The entire room smelled like chemicals. Alcohol, glass cleaner, the freshly washed sheets, it all blended into a strange aroma that Maka had grown used to. The room was as quiet as could be, the silence only punctuated by the idle chatter of the few remaining students outside, or the shuffle of papers. The bed she was sitting on was perfectly made, all the sheets were free of stains, and they smelled of lavender. The room was mostly lit by a few lamps and natural sunlight. The nurse said it helped to calm some patients; whether or not it was a placebo wasn't her place to question. It certainly helped her mind to stay at ease, at least.
Medusa did her best to keep the room as clean and as organized as possible. She rolled around in a chair, shuffling papers and whatnot into various filing cabinets. Her hands moved as quickly and as efficiently as possible. This file there, that file here, that medical record needed to be brought out, it all rolled together as if it were a dance. Maka struggled to call it a particularly graceful dance, but it was impressive nonetheless. She lay her head down on one of the pillows, it smelled exactly the same as the bed linen. This, along with the gentle breeze that was circulating, made her want to sleep. Falling asleep to the sound of shuffling papers wasn't so bad, she figured, as her eyelids got progressively more heavy.
Maka was alerted by the sharp plastic rattle of the office chair rolling around, and quickly found her being looked down upon by the nurse, giving the same friendly smile she always had.
"Sorry, I hope I didn't scare you." she apologetically stated, tilting her head amusingly.
Maka smiled back, giggling to herself. "It's alright Medusa-sama."
Medusa nodded, positioning herself before the foot of the bed, laying folders across it. She flipped through them methodically, trying to find something.
"You're spending an awful lot of time here, Maka. I appreciate your assistance with cleaning yesterday, but is something wrong? You aren't required to help." She said, shifting her golden eyes between Maka and the various folders.
Propping herself up on some pillows, Maka simply twiddled her fingers. "I don't mind helping. Besides, I like this place. It's nice and calm, it gives me something to do, especially since Soul..." She explained, her voice trailing off.
Medusa raised one of her eyebrows. "Since Soul did what? Is he alright?"
Maka quickly nodded. "He's alright. It's just… he keeps having these weird dreams. They keep him up at night."
The nurse pursed her lips, flipping through medical records. "Well, that's not good. What kind of dreams are they?"
The girl blinked idly. "He tells me that they're like… he's in a dark room, just floating around in there. Every now and then, he floats to a room that has this checkerboard pattern. In the middle there's a piano, and some red demon thing that speaks to him."
Medusa set one group of papers to the side. "That doesn't sound good. He has not had any violent impulses or anything, has he?"
"No, nothing like that."
"Well, that's fine. Is there anything else?"
Maka twirled her hair in her fingers. "Well, yes, there is. I started having weird dreams too. They're pretty similar, although it's mostly just me floating around in the same void."
Medusa frowned, moving her chair closer to the girl. "Oh dear. Do you feel any different? Anything out of the ordinary?"
She seemed lost in thought, slightly embarrassed to be confiding in the school nurse. "Not particularly. Soul says that I'm more irritable, though. I remember waking up from one of the dreams, I must've been sleepwalking, I found myself in our bathroom, surrounded by glass. I-I punched the mirror. I don't remember anything before that."
She shook her head, biting the inside of her lip. "I know this seems really silly, but I just get worried about what I can do if they continue. The sleepwalking, at least. Soul is too headstrong to try to fix his, and every time I try to get close to him to help, he just… pushes me away. It's frustrating, and I have no clue what to do, so I just figured I coul-"
She was cut off by a firm grasp of her waving hands. Medusa's slender fingers wrapped tightly around her wrist, her black fingernails digging into her skin. The nurse gave a friendly smile, before placing Maka's hand into hers, overlapping it with her other one.
"It's alright, sweetie. I'm here for a reason. If you ever need to talk about the dreams, or anything really, just come to me, okay?" She kindly explained. Maka felt her lip quivering as she looked into her eyes. "I do have one question, though, and I want a straight answer." The girl was shook from her revelry, nodding. "Yes ma'am?"
Medusa took her left hand and ran it through Maka's soft hair, looking into her eyes with a look that was both caring and dominating. "Why are you here so often?" She quietly questioned, sitting herself at the edge of the bed.
Maka suddenly found it harder to stare at the nurse in the eyes. "S-should I have not?"
Medusa gently rubbed the top of the girl's hands, continuing to look at her with that same conflicting expression. "It's completely fine. I am just curious as to why. I can't imagine a student as busy as you would have a lot of practical interest in helping your silly old nurse file medical records."
Maka's deep green eyes darted downwards, as she tried to find the right response.Sensing her hesitance, Medusa placed two fingers in the center of her chest. Maka felt the gentle pressure as her heart beat continued to increase, and a lump began to build in her throat. Why can't I answer her?
Medusa gave that smile that Maka had grown so used to. "Do you have feelings for me, dear?" She politely asked, tightening her grip on the girls' hand.
The student's face was awash in a sea of crimson. She reacted defensively. "Well, of course I do! Everyone at the academy should right? We look out for each other."
The nurse continued her smile, opening her eyes to look at Maka. "That's not what I meant, you know what I'm asking. Look at me." She demanded, carefully picking the child's chin up with her index finger. "I'm not angry."
Maka gazed into her eyes, entrancing as they were. That aura she had thought about earlier persisted. She felt safe around the nurse, she always had, yet at this very moment she felt as though Medusa wouldn't have taken "no" for an answer. It's not like she had the guts to lie about it either. All she could do was nod, as Medusa moved closer to her face.
"Now, I want you to say it."
She was little more than a few inches from Maka's face at this point. Numerous thoughts of what to do or say ran through her mind, desperately trying to find the one that seemed the most practical. Should she just say it, and politely leave? Something pinged at the back of the girl's mind, and she was drawn to the most mad idea. No more thinking, just action. She freed her hands, and quickly slipped them behind Medusa's neck, much to her surprise.
"How about I just show you?"
She pulled the nurse down to her face and kissed her. Medusa's hands gripped Maka's shoulders, as first hardly, then more and more gently. Everything in the back of her brain told her that this was wrong, that she shouldn't be doing this. The kiss, combined with the gentle breeze flowing through the room, and the flowery smell of Medusa's hair wiped away all doubt. Eventually, her grip on the nurse's released, and Maka found those same eyes staring down back at her, a bit more humble, and the same red wave was now across both of their faces.
Medusa blinked a few times. Maka immediately felt bad.
"I-I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have done that..." She hastily stated.
Medusa tilted her head, and grabbed both of Maka's hands before she could say anything else, gently pinning them to the bed.
"Medusa-sama?"
She smiled, again. "I don't mind."
"You don't?"
She placed her head against Maka's, staring deep into her eyes. "No, I fully understand. I've seen the way you look at me. It's fine. But, don't you want a bit more than this?"
Maka was taken aback by her statements, but her facial expression was dead serious. Something was off about this, she was taking this too well, moving too quickly. Her pinned hands and confused mind struggled with what to say. Medusa was right there, patiently awaiting her answer. It should be easy, yes or no. The yelling voice at the back of her head was a rousing "no", but something had moved to the front of her mind, something that Maka couldn't point out.
"Yes." She meekly muttered. She felt Medusa's hands shift around to hold hers', which she obliged. Their lips quickly connected, but it felt differently this time around. It felt strange when their tongues first touched, but it was nice. Maybe it was that new voice in the front of her mind doing the thinking, or the taste of Medusa's mouth, or the abnormal intimacy of the whole ordeal, but she couldn't help but like it. Inexperiences as she was, Medusa didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't care. As Medusa's finger's dug more and more into Maka's hands, she began to think again. That same voice yelling "no" was still there, yet it sounded more and more drowned out by the second. The other thing that now inhabited it was filling her head with thoughts, thoughts Maka generally tried to suppress. Their tongues bargained with each other for little more than a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours to Maka. Eventually, and to her annoyance, Medusa broke the kiss, sitting up. She threw her lab coat onto the floor next to them, and positioned herself truly over Maka.
"It's nice, isn't it?" She cooed, moving to nibble on the girl's ear.
"Y-yeah, it is." Maka replied, her ear and senses tingling. The new thing inside her head felt stronger now. It told her to just enjoy it.
Medusa moved one of her hands to begin undoing Maka's tie. Maka had little clue what to do, lack of experience and all, but she moved her hands to Medusa's chest. She never questioned Medusa while she was licking her ear, she didn't question when Medusa began to slip the dress she normally wore off. Maka never questioned why she had her hand placed around the nurse's waist, or why she was idly trying to grope her breasts, either. Nothing needed to be questioned, the new voice kept whispering to her. Do it. Do it. It's fine.
The nibbling suddenly stopped. Medusa placed her lips right next to Maka's ear.
"I love you, you know that?"
Maka didn't question that, either. She just felt happy, felt content.
"I love you too."
...