Prepare for fluff. *I don't own Soul Eater* Also, keep in mind that these fics are nonlinear, so Soul and Maka's relationship will change from prompt to prompt. *I disclaim* I don't own Soul Eater. Review, favorite, follow, and/or just be awesome. You're good at that.
SoMa Week 2015
Day 2: Cuddles
Summary: It's unusually chilly in Death City, and Blair's taken all the blankets to work for her clients. When an ice storm hits and the power goes out, Soul and Maka are left freezing with only one blanket between them.
Winter didn't frequently visit Death City, Nevada. Often, if a chance cold front happened to move in, it only lasted for a single week in January or February. As a result, white Christmases were unheard of among those born and raised in the Reaper's city. So no one really had any winter clothes, coats, or hats. Death forbid that anyone should own snow-boots. The entire city all but completely shut down during the rare week of winter, because no one wanted to go outside in the "freezing" weather of forty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
Soul shivered under his comforter. For the past two winters he had lived in the Reaper's city, the temperature hadn't dropped under fifty degrees. However, it had abruptly dropped to below forty overnight.
"You'd think it'd be warm in the desert," Grumbled Soul to himself as he wrapped himself in his blankets like a human burrito. "But no. I'm lucky enough to be experiencing the first winter this place has seen in six years. Stupid weather-HEY!" He yelped, for suddenly his blankets had been ripped off of him. He sat upright, glaring at the culprit.
Blair stood next to his bed, wearing a long-sleeved fur-lined crop top with shorts and boots of the same material. She barely even glanced at Soul as she used her magic to shrink his blankets before putting them in a shopping bag she carried.
"Blair!" Snapped Soul, grabbing his last blanket: a moss-green fleece. "What the heck are you doing?!"
Blair looked at Soul as if what she was doing was obvious. "I'm taking your blankets," She stated, yanking on the last blanket. Soul yanked right back.
"No way! It's freezing!" He protested.
Blair stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. "But I need them!" She shouted, stomping her boot for emphasis. "It's gonna get really cold today, and the customers at Chupa Cabra's are gonna get cold too! So I'm gonna bring blankets!"
Maka walked into Soul's room, leaning against the doorframe. Wearing an oversized sweater and gym shorts, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What on earth is going on?" She mumbled. Soul paused a second to look at the endearing image that was his sleepy meister. Despite her diligence to wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed every school day, Maka Albarn would stay in bed until ten on the weekends. Soul could never figure out how she got that to work, seeing as his circadian rhythm prevented him from getting to sleep before twelve and forced him to rise like a vampire into the sunlight every morning.
"Soul's being a meanie!" Exclaimed Blair, causing Soul to avert his gaze from Maka to glare at Blair again.
"Am not!" He argued as if he were six. "Maka, Blair's taking my blankets!"
Maka rolled her eyes. "It's too early for me to be breaking up toddler fights…" She muttered.
Blair stomped her boot again. "I need to take these blankets to Chupa Cabra's because I know it's gonna get really cold!" She defended herself. "I can smell it!"
Maka looked at her as quizzically as she could with drooping eyelids. "So you'd rather your customers be warm than us?" She asked.
Blair shrugged in response, to which Maka groaned. "Look, last night the weather channel said that it would stay around forty degrees today. I don't think it's going to get that cold, so we shouldn't need the blankets," She told her cat, "But give Soul his comforter back. Really; if you need that many, you can have mine."
Blair instantly let go of Soul's blanket, causing him to fall backwards onto the bed. "Then I'll get yours and all the others!" Mewed the magical cat before she skipped out the door and down the hall to Maka's room.
Soul curled into a ball on his bed, hugging his pillow to him. Maka hated to admit it, but he looked almost adorable in that position. With his white hair sticking out like tiny spikes, he resembled a defensive hedgehog.
"Turn up the heater," Muttered the scythe into his pillow. "This apartment's got to be at least seventy degrees before I get out of this bed again."
Maka picked up a pillow from the floor and threw it at him. Soul simply took the blow, thankful that his meister didn't have any books on hand.
"You're going to help pay for the heating bill," She shot at him.
Soul nodded, nuzzling his face against the fabric. "Whatever," He replied curtly.
Blair departed for work soon after, leaving the apartment with only one blanket. Maka didn't seem bothered at all by that fact, and continuously reminded Soul that the weather channel predicted that the temperature would stay much the same throughout the day. Even so, nothing stopped the scythe from complaining all day that the weather was "too cold for humanity."
"You didn't even grow up in the desert," Stated Maka, reading a book on the couch after breakfast. "You should be more used to colder temperatures."
"Just 'cause I'm used to it doesn't mean I like it," Argued Soul as he loaded the dishwasher.
Neither Soul nor Maka left the house all day, after the carried decision to call it a "lazy day" and to simply loaf around the apartment. Maka finished a good book, and Soul caught up on a favorite TV series of his before playing video games.
However, the temperature steadily dropped throughout the day. After dinner, Maka looked out the window and frowned.
"There's a lot of clouds gathering," She murmured, "It looks like it might rain."
Soul shrugged as he sat down in front of the TV again. "Better than snow," He replied.
While it's a fact that rain is certainly not as destructive as snow, the tables turn on their heads when it's cold enough that the rain becomes freezing rain.
The oncoming storm soon pounded upon the streets and buildings of Death City, and the falling water instantly froze the second it hit anything solid. Sidewalks became slick and power lines began to be weighed down from the weight of the ice. After an hour of rain, cables began snapping one after the other. Death City rapidly started losing power.
Soul was rinsing out his toothbrush after brushing his teeth for the evening when the water suddenly stopped running, and the lights cut out at the same moment.
Maka squeaked slightly upon being startled by the TV switching itself off, along with the living room lights. The sound of the heater rapidly winding down echoed throughout the apartment, informing the two residents that they were without power in an ice storm.
"Maka!" Called Soul, groping his way through the dark bathroom. He stubbed his toe on the toilet before finding the doorknob and turning it.
The blonde meister had managed to navigate to the kitchen and had found the small drawer that held the emergency flashlight. She flicked it on, shining it into the hallway, where it caught in Soul's eye.
"Sorry!" She exclaimed quickly, directing the light away from Soul's face after his arm came up to shield his eyes.
Soul sighed. "'S fine," He mumbled. He crossed his arms over his chest after bringing the one down from his face. "Looks like Blair was right."
Maka nodded. "Looks like," She agreed. She shone the light on the wall clock in the living room, checking the time. "It's already eight o'clock… It's only going to get colder as the night wears on," She said.
Soul shivered. "Great," He muttered, but his frown rapidly left his face upon seeing his meister shiver as well. Wordlessly, he turned around and walked back to his room.
Maka had one arm wrapped around herself, the other holding the flashlight as goose bumps formed on her pale arms. "It's going to get really cold really fast in here," She said to Soul, but upon realizing that he had retreated, she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you doing?" She asked. A thud was heard, followed by Soul loudly cursing his desk. "Soul?" Maka called again, carefully treading down the hallway. Soul emerged from his room after a moment, carrying his comforter.
"It's the only blanket left in the house, remember?" He said. Maka's shoulders drooped.
"Oh… So, you'll be warm then," She smiled a little bit, but directed her gaze towards the floor. At least the boy she cared about would be comfortable, she thought as she tried to convince herself that she'd be fine without central heating. However, she snapped her head upward when she felt Soul drape the blanket over her shoulders.
"No," He said plainly, "You'll be warm."
Maka's eyes widened. All throughout the day, Soul had been complaining about being cold. But now that they were actually without any heat at all, he had given his last blanket to her.
Soul turned away, rubbing the back of his head idly. He couldn't hide the chill that crept through his body that caused him to vibrate like a bass speaker, though. Seeing this, the surprise drained from Maka's face as she set her jaw. She reached a hand out, grabbing Soul's palm before dragging him down the hallway.
"Hey! What gives?" Exclaimed the red-eyed weapon. Maka didn't reply until she sat down on the couch and pulled Soul down next to her.
"You're cold too," She stated, holding the blanket out in one arm and wrapping it around Soul. Blushes spread across both of their faces at Maka's action, but Soul coolly put his arm around her as well.
The two sat in silence for a while. Gradually, Maka scooted into Soul's lap. Soul pulled the blanket around the both of them, holding Maka tight as they shared their warmth. No words were shared, but both understood that they were cuddling out of necessity.
The necessity to preserve warmth, and the necessity to hold each other tight. The latter had been put off for far too long.
Blair didn't get home until after the power came back on, which happened around eleven that night.
"I told ya that I'd need these blankets!" Proclaimed the magical cat as she stepped through the apartment door. But when she heard soft snoring, she instantly quieted. Stepping with the total silence that only a cat could master, she crept into the living room. Blair's ears flicked forward as she examined the sight before her.
Soul was lying on his back on the couch, Maka on top of him, with the white-haired scythe's comforter draped across them as the two slept.
Blair smirked as she walked into the hallway to put the blankets back on their beds and in the hall closet.
"Knew that would work," She giggled to herself.
So it was Blair's idea all along… She's a clever kitty ;) Well this one's a lot shorter than the last one. Tell me: Do my readers like the shorter ones or the longer ones? Next chap should be fun; I'll see you then!
