The darkness around him was suffocating. He had been tossing and turning over and over for the past two hours, but still no sleep would come. Oh how he longed for the days of his childhood where as soon as he placed his head upon his pillow he was out like a light. The days where the quiet lulled him to sleep, rather than made his mind kick into high gear. His insomnia was running rampantly and any hope he had for sleep tonight was gone.
It was supposedly a common infliction for weapons and meisters to have occasional sleep insomnia. He knew this fact well as Maka sometimes had quite a bit of trouble with it. Sometimes she would get less sleep than him during a night. In the morning she would get up and down about a half a pot of coffee, before going and taking a cold shower. Those days Maka was not to be crossed if you wanted to live to see the next day, and worryingly, they were getting more and more often.
For Soul it wasn't just occasional however. It was almost every single night. He was lucky if he got a few hours of sleep in a night. He can't remember the last time he hadn't been haunted during his constant sleepless nights alone in his room. His little demon had found out that the twilight hours were the only time he was susceptible to the creature's tricks, and made full use of that time whenever possible.
At this point he knew he was probably made up of about ninety percent coffee and caffeine. He knew it wasn't healthy, but he couldn't sleep and he couldn't stay awake. It was quite the predicament he was stuck in, and he didn't see any chance of it changing any time soon. He had tried multiple of the assorted over the counter medications available in Death City, but he never was able to find anything to fix his sleeplessness. Meanwhile the half empty pill boxes and bottles continued to pile up in the back of his closet, out of sight of prying eyes.
He slowly opened up his eyes, and shoved himself up into a sitting position. Maybe he could go drink himself to sleep via milk? It wasn't likely, but he liked milk anyways. Tossing his legs over the side of the bed he stood up straight, stretching out his spine. He softly pads over to the door twists the cold doorknob, pulling it open towards himself. He shimmies around it and slips out the opening, carefully walking to the kitchen, and in extension, the fridge. He quietly opens the fridge, pulling out the carton of 2% milk.
He has just pulled out the lip on the carton and placed it to his lips when he hears another door open. He looks in the direction of the noise, and sees a lithe figure walking in his direction. As it draws closer, finer features come into view. The figure has long hair, and soft eyes. They are wearing a t-shirt and cotton shorts.
"Maka, what are you doing up? Did I wake you? I'm sorry." He says to the girl.
"No, you didn't wake me, I wasn't ever asleep. Brain wouldn't shut up tonight." She responds in a passive aggressive manner. He knows it isn't directed at him, its just her tired self.
"Mine either. Thought milk might help, but no such luck." He says, holding up the carton pointedly.
"Little demon dude bugging you again huh?" She says looking at him and taking the carton from him. "How much of this did you even- Soul! You drank the whole thing! You're seriously gonna make yourself sick one of these times."
"No I won't."
"Well, when you do, don't come crying to me." She says, trying to laugh, but she's exhausted and she can't seem to muster up enough energy for even that.
"Yeah right, like I'd ever come crying to you. Cool guys don't cry." He defends himself.
"You keep telling yourself that." She scoffs at him and throws the carton into the recycling bin.
"You take anything to help sleep?" He asks her concernedly. He hates when she can't sleep.
"Doesn't work. You know that." She says with a sigh. She carefully plods over to the couch and plops herself right down onto it.
"I don't know what you mean." He says, feigning innocence.
"I know about your stash in the back of your closet. What are there? Around twenty different packages of sleeping medications?" She says, placing her head in her hands. "We both know this is black blood connected. It's been getting worse for both of us for a while."
He sighs, going over to sit next to her. He felt her soul reaching out to his, and he let his dance with hers. It brought him great comfort to feel her calming wavelength, and calmed his own erratic one. Their low key resonance was truly a wondrous thing for the both of them. It warded off the fearsome darkness, and brought great comfort in it's place.
"Yeah, I've been thinking that for a while. I-I just, fuck Maka. I feel terrible, this is all my fault that both of us are doing so badly. I mean, you couldn't even hold Genie Hunter the other day in practice. Why did I even have to meet you, if we hadn't become partners you would be fine now and you wouldn't be getting effected by this crap. Look at how fucking hopeless I am. I can't even protect my own meister from the one thing that is hurting her the most, because it's me that's hurting you. Me and this damn black blood." He couldn't hold himself up anymore, and his walls were falling down. He felt hot tears prickle and fall from his eyes. He was so weak. So, so weak.
"Soul, shut up. It's not your fault. If I hadn't met you and become your partner I would probably be dead now with how reckless I am. And you're not hopeless, you have protected me so many times. I hate to admit it, but I need you Soul." She says, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce hug.
"Thank you Maka." He says simply.
He wipes under his eyes, drying his face from his totally uncool tears. He carefully puts his arms around her and pulls her down as he lays down on their leather couch. Her head finds a place on his broad chest, right on top of the scar that he procured protecting that very same girl who was now laying on him. The very same scar that was the cause of all these problems.
But that scar was also their savior in many fights, when he was finally able to harness the power of the black blood. It had indirectly caused many foes of theirs to fall. It was the reason that they were alive now in a way.
Their resonance continued and he finally felt himself getting tired enough that he might be able to go to sleep now. He also noticed Maka's breathing starting to even out slightly.
"Maka, we should get you to bed. You really do need to try to get some rest." He says softly, carefully maneuvering himself so he could pick her up and carry her to bed. He walks back through the living room to her door and shoves it open. Walking inside he lays her down on her bed, pulling her covers over her. He turns to go but is stopped by a small fist gripping the hem of his shirt.
"Please don't go." She softly pleads to him.
"Maka, as much as I would like to, I can't just stand here all night." He says, not fully understanding her request.
"That's not what I meant." She says, yanking him down beside her. "Stay with me. Please? We both know it helps." She says, not stating her other reasons for wanting him to stay.
"Oh, okay." He says, climbing under the covers next to her as she pulls herself into his warm embrace. He places his head on top of hers, and wraps he's arms around her, while she does the same. Her head digging into his neck, she cuddles even closer, so close it seems impossible.
"Thank you Soul, I love you." She says softly.
"I love you too Maka." He responds.
She slowly drifted off to sleep just like that, and he couldn't help but think how much he really did love this girl. She was his moon and stars, his starry night sky, his reason to live, and the reason that he was now going to get his first decent night of sleep in who knows how long. And maybe, just maybe, things would get better from here on out. Because they were partners, and together they could do anything, and defeat any foe. Even if that foe is just another sleepless night.