So I've decided to carry this on, not entirely sure where it will go. I will try to keep it as T-rated as possible. I may end up changing the rating altogether. Don't really know.


Maka and Soul stared at each other as they sat across from each other in a room surrounded by candles. Maka had dragged Soul's butt to Stein's office despite Soul's complaints. He never wanted to go through this crap again. At least, not in Stein's presence.

Stein freaked him out enough to begin with, considering he had patchwork scars on his body and in his outfit, and a giant, metal screw sticking through his head. He would have to crank it every once in a while. Soul couldn't even bear to hear his clock ticking because of it.

"Do I need to stand by and mediate for you two, or can you behave for an hour or so?" Stein asked, smirking down at them from behind his glasses. Soul sent him an irate look, and Maka sternly nodded. She was damned and determined to get down to the bottom of whatever she'd brought Soul for, it seemed.

They kept silent for a few minutes, each waiting for the other to begin.

Fed up with waiting, Soul started first.

"Why'd you bring me here? You know that guy gives me the creeps." He griped. Maka sent him a look, and then sighed, and averted her gaze to the floor.

"You look like you're not sleeping, Soul." She admitted. Soul blinked. That was what she was so concerned about? Him not sleeping? Sure, he hadn't been, not since their time underneath the school. With having freakish nightmares, and more common episodes of being trapped in between dreams and reality, he didn't want to sleep. He'd done everything he could to get as little sleep as possible to avoid that terrifying state.

He kept his face as stoic as possible, and voice even.

"I'm fine." He lied. Maka sent him another glare.

"Please. I know you're lying." She stated. She crawled up to him, taking a better look at his face. He backed away as far as he could.

"You've got bags under your eyes." She assessed. He frowned, and turned his head.

"So I haven't been sleeping well." He admitted. By the tone of voice, he was asking her to drop it. He crossed his arms, and refused to look at her.

"Is it because of what happened underneath the school?" She asked. He couldn't stop the squinting of his eyes as she guessed it dead on. She was too damn smart.

"Assuming your silence as correct… Look, Soul, I went through it too." She admitted. Soul dropped his head, and nodded slowly. True, she had, but it sure as hell wasn't showing. She was more determined now than ever.

She crawled over to sit beside him, and took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Her tiny hands were warm, and he realized how cold his own were. Slowly, it caught up to him that she was even showing this sign of affection. He couldn't recall her doing this at all before.

His eyes widened as he wondered if this was a dream itself. He shook his head. Of course it wasn't. They'd only been here for at least 15 minutes. As he leaned his head back, the ceiling seemed to stretch, and he stared at it for a while. His heart began to pound in his chest, and he bit his tongue. He couldn't feel anything. Strange, since his teeth had always been abnormally sharp.

"I must be asleep." He decided. He stood, turned his right index finger into a blade, and pricked the index finger of his left hand with it. It hurt, and a droplet of red blood began to form. Confused, he stuck the digit in his mouth and sucked away the blood, soothing the cut with his tongue. He wasn't asleep. He must have just been hallucinating.

"Hey, Maka, feel better?" He asked, eager to get out of the building. He felt far too cozy, and had the urge to curl up and sleep. If he could just get out into the cold air, he'd wake up. She looked up at him and smiled.

"A little. Still need to talk? Have you been having nightmares, too?" She asked. "Too", huh? Doubt you wake up paralyzed, but still… He thought, finding solace in learning the things they hunted in waking life hunted her in sleep as well. Reluctantly, Soul nodded.

"Can we talk about that on our way back?" He asked, fighting a yawn. He failed, and yawned loudly.

"Sure." She said, standing and brushing the dust off of her knees. Soul held the door open while she blew out the candles. Stein had been standing outside the door, waiting. He reached up to crank the screw, and Soul shuddered as the sound raked his eardrums. It made him antsy.

"That was fast. Half expected you two to start arguing again." Stein commented, taking out a ring of keys and flicking through them. Soul shrugged.

"He's too tired to be as stubborn as he usually is." Maka replied with a giggle.

"Oh? Need anything?" Stein offered, almost too readily. Soul scowled as he began to imagine the ways Stein would "help". He'd probably perform a frontal lobotomy or some other crazy medical procedure. Soul went to decline, but Maka beat him to it, arguing that yes, he did. He scowled.

"Damn it, Maka, I'm not about to take anything from that guy!" He argued. Maka shrugged.

"You need sleep, Soul. You'll go crazy if you don't." She insisted. Stein shrugged, and opened the door again, stepped to the altar, and grabbed a decent candle that wasn't burned to a stub. He handed it to Maka.

"If anything, try continuing these communication exercises at home. I suggest in the morning. This way, maybe you can sleep better at night, Soul." He said, locking the door. Soul noticed he froze, seeming to fight with something.

He watched as Stein grumbled to himself. He was gripping the handle of the door, almost visibly shaking with effort to do… or maybe not do, something.

"Leave." Stein forced, keeping his gaze fixed on the door. Soul grabbed Maka by the wrist.

"Bye, Professor." Maka called out as they left the room. Upon reaching the front door to Stein's lab, they could hear his maniacal laughter and an estranged outcry. Soul hurried them to his bike, turned the key, and took off, not bothering to put on his helmet. He wanted to get far away from Stein as quickly as possible.


Maka had made breakfast for dinner, which was pleasing. It was a comfort food they both enjoyed, and she would occasionally make it upon his request. The gesture she'd made in making it to surprise him lifted his spirits, and he gave a small smile. It felt almost foreign, and he caught himself wondering when the last time he'd smiled was.

She'd brought the plates to his room, along with the pitcher of sweet, maple syrup. Digging into pancakes with a lake of syrup on them, he devoured the plate in what felt like seconds. Maka was only a fourth of the way through with hers when he lied back on his bed, satisfied, and feeling better.

"Can't you take your time for once?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, can't help it." He answered. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at his carefree response.

"Ne, Soul…" She began, staring down at her plate. He glanced at her, and rested his arms behind his head. He'd wait.

"I wanted to apologize, for earlier. I just… don't want there to be any secrets, you know? It affects us too much." She started. Soul nodded, remembering the fight with werewolf dude on the bridge.

"I get it. You've been so collected and calm lately, I just didn't realize there was anything wrong. Didn't want to worry you about me. That's just not cool." He muttered, staring at the ceiling. She leaned over to set the now half-finished pancakes on the nightstand.

"Do you see him? Asura?" Maka asked, scooting back on his bed and lifting her knees up to lean against them. Soul nodded.

"Yeah, but… it's the way the dreams play out that I…" He trailed off. Just thinking about it made him uneasy. He felt if he fell asleep tonight, he'd have another interstitial nightmare.

"What do you mean?" She asked. He sighed.

"You ever have nightmares where you just can't wake up? No matter what?" He asked. He felt silly for phrasing it this way, but he didn't know how else to put it.

"When that happens, I usually realize I'm dreaming and just wake up. You mean like, you're about to die, and then it shifts to something else?" She asked. Soul shook his head. Those nightmares were nothing. He could deal with those easily with a few lucid dreaming tactics he'd learned about.

"You can see your room, your blankets; stuff on your nightstand. But you know you're still asleep. You know you need to wake up, but every time you think you're awake, you're not. I swear to Death I was going to die a few weeks ago." He murmured. His voice was small. It was unlike him, and totally not cool.

After a minute of silence, he looked at her. She was staring back at him with a look in her eye. He thought it might have been pity, or sadness. Maybe even fear.

"I know what you mean now." She whispered, nodding slowly. He blinked, and sat up. So he wasn't alone.

"You have 'em, too?" He asked, just to be sure. She nodded, looking down in embarrassment.

"Yeah." She answered. He set a hand on her shoulder, and she reached up and took it.

So she wasn't as collected as he thought she was. She might not have been having these terrifying dreams as often as he was, but it seemed she still forced herself to go to sleep. And here I've been doing the exact opposite. What a wuss I am.

The clock ticked as the counter turned over, and Soul turned to look at it. 9:25.

She looked at where he was, and stood.

"I'm going to get ready for bed. Goodnight, Soul." She announced, taking his plate and hers and leaving his room.

He flicked off the light, closed his door a little, leaving a crack to allow the hallway light to filter in. He changed into his boxers and tank top, and crawled into his bed. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the ceiling. Maybe, after learning he wasn't alone, he might get a decent night's rest.

He turned on his side, tucking his knees up and holding an extra pillow. He began to imagine having another nightmare, and he grimaced. Uncomfortable, he turned over on the other, as if it would help. He forced himself not to think of it, but it only made him think of it more.

He told himself, over and over, he wasn't afraid of Asura. He wasn't afraid of most of the things they'd hunted in the past. He knew those monsters weren't the issue. He was fearful of being trapped in between dreams and reality, something he felt he had no control over.

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts, and Maka opened the door and stepped in. Her hair had been let down, and she was dressed in her yellow pajamas.

"Can I… stay with you, for tonight?" She asked. Soul nodded, and moved aside. He wondered if it would help, sleeping beside someone for the night. At least if he needed to, he could call out to her, and she'd hopefully hear it and wake up.

"The other night, I tried calling out to you. I think you were in your room. Did you hear me?" He asked.

"Hm? No, I didn't hear anything." She replied. Damn, there goes that idea.

Soul arched an eyebrow as she curled up on her side and hugged him. She rested her head on his chest, and relaxed.

"Sleep, Soul. I'll try to wake you up if you have a nightmare. I promise." She whispered. Soul nodded slowly.

"Um, sure. Uh, likewise." He babbled. Shit, so much for being cool. Pshaw. Who cares?

He relaxed, and shut his eyes. Feeling the warmth they created and the puffs of air on his chest helped him to think of more pleasant things, and distracted him from the worry of nightmares. He didn't even mind the thought of how cute she looked as it flittered through his head.

Soon enough, he fell asleep, snoring heavily. This would be the best night of rest he'd had in a long while.


Well, there you go. Hope it was nice. Please let me know if there's any way I could improve.