Matthias was really sorry for him or her.

In a world where you felt the pain your soulmate feels, whoever had Matthias as their soulmate was very unlucky.

That would be Lukas Bondevik. Lukas Bondevik had learned at a young age, just like everyone else, that those bruises and scrapes that magically appeared were because of one's soulmate. Whatever happened to your soulmate happened to yourself. For instance, if one scraped their elbow, the scratch would appear on both them and their soulmate. But once you met your soulmate and touched for the first time, the injuries stop happening.

Ever since Lukas could remember, he had always had some kind of pain on him, be it a bruise on his knee, or a scalded tongue from drinking something that was too hot. Lukas had gotten used to it, as everyone did, but it was still an unpleasant surprise sometimes to feel a sharp pain in his ankle or some other injury. It could be worse, reasoned Lukas to himself. His little brother, Emil, had a pet puffin and when they were younger, Emil had been bitten multiple times by the bad tempered bird. Whoever was Emil's soulmate must have wondered how their soulmate managed to get so many cuts on their fingers. Lukas suspected it was that quiet asian kid with the odd eyebrow because he was always wearing gloves that were bulky like they covered band aids. Lukas himself was not a very accident prone person, only getting the occasional bump. But people always assumed he was because of the band aides and bruises he always seemed to have somewhere. It was a good thing they lived in a relatively cold place where no one would think twice if he wore sweaters and long sleeves all year long.

Lukas knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up with not just one, but two injuries. His toe throbbed like it had been stubbed and spikes of pain shot through him when he gingerly touched a cut on his fingertip he got yesterday. He gritted his teeth and swung his legs out of bed, touching his feet to the cold wood floor when he felt his foot throb, like someone had stepped on something familiarly cube shaped... Stretching his back, he made his way downstairs to start the coffee maker, a regular morning ritual for him. The stairs creaked as he made his way down and into the kitchen. Swinging open the cupboard, he took out the coffee powder bag, which seemed very light. He turned to the fridge where a post-it note said in his little brother's neat scrawl, 'We're out of coffee. Sorry'. Grumbling to himself, he went back upstairs to freshen up. He would have to go to the coffee shop on the corner to get his usual caffeine, thanks to Emil.

When he was done, he knocked on the closed door to Emil's room.

"Emil," he called out.

A muffled grunt and a squawk answered from the room.

"I'm going to get coffee. I'll be back soon," he carried on, and then left the house without further ado, being sure to lock the door behind him as he went.

A short walk later, Lukas entered the coffee shop, pushing open the door with a tinkle and breathing in the coffee laced air, allowing his shoulders to relax at the familiar scent of brewing coffee. The door behind him swung shut with a thud and a small "ow...".

Wait.

Doors don't talk…?

And suddenly he felt the pain. Right in the middle of his forehead, the first angry tendrils of pain flashing through him. Lukas made sure to keep his face blank, emotionless, like he had trained himself to do when he was younger, annoyed at the concerned questions that always came up. Resisting the temptation to look behind him, he ordered his coffee as usual and denied an ice pack for his forehead ('Are you sure sir? It looks very pink..'). After giving his name, he moved to the side to wait for the coffee. The next customer in line was his soul mate.

His soul mate.

His soul mate was a blonde with spiky gelled hair that added a few inches to his height (not that it needed any help). And as Lukas listened to him order a (hey! it was his soulmate, after all) he confirmed that it was the same voice that had said 'ow' earlier. He leaned in when the cashier asked for his name, which Lukas' soulmate gave cheerfully. "Mathias," he had said with a happy grin. The cashier gave him a smile back and said his order would be ready in a few minutes. Lukas moved away quickly as to not look like he was listening in (even if he was).

One of the employees called his name for his coffee, and Lukas went to get it, still in a daze. He had (sorta) met his soulmate, something he had thought of for a long time. He had imagined mostly scolding him for being so clumsy all the time, truth be told. Especially when there was a particularly painful injury. But he didn't think he would be so… Attractive? Lovable? Tall? (He had always imagined himself towering over them while telling them off for getting so many injuries.)

Still lost in thought, he forgot to get a cap for the scalding hot drink and turned around too swiftly. The burning coffee on his left hand made him hiss in pain, and nearby, Matthias yelped, even though none of the liquid had landed on him.

"Aww man, are you okay?" Matthias asked him anxiously, clutching a fist full of napkins he swiped from a nearby table. For the first time, Lukas got a good look at his face, almost childlike but with features that looked like they belonged on a magazine, complete with two round blue orbs staring at him concernedly. Swiftly, Lukas took the napkins and used them to try to salvage his sweater sleeve.

"I'm fine," answered Lukas cooly. Of course, the first time his soulmate sees him and he spills coffee all over himself. Nice one, Lukas, he thinks sarcastically. Emil was going to have a field day when he heard of this.

"Are you sure?" pressed Matthias, scooting closer to Lukas with more napkins.

"I'm fine," Lukas repeated insistently, "I just need to put cold water on it." He knows that from experience. He drags Matthias with him to the bathroom of the coffee shop, taking care to grab his upper left arm.

"So…. Is there a reason you dragged me with you to the bathroom?" Matthias asks as he watches Lukas run his left hand under the faucet.

Lukas looks back at him and gives him a look like 'are you really this thick you idiot?' and says, "You should put water on your hand, too."

This makes Matthias' face light up with recognition. "Oh yeah, some of your coffee got on me!"

Lukas really, really really wants to facepalm, but both of his hands are wet. So he settles for a scathing "Your hand isn't even wet, idiot."

"Oh. Umm…"

"We're soulmates," Lukas says, waiting for that to sink in.

Instead, Matthias holds his hands up in a defensive move. "Woah, hey, okay, I know I'm good looking and all and I just helped you, but I'm just being nice!"

Lukas takes a deep placating breath. Why did his soulmate have to be so dense?

"The day before yesterday," he says instead of insults, "you got a papercut on your right pinky finger."

Matthias' brows scrunch up and he holds his pinkies up to eye level, one of them adorned with a silly kid band-aide. "Wait…" he starts.

"Today," Lukas plows on, not letting any frustration leak into his voice, "you stubbed your toe. And you stepped on a lego."

He winced as Lukas listed off the past injuries, and said sheepishly, "Yeah…. I have a lot of legos. But, I mean, Legos aren't that bad."

Lukas' eye twitched. "Not that bad?" he asked in a low voice.

Matthias' eyes widened. "Um no," he hastily amended, "they're horrible. Really, really, bad. They're… the bane of our existence?"

When he went back to tending to the burn, Matthias let out the breath he was holding and tried to make small talk.

"So." he started. "I guess we're soul mates now?"

Lukas hummed in confirmation as he turned off the tap and inspected his hand. Deeming it fine, he grabbed Matthias' hand and dragged him over to the sink to rinse it with water. "Idiot," he grumbled under his breath, "why are you so clumsy all the time?"

He grinned. "I wasn't the one who spilled coffee all over myself when I saw my soulmate for the first time. Of course, I don't blame you. I am pretty attractive." He waggled his eyes at his reflection in the mirror hanging above the sink.

"You are so full of yourself. And you were the one who walked into a door."

"Sorry about that."

"Does it happen that often?" Lukas asked conversationally, letting go of Matthias' hand so they could stand face to face.

"Does what happen often? Me bumping into doors? Um well there was that time-"

"No, people trying to convince you that you're soulmates," he interrupted, going back to Matthias' immediate defense in response to his original declaration.

"Hm… Sometimes."

"Like who?" Lukas asked, trying to keep his voice flat. He wasn't curious, just… trying to make small talk.

"Uh there was this lady who cornered me in this alley way one time, but most of them aren't that… creepy."

Lukas said sharply, "Most of them?"

"Yeah, they see me on ads and stuff and they're like 'OMG!'" Matthias imitated in a falsetto, "'I love you! We're, like, totally soulmates!'"

"You do ads?"

"Yeah, that's how I make my living."

"Ads… for what?"

"Clothes mostly, from this popular clothing line…Haha yeah, the modeling company hates it when I show up to photo shoots with bruises and stuff, so they have to cake on makeup and use photoshop all the time."

That explained it. After getting a better look at Matthias, he recognized him from a magazine that he had found Emil looking at the other day in the supermarket.

"So, what do you do?" Matthias asked as they left the bathroom. They sat down at an empty table that the flow of people from earlier had vacated.

"I play in a symphony orchestra. Hey," he flagged down a waitress, "Can I have a coffee? Black. Thanks."

Matthias wrinkled his nose in confusion. "How do you even drink that stuff? Seriously," he said, shuddering in disgust.

"I just do. And I'm guessing you drink something abnormally sweet that is designed to give you cavities?" replied back Lukas teasingly.

"It tastes good though!" and they both laughed at the childish response.

Hours later, Lukas finally noticed the darkening sky outside as he heard the person working the counter bidding one of the few customers that had come at the late hour goodbye. He took out his phone hurriedly and checked the time. 7:38, it read in bright white letters against his background picture of a scenic view of Norway he took last summer. There were also a couple texts from Emil, most of them saying something along the lines of, "Why aren't you home yet? I hope there's a good reason". Casting an apologetic glance at Matthias, who was sipping at a coffee that must have gone cold ages ago, he gently touched his hand that was resting on the coffee table. Startled at the sudden contact, Matthias cast him a curious look. "Something wrong?"

"It's getting late... Can I have your number?"

With a mischievous smirk, he said, "You're going to have to try harder than that!"

Lukas merely looked back at him with impassive eyes, the smallest of smiles quirking his lips. His phone buzzed again, its screen lighting up to show another message from Emil. "For not replying to all my messages and ditching me at the mall without a ride, you better be bleeding to death in an alley way somewhere."

Matthias read it over the table. "Harsh," he commented as he rummaged around in his designer jeans to pull out his phone.

Lukas sent a quick text back, telling Emil he would be back soon. After exchanging numbers, Lukas stood to go. Matthias smiled at him warmly. "Be sure to stay in contact! I hope we can do this again soon." he added the last part almost bashfully, like a schoolgirl with a crush on a classmate.

"Of course." Then he left the coffee shop, the bell tinkling cheerfully after him, thinking about Matthias' blue eyes crinkling in laughter and not really feeling concerned about the scolding his brother was sure to give him when he got home.