Title: Til We're Ash Over Seas
Rating/Warnings: Teen
Word Count: 840
Character(s): Soul Eater, Maka Albarn, Black Star, Tsubaki, Franken Stein, Sid
Pairing(s): Maka/Soul if you squint.
Summary: The marker won't come off.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: First things first, this will most likely be based on the anime, since I've hardly read any of the manga. If that changes, I'll let you know. So basically I'm starting something else while I have eight other things I need to finish/update. But whatever. This is the first time I've ever written Soul Eater, so hopefully I do it justice. It'll be one of those 1oo Themes Challeneges that everyone seems to loathe love. And I may have twisted the prompt a bit. Also, each chapter/theme will have a different rating, though most will probably be Teen. I'll warn my readers in advance. Anyway, here we go!
62. Magic
They have to report back to the academy before returning home for the night and by then Maka is sore and tired and just wants to go home and shower. Soul is beside her, slouched even more than usual as Sid and Stein march them back to the academy. She thinks maybe Soul's leaning toward her a bit more than usual, but she passes is off as exhaustion.
Black Star has his arms crossed and an angry glare directed toward Stein, and with the blood coating his face and hair, he looks a little murderous (and probably is, to be quite honest). Tsubaki just follows along, hands clasped in front of her, eye lids heavy.
After they get their "Job well done, kids!" From Lord Death, they all turn and leave the academy.
It's nearly one in the morning when Maka opens the door to their apartment. Soul shuffles in behind her, barely kicking off his shoes before he's down the hallway, door slamming shut. Maka can hear the springs creak on his bed as he gets comfortable.
She stands in the hallway for a few minutes, inhaling the smell of their apartment. Blair's perfume, the chicken Soul cooked earlier, spices from their spice rack. It's home and Maka's suddenly filled with relief that she was able to make it home tonight. Glad that Soul didn't have to die because she was too weak to do anything other than lie there.
When Maka inhales again, she smells the sharp scent of sweat and blood. And looking down at herself, she realizes that she's incredibly filthy. "Ugh," she mutters, tugging at her shirt, pulling it away from her damp skin. "Why didn't you tell me I'm so rank, Soul?"
The shower in their apartment is surprisingly good. The pressure is hard and it's big enough to have a bath in, but Maka's more of a shower girl rather than a sit in the bath and relax girl like Tsubaki.
After washing her hair and scrubbing down her body, Maka notices the marks from Stein's magic marker on her stomach. Something rises in her throat, and she feels tears prickle at her eyes. She was terrified earlier. The way he tugged on her pig tail, pulling her closer toward him. The feeling of cool, long fingers tugging her shirt up, drifting across her smooth, blemish-free skin. It was tingly, but not the good kind. Not what she feels when she's fighting someone, or when Soul grabs her hand and transforms into a scythe. The kind where bugs crawl up your skin.
She rubs at it with sudsy hands, hoping it's the kind that disappears quickly, but it barely smudges.
"Crap." Reaching for her scrub brush, Maka lathers body wash and soap onto it, hoping it'll take the magic marker from her skin.
She presses it against her stomach, holding it there and pulling it back and forth, scrubbing at her tender skin. A slow burn begins with the scrubbing, but she ignores it, hoping the marker is coming off. When she pulls the brush back an inch, she sees that it is helping.
Sighing, Maka continues her scrubbing, ignoring the slight burn of it. She can handle this. This is nothing.
It's five more minutes before the marker is completely erased from her skin. And now her stomach is a bright red, skin raw and itching.
A few more seconds under the spray, and Maka turns the shower off, getting out and wrapping her towel around herself. She's not like Soul. She doesn't walk around the house naked when he thinks she isn't home or asleep.
Her bedroom window is open, meaning Blair must've gone out at some point and forgot to shut it behind her. Maka shuts it quickly, pulling her blinds closed. She's about to take off her towel when someone knocks on her bedroom door.
She turns, frowning. Soul stands in the doorway, only wearing pajama pants. He's mimicking her frown, eyebrows drawn. "Why're you still up? You usually shower so quickly…"
"I uh." She pauses, swallows, fights back the urge to shut the door in his face and throw her clothes on. Standing in front of him in only a towel is maybe a little nerve-racking. She knows what he says about her flat chest, and she doesn't need to prove him correct—
"Maka?"
"I—I had to scrub the magic marker off of my stomach," she answers, turning away from him. "It was hard to get off."
She thinks maybe his jaw tightens, but she isn't sure, so Maka ignores it and walks to her door, resting her hand on the knob. "You should get back to bed, Soul."
"I'm sorry I let him get you, today. It won't happen again." His eyes and hard and a little dark, and Maka's only seen him like this once before.
"It's fine. No big deal, really." She manages a small smile, taking his hand. "I'll see you in the morning?"
"…yeah. Yeah, alright. Night, Maka,"
"Goodnight, Soul."