"Okay, cool. --To be clear, I'd much rather kiss you than my soulmate, I don't really want to kiss my soulmate at all, but science makes demands." He disappears.

"And soulmates make demands," he says to the empty space, and waits for Lev to get back. 

Ten minutes later, Lev returns. 

"I'm pretty sure they teleport you away any time you kiss someone who isn't your soulmate. They might be trying to enforce monogamy? That seems like the sort of thing Heaven would do."

He can't say he's ever given much thought to the kind of thing Heaven would or wouldn't do. "Yeah." 

He hugs Lev again, closer this time. Tries, very cautiously, to kiss his cheek. 

Cheek kisses work. 

"I really want to ask you back to my place to figure out how exactly this teleportation thing works but I'm concerned that's too forward."

— he freezes for a split second before he relaxes himself and says, "You're very sweet, but maybe not on a first date." 

"Oh shirt, I'm sorry, I didn't-- obviously we're going to go as slowly as you want-- shirt, I'm sorry, I didn't even know if you were ace or anything--"

"I'm not ace, I just have a tragic backstory. You had no way to know." Lev gives very good hugs. 

"Cool! Cool. Uh. Me too, so that's something we have in common. --Goddammit why is my foot permanently stuck in my mouth around hot guys."

He's laughing into Lev's shoulder. "You're cute." 

"I guess it is inevitable that you would think this because apparently we're in love in the future! Baffling, but inevitable!"

"It is not baffling. You get all tongue-tied and cute because you like me so much." 

"Maybe I should stop stressing because if I just do whatever I would have done anyway, then you'll fall in love with me, because you're in love with me in the future, and so if I just act normally then probably you'll fall in love with me-- again? Time words are hard with time travel. Although the note does technically say 'you love Sasha' and not 'Sasha loves you', so it's possible I wind up accidentally mortally offending you and then we can't date. But if that's the case future me was really kind of an ash-hole to not provide instructions about how to avoid offending you. Did I just say ash-hole? Jesus."

"The censorship, on the other hand, is baffling. I'm pretty sure you can avoid mortally offending me as long as you don't act like I'm a girl." 

"Why would I do that?"

"Apparently my original birth certificate is extremely important to people, for reasons I wish were unknown." 

"But... you're a trans guy, so that means you're a guy, that's how being trans works."

He's so adorably clueless in the best possible way.

"Yeah, we're going to get along fine." 

"I think we should go back to my place though. Or your place. In a totally not-trying-to-seduce-you way, this party just sucks."

"I should probably talk to my soulmate before I go anywhere or bring anyone home, but I am very okay with leaving this party." 

"I can wait here, or go with you to meet them, whatever you want."

One more kiss on the cheek. "I'll find her." 

Lev is going to stare out into space grinning like an idiot until he gets back!

Cuuuuute. 

Now, where might Sasha's soulmate be?

Sasha’s soulmate is peering suspiciously at the restaurant selections! There seems to be rather a lot of things on sticks and yogurt (usually not combined).