Colour

This story is a product of Tumblr and, based on the story idea that people only see color when they meet their soulmate, someone wanted a story in that universe wherein aromantics could always see color.  If this story is in any way offensive or problematic, please let me know how I can change it to not be offensive, or if I should remove it entirely.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lane Bryant had a wonderful plethora of attractive clothing styles, cut for bodies of myriad shapes and sizes.  If only they stuck to black and white, rather than taking in clothing from designers who used colors So Badly, either because they were new to color, or could not see it at all.

Melissa sighed, inspecting a shirt with a garish mixture of dull orange and neon yellow, attempting to decide if she could forgive herself for buying it.  It wasn’t like the vast majority of her friends would be able to tell the difference, as most hadn’t found their soulmates, yet.

Melissa had been born with the ability to see colors from birth, all colors, all shades, from blues and purples, browns and oranges, yellows and reds, all the colors, and she’d been confused for a long time, because other people couldn’t, wouldn't until they found their soulmates, not even her parents.

"Lissy~!"

She was pulled out of her thoughts by someone calling her name.  It turned out to be Joanne, her scalp showing pale in the parts between her braids.  She must have gotten her hair done recently.  Joanne was trailed by an amused Denton, whose diamond-shaped parts were also nice and neat, his long ropes of hair pulled back into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck.  They both looked so nice today.  Were they out on a date?

Joanne and Denton were Melissa’s exes from college.  She’d broken up with them, because after a year, they’d wanted more emotional commitment from her than she was willing to give.  She'd felt bad, wanting to give them what they asked for, but they were not her soulmates, and she was not theirs.  It had taken time for all of them to recover, and discovering the term "aromantic" had helped Melissa understand why she'd been born with the ability to see all colors, rather than the monochrome world it seemed everyone else experienced, as well as why romance Just Didn't Work for her, but the trio had a strong relationship that had translated into a deep, continuing friendship, and it was always nice to see them.

Melissa brightened at the sight of the pair, who had been terribly occupied in, gasp, real lives, things like jobs and bills and all of that, happy to meet them again after months without seeing them, and she waved in greeting as they came through the racks of clothing, then winced as the clothing in Joanne’s hands became visible.  The top was a deep, vivid green, while the skirt was a riotous orange and pink extravaganza.

Separately, they’d have been interesting pieces, if a bit inappropriate for the warm undertones to Joanne's brown skin, but Melissa had no doubt that Joanne wanted to wear them together, because they were nicely-cut and would do marvelous things for Joanne’s body.

Joanne laughed at the look on Melissa’s face, uninsulted by the silent criticism, “Shit, I was afraid these would look terrible together.  Denton says the skirt looks fabulous, and /I/ think the shirt looks great, but you know us.”

When Joanne and Denton hooked up, Joanne gained the ability to see blues, purples, and greens, while Denton gained red, pinks, and oranges.  Neither of them could see shades of brown, so while they could somewhat monochromatically dress themselves, and each other, neither could appreciate the cool brown of Denton’s skin against Joanne’s darker skin the way Melissa could.

Melissa laughed, “Yeah, I know you two, and I promise that you don’t want to be wearing that when you meet your other soulmate.  What would they think of you?”

"That we’re better dressed than them, because we can see some colors, and they can't see any?"

Joanne swatted at Denton with her shirt for his commentary, laughing as he playfully whacked her back with his hair.  These losers were so cute, Melissa really didn’t know what to do with them.

"Uh…excuse me?"

The man had a short fade, a sheepish look on his face, heinously mismatched clothes, and a pair of necklaces in his hands, as he spoke to the trio, “Have you found your soulmate?”

People always asked Melissa that when she talked about seeing colors.  She didn’t bother to say no anymore, or to explain that she’d been born with the ability to see colors, it just wasn’t worth the effort.  Similarly, Joanne and Denton had gotten sick  of explaining that they'd met one of their soulmates, and could only see a portion of the full color spectrum.

"Yeah," sighed Melissa, ready to be terribly annoyed by this guy, "What’s up?"

"Well, I wanted to get my mother a necklace.  She just found her soulmate, and she likes pink, but I’m not sure what it looks like."

That would explain why he was holding a pair of orange necklaces: he couldn’t tell the difference.

"Neither of those are pink," Denton spoke up, leaning in to peer at them, "I think they’re orange.  That’s orange, right Mel?"

"Yeah, that’s orange."

"….is that what orange looks like?”

Three heads swiveled for a look at Joanne, who was staring at the necklaces, her eyes intently focused, her mouth hanging open in shock for just a moment before she licked her lips and swallowed, “I…I can see that color.  That’s what orange looks like?”

Denton’s gaze lingered on Joanne, while Melissa watched the man with the fade.  She could see the way his eyes darted over Joanne’s clothing and skin, Melissa’s, Denton’s, even his own, as he began to see colors he had never experienced for the first time, and he finally, slowly offered, “My name’s Arthur.”

Joanne recovered first, offering Arthur a little smile, “Hi, Arthur.  I'm Joanne, this is Denton, and I…guess we can have Denton teach us both what pink looks like?”  She shot a hopeful look at Denton, and he nervously pushed his hair back, “Uh, yeah.  I could…totally do that.”

Melissa was out.  The last thing she needed was to watch these yahoos flirt over learning colors like they were in a cheesy romcom, so she took the shirt and skirt from Joanne, “I’m gonna go put these back for you, ok?”

Joanne looked at clothes and laughed, grimacing at her options, “Uh, yeah, thanks Lissy.”

"Bye Denton."

"Later, Mel."

"Nice meeting you, Arthur."  He gave Melissa a sheepish wave as she escaped.  She was happy for her friends, but no thanks.