A/N: This chapter took me longer to write than expected and ended up completely different from what I had initially planned. I hope you'll like it. I want to thank my super-awesome beta-reader Keri, who, despite being busy, has patiently corrected my several mistakes. She really did a great job with this.


Chapter Four

Of awkward breakfasts, of how Maka utterly fails at not leering at her partner (put a shirt on, damn it!) and how she decides to don sexy lingerie.

Today, Maka learned something new. Thanks to Blair and her tendency to share her limitless wisdom with everyone susceptible to furious and amusingly embarrassed stammering and Maka's own naïve lack of detailed knowledge in this particular field, it had ended up being an embarrassing encounter for the meister much to the unbridled delight of the magical cat.

Maka, after having woken up as a sweaty and clammy mess, her sheets enveloping her small body uncomfortably, had only wanted to do nothing more than curse the obnoxiously bright (so horribly, horribly bright) sun. It had been approximately twenty minutes after the memories from last night crashed down onto an unassuming and groggy Maka and another half to full hour until she managed to regain a semblance of a calm demeanour, after which she simply had decided to take a cold shower.

A shower so cold that she would never be able to think about Soul in a sexual way.

Thirty minutes later, clattering and shaking, skin pale and lips and hands blue from the horrible yet self-induced iciness, after having gotten dressed, she had freaked out once again as her temperature had spiked because of the unbearable warmth and the memories from last night.

And now she was busy preparing breakfast like nothing was out of the ordinary. At 11 a.m. it was later than usual for her to make breakfast, although she had been awake since 8 o'clock. This was partly due to the fact that she had no idea how to approach Soul, partly out of her inability to remain calm for more than twenty minutes before the image of Soul kneeling between her legs and…and having fun popped into her head and caused her to have a freak-out of epic proportions.

"You're blushing again, Maka-chan."

Ah yes. She had almost forgotten but Blair was still there, teasing and bothering her. Maka's grasp on the knife was tight and her head was lowered, her messy bangs hiding her deadly glare from the cat's smug view.

"You were thinking about how Soul-"

Maka simply rammed the knife blade-first into the cutting board with a dull noise, without looking up to see how Blair faltered and how she spared the knife, on which Maka still had a white-knuckled hold, a frightened glance for a split second only to mutter a quiet apology.

After a drawn-out silence, Maka resumed the cutting. Inwardly, she smiled. Maybe she should do this more often. She had to admit that Blair didn't tease her as much as she would have usually. When Maka really thought about it, she had been very lenient with her actually. Of course, she hadn't wasted any time to interrogate her about yesterday's happenings, had never stopped asking and Maka had managed to calm her down when she admitted that Soul and her hadn't had sex.

But this hadn't been enough to satisfy the cat and she had thus pressed the matter further, albeit not with the same vigour from before. And this is how Blair had found out how far they had gone and how Maka learned the hand sign for cunnilingus. When Blair had casually spread the fore- and middle finger of her left hand, positioning them in front of her lips, which were stretched wide into a lewd grin, Maka had at first blinked with a questioning tilt of her head. It was only when Blair had proceeded to slip out her tongue between her spread fingers and make licking motions, Maka had come to realize what exactly the V-sign was supposed to depict.

She had ended up as a flustering and spluttering mess, cursing and damning the shameless cat into the deepest pits of hell and Blair, completely unfazed by her breakdown, had simply giggled and sat down with a smug smile on her face.

But other than that Blair had left her alone, well except for the few times she apparently thought it fit to remind her of her blush and make a fine guess of what was going through her dirty mind that could be the cause of said blush.

"So are you and Soul finally together now?" Blair asked.

"What?" Maka's eyes narrowed as she glanced up from the vegetables in front of her to look at the cat.

Blair sighed, sounding oddly exasperated. "You know…together. As in together as a couple. Romantically. An item."

Maka put the knife down and eyed the cat warily, trying to hide her surprise. "No," she said slowly, her fingers absentmindedly toying with a pigtail. "Why do you think that Soul and I would be together?"

Blair scoffed and Maka wondered if her bad mood was somehow connected with her limited taunting today. Was her good humour dependant from a certain quantity of teasing and making annoying sexual innuendoes?

"Why do I think that?" Her amber gaze was sharp and stern, making Maka almost wish that she would return to giggling and grinning like a moron. "Maybe because he licked your pussy."

Okay, scratch that. She preferred a moody Blair to this, she regretted deeply to ever wishing Blair's lewd side would return. A quieter and more subdued Blair was a lot more bearable, if a bit unusual.

"Blair!" Maka gasped indignantly and stammered about the cat's crude shamelessness as she slapped her hands against her face, muffling her squeaky voice.

"Sorry, sorry," Blair said, waving a hand in a lazy apology and Maka dared to peek from between her fingers curiously. "I mean since Soul performed oral sex on you, I thought that now you would be together. You don't just let anybody lick your…pus- I mean vulva without any reason, right?"

Maka blinked, flabbergasted that such words had actually left the crude cat's mouth. That she knew such terms…was…was-

She fought back a hysteric giggle at her choice of words. Such relatively clinical terms coming out of Blair's mouth, was just so odd to hear.

"I…," Maka began and gulped. Her throat felt impossibly dry; she licked her lips before she continued uncertainly. "No, Soul and I aren't together."

"Why not?"

Maka frowned and clenched her fists, Blair regarding her with a look of…of… maybe it was disapproval or...was it disappointment? Maka wasn't sure. Why did she feel guilty now?

"Why should we be together? We had never intended to be romantically involved." It felt so wrong to say that but Maka knew that saying the opposite wouldn't have made her feel better. Because she didn't love Soul…at least not romantically. Yes, she did care for him deeply and could never wish for a better and more devoted partner but she did not love him.

That they had touched each other intimately last night, did not stem from love.

"So you only wanted it to be a one-time thing? A fling? A one-night-stand?" Blair's voice, although light and cheerful again, if a bit disbelieving, cut through her inner musings like a sharp knife, sudden and effectively killing any arguments Maka might have had to defend her statements.

She flinched. When she said it like that, it sounded even worse when she tried to rationalize it. But when she really thought about it, it was the truth, wasn't it? She had sworn to herself that doing something like that would happen only once, only to stop her mad craving and urges to jump him whenever she set her eyes on him and his so delectable body. It hadn't crossed her mind to have a deeper relationship with Soul, didn't want it even. Without any retort to put herself into a better position, Maka looked down avoiding Blair's questioning eyes.

"Maka-chan!" Blair gasped; it was her turn to be indignant. "So it is true? You only used Soul, only to throw him away when he was done? I would have never thought you to be that type of girl." She let out something of a strangled giggle and a snort.

The meister would have never believed that she could feel even worse. Her head lowered and her eyes fixed on her feet in shame, she remained silent…until she came to realize just who was berating her about her uncharacteristically sexual behaviour like a disappointed mother. Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed into a hard glare.

"Didn't you encourage us to have sex?" Maka asked, her voice low and quivering slightly. "You even gave Soul advice about it, you told him to…to help me! So why are you being all for serious relationships now? You have no right to scold me. You are always going around naked and attacking Soul with your large…breasts."

She blushed, feeling silly for saying the last part but nevertheless held Blair's gaze steadily and stubbornly. Blair fell silent, only to have her lips curve into an unnerving smirk, which never boded well for the meister. "Does Soul know that?"

"Does he know what?"

"That you don't want a relationship."

"Yes…I mean…I think so…"

Blair raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Really? You don't look so sure. Did you tell him that?"

"I…actually…not really," Maka stammered and cast her gaze down again. No, she really hadn't told Soul anything. It wasn't like she had the time to tell him. Yesterday's actions had happened spontaneously. Never had she considered that Soul and her would ever do something like that. Sure, there always had been fantasies, dreams and maybe the tiniest bit hope and how could she have brought herself to reject him, when he was practically offering himself to her.

But then she remembered what she had told him before they had started as they had been awkwardly sitting on her bed.

'I actually can't imagine doing this with anyone else. I trust you." Maka gulped loudly and limply sat down on the chair that was the closest to her, feeling all her strength draining from her muscles as she lay her head against the table. She cringed at the little bit of water against her cheek which had pooled together from the vegetables she had washed earlier with haste.

What if Soul took her totally truthful admission as some sort of confession. In a way it was a confession but nothing that should be something entirely new to him. She trusted him implicitly, he had protected her so often (and much to her dismay) from dangerous and deadly attacks, never afraid to throw himself between an enemy and her body to make sure that she was safe. So wasn't it only logical that she would trust him with her body in every sense? That she would let him touch her intimately even if she didn't harbour such a feeling as love for him?

She just hoped that he hadn't mistook her words as a declaration of love. She didn't know how she would weasel out of that without making everything worse. And she hoped dearly that he didn't hold deeper feelings for her. No, this couldn't be! Not only would she feel like a complete ass that she had totally disregarded his feelings and had agreed to be touched like that in a selfish wish to be satisfied but she also would have no idea how to deal with a partner who was in love with her.

Oh, please no.

She banged her head against the table in frustration.

"Are you alright, Maka-chan?" Blair asked.

"Yes…urgh…No, I'm not." she admitted quietly.

"Um…can I help you somehow?"

"No."

"Why not? Why are you so down now?" Blair asked, tapping her chin with a long finger thoughtfully, her lips pursed and her eyes never leaving Maka's prone and defeated-looking form. "Are you afraid that Soul might like you more than just a partner and a desirable piece of flesh?"

This time Maka did not splutter, although she was very inclined to do so and scold the perverted cat for referring to her as a piece of flesh…even if she was supposed to be desirable. Even though Blair had completely pin-pointed what was bothering her, she didn't want to talk to her right now. She had an awful sense of déjà vu as she sat there slumped and not knowing what to do. It was like the fated day (yesterday) when Soul had irrationally attempted to seduce her and she had even more irrationally decided to go with it and had ended up having - despite her botched up first kiss (about which she was still a bit peeved) and the initial awkwardness and accidental hair-pulling - an utterly hot and amazingly mind-blowing experience.

Maka absolutely hated it when she didn't know what to do. She always had a plan, always approached problems and confrontations with at least some semblance of rational thinking. Her initial plan was to continue like usual, not to entirely disregard last night's happenings but to proceed like nothing had changed between her and Soul. To act as if it wasn't completely out of the ordinary that he had…he had fingered her and performed oral sex on her.

She was never going to be able to forget the image of his head between her legs…hell, she didn't want to forget it in the first place! Yes, she had always prided herself for being a prude, for being the total opposite of her cheating and philandering father but there was no way she could ever try to convince herself that she didn't like what had transpired. Thinking back about it surely was embarrassing and…that it had occurred at all was surreal but there was no denying that she had enjoyed it. She had moaned his name, she had urged him to do more, and she had allowed him to lick her!

It had been her first orgasm ever. Sure, she had touched herself before but she had never done it for too long, afraid that someone might hear her, afraid that she might be caught in the act whilst she was supposed to be innocently sleeping or reading like the nerd and bookworm she was. The apartment walls weren't the thickest and she had thus - instead of risking the wrath of a disgruntled partner who was awoken by her high-pitched moaning or the embarrassment of being barged in on - only touched herself lightly, lead by her annoying lust and so very alluring mental images of her partner during advanced stages of undress and her increasing and damnable curiosity as she was exploring her own body.

Although she had enjoyed what he had done to her, there was still something, which bothered her. Maka frowned. In her inner ranting of self-pity and misery, she had almost forgotten about his indelicate exit right after she had come down from her high. Why had he left? Was it because the thought of being touched by her was so repulsive, he had preferred to leave instantly with such stupid parting words? Was he that disgusted by her? But if so, why should he have touched her in the first place? No, that wasn't it. She was sure that he had had an erection back then. Even though her experience with sex was limited, there was no mistaking the bulge in his pants. Had he been afraid of her reaction to see him completely exposed? Had this something to do with his size? Could it be that he felt inadequate because he didn't think his penis was big enough? Or was it simply because he didn't want anyone so inexperienced to touch him there and screw up stupidly?

Maybe it was a good thing that he had left after all. She surely wouldn't have known what to do, even though she had been determined to strip his clothes off and have her way with him. She had even ran out of her room to confront him about his behaviour right after he had gone to his room, only to find his door locked and Soul unresponsive to her stubborn banging. The only noise that she had heard coming out of his room, had been a soft jazzy tune, loud enough to block out her calls and anything he might have said. After much undeserved abuse to the door, she had trudged back to her room, defeated and aghast, as she had come to realize two very disturbing things.

The first: She had run out of her room panty-less.

The second (the even more disturbing realization, which really said something): She had really been intent on continuing and finishing what they had started, even if he had made it clear that he didn't want to. She hadn't cared about his consent.

Yeah, that had pretty much killed, buried, nullified and burned (and let the ashes scatter into all directions with the imaginary wind) any resolve she had had.

"Oh, good morning, Scythe Boy!" Blair exclaimed happily, startling Maka out of her twisted thoughts. She looked up with a blush and sure enough, there at the doorframe was standing Soul…

…in nothing but his boxers.

Her first impulse wasn't to greet him or to seek cover under the table to avoid the following (most certainly embarrassing) confrontation but to curse at him and demand that he put at least a shirt on. Maka wondered if he did that on purpose. Did he enjoy seeing her squirm and blush and desperately attempt to have her treacherous gaze fixed on his face. It was quite difficult. She clutched the edges of the chair she was sitting on in a fierce and white-knuckled hold. She wasn't sure and maybe her ears weren't the best right now but she might have heard a slight crack.

Soul muttered a grumpy greeting in return but did not look at the cat, instead his smouldering and droopy eyes found her quickly. Maka drew in a sharp breath when their eyes met. "You…let me sleep in," he said and scratched the back of his head, ruffling his messy white hair even more.

She released the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding noisily through her nose, her grip on the poor and defenceless chair growing needlessly tighter.

He stretched his arms over his head, let out a yawn, and …oh, damn this! She really could not help it as her eyes followed his arms, watching hungrily the flexing of his muscles there. She bit her lip and fought off the urge to walk over to him, drag him to her room and finish what they had started last night. She truly was so short of doing it, if it weren't for her hands that practically glued her to her seat, she would have been out of that chair with her mind inwardly cheering her to her door.

How could he look so…so casual? Didn't last night affect him in the least? Or did he just want to see her like this, so flustered and horny. Did he love teasing her so much?

She was clearly aware that Soul was intently staring at her, awaiting something for her to say in return. Ah yes, she had decided to let him sleep longer today. Usually, she would force him out of bed at half past nine, at the latest. She urged her lips to move and her stupid, tongue-tied, mouth to cooperate.

"Yeah," she breathed, her green eyes focused with a lot of struggle on his groggy gaze. "I just got up myself…and wanted to…wanted to make breakfast before waking you up."

It was an awfully transparent lie but if he noticed (of course, he noticed) he didn't comment on it, only raised his eyebrows sceptically. "Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome," she mumbled and unable to look at him anymore, or at least unable to keep her eyes focused on his face (they came dangerously close to trailing further down to his toned torso), she averted her eyes to the ground.

The silence was unbearable and she desperately wanted to say something, if only so that she wouldn't have to endure it longer. It was even more awkward than yesterday. She gritted her teeth and inhaled harshly, annoyed and angry and frustrated. It was as if they were back to zero, as if she had never apologized to him, had never poured her heart and her fears out to him, hadn't shed fearful tears and as if he had never assured her devotedly that he was not going anywhere and would never leave her.

But what could she say? Why had he woken up so soon? Why hadn't he slept on? Why hadn't she been given more time to think, to collect her thoughts and decide on the things she wanted to say and how she wanted to say them? She sighed heavily and shortly glanced up, only to see him embroiled in his own inner musings and debates. What should she do?

"What do you think of my sexy new dress, Scythe Boy?"

She had completely forgotten about Blair and for the first time in history, Maka felt something akin to gratefulness that the cat was here. It was not the time to be picky when she was intent on breaking this uncomfortable quietness. Blair stood up and twirled around giddily, the (short) skirt of her purple dress swishing and twisting with her movements. Maka had to admit that it was a pretty dress and more modest than her usual attire.

"It's alright," Soul said, unsure how to react.

Blair giggled and walked over to him, hips and butt swaying from side to side, and came to a stop right in front of him, too close for his and Maka's liking. He backed away - as her nose touched his - with a scowl.

"Oh, come on. Just say that you think I look irresistible in it."

Soul snorted and looked away. Maka found the gratefulness towards the cat slowly but surely vanishing as Blair continued her stubborn advances on her partner.

"Just say it," she insisted, taking a few steps forward and effectively trapped him against the kitchen wall. She pressed her very ample bosom against Soul's very bare chest.

Maka glared at the back of her head and releasing the chair, clenched her trembling fists tightly. Stupid, annoying cat. And stupid Soul! Why didn't he just push her away when he didn't like what she was doing?

"Go away, Blair," Soul said with a frown and pushed awkwardly against her shoulder to escape.

Blair pouted exaggeratedly, her eyes narrowing but did as she was told. "Fine. I know, you need to eat something, right?" She asked, her lips curving into a sultry smile. "You can't appreciate Blair, when you're hungry. Maka-chan has made something really yummy!" She grabbed him by his left arm and dragged him towards the table and thus towards Maka.

"Hey, don't push me. I know where to sit!"

"You're too slow, Soul. Eat up fast, so we can have fun soon." She winked at him flirtatiously and shoved him into a chair. "Hurry up! Blair will go for a walk," she said and before she was out of the door, she turned around once more to look at them both, "Be ready when I'm back."

And with that, she was gone, leaving Soul and Maka alone.

"Since when does Blair take walks?" Soul asked, putting his elbow onto the table to prop his chin on his palm.

"Since today…apparently," Maka answered quietly, refusing to look at him.

Wait! Did Blair actually do that on purpose? She never takes walks. She went to work, she went shopping, she went on dates but she never took walks. At least not that Maka knew of. Had this just been her attempt to break the awkwardness and then leave them alone to…to…who knows what?

"Are you…uh hungry?" Maka asked, standing up and shoving her chair loudly back, making it almost fall down if it weren't for her quick reflexes. Positioning the chair securely in front of the table, she finally looked at Soul. This time she could control herself better, she did not stare at him dazedly and lustfully like a wanton. She forced herself to smile and was very relieved to have him smile one of his wry smiles back.

"Sure. I'm starving."

Breakfast passed slowly (and silently), although they ate quickly (and silently), and from time to time did look at each other without blushing (silently). Neither managed to start a conversation. Well, she did ask him a few questions and they did make a bit of small talk but all in all breakfast was awkward (and silent).

"So…uh… how are you today?" Soul queried, in his third attempt to strike up a conversation.

"I'm fine," she replied meekly, her fingers fiddling with her blue pyjama pants, as she glanced up from under her messy bangs.

"That's cool."

"Yeah."

Oh God, could this get any worse? She desperately wanted to talk to him. Not necessarily about last night (she still didn't know how to approach that subject), merely talking about the weather would be enough if it didn't end with one-worded sentences and hushed voices. But as soon as she wanted to say more… she remembered every little detail from what had occurred between them.

He didn't make it any better when he innocently licked his fingers clean after spilling a bit of honey on them. She watched him, transfixed on the languid movements of his tongue as he took the creamy, pale, sweet nectar from his tanned long digits wetly. She swallowed hard as he took a finger into his mouth, sucking it clean. Her breath hitched when he withdrew his finger with a loud (it wasn't that loud but it was so damn quiet in the kitchen) popping noise.

She remembered. She had seen him lick his fingers like that last night, she had seen him through her half-lidded eyes as he had unabashedly stared her down, imprinting every little detail into his mind. Only when he had licked his fingers then, had he tasted and savoured her…her arousal. She gulped as Soul sucked on the inside of his forefinger…the finger that had been inside of her.

She clamped her legs tightly together and shook her head, fruitlessly trying to shove such thoughts away. How could she get aroused by just looking at him? He wasn't even doing anything sexual. He was just…oh, he did it again! She nearly moaned with restrained lust and excitement, when he nibbled on a particularly stubborn and sticky spot on his fingers, his teeth scraping against his skin lightly, only for his tongue to dart out again.

Her blood roared in her ears as she recalled the sensation of his lips and teeth against her neck, how he had reduced her instantly into a quivering and gasping mess with such simple things. She unconsciously touched her neck and the mark he had left behind.

Maka found herself feeling very thankful for the oddest of things: she was thankful that she had bought the pot of honey on a whim, delighted that the supermarket had honey in its assortment, and grateful that bees and apiarists existed in general because without them she wouldn't have gotten such a wonderful view of Soul: his delicious mouth, tongue and teeth performing in tandem with his beautiful pianist fingers.

"Thanks for breakfast."

"Huh?"

She blinked, pulled out of her inappropriate thoughts. Soul eyed her worriedly and leaned forward on the small table to get a good look at her. "Are you alright?"

She nearly backed away because of his proximity and what it made her want to do to him but managed to stay seated on the spot.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she replied frowning slightly, she had been asked this a lot of times in a span of just a few days.

"You looked pretty out of it. What were you thinking about?"

She averted her eyes and tried to hide her blush. There was no way she was going to tell him! It would be even more embarrassing than admitting that she wanted to have sex with him, as she had yesterday. Well, she hadn't spelled it out like that but…

Why did he look so unaffected by it all? She had seen a different side of him last night. She had seen him blushing and stammering, clumsy and having many 'uncool' moments.

It seemed like today he was back to being his usual self. Maka didn't know why it bothered her that much. Maybe she was a bit jealous that he could control his emotions so well and look so calm, whereas hers threatened to overtake her mind and body completely and make her do unreasonable and sudden things. Maybe she was angry with him for being not affected by it all…but why did she want him to be affected? Wasn't it a good thing that they could move on quickly without dwelling uselessly on what had happened? But…but…

"Maka? What's wrong?" he asked, poking her forehead lightly, causing her to look up at him. "What's bothering you?"

Why was he asking her this? Couldn't he tell? What possibly could be bothering her?

"Nothing…I…no…that's uh…," she trailed off. She wanted to brush him off, more than a bit annoyed right now but that would mean making the same mistake again, which had driven them apart in the first place. Hadn't a huge part of her problems stemmed from her unwillingness to talk to him and let him confront her? She didn't want to repeat the mistake. More importantly, she didn't want to come any closer to a situation where she might have to fear for the possible loss of her partner.

Her eyebrows knitted and she clenched her fists, feeling a gust of determination that urged her to go through with it. She took a deep breath and glanced into his eyes. For a split second, she was lost in his deep pools of red but caught herself quickly and began, "It's about last night."

"Oh." This time he looked away, for which Maka felt relief, glad that he wasn't the 'epitome of cool' and that he certainly was not able to shrug off the awkwardness and embarrassment from last night.

"I don't think that…well, I don't think that we can simply leave it at that…I mean without talking about it," she said, keeping her voice steady, although she didn't feel anything like it. Her heart was hammering viciously in her chest, as if she needed anything more to remind her how awkward and embarrassing this moment was. Her hands were moist with sweat, she rubbed them against the fabric of her pants to dry them a little and to do something with them.

After a short pause, Soul said, "You're right." He heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Maka had the instant urge to run her fingers through his soft hair.

"So…"

"So?"

She didn't know what to say, her mouth opening and closing with words that didn't want to come out. And when the words finally tumbled out of her mouth, it wasn't so bad actually.

It began with: "I just want you to know…that I don't regret it."

To which came Soul's simple response: "Me neither."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

They both became silent again, avoiding any eye contact. But there were still a few things that needed to be made clear.

And thus, it continued with: "I don't want anything to change between us."

After another short pause, which made her hold her breath with anticipation, came Soul's simple response: "Me neither."

"Oh. That's…good."

"Yeah."

Maka blinked confusedly; this was easier than expected…but not less awkward. But hey, they both agreed that there was nothing to regret and that things between them should remain unchanged. That meant that they could just keep going like always, and that Soul did not perceive her as anything else than his partner and friend, with whom he happened to have a sexual encounter. So she didn't have to worry anymore! She sighed and leaned over the table to put her hand on Soul's wrist, smiling giddily up at him to which Soul only managed a dubious stare down at her.

"I'm so glad. I was afraid that I might have screwed up everything between us again," she said cheerfully, not deterred by his expression.

The right corner of his mouth lifted, his lips forming a faint grin. "Don't worry about that anymore."

She was so relieved, the heavy weight of uncertainty and dread lifted from her very being with so few and simple words. She let out a shaky and elated breath, clutching Soul's wrist in a firmer grasp, feeling the warmth of his strong body. She hesitatingly released his hand after a while, shooting him a bright smile, which made him grin back.

She let out an awkward laugh, not really knowing what to do next. Although they had talked it out, the unbearable silence stretched on. Her eyes narrowed suddenly in a mixture of disdain and curiosity as she remembered something, something that hadn't plagued her so much but after having everything else settled, suddenly became another question she wanted to get an answer to. Past the point of feeling embarrassed anymore, it felt a lot easier to ask.

"Why did you leave?"

Thin, white eyebrows arched quizzically and before he had the chance to pose a question himself, she elaborated quickly, "I mean after…after you were…uh…done," her voice, rising with each word in pitch, became a timid squeak at the end. There was no way she could actually verbalize what he had done to her explicitly.

"Uh…" Soul shifted in his seat, looking terribly uneasy and ready to leave at the slightest provocation. But this time she wouldn't let him, she wanted an answer. Why had he left so suddenly after what he had done. She had wanted to touch him too, especially after he had made her reach an orgasm. She had wanted him to feel pleasured and satisfied too, wanted to tear down his pants and boxers with a swift motion of her hand to reveal what was beneath.

"Soul, tell me, please," she said, looking at him with large pleading eyes.

He hissed something incoherent under his breath, his glance averted, fixed on some random point in the kitchen. "I…I didn't want to lose control." He turned his head, so that he was looking at her again. "I didn't know if I could stop if I let you continue. And I wasn't sure if you would have stopped…and I didn't want us to…end up having sex without any protection and all."

He blushed a pretty shade of red, his eyes leaving hers again and finding great interest in the pot of honey in front of him. Pushing the faint thought of how she seemed to get some sort of twisted pleasure when she saw him blushing aside (there really was something about an otherwise aloof and indifferent Soul being all bashful), she smiled adoringly up at him.

He really was the best.

"Why are you smiling? Do you think that's funny?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, looking like a spoiled kid, who hadn't gotten what he wanted for once.

"No. That's not it."

"Whatever."

Maka sighed and stood up. "I should clear the table and wash the dishes."

"I'll help you." He stood up as well and immediately began to pile the plates up.

She blinked, puzzled at his domestic helpfulness. Soul was usually very lazy when it came to doing anything associated with helping to clean up and chores in general. Shaking her confusion off she proceeded to help him. It was a nice thing for him to do, so why dwell on it?

They didn't speak as they cleaned up but since they were both occupied with something, it was a lot more bearable. Maka unconsciously began to hum a random tune, a habit she had just recently picked. She was entirely unaware of the questioning eyes of her partner, at first looking at her with curiosity but the more he had his eyes on her form, his curious look changed into a stare, one that roamed her body up and down.

As they both reached out for the bread basket, their hands touched accidentally. Her breath hitched and she snapped her hand back immediately, her eyes involuntarily seeking out his again. His eyes…oh, damn his eyes but she couldn't look away (even if she knew that they were going to end up in another awkward situation). His intense gleaming gaze made her freeze on the spot, although she felt like her skin was surely going to catch fire if she didn't look away in an instant.

She was faintly aware that it was extremely stupid for her to react like this to an accidental touch. Disregarding last night's happenings, it wasn't a completely new experience to touch each other. It was a necessity…at least to hold hands, and never had she found herself giving such…an immature reaction to it. Things were different now but it was stupid nevertheless.

With an angry frown she returned to her task, Soul doing the same quickly. She practically threw the dirty plates into the sink not giving a care in the world that they might break.

It really was stupid; stupid like in those bad romance novels she possessed and had read. They were quite a few in number, all of them presents from friends who didn't know what else to give her for her birthday and with her notorious reputation of a bookworm who also liked the use of her books as effective weapons, bought her romance novels. Now, Maka did not like to see a book go to waste and had thus read all of them, grimacing and cringing a lot and sometimes even smiling or laughing as some of them had been unintentionally funny with their clichéd and melodramatic writing style.

This was like in those books! The common occurrence that whenever the love interests touched each other, it would invariably be described as a jolt of electricity passing through one's body was, well…stupid, as jolts of electricity could kill someone.

Why should attraction be made more obvious by comparing it to something deadly?

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

She viciously scrubbed the plates clean, causing the detergent to bubble and staining her up to her elbows. Her eyes were narrowed into a deadly glare, focused onto the defenceless dishes as if they were the cause of all of this with intent to see them break and scatter like the assholes they were.

"Maka?" Soul called out.

"What is it?" she grumbled moodily, not stopping her bubble attacks coupled with her glower of doom.

"I think they're clean already."

To avoid having another interrogation she thrust the slippery pale ceramic into his direction. He took it from her hand his fingers brushing against her knuckles…and causing her to have the same reaction! She tensed up, and her lips parted to release a startled breath.

No! If this was going to be her reaction whenever they touched, how were they supposed to fight together? She couldn't always freeze and lose vital seconds because of a jolt of electricity coursing through her veins. She had irrefutably believed that after she would get her wish and be touched by Soul, the craving for his hands on her body and the desire for his hot mouth on her skin would vanish. With a shaky breath she realized, much to her belated horror, that it had only made everything worse.

"Are you done with the others?" Soul's deep velvety voice pulled her out of her reverie. She could only nod robotically and give him another cleanly scrubbed plate.

This was bad. Really bad! This was calamitous, baleful, disastrous and portentous. And she was back at zero, having no idea what to do, no plan to approach this whole mess and being madly lustful for Soul. She was so screwed.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Soul asked, drying his hands by rubbing them against his boxers.

"What?" she squeaked and quickly cleared her throat not to arouse his suspicion. He was far too perceptive for his own good. "I mean.. I don't have any plans. Why do you ask?" she asked with a voice that was closer to its normal pitch.

"I thought about going out…or something. I don't want to be locked inside when the sun is shining like that," he answered pointing with a thumb at the window.

She furrowed her brows and tried to ignore how he was standing far too close to her, being far too shirtless and frustratingly irresistible. It might actually be a good idea to get out. She hadn't been outside since their vacation had begun, and maybe she would be distracted by whatever they would be doing and stop undressing him with her eyes (which wasn't a great feat considering what he was wearing at that moment.)

"Sure," she answered, forcing a smile. "Do you have any place in mind?"

"Don't know. You know what…," he grinned and raised his arms yet again over his head to stretch them and to torture and make her suffer, "You decide. I'll take a shower in the meanwhile."

"Okay."

As Maka bent down to pick up the remains of a tattered napkin to throw into the trash- her tank top loose around her chest- she began to ask if the ice cream parlour was alright and only then noticed Soul had made no motion to leave for his shower. In fact, he was frozen to the spot, his eyes wide and his lips parted slightly.

It took her a little time to realize that his blazing eyes were focused on her chest. On her chest! The chest that was too small and the chest that she was currently almost exposing if she didn't straighten her stance. At first she felt angry ("How dare the pervert ogle me so shamelessly?"), which faded quickly as she came to realize that she had ogled him in much the same way and often. At that point she felt slightly happy and triumphant ("So he likes staring at my small breasts!"), then finally she settled on mischievous ("Maybe I should pull my top lower and see what he does then.").

Alas, her long lost and seemingly regained propriety did not agree. Plus, she realized how such a low tactic as flashing her breasts at Soul was something very Blair-like. With that horrifying realization, she quickly straightened up and adjusted her top with a small blush on her face. Soul snapped out of his blatant staring and managed, after shaking his head feverishly, to look her in the eyes.

"Um…I'll…go…go to the bathroom," he stammered uneasily and turned swiftly on his heel, leaving her alone in the kitchen to wonder about what had actually happened.

So did that mean…that Soul was lusting after her as she was lusting after him? Did he want to touch her again? Maka didn't want to get her hopes high but…never had she caught him staring at her breasts. And she was certain that there was no misunderstanding! She had meticulously followed his gaze and there was no mistaking it. His abashed reaction afterwards was enough of a confirmation for her.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling a familiar exciting heat wash over her that made her heart beat faster and her brain turn to mush. She jerkily walked to her room, the endless possibilities of what might happen if she initiated some kind of suggestive contact between them made her head spin and her lips quirk into a carelessly lewd smile.

Her smile fell when she saw clothes neatly laid on her bed. Her eyes narrowed. Clothes that were not hers. On top of the black skirt was a note written on pink and perfumed paper. She scrunched up her nose, partly because of the strong smell and partly because the handwriting was definitely Blair's (as if the perfume wasn't enough of an indication) and read:

Dear Maka-chan,

I'm sure that you and Soul have talked everything out. I bought these super-cute clothes and sexy lingerie for you. You don't need to thank me! Just have fun with him.

I know you love me.

XOXO ~ Blair

P.S.: If you want to do the horizontal mambo, please don't forget to use protection! You can get condoms at every pharmacy, supermarket, convenience store and gas station… and you should also get lube while you're at it. Latex condoms are the most resistant to damage but be careful because they can be weakened by oil-based lubricants. So if you buy latex condoms, make sure to buy water-based lube. Also, make sure it's the right size, the basic-size condom fits most men, so you shouldn't go for the Magnum XL size…even if Soul insists on it. His penis probably isn't that big.

"Great parting words Blair," she muttered under her breath. It was fascinating that the first part and the postscript were written by the same person.. if it weren't for the identical handwriting in both sections (with big and round letters, and little hearts instead of dots above the letter i) and the very last sentence, she wouldn't have believed it to be from the same person. She ripped the paper in tiny little shreds and threw the remains into the small trash bin under her desk.

When did she do this? And how did she know that they would go out? This cat was smarter than she let on.

Sighing heavily, Maka glanced at the clothes Blair had gotten her. It was a black miniskirt and a green halter-top. She held the top to her chest and looked at the mirror. She had to admit that it was cute, not too revealing and not a too flashy colour. The skirt was fine too, a simple black colour and looked about the length of any of the skirts she typically wore and-

Wait! Wasn't sexy lingerie mentioned too?

And sure enough, there on top of her fluffy pillow was a lingerie set. A lingerie set of a blazing red colour, not unlike Soul's eyes. She examined the skimpy garments with wide eyes, running a finger over the lacy smooth texture of one cup and tracing its frilly rim. She hooked her forefingers into the elastic of the panties and stretched it.

Did Blair really expect her to wear these?

Maka had never worn such underwear; didn't possess underwear of the sexy kind. Most of them were pastel coloured or had goofy and cartoony prints on them. In retrospect, she was very glad that she hadn't worn some with the panda bear heads yesterday. It would have probably ruined the mood the instant Soul set his eyes on them only to burst out laughing.

She eyed the panties in her hands indecisively. To wear them or not to wear them. She would have never thought herself to be embroiled in an inner battle about such a thing.

Soul would like these, right? Would she look sexy enough in them? Wouldn't it look weird on her with her small bust? She sighed lightly. Judging from his staring moments before, chest size didn't seem to matter to him, regardless of what he had always claimed when they had been younger and she had been flatter.

Deciding not to waste her thoughts on breasts anymore, she simply undressed, tossing and throwing her clothes onto her bed carelessly. She quickly slipped the panties on, then the bra and stood in front of her mirror, watching herself critically, wanting to spot every imperfection.

She hummed and turned around, gazing at her rear from over her shoulder with a frown. She looked nice enough, she guessed. At least her butt wasn't completely flat. Her stomach was flat and smooth, her waist tiny and slightly curved. Her skin was a bit tanned, which she noticed now, catching a glimpse of faint tan lines just a little above the hem of the panties. She wasn't exactly pale but still pale when compared to Soul. Her legs were strong and slim and her knees a bit knobbly. There was a scar on the side of her left thigh, which was barely noticeable now as it had gotten paler and paler over the years, almost matching the colour of her skin. And her chest, even though small, looked perfect.

She looked fine. She was in great shape. There was nothing to worry about.

She smiled at her reflection and nodded, content and satisfied with her appearance. She pulled the green top over her head, messing her hair up, struggling a bit with the tie of the strap behind her neck. Pulling on the skirt was a lot easier. She twisted and twirled in front of the mirror, liking how she looked right now. She had to thank Blair later.

Maybe she should also let her hair down.

As she was combing through her blond strands, she came to realize what a stupid thing she was planning. Her smile fell and her eyes narrowed into a frown, quickly coming down from her elated and happy high. She was dressing up for Soul, she wore sexy underwear for Soul and she intended to…to seduce him and only because she had caught him staring at her chest and had thus concluded that he might want to do the things they had done last night again, maybe even be touched by her.

But he had told her he didn't regret it, said that he didn't want to have things change between them either. Why should he or she for that matter change that opinion when they did it for a second time (and maybe for a third, fourth, fifth…)? She bit her lip uncertainly, putting the brush onto her table.

If he really did want it, she would definitely make sure that she made him feel good. She clenched her fists and nodded determinedly to herself. The only question was…how? She had no idea how to please a man and Blair wasn't here to give her tips either. She growled, annoyed that the cat was absent when she was needed for once.

Maybe she should use the internet. Yes, of course!

Soul had insisted a few months back how everyone had an internet connection and how they - without one - were totally backwards and old-fashioned. He had even tried to convince her by explaining that it would come in very handy for research and the like. She had argued against it by telling him that it was going to be needlessly expensive and that they could do research by going to the library. She argued that he only wanted it because of the numerous pornographic sites on the net. His only counter-argument had been that it wasn't as expensive as she made it out to be…but he had ignored any other points she had made.

Somehow, he had managed to convince her in the end.

The computer was nevertheless in her room. It started up quickly enough and she found the symbol for the browser fast. She shortly glanced at the clock above the door. Soul had been showering for roughly ten minutes. That meant she had approximately half an hour left (Soul always spent more time in the shower than she did though he always denied it) to learn something about the things she had absolutely no knowledge about beyond the biological and hormonal processes in the human body.

"So where to begin…" Her fingers moved slowly as she typed a question into the window of the search engine. Whole sentences were probably going to be more useful than typing just a single word.

How to fellate-

Wait! What? What was she doing? She didn't need to know that! At least not now! Especially not until she was completely sure Soul wanted it. She was such a pervert.

She looked around the room, feeling a bit paranoid and afraid that Soul might pop up behind her all of the sudden and see what she was using the internet for. She stood up and locked her door and pulled the curtains closed. Who knew who might be able to see her and her scandalous research subject. Besides, she should start with something less sexual.

How to stimulate a penis manually?

No. Less sexual! This could hardly be considered less sexual. Bad Maka, bad!

How to be seductive?

No.

How to French kiss?

Maybe…but no.

How to kiss?

Maybe. It was better.

How to flirt?

That's probably a good starting point. With another glance at the clock, she prepared herself for mastery over all these topics.

She had 25 minutes left.