Puzzlement

By: DemonClowSorceress

Disclaimer: Soul Eater doesn't belong to me. I just play with the plushies and squeeze the stuffing out of Soul!

Summary: A date with a gentleman is Maka's greatest wish come true...isn't it?

Maka was over the moon with happiness. It was her greatest wish come true. A true gentleman, and handsome to boot, had asked her out! She was dancing on air and singing a victory song, flying high as if the wings of her Grigori soul materialized and took her straight up to the sky. Well, at least, she should've been.

Right then, she was worried about Soul. Ever since she'd recieved the letter yesterday, he'd become very sullen and moody. More so than usual. There was an air of defeat around him, as if he'd been soundly thrashed by an enemy and now he was licking his wounds.

At first she thought it was because of Nestor's letter. But then she figured it was because she'd been asked out despite all his insults to her figure. She'd filled out some since she was thirteen, and while she wasn't as buxom as Blair or the Thompson sisters, at seventeen, Maka had a shapely figure that turned heads. (Yeah, she'd noticed the looks.)

That's probably it, she thought. Soul's sulking because his teasing's useless now. I'm pretty and Nestor's asked me out on a date. Take that, Mr. Cooler-Than-Thou!

Problem resolved, Maka turned to examine her wardrobe choices. Something (a voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like Liz) told her that her Spartoi uniform wasn't going to cut it. Same went for her plaid-skirt-and-black-trenchcoat ensemble. She wanted classy, but not formal, and comfortable, but not sloppy. Unfortunately, her wardrobe wasn't being cooperative at the moment. She'd systematically rejected every outfit she could concieveably think of, and she only had two hours until she met Nestor.

"You still not dressed?"

She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt that might've been his (their laundry sometimes melded and sometimes she got one of his mixed in with hers) but Maka's shock made her react as if he'd walked in while she was bare as a newborn. "Dammit Soul! Don't you ever knock?" she screamed.

"Door was open." He spoke briefly, no lazy slur like normal, as if he wanted to waste no time speaking. Which was another unSoul-like behavior he'd been sporting since yesterday. He cast a glance over her strewn clothes and sighed. "What, can't choose between black or white schoolgirl outfits?"

At least he was still a sarcastic ass. "For your information, I was thinking of wearing a dress," Maka retorted. "But I can't pick one."

Soul looked over the assorted dresses with no expression on his face. His hand withdrew from his pocket to pick up a hanger. It was a very pretty dress, dark green in color, with a flared skirt that stopped just above her knees. "This one," he said, handing it to her. "Wear it with that short black jacket Liz bought you. And don't wear your boots."

Maka frowned slightly, but took the clothes he indicated and stepped into her closet to change. Never before had Soul voluntarily given her advice about stuff like this. It made her wary, searching for an unterior motive. But as she trusted him, she would follow his advice.

Surprisingly, the outfit he picked was perfect for Maka. The green went with her eyes, and the black jacket hung off her in a way that showed off her chest to advantage. Adding the modest black heels she found in the back of her closet, Maka felt really good about her appearance.

His expression still completely blank, he nodded his approval. "Keep your hair loose, it'll curl a little and look a lot better than pigtails."

"Soul, what's wrong?" she asked, now a little worried. He only showed no expression when he was hiding something from her.

"Nothing." But Soul averted his eyes to stare at her bed. "You're going to be late if you don't get a move on."

"Can't you give me a lift on your bike? It's downtown."

But he shook his head. "I don't think Cartright will like you showing up to a date on the back of another guy's bike."

Maka blinked once, twice. "I - I didn't think of that." He's right...but why didn't I think of that? "Well, I'm off." Grabbing her purse, she petted Blair on her way out the door.

The magical cat sat up and looked back at Soul, confused. "Why are you letting Maka go, nyah~?" she asked.

"Didn't you know?" He looked almost forlorn, her cool Scythe-Boy, as he said, "I'm not what she wants."

"...and I had to admit, being the youngest weapon on the team was a little intimidating," Nestor said, flashing a shy smile. "But I learned so much from Nygus-sensei and Sid-sensei, so I was glad to be a part of it."

"That's great," Maka said, giving a smile of her own. A gentleman at last! she thought. But...why do I feel like this isn't right?

Don't get her wrong. An hour into the date, and Maka was already enjoying herself. It just felt...like something was wrong.

But what? Everything was going so well. He laughed at her jokes, respected her wish to not talk about her papa despite his obvious desire to, held the door for her, gave her his undivided attention while she spoke, and when a group of hot girls walked by their table, his eyes never left her. He was polite, courteous, and handsome as all get-out, with orderly dark hair and perfect teeth and sky-blue eyes that sparkled.

"Your outfit is very cute," he said.

"Thank you, So - " Maka forcibly cut herself off from saying Soul picked it out and smoothly finished, " - so much."

"It's a bit dark, though. Doesn't really seem like you."

She shrugged. "Never judge a book by its cover," she replied with a smile. He complimented me...but it didn't make me happy. What's up with this? The knot in her stomach made no sense at all. This guy was perfect! Sure, that instantly made it suspicious, but this didn't feel like her being wary.

No, it just felt...different.

"Is something wrong, Maka?" Nestor asked.

Soul wouldn't ask me that. Not that he wouldn't have noticed. "No, it's nothing." When Nestor smiled, Maka couldn't help the blink of surprise. Soul wouldn't have let that slide.

Actually, she'd been comparing Nestor and Soul for the duration of the date without realizing it. Everything Nestor did was exactly the opposite of Soul's actions. Soul would've rolled his eyes, oogled the passing girls, slouched and bored and completely un-fun. Soul would be the suckiest date in the world!Right?

...RIGHT? she yelled at herself when admittance didn't bring any satisfaction.

After paying the check (refusing to go Dutch and racking up another Gentleman Point on Maka's list) Nestor led her for a nice stroll down through Death City. Their path brought them to the music shop. Habit made Maka head inside to browse the selection, and like a good gentleman, Nestor followed. "You listen to jazz?" he asked, somewhat surprised at the record she had in her hands.

"I don't understand it very well," she confessed. "But a friend keeps telling me to give it a shot." I've got to stop bringing up Soul!

Nestor shook his head. "Too weird for my tastes. I like electronica myself."

Maka's eyebrow rose. "Trance fusion."

"Really? Wow, that's cool!"

She nodded. "Um, do you play?" Like, piano?

"Keyboard. Some drums too. You?"

"No."

Nestor smiled again. "Maybe I could play for you sometime."

I doubt your keyboard's as good as Soul's piano.

Maka shocked herself at the sharp condescension from her inner self. Argh, stop it! He's not Soul! He's not Soul! she chided herself.

Aloud, she only said, "Hm."

They were passing her favorite spot overlooking Death City when Nestor spoke again. "This has been a lot of fun."

"It has,"she agreed. So why do I feel so...disappointed?

"Actually, I asked you on this date for a reason." Pausing, Nestor turned to face Maka. "I was...I was wondering..." He glanced away, then back to her as a small blush touched his cheeks.

Aww, he's embarrassed, Maka thought.

"Well...maybe you would...I mean...what I mean to ask you is..."

Where the hell's his spine at? drawled her condescending self (who sounded surprisingly like Soul.) Just spit it out already!

"Would you...would you like to be my - "

"MAAAAKAAAA!"

Geez, Maka! Get with it already!

And oh my, who could that shout belong to?

Leave a review while you're here!