Soul Mate Service - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

THIRD PERSON POV
Blue, pink, green, purple...
Thaddeus stood like a statue, hands shoved into the deep pockets of his Construction Unit jumpsuit as he scanned the contents of the stall in front of him.
The tall man had yet to approach the vendor, standing across the walkway with a semi-permanent scowl marring his handsome features. He shifted in his spot, inwardly grumbling as he contemplated just what in the ever-loving fuck he was even doing here, espeically after such a rough shift.
However - despite his screaming calves and roughed up uniform - the tall man had somehow found the willpower to drag himself to the Market Pod. All to find this one, particular vendor that - hopefully - held the solution to all of his problems.
"I know just what you need," Mitty asserted with a lightbulb in his head, banging a fist down on the Lunch Pod table as he spoke past a giant bite of sandwich.
Thad had just finished a torturous admission, one that pained him to say and required that he speak it in a hushed whisper, as if it would make the words mean any less.
With a tight jaw, he had told Mit the truth.
No matter how much it confused him, no matter how much he wanted to act like it wasn't happening, he had to tell someone in fear of going absolutely crazy inside of his own skull.
He was having glints; tiny little slivers of time in which he felt something. Not love nor lust, but something, and all for that tiny little fuckin' mutant.
Whether it be the slightest, rogue hints of affection or - as Thad desired it to be - a strange sort of pity, the recent changes in the typically comforting desire to pummel Bug's adorable little face bothered him to no end.
Thad had to get answers. At least, before he pummeled his own head against the cement walls in utter frustration.
"... Listen, bro. There's this vendor in the Market Pod who sells clothes and shit," Mitty continued, chewing his turkey-and-cheese every few words, "Andrea buys stuff from there all the time. They're besties or whatever, so it's safe to assume they probably like the same stuff, right?"
Thaddeus nodded as he poked around his own lunch with a fork, trying to like he wasn't trying to savor the delicious food in the container until the very last bite. The man did so with a raised brow, as if wondering just where exactly his friend was going to take this seemingly random train of thought.
"Dunno." He replied with a shrug. If he and Mitty liked similar things, who was to say it wasn't the same for Bug and his friend?
"Exactly." Mitty grinned maniacally, and Thad could almost hear the dastardly plan in his voice, "And you say that your main issue is with him being a guy, right?"
Thad rolled his eyes.
"I mean, that lil' fuckin' mutantbarely counts as guy... but yeah, I guess that's a big part of the problem."
"Exactly. And I've got the perfect solution." Mitty repeated, leaned in halfway across the table as he finally brought his thought full-circle.
"Buy a dress for him from there and see how it makes you feel. If you're disgusted with him wearing it, you'll know that what you're feeling isn't about him at all, and it's probably just some weird, hormonal fluctuation. If you like it, you'll know you're actually straight because only girls wear dresses. Duh. Easy peasy, man."
"That will be fifteen credits please, sir."
Thaddeus' head snapped up at the Vendor's soft voice. The frail woman was on the older side, no doubt quickly closing in on the Society Mandated Termination Age of seventy. Her senior features were a sight most only saw on the faces of The Elders, as they were the only exemptions to the Termination Age mandate.
Deep wrinkles creased the planes of her kind face as she stared down at the item Thad held in a tight - almost bruising - grip.
The large man released a breath, fist relaxing along with it, as he finally looked down at what was in his hand with a tight brow and confused eyes.
He hadn't even remembered approaching the vendor, nor picking up the blush pink and white dress that he had apparently just been clutching hard enough to almost tear the soft fabric. However, the longer he examined the stupid, frilly thing, the more he began to understand why his subconscious mind may have chosen it.
'It's cute.' Thad found himself thinking with a deep frown, immediately disliking the way his brain seemed to be running away without him. But, despite his frustration, flickers of his conversation with Mitty had him sticking his arm out, travel tablet in hand.
"I need a bag." Thad clipped, tapping the top of his tablet against the Vendor's commerce exchange unit to pay.
The tell tale ping of the transaction going through made a cringe go through the man; he could practically feel his savings account dwindling from this - likely completely pointless - transaction.
"Here you go, sweetheart." The woman responded, a shaky hand reaching out to hand Thad a small, paper bag.
Thaddeus immediately snatched it, shoving the pink and white abomination inside before he turned on his heel and stomped his way out of the Market Pod, leaving an almost visible trail of irritation and thunder in his wake.
The Market Pod was on the complete opposite side of The Society but Thaddeus cleared the distance in half the time, fueled by the infuriating cognitive dissonance between his mind and body. A fundamental disagreement that had left the man so confused, too confused, over the past few days.
The scent of Peaches and hot food slammed against Thaddeus like a brick wall when the door of his Housing Pod finally slid open to allow him access. But this time, the typically ravenous man didn't give a single fuck about scarfing down dinner.
The familiar interior, with its gray, concrete walls and equally minimalist furnishings suddenly felt... off as he stepped inside, despite the space being left in exactly the same state as it was this morning, yesterday, and every single day before that.
There was something wrong, and the space just under Thad's skin itched to find and fix the discrepancy.
It was a raw kind of instinct that drove him forward, the man stalking around corners with a sly sort of slither, as if he was ready for anything that could possibly jump out at him. He barely registered his own movements as he toed through the space like it was a forest full of blood-hungry beasts, only settling the slightest bit when he reached the door to the space that was supposed to be the Soul Mate's shared bedroom.
"Hahaha!"
Thaddeus' shoulders relaxed a fraction at the sound of Aria's tinkling laughter that filtered through the cracks of the door, the peachy scent that accompanied the happy sound making the grumpy man's lips twitch upward.
'At least it's not that fuckin' disgusting ass metal this time.' He thought mindlessly, before tapping the control panel beside the door.
... And the very moment it began to slide into its little pocket in the wall, Thaddeus' blood pressure raised so high he thought it just might breach the Surface.
"Why the hell was he here?!" The man raged, resuming his previous stomping gait as he flamed his way toward the bed.
"Eee!"
Bug immediately startled, releasing a yelp as he jumped about six inches up from his spot on the bed. The small man's eyes were wide with fright, thin fingers clutching the thick book that he held in both hands so tightly that the spine looked like it wanted to scream for mercy.
Those big, blue peepers moved a mile a minute, trying desperately to gather information as they shifted between a Thaddeus' face - which was visibly bright red despite his significantly darker skin tone that liked to hide rushes of blood - and the practically shredded paper bag clutched in his left fist.
"Huh?!" Bug finally breathed out, nervous system finally settling down as he recognized that the intruder was not - in fact - some kind of robber.
If it wasn't already clear, Bug was quite afraid of robbers. He'd read all about them in the countless novels he'd checked out from The Society Library, and they were one of his biggest fears. Therefore, the sight of Thaddeus' furious, but undeniably handsome face was a welcome alternative despite his initial fright.
"You know exactly who the fuck I'm talking about!" The large man continued to bellow, chest heaving in and out as he tried - and failed - to contain his rapidly unraveling fury.
Thaddeus could smell that fucker everywhere in the room, could practically taste the man against his tongue as his scent mingled with one that it should never, ever touch.
Because fuck no, that peach scent could never, would never be tainted by any other scent but his own.
He wanted to punch a hole in the wall, but instead opted for the less-satisfying option of digging fingernails into the flesh of his palm as his last sliver of rationality reminded him of his current status as already on exceedingly thin ice with The Elders.
But god, he wanted to hurt something. Hurt him.
Bug blinked, confusion evident in his stare.
"... Do you mean Uriah?" The small man squeaked.
Thaddeus rolled his eyes so far back in his head he thought for a moment they might get stuck.
"Who the fuck else would I be talking about?!" He practically hollered, and Aria could almost see the smoke coming out of the larger man's ears, pressurized and hot like he had an overdue tea kettle instead of a brain.
The sound of that man's name only served to throw coal on the flames, and Thad immediately felt all the more incendiary.
"And don't try to lie to me, I can literally smell his stench all over you." He finished with a growl, the desire to wash his sinuses of the stink quickly becoming more of a need, one that would soon be necessary to keep him from seeking out that man's Housing Pod and teaching him yet another lesson about infringing on someone else's territory.
Aria whined deep in his throat, eyes dropping down to the duvet as he clutched his book to his chest like a safety blanket.
"I... he's a friend..." The smaller man trailed off, nibbling his lip as he tried to push through the nervousness that came with exposure to Thad's intimidating stature and prickly personality. "He walked me home from Instructional Unit today, and I wanted to show him my books so I invited him in. That's all..." He breathed softly, the last word ending with a nervous squeak.
Thads' nose twitched, and suddenly he sensed something much worse than Uriah's wet sock and corn-chip smell.
This time, it was rust.
He almost sneezed as it assaulted him at once, wiggling its way through his nasal passages, up his sinuses and straight into his brain to punch a hole directly through the spot that held all of that pent-up rage.
And then - like magic - his anger just... disappeared.
Well, mostly. Thaddeus still had many other areas of his psyche that clung tenaciously to anger. It was a fundamental part of him that wouldn't be going anywhere, anytime soon.
But for now, at least he didn't feel quite as rampantly homicidal as before. He didn't have time to be, not when his brain was rapidly filling with the overwhelming need to fix it.
He had made Bug sad - the rusty metal in his nose a clear indication of wrongdoing - and Thad rapidly scrambled to find a way to change the conversation to something, anything, that would make it better.
His arm shot out.
"I got you a gift."
Bug's delicate features immediately shifted from fear to complete and utter confusion.
"Are you... talking to... me?" He asked incredulously, sticking a string between the pages of his book before setting the giant thing down on top of the duvet.
"Are you insinuating that I talk to myself, Bug? That's rude."
"No, I-"
"Good. Now quit staring at me like I have two heads and take the damn thing before I decide that it's better off at the bottom of the incinerator." Thad ordered, still not feeling particularly angry but still unable to keep the sass out of his words nonetheless.
Despite their harshness, Bug treasured those words, knowing there were many, many worse things that Thaddeus could - and typically would - have chosen to say.
Unable to keep his blush at bay, Bug reached out, tentatively moving to take the brown bag from Thaddeus' outstretched hand as if it would be ripped away from him at any moment.
Once - to Bug's surprise - a bait-and-switch did not occur and he settled the crumpled bag into his lap, the man could barely contain his curiosity as he wondered what this... gift could possibly be.
Fingers shaking with anticipation, Aria slowly pulled the edges of the opening apart, and his brow soon crinkled as a pink-and-white garment was freed from its crumbling confines.
The folded fabric fell open in Aria's hands as he held it up in front of him, head tilting and lips pursing as he finally realized just what his gift was.
"Um, is this...?"
"Uhh, yeah," Thaddeus shuffled on his feet, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he tried to keep himself from doing something awkward like scratching the back of his head like a fuckin' idiot. "I mean, The Elders let you keep your hair long, and you always wear those nightgowns so I thought... and then I saw that at the Market Pod and I don't know, I thought maybe you might like it or something, I don't know." He rambled, forcing himself to stop after the second 'I don't know' signaled he was quickly moving into dangerous territory.
Thad hadn't imagined this part being so hard.
He had expected to just say something like 'put this shit on or else' and easily get his way, as he typically always did. But now that he was here - staring directly into Aria's big, confused eyes - he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Oh, well..." Aria began, feeling slightly winded from Thad's discombobulated speech as if it had come from his own lungs. "I... It's... it's cute. Thank you."
The small man wasn't lying. Not really.
He did think the dress was absolutely adorable, with its frilly skirt and slightly puffed sleeves. Other than his nightgowns and Instructional Uniforms, Aria had only ever worn the society-provided casual wear both around the house and while going for outings as a child.
His parents were scientists after all - practical, frugal, and certainly not believers in spending extra credits on items whose only purpose was visual appeal.
Regardless of his humble upbringing, Aria couldn't help the gentle desire to own something that he could be confident in, something that wouldn't fit so weirdly around all of his awkwardly pronounced curves.
However, as he blinked wordlessly at the garment, Aria wasn't exactly sure that this was it. Maybe it would be cute on one of his Instructional Unit students, but certainly not him.
"Are you gonna try it on or what?" A gruff voice interrupted Bug's thoughts, and he finally lowered his arms back down to the bed right along with the dress.
Admittedly, the small man had only planned to shove the thing into the furthest corner of his dresser, never to be seen again after Thaddeus made his exodus. But, instead, he flashed a tight smile over to Thaddeus as he slid to the end of the bed.
Even if the dress wasn't exactly to his liking, the last thing he wanted to do was offend Thad. If there was anything that Aria was afraid of, it was making someone feel bad.
Well, right alongside robbers, that is.
So, he simply nodded his head.
"Yeah, of course! I'm just going to..."
Bug backed himself into the closet with a too-big smile, pulling the doors closed behind him. The small room was completely dark, the only light coming from the sliver of light under the door, but Aria didn't mind as he worked at the buttons of the dress with trembling fingers.
Making a mental reminder to retrieve his dirty clothes from the closet floor at some point tonight, Aria finally pulled the garment up his slim body and shimmied around to reach the buttons on his back. Then, finally, Aria stood, fully clothed in the frilly abomination.
But... as he wiggled around, trying to get used to the new sensations, Aria couldn't help but notice how the fabric seemed to conform perfectly to his wide hips and much smaller waist as no clothing ever had before. Plus, the skirt allowed for so much movement in the leg area that Bug couldn't help but wonder how easy it would be to join his Instructional Unit students on the carpet without the usual fear of ripping his mandated jumpsuit due to his abnormally large bottom.
The closet doors swung out wide as Ari pushed them open, taking a deep breath before stepping out himself.
Thaddeus' head snapped up at the sound of creaky doors, elbows resting on rapidly bouncing knees as the man sat on the ottoman beside the bed.
And then, he had a fucking aneurysm.
That was the only logical explanation for what happened next - how his body and mind responded to the sight before him.
Aria was... he was...
Not knowing what to do with his hands, Thaddeus used one to cover his mouth, index finger spread across the bridge of his nose. His gaze shifted back-and-forth, back-and-forth, suddenly terrified at the idea that if he looked too long, a heart attack was sure to follow his impromptu aneurysm.
This was a terrible idea. A horrible, amazing, dreadful, wonderful fucking idea.
The dress fit. It fit perfectly.
... Too perfectly. Too everything.
Mitty had been so wrong, so absolutely and abhorrently incorrect in his judgment of what his proposition would supposedly solve.
If anything, the little plan of his only resolved to make things a million fucking times worse. Because no amount of denial could substantiate the suggestion that Thaddeus somehow wasn't currently having a visceral reaction to the sight in front of him, and the man certainly wasn't seeing - or wishing for - a woman in Bug's place.
No, what he was seeing - wrapped up like a glove in the dress he picked out - was all Aria; the little annoying ass mutant that made his blood boil in so many different ways that Thaddeus had honestly started to lose track.
Thaddeus had to get out. He knew he to escape that damn room, the one that had rapidly become his own, personal torture chamber. But even then, he found that the idea of tearing his gaze away from those voluptuous curves, or the way the pink fabric so excellently complimented Bug's undertone was such an unwieldy feat that he would rather be assigned to Excavation for the rest of the year if it meant he could just stare forever.
"How... How do I look?"
Bug's voice did something to him then. Something so horrible that even Thaddeus - king of pride - found himself spiraling into the pits of embarrassment.
So, in a last-ditch effort to save whatever pitiful residual of pride that was left, Thaddeus forced himself to his feet, hand still stuck over his mouth and eyes wide as he turned and hauled ass right out of the door that he came in.
For the very first time in his over-inflated life, the cocky man was completely and utterly lost for words, left sputtering as he nearly tripped over his own feet and anxiously palmed at the painfully hard flesh between his legs.