CHAPTER 9
It wasn't until around 10:30 a.m. that Maka woke from her sleep. She and Crona had stayed up late the previous night, mainly talking and playing some games. Maka found herself sleeping more and she knew it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She was enjoying the extra rest, and she needed it anyway.
It took her several seconds to adjust her eyes, the room lit by the sunlight streaming in through the window at the end of the bed. It took her several more seconds to realize that Crona was not in bed with her. She looked about groggily, the fuzzy surroundings slowly taking shape as her eyes grew accustomed to the light. It was just as the figures of the room began to take shape that she also noticed the smell of breakfast, pancakes and bacon. She had never been able to smell food from Crona's room before, but she had read something somewhere about having a heightened sense of smell during pregnancy. She had yet to encounter it, but recently did begin to notice scents more easily.
As the aromas filled her nose, Maka slowly rose from the bed, bringing her feet around to dangle over the bed's edge. She yawned and stretched, pulling her arms up and adjusting her legs as she left the bed and prepared to undress.
Just as she unbuttoned her shirt, she got a glimpse of herself in Crona's full length mirror on the wall. It had been a while since she had looked at herself in a full length mirror; the mirror in her apartment only reflected from the waist up and wasn't very big.
Suddenly she was captivated by her own image. She stood to the side, her legs long, her chest and waist now sculpted, and her belly hanging out of her shirt. For the first couple months, Maka felt as though her image didn't feel like herself. She felt almost detached from it, and in some ways, it made her feel strange about being pregnant. Mainly it made her feel self conscious. She didn't necessarily care about what other people thought, but seeing herself pregnant almost made her question her own decision. Was this the right thing to do? What would happen to her, Soul, and Crona now? For some time after finding out about the baby, any number of these questions went through her mind, trying to wreak havoc on her mental stability.
But just recently, her image began to feel like herself again. She wasn't afraid, ashamed, or even unsure anymore; with time, she was able to accept herself, and realize that her path was clear.
She looked herself up and down several times, then let her hands slide down over her stomach. With every touch, she was reminded of the precious life inside, and couldn't help but smile when she felt some movement.
"Good morning," She spoke quietly, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I hope you are ready for breakfast."
She glanced at herself one more time in the mirror before heading over to her bag to change. After switching into her day clothing and brushing her hair, she made her way down the stairs to enjoy breakfast with Crona.
As Maka entered the kitchen, the smell became deliciously overpowering. Crona was letting pieces of bacon sizzle in a pan while he sat at the table, a small plate of four or so pancakes in front of him. He had his head in a book before Maka entered, but as she made her way over to the table,he put his book down and rose to greet her.
She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek, and cupped his face in her hands lightly. Crona could feel his cheeks getting warm, a rosy tint starting to color them. He looked bashfully to the side.
"Good morning, Maka."
"Good morning, Crona," Her voice was so soothing to him. As her hands fell to his sides, he returned her gesture by planting a kiss on her lips, eliciting a small pleasant sound from Maka's throat. They looked at each other.
"Thank you for letting me sleep in."
"No, you don't need to thank me...," Crona smiled at her, then turned to attend to the bacon on the stove. "You should rest. We stayed up too late..."
"Yeah, we kinda did," Maka took a seat at the table, reaching down to pet the cat at her feet. "So pancakes and bacon this morning?"
"Uh-huh... but I have something else for you..." Crona turned to the refrigerator and pulled out what Maka recognized to be a perfectly ripe mango.
"A mango! That is beautiful," Maka almost laughed as she spoke. Crona traveled around the kitchen collecting a plate and knife for the fruit. "Did you talk to Soul or something?"
"Well... he told me you had been craving them. Do you like it?..."
"Of course I do. And yeah, Soul is right. I really haven't been able to stop eating these things," Maka let her thoughts wander for a second as Crona began to cut the skin off the mango. "Oh Crona, you don't have to do that. Let me do it."
"No, it's okay," Crona took a step away from Maka and smiled, continuing to peel. "I want to do it."
Maka looked at him curiously, then smiled and outstretched her hands. "If you insist."
After Crona peeled the mango, he proceeded to prepare their plates with breakfast foods. He placed the plates at their designated spots on the table before he sat down.
As the two began to eat, Crona paused.
"Maka, I know I mentioned I would be training with Professor Stein a bit today...," He began, glancing to the side as he spoke. Maka lifted her head to him, to which Crona then met her eyes. "Are you sure... you want to come and watch? I mean... I don't want to bore you. I am not sure you will like it."
Maka just smiled before slipping a piece of mango into her mouth. "Of course I want to see you. I haven't seen you train with Professor Stein in at least a year. I want to see what you guys are up to now."
Many years prior, Stein had begun to instruct Crona in the art of physical fighting and blood manipulation. Stein admitted that his knowledge of the black blood was nothing compared to Medusa's, but somehow the idea of researching Crona's black blood through actual combat seemed practical and almost exciting to him. He was still a scientist, and knowing more about the black blood would help both him and Crona in the long run.
After just a couple months, Stein learned more about the potential of the black blood than he ever had before. Through his knowledge, he was able to help Crona with his blood manipulation, and even suggest close-combat fighting styles that would better suit Crona's advantage. Stein realized that having Ragnarok with him at all times meant that Crona would never have to worry about fighting without a weapon, but Stein still wanted to help him understand that his use of the black blood could be just as offensive as it was defensive. What started as research became beneficial for all parties, and it slowly developed into a weekly routine for Stein and Crona.
The last time Maka had watched them, the techniques and fighting were extremely unrelenting; she could only imagine how they had improved now. Seeing Crona in this new style of combat greatly intrigued her, and it made her only want to see the training more.
Crona nodded. "Okay, I don't think we will be long..."
"It doesn't matter how long it is, I don't exactly have plans today," Maka said with a shrug. "Soul will be home tonight. Are you staying over?"
Crona thought about it. He wanted to be with Maka, but he knew she didn't get to see Soul as much as she wanted. "Well... I shouldn't. You and Soul don't see each other much..."
Crona glanced over to Maka as she grinned and rolled her eyes. "Crona, you don't have to worry about that. Soul and I want to be together, but we also want you with us..." Maka fiddled with a piece of mango as she let out a sigh. "I want you to be there with me."
Maka's last sentence made Crona's heart almost skip a beat. Crona looked at her curiously before rising and putting his dish in the sink. He then made his way over to her, standing just behind her and letting his arms slide around her neck. He leaned down, and allowed his head to rest on top of hers.
"If you want me to be there, then I will be there," His words were serious, yet his voice was calm and soft. Maka let her hands rest on top of Crona's arms, stroking them lightly.
"Of course I want you to be there. I always want to be with you," Maka almost chuckled at how cliched the thought sounded aloud in that moment. But she meant it, and Crona could hear it in her voice. His head traveled down and nuzzled the side of her face and neck, eliciting a series of giggles from Maka.
"What are you doing? I think you are spending too much time with Seasalt," Maka turned her face and nuzzled him back. "Your hair is tickling me."
Crona paused for a moment. "Do you... not like it? I can stop if you want... I just thought it would-"
"No, I like it. It's cute," Maka said, turning in her seat to face Crona. He was leaning beside her at eye level, his eyes watching her almost fixedly. Maka couldn't help but smile at him; she loved how attentive and careful he was. "But you are always cute."
Crona blushed at her statement. He briefly looked aside before his reddened face met hers again. "You are always cute too."
Maka and Crona spent the remaining half hour finishing breakfast and preparing for the day. After that short time, they headed off to Stein's house, where Crona's training session took place.
It was late in the night before Soul finally returned from work. He stayed overtime to work on a project with Kid, but after just an hour, Kid told Soul to go home and that he would finish up the work himself.
Soul didn't even try to argue with him. He wanted to help Kid with his workload, but his desire to be home far surpassed everything else.
He came through the door slowly, letting his tired body take its time. Upon entering, he saw Maka and Crona sitting in the living room, laughing as they played a card game that Soul did not recognize. But as he entered, both Maka and Crona's faces lit up, and Maka rose immediately to greet. In seconds she had her arms wrapped around him.
"Hi Soul," Her voice was muffled against his clothing. He chuckled a bit before putting his arms around her as well.
"Hey. How've you guys been?"
"Well. It's been a good day," Maka said, slightly detaching from her embrace to look at Soul. Her eyes were filled with emotion, and looking into them made Soul almost melt. She was so cute; he didn't understand how anyone could resist that smile of hers.
Before long, Crona rose to greet Soul as well. As he rose, Soul and Maka detached, and Soul and Crona gave each other a brief side hug.
"How was it today, Crona?"
"Good. I went to Stein's for combat practice... Then Maka and I walked around and came back here," Crona took Soul's work folders from his hands as he spoke and placed them on a shelf in the living room.
"Glad you guys had a good day," Soul gave a small sigh, and headed for his room as he began taking off his work clothes.
"What about your day, Soul?" Maka chimed, she and Crona watching Soul slip into his room and change.
"You know, busy, boring. Nothing really different from my previous work days," Soul spoke loudly from inside his room. There was a pause between them all before Soul came out in his pajama shirt and pants. Soul and Maka went over to the living room and sat on a couch together, and Crona sat across from them.
For the next half hour, Soul, Maka, and Crona talked about their days. They explained them in more detail, although Soul was insistent that his day was dreadfully boring. After a couple finishing comments, Soul stretched out his arm and placed it around Maka's shoulder, pulling her close. He placed his other hand on top of her stomach lightly.
"I forgot to ask, how is our little girl doing today? She isn't giving you a hard time, right?"
Maka rolled her eyes and smiled. "A little, but no more than usual. She seems to be doing well."
"Good to hear. You know, we have to start brainstorming names soon," Soul got up off the couch and headed toward the refrigerator to get himself a drink. Crona and Maka thought.
"Well, I have been thinking of some I guess. I have some ideas," Maka glanced about the room as she spoke, her mind in thought.
"I have some ideas too. Crona, have you thought of anything?"
Crona looked to Soul, his brow furrowed, his eyes confused. He knew that the three of them were really one unit, but he didn't feel as though he had the right to suggest names. It wasn't his child, after all.
He fidgeted in his seat a minute. "I... haven't thought about it. I can't name the girl, Soul... I mean, its your and Maka's baby, I cant-"
"Crona," Soul interrupted, getting his glass of ice water and sitting back on the couch next to Maka. "If we hear a name we like, it doesn't matter who thought of it first. We want you to be part of this process. Don't worry too much, we just want some ideas now anyway. I doubt we are gonna come up with anything final."
Crona still felt uneasy about discussing it, but he nodded. If they wanted him to be part of the process, then he wanted to be included.
Soul smiled at Crona before he spoke. "I was thinking of naming her after someone famous or something. Maybe a Jazz singer."
Maka looked at him curiously, a small grin forming on her face. "Did you have anyone in mind? Not that I will know of them, but still."
Soul sighed a bit. "Well, not really. I mean, my favorite female Jazz singer is Ella Fitzgerald, but I don't know about the name Ella. I like Lena Horne too, but I am not sure about the name Lena either..."
Maka looked at him for a minute, then giggled a bit. "Well, you are just full of indecisiveness, aren't you?"
Soul gave a tired smile. "Yeah, I have to think about it more. What ideas do you have?"
Maka leaned back into the couch. "Well, I was thinking we could give her a Japanese name maybe. After my mother's side."
Soul perked up for a minute. After mulling it over, it didn't seem like a bad idea to him. He wasn't too familiar with Japanese names, but if they could find just the right sounding one, he could picture it.
Maka paused. "I haven't done too much research, but I found two that I really like so far. Emiko and Aiko. They mean beautiful child and love child or child of love."
Soul thought them over, also leaning back into the couch. "I like those. They have a nice ring to them. And the meanings are nice. What do you think, Crona?"
Crona shot Soul a surprised look before his mind began to stir. He said the names in his mind, then he mouthed the names to see how they felt when he said them. Before long, a small grin decorated his face.
"I like them too. They sound nice. Even when I say them. Aiko Evans..."
The sentence struck both Maka and Soul with surprise. Crona said Aiko Evans. It wasn't until that moment that they realized they needed to think about last names. Should the child take Albarn or Evans? Maka and Soul were not married, but they had been together for so long. Suddenly, they both began to blush.
Maka let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, they do sound nice. And I like their meanings. We really should consider meanings too, Soul. I want the name to really mean something."
The blush on Soul's cheeks began to fade. "I know. I mean, I like my name, as it sounds and its meaning. Your name is cool too, Maka. Gotta give our kid a cool name as well."
There was a pause, but this time, Soul and Maka suddenly felt awkward. Maka then caught a glimpse at Crona, his face burried in the floor, his hands in tight balls in his lap.
"What's wrong, Crona?"
Crona fidgeted before he lifted his face to meet Maka's. His eyes were curious, but there was a hint of sadness beyond them.
"Do you think... my name has any meaning?"
Soul and Maka suddenly became painfully still. It took several seconds before Maka relaxed again, thinking through her knowledge of names.
"Well, I am not sure, but maybe it is Greek. There was a titan in ancient Greek mythology named Cronus..." Maka looked down for a second to gather her thoughts. "He was a ruler of the universe after he overthrew his father. He ruled until he was overthrown by his seven children..."
A almost distressing silence suddenly filled the room. Crona's eyes widened slightly as he leaned slightly forward. "What else... is known about him?"
Maka looked into his eyes. She unexpectedly became anxious. "Well... his weapon was a sickle or scythe. He was called Saturn in Roman mythology I think..." Her face met the floor. "I... am not really sure of anything else."
Crona's eyes fluttered, his clear nervousness melted away and was replaced with a small smile. "Oh...thank you. I will have to read about him some time."
Maka gave him a soft smile back. "Yeah, we can do that."
The three of them talked for a about an hour before sleep began to set in. Maka began to feel quite tired, and eventually her head was resting on Soul's shoulder.
He let his hands put her stray hairs behind her ear. "Looks like someone is getting tired. You should probably head to bed."
"I know," Maka said quietly, her eyes closed. Crona and Soul slowly rose to their feet leaving Maka on the couch, her eyes now just slightly opened. Crona extended a hand to her, which she promptly took, allowing Crona to lift her slowly from the couch. She let out a tired breath, to which Soul chuckled. Crona approached Maka and gave her a small hug and kiss on the forehead before she made her way over to Soul's bedroom, Soul following closely behind her.
Soul had plans to head back out into the living room area and hang out with Crona, but he just wanted to be alone with Maka first, even if it was only for a few minutes. Soul looked at Maka for a second as she got comfortable under the covers, admiring how cute she looked in her pajamas and with her hair down. Eventually, she called him over, and he got beside her on top of the covers. Maka let her hand touch the side of his face, eventually sliding through his hair. He smiled warmly at her.
"You are too cute, you know that?" He said playfully, inching closer to her in the bed. She let her other hand slide out from under the covers and slid her arms around his neck. After a couple seconds of staring into each other's eyes, their faces met in a passionate kiss. The kiss only lasted a while though, as Soul detached from it to admire her visage again.
"We can't start this now. You definitely have to go to bed."
Maka giggled. "If you insist."
Soul leaned in, letting his forehead touch hers. "There is someone I want to say good night to first."
After some seconds, he allowed his hands to reach up, and they slowly unbuttoned Maka's shirt and removed the blankets. He lifted himself into a sitting position on the bed, and Maka turned from her side to her back for him. Her belly was small, she was still only 26 weeks along. But still, her stomach seemed large to him, probably because Maka was short and normally quite thin. After some seconds of looking at it, he leaned down and placed his ear against her soft skin. He listened for a while.
"She isn't moving much," He said softly. Maka smiled down at him, her hand running through his hair.
"She is more active during the day, I noticed. Maybe she's tired now."
After some seconds, Soul lifted his head and straightened up to his sitting position again. One of his hands lightly rested on Maka's stomach, while the other made its way up to the side of her face. In that moment, they just looked at each other, and it felt like the rest of the world had disappeared.
Soul's face quickly became almost sad however, his head turning to face the wall, and Maka's hands immediately went up and cupped his face.
"Soul, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"
Soul let out a breath before he began. "We can't stay here."
Maka looked at him, her face becoming confused. "...What do you mean?"
"This apartment. We can't stay in this apartment..." He paused, looking down at her intently. "This place is too small. I mean, what exactly do we plan to do once the baby arrives? There isn't exactly loads of space. Even if you permanently move to my room, your room is still not all that big. I just... I think we should move. I want to start looking for a house. A nice family house."
Maka held his face in her hands for several seconds. She thought about what he said, and honestly, she had been thinking about the space issue recently herself. The apartment was already small and not made for any more than two people, and with the baby on the way, Crona always over, and a transforming cat, the space was sure to get even more cramped.
Maka gave him a warm smile. "I agree. We should start looking."
Soul shot her a look of almost approval. "Are you sure? I mean, money will be tight for a while, but-"
"It's okay Soul, I agree with you. This space isn't really big enough for our lifestyle anymore," Maka pulled him down and gave him a soft kiss. "Let's start looking tomorrow."
Soul leaned down and gave her another kiss before rising from the bed. "Alright, sounds good."
He then made his way over to the door, and quietly said goodnight before exiting the room, his thoughts now swimming with the idea of a new place to live.
Soul came out from his bedroom to see Crona standing in the kitchen drinking a glass of strawberry milk. He also made his way over to the refridgerator to fix himself a drink.
"Wanna sit on the couch and talk?" He offered.
Crona nodded, and made his way over to sit in his usual spot on one of their couches. Soul shortly took a seat across from him, and both of them placed their drinks on the table.
"So it was a good day today?" Soul couldn't help but ask again.
"Yeah, it was nice. Maka seemed to have fun."
"How was she? I hope the kid's energy didn't drain her or anything."
Crona thought for a minute. "I mean... the baby is active most of the time. At least, that's what Maka says. But.. she doesn't seem bothered or anything by it."
"Good to know," Soul took a sip of his drink. "Crona, I have to thank you for staying with her and doing all this stuff with her."
"Soul, don't thank me. I want to be with her. I... don't deserve your thanks."
"I think you do," Soul said, leaning his elbows on his knees. "But anyway, I just want you to know I really appreciate everything you do."
A small blush creeped onto Crona's cheeks. "Your welcome."
Soul smiled before taking another drink of his glass. He sat still for a couple seconds before a wide smile crossed his face.
"Crona, I want to talk to you about an idea I have. Something I would... well, like your involvement with."
Crona sat up straight in his seat, his eyes now focused on Soul. It wasn't often that Soul wanted Crona to get involved with one of his ideas, so he knew it had to be something unusual for Soul. As Crona looked at him, Soul became all smiles, and something about Soul's particular expression made Crona almost uneasy.
"Okay, so I have this idea, and this is just an idea, okay?" Crona could tell Soul was trying to reassure him with those words, but Soul hadn't said what the idea was yet.
Crona's brows furrowed. "Okay, what is your idea?"
Soul sat still for a minute, then sat up straight in his seat, facing Crona directly. "What if, just thinking this might be awesome, what if... we both... well, doubled teamed Maka?"
Crona wasn't sure he understood what Soul had said. His face twitched a little. "What do you mean by that?"
Soul chuckled and leaned back, running his hands through his hair before continuing. "Well... like... what if we had a three-way? You know... what if we, like... pleasured her at the same time?"
Crona sat still for a minute before his entire body seemed to go almost ghostly pale. His eyes became so wide that Soul thought they would fall right out of his head, and his pupils dilated to the size of pinpoints. His mouth almost curved upward, his lips borderline pursed, and his brows furrowed. The expression, while one of shock and disbelief, was so unusual that Soul burst out into a spurt of laughter.
He wiped tears from his eyes as he laughed. "I swear, Crona, I just wanna make a book with all of your facial expressions in it. Ha, that face..."
Soul continued with his laughter for a minute or so before the squeak of Crona's voice was heard.
"Are you... serious?"
Soul calmed down a bit to address Crona. "Well... yeah, I am very serious. I think it would be interesting, you know, to try. And I think Maka would LOVE it."
Crona's face seemed to change at the mention of Maka. "Do you... really think she would love it?"
"I am 99% sure she will," Soul said with confidence. "Now, I was thinking. We don't have to have sex with her or anything. We could just... you know, have a little fun. All of us."
The thought of all this was still extremely distressing to Crona. No one had ever seen him without his clothes besides Stein for medical purposes, and Maka on some occasions. The idea of showing anybody else his body was almost horrifying. He trusted Soul, and he felt as though he was very close to Soul in many ways. But this was one area of his life he wasn't sure he could handle changing.
Crona made several attempts to speak before words finally came to him. "I... uh... well, pleasing Maka... would be nice. But I am... not sure-"
"Crona, listen," Soul stopped him. "It's just an idea. I thought it would be fun. If you want to try it, cool. If not, it's no big deal. I just think Maka would really like it if we did this. We don't even have to be naked. We can keep on our pants or boxers or whatever."
Crona didn't know what to say. He wanted to make Maka happy, but his nerves were taking over just talking about it.
"...Maybe."
Soul almost thought he didn't hear the words at all, but he had heard them. "Maybe?"
It took all of Crona's strength to give Soul a firm nod. The idea frightened him, but somehow the idea of having Maka enjoy herself so much stuck out amongst his fear.
Soul smiled at Crona. "Well... alright then. If you ever feel more comfortable with the idea, let me know. I am sure you have your way of doing things with Maka and I have mine. If you ever want to do it, we can talk beforehand and work out what would be the best way to approach this kinda thing."
Soul wasn't one for organizing his sexual encounters, he enjoyed living in the moment and going with the flow much more. But if they were going to do this, he realized, for Crona's nerves and perhaps his own, they would need some kind of structure and organization.
Soul sat still for a minute before he made his last comments. "Also, we don't have to do this any time soon. We can wait if you want. Like after our kid is born. I know the pregnancy thing would probably be weird for you. Whenever you want really. I don't care either way."
Crona thought about Soul's words. While at first the pregnancy was weighing on his mind, as he spent more time with Maka, the weight seemed to go away. Slowly, gradually, the idea of her being pregnant lost its harmful thought association, and became almost... normal. He was no longer nervous being around her, at least not in the same way as before. It seemed that, as he became more accustomed to her being pregnant, his nerves about it changed into an almost protectiveness about it. He knew he wasn't fully accepting yet, but he felt like he was getting pretty close to being that way.
Crona was stiff, but he tried to relax. "Actually... I don't care... when."
Soul wasn't sure that those were Crona's actual words. "Wait... are you sure you don't care? I don't want to do something you are not comfortable with."
Crona nodded, his face to the floor. "No... I am okay with it. When ever... would work. "
Crona wasn't even sure he wanted to have a three-way, but this was his way of letting Soul know that he was healing. And Soul received the message.
"Alright, good to know," Soul gave Crona a smile and Crona couldn't help but smile awkwardly back.
After their talk, they began their night routine and playing video games. It was something they occasionally did, but not too frequently. It was just a nice way for Soul to relax, and Crona enjoyed playing the games as long as it was with Soul.
They didn't get into the game very long before Soul paused it however. At first, Crona thought he was just going to refill his drink. But after Soul paused it, he didn't move or speak. Crona fidgeted.
"Soul... are you okay?"
Soul let out a sigh before leaning back in the couch. "Actually, there is something I want to talk about. Something that has been bothering me quite a bit."
Crona fixed his posture. "Well, you can tell me, if you want. I can try and help... although I am not sure I will be of much use."
Soul chuckled a bit before placing his remote down and turning to face Crona. Soul could feel his nerves bundling up in his chest. He thought it lame to talk to others about his problems, but who else did he have to talk to about this? He and Crona had a surprising amount of things in common, and one of them was their connection to Maka.
Which was the very center of his problem.
Soul let out a sigh. "I am nervous. Nervous and anxious. I just really want to home with Maka, experiencing this pregnancy with her, helping her. It's driving me crazy that I have to work," He paused. "I don't want you to think this has anything to do with you in any way. I am not jealous or anything that you are spending time with Maka. Actually, I am really happy about it. I want her to be able to spend this time with someone she loves. And I am glad she is spending it with you. I don't want her to be alone right now. But I just... I don't know, I feel myself getting stressed out more easily, you know?"
Crona listened carefully. He never saw Soul as the kind of person who would get stressed, and the fact that Soul was admitting to being stressed was even more surprising. But this kind of stress was something that Crona seemed to understand. Crona remembered a time when he himself was stressed when he wasn't around Maka, and how every moment away from her seemed to create tension within his soul. He knew their situations weren't the same, but Crona felt as though if he talked to Soul, he might actually be able to help.
Crona relaxed at bit, and took a sip of his drink before he spoke. "So... your nerves, they are just worse because you are not around Maka right now?"
"Yeah," Soul glanced to the side. "I have to work, that isn't really an option right now. And I want to work now so that I can be with our baby later. But I just... sometimes, just being away from Maka, at an important time like this, really gets to me. I don't want to show her that it is stressin' me out. And it's funny because..."
Soul leaned down, his face meeting the floor as he paused his sentence. Crona also took a moment to think, and smiled as he realized where Soul's train of thought was going.
"It's funny because it can't be helped?"
Soul's face shot up to meet Crona's, though he still remained hunched over. "That's exactly it. I keep stressin' out about it but it's not something I can change. I feel like... it's really lame that I am even talking about it."
Crona leaned forward. "It's not lame, Soul. It makes sense. You just... I understand what you mean. But, you are right... if you work hard now, you can be with the baby later. You just have to tell yourself that sometimes."
Crona looked down at the cup in his hand, a soft smile again coming to his face. Soul glanced at him, and chuckled a bit.
"You know, Crona, the fact that you are with her makes my anxiety about it a little better. Sometimes, when I get really aggravated about it, I just think 'At least she is with Crona' or 'At least Crona is watching and helping her'. It calms me down sometimes. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."
Soul again let his face meet the floor, his hands on the back of his neck. Crona wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, but he let his free hand pat Soul's shoulder.
"Soul, I will do anything you need me to do. I will do anything for Maka, and I will help you both in any way I can... I am happy that you trust me and appreciate me being with Maka... but you know it's something I would do for you guys regardless..."
Soul leaned back and turned to Crona, his face and body relaxing. "Thanks Crona. And thanks for listening to me ramble on too."
"It wasn't rambling, Soul," Crona said, picking up Soul's controller. "No talk that is necessary is rambling. Maka taught me that"
Soul laughed. "Well, she's right as usual."
The two were just about to start up the game when Soul began again.
"Hey, how are you liking that bass?"
Crona thought a minute, an embarrassed blush creeping onto his cheeks. He loved the bass Soul had bought for him, and he tried to practice on it every day. Playing music seemed to calm him in some way, and having his own instrument made him very grateful.
"It's wonderful. Thank you for getting it for me."
"No need for thanks, man. Anyone who has a talent like you deserves their own instrument. One of these days, we should play together. Don't be afraid to bring it over here."
Crona gave Soul a nod, both of them giving the other a warm grin. After the moment passed, Soul began the game again, his tension now seemingly gone.
END
Long chapter, I know. Also, I cut out some things, and I hope it isn't too obvious (which I think it is). Like Crona and Stein's training session. That was originally in this chapter, but I moved it. Fun stuff.
Feedback is a virtue. :)
