No one noticed.
Or, at least, she hoped not.
It all started when she was eleven years of age. Her mother had taken her into a large cosmetic shop and left her alone after saying she had to grab a few things, and would be back soon. Maka idled through the stores aisles, eyes big with fascination over everything that lined the pure white shelves.
As she was searching through the wide range of products the store held, her green eyes landed on a small golden tube, perfectly sealed within a case of plastic. Her interest in it only grew when she read the effects the gold tube promised to give. It seemed to whisper to her that it would make her blonde eyelashes thick and dark while at the same time it would highlight her lusterless eyes.
It was the first time she had begged her mother for anything. And to her surprise, Kami Albarn happily agreed, stating that her daughter needed to be more girly anyway.
She never went without wearing the contents in the gold tube. No one had even guessed that she did wear make-up; they thought it was her natural eyelashes, and she was perfectly okay with that. She did, after all, try and keep her lashes looking as natural as possible.
But today was different. She had skipped wearing the black paste and decided to go natural for the day for two reasons:
1.) Because she thought her lashes deserved a break from being covered-up all the time.
2.) Because she was alone in the house and wasn't planning on going anywhere for the day.
Her partner, Soul, was away on a mission that was specifically for a Death Scythe of his ranking, leaving his meister alone in the comfort of their small apartment.
It was lonely, she had to admit. There was no one to scold for leaving his boxers on the bathroom floor again, no one for her to smash a book into his skull when he got a nosebleed over Blair's well endowed chest, no one to lecture for an hour straight over how lazy he was as his grades slipped, and most importantly, there was no one around that she could talk to that would listen to her and try his hardest, in his own special way, to help her figure things out.
He had left early last night and was supposed to be back tomorrow morning, so she hadn't seen the point in putting on make-up, even if she did only wear one product, plus, there was the fact that she was almost out and she would need to buy more soon.
Yes, need.
You see, she couldn't go without it. Ever. When she knew people would see her, she had to wear it. She had never thought of herself as 'pretty' but when she put the mascara on, she gained confidence and the hope that maybe, just maybe, she actually was.
Today was different because she knew no one would see her. Not even the cat, who was working overtime today at the pub.
So, she was free to go without her beauty product for the day.
She silently set the book she was reading on the couch and stretched her arms above her head, a satisfied groan escaping her lips when her back popped. She had been sitting on that couch for hours reading that book, so now it was time to do something.
Like clean.
Yeah, that sounded productive.
And it would get a certain weapon's absence out of her head for a little bit.
It was safe to admit in her head that yes, she did miss her partner. But just a little bit. Just the slightest, itsy-bitsy bit. Not even that much. Just enough for it to be noticeable. She missed him only slightly.
Okay, she missed him a lot.
And it had not even been a day yet.
She pulled some paper towels and some lemon-scented furniture polish out, before hastily wiping every single piece of wood in their apartment. After making sure everything smelled like lemons, she put her supplies away and brought out the vacuum.
And things continued like that until Maka was lost in her cleaning, her hands raw from her hard work, and was only bolted out of her thoughts by a very, extremely, familiar voice.
"Damn, why is everything so clean?"
The rag she held in her hand dropped to the floor and a slight 'eep' came from her lips.
Soul was home early! No, no, no, this could not be happening, she didn't have a trace of make-up on!
She turned her face so that he couldn't see her, "U-Uhm, I was just tidying up a little…"
"Well, you did a heck of a good job."
She stood up from the kitchen floor and slowly made her way over to the sink with her back facing him, "So how was your mission? Everything go okay?" She just needed to go to her room so that she could quickly apply her beauty secret and then they could talk all she wanted to while she felt comfortable and confident to do so.
She heard him plunk down on the couch in the living room, a groan coming from him, "You know…Same old stuff we usually do."
She ran her hands under the faucet and washed her hands with deliberate slowness, "Sounds like you had a good time." The sarcasm was evident in her voice.
It was quiet for a moment before his deep voice rang through the apartment, "I like our missions better."
At that, she allowed a genuine smile to grace her features, and she turned to him, their eyes locking for a few seconds before he narrowed his eyes at her, "Hey, there's something different about you…"
Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, "Uh, I'll be right back!" She had to reach her room and apply the magic commonly known as mascara.
But a hand enclosed upon her wrist just as she was about to turn the doorknob to her room.
"Wait, I want to figure this out…" He drawled, trying to get a clear view of her face, but she wouldn't allow it.
"There is nothing to figure out-stop it-Soul-Ugh- WOULD YOU QUIT IT?" She said trying to slap his hands away as he tried, with very much determination might she add, to turn her head towards his.
He frowned, "Just let me look at you, woman!"
His hand finally got a good handle on her chin and he jerked her face to look at his. He narrowed his eyes again as he scrutinized her; checking for anything out of the ordinary about his meister.
"Your eyes look different."
She huffed and tried to squirm her way out of his grip but to no avail, "Yeah, I know…"
He raised an eyebrow, "You know?"
Oh gosh. She was so stupid. What was she supposed to tell him now? That she had been wearing make-up for five years and no one seemed to notice before this moment, the only day she had chosen to not wear it? That she had been so insecure about how she looked that she never went a day without it? That she never wanted him, especially him, to see her not wearing mascara?
Should she lie to the person she trusted the most?
But it would only be a tiny lie…
Right?
"I…uhm…got contacts?"
Smooth, Maka.
Very smooth.
A chuckle bubbled through his chest, "No, that's not it. You're eyes are still the same old green."
"Uh, I mean, I have allergies too…"
He frowned again, and she mentally noted how she liked his smile a heck of a lot better, "Why are you lying to me? Why won't you tell me the truth?" He gazed at her, "Are you on your period?"
Rose color tinted her cheeks and she smacked his hand, punishing him and also trying to make him let go of her, failing miserably, "No! What in the world would make you think that?"
"Well, I overheard Liz the other day talking about how when she's on her period she tends to say stupid things." He smirked at her, "Of course, I don't guess you really need to have a certain time of the month to be stupid…"
She glared at him heavily, and his heart began to pound in fear, "Maka…."
"Where the hell do those things come fro-"
"CHOP!"
"Damn, damn… not cool, Maka… not cool at all…" His hands clutched his injured head as he rocked back and forth on the floor.
With a satisfied smirk she opened her door and was just about to close it when he spoke again, "Wait!" She blinked at him through the crack in-between the door, and he sighed, "Why can't you just tell me the truth?" She didn't miss the flash of hurt that appeared in his eyes before he arranged his features in that ever-present poker face again, "Don't you trust me?"
She felt her heart give a pang as guilt washed over her. Of course she trusted him, but she really wanted him to think that she was pretty naturally, not just because she had glob of mascara coating her eyelashes.
She shut her eyes and breathed a sigh, "Of course I trust you…"
He got to his feet quicker than she had expected. His crimson red eyes stared into her own forest ones, and she had to look away because his gaze was so intense, "Then tell me. Trust me now."
"I…" She trailed off.
It really isn't that big of a deal, she thought to herself. If you don't tell him now, and he finds out later, he's going to think you're really pathetic.
He would…
It's just mascara.
Right?
Soul…he wouldn't judge. Especially not you.
So, taking a shuddering breathe, she summoned all of her courage, "I'mnotwearingmascara!"
Soul blinked at her, "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that…"
Oh gosh, she couldn't do it again.
Yes, you can…
Ugh, her conscious really needed to shut the hell up.
Inhale. Exhale. This is not a big deal.
"I-I'm not wearing…mascara…" She slightly winced as she imagined him thinking about how ugly she looked without it.
She felt his soft fingers gently tilt her face to meet his eyes and he studied her.
Really studied her.
She knew that he was going to say something about how she needed to wear it more often. About how she looked much better with make-up on. She could feel it in her veins as he looked at her, his eyes never wavering away from her own. He was about to tell her, as his mouth opened slightly, that she was hideous.
Now, Soul had done many things in the past that surprised her. Once, when she had a terrible cold, he made her breakfast in bed, and if that itself wasn't enough to make Makas' eyes bulge in shock, he also cleaned the entire apartment and came into her room every ten minutes to ask if she need something.
But this topped even that.
Instead of spitting out hideous insults to her, like she had expected him to do, he leaned down toward her and gently placed a kiss upon each of her eyelids as she closed them on instinct.
Yeah, that was pretty shocking. A blush the color of his eyes spread across her cheeks, and her heart threatened to burst inside of her chest from it beating so quickly. The butterflies in her stomach didn't help matters much as she struggled to find her sense of reasoning while trying to put words together, but all that came out where broken syllables and stuttered sentences. She gasped lightly when she felt his finger press against her lips to quiet her, and she saw a toothy grin stretch across his handsome face.
"I think you look prettier without that stuff."
And his light as a feather touch disappeared from her chin and lips, as she stood there, frozen. Had he really just said what she thought he just did? No, she had to be imagining things. But… Maka was a very practical person and wouldn't just make up things like that. So that means…
He actually thinks she's pretty without make-up on…
Then, a beautiful smile blossomed upon her face, and she looked up at her partner who was still staring at her, "Hey…"
"Yeah?"
She wrapped her arms around his torso in glee, "Thanks."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed the opposite hand on her head, "Anytime."
It was official.
Soul was the coolest partner ever.
A/N: Here is a cute little one-shot that I really hope you guys liked! I decided to take a break from my chapter story 'The Red Hood' and write this little thing. It's not much, but I liked the way it turned out hehe.
Stay cool and review,
~SingerOfTheNight : )