The Soul Bond Meme

[disassembling]

"I can't live without you...literally."

Wake up. Do what you have to. Work. School. Save the world. Avenge your father's death. Go back to sleep. Average day, for human, demon, sailor scout, angel, slayer, what have you. Though there's some part of you that wonders, in the back of your mind, if this is the day you'll meet your bond.

Because your world is just like ours - or how yours was, in another universe - but with one addition: the soul bond. The soul bond is a concept as old as time itself. People don't question the process, it just is. Some say that it comes from the beginning of time, where each soul was created in a pair, and throughout the lifetimes those souls are reborn into, they search for each other. This is the soul bond. Even if that's mostly faded into myth, it's generally excepted that there is only only one person for anyone. So, soulmates.

Not exactly. Soul bonds are more. They are about the joining of bodies: sexually and psychically. The bond isn't necessarily about love, though the close connection facilitates that emotion growing, and some fondness does appear in almost every case. It's bigger than love, bigger than hate, bigger than anything else; it's finding yourself in someone else, and your never wanting to lose that. Needless to say, the soul bond is the cornerstone of life and society. Marriage is reserved for the bonded, and you're expected to be searching for that other half. There's a good biological reason for that, too, as the unbonded cannot reproduce and those who have not found their bond are doomed to die extremely early in comparison to their peers and in a most painful, withering fashion. Who would want that?

In this world, sex is had with those who are not the other half of your bond, even if society considers that frivolous. For the truth is, sex with any other will never be as good as sex with your other half. When you make love to someone who isn't yours, you'll know it. It's a disappointment.

When you so much as see your bond for the first time, or at least for the first time after you've reached sexual maturity, you'll know, even if you're already "with" someone else. The signs are inescapable. You'll know it's them. You'll become hyper-focused on them, your heart will race, your muscles tighten, your brain shoot off every signal it nose...and you will become aroused beyond belief. Any arousal you've had prior pales in comparison. So go ahead, if you don't want a bond, ignore it. Try. It won't work. The more you ignore it, the more control you'll lose. Did I forget to mention? In this world, sexual drives are a little more animalistic than usual. They would have to be when the mainstay of the races is a sexual-based bond. Those who try to ward off the desire to become one with their other half can achieve mild success - until they absolutely lose themselves. It's not uncommon to see bonds going at it in the streets, unabashed and unashamed, for trying to hold off the inevitable. Sex between bonds in public, generally, is not looked down upon.

You've given in. Of course you did. But what now? The first time you have sex with your bond, it will be beyond compare. You will share memories with each other, as this is the opening of your psychic connection with them. Yes, psychic connection. How would you expect to be truly bonded otherwise? How strong this link is depends on how often you have sex. Even at baseline, though, you'll know if your bond is hurt or in trouble. Fair warning: this will pull at that animal brain, and you will go into a beserker mode to get them back with you. Similarly, you will behave in a territorial manner if you feel the bond is threatened; jealousy often results in shameless public sex, in hopes to re-establish the strength of your connection and make your bond realize that YOU'RE the other part of them, no one else. In addition, bonds don't handle separation well and each partner will be antsy and on edge. It can be done, and most pairs do because of work, duties, and life in general, but returns are usually accompanied by sometimes days-long sex sessions.

Aside from those quirks, the bonding process can be quite useful. A bond can calm you down, and sex with your bond can serve as the ultimate relaxer. Your bond is the one who can heal you, and sex boosts your strength and power. Yes, those of you looking to achieve your ultimate goal...or ultimate form. Being a bond makes you stronger. Don't resist, no matter how surly you are.

The bond is no respecter of person. Outside of sexuality such as straight or gay, types or species don't matter. You could be bonded with someone as different from you as night and day. However, no matter what the case, you'll begin to care for them in some fashion. You'll feel the need to be with each other as much as possible, both sexually and otherwise. They'll become the most important person in the world to you. Of course, this is assuming your bond is someone you can feasibly be with. Perhaps there is some truth to that reincarnation business, as sometimes, those souls are reborn into people who are never meant to be bonds - warring tribes, at-odds species, and even relatives or people with a great amount of age between them.

The bond is permanent. This is the person you were meant to be with, after all, until you die (and soul bonds usually die within years of each other). Theoretically, though, it can be broken. Mostly, this is done when one side betrays the other side somehow. As the bond is initiated through sex, it's broken in the same way. What happens next is rarely pretty. Police reports usually find the bodies of the dead bonded, cause of death specifically unknown.

Head spinning yet? It shouldn't be! This is the world you live in.

rules
- Comment with your character, preferences, what you're interested in, and what you're not interested in.
- Crosscanon tagging is expected and encouraged. Mention if you want to make some kind of canon-insertion AU with one of the characters or just have a nebulous AU.


prompts

Meeting - You see your bond in that way for the first time, and it's done. You're done. You have to have them to be complete.

Trying to Fight It - No, you're the type who rebels against this whole "soul bond" system. You're the master of your own design, and you won't give in despite the fact that you could just start masturbating right now.

Failure to Fight - The whole fighting thing didn't work out, and now you're going at each other like you'll die of thirst.

First Time - The legendary first time with soaring sensations, amazing orgasms, and the sharing of memories.

Not the Sharing Type - You're a private person and don't want your brain in someone else's. How can you reconcile this? Maybe doing the act can change your mind. Or maybe you just want relief so badly, you don't care.

Feedback - You feel all of your partners pleasure as well as their pain. If you can't come up with something kinky, I can't help you.

Dirty Thoughts - You know what's naughty? Sending mental images of what you'd like to do to your bond through your connection. It's like mental sexting - or a fun way to torture them.

Learning About Each Other - You're learning what both of you like and don't like and sharing as you go.

Jealousy - Someone tried to approach your bond and it made you a bit miffed. Now it's time for some affirmation of the connection and to make sure that you're still on their mind.

Rough Bond - Your bond is more hate than love sometimes, but it's a thin line. Besides, you still care more about them than anyone else, and god forbid someone hurt them. Besides, rough sex is fun.

Separation - You'll be apart for a while. You need one last hurrah

Reunion - You're back together. Now to make up for lost time. Not just because you want to, either.

Public - Remember how I said sex in public is accepted for bonds. Why not take advantage?

Chasing That High - You keep having sex with people, trying to find you bond.

Chasing That Low - In contrast to the above, you're trying to keep away from a bond by desensitizing yourself to sex.

Bond Party - Some young people throw "mixers" where, hopefully, you may meet your bond. Experimentation is bound to happen...even experimentation with multiple people at the same time, trying to find that one.

Can Never Be - Your bond is with someone you shouldn't have one with. They're your sworn enemy, your teacher, or your sibling. Your body and soul says yes, but your mind says no.

Strengthen - You need energy to defeat the big bad or rule the world. Go to your bond and recharge.

Comfort - A bond is often the only one who can calm their other half down, and that sometimes happens through a grounding via sex, bringing the upset party back to what really matters.

Healing - Healing wounds and healing the connection all comes down to body pressed against body. Just be careful of blood.

Long Time Bond - You've been together for some time now and you know each other like the back of your hands. You can make them come in ten seconds flat if need be, but it's more fun to drag things out, isn't it?

Ritual - You want to make your bond official in the eyes of the government. Unsurprisingly, the marriage ceremony is ritualistic sex.

Impregnation - There's no fertilization between the eggs and sperm of non-bonds, so one surefire way to make sure everything's on the up and up is to get pregnant.
Mind Games - Being psychically connected is all good until they fuck with your head.

Dependency - It's not always easy, being for, all intents and purposes, addicted to a person. You need them like you need breathing, and you'll take what you can even if you're ashamed.

Already with Someone - You love someone, but they're not your bond. Can they keep you when you meet your real bond?

I'm Not Yours, You're Not Mine - You know you're not bonds. Still you want them to stay with you and you'll do anything and try to be better.

False Bond - You thought you were bonded, you really did, until you met them

Faking It - There are benefits to faking a bond, including for safety, financial gain, and to secure alliances. Of course, you can't fake it in the bedroom.

Manipulating - You'll get what you want, even if you have to lie and pretend you're bonded to them...how you can fake that, no one knows, but it's worth a shot.

It's Not Me, It's You - Sometimes, mistakes are made. They're your bond, but you're not theirs.

Break the Bond - Because you have a death wish or a snuff kink.

My Ex-Lover is Dead - Your soul bond is gone and you're trying to fill the gap.

OR MAKE UP YOUR OWN


Now made with 10x more awful because Brock Rumlow is involved in it. I regret nothing and neither should any of you.

Comments

[eleutheria]

As tenuous as their bond was, she was still able to somehow feel the moment he got angry –even if she wasn’t exactly sure about the reason, she knew Tony could be quite annoying but the man hadn’t said anything yet to piss Bucky off unless it had been the nickname. Her expression fell a bit when he left the kitchen before she could say anything to him and she turned to glare at Tony a bit. The man just held up his hands and moved to get his coffee looking as innocent as he could manage; she just sighed and decided to leave her bond mate alone for the time being.

And maybe that was why, after that incident in the kitchen, Stephanie had made it a bit of a mission to spend as much time with Bucky as she could manage without being to overbearing or grating on his nerves. Which no one in the tower questioned, since it wasn’t rare for soul bonds to try to gravitate to each other and be near the other after a long separation or if something that had endangered their lives had happened, God knew that had happened when Clint returned and Natasha hadn’t let him out of her sight, Stephanie was kind of doing the same in a way.

She did missed her best friend and soul bond, she of course knew things wouldn’t be the same, but she had no trouble adapting to who he was now and she hoped she was showing that to him.

But every time, every time she felt as if she was making some progress, somehow Tony appeared and did something that seemed to set off Bucky and he ended storming off, which left her starting all over again and with Stark looking a mix between amused and expectant as if waiting something, really Pepper should return like ASAP since he clearly was to bored and unpredictable without his bonded around.

She was hoping that today things will be better; Bucky had after all agreed to have breakfast with her after what had happened the previous night when Tony had clung to her and whined about being bored. “I was thinking about going to the park today, do you want to come with me?”

She had been pouring coffee for them when low and behold a very sleep deprived Tony appeared, made a bee line for the coffee, stealing a mug and promptly pressed a kiss against her lips, “Thank you, babe, just what I needed!” And just moved to find the sugar, leaving her standing there in shock and feeling maybe just a bit uncomfortable.

[disassembling]

He never found fault with the Avengers having time with Stephanie, though some of the social interactions made him uncomfortable. It wasn't that he didn't tolerate them well when he was dragged to such things, but he had a limited ability to deal with so much human contact for the time being, so he often had to sneak off to have a bit of time to himself. He tried to return, to be supportive of Stephanie and her need to be close to her friends. Perhaps when he was better, when the social world wasn't such an overwhelming place again, he would be able to throw popcorn too or laugh at a joke instead of sitting either stonily or awkwardly.

Yet, Stephanie also had a knack for finding him after those moments where that irritability found him. He was pleased to earn her favour and never minded her company, finding himself at ease with her and wanting beyond anything else to give her whatever she wanted as much as possible. He wanted to get back what they had probably lost, though his memories or lack there of made that difficult right now. He was still working very hard to try to restore them, but it was slow going and often frustrating for him.

And usually when he was finally getting comfortable and warming up and feeling like it might work this time, Tony Stark found them or her and that flare of heat at the man's antics froze any progress he felt he was making. It also usually involved him slipping away to leave the pair alone, though Stephanie seemed oblivious to the obvious flirting and pushing at his buttons that Stark did. He knew better than to punch the man's teeth out and had long ago learned to walk away like a robot and not give rise to his feelings.

He hummed softly as he took a long drag from the glass of juice that he was drinking, nodding a little to her suggestion. He leaned casually against the counter, comfortable and thinking about the day when, as usual, he found their small session interrupted. He stiffened at the sudden kiss and the glass in his metal hand shattered, spilling juice down his front and glass hitting the floor. He had enough good sense to immediately bend down to pick up the glass shards to put them in the trash.

[eleutheria]

It was the shattering of the glass what snapped her back to the attention and she was kind of glad for the distraction, she moved to get one of the kitchen rags and handed it to Bucky. “Here, you need to dry off.” She moved away for a few seconds, to get the mop they have all decided it was better to keep around after the rather impromptu water battle that had happened here, like six times already, with Tony just watching on maybe a tad bit amused and looking over at Bucky.

“You really need to step up your game transformer, snooze and you lose they say.” He finished preparing his coffee and walked past her once she returned, before stopping to smack her ass. “Keep up the good work, babe.”

“TONY!” She wasn’t happy and was tempted to throw the mop at his retreating form, the damn idiot what the hell was his problem. With a sigh she started to clean the mess of the juice. “Alright, leaving that asides, I still think we should go out, otherwise I will be tempted to go deck Stark or call Pepper to return ASAP.”

[disassembling]

He needed a new change of clothing, not to dry off, but he took the towel anyway so that he could mop up the mess that he had made on the floor, using his metal hand to avoid any glass that he might have missed on his first sweep. He lifted his head to regard Stark for a moment, tilting his head in slight confusion because this didn't feel like a game to him at all. He wasn't certain how he was to step into it either and he didn't want to, not with antics like that which seemed beyond him at the moment. He instead just narrowed his eyes slightly and returned to cleaning up the mess he made with the shattered glass.

He twitched at the sound of the slap and he almost thought of using the soiled cloth to strangle Tony with. No, no, he wasn't allowed to murder anyone unless they were proven to be working for HYDRA, were threatening him or someone he was close to or because it was part of a carefully designed mission objective. He stood all the same cast a weary look at Stephanie, who didn't seem... entirely opposed to the attention. Was that what he was supposed to do now?

"Well... do as you please," he murmured with a bit of a shrug, not about to commit to anything when any sort of interaction in the household between those two would make his blood run hot. It was best to be avoided. "I'll... get changed and stuff since I'm covered." He walked away to go get into another pair of fresh clothes and toss the soiled cloth into the laundry as well.

[eleutheria]

A small sigh escaped her lips then, knowing that whatever moment that had been happening had been lost again and it was going to take awhile to recapture it again. “Yes, of course.” She said softly and turned her attention on cleaning the kitchen, not feeling hungry anymore and feeling maybe just a bit annoyed at Tony, she had no idea what the heck was wrong with that man and why he kept doing this.

Knowing the usual deal when this happened, she didn’t went to search for him and just decided to wait for him to come back and find her instead, if he ever decided to do that since she was now noticing she was usually the one that went to look for him in the end. With another sigh she settled on the common room, where everyone gathered when they all happened to be in the tower at the same time, and settled to watch a movie from that catching up list she had.

The one that ended finding her was Clint though, being lured by the Lord of the Rings movie and the fact that without Natasha around he didn’t had a lot to do. When the archer decided to use her lap as a pillow she allowed him to do so, since it meant nothing with her at least, it was probably just comfortable for him since his head always ended on Nat’s lap when they were all watching movies and it was just familiar for him, Stephanie understood it was an unspoken action of the fact he missed her but he was lucky, she was going to come back after all.

At some point she ended dozing off, not because she found the movie boring but she had just felt tired and she was just a bit confused when she woke up. She could still feel the weight on her lap and she sighed a bit “God, my back is killing me a bit.” This was the worst position to sleep ever.

[disassembling]

The Winter Soldier had changed out of his juice covered clothing and wandered down to one of the training rooms to work out all this horrible energy that had built up in him. He worked out until there was nothing left but trembling muscles, being out of breath and still uncertain what he was supposed to do to keep Stephanie even mildly interested in doing anything about their bond. She seemed so free... where he felt like he was walking a field of landmines and each one seemed to explode when he thought that for a moment he was getting close to something special again.

Was it that he had to be forceful with her, take all manner of physical obviousness to lure her back to him? That wasn't how he tended to work, and he wondered if that had been how he had acted in the past. He suspected that his past self had used more words and casual gestures rather than outright groping.

He sighed and had worked out too many hours to probably be good for him. He showered to wash off the sweat and vowed to go and talk to Stephanie about what was happening. He didn't understand completely, and he had been told that it was better to communicate about what was happening then sit and let it fester. He thought about what he might say when he managed to get her alone and he even brushed and pulled his hair back into a ponytail rather than hide behind the usual curtain of it.

He moved around to one of the communal areas and found her watching a movie, approaching from the back of the couch and about to put his hands on either side of where her head rested when he froze at the sight of a Barton's head resting in her lap. That same hot anger seemed to warm his blood, and even though he rationally knew that Barton was with the Widow, he trembled along his shoulders with how comfortable the pair looked.

He withdrew as she woke up, stepping away and moving off towards the doorway again.

[eleutheria]

The sound of steps was what alerted her that someone else was around and she tilted her head a bit. “Bucky.” She smiled a bit when she saw him, though she wasn’t sure just yet if he was leaving or what, she was still a bit addled with sleep. “Where have you been?” She hadn’t seen him in a while and that made her think just how late it was, was it time for lunch or something.

Slowly she looked down at Clint and shook her head with an amused smile before poking his cheek. “Barton, wake up.” There was only an annoyed groan in response. “Isn’t this around the time you call Natasha? Remember what happened the last time you didn’t?”

There was a muttered ‘Fine, fine’ while he sat up, stretched and quietly thanked her before moving to leave the room, with a slight nod to acknowledge Bucky before leaving the room and going to call the Widow, she had no idea how they managed to keep those calls without being traced or recorded, but it shouldn’t be surprising since they were indeed the best at what they did. Taking a deep breath she turned to look at Bucky, something was wrong; she could feel the slight piercing at the back of her mind at the moment.

“Are you alright?” It was probably not the best thing to ask, there were some things that were not and she wishes she could take it back. “Want to watch something with me?”

[disassembling]

He knew what it was now. Sometimes when the anger grew, there was a clarity that couldn't come to him any other way, and he had been waiting for such a moment to occur in the first place. There it was, that moment when he realized why he was unable to have what so many - all the men apparently - could have with Stephanie that he was denied despite he being her bond. He'd figured it out, but that didn't make it any easier when all he had right now was her and a misguided purpose to try to heal and get better.

He stopped when Barton moved, turning his face aside as if the wall next to him was the most interesting thing in the world. He didn't acknowledge the other man, but that was more common than when he did, so he doubted that it caused any kind of stir, not when the carnie had a phone call to make anyway.

He should leave, let her get on with whatever she had been doing with Barton, though it looked only to be sleeping. He was so close to just walking away, and he didn't know what kept him there when he knew at any moment, Tony was going to pop in and take the seat or whatever it was that the man did alone with Stephanie that he wasn't privy to. No matter, he knew why.

"I'm coping," he murmured. That was what Banner told him to say when he couldn't answer the question otherwise. He didn't care much for the difference. "I'm not familiar with movies or television. It would be pointless for me to watch anything."

[eleutheria]

For a few moments she was so worried that he was going to leave her here, without even answering any of her questions and leaving her confused again, not being able to figure out what she could do to set them in the path to, somehow, steady their bond a bit more and help him to get better or at least support him while he was doing that. She knew it was going to be hard, of course she knew, but it was just awful to know you had your soul bond so close and yet so far away but she didn’t had it on her to force anything on him.

It was so painfully slow going and it felt like for every step forward, there were two backwards but that had to count, that was better than nothing and the time she had thought he had been dead.

When he finally answered, she tried not to frown since that answer felt a bit rehearsed and it didn’t exactly answered much, it left her in an in between state not knowing if he was actually doing better or not, but she decided not to push. She trusted that he was going to tell her if anything was wrong or not, which he clearly wasn’t ready to do now.

“Neither am I to be honest, since apparently I missed a lot of things.” Which explained why her list of things to catch up sometimes felt endless, not to mention she had been more focused on finding and then helping Bucky to do much about it. “I figure we can both catch up or is there anything else you will like to do?”

[disassembling]

He lingered in the doorway that would allow him to walk away again, something he had been doing all the time. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't just walk right out of the Tower and never come back. He knew that separation from a soul bond could become painful, but he had excellent pain management skills and it wasn't even that they were close anymore. She had so many others to take care of her, and he was really only bringing her down with his presence and how she constantly worried about him. One of the only reasons that he stayed was because he didn't want the separation to be painful for her.

She didn't indicate that she wanted to leave, and it almost seemed too good to be true that they were alone together. It didn't happen often and it didn't stay that way long it seemed unless she was specifically helping him with something that he couldn't yet figure out on his own. He still tilted his head to listen for sounds of approach from others before he slowly relented.

He eased away from the doorway slowly, prowling silently to the couch and seating himself gingerly. He glanced around; he didn't normally sit on the communal couch, often lurking in a chair off to the side or standing near a wall. He felt very exposed like this and he folded his hands neatly in his lap and glanced at her subtly.

"I don't understand a lot of the references," he muttered softly.

[eleutheria]

For long moments while he lingered near the doorway and didn’t made a movement to get close, she was worried that he was going to leave the room and she was going to stay here wondering just what she had done wrong to push him away this time. No matter how many times she pondered about it, she had no idea what exactly happened during those moments when he apparently got angry and left, so she couldn’t help but think it was something she might have unconsciously done to him.

And maybe that was the main reason she felt such a wave of relief when he didn’t left, when he finally approached and took a seat on the couch with her, she counted that as a little victory and she hoped, for the sake of the rest of her team that was still here, that they wouldn’t come and interrupt them. It was so odd, how they were soul bonds yet hadn’t exactly spent a lot of time alone together that didn’t involved either helping him figure something out or when they retired to their floor to try to sleep, as much sleep could be achieved when being plagued by nightmares here and there.

He still looked tense and just a bit uncomfortable, but he had stayed and that was better than nothing, they were still going with baby-steps here and she was going to take her time here. “It is alright, it’s not as if I get most of them either anyway, this is why I am watching all of these since they think it’s a crime I don’t get them.”

And it was also a really bit sad that she sometimes got lost or confused when she didn’t understood certain references. She browsed the queue list that Sam and Natasha had created for her to catch up and picked the movie that followed the Lord of the Rings, one that she was going to need to re-watch since she had nodded out. “Okay then…” She smiled and moved just a tad bit closer to him, putting on the next suggestion on. “Next is The Princess Bride; I have been told it’s rather interesting and good film.”

[disassembling]

He wasn't one to sit in a room for long unless there was a mission that required his patience. That was different than spending time in a single room to do anything aside from sleeping. Now that he had his freedom, he often liked to make use of it by wandering away and exploring as he had never been allowed to while he was still considered a weapon by HYDRA. He also certainly didn't spent a lot of social time with the Avengers, let alone understand a lot of the social references of the day and age that he lived in.

He nodded and finally just folded his hands into his lap as an indication that he was going to stay here on the couch with her for a little while. He could see the television at least, and he had no idea the show that she was going to watch either. He figured that it didn't really matter since he would probably not find it interesting or understand half of it. He was better when it came to watching the news.

His gaze flicked over to her when she shifted, noting that she came a little closer. That wasn't wholly unusual, and they were sitting on opposite sides of the couch, even if it was small for at Stark residence. "Watch whatever you want. I'll try to keep up."