Cleanliness is next to Loveliness

Soul crept through the empty mansion silently, clutching a can of silly string in his left hand, his right pressed against the wall to guide him through the darkness. The door to Kid's room was slightly ajar, and a soft golden light drifted out into the hallway as Soul approached his lover's room. Hiding behind the door frame, he strained his neck around the corner to peer into the room: Kid was sitting at his desk, facing away from the door and writing diligently, his head buried in his notebook.

Smiling to himself, Soul crept into the room, his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet, his breathing precisely controlled, and his motions slow and steady.

"Wait!" Kid suddenly yelled, causing Soul to jump and cringe. "No, no, no," he continued, still focused on his notebook, "this'll never work, I'll have to start over," he exclaimed, turning the page and continuing to write. "It has to be perfect!"

Soul sighed silently to himself and kept creeping forward until he was a few feet from Kid's chair.

"Hey, Kid!" he cried, causing the young Reaper to jump up and spin around in his chair.

"What?" he exclaimed as Soul pointed to can towards the frightened boy and pressed down the valve and let the bright blue string spray wildly onto Kid's frame.

"Surprise!"

"Ah! Soul!" he cried, standing up and hiding behind his chair. "Stop!"

"What's the magic word?" Soul asked evilly, grinning widely.

"Now!" Kid yelled angrily, slamming his fists on the back of his chair as he looked Soul in the eye, fuming and upset. "Dammit, Soul, you're such an asshole!" Kid cried as he ran out of the room, shoving Soul out of the way and onto the floor.

Soul stared at the door for several minutes as he heard Kid rush down the hallway, inhaling sharply as if he were holding back tears.

Standing up slowly, Soul turned and tossed the can into the trash and went down the hallway to find Kid.

"Son of a bitch," Kid said, wiping tears from his eyes, "I hate it when he does this."

"Kid?" Soul asked, stepping into the bathroom where Kid had removed his shirt and was desperately trying to remove every piece of string.

"What do you want?" he cried. "You've already ruined my perfectly symmetrical outfit and made a mess of my room."

"Calm down," Soul said, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "No need to be such a crybaby, it was just a joke."

Kid's face burned with anger as he stood up and grabbed Soul's collar and pushed him up against the door. "Yeah, another one of your stupid jokes that I'm sick and tired of!" he yelled, dropping Soul and rushing back to his room. The door slammed and locked as Soul stood up and brushed himself off, walking slowly over to Kid's room.

"Kid," he called, "please open the door. I'm really sorry, I was just trying to get a laugh out of you, that's all," he said sympathetically. "Please, open up."

"Go away," Kid's muffled voice came from inside the room. "Go home. I don't want to see you anymore."

"Kid, I…"

"Leave!"

Soul sighed and knew that he wouldn't get anywhere with his stubborn boyfriend acting like this. Defeated, he walked back down the hallway and stopped in front of the bathroom, looking down at the neatly pressed shirt, now covered in blue string.

"I'm an idiot," he said, bending down and picking up the article and carrying it downstairs into the laundry room.

Opening his door slowly, Kid peeked out of the room to see if Soul was still waiting. With the young weapon nowhere in sight, Kid sighed and stepped out of his room.

"That took forever to clean up in there," he exclaimed. "Damn him for being so immature!"

The bathroom door was wide open and reminded Kid that his soiled shirt was still there. Turning on the light, he gasped: the bathroom was spotless, and the shirt was gone.

"What?" he said softly. Turning, he walked down the stairs and into the living room: Soul's bag was gone, but he was surprised to see that the small messes that Soul made while he was over were gone. Everything in the entire house was perfect. Walking into the kitchen, Kid smiled to himself: hanging from one of the cabinet handles was his shirt: clean, dried, and pressed to perfection. A small note was attached to it and Kid went over and pulled it off and read it:

Dear Kid,

I didn't mean to be such a jerk with the silly string. I'm really, really, really, really sorry! I've cleaned up the house and your shirt. I promise I won't pull any more pranks. This was the last one. I hope you can forgive me.

Soul

Smiling, Kid clutched the note to his chest and exhaled slowly.

"I forgive you," he said softly, noticing the sloppily drawn heart at the bottom of the note.

"Thank you," Soul replied from behind.

"Soul?" Kid exclaimed, turning around. "I thought you'd left?"

"I left a book here and I figured that…I just wanted to apologize again, in person, actually," he sighed, wringing his hands.

Suddenly, Soul felt the warm hands of his lover wrap around his neck as Kid embraced him warmly. Soul smiled and placed his hands around Kid's waist and then leaned in to kiss him.

"I'm sorry," Soul said, breaking the kiss. "I promise I won't do it again."

"It's okay, I don't want you to stop being yourself," Kid smiled. "But, if you could make your pranks more symmetrical then that would be perfect!" he said, smiling softly.

"And how do I do that?" Soul asked, slightly confused.

"Well, we could always try this," Kid said, turning around and opening one of the cabinets and removing two cans of silly string.

"Why do you have those in there?" Soul asked.

"No reason," Kid said, handing one to Soul. "There, now we're ready for a symmetrical silly string fight to the death!" he exclaimed.

"No," Soul said, setting the can on the counter.

"B-b-b-but…Why not?" Kid asked, pouting in an effort to persuade his lover. "I'm letting you do it this time! It's okay! Let's have some fun!"

"No," Soul repeated, smirking, "I just cleaned."