A/N: Hey guys… I'm going off of what the internet has implied their ages to be during the manga… so for that this story is now future based because I want some of the themes to be a little more mature. I'll mention how old Kid and Maka are later but here are their ages from before this story that I am using.
Maka- 14
Soul- 15
Kid- 16
Black Star- 15
Tusbaki- 17
Liz- 18
Patti- 16
Add about 3 years to everyone's age for the time line of this story! Making Kid 19 and Maka 17
Hope this wasn't confusing! Now onwards to the fic! Tehehe
Odds and Ends
It's Complicated?
His heated stare sent shivers down her spine. Did she always react to men this way? She could never recall ever feeling this feeling that he was giving her right this moment. It was an odd mixture, and being unable to pinpoint what it was exactly left her anxious and nervous. The other two emotions caused her to lower her gaze away from his smoldering eyes, and she fought hard with the blush that threatened to overtake her. It wasn't men, it was because it was him, and the realization made it that much worse.
Did he have to be leaning forward so that she was pinned against the wall? They were in private, there wasn't anyone around for miles, and yet they were practically touching he was so close. In fact if she leaned forward just a little this would be more of an embrace than anything else.
"You aren't an idiot, Maka," he whispered as his hand caught under her chin and forced her to look up at him.
Her knees felt weak…
What exactly had they been talking about again? His lips were suddenly very close and inviting—
She awoke with a start. Instinctually she moved away from the warm body that was beside her, and that sent her tumbling to the ground. Her head hit the wood flooring first and her body followed suit. The blankets spiraled with her and pulled the other beds resident, Kid, down as well. There was a disgruntled oof out of both teens before several curse words and a few bumped noses later they were able to free themselves.
At least free of the blanket, but not quite each other as their legs and arms were somehow still entangled.
Maka found herself being pinned beneath Kid, under normal circumstances she would have pushed him off and at least screamed something. But the remnants of the dream haunted her and she couldn't bring herself to catch his gaze, let alone touch him.
"Are you okay?"
Kid's hands found their way under her chin as he inspected her for injury. The residual feelings left from the dream had her stomach rolling nervously as her thoughts taunted her with situations that could happen in the position they were in. She pulled out of his grasp and scooted so that she wasn't underneath him, all the while nodding vigorously.
"Sorry about that…" she mumbled.
She stood and grabbed the crumbled blankets, tossing them onto the bed she turned and offered Kid a hand to right himself. She was fine, and she hoped her actions proved that. However, her mind was racing as the strong sense of déjà vu overcame her.
"Bad dream?" he questioned.
His voice sounded groggy, like he was fighting off sleep. To her it was almost cute sounding, not that she would ever voice that out loud. She shook her head, knowing he couldn't see that well in the dark room before hurriedly climbing back into bed. Her hope was that it would stop any further questions about dreams or what had just happened.
The sun had yet to rise, but it would soon be light. Neither teen had yet been able to adjust to the time difference, and both were normally early risers (not that it mattered too much but both wanted an excuse to crawl back into bed to ignore the situation). Kid crept back to the edge of the bed beside her. Neither of them were going to be able to fall back asleep, yet they both wanted to ignore the now awkward atmosphere. Kid, having followed her, did an awkward limbo trying to crawl over Maka without touching her, before giving up with a sigh and sat down next to her.
Maka sighed dejectedly before answering Kid's earlier question, the thick silence becoming too awkward for her to bear any longer, "No. It was just very realistic."
Kid hummed and scooted closer so that he resided beside her.
"Those are the worst," he commented.
Again silence overcame them.
Kid let out a breath.
"Maka… I think I need to talk to you about something."
Did he know what she dreamed about? That wasn't some weird Death God thing was it? Panic made her freeze up as his hand rested on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact, thankful for the darkness so that the look escaped Kid, and turned to face him. As she did so Kid's grip on her shoulder slid down her arm and pulled her to his chest.
She hadn't been expecting that, nor did she expect that her arms would react and encircle him in response. Without words both teens held on tightly to one another, knowing that the next few words spoken were going to change things indefinitely for them and between them. Did he have to call her out on her feelings so soon? He almost had last night, and she was sure that was what had led to her dream and the now rude awakening her subconscious had decided to give her. She hadn't really analyzed them to the extent where she felt comfortable talking about them with someone else. She suddenly wished Soul was here, not for any romantic reason, but just so they could talk about what she was feeling for Kid. He had teased her right before she left for her mission with Kid and she had dismissed it as nothing. Now it seemed her partner had understood her feelings before she had even noticed them. She had relied on him so much in the past and he had helped her grow so much as a person the sudden alien feeling of being alone overcame her. How was she supposed to go about this? When she had problems with Soul they normally turned into screaming matches, although it was normally out of worry for one another… how was she supposed to react with Kid? They didn't have the same type of partnership, and their friendship and wavelengths matched easily. Could she handle getting yelled at by Kid for her feelings? She wasn't sure… but the she knew she was about to find out. She grimaced and braced herself as she listened to his steady heartbeat. She swallowed hard as Kid took a deep breath and pulled her away so that they were facing one another. Her hands fell limply at her sides as she stared hard at the blanket that had managed to bunch its way between them. His hands caught her chin again and forced her to look up, causing a strange pulling sensation in her abdomen.
He didn't say anything at first. His golden eyes looked eerie in the light provided and he looked paler than she could ever remember him being. He is handsome, she thought with another swallow. What was he thinking right now? She glanced down at his lips, trying to get a more detailed picture of his facial expression, and realized that he was leaning forward. Their foreheads rested against one another as his eyes peered into hers. She felt like he could see right through her.
His hands tangled themselves in her pigtails as his eyes slid shut.
"I can't help myself…," he mumbled almost to himself before he continued. His eyes scrunched together as if he couldn't get them to shut tight enough, "I thought I could handle this… but we," he paused in his struggle and took a deep breath, "… I can't keep dancing around it… I've had a crush on you for some time now, Miss Albarn," he whispered. His cheeks grew hot with his words and she felt the heat radiate on to her cheeks.
Had things been different the past few days, this news would have left her with her jaw hanging on the floor in shock. However, since the weird atmosphere between them since they began this journey she was only mildly surprised. She had thought he was going to confront her about her attitude, not that he might have contributed to some of the rising tension because of his own feelings. She couldn't think of an appropriate way to respond as he held his breath waiting for her answer.
She was 17 for crying out loud, and Kid was 19. It wasn't like they were the children they had once been. However, she could still recognize that she was young. It was a very foreign feeling to her, being forced to recognize that she was still a kid in many ways. She was normally mature, confident, easy-going, and head strong. The past few days weren't a good example of her character and she cringed at how she had acted, now was the perfect time to implement her self-image and show Kid that they could handle this with no problem.
Her heart thundered loudly in her chest to the point where she could feel it slamming against her ribcage. Her palms started to sweat, and her breath became short.
"What?" she squeaked.
MAKA, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! Her mind screamed. You go on a mini vacation inside your mind to collect yourself and all you can come up with is WHAT? Are you serious?
Kid looked better than her, and moved so that he wasn't in her space as much. The color that had stained his cheeks darkened slightly but it was hard to tell in the faint light. His hands were folded neatly in his lap as he gazed hard at the floor.
"I must've misread your nervousness, I'm sorry," he grumbled sheepishly, bowing his head lower. "I thought that maybe…" he sucked in a breath. "Anyways… that had to be put on the table. We can't have you going into weapon mode without us having complete trust in each other."
"I trust you," she said quickly. "In fact Kid… I kind of… have noticed that I … have errmmm… felt differently around you lately," she managed to stumble out. It was her turn to glare hard at the floor as Kid's surprised gaze shot up to study her.
It was quiet for several moments before he let out a soft chuckle.
"I see," he whispered.
She was tempted to lean forward and catch him in a kiss but something was stopping her. They weren't supposed to be doing this… Her mother and father had broken the taboo of weapons and miesters becoming intimate, but hardly anyone had fallen suit since then. Black Star and Tsubaki were about as close as it had come to happening again, and even then the two seemed oblivious to each other's feelings. But… she wasn't a weapon, at least not a full one. Half the reason they were on this mission was to awaken her potential so she could be even more of an asset to Lord Death and protect herself for when she was ever in a situation where she was without her weapon. There were so many enemies that wanted her dead because of her soul perception ability… it was safer for her to learn as many other abilities as well. She wasn't a full weapon, so that wasn't what was stopping her. What stopped her was the fact that Kid was a Lord of Death. He would one day take his father's place… and where did that leave her?
It was a bit early to think of things like that, yet Maka was always one to think of every situation first before she acted. With her battles she had dropped analyzing so much and started acting on her gut feeling, but she still thought things through. This was just like her to think first and she sort of cursed herself for it. She wanted to lean up and kiss Kid. The realization startled her, and she wondered what Kid would do… She had never been a love-sick fool who fell head over heels at someone's confession… She bit her lip hard and glanced at the floor. She was such an idiot. Of course she wasn't supposed to feel like this for Kid. To top it off they hadn't even been away from home for a week, and they hadn't even reached their destination yet…
She sort of wanted to curl up in the blankets and bang her head repeatedly from the embarrassment she now felt.
Kid's hand fell onto her shoulder, and started to rub soothing circles.
"We can figure it out later. Relax Maka, your soul is going all haywire," he breathed.
He must feel just as awkward. Hadn't he told her that he has had a crush on her for a while? Now that she thought back on it, there were a lot of times when she caught him looking at her in class, or hung back to catch a few words with her in the hall ways. Often times when they were with their friends he hung back to sit beside her on movie night or something else like that, but she had never really thought much of it. She had always enjoyed his company as a friend. She nervously reached out and clasped his hand in her own.
She was known for dropping corny lines, and she knew that if she said what she was thinking out loud it would be just that, corny. She refrained and took a deep breath before smiling up at her friend. Harding her resolve she –
His lips caught hers in a tender kiss. His lips were cool and moist. Her eyes widened for a moment before she relaxed and leaned into him. His hands caught her pig tails again and he pulled gently causing her head to tilt up. His tongue shot out nervously and his teeth scraped against her bottom lip. She started to move her hands, willing them not to shake, onto his chest. She pulled his collar so he was closer, as their kiss grew a little more heated. She didn't grant him access inside her mouth, instead she decided to mimic him, and nipped at his bottom lip as well. Soon the butterfly kisses were too teasing for them both, as Kid finally pulled them apart.
"I had to just once," he mumbled sheepishly.
She found herself nodding in acceptance but she didn't trust her voice to speak. She wasn't sure exactly what she would say at this moment, but she didn't want to come off as harsh on accident. They both seemed to silently agree that more sleep was needed, as they laid down next to each other, this time Kid turned and draped his arm across her stomach, and used his other to entangle in her hair. She found her legs throwing themselves over his and her hands curled under his chin. In a matter of seconds both teens fell back asleep. Maka secretly wished that when she woke up again, that it hadn't been a dream, and she was grateful to find hours later, that it hadn't been.
()()()()()()()(KiMa)()()()()()()()()
"Thank you for your hospitality," Kid told the captain as they pushed off with a small dingy.
Maka had the ores, despite Kid's protests, because she felt like using her body. Being cooped up on a boat for three days hadn't given her the exercise she normally got, and her muscles felt stiff from no use. She was using it as a good opportunity to use them and row them to shore.
"You two were rather interesting," the Captain replied.
He waved them off, no further words being exchanged. Soon the boat started back in the direction it had come, and Maka rowed to the shore.
The cool water occasionally splashed up and the breeze was chilling. A little afternoon she managed to get them to the shore, and despite the cool breeze and water, she was sweating. Kid hauled the boat up with ease as he gave her a worried look. The captain and his crew were now tiny dots on the horizon, sailing slower than normal as they fought the current back towards their home.
"Well we are now on our own. Our objective is to find Franken Stein's monster and detain it for him for further experimentation as well as unlock your full potential as a weapon."
Maka nodded at Kid's trivial explanation before closing her eyes.
"The boat is about 7 miles out now. They are the nearest life forms. There seems to be something large about 15 to 20 miles inland. It definitely isn't human," she told him after a moment.
He smiled at her.
"I think I'll always be impressed with how good your soul perception is," he told her. He offered his hand out to her as he pulled he pulled his board out of his bag and jumped on it quickly. She accepted his hand and positioned herself so that she was almost pig back riding him, clinging on to his back as she tried to awkwardly hold all their luggage.
"I think we'll make camp at that abandoned cabin Stein was talking about before checking out the life form. Ready?" he asked. He didn't wait for her reply, as he shot into the sky with his board and zoomed in what she hoped was the right direction.
As annoying as the slow traveling had been, she had been thankful for the few days of respite. She kind of hated flying at neck breaking speeds over very hard looking rocks; not that she would tell Kid that any time soon. Beelzebub was his favorite method of travel and it didn't look like he was going to give it up anytime soon. She would have to trust him to not drop her and kill her as they flew over glaciers and gritty rocks. She settled for holding him onto him as tightly as she could manage, and was thankful when the board finally stopped. Flying wasn't unnerving for her, but the speed and lack of control did.
When they finally stopped Maka had to refrain from letting out a violent curse.
The shack wasn't much better than what she imagined. It looked well enough to keep the cold out, as there weren't any holes or significant damage to the building, but it was as small as their hotel room had been. It at least was bigger than the cabin they had shared on board the boat. The partners walked up to the door, where Kid pulled out a key and opened the door with ease.
"Isn't that the key from the hotel?" Maka asked. Suddenly remembering that Kid had never returned the keys and they had left the first place in a hurry. He smiled in response.
"Nice catch," he told her opening the door wider and helping her with the few bags they had. "Stein said to hang on to them; it was in the instructions… although I don't know why he would bother locking this place up…"
"Obviously so the bears don't get in?" Maka teased. Her spirit lightened considerably at seeing the interior.
There was a homey feeling to the place. Maka was instantly at ease, as the place seemed to reflect her favorite professor's home. Stitches lined the walls, there was a pair of cots in the corner that were extremely close together, but (again were covered in stitches) were far enough from each other that if one of them rolled over they would fall onto the floor instead of the others bed. There was a door to the left, which looked like it was a bathroom. Double doors to their right that, when opened, showed a disarray of lab coats and closet space. The kitchen was connected to the small space, but a half wall gave it the feeling of another room. There weren't any dishes, just an assortment of beakers and test tubes. There was a small couch, with a small book shelf next to it, and a coffee table.
That made up their entire living space.
"Yes well I doubt a bear could fit in this place," Kid said drily as he took off his coat and hung it in the closet. Maka let a giggle and inhaled deeply.
The room smelled like home. She always admired her professor, and often thought of him almost as a godfather or an uncle. She would never admit that, but that was how she felt. This small chunk of home eased her and she felt more comfortable now than she had for days. She smiled brightly at Kid.
"Aren't you hungry for some lunch? I'm sure Stein stocked the place with food for us," she told him. Kicking off her boots and mimicking Kid with her coat to the closet she made her way inside. She found a Bunsen burner and was surprised to find a toaster. She made them some coffee and heated up some pastry like thing she found in the pantry.
Residing on the couch, the partners ate their lunch quickly both had forgotten that they hadn't eaten yet that day and feeling the hunger overtake them. It wasn't until after they ate that Maka realized how close they were sitting and she took a sip of coffee to distract herself.
"I don't think we should check out that life form," Kid said after a moment. His eyes were closed as he scrunched up his nose in distaste. "We should practice soul resonating."
She was going to protest, tell him that the sooner they found the monster the sooner they could get home. That was just too easy though, and she bit her lip from speaking out. It was hard… having to be the partner and go along with everything Kid said. She had to protect him above all else, and running off to fight an enemy when only Kid could fight was downright foolish. They were both amazing meisters but they still weren't sure what they were even up against.
"I want to practice being a weapon," she told him making up her mind with a nod to herself.
"That's what the soul resonance is for. I'll help you," he smiled. He offered his hand and pulled her up to stand.
Only when he pulled her up he did so with more force than he needed and she found herself colliding with his chest for the second time that day. Their earlier morning burned inside her and left her weak kneed. She couldn't move, and she cursed herself for it. She inhaled sharply and was bombarded by his growing familiar scent. His golden eyes seemed to soften, his hand warmer than normal as it rested on her cheek, and his lips… so inviting.
"I see you two made it to the shack."
A/N: Darn you mysterious person for interrupting! ;P
