The air smelled sweet. Too sweet for his taste.
Soul Eater Evans glanced over at the pig-tailed girl on his left as they strode past stores and food stands. Salesmen bellowed out their special sales and offers from where they had stationed themselves on the pavement, passing out flyers to any pedestrian that crossed their path. Colorful decorations (mostly red and green) had been decked out, strung up, and blown up all along the streets of Death City. The smell that was making Soul wrinkle his nose in distaste bore the strong scent of cinnamon and apple cider.
Only five more days till Christmas.
"Tell me again why you're forcing me to come out in the freezing cold with you. It's crowded, and I'm bored." Soul complained to Maka, who sighed heavily while she brushed her bangs away from her olive green eyes.
"BECAUSE! Christmas is almost here and I still haven't done all the gift shopping I need to do."
"Well what does that have to do with me? Come on, let's go home already…"
"Shut up!" Maka hissed, before taking a deep breath, "Look, I just didn't want to go out alone, ok? Besides, don't you have some shopping to do too?"
"Maybe. Or maybe I'm not giving presents this year." He shrugged in reply.
"Liar. You've just been so lazy that you haven't bothered." Maka said at once.
Before Soul could slip in a snide retort, he was being dragged into a warmly lit boutique that seemed to be completely pink on the inside. Pink perfume bottles, pink shoes, pink accessories of every kind, and an array of pink purses had been stacked neatly against walls and upon shelves.
"It's all so elegant and pretty!" Maka gasped, rifling through a nearby rack of jewelry. Soul felt as though he had stepped into his own personal vision of hell. "Look! Oh this would be perfect for Tsubaki." Maka flourished a pair of pink pearl earrings in front of Soul, who gave a distracted nod.
"Sure, whatever, can we go now? It's so un-cool for me to be spotted in a place like this…" Soul grumbled, before retreating outside while Maka pushed her way through the crowded store to the register. She finally squeezed her way outside, carrying her purchase. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair ruffled from the close proximity of customers and people she had fought through.
"Ok, now all I need is Papa's present and I'll be done." Maka huffed, smiling at the prospect that her shopping trip was nearly over. Soul, however, gave her an incredulous look.
"You're getting your dad a Christmas gift?"
"Well, yeah." Maka blushed, "I mean, it is Christmas. I mean, it's not like he deserves it, but still…"
"I didn't know you were so compassionate this time of year." Soul joked, a slight grin breaking out.
"You should know by now, idiot! I've been your partner for years now!" Maka spoke sharply, suddenly upset.
"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. Don't get so emotional…"
Maka gave no sign of forgiveness, and Soul let the issue lie. She had been on edge lately, most likely because of the new stress she had put herself under by agreeing to manage most of the preparations for the upcoming Christmas Eve party. She had volunteered after Kid had practically begged her to lend him a hand after he himself had introduced the idea of a "formal event of celebration" on the last day of classes at DWMA before vacation.
She was too much of a pushover to say no, of course. But then again, Soul couldn't really blame her for having a soft spot for festivities like this. She hadn't spent many holidays with her family before her parents divorced and separated, so she always tried to make the best of any party or significant days of the year.
"It's just Christmas…No need to get so excited…" Soul muttered to himself. Maka gaped at him in apparent astonishment.
"Soul! Come on, you so don't get it!" She elbowed him in the ribs, "It's all about the spirit! I mean, aren't you excited at all?"
"Not particularly. Should I be?"
"Definitely. It's the eve of the eve of the eve of the eve of Christmas Eve!"
Soul, having no earthly idea of how to respond to such a nonsensical comment, remained silent throughout the rest of the shopping trip.
After arriving back at their apartment via Soul's motorcycle, Maka locked herself up in her bedroom to wrap up the items she had bought. Soul, meanwhile, collapsed on the living room couch and began flipping through channel after channel of Christmas inspired programs until the remote slipped from his fingers to the floor as he fell asleep.
The next few days was a monotonous blur to Soul. Maka had been continuously in and out of the apartment, leaving him to himself. She would slow down only for a quick meal before heading off again to decorate, supervise, or collect a needed item or ingredient that would make the quickly approaching party "perfect". Soul had been under the impression that Maka would have to pass out from exhaustion before agreeing she was working too hard.
Nevertheless, everything that needed to be done was completed, and the day of Christmas Eve dawned bright and cold.
"Ok, Soul. If I'm not back in an hour, go to the party without me. I just have to pick up a couple of extra things for later." Maka explained to Soul vaguely, as she pulled on her heaviest jacket and strapped her purse over her shoulder.
"What more could you possibly pick up?" Soul passed her a bewildered look. "You've bought EVERYTHING."
"Anyway, don't wait around for me. See you later!" And with that, Maka ducked out into the freezing wind that howled outside.
An hour later, Black Star and Tsubaki knocked on the apartment door, and Soul, remembering what Maka had said to him, left with them both.
The hall where the party was to be held had been transformed into a vision of magnificence. Tables were spread out across the room, an especially long one that had been set with a variety of different delicacies that caught most of the party-goers' eye. A gargantuan,, brilliantly lit tree stood tall in the corner of the room, practically blinding the trio as they stepped inside.
Soul yawned widely. Already he felt unbearably bored and uncomfortable in his pin-striped suit and tie. Black Star and Tsubaki, however, were already heading over to claim a table right beneath the oversized pine tree.
"Such a troublesome thing…" Soul muttered, shrugging off to join them.
"Welcome, everyone." Kid approached their table, a glass of sparkling grape juice poised in his left hand.
"Hey." Soul answered shortly as he picked around thoughtlessly at the food on his plate. Black Star and Tsubaki complimented Kid on the overall turn out of the party.
"Yes, Maka really was quite a help to me." The black-haired boy agreed, smiling in a satisfied sort of way. "Speaking of which, where is she?"
"Dunno, said she would be here later." Soul spoke up.
"Later? What more could she possibly have to do? She practically planned out this entire evening."
"What's the matter, Kid?" Black Star interjected, a mischievous look in his eyes. "You hoping to steal a smooch from Maka under the mistletoe or something?"
"The whole table erupted in fits of laughter while Kid stood, blushing foolishly at the group.
"Man," Soul gasped, tears in his eyes as a result of how ridiculously hard he was laughing, "That was perfect!" He high-fived the blue-haired boy, who continued to scoff and snort at the baffled son of Lord Death.
I'm alivvveee! hello there again ^^ now don't worry, i've written much more than just this, and i will b adding it all soon. this was originally supposed 2 b a one-shot, but one page turned to ten...50 words turned 2 over 5000...i can't write one-shots for the life of me... anyway, enjoy!