"You act as if I have no feelings. No capacity for emotion. Though you've seen me act contrary to such beliefs on more than one occasion. You've seen me bleed for everyone on our team. For you. For Maka. I may not be human, but I…"

Soul cut him off with a simple statement.

"You are more human than anybody I know."

"Then why are you treating me like a doll?"

"I'm not…"

"Aren't you?"

Kid broke Soul's hold on him without effort, moving to lean against the kitchen wall. Soul followed him, unwittingly trapping the Shinigami there.

"You're doing it now," Kid snorted. "Standing there makes me vulnerable. You're in power. And that's ok until…"

A long arm shot out, twisting in Soul's shirt and forcibly turning him so he was the one pressed to the barrier. The weapon was caged in by strong arms, a hair's breadth of space between the two men.

"You're fine until I'm in what you assume to be the dominant position, and suddenly things aren't ok for you anymore."

Soul worked his jaw, but there was no sound. Just his breath, suddenly shallow and restricted, puffed between them.

"I can see it working in your head now, Soul. I see it. You have this idea that if you aren't the one in control, you're not a man. You don't want to be someone's bitch. You equate "bottom" with "less", and they don't mean the same thing!"

"That's not true!" Soul growled.

"Which part, Soul? Which part isn't true?" Kid hissed back.

"Any of it!"

"Prove it! You have this ridiculous notion that your masculinity is based on your position in bed, and it fucking doesn't! The ignorance is fucking painful, in every sense of the word!" the raven finished his rant as he glared at the demon scythe, eyes nearly glowing with his anger.

"Fuck…" Soul leaned his head back to thud against the wall. "FUCK!"

There was a heavy pulse that traveled from Soul's wavelength to Kid's, the reverb so strong it felt like being kicked in the gut. They both winced, but Kid didn't back away. Emotional flares were to be expected, and they were expected to be painful.

Kid turned his head to the side slightly, edges of his fists pressed to the wall on either side of Soul's head. He stared down at the floor for a moment before he began to speak, voice surprisingly gentle.

"Do you think Maka is weak, Soul?"

"Maka's the strongest person I know," he responded flatly. He was unimpressed by the question.

"Do you think she's less when she's under you? When you have her pressed into the mattress?"

Soul pinked at this question, but still offered a soft, "No."

"Are you less of a man when she's on top of you?"

The albino swallowed thickly, but still the answer was no.

"So why," Kid began, "would you be less if I topped you?"

The Shinigami didn't give him the chance to respond this time. He moved away to give Soul some space, quietly excusing himself to the bathroom while the weapon stood quietly, dumbfounded and considering.

Kid sat on the seat of the toilet for a couple of minutes. He had pulled out his phone, stared at it, set it on the bathroom counter, picked it up again. He finally gave in and texted Maka.

Kid: How far out are you?

Maka: Still finishing up, it'll be a bit longer than I expected.

Kid: I need to know what you want me to do for him.

Maka: What?

Kid: Tell me where the line is Maka. I have to know. We're at a turning point here, but things…they're not resolved.

Maka: Do what you have to do, Kid. Anything. I mean it.

Kid: Do you understand what you're asking of me?

Maka: I understand what is necessary. I trust you.

The raven exited the bathroom to find his ivory haired counterpart still standing against the wall. His face was blank, eyes hooded. He blinked twice, eyes sliding in the reaper's direction. There was a momentary assessment before his gaze turned forward once more.

Kid moved to sit on the couch, arms stretching over the backrest, legs crossed loosely. Soul turned his head to appraise him fully, hesitating for only a moment before he slowly shuffled towards the smaller male. He stopped just in front of him, waiting, staring. That slow blink again, lazy as a cat.

Kid's legs fell open, but he did not move. He stared back, golden gaze sharp, calculating, assessing. He held his breath when Soul slowly raised a knee to place it on the couch alongside his hip. He kept his hands pressed into the cushions until the demon scythe made the choice to follow suit with the other leg, effectively straddling him. His fingers hooked in the belt loops of Soul's jeans, but he offered no guidance.

It took the weapon a solid minute to descend on the meister before any weight was actually placed on his body. Both of them would avert their eyes at random intervals, unable to withstand the intensity of constant eye contact. Kid didn't want to appear threatening. Soul didn't want to look desperate. It was a tough balance.

Neither of them were hard, too much tension still floating between them for any spark of arousal to ignite. They were simply testing the waters. Two people trying to realign themselves with each other.

The raven noted white's eyes drifting to the long line of his neck, saw him considering his next course of action. But Kid had already made a decision himself, and the taller wasn't going to be allowed control this time. Not beyond saying "yes" or "no", "stop" or "more".

He leaned up to place a soft kiss on the corner of Soul's jaw, waiting for the briefest of moments for him to process the action. He startled a little bit, but there was no protest. And so Kid began placing kisses along his throat. Soft, open mouthed, tongue flicking out to taste sweat salted skin.

Tan fingers were curling into the cushions of the back rest, Soul allowing his body to sink a little lower as the reaper's lips moved over him. He didn't moan or whine, kept all his noises in check, but his little hitches of breath were easily detected by the meister.

There were hands on his thighs, stroking along broad sides, taking in the patterns of his musculature. He tried to ignore how similar it was to him feeling up Maka. It was embarrassing and uncomfortable, and he was suddenly struck by how right Kid had been.

"I'm sorry," he exhaled shakily as teeth grazed a collarbone.

"Tell me why," Kid responded casually, as if it were an everyday conversation. He did not cease his attentions on Soul's neck, however.

"You're were—hnn—you were right. I don't like feeling…I feel like a girl."

Kid's kisses traveled along a cheek and behind an ear, breathing humid warmth over reddened flesh.

"Mmm," he hummed noncommittally, hand dipping towards an inner thigh, knuckles brushing a bulge that was half hard. "You feel plenty male to me," he purred in Soul's ear, sneakily tracing his way to Soul's mouth to brush their lips together.

The other male's response tentative, a bit wary, but he allowed the intimacy. He tried to take control of the action, but the raven wouldn't allow it, a gentle hand alighting on his neck to steady him. When Soul whined he pulled back to reassess his actions, a thumb sweeping over a flushed cheekbone.

"There's nothing wrong with letting someone take care of you, Soul. That doesn't make you weak. There's a lot of strength in trust, y'know?"

Crimson eyes were searching a pale face. Looking for answers that he knew he wouldn't find. Kid gave sound advice, but the only solace he would be able to find would be within his own heart. His own choices. And so he didn't protest when the reaper gently turned so he slid off his lap, and then adjusted himself to cover the weapon's body.

"Let me show you that being underneath me doesn't mean you're below me."

Soul considered his position for a moment, trapped on his own couch beneath another man. He felt silly and small. Powerless, weak, a little emasculated. But he knew it was all in his head. Kid was right. It would take more than a make-out session on a couch to undo decades' worth of ideas of what he believed a man to be, but he was willing to try. If only to soothe the ache in his chest and the fire in his gut.

He sought out saffron irises once more, hand gently combing through stands of midnight and frost. A soft puff of air ghosted over his face before he pressed his lips to the reaper's and huffed a soft, "Alright."

Because they both needed that affirmation of trust.