Soul Eater Evans flopped down on the red sofa and flipped on the TV. Within a few minutes his head was lolled back and he was snoring loudly. Despite having slept through class he needed a nap…

He found himself standing in an empty room facing a piano where a tiny demon furiously assaulted the keys. Soul walked over, planted his hand on the little devil's face and pushed him off of the bench onto the floor. Soul had learned that in these dreams, the best thing to do was to play the music himself rather than listen to the awful banging of the demon's own. It disturbed him that the demon seemed pleased with Soul's playing but he'd endured the madness brought on by the Black Blood for long enough that Soul felt he had control over the situation and didn't need to fear the grinning little freak.

Soul placed his fingers delicately on the keys and began to play a sonata. He closed his eyes and felt the music spill from the keys like warm syrup. It wrapped around him and quieted the demon. He felt the madness rise with the music but ignored it. He had learned to use the madness for strength instead of letting it take hold of his mind and drive his actions. Ironically, the Black Blood had done him a favor: he could sleep through class and was still improving his weapon skills and his soul resonance with Maka.

Maka…

His thoughts drifted to his meister as he began a second song. He knew she still felt guilty about the incident in the church where he'd first contracted the Black Blood inside him during their battle with Crona and the demon sword. For a while he'd tried to alleviate her guilt but eventually had stopped mentioning it entirely since it hadn't done either of them any good to rehash it. Even still, he noticed she turned away every time she saw the scar on his chest. He'd used to walk around without his shirt in the mornings but had since stopped since it seemed to ruin her mood for the day. She could be such a pain when she got hung up on something….

He awoke to the sound of the front door scraping the tiles in the entryway. He sat up, rubbed his face with his hands and picked up a textbook to pretend to read. The last thing he wanted was a lecture from Maka about slacking off. She walked into the living room where Soul had his head buried in some book about the history of soul resonance and meister/weapon relationships.

"That book is from last semester, Soul" Maka said wearily, "Though I'm fairly sure this is the first time I've ever seen you even open it"

Soul closed the book and tossed it onto the coffee table. Maka was standing at the edge of the couch resting three bags of groceries on its arm. Soul slid over and started poking through to see what she'd bought and pulled out a bag of gummy worms from the very bottom.

"Those were supposed to be for later!" Maka huffed and grabbed the bag back from him stuffing it back into the bag. "You can't just live off of candy!"

"You're the one who bought 'em," he grinned.

"Only because I thought it might encourage you to study if I bribed you!" Maka turned and hauled the bags into the kitchen and out of sight.

Soul sighed, she was always so serious. He was constantly torn between annoyance and admiration for Maka. She wanted to become the high caliber meister her mother supposedly was and she was determined to turn him into a Death Scythe. While he did relish the idea of becoming one of Lord Death's personal weapons, he also liked his relationship with Maka and knew he'd be happy just being her weapon. Spirit, Maka's father, had been her mother's weapon before she disappeared on some secret mission leaving Spirit to raise Maka on his own. While Spirit was an extremely talented Death Scythe, Soul could tell he'd rather have Maka's mother back, even if it meant giving up his job and his flirtatious ways. Soul also knew that Maka wished her mother were around to guide her but it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon either.

It had been Maka's turn to cook dinner and she'd made a delicious hot pot heavily stocked with meat and easy on the vegetables. Soul felt the same way about vegetables as he did about homework in that he actively avoided them while Maka tried her best to shove them down his throat. She was always preaching about him needing to be in "peak physical condition" in order to become a Death Scythe and that such a state could not be achieved on a diet of gummy worms and potato chips. That may have been true up until the incident with Crona but now the Black Blood had greatly increased his abilities regardless of his vegetable intake. Given the guilt she still bore over the whole incident though, Soul hadn't mentioned this and usually choked down a few greens in the interest of keeping the peace.

...

Soul stood at the kitchen sink washing up the dishes watching Maka reading on the couch. She was definitely more relaxed than when they first moved in together. Though it was standard procedure for student meisters and student weapons to live together at school, most students were reluctant at first due to homesickness or discomfort with the sometimes co-ed living situations. Maka had taken to it with a sense of duty that had initially made Soul dread their assignment. Over the years though he'd come to appreciate Maka's dedication to everything she did and she'd calmed down a bit, at least at home.

As he stacked the last bowl in the cupboard Maka sat up and yawned.

"I'm going to take a bath and get some sleep, I'm beat," she said then shuffled off to the bathroom. Soul heard her turn the water on in the tub and for a brief second imagined her in it. Then he shook his head. Maka? Really, dude, get a grip he thought to himself. She was way too serious for him. They had lived together for almost three years, Soul figured it was natural he'd get curious, but still...the idea that he might have anything other than platonic feelings for her tugged at him annoyingly. He didn't need that kind of stress in his life. He went off to his own room to play video games and hopefully forget about the whole thing.

The next day was Saturday which meant that Soul could sleep in his bed instead of on his desk. Or at least that was the idea until the door to his room blasted open and Black Star jumped onto his bed shouting "RELEASE DAY! IT'S RELEASE DAY!"

Soul pulled the covers over his head, "Dude, not cool."

Black Star hopped down off the bed and ripped the covers back. "Get up! Attack of the Zombie Brides 3 is in stores as of two hours ago and you are sleeping!"

Soul struggled to put coherent thoughts together as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Right, he'd preordered the game just so they wouldn't have to get up early to go buy it and yet here was Black Star, in his room yelling his head off.

"Fine," Soul grumbled, "Lemme put some clothes on, get out."

Black Star bounded back out to the living room where Maka was pouring tea for herself and Tsubaki (who in Soul's opinion had to be the most patient weapon he'd ever met).

A few minutes later Soul shuffled out into the living room where Black Star was loudly regaling Maka with an account of his last mission. Despite the fact that Black Star was claiming how his own skill had overwhelmed the enemies, Soul had a hunch that it was more Tsubaki's doing than Black Star's. Tsubaki was an extremely powerful weapon, perhaps even more powerful than Soul even with his Black Blood. However the amount of power inside her was hard for a meister to control and required the sort of endurance and determination that only Black Star seemed to posses. Many times Soul had seen Black Star pass out after using her but it seemed to only make him more determined.

Tsubaki smiled politely as Black Star told his story and Maka watched him knowingly.

"I'm up, let's go," Soul leaned over the back of the couch where Maka and Tsubaki were sitting and popped his head down between the two of them. Maka jumped,

"I didn't hear you get up!" she said. She quickly got up and went into the kitchen to grab another cup. As she did, Soul thought she looked a little red which was odd. Maka wasn't easily shaken and yet she'd seemed awfully jumpy this morning. He dismissed the idea.

"I don't need tea, Maka, this idiot," jerking his head toward Black Star who was still talking about his own bravery, "wants to go buy games at seven in the morning."

"Right!" Black Star dropped off in the middle of his sentence, "We've got important stuff to do! I'll leave you girls to your tea, we've got Zombie Brides to slay!"

He was out the door and out of sight. Soul sighed, "not cool," and followed.

A few hours later, Black Star and Soul sat on the floor of Black Star's living room with an arsenal of junk food between them and slaughtered the oncoming Zombie Brides. Every so often a kill would remind Black Star of something equally epic that he himself had done and Soul had to nod his way through some over-animated story.

In a lull between stories Soul's mind drifted back to Maka which then led to the bathtub thought all over again. He shook his head.

"Black Star?"

"Yeah?"

"I've got a totally weird question for you," Soul took a breath, Black Star was his best friend so Soul should be able to ask him anything, "Have you ever thought about Tsubaki in like, a perverted way?"

Black Star didn't take his eyes off of the zombies he was slaying and his fingers pushed the controller buttons wildly.

"Thought about it, yeah sure, you can't live with a totally hot girl and never think about it!" Black Star was so nonchalant about everything, even admitting to his perverted thoughts. "What's even harder," he continued, "is living with a really hot girl and not doing anything about it," he grinned.

"Dude, seriously? You and Tsubaki...have actually done stuff? She's a million times too cool for you!"

Black Star ignored Soul's comment and decapitated yet another Zombie Bride. "It's not that weird if you think about it. We're together all the time, stuff happens."

Soul didn't say anything more and focused his eyes on the screen. He hadn't been sure what Black Star was going to say but he certainly hadn't expected Black Star to admit to having anything more than dirty thoughts about Tsubaki.

They played until the sun began to set and their faces were illuminated by the blue light of the TV screen.

"I gotta head home," Soul said pushing himself off of the floor and stretched his arms above his head.

"Aw man," groaned Black Star, "the story's just getting good!"

"It's my night to cook and Maka will be majorly not cool if I skip out on it just to play video games with you." Soul slid his shoes back on and headed out the door.

As he walked down the streets of Death City, his mind drifted back to the whole thing with Black Star and Tsubaki. Tsubaki was gorgeous, she could have any guy at the Academy if she wanted. Even though Black Star was her meister, it didn't mean she couldn't date anyone else. And yet...she'd still chosen Black Star.

Soul slid his key into the lock at his front door. It was dark inside, didn't look like Maka was even home. He'd figured she was doing stuff with Tsubaki all day but he figured she'd be home before him since she was such a stickler for being home on time for dinner.

He kicked off his shoes and pulled out his cell phone. Since Maka wasn't here to bother him, he was ordering pizza instead of cooking. It arrived within ten minutes, living in Death City had its perks. He downed three slices then figured he should take a bath. When he walked into the bathroom though he stopped short. Maka was in there, lying in the bath totally asleep. She'd lit some candles so the lights weren't on which is why he hadn't even noticed she was home.

He knew he should turn around and walk out but something kept him rooted to the spot. Maka wasn't the type of girl who'd be on the cover of a magazine in a bikini and yet, lying there asleep and naked in the candlelight, there was something ethereal and beautiful about her.

Soul was torn, he didn't want to leave her in the tub asleep, that seemed dangerous. He also didn't want to get his head bashed in with a book for seeing her naked. He debated the options as he watched her chest softly rise and fall in the water. Her expression was so innocent. She was normally so focused and determined, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a soft side of her.

He decided to try and move her to her bed without waking her. Maybe he'd avoid the book bashing that way. He rolled up his sleeves and reached down into the tub, placing one arm under her knees and the other under her back. Her wet head rested against his chest as he pulled her out of the tub. Then Soul did something that surprised himself. Instead of carrying her to her own room, he carried her to his. He hadn't even really realized it until he looked down on her, lying naked on his unmade bed. Looking at her, he felt himself pressuring against his pants. He'd never really thought through the idea of actually doing anything with her, but here they were. He knew he should just leave her there, go sleep on the couch and try to come up with an explanation in the morning. He turned and began to walk away.

"Soul…" He turned, she was definitely still asleep but she'd said his name. He turned back toward her, his desire rising as he looked at her body again, illuminated by the light seeping in from the living room TV. He went over, almost as if in a dream, and laid next to her on the bed. Then, ever so gently at first, he closed his eyes and kissed her. Then to his surprise, he felt her kissing him back.

He opened his eyes and found himself staring into hers.

"Soul?" she whispered. He pressed his mouth back down upon hers, one of her hands was on his chest up underneath his shirt and the other found its way into his hair. Her fingers grazed the raised scar on his chest and she shrank back, pulling away from him. He looked at her, her eyes were downcast, her face red. He tilted her chin up with his hand and he saw her eyes had tears in them.

"I...I'm so sorry…" she mumbled sitting upright, "I shouldn't have gone into the church...it's all my fault," a fat tear ran down Maka's face. This was the first time she'd actually acknowledged the guilt she felt in words. Soul sat up with her and pulled his shirt over his head. Maka turned her head away but he grabbed her face and pulled it to his. He kissed her hungrily and he felt her melting under his touch.

"Don't ever be sorry for this," he said pulling away from her for a moment, "it was my choice to jump in front of that blade not yours. I can deal with the scar and the Black Blood but I could never deal with losing you." He pressed his lips back to hers and pushed her backwards onto the bed.

She reached up and put her arms around his neck and he released her face and slid his hands downward. His right hand found her small breast. It was warm and firm under his touch and as he grazed his thumb over the nipple it hardened and Maka gasped. He continued his journey and slid his hand between her legs. She was wet, though not so much from the bath at this point. Maka moaned into his mouth and he pulled himself away from her and propped himself up on his left elbow. Her face was bright red, her eyelids heavy and eyes unfocused. Despite her embarrassment, she seemed to be losing herself in pleasure. His fingers teased the area around her opening as he enjoyed the small, surprised noises she made as he played with her. He liked watching her body react to him, her hips tilting up toward his hand.

He removed his hand and rolled so he was leaning over her, a hand on each side of her head. She looked up at him with a mix of lust and nervousness. He enjoyed seeing Maka, serious, controlled Maka, losing her grip on collectiveness because of him. He kissed her mouth again then trailed his lips down her neck, kissing her collarbone, her breasts, then her stomach. Then he kissed between her legs and she moaned. He smiled then began to kiss and lick her as her legs trembled with the sensation of it. She was extremely wet now and tasted amazing. After he'd decided she'd had enough he pulled himself up toward her face again. She reached up and kissed him forcefully. He took the opportunity to slide one of his fingers inside of her and she moaned again. He slid it in and out of her and then added a second.

"Soul...please…" Maka breathed.

Soul sat up and undid the button on his jeans and pulled them off. He was straining against his boxers and upon removing those sprang free. Maka made a small squeak when she saw him. Again her eyes were a mix of nervousness and desire. She reached out and wrapped her fingers around him. He hadn't ever noticed how small her hands were or that they were somewhat hard from using him in his weapon form. She pulled him on top of her and he settled himself between her legs. Slowly he pushed himself into her, savoring each moment. She let out a sigh and pressed her lips to his as he found his rhythm inside her. Her body seemed to be pulling him in as her hips rose and fell with his own.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him without taking himself out. She straddled him and he noticed her face was still red. Despite her apparent embarrassment she began to grind herself against him, leaning down to kiss him but clearly beginning to lose herself in her own pleasure. She began to move faster and faster, her moans becoming more intense. Soul couldn't hold on any longer and let himself explode inside her. She gasped and shuddered, then collapsed down onto his chest.

After a few minutes, she rolled off of him and laid alongside, one arm still draped over his chest. He stared at the ceiling then turned to look at Maka. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing softly. He pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Soul?" she whispered

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Soul pressed his lips against hers again. Then he looked at her. She looked so vulnerable lying naked next to him. Nothing, not the Black Blood, not the little demon, or the scar, not even a witch could keep him away from Maka. It was only now he understood how powerful a meister/weapon connection could be. It didn't matter that Maka was serious and studious while he slept through lessons. They would always be together, fight together, and love each other. Forever.