So, I was supposed to be working on my FictionPress story 'Stradivarius' today, but that plan just went to hell. So instead, I pushed out another one of these. But I did put in some of my characters from Stradivarius in tiny parts, so I guess that counts. Though one is OOC while the other is perfect...oh well. Please enjoy. Also, taking requests now. If you wanna see something, leaving a review with it, or PM me. If I think I can do it, I'll let you know.
"Dude, Maka's going on another date with that guy?" Black*Star asked loudly as Soul contemplated if it was worth going to jail for murdering his best friend. "What's up with that?"
"Guess she likes him." Soul muttered, mashing the clicker as he flipped through yet another pointless channel. This had not been a cool week.
"But doesn't that bother you? I mean, I'm a big star so I know Tsubaki isn't going to find another person she would rather spend time with, but if I were a lesser mortal like yourself, that would piss me off." The blue haired miester pressed, not noticing Soul's hand grip the controller tighter.
"Nope" Soul replied in a bored tone. "Maka can date whoever the hell she wants. And why the hell are we talking about Maka? Isn't there a game on tonight or something?"
Black*Star shook his head, finishing the soda in his hand with one large gulp before crushing the glass bottle against his forehead. There was crack as the glass shattered, followed a moment of silence as Soul stared at his moronic friend, waiting.
"WAHHH!" Black*Star wailed as a small fountain of blood erupted from his forehead.
"Moron, you crush can's, not bottles," Soul sighed, not moving from his chair, "why did you do that?"
"I don't know!" the miester replied honestly as he started to run back and forth in the small apartment he shared with Tsubaki. "It burns!"
Soul watched his best friend hop around for a moment longer before letting out another sigh and pulling himself from the couch. He had come here to take his mind off of how empty his apartment had felt, but to be honest, Black*Star was already getting on his nerves.
"I'm gonna bounce," He called out as he reached for the door, unsure and uncaring if Black*Star could hear him over his own screams. Shaking his head, he reached for the door when it opened.
"Oh, hello Soul." Tsubaki greeted pleasantly, giving him a smile. "I assume the yelling is Black*Star?"
"Smashed a bottle on his face" Soul confirmed with a nod.
Tsubaki let out a tired sigh, before letting a grin come back to her face, "I guess I better go clean him up then. Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, Star's a little to loud for me right now."
She gave her young friend a understanding smile, "Missing Maka, huh?"
Soul's eyebrow went up, and he opened his mouth to reply, but Tsubaki had already moved around him to grab the still moving Black*Star, leaving Soul to mumble to no one in particular that he did in fact "Not give a shit what Maka did." Growling, he stormed out of the apartment and slammed the door shut behind him.
As he continued his march down the stairs and onto the street, he continued to fume. Why did everyone simply assume that Maka having a boyfri…that she was dating som…that she was….doing that, that it would bother him. He didn't give a damn what Maka did! Yes she was his partner, but that was where their relationship ended. Why couldn't anyone fucking see that DAMNIT? That's it. He wasn't going to think about it anymore.
Taking in a deep breath, he started off down the street back towards his apartment. He was so focused on simply walking (and not thinking about Maka); he didn't notice the trio that was walking towards him until one of them called his name.
"Soul!" Patty yelled, breaking from her sister and Kid to run up to the older weapon. "What are you doing out here? It's about to rain!"
Soul glanced at the sky. Sure enough, dark angry clouds were already forming. "Eh, I'm on my way home. I was at Black*Star's place."
"Oh!" Patty smiled, looking to his left, then his right. "Where's Maka?"
Soul felt his eye twitch, but he held down his temper. Patty was just being Patty. He started to reply, but was cut off by Liz. "She's on a date with that boy Patty, we helped her pick the outfit, remember?"
Patty cocked her head to the side. "I thought Soul was the boy?"
For a moment, Soul could have sworn fate was fucking with him. Just him, personally. That could be the only reason. That could be the only reason that the one time he just wanted everyone to shut up about Maka and him, and the other guy, was the time when two siblings were talking about it loudly in the middle of the damn street.
"No Patty, It's not Soul." Liz rolled her eyes, letting them rest on Soul, "Though, that is a surprise isn't it? We all figured you would ask her out one of these days, especially after he asked her out on a second date. That was the time to make your move."
Soul's eye twitched again, this time aided by a twitch of his mouth. Mechanically he opened his mouth, "I. Do. Not. Give. A. Damn. Who. Maka. Dates."
Liz smirked, "Sure you don't. Come on Patty, let's get home before this weather ruins my hair."
"Okay!" Patty smiled at Soul, "Maka looked really pretty in the outfit we picked out for her. You should have asked her out!" And then she was off, following her sister, leaving Soul foaming at the mouth.
"
"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! He roared after the retreating figures of the Thompson sisters, but they paid him no mind.
Breathing hard, he let out another growl, and then whirled around as he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. "What?"
Kid gave him a sympathetic look. "I understand how you feel Soul."
Soul eyed the young reaper carefully, "Do you now?"
Kid nodded, staring off after Liz and Patty, "Oh yes, very much so, it's very annoying isn't it?"
Soul sighed in relief, glad one of his friends wasn't completely batshit crazy today, "I know. No one will shut up about it."
"Yes, I remember when Liz was asked out by a boy. I didn't know how to handle it at first." Soul's relief turned to dread as Kid continued, " I was jealous, of course. And worried that she would leave me. But, I found that the best thing to do was simply talk to her about my feelings and then…"
"I don't have any fucking feelings for Maka!" Soul almost screamed as he turned away from Kid, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Why does everyone keep connecting dots that aren't there for Death's sake?" Shaking his head, he stormed off before Kid could say another word.
"You have to be fucking kidding me," Soul grumbled to himself as he continued down the sidewalk, feeling the moisture in the air start to rise. "Can at least one person not bother me about this. I do not give a shit! And so what if Maka looked really pretty, she always looks fucking pretty. Doesn't need to get all dolled up to…" He trailed off as he realized what he just said. Gritting his teeth, he shook all of his thoughts away and blanked his mind until he reached his apartment.
Sighing in both relief and despair, he slowly opened the door to the silent apartment. Pulling off his coat, he threw it to the ground. Maka would bitch about it later, but he really didn't give a damn at the moment. Some how Maka had managed to give him grief all day already, and she hadn't even been with him! He could deal with her in person, because then he was at least with her, but having her annoy him without her presence, that was just wrong. Growling again, as had become his new custom, he fell into the couch.
"Scythe-Boy!" a loud voice caused him to curse and jump, before a small weight landed on his chest. Looking down, he found Blair in cat form sitting on his chest. "You're home early!"
"Yeah…" Soul muttered. Blair always served to put him on edge. He never knew when she was going to pull some kind of stunt on him.
"Relax" the magic cat purred as she settled down on his lap, letting out a yawn. "I'm not going to mess with you right now."
"You're not?" He asked skeptically.
"Nope. It's not fun."
In spite of himself, Soul had to ask, "Why?"
Well, Duh." Blair pawed his leg a few times before continuing, "It's only fun when Maka is her. You know how cute she is when she get all jealous and start's blushing!"
Souls eye, nose, and mouth twitched. Could not one, just one, fucking person not talk about Maka? "I don't think Maka's…"
"Yes you do" Blair yawned again, cutting off his denial. "I've got feline intuition. I can feel attraction. And you definitely have some animal magnetism towards her."
Souls entire head twitched as he stood up, roughly dropping the hissing feline to the floor. "That's it, I can't do this anymore. I'm going out. If Maka comes home and wants to know where…you know what, fuck that, just tell her I went out."
Growling for what seemed like the trillionth time, he grabbed his jacket from the floor, and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him hard enough to shake the frame. On the floor, Blair tutted, "Denial, is not just a river in Egypt."
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
"Stupid Black*Star, Stupid Tsubaki, Stupid Liz, Stupid Patty, Stupid Kid, and Stupid freaking cat, I am not attracted to my miester!" He ground his teeth as he continued stopping through the empty street. Vaguely, he felt a rain drop smack him on the forehead, but he ignored it. But then another struck, and another and another, and before long Soul found himself in the middle of a thunderstorm.
"As if the day couldn't get any more un-cool." Soul sighed, trudging along. For a few more minutes, he continued, shoulder hunched against the elements, when a soft noise reached his ears. Perking up slightly, he looked up and realized he had ended up on Main Street. And he could hear music, live music. Focusing, he let his ears guide him tow here the music was coming from and soon found himself in front of a small dimly lit bar. Glancing up, he read the bar's name.
"Alrum's" he repeated softly, "never head of it." But the music was pleasant, and he soon found himself inside, seated at a small table by himself, nursing a run and coke he had persuaded the bartender to serve him. Sipping at his drink slowly, he let the music flow over him. It was a slow jazz piece; a small band was set up in corner. He relished the way the bass reverberated throughout the small room, and how the piano players elegant strokes easily drove the annoyance from his being. Content, he closed his eyes.
"Like the music?" a voice asked him, followed by the scraping of a chair as someone sat down across from him.
Soul didn't open his eyes right away, "Yeah, exactly what I needed today."
"You play." It wasn't a question. Soul nodded, the atmosphere making him feel like he had no reason to lie, as he normally would have.
"Figured as much" the voice, continued, "if you like this, you should love the next person. She's an angel."
At the word angel, Soul saw a flash behind his eyes. A flash of a girl. A girl he did not want to think about at the moment. Opening his eyes to avoid seeing it again, he found himself staring at the side of his new acquaintance's face. From the angle, he could only make out that the man appeared to be close to his age, with shaggy black hair. Trying to distract himself from the image still playing in his mind, he opened his mouth. "What's she play."
"Violin" he answered, "and she sings. Don't think she's going to play much tonight though."
Soul felt a small pain in his chest. He almost never listened to violin if he could help it. All it did was serve to remind him of his past life. A life of being (to pardon the pun) second fiddle. He was about to get up and leave before he would have to deal with any more thoughts on the matter when the stranger finally turned and looked at him. As their eyes met, Soul almost recoiled.
The man had red eyes.
In his history of being, Soul only knew of three types of people who had red eyes. His family, who inherited the trait from their weapon blood, Witches, and Kishins. He searched the strangers face, hoping for a clue as to which of the three he fit.
"Wrong with you?" he asked, smiling slightly, "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Soul forced his face back to a blank slate. "Who are you?"
The stranger held out his hand. "Name's Strad."
Keeping his face calm, Soul took the offered hand, giving it a strong shake. "Soul."
Strad nodded, "So Soul, what brings you to Alrum's by yourself."
"What brings you?" Soul shot back. Yet another person commenting on his lack of Maka?
"Not alone" he admitted. "She'll be here soon.
"I'm just here for the music," Soul grumbled after Strad stared at him, waiting patiently.
"Girl troubles eh?" Strad laughed, bringing Soul back to the edge of anger.
"No"
"No need to lie to me Soul" Strad took a sip of his own drink, "You'll probably never see me again anyways."
Soul gave his new 'friend' a questioning gaze, but slowly felt his resolve cave. It was true, if Strad wasn't a DWMA student; he wasn't going to see him. "Fine, I got girl troubles, but not in the way you think."
"So what's up?"
Soul ground his teeth for a moment, "My miester has been going out when some guy. I literally could not give less of a damn about that. But my friends are all convinced that it's tearing me up inside. It's so fucking annoying."
"So tell them that."
"I did!" Soul pounded the table, "but they just don't listen to me. It's like I'm talking to a damn brick wall."
"What's the girl like?" Strad asked, ignoring Soul's angry outburst.
"What Maka?" Soul asked, quickly calming down at the question. "She's alright."
Strad waited for him to continue.
"She's stubborn, reckless, all she likes to do for fun is read so she's boring, and she's always hitting me." Soul grumbled, his eyes going out of focus as he continued. "And she's brave. She won't give up, no matter what, even when everyone is sure we've already lost. She pushes herself to do better, even if she's the best already. She's smart, and…"
Pretty?" Strad prompted a slight smile on his face."
Soul nodded, "Yeah, she's pretty. Really cute when she's mad acuall…" Soul trailed off, eyes wide at he looked at Strad who simply took another sip of his water, calm as ever.
"You like her." Strad shrugged as he put his glass down.
"N-no I don't" Soul stammered as Strad stared at him. Idly he noted that Strad's eyes weren't red like his, they were darker. Much darker. If he wasn't so distracted, he might have even called them evil. "Maka's my partner, that's all."
"Hey, lie all you want, it doesn't change the facts" Strad laughed, pulling a small canvas bag from around his back. "Well, we don't have much time left now."
Soul raised his eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"
"My date" he laughed, "She's almost here."
Soul wanted to ask what he meant, but Strad had already stared talking again. "But really Soul, if you like the girl. Tell her. The longer you wait, the further she's going to sleep away. It might be hard, but take it from me, it could be worse."
Soul wanted to protest that he didn't like Maka. But for once, he couldn't find his voice to say the words aloud. Swallowing hard, he asked a different question. "Yeah, how?"
Strad rose from his seat and pulled something out of the canvas bag. A violin. And he already had the bow in his hand. He smiled at Soul, "She could be trying to kill you."
Confused, Soul started to voice another question when the door imploded in and a very pretty, and very feisty looking redhead with a sparkling sword stormed into the bar. "Strad!"
"Well, time for me to leave." Strad tipped his fedora, "Good Luck Soul."
"Wait!' Soul grabbed the violinist arm, "Why are your eyes red?"
Strad winked, "Might be because I'm a demon" he broke Soul's hold on him and started to back away as the girl started to advance on him. "But it also might be because I'm a witch. Now go get your women, while I run from this one."
And then he brought the violin up. Quickly he played a flurry of notes and the bar went dark, save for the shining sword still clutched in the female hands. As the notes began to dissolve in the air, the lights returned. Slightly shocked, Soul looked over at the girl whose face was already turning red with anger. With a slight shriek, she took off out of the bar, already screaming at the now gone, Strad.
"What. The Fuck." Soul gaped at the now calming bar. It wasn't unusual for a fight to break out in Death City, and the people had learned to deal. But for Soul, this was the straw the broke the camels back. Sighing in defeat, he pulled himself from his seat and started his long trudge back to his apartment. Lost in his thoughts.
"I'm taking love advice from a self proclaimed Demon-Witch" he muttered to himself as he kicked a puddle of water up, letting the droplet's cascade around him. "Fucking perfect."
But even with his pessimistic attitude, he could still hear Strad's voicing ringing in his ears.
'You like her'
And for once, he didn't try to deny it outright. This wasn't Black*Star or Tsubaki. This wasn't Liz, Patty or Kid. Hell, it wasn't even Blair. It was simply a guy he had shot the shit with. A guy who had listened as he talked about Maka, and came to the conclusion that he felt something for her. He groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. He just couldn't like Maka. She was his best friend, his root. If he changed that, it would ruin everything.
As he continued to stroke his tender ego over Maka, he was struck with another blow.
And even if he did really like her, what if she didn't return his feelings. His hands balled into fists. And she wouldn't. She already had someone else. What was it? Third date. That bastard. He had probably already kissed her. Kissed his partner, his miester, his Maka!
Soul stopped, looking down and realizing his arm had already transformed into a blade, the rain already collecting on the blade. He let out a sigh. He couldn't deny it anymore, even his body was fighting with him now.
Soul Eater Evans had a crush. A crush on Maka Albarn. The tit-less bookworm.
This was so not cool.
xXxXxXxXxXxXx
Soul arrived back at the apartment hours later. He had wandered around back and forth to Death knows where. But in the end, he had returned home.
Judging by the scream he heard as he opened the door, it might have been safer for him to stay out.
"Where have you been?" Maka shrieked as he pulled off his drenched jacket, making sure to hang it up as her eye's burned into him. "I have been calling everyone! No one knew where you were. I was about to go out and drag you back home."
Soul kept his eyes downcast as she continued to yell at him. Party because he wanted to look sorry, and partly because he didn't know what he would do if he actually looked at her right now.
"Soul! I'm talking to you!"
"I was out" he shrugged vaguely, "I told Blair to tell you."
"Telling her you're going 'Out' does not help me Soul!" She cried, flinging something at him. Deftly, he caught it. It was his cell phone. "Why can't you just carry that?"
He shrugged. He was tired, wet, and emotionally drained, and to top it all off, the cause was standing behind him yelling. Shaking his head, he put the phone down and started off towards his room. Vaguely, he could hear Maka, but he tuned her out, closing his eyes. So he was very surprised when he was shoved hard on the chest, forcing him back into the living room and onto the couch. He let out a small, unmanly yelp as he fell against the soft cushions. Opening his eyes, he glared at Maka who stood over him, arms crossed.
"Maka! What the hell?" he snapped, starting to get up, but she held up her hand.
"Soul! Do you have any idea how worried I was?" She yelled, leaning over him. "How would you like it if I just went and disappeared all night." Soul bit his tongue to stop himself from taunting that she had in fact been out that night. "And it doesn't help that there was some kind of Witch fight in the city limits! I was so scared you got hurt!"
Soul perked up slightly, was she talking about Strad? And instantly, he was reminded of his revelation. He slunk back over. "I'm sorry Maka."
"I don't want you to be sorry!" Maka said softly, falling to her knees in front of him, taking his hands, "Soul, I just want you to know how much I care about you. I never want you to get hurt."
The last thing Soul wanted to do at the moment, was be physically touching his miester. The second to last thing he wanted to do, was look her in the eyes. He was doing both of those things at this moment. Damnit.
His red eyes stared into her green ones as his emotion and logic fought for control of his body. But eventually logic prevailed. Giving her hands a quick squeeze, he pulled away, forcing a half smile to his face. "I'll be better. Hope I didn't ruin your date."
Maka let out a groan, "Please, never remind me of that."
Soul's eyebrow rose, "What's up?"
Maka shook her head, "Ugh, later. Go change into some dry clothes and I'll make us some hot chocolate."
Soul wanted to press the issues, but he knew Maka wouldn't talk once she had made her mind up about something. Nodding, he headed to his room and quickly changing. His timing was almost perfect as Maka came back into the living room holding two steaming mugs. Gingerly she handed one to him, warning him to let it cool off before taking a sip. Naturally he ignored her.
"Oww" he whined, putting the mug down, "burn my tongue"
She rolled her eyes, "I told you it was hot."
He waved her off, taking another sip, this one hurting slightly less. "So what happened?"
Maka griped her mug tighter in annoyance. "He tried…he tried…ugh he tried to kiss me!"
Soul almost shattered his mug, but quickly relaxed his grip, keeping his tone light. "Oh?"
"Bastard didn't even go for a peck on the cheek. Went straight for my mouth, with his tongue out like a moron!" Maka fumed, "It was like I was on a date with my father."
Soul felt a slight grin form, "So what did you do?"
"I let him kiss my fist" Maka sneered, "I warned him once. He still went for it again." Soul let out a bark of laughter, getting a fit of giggles out of Maka. "I guess we won't be going on any more dates though."
"Good" Soul nodded before he could stop himself, prompting a questioning look from his miester. "I mean, good for you, getting rid of him. You deserve…better, or something." He finished lamely.
Maka cocked her head to the side, but let his awkwardness slide. They sat in silence for a moment, before she spoke again. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
Soul did a double take. Maka never apologized for yelling at him. "It's alright, I should've had my phone or left a note or something."
"Yeah, you should" Maka agreed, but bit her bottom lip before continuing nervously, "But I was lying a bit."
This time Soul got to give the questioning look.
"I-I was worried about you, being gone for so long" she started, putting her mug down and rocking back and forth slightly, "But really, I was mad, because you weren't here, and I really wanted you to be." She bowed her head, hiding behind her hair as she continued on. "I was so mad at Erik, and I just thought if I could talk to you, I would feel better, but you weren't here. I didn't like it. You're always here Soul."
Soul's mouth hung open slightly as Maka's words hit him. He sat there, unsure of what to do, when a single tear slipped form her down turned face and fell silently to the floor. His heart cracked. Gently, he placed his mug down and reached out and pulled Maka into his arms. He expected a resistance, but she eagerly threw herself against his chest, her small arms snaking around his body.
"I don't like when you aren't here either." He admitted quietly into the top of her head.
He heard Maka choke on her sob, "Th-then why didn't you say anything?"
Soul rubbed her back soothingly, "Because, you were happy."
"But I wasn't" she whined, burying her face deeper into his chest, "I thought it would get better. That I would feel something more, but I didn't" She started to shake harder, and he tightened his grip around her. "I don't even know why I tried. Mama and Papa didn't make it, it's pointless."
Soul felt his heart crack again. It was possible it shattered. Maka didn't give up on things, and he wasn't going to let her start now. Gently, he pulled her away from his chest, using on hand to tilt her head up to his.
"Hey, don't talk like that. It isn't cool." He chided her softly.
A few more tears leaked from her eyes, "But it's true."
"Is not"
Is too"
"Is not"
"Is too"
"Is not time infinity!" he declared, getting a choked fit of laughter out of his miester. Once again, she snuggled against him, but this time without the sobs.
"You always make me feel better" she sighed.
Soul smiled sadly a few tears forming in his eyes. He took comfort in the fact that she couldn't see them before he was able to blink them away. "You're my miester. I'm always gonna be here to protect you."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise." He answered without hesitation.
She pulled away from him again, her watery eyes inspecting him. The moment seemed to last forever until very slowly, she started to move. Soul held his breath unknowingly as her face came closer and closer to his before she tilted it slightly to the side. Then gently, like the wings of a butterfly, her lips touched his. The kiss only lasted a second, before she pulled away, her face already glowing red.
"Thank you Soul" she whispered softly, starting to get up from the couch, but he gently grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to the couch.
"Maka" he started, licking his lips quickly. "I know this is a really bad time to say this, break up or whatever…but I like you. Like, I really, really like you."
There was a beat of silence, followed by another beat, then another. Soul could almost feel his spirit dying as Maka stared at him, and then slowly cocked her head to the side. Oh Death, she was going to reject him.
And then, she laughed. It was such a pure and simple thing. But it did nothing to relieve the fear Soul was currently feeling. Was she actually laughing at his declaration?
"Soul!" she finally cried out when she finished laughing, throwing her arms around his neck. "What did you think me kissing you meant?"
"Eh?" he asked dumbly.
She leaned forward and kissed him again, slightly longer than before, but she still blushed the same color of crimson. "I mean I like you stupid."
Soul's mouth opened and closed moronically for a moment, before a smile graced his face. He pumped his fist into the air. "Yes!"
Laughing, Maka gave him another kiss on the cheek. "Now go get ready for bed, we have a date tomorrow."
Soul smiled, watching his miester walk back to her bedroom. Falling back into the couch, he glanced out the window.
"Thank you Strad" he whispered softly, "And good luck with your women."
Dear Death did he need it.
Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review.
