text — un: harrington ;

[fawcetted]

[ It's the kind of network message that pops up in the quietest, darkest part of the night — when it's just a guy and his thoughts and anxieties in an all-too-silent house. He's surrounded by dumpster-quality furniture and a cat-emblemed pillow that veers on possessing suspicious origins, not that anyone can see any of his living quarters through text. ]

i don't want to panic anyone but it's pretty late and it's been a few days and i don't know, maybe i just need to calm down but

does anyone have an explanation for what happens when your soulmate kinda ... goes missing?

[ Steve really wishes there was a proper instructions manual or something. Not that he'd read through it because who has the time for that, but. It'd be something.

The line goes quiet for a moment, or maybe Steve's said what he's needed to say, before another message pops up from the same username. ]

Honestly, shit's going exactly the way I thought it would. Thought maybe Munson would stick around, thought maybe we were, you know, starting to become friends, and you'd think the soulbond thing would count for something but noooo, he just split. Found a way to get out of here, left his phone, went back to Hawkins and didn't have the decency to leave a goddamned note.

Even he couldn't stand the pathetic loser that Steve Harrington's become.

[ And just like that, the message is sent for all to see before the line really does cut off. Embarrassing. ]




[ ooc: in case it isn't clear, the last bit of text is courtesy of steve's very unpleasant shadow who has adopted an edgelord personality circa livejournal 2001. ]

Comments

[fawcetted]

shit, not again

okay add that to a growing list of problems i guess

[chokuto]

You should review what you share more thoroughly next time.

How can you tell your soulmate is missing? What is the experience like?

[fawcetted]

hey i was done with my post, all right

it looks like ... something went back to add a little extra commentary

[ And he's starting to think he has an idea of what, now that he's been here long enough.

Anyway. ]

it's super uncool, man

i thought i couldn't feel him but i'm trying to do that focus-y thing someone mentioned to me earlier

and i think it's working because i thought he was gone, you know? like maybe he managed to leave from here or something

but it doesn't feel like that even though i've got no idea where he physically is

[chokuto]

At this point, you must know what it was. It's not some separate entity from you. Those thoughts and intentions have meaning behind them.

[Sounds like you need to work on some shit, Steve.]

"Focus-y thing". I don't know what that's supposed to be.

So he doesn't feel gone? Can you sense him at all even if it isn't a physical location? It's possible the soulmate bonds are more of an emotional tether. Keep your mind clear.

[fawcetted]

yeah, okay, what are you my shrink?

[ Hm, yes, it seems that Sasuke might have struck a nerve there, and Steve doesn't like it. AKA local 80s man refuses to believe that there's any shit to work out. He's fINE. ]

i think i've got a pretty good idea of who or what it is but that doesn't mean it's really part of me, okay



the focus-y thing! you know, just like you said with keeping my mind clear

so i did that and once i got past the panic i guess i felt a different kind of panic that wasn't me, you know?

[chokuto]

[What the hell is a shrink.]

Of course it's part of you.

You mean meditation. So it allowed you to more clearly sense "Munson's" emotions? If you're certain it isn't you, then it means he's still present in this dimension. You should go find him.

[That's your responsibility to your soulmate.]

[fawcetted]

if he really is here, then yeah absolutely

i just have literally no leads

except the gallows, i guess

[ Thanks, Grimm. ]

[chokuto]

That could be possible. If he is not capable of defending himself, a Reaper may have abducted him in order to harvest his soul.

Restless don't survive the process. You should hurry and locate him soon.

[fawcetted]

jesus christ, harvest his soul???

[ No, this doesn't come to him as a surprise. That's literally what Reapers do, right? And yet to read the truth of it like that ... ]

shit

[ Shit — ]

guess i'm really going to the gallows

[chokuto]

Good luck.

[You can do it, Steve.]

[fawcetted]

thanks

[ These anime bros with their can-do attitudes and their blase 'just go to the gallows, save your soulmate, what's the big deal?' bit. It's — it's crazy is what it is.

But okay. Okay, he can do this. Even if the anxiety and panic and dread of it all has him breaking out in a cold sweat, it's ... fine! ]