Note: For SoMa Week 2019. Enjoy.
Chapter Two
Best Friends
The bookstore was his favorite of his three jobs.
There was always a candle burning somewhere, soft, lyricless music playing, and a set up for making a cup of tea. Not only that, but there were days where no one would talk to Soul. He could come in, stock books, dust, take inventory, and do a few check-outs, and not a single word would be uttered for the full five hours. He loved it.
But now, those empty hours were just more time he used to think about the smart-mouth, fierce blonde he had met two weeks ago.
Maka Albarn wouldn't leave his thoughts and it was starting to worry him.
They had ran into each other a few more times after that night, the one where she patched him up after her father had knocked him out. Once at a grocery store, and twice at the bar. He had found out that she and Blake were childhood friends, but Maka had moved to Japan with her family for a few years. She had returned about four years ago after being accepted to Dr. Mortimer's University of History. Her mother had stayed in Japan, and her father had gotten back into fighting the past year because the two had officially filed for divorce.
Something that had seemed like a sore topic rolled easily off her tongue, and Soul didn't think it had anything to do with the few beers she had. She told him about how Blake had a scene-phase in middle school and had demanded everyone call him Black Star. She talked about her favorite author (some historical fiction writer Soul had never heard of) for a good twenty-minutes before realizing she had been talking the whole time. She asked him simple questions, about where he was from, where he worked, what his favorite movie was, but after getting short, curt responses, she picked up on the fact that he was less of a talker and more of a listener.
When she had put her number in his phone, she used a book emoji followed by a golden heart.
"Hey Soul," Tsubaki's voice was light. She could tell when he wandered off into his thoughts. The young man turned, giving her a smile. Tsubaki's deep, gray eyes twinkled from the light that seeped in from the tall windows in the front of the shop. "I'm going to run out real fast. I need to go to the post office and grab some stamps for some orders that came in, and then swing by Best Buy for some new cables for the card reader. I have to wiggle the wires more and more each day so I might as well get it done while I can."
"No problem," Soul waved her off, turning back around to the box they had just received of some new teen-series, "I'm not at the bar tonight so I can stick around."
"Thanks," Tsubaki sighed, going to the checkout counter and kneeled behind the oak wood, "I figured Blake wouldn't have minded anyways."
"When it come to you, he'd do anything."
"Well, I guess that's a good thing in certain situations."
Tsubaki waved goodbye as she left, the bell above the door ringing gently. Soul finished shelving the books, and began to break down the box they came in when the bell rang again.
"Did you forget something?" He turned around, blinking in surprise when he saw Maka.
She stood at the front of the store, pushing sunglasses atop her head. Her hair was braided back into two french braids and they rested over her shoulders. The long, maroon skirt she wore ended right below her knees. As she shifted a messenger bag on her shoulder, the white, button down shirt she wore shifted, the knot that was tied in the front of it lifting to show the smallest sliver of her stomach.
But the most alarming thing about her presence was the small, lithe black cat that stood on her shoulder.
"Soul?" Maka looked at him, eyes wide and smile wider, "I didn't realize this is the book store you worked at."
"There's a cat on your shoulder."
"Oh," Maka looked at the cat and smiled, reaching up to scratch it's chin. There was a purple vest on it, a leash attached to it, and Soul could hear the cat purring from where he stood. "This is Blair, my cat."
"You did say you like cats more than dogs."
"Nice memory," Maka stopped petting her cat and turned, looking around the bookstore for a moment. "Is Tsubaki out?"
"Yeah, you just missed her, she went to the store."
"I should have figured you meant this bookstore," Maka walked over to the tea cart which was next to the checkout counter. There was a pot of water, a large caution sign placed in front of it. It sat on the very top of the silver cart, and below it was a lower level were teacups and saucers of different designs and sizes sat. Maka plucked a small, white one that had hand-painted vines and flowers around the rim, and she thumbed through the tea before pulling out a citrus blend that Soul would often drink. "I mean, with Blake being your friend, and Tsubaki being his girlfriend, and her owning a bookstore, I should have connected the dots."
"Is it a bad thing?"
"No! I just didn't … it was just hard for me to imagine you working in a bookstore to begin with is all."
"Because of the fighting."
"And the bar," Maka turned around, the skirt dancing around her legs. She moved the tag bag around in her cup, blowing on the steam. The two looked at each other for a moment and then Maka cleared her throat. Blair meowed and hopped down from her shoulder, entwining herself around Maka's legs before jumping onto the checkout counter and curling up. Maka flicked the leash off from around her wrist and took a sip of her tea.
"Well, I'm gonna, ah, go look for this history book I need."
"Sure," Soul watched as she disappeared down the shelves of books. "Let me know if you need help."
His eyes lingered where she disappeared before he turned and walked down the aisle of teen novels. At the back of aisle was a door which lead to the backroom, where they made piles of recyclable boxes and put together orders that needed to be shipped out. He stacked the boxes and crushed them with his foot, kicking them to the side of the room before going back out onto the sales floor.
Someone else had entered, a girl in light wash jeans and crop top, but she sat on the window seat of the store, tea cup in hand and phone in the other as she snapped a few photos. Soul decided to leave her alone. He opted for making some tea and sitting behind the checkout counter for the rest of the time. If Maka was getting a book, she would have to checkout eventually, and by the looks of it, the other customer was at the bookstore just for some snapchats.
One citrus blend later, Soul was sitting on the stool behind the counter, ignoring Blair who was sleeping on the edge. He had music-sheet journal in front of him as he scribbled away. There was a dull throb beginning in his head, left over from the yellowish-bruise he had that was a black eye last week, after a particularly gruesome fight. Soul had decided to train with Spirit, and in just a week of training he had learned a lot. His next fight was scheduled next week, but he had one the week prior with a scrappy kid. He had gotten a good punch on Soul's eye, but Soul had knocked the kid out quickly after.
Soul sipped at the tea, Tsubaki's voice ringing in his ear about how tea can soothe headaches. The bell for the door rang and Soul glanced up to see the unnamed customer leave, chatting animatedly on her phone.
"Does that happen often?" Maka appeared at the counter suddenly, three books in hand.
"Does what happen often?" Soul asked back, closing his journal and grabbing her books from her to ring up.
"The instragramers and snappchatters," Maka looked around, quickly spotting the stool that sat next to the tea cart. She pulled it over and made herself comfortable, her hand resting on the back of Blair.
"Ah, yeah," Soul rang the first book up, When Women Ruled the World, a history book that had the image of an egyptian queen on it. "But we've gotten use to it by now. We would put up a sign, but most of the times people will tag the store in their pictures so we figured why not have the free advertisement."
"Makes sense," Maka scratched behind Blair's ear, causing the cat to purr.
Soul grabbed the second book, another title about women in history, and rung it up. The third book he recognised, Hidden Figures.
"Avid reader on women's history?" He asked, coking an eyebrow and he began putting the books in a bag.
"I'm a teacher's assistant at my university," Maka had left Blair alone now, folding her hands together and placing them in her lap. "It's for an Intro to Women's History class. I have to be a T.A. for my degree at Uni, so I decided to do that one. Seemed interesting and I'd love to learn more about badass women."
"Sounds up your ally."
"Yep. I needed the two, but I haven't read Hidden Figures yet so I thought I would pick it up."
"Make sense."
Maka hummed as she watched him total everything and then glared at him when he took a ten percent discount off the books. He smirked and Maka rolled her eyes.
"Acquaintanceship, remember?"
"I remember," Soul said, crossing his arms and leaning onto the counter, "but I do recall you saying that you need to actually like your friends, so I figured an acquaintance discount would ease you into a future friend discount?"
"Next time I'll go to Tsubaki for the friend discount."
Soul laughed and pulled the bag of books from behind the counter, trading it for her credit card.
"Listen, if you want to enter the friend zone, than come to my game night tonight," Maka pushed herself off the stoll, smoothing the front of her skirt with her hands, "Tsubaki and Blake always come. I'm surprised they haven't invited you yet."
"I'm pretty introverted."
"Yeah, I've noticed."
"What do your game nights usually consist of?"
"Games. Movies. Drinks." Maka took her card back and signed the bottom of the receipt Soul slid to her. "Maybe food, if we're all hungry enough. But it's fun. We play Cards Against Humanity."
"Sounds boring," Soul smirked, "no strip poker?"
"Ah, sorry," Maka said, smirking back, "but that's only on Friday nights and today is Tuesday. Little too soon in the week."
"Bummer."
"So, will you come?"
"To game night?" Soul cocked an eyebrow as Maka nodded, smiling widely. "Sure, blondie. When and where?"
"Tonight at seven, my place. I'll text you my address."
"Sounds good," Soul waved goodbye to her as she left, Blair hopping down and following her owner without a sound. Soul watched as the pair left and Maka stopped, leaning down a little so Blair could hop onto her back and climb up to her shoulder. Maka rubbed the cat's face, gave one last glance over her shoulder to Soul, and then left.
Maka Albarn's apartment was exactly how he imagined it. The walls were painted a light, pastel blue with white trimming. Her couch was a pale, cream color, no stains of sunken-in areas. There was a fluffy, white carpet in the center of the living room, and a white coffee table standing on it. The flooring was a pale, ash wood, no scuffs or scraps. All of her wooden furniture was painted white, but weathered away on purpose to make it look vintage. She had at least three lavender scented candles burning at once. But, the one thing that caught him off guard, was the weird, techno posters she had hanging around. They were neon and loud, standing out harshly against her pastel dreamworld.
"Sorry if it's messy," she had changed since he saw her last, and was now wearing black sweatpants and a white t-shirt which was knotted at her waist. Her hair was still braided back, but now she had a headband on to hold back her bangs.
By messy, she meant the books. Soul thought she had more books than the bookstore because there were piles of them.
First, there was the whole, wall bookshelf. She had an in-wall bookshelf on the wall directly across from the front door, it was the first thing he saw when he entered her home. And the shelves were packed to the brim with books, and the occasional candle or plant. In the center of it was a cut out for a T.V., which was mounted to the wall. It look uncharacteristically out of place nestled into the center of the bookshelf wall.
But, there were also stacks around the room. There was one next to the side table on the far side of the couch, another small one on top of the coffee table, and a third one in the very corner of the living room. Blair was perched on the top of it, snoozing.
"I don't think books can qualify as messy," Soul snorted as he shifted the grocery bag he had in hand, "if anything, scattered books makes a person look even more smart."
"Yeah, well, after you get to know me more," Maka huffed, grabbing a few books that lay on the counter that divided her kitchen and living room, "it'll start to get annoying."
"Am I the first one here?" He changed the topic, his stomach twisting at her words. After you get to know me more.
"Yeah, but Liz and Patti live in this complex so they should be here soon. Kid, his name is Kendrick, but we just call him Kid, gets off work at seven thirty, so he'll be here around eight. Blake and Tsubaki should be coming back with pizza any minute, and Kilik, Kim, and Jackie are usually a little late."
"Anything I can help with?"
"No, but what did you bring?" Maka finally stopped running around and fell onto the couch, smiling widely and folding her legs to her side.
"Ah, this cider that I like, Woodchuck," He walked towards her, placing the bag on the table and revealed the cans, "I remember you saying you prefer it over beer so I'd figure I'd be a good guest and bring something."
"I'll take one and you can put the rest in the fridge," Maka leaned forward, reaching to a marbled coster that sat on her coffee table and put it down with a clink. Soul cracked open the drink and handed it to her. "Thanks."
"Do you live here alone?" Soul asked as he walked towards her kitchen. The wooden floors changed to tile and the walls changed to a pale cream color. The cabinets were a soft blue, matching the walls in the living room. The electronics - fridge, stove, dish washer, microwave - were all white. It seemed more like she had designed the apartment as a whole rather than just decorating.
"No, Tsubaki lives here, but she's been staying more and more with Blake lately. I think they're gonna move out together soon."
"I live alone," Soul walked back, cider in hand, and stopped at the edge of the kitchen, leaning on the counter. "My apartment looks like a shithole compared to yours though."
"I doubt that," Maka sipped, eyes quickly flicking over Soul's body, "you seem pretty well put together."
"Then I guess you'll have to come over and see it for yourself."
Her cheeks turned red right as a holler came from the other side of the front door and it swung open, revealing Blake and Tsubaki holding three boxes of pizza each. Blake shouted a greeting before walking to the kitchen and dropping the boxes on the counter. He opened the top box and pulled a steaming slice of black olive covered pizza out and took a bite, moaning.
"Get a room," Soul scoffed, giving his friend a punch on the shoulder.
"I love her," Blake said, holding the pizza up in the air as he chewed, "she is my everything. My one true love," he glanced over to Tsubaki and gave her a wink, "the pizza isn't too bad either."
"Gross," Maka stuck her tongue out in fake disgust, "save it for when you're alone."
Shortly after the couple arrived, the other friends Maka had mentioned began to trickle in. Soul recognized Liz and Patti, blonde sisters who had gone into the bar occasionally, but he had never really spoken to them. Kendrick, or Kid as the others called him, was much more clean and crisp than Soul had imagined. Kilik was a regular from the bar, but mostly played pool or threw darts with a group of guys. Jackie and Kim made their arrival by Kim shouting, "Your token gay friends are here," before slamming the door behind her.
"Soul, everyone," Maka waved her hands vaguely to the group that had taken over her kitchen. Soul had moved to the couch once Liz and Patti arrived, allowing the sisters to get some pizza, "Everyone, Soul."
"Hi Soul," the all said unanimously, even though their eyes were glued to the different pizza boxes.
"Sorry," Maka sighed as she leaned back into the couch, "I thought I taught them to act better than this when people come around, but I guess pizza is more important."
"Pizza is always more important," Kim's voice echoed over the others, her pink hair bouncing as she looked up over the group, glaring at Maka.
Soon everyone had their plate of pizza, a drink in hand, and were crowded around the coffee table where a large box of Cards Against Humanity sat. Kim and Jackie cuddled on the ground, their back to the bookshelf wall. Kilik sat on one end of the coffee table, and Liz and Patti on the other. Kid opted to stay at the kitchen counter, mumbling about how he couldn't believe Maka would let everyone eat on her carpet. That left Tsubaki, Blake, Maka, and Soul on the small, cream couch. Tsubaki and Blake were close, her leg thrown over his as she nibbled on her pizza crust. Maka's thigh was warm against Soul's, and he felt her shoulder brush his whenever she moved. It felt weird to be this close to someone he had met only a few weeks ago, but not wrong.
"I'll be the first judge," Kim said, putting her pizza down, "come on, bitches, show me what you've got."
Jackie delt out the cards, the quieter half of the couple. Everyone shuffled through their cards, a few giggling and others groaning at their choices. Kim pulled the first black card out and smirked.
"It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved in …," she put the card down and picked her pizza back up, waiting for the answers.
Soul took a moment to read his cards. It seemed like Kim had a more dark sense of humor. He skimmed through his hand before deciding to put down the Depression card. Quickly, everyone else put their cards down and Kim slapped he thighs like a drum roll until the last one was placed. She hummed happily as she gathered them, and read each one aloud. It had seemed like most of the group had used throw-away cards, but when Kim got to Soul's, she snorted a laugh out.
"For sure going in the good pile," Kim put his down and read the last one, "It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved in … holy shit you fuckers are baaaaad."
She flipped the card around as she cracked up, revealing the card Genocide. Everyone snorted and tried to hold back their laugh, but the room was quickly filled with laughter. Even Soul couldn't hold it back.
As the game progressed, and everyone had a few more drinks, Soul began to relax. He tossed his arm up on the couch, behind Maka's shoulders. She leaned into him after some time, hiding her cards against her chest and sipping at her third drink. As more time went on, Soul's arm fell a little lower, resting atop her shoulders, the tips of his fingers drawing little circles on her shoulder. He had a feeling the alcohol was helping him decide his actions.
"Okay, my turn," Maka broke Soul's thoughts as she leaned forward and drew a black card, "What's a girl's best friend?"
Everyone looked through their cards as Maka excused herself for the restroom. Soul watched her, trying his best not to trail his eyes down. Cider seemed to bring out a different side of him.
"Geez," Blake leaned over to Soul, wiggling his eyebrows, "you and Maka, huh?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Soul scoffed, skimming his cards, "we barely know each other. And her dad is training me."
"Yeah, and?"
"And we're acquaintances."
"Mmmm, Maka doesn't cuddle up with her aquentencies."
"Okay, you better have good cards," Maka returned and Soul's eyes widened. She had switched out of her sweatpants and into a pair of cotton sleep shorts with little polka dots. Her legs were long and muscular, and she walked over to the couch. She plopped back down next to him and smiled. There was a gleam in her eyes, and Soul couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or her teasing him.
He glanced back at his cards and smirked, picking one out and leaned over Maka to place it on the table. He pressed a warm palm to her knee as he leaned back, shifting to turn his body a bit more towards her, and removed his hand, watching as her cheeks blossomed in color. He tossed his arm back on the couch, fingers brushing against the back of her neck. Goosebumps pricked her skin quickly and she cleared her throat as she grabbed the white cards that had been placed down.
There were a few good ones about sex, one about erotica, another about food, but Soul was waiting for his, fingers tapping senselessly against his cards. Maka's eyes skimmed the last one, Soul's, and the back of her neck flushed.
"What is a girl's best friend? Sexual Tension."
Blake barked out a laugh as Tsubaki slapped his chest, her own cheeks pink. The others had giggled as well. Soul felt a pinch of guilt for a moment, thinking it was silly of him to point out something like that, but he soon got over his guild whan Maka rolled her eyes and tossed the card to the side, mumbling that she liked the one about Harry Potter erotica. Soul smirked, let his fingers trail over Maka's neck once more, and then dropped his arm, announcing he needed another drink.
Around eleven thirty everyone began to trickle out. Kilik had two younger siblings to watch, and a big art portfolio to build, so he had to head off early. Kid excused himself quickly after as well because of work. Jackie and Kim had been snuggled together all night, so once others began to leave they decided to make their escape back to their own apartment for alone time. Lastly, Liz, Patti, Blake, and Tsubaki decided to head out to get some chinese food before going to their respective places.
Once everyone had gone, and Maka waved to the last of her friends, Soul realized that he was now alone with her, and a little too drunk to know the line between joking and flirting.
Maka turned, her back pressed to the door, and Soul could see her cheeks flush from her own tipsy state. She gave him a soft smile, her eyes sparkling with joy but also beginning to blink sleepily.
"I should probably get the pizza in the fridge," she cleared her throat, "so it doesn't go bad."
"Let me help clean up," Soul stood from the couch and cracked his back before he began to pick up the various paper plates, beer bottles, and cider cans. Maka mumbled a thanks and slid into the kitchen quietly, opening and closing cabinets to retrieve tupperware. Slowly, the two cleaned up her small apartment.
Soul threw out the last of the bottles and wiped his hands off. He looked up to see Maka placing the last of the pizza away in a tupperware container, her fingers working to get the lock-tabs down. There were still empty boxes on the counter in front of her. Soul walked over and leaned over the girl, suddenly realizing how much taller he was than her, his chest pressed against her.
"I'm just gonna get these out of your way," he murmured, reaching over Maka's shoulder to grab the boxes. He glanced down and watched as her hands moved from the tupperware to the edge of the counter, knuckle turning pink as she gripped it. "Something wrong, blondie?"
"No, ah, I just …," she said, her nails not tapping at the counter. Soul moved, sensing her uneasiness and went to toss the empty pizza boxes in the trash, "listen, I'm not, like, a prude or anything but I'm not really use to guys being close."
"Explain?" Soul prompted, moving to lean against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. Maka turned around now, and huffed as she pushed herself up onto the counter top. They sat across from each other, her next to the fridge and him leaning next to her sink.
"My dad was kinda an asshole," she said, legs swinging slightly, "it wasn't just the fighting that made my Mama and I upset. He would go out and flirt with all these other women. When we went to Japan, we thought he might straighten up because of it being my Mama's home but … she caught him with another women … and that's what kinda tore them apart the most. When my dad and I came back to the States, he kinds disappeared on me, went back to fighting.
"After that whole thing I kinda … steered away from relationships altogether. It was only during my sophomore year in college that I began to dabble around, and even then I was careful. I've only have a few boyfriends here and there, but none of them really lasted more than eight or so months. I don't blame my dad but, I don't think my childhood with him helped my situation."
"So, Daddy issues?" Soul smirked and Maka rolled her eyes, trying to fight the smile her lips were curling into. (Her lips. Her lips. Her lips.) "I get it, I'm not from a peachy background either. Everyone has their thing."
"You listen so much. Tell me about you."
"That's nothing to know."
"But I want to know."
Soul felt his heartbeat skip for a moment at the way she spoke, at the glimmer in her eyes, at the way she licked her lips after speaking and then looked down, pink in the face and bashful.
"My family is rich," he started, "famous musicians from Europe, but they moved my brother and I here when we were young. I lived in New York up until about a year ago, then I moved here. I told them that I didn't want to do classical music, that I liked more … experimental music and trying to write my own pieces, they kinda got, well, pissed. After kinda fucking around during my high school years, and taking a two year break, my parents kicked me out. I went and stayed with my brother for some time but … things don't always go according to plan and he died in a car accident."
"Jesus," Maka whispered, eyes going wide.
"Yeah, it, ah," Soul licked his lips, trying to push back the memory of him sitting at home, his phone buzzing with the local hospital's number and then the doctor on the other end giving him the new, "it sucked, it sucks, and I would give anything to have him back but … he was the one who pushed me to stick to my kinda music. In a way, I have him to thank for getting out of that shit hole of a household."
"Wow," Maka blinked, green eyes still startled, "I mean, that's all I can say."
"It's not street-fighter gone cheating asshole, but …," Soul pushed off the counter and walked a little closer to her, stopping as his hips touched the front of her knees, "Maka, I know that we just met, and I appreciate you opening up to me, but you gotta know that I'm not just some jackass who jumps around. I like our …," he hesitated, wondering just what he was allowed to call them.
"Friendship," she butted in, a twinkle in her eyes.
"Friendship," Soul repeated, touching her knee gently, "but I'm not gonna just up and run off. I like you, I like Blake and Tsubaki and that weird bunch of friends you introduced me to tonight. And I don't like a lot of people."
"Really," Maka cocked an eyebrow, "I would have never noticed."
"What I'm trying to say," Soul chuckled, his hand moving off of her knees, sliding up her thigh and resting at her hip bone, his fingers pressing gently against the bone, "I may be a fighter, and I may have a little bit of a shit background, but I'm not an asshole, and I don't leave the people who are important to me. Got it?"
Maka swallow hard. "Got it."
"Good," the word seemed to whisper out of his mouth, and he couldn't help but look down at her lips again, his head now spinning a little. He looked back up to her eyes only to see her doing the same thing, green eyes trained on his lips. She snapped her eyes up when she felt him remove his hand from her hip. "I should, ah, go home."
"No!" She flushed at the sound of the desperation in her voice, "I mean, you can't go home … not after how much we drank. At least sleep here. You can take my bed if you want."
"No, blondie," Soul sighed, "I think I can manage sleeping on the couch."
"No, really, I insist."
"Maka."
"Soul."
The man rolled his eyes and stepped back, turning on his heel. He marched into the living room and then dropped himself onto the couch, face first, dramatically sighing as if the couch were the most comfortable thing he had laid on. He heard Maka laugh lightly and hop down from the counter. Her footsteps got closer until she was standing next to him. Soul cracked an eye open as Maka kneeled down, one arm wrapped around her knees.
"Goodnight Soul," she giggled, poking his cheek, "if you need anything, let me know."
"Okay," he muttered, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, tugging the hand that was poking him towards his lips. He ghosted a kiss over the back of her hand, then turned her hand over and pressed a warm, gentle kiss to her palm. He had heard her take a sharp breath and pushed the many, drunken thought his brain conjured up into the back of his head. "Goodnight, angel."
