugs. “Daunting or not, how can anyone be sure unless they take the risk and meet their soulmate?”

It’s a good question. 

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to pressure her.”

“And you shouldn’t,” Rose agrees. “Especially since you just started talking.” She takes a few steps toward him and reaches up, frowning when she remembers she’s too short to ruffle his hair. Ben sighs, bending down to let her, and she laughs as she messes it up, like he’s her little brother. “She better change her mind soon, though. You’re too grumpy. I saw you grinning at your phone this morning, and if she can make you smile with an email, just think! When you meet in real life, you might laugh. It would be a miracle. We’d need to get a picture just to be sure it really happened.”

Ben rolls his eyes at her, though it’s playful.

“Just don’t let Snoke catch you pining,” she reminds him, her voice suddenly quiet. “You know how he feels about this soulmate stuff. He’ll be pissed if he thinks your work will be derailed by a soulmate.”

Ben grimaces. “What, did he assume I’d never have one? I can be both a librarian and a soulmate, and I don’t care about whatever career plans he has for me.”

“Glad to hear it,” she grins. On her way out of the lounge she turns back. “Oh, hey, your new roommate moves in tomorrow, right? It’s so weird that you still live in a University apartment.”

“It’s not like I’m in the dorms. It’s just University-owned, and it’s a lot cheaper. At least I don’t need to wait a month when I put in a work order for something. Commute’s easy, too.”

“Mm, well good luck. Let’s hope you don’t get someone miserable. If you lived off-campus you’d get to pick your own roommate, you know.”

With his eyes on his screen, which is displaying a new message from Kira, he nods absentmindedly. Rose’s words barely flit across his mind. 

There’s an odd sense of peace that comes with knowing she’s out there somewhere.

It’s like he’s spent his whole life as a broken compass, spinning without direction, in search of north. The spinning came to a screeching halt weeks ago, the moment he saw that first email from SoulBond, because there she was.

His north.