It was not the sunlight struggling through the dark curtains that awoke Maka that morning. Rather the fierce grumbling coming from her stomach when her nose picked up the scent of food. It was suddenly very obvious to her that she'd not eaten properly all yesterday, if even at all apart from that cup of tea from Crona after her bath.

She couldn't make out the smell, her nostrils, as suspected had bunged up quite significantly since last night and she could feel a light pressure in the bridge of her nose. Considering herself lucky she didn't have a headache, Maka decided to fling the duvet from her person and head downstairs to figure out who was cooking.

After padding quietly down the stairs, she approached the kitchen doorway and held onto it lightly as she ran her curious gaze over the room. Unlike other rooms in the house, the kitchen had a large window facing the sink, which lit up the room quite well. A black granite work surface held an open carton of eggs and a packet that had contained bacon. Various cooking devices such as a blender and food processor were around. She presumed all of this was for Ragnarok, who didn't just want any old food.

A small table was also in the room, but it looked rarely used since Crona was often alone when he ate, he most likely just went into the living room.

Maka continued to watch his back as he cooked, he didn't seem to have noticed she was there yet despite her sniffles. However, she could hear him humming, which was a definite first for her and she could only imagine the contented look on his face since he was facing away from her at this time. Clad in a navy blue gown that obstructed her view of his face since the collar had flared up a little bit.

It wasn't until she let out a rather violent, unladylike sneeze that Crona turned to look at her and gave a rather tired looking smile. It was her guess he'd been worrying about her last night, or wasn't very comfy on the couch. She liked the former more for some reason.

"Good morning Maka, Did you sleep alright?" he asked immediately after, snapping the blonde from her slight daze.
"Oh, Yes fine...Your bed is comfy" She replied. Watching as the boy blushed and gestured to the sizzling pan on the hob before pushing the bacon he was cooking around with a fish slice, deciding everything was cooked enough and plated up a simple breakfast of bacon and eggs for Maka, Ragnarok and Himself.

As he made his way to the dining table across the room, said small black being burst from his back and for a moment, his cartoon face held a look of suspicion. He opened his mouth as though he was about to call her something or make a rude gesture but the scent of food distracted him rather effortlessly and Crona simply tilted his head to the side to allow the small ball like fists past to grab the plate and allowed Ragnarok to balance it on his head so they could eat in peace.

Even though the food on the table beckoned her, Maka found herself staring at the duo. It dawned on her there was lots she'd failed to notice with her head being preoccupied with fighting and Soul all the time. They were so calm now, so different to how things had been once. Ragnarok was fidgeting sure, but he was calm enough and hadn't spoken out, screeched or tried to hit Crona once since she'd been here. Which was record by black blood standards.

Eventually, the swordsman noticed she'd not yet sat down and looked up at her, swallowing so he wasn't talking with a full mouth. "Are you not hungry?" he asked, watching as she shook her head. "No you're not or no you are?"

Maka sat, starting on her breakfast almost silently. She didn't much like this strange role reversal with Crona looking after her for a change. It was alien to her as it normally fell to her and Tsubaki to be the mothers of the group. It wasn't until Crona went back to his breakfast that she even dared look up again. She could see the worry set in his features but couldn't bring herself to talk just yet, her body told her she needed food before trying anything emotionally exhausting. So she ate.

Over the years, they'd spent a lot of time together. So why now was she just noticing the things that made Crona the man he was. His body had filled into a more male shape, since he'd been able to start eating the right food and proteins that really seemed to have boosted his testosterone levels and so he had quickly out grown the robe he'd once sported and had what may even be muscles beneath his clothing, strong arms and chest muscles from wielding a heavy sword. His jaw had become chiseled and held healthy teeth with a rather heartwarming smile in them. He'd also cut his hair, not drastically mind you. It was still in the same style, just under two inches shorter so it no long fell into his eyes when he was out on mission.

Crona could feel Maka's eyed boring into him, so he chose to continued looking at his now empty plate to avoid making things too awkward. He found himself thinking this whole situation was surreal, he'd never felt so...uncomfortable around her before. This only furthered his suspicions that something was very wrong with Maka, perhaps these fights had been more serious than their friendship circle had thought, then again, it might be something else was bothering her. Regardless he was going to get to the bottom of it. If it was the last thing he did.

He knew that he needed to sort out her before he attempted to express himself and his feelings for her. His heart burned for her but he had to pay attention to his brain, if he was insensitive now it would ruin not only his chances of being potential boyfriend, but their entire friendship would be abolished in a matter of moments.

"Crona, when did you get so handsome?" the question caused him to blush and look up at Maka, he knew it was meant as a teasing compliment. But his heart began to race and a bright hue of pink to spread over his cheeks. "P-Pardon me?" he stammered, for the first time in a while.

"It's like you just sort of, grew up without me noticing..." her voice trailed, shrugging as she explained before putting another forkful of egg into her mouth. From somewhere above his head, Crona heard Ragnarok snigger as he leaned over his meister to look at Maka closely knocking his plate from the boy's head, who caught if effortlessly as though he had done so a thousand times. The small black banshee continued to eye the blond, causing her to sit up straight and prepare for an insult.

"You were rather preoccupied as of late." Crona said, sitting back, pulling Ragnarok with him as the demon sword retreated back inside of him. Maka seemed very confused by the scene before her, but didn't question it as Crona was talking to her. "But... But you didn't get that way over night, now did you? I just feel like we've not talked or seen each other properly in ages." the blonde replied and looked up when her friend stood and tidied away their empty plates, washing them quickly and placing them on a rack to dry.

"We haven't" the pinkette replied plainly. It was a painful truth, but a truth none the less. It had been a while since they had last gotten time together alone. "But we're going to fix that now, they we will fix you and Soul." he continued. Unsure how he felt about her and Soul becoming friends again. However, this was not his choice to make. "Now go and get dressed, we're going to get you something to sleep on, that couch truly is awful." His tone turned into something kind, something playful as he watched Maka's surprised face before she obeyed and sauntered away back upstairs to shower and get dressed,

Crona leaned over the sink a little, he'd go up in a minute after he'd regained his thoughts. Again, Ragnarok burst from his back and took a grip on his hair to steady himself, it didn't hurt Crona anymore, the pain was a numb one now. "So Casanova what are you going to do now?" he asked, a teasing in his shrieking voice.

"Now's not the time for this Ragnarok, Maka's hurting." came his stubborn response. Then he felt small chubby fists on his shoulder as the being shifted around to look at him.
"Well you better figure it out quick or she's gonna be gone before you know it." he replied simply, before giving a small 'tch' sound and retreating back inside when he was met with just silence.

It was rare Ragnarok tried to be helpful, but it seemed he did genuinely care about Crona's romantic feelings whenever they were brought up. It was unclear why but Crona had simply presumed that he didn't like it when other people caused him misery, that was Ragnarok's job. His job alone.

Heaving a sigh he waited in the living room for Maka to return, when she did clad in a puffy blue coat and a scarf with her pants and wellington boots. He was glad that she was dressed up in so many layers, he couldn't have her getting more sick than she already was, what kind of host would he be then?

So he bolted upstairs to get all wrapped up in his winter clothes; a thick trench style coat with a feathered liner, making it rather waterproof, a scarf and a jumper under that with his dark pants. It looked like it'd be a miserable day outside today since from his bedroom window he could see a tree fighting against the wind outside, it's leaves forced backwards and it's branches swaying as they battled with the gale.

As he'd predicted, it was freezing cold outside, and the two of them stood closer together than they normally would to attempt keeping a heat between them. Even in three layers the icy wind found it's way into her collar and sleeves, making her forearms red-raw and cold. Crona found himself wishing he'd put it off until tomorrow now, he could've coped on the couch for one more night. Though who was to say the weather wasn't worse in the morning. December was truly miserable when it wanted to be.

"You know?" Maka called over the wind as she took a hold on Crona's arm. "If you wanted we can just go back to my house and I can try and get something to sleep on?" she suggested before tilting her head to listen to her friends response better. He was quiet at the best of times.

"Do you really want to be going back though?" he asked, he didn't really need an answer to know he was right but he saw the way she looked away and then leaned on his shoulder, sighing.

"It's just a fight you know, we'll get over it?" The blonde eventually said before hearing a small 'tch' from her friend as he shook his head "Is it now? if that were true then you wouldn't feel the need to leave." he reasoned and smiled fondly at her before taking her hand and pulling her off towards a large shopping center, he knew a place here where he could buy her a futon or something to sleep on, something better than his uncomfortable sofa.

If it was light enough, he wanted to take her to a coffee shop on the way home, get something warm for her to walk home with. Maybe that was a little bit selfish, or rather, self indulgent but he didn't much care, and he doubted that even if Maka knew his true intent, she would either.

A/N: Alright, I know nothing much is happening here but it's mainly a filler chapter so I can attempt to sort out any issues that were addressed in the last chapter. So I'm sorry. Also, the 'Y' key in my keyboard isn't working very well so I need to be careful, so the mistakes are my own.

Again if any mistakes are spotted tell me where they are so I can fix them and improve my story.

Things aren't going as planned, College is hard.

-Phlox.