.::Comfort::.

When he wakes up at three in the morning, his goal is the bathroom. He knows that if he doesn't drink anything after eleven, then he won't end up waking up in the middle of the night to pee. He can't help it, doesn't really care to change it.

Tonight, though, before he can reach the bathroom, he hears someone in the kitchen. He freezes and glances to the side. Maka's door is shut. He knows Blair is asleep at the edge of his bed. There should be no one else in their apartment. He makes a partial-transformation so his left arm is a scythe.

Soul creeps down the short hallway to the kitchen and peeks around the corner. His jaw drops in shock, scythe gone and arms hanging down his sides. He should record this or something.

Maka is in the kitchen, the fridge is open, and she is drinking straight from the orange juice carton. Even though she yells at him for doing that same exact thing. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it again almost immediately. It will probably be better if he doesn't say anything at all and just goes back to bed.

But first he needs to take a piss.

In the morning, Maka is curled up on the couch with a cup of tea, a fluffy pillow from her bed, and a fleece blanket from the hall closet. She is watching cartoons and looks to be half-asleep. Soul would not be up this early if Blair hadn't insisted he needs to go and take care of her. Blair led him to believe Maka is sick.

"She really needs you right now," the cat had said, tail waving back and forth behind her as she sat in front of Soul. He had turned his head the other way and shifted so he could return to the world of sleep, but she was relentless. "Maka would be so appreciative and thankful and happy and—"

Here, he had interrupted. "If I check up on her and she doesn't need anything, will you leave me the hell alone so I can fuckin' sleep?"

The damn cat had grinned. "Yep!"

So here he is, leaning against the wall, suddenly painfully aware that he forgot to put on a shirt before leaving his room. She senses him, though, and turns her head. Too late now. Oops.

"Hey, Soul," she says quietly. She returns her attention to the television. Her blonde hair looks limp and sad, and he frowns.

"You okay?" he asks, though he already knows the answer. He sits next to her and eyes her, one eyebrow raised.

She shrugs miserably and clutches her tea tighter to her chest. Steam isn't rising from the mug anymore, so he stands again and takes it from her. Surprisingly, she lets it go without comment. He heats it up in the microwave and brings it back to her. She hesitantly takes a sip.

"Need anythin'?"

She shrugs again. After a few minutes, when he concludes that she does not need his help like Blair insisted and is about to go back to his warm, comfortable bed, she says, "Hey, Soul? Can you pick up take-out when they open?"

Crap. "Yeah, sure. They open at noon, right?"

"Eleven."

Crap, again. "Yeah." He has two hours. "The usual?"

"Yeah," she says, curling into herself even more.

He really wants to go back to bed. But she looks so miserable, and it makes his chest hurt. Instead of going to his room, he goes to the kitchen. The "secret" drawer that hid their stash of candy is still fully stocked. There are two Hershey bars, a Three Musketeers, a Snickers, and a Milky Way on top. He takes them all back to the front room with him. After dropping the candy on the coffee table, he lifts Maka's legs (and the warm blanket), sits down, and replaces them on top of his lap.

"I hate Snickers," Maka says, nose scrunching cutely.

Soul smirks. "Good, 'cause it's for me. This one's yours." And he hands her the Three Musketeers.

She smiles. "Thanks, Soul." She moves so she's snuggling into his side, and, even though his face is now as red as his eyes and dearShinigamiwhatthehellamIsupposedtodo, he wraps an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

A/N: Hey, reader(s)! I haven't uploaded anything to this site in a very long time, so I decided it's better to come back with a series of one-shots than a full-length story that I am still in the middle of writing. I have come to the conclusion that it is easier, faster, and makes for happier readers when the story is already completely finished (or MOSTLY finished), so I can update in a timely manner, making minimal changes as I go. I don't know about y'all, but I die every day I have to wait for an update from a story I'm reading and absolute LOVE. And I have done this as a fanfic author in the past. So I don't want to do it anymore. This is just a long-ass explanation of why the two Harry Potter stories I have up aren't finished yet. One of them is also a collection of one-shots that I can add to whenever, but the other is a Marauders fic, which I have written a bit more of but kind of lost the ideas for. The one I'm writing now is also Harry Potter, and it's Next Gen. This is the first Soul Eater fanfiction I've done, and my friend (who introduced me to Soul Eater, she is the best person ever) has read these and thinks they are adorable.

So basically I hope you feel the same way. This story is a collection of one-shots featuring Soul and Maka cuteness. There will be language, maybe violence somewhere down the line depending on how I'm feeling. I hope to have at least one one-shot out every other week. Sometimes, I'll try to do one or more a week. It all depends on how much time I have, what with work and school. If you actually read through this whole thing, I greatly appreciate you! I just feel like I had to offer some sort of apology for the mess I left behind me x_x ANYWAY. I am an English major now, so let's put my beginner skills to the test!

(Instead of asking for reviews, I'm just going to say this once: I like to know how I'm doing, if you think I have characterizations right, if you think I need to work on something, or if you just really like it and wish to tell me so (because that will further encourage me, honestly). It would be appreciated. I'm think of also doing a full-on Soul Eater fanfic, multi-chapter, so if you read a few of these one-shots and think it's a good idea, let me know, please c: OKAY, THIS LONG-ASS AUTHOR'S NOTE IS FINISHED. I'M SORRY, THERE WON'T BE ANOTHER LIKE THIS, I PROMISE.)

I've also been using asterisks as breaks between "time spaces," but apparently that doesn't fly with FF. Those line-break things look awkward. /after-thought

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