How to Make a Lady

Chapter One: Moving In

Warnings:

There is an OC. I needed a bride for Wes. Don't worry, she's really not important, and it is still SoMa.

Mentions of TsuStar, KidChrona. Not too much though.

Technically Mr. & Mrs. Evans are OC's too, but... can't help that. As are... some random popping up family members. And Kami's personality is also different because... we really know very little except she's basically awesome.

Sexual themes, may or may not go into detail, I don't know if I'm comfortable posting that stuff on my fanfiction, but since I will be taking everything off my LiveJournal, I might as well put the whole thing. Tell me what you think in the reviews, especially if you original read this on my LJ.

T until then; for the swearing and what not.

Not posting it all at once. I'm trying to edit/re-write some parts.

I also do not own the picture; and Tumblr did not source it. Please tell me if you find its source.

Maka would have considered herself lucky. When she moved away from her hometown in Nevada to the crowded city in the Pacific state, she thought it would be impossible to find an easy place to live. Her first month had been spent using a majority of her money on a hotel room and a storage unit to keep her things safe. It hadn't been until she was out trying to fulfill "Help Wanted" and "Now Hiring" signs did she find the poster.

Roommate wanted!

4242 Main Street

Apartment 564

Interviews Wed-Fri

Please Call!

There wasn't a whole lot of information, but when she took one of the pull-off strips from the bottom with the number, she decided then that it had to be better than any type of hotel room with outrageous prices, ants and cockroaches included.

So when she got home with a promised interview dated next week, she pulled the crinkled paper from her jacket pocket and called the number. Maka felt more at ease when a woman answered; after some argument with someone else in the background, she got a time to come in the following day.

Building 4242 Main Street; Apartment 564. The small moving van outside had men shuffling to pick up the boxes inside, most of the items on the street below were littered as if the person moving were in that much of a hurry to get out of there. The blonde knocked lightly as she waited in the hall, easily hearing a lot of movement on the other side of the door. The interview would be good for her; she had no idea how these things really worked, but she figured she'd get a good impression from the woman as well as leave a good one on her.

"Can you at least let the chick in before you go?" Wait, that was a man's voice, wasn't it? Maka fidgeted, realizing that there might already be someone living there too. What if she wasn't the only roommate that was needed? Or the person living there already had a boyfriend. Well, it wouldn't be bad, but it could get annoying to have a guy just coming and going...

"Okay okay, keep your pants on mister~ Couldn't you help me get the last boxes out?"

"A box of clothes shouldn't be so heavy that you can't do it yourself."

With an annoyed cry at the other occupant, the door opened. Maka couldn't help but turn red in embarrassment at the woman's outfit. Her hair was purple and curled neatly to frame her face, and the shirt would have been less revealing had it just been a bikini top. Maka doubted she'd be able to pick up that box that she'd been talking about; if she bent over that skirt wouldn't be covering much of her rear end.

"Maka, right?" She greeted cheerfully, door opening fully to invite her in.

"Uh, right." The girl nodded, following awkwardly as she stepped in. The apartment certainly was... something else. The furniture didn't match, and the walls were painted a strange pale yellow. She could see into the kitchen past the living room arch, where someone was fighting with scattered papers to try and make things look decent. It was obvious someone was moving out though. There were boxes stacked in the living room, and a few small suitcases thrown onto the bright red couch. The various papers on the floor were foreign to her, the type small while some of the words were highlighted and circled.

"Soul, the next persons here~!"

"Please come in!" The voice called out from the kitchen, no doubt at all that it was a man's voice. She'd felt more relaxed at the thought of rooming with another woman, but... this couldn't be that bad...

Maka carefully moved around the fallen stacks of paper, flashing a smile to Blair as the woman grabbed a box and shoved it in a movers hand, just as he reached the door behind her. Green eyes widened a bit as she saw the person who was actually doing the questioning.

He didn't look bad, it was just a surprise to actually see someone with red eyes and white hair. He looked like he'd been rushed all morning, hair completely askew; some pulled back out of his peripheral with a black headband. The orange shirt looked wrinkled under the black jacket, and the cuffs around his shoes had mud flecks around them like he'd jumped in a puddle. Maybe he was just having an off day...

"Hey." He greeted with a lazy smile, amber eyes looking up to watch the movers grab a few more boxes. "Please be careful of the papers! Sorry about the mess."

"It's alright." She tried to wave it off, stay friendly. It may be with a guy, but she needed a room somewhere. She couldn't afford staying at the hotel much longer.

"Alright, so just... tell me about yourself?" He didn't seem to know what he was doing. "Blair said your name's Maka?"

"Yes, Maka Albarn. I'm from Crystal Bay, Nevada."

"Nevada? What're you doing all the way out here?"

"I just... had to get away from it all." She didn't feel like spilling her family to this guy; first impression was everything and she didn't want to give off the idea she was crazy or something.

"Yeah, California's not bad." He snickered. "You legal?"

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, that didn't come out right? Look, I just need some simple stuff. Name, age, what you're doing for work, that kinda jazz."

"Oh..." She shifted again, hands moving to her jacket pocket. "I'm twenty-two, and I'm going to be working down at the bookstore on Eighth... I hope. Look, I kind of just moved to the city, so I'm still trying to get things together..."

"Not bad." That was surprising. "Can you cook? Clean?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Great. You can move in as soon as possible." He flashed her a toothy grin, and she nearly had a heart attack. She was surprised; they were sharp as knives; he looked like a shark or an alligator! "My name's Soul."

The white haired moved to leave the table, heading towards Blair who seemed to have trouble with re-closing a bursting box full of clothes.

"W-Wait! That's it?" She stood quickly, nearly knocking the chair over when he turned back to her. "What about rent, or bills, or something?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I won't be making much-"

"No, really. Don't worry about it." Soul laughed. "I'm covering it."

It didn't make sense. Why did he need a roommate if he was able to pay for everything? Why get a place with two rooms? She wanted to ask, but he disappeared into the hall where the bedrooms were, calling out to Blair to give her key to Maka before she left. The purple haired woman giggled as she made her way to the gaping blonde, putting her arm around her.

"You look so confused, it's cute!" She squealed, pulling her close and nearly smothering the girl in her chest. The smaller girl quickly fought back, pulling away with a gasp. "That's what I liked best about living with Soul; he completely pays for everything! I work as a hostess, so I offered a lot to pay for rent. Instead I wound up saving, and now I can get my own place~"

"I just... I don't get it. I'm really confused; I didn't think it would be this easy..."

"Oh, well normally it wouldn't be. I used to room with two other girls from work and it was Hell. Between rent, and scheduling, and just- gah!" Blair shook her head. "Soul won't say it, but I'll let you in on a little secret~!" Her bright yellow eyes glanced towards the hallway, to make sure he wasn't lingering. "Soul hates living alone. I guess he was doing it for awhile before I moved in, and he was to-die-for clingy for a little while before he started acting all cool. That and he's totally useless; he can't really cook or clean for himself."

"So he needs a live-in maid?" Maka grumbled, not liking the thought.

"No way! Don't think of it like that. I think this is really the only way he can make friends. He's socially awkward sometimes." The purple haired woman giggled again, putting her key in Maka's hands. "Trust me, it's totally worth it he's a good guy!"

So she'd taken the deal. Maka was working at the bookstore in the mall down on Eighth, and after a few weeks of living in the new apartment she made a cooking schedule with Soul. She was cooking most of the days, but after he had wound up burning curry and nearly setting the house on fire she didn't mind. The cleaning part was the hardest; Soul really was kind of messy on a daily basis, so she was trying hard to get him to pick up after himself. It took nearly the first month and a half to get him into the habit of taking his shoes off before he entered the house.

What did surprise her was Blair and Soul had been right; so far she had yet to be asked to put in any money for any of the bills. She didn't know how he was paying for it all, and once or twice she'd gone searching for drugs or something in the house in fear he was getting it illegally. All she ever found was some paperwork and learned he was some actual huge underground "electronic musician" - or you know, a DJ... It explain his look and lifestyle, the cocky and 'cool' attitude, but it couldn't be earning enough for his equipment; housing, food, clothes, and the loud motorcycle... Could it?

She never heard anything about family. After the third month, he'd already overheard a lot of conversations over the phone she'd had with her father, and she'd gotten one of the rare postcards from her mother. He guessed correctly about her crazy home life; divorced parents, over-protective (and cheating) father and a traveling-the-world-type mother. When she asked about his in return, he shrugged and simply said he'd left home for a reason. It took another two weeks to find out his full name after some more snooping. Legally, it was Soul Eater. He'd changed it... That much she could tell.

So, Soul Eater was one giant puzzle to her that she was dying to figure out. Blair visited often actually, and when questioned each time, Maka was no closer to figuring the white haired out.

Within four months of living there she was quick to meet his friends; who had come calling for him and eventually dragged Maka out for some basketball games, or something to drink. It didn't take long for them to become close, though her first impressions had terrified her. Which was fine, as the friends she had made herself started merging and they became what could be called the strangest family in the building.

Black Star was loud mouthed and egotistical. Soul's best friend since forever as far as she could tell. Also, the one Soul relied on when setting up his equipment and collaborating with. Tsubaki, Black Star's girlfriend; sweet, kind, and from the various rope burns kind of a freak. Maka had no idea what she did for work, but she gotten afraid to ask when she'd overheard a conversation about the wrong rabbit model being shipped in. In all fairness she may have backed out of that conversation too quickly, but she doubted it. They lived two floors down, though on the worst nights Maka could still hear music in her room.

Then there was Kid, a slightly neurotic guy who pretty much owned the mall thanks to his investments, and it seemed like he had plans to monopolize a lot of real estate in the area. Soul claimed that the wealthy brat would soon own the city; though Maka wasn't about to doubt the claim. He was a nice guy who actually came into the mall often, though he didn't stay long since he'd bought the building only a few years ago and it's construction wasn't to his standards of sanity. In the end, that just meant it wasn't symmetrical. She had learned a lot about Kid from the esthetician Liz Thompson. She worked across the plaza with her sister. The two of them had known Kid since he bought the place and granted them their salon.

It took six months for Soul and Maka's lives to intertwine. Six months for her to realize that the slightly panicky guy she met the first day wasn't really how he was. He was sloppy, messy, and more relaxed than she liked. He cussed a lot, and he and Black Star really were some of the most dirtiest people she'd had the pleasure of being in the same room with. He talked big of himself though he was rather harmless; not counting the few times she'd gotten to ride on the back of his bike, he was a speed demon who drove rather recklessly. He often made obscene comments when she was on the phone with her dad; all but basically blurting out he was 'banging' her when they were hardly in what could be considered 'cuddling' near each other. He didn't eat well if she was away for the weekend visiting family, and he constantly poked fun at her body type; small tits, fat ankles. Yet, she put up with him because she was sure he wasn't really all bad. And then it all suddenly took a drastic turn. It was funny though... Maka always thought she'd have to do a lot of snooping to learn anything about Soul, that it would be escalated event after escalated event. Sadly, it all started out pretty normal.

Again, the day was normal. Like every other Friday, Maka woke up earlier than usual, left money on the table for Soul to go out and eat if he decided that the alternative of making food was too much of a pain for him. She knew that the money would be there still when she got home, though there wouldn't be any dirty dishes. Maka ran out the building and made her way to Eighth with hardly any problems, and into the large mall-attached Barnes & Nobles through the actual front entrance. After that, came about an hour of re-arranging and tidying up. That those who had closed, seemed to have forgotten about and tried to hold a conversation with Chrona. It was hard but she always tried; the girl was quiet, if not completely clinically GAD. There wasn't much to talk about, so Maka often rambled. Chrona never objected or stopped her, so the blonde liked to think it wasn't annoying. Dealing with the normal customers, a few loud ones who felt the need to bring small children. Lunch break try and get Chrona along to eat with Liz and Patti, get declined, join the other two at the food court. Return to work, wish her co-workers a good weekend. Leave, get dropped off at 4242 Main Street by Liz with a promise of plans for the following night. Go upstairs, greet the roommate/night owl who was going through mail at the table, start on something simple to eat. A whole day of absolute normalcy.

"Did you even get up at all while I was gone?" She glanced over her shoulder at the man, frowning slightly to realize he was still in just his boxers and a thrown-on shirt. Six months was a long time, but he'd been comfortable walking around the house like that since day two.

"I showered this morning..." He frowned.

"And then went back to bed?"

"Then I made eggs. Then I went back to bed." He grinned, as if it was an amazing feat. "Hey, postcard." Soul held the card up, handing it over to the blonde. "Where's it from now?"

"She's in Seychelles." The green eyes brightened, quickly taking in the words scrawled across the back.

"Better put it in the Book then." She'd shown him the book once; the large photo album that specifically held the postcards her mother sent. It had been hard to tell Kami about her new address, but she'd finally gotten it down and the book was now a quarter of the way full. Nodding mostly to herself; Maka hurried down the hall to slip it in carefully, as Soul continued going through the mail.

"Oh shit!" She hadn't even gotten to her door when Maka turned, swiftly making it back to the kitchen in fear something was on fire again.

"What is it, what?" He was just reading something, eyes fixated in disbelief. "... Is it the rent? Did they boost it up?"

"If only!" Soul tossed the papers aside, hand running through his hair. She'd seen him stressed out once since the day he let her move in. Black Star had misplaced one of his new pieces he'd been working on, and he nearly tore the apartment apart just to find it in Tsubaki's purse nearly an hour later. "Fuck! After all this time!"

"Whoa, hey take it easy." He kicked the chair over, wincing in his own surprise at the loud noise it made before starting to pace. "Soul, what is it?" Maka moved to retrieve the envelopes contents, sure it had to be some kind of calculating error if the rent was driving him this crazy.

Soul,

Do you remember when I told you I had gotten engaged? I know the invitation made things pretty clear, but we're getting married. All of the information is there, but I know it wouldn't be right to try and fix things with a letter. It would really mean alot to me if you came out of hiding long enough to join me on my wedding day. Mom and dad promised not to bring anything up, so don't try and use them as an excuse.

Maka stopped; realizing that the rest of the letter was probably really personal, bottle green eyes turned to the pacing panic attack. "Your brothers getting married?"

"It's not even that! How the hell did he get my address?!" That's what he was worried about? "Why would I want to go; I don't even know this chick anyway! Don't look at me like that, you have no idea how fucked up this is! This is the exact kind of excuse my parents are going to use to their advantage! There's no way I'm going!"

Maka frowned, not grasping the entire situation. Though that wasn't entirely her fault, Soul wasn't exactly being forthcoming about his past. She couldn't help but look at the other papers she had picked up.

Because you have shared in our lives your love, we Fleur Lacelle and Wes Evans together with our parents invite you to share in a day of happiness when we exchange our vows.

Friday the first of September, two thousand twelve at two o'clock in the afternoon.

20 Chapel St. Brookline, MA 02446

We look forward to celebrating with you!

Kindly respond by July 31, 2012.

We have reserved two seats in your honor.

"... I don't understand." She frowned; putting the papers on the table, not noticing Soul's constant rambling. "You're going to go, aren't you?"

"As if I have a choice! If I don't, they're going to come out here and drag me by my feet, kicking and screaming!" He growled, plopping on the couch. "I'll have to call around for all types of favors! I'll probably have to pay Tsubaki off-"

"What do you mean?"

Amber eyed looked up, glaring at the spot the papers now lay. "They reserved two seats in my horror."

"Honor." She corrected, rolling her eyes.

"If only." The older scoffed. "You don't know my family. Basically, if I don't show up with a date, shits only going to get worse! The judgment and interrogation's going to happen no matter what; but God forbid I show up without someone good looking clinging to my arm."

She couldn't imagine. Shaking her head, she walked over and sat on the couch's arm. "Why would you have to pay off Tsubaki again?"

"I would never ask her to do it for free."

"Or you know, you could ask me."

Soul sat straight up, staring at her in bewilderment. Then he started laughing. "Thanks but no thanks!"

"Hey! What's wrong with me going?"

"Are you kidding me? You've got no class!"

"Excuse me?!" This coming from Soul Eater - Soul Evans? He was calling her low class?! He didn't cook, didn't clean, and his jokes were always straight from the gutter! "I have no class?!"

"They'd spot you a mile away! No offense, but you're practically a housemaid!"

"Because you don't give me any other choice! I like a neat house, you're a disaster! How dare you!"

"Yeah, but I act this way because I want to. You... well, you don't know any better." She clenched her fist and he quickly moved to protect his head. "I'm serious! You don't walk straight; you slump, you're always wearing a skirt but you don't exactly always act like you are...if you catch my drift! You set the table wrong and all your clothes look like you got them from Ross, and you think Olive Garden is the classiest place on Earth!"

"It's the best I can afford!" She growled; practically lunging at the DJ, hands grabbing for his neck as he tried to fight her off. "I'm sorry if I don't compare to your prestigious family!"

"It's not a bad thing! It's exactly what I wanted; to get away from that classy shit!"

"So I'm the slob?!"

"No, you misunderstood-!" The older one was good in fighting for his life, flipping and pinning her down. "Maka, seriously! You don't want any part of this, it'll be Hell for you!"

"You don't think I could act like 'First Class'?!"

"I didn't say that!"

"It's what you're thinking, isn't it?!"

"..." He couldn't say anything, amber eyes trying to look anywhere but her. That was his mistake, the younger one swiftly taking advantage as she flipped them again, arm pressed against his neck.

"Teach me! I'll show you!"

"... Okay."

Authors Notes: Fleur Lacelle is actually a name play on the words Fuir and Lache, in case you were curious.

Beta: Playmate 1964!