A/N: Hi all, I'm so sorry about the long wait you guys had to suffer through but I am offering this chapter in reward for your long wait. For those of you who are curious about my disappearance well, new job, school starting back up, and life in general. Now about this chapter... I think you'll enjoy it. I'll bother you at the bottom once you finish reading. Ta for now~

Odds and Ends

What Makes a Lover?

"12 days, Stein. This is fu—"

"This is getting out of hand," Maka spoke up from behind Kid, effectively cutting him off. "We've been away from home for almost two weeks now and we have lost this… thing again. We're both just a little frustrated," she continued.

Her partner rarely lost his cool to the extent where he would drop a curse as violent as that, which is why she had cut him off. She shot him a timid look as he let out a harsh breath and the mumbled curse before she stepped around him fully to look into the clear puddle where Stein's reflection shown back at them. Being frustrated was an understatement.

"You're feeling better I see," Stein said ignoring her statement and quipping one of his own. He took an extended drag of his cigarette before giving Maka a quizzical look.

"Much better. But professor… I think you failed to mention how purely evil this thing is. We found it…" she swallowed unable to bring the words out of her mouth.

"It was eating the charred remains of human flesh and bones," Kid supplied.

Kid's cool temper restored as he swiped his hand through his hair, not noticing that a few strands stuck up at odd angles as he glared at their teacher. Stein's collected demeanor disappeared and genuine worry flashed before his eyes.

"I thought you said it had attacked Maka in self-defense surprise attack because you were too close to its lair—" Stein started.

"Yes, well, that was before we found it munching on these a few hours ago," Kid growled holding up one of the charred bones and interrupting their professor. Maka flinched slightly but kept her face impassive as Kid waved it around for Stein to inspect.

"How close are you to shore? I'm coming now. I need you to meet me there and show me where all this happened."

"We're far inland. We've been hunting it for several hours now, but there is hardly anything for it to eat here. We think it is going to start looping back towards a town soon or come and find us…"

Stein hissed and took another drag from his cigarette. There was a long silence before he let out a breath.

"I'll inform Lord Death and send you two your weapons for protection. I want you two to stick to the shadows and remain unseen until they arrive. They are merely going to escort you back home, and I want you come. Straight. Home. Once they arrive. Understood?"

"Clearly, but back up is unnecessary," Kid coolly replied. "You will tell my father about this and explain to him what is going on here. I want a full report when I get back. My weapon and I can handle this," Kid commanded wrapping his arm protectively around Maka while straightening his back. In their reflection both looked weary from the hardships of traveling yet somehow the fierce aura seemed to pulsate off of them.

"At least let me—"

"Professor," Maka cut in eyeing her partner wearily, "we shall call you if we need anything. We have come too far to give up now because of some cheap underhanded tricks. If you didn't send backup before when that thing attacked me you still had faith that we could do this. A new fact about the monster does nothing to change that we can overcome it."

Both men eyed her as if she had sprung a second head before Stein softly laughed.

"You're correct. I believe you two can handle this just fine. I guess for your troubles you both deserve a very long-winded explanation when you return and possible promotions."

"We'll keep in touch," Maka promised before swiping her hand over the puddle to disturb the glassy image. Stein disappeared in the ripples.

"We could have gotten answers just then. Why did you—"

Maka held up her hand silencing her partner.

"Why did I what?" she snapped interrupting him. "We were close to its lair? You knew where it was this whole time?" she felt like lunging at him and repeatedly hitting him upside the head. She barely bit back a growl as she seethed waiting impatiently for him to answer.

"Stein gave me a general layout of where it could have been. I assumed that when it attacked you it was because we were close to its lair. I didn't know where it actually was," he said raising his hands defensively as if that would calm the pissed weapon off.

"Yes well it would have been nice to know that before I went storming out into the …" she cut herself off as the air seemed to shimmer with something sinister. Kid glanced nervously over his shoulder as if he had felt it too.

"It's close. I can feel it," she told him pointing to the right of the thick woods that surrounded the little puddle they had found.

Her sudden anger vanished with an eerie calm. She trusted Kid, that wasn't something that was going to change as quickly as her mood, and they both had to be on top of their game to take down this monster.

"Maka," Kid called sticking out his hand to her when he looked in the general direction. "I think I can feel it now too," he whispered as her soul flashed and she melded into his hand.

It felt right to be there next to him, being wielded by him was just another perk. She could serve him this way, her soul gave me strength and she could at least help protect him…

Ever since she had been a small child she had wanted to go to the DWMA and serve Lord Death by making a Death Scythe. But that had been a rite of passage, something to prove that she was just as strong as her mother, that she didn't need others to do things for her. Now that Soul was a Death Scythe, now that she was here experimenting with her own weaponry form she had come to a small understanding of herself. She had a lot of potential, that she had always known, but her value to Lord Death and his son seemed innumerable. She was capable of serving them in so many ways… This little 'assignment' was meant to show her something and Kid something as well. She felt Kid's conscious flicker with recognition at her thoughts.

"Maka… I need you to focus. We can discuss that later," he breathed out.

She jerked out of her thoughts realizing that they were already traveling through the woods. Kid's footsteps didn't make a sound, the only reason she knew they were moving was the trees that slinked past their field of vision.

'Discuss is an understatement,' she bristled but pushed her thoughts aside when she felt something shift inside her.

"Maka," Kid warned, "seriously… I need you to keep your head in the game right now… think about this stuff later."

'I know,' she grumbled to him before thinking to herself, it's not all about me, she scolded, this IS for Kid too.

Unnatural laugher filled the air around them as they crossed a small clearing. The horrid noise seemed to dance around the woods, giving the effect that the voice was all around them.

"Finally come to playsss?" hissed the wyvern from somewhere to their left.

'Alright, now,' Kid prompted Maka before verbally goading the creature. "If you feel like losing I'll gladly play."

She focused, looking for the faint outline of the ugly black soul in the shrouded woods.

'He's above us,' she warned just before a blast of fire shot down at them.

Kid's thankfulness showed through for a split second as he avoided the fire-ball and shot into the trees racing at a neck breaking speed.

'What are you doing?! He's above us Kid!' she yelled.

'Yes… so we need to bring him to the ground… and find a way to get rid of those damn wings. Half of his balance on the ground depends on them. He'll be helpless without them.'

"No fairs," it growled as it soared above them, peaking through the leaves and branches on occasion.

Kid, still running, leapt up with ease unto a tree branch and used Maka to slash wildly at the wyvern. He missed dramatically and cursed loudly as he fell back through the branches and safely to the ground.

'He's going to think we are utterly helpless if you do stupid things like… oh,' Maka realized mid scold.

Kid smirked as he continued his dash through the woods. 'It'll make him land sooner or later. He'll get tired of cat and mouse.'

It was actually a tactic she would have thought of herself, only much later after several more trial and error encounters with the creature. As much as she had analyzed the situation she had always pictured the wyvern as this monster that had merely chaos on its mind. She hadn't thought of how it might work or operate outside of hatred or bloodlust, frankly she hadn't thought of the beast much on this trip. Her job though, wasn't to figure out this monster, despite fighting her normal take charge attitude. She had somehow managed to give Kid the reins without even realizing it. And Kid had it all figured out, at least that is what it seemed like from his thoughts. It was simply a predator. And predators like to hunt their prey. Only in this case the two partners weren't about to get eaten like that poor soul that the wyvern had found earlier. Kid griped her handle with a little more firmness reminding her not to get lost in her thoughts as he dashed back up a random tree to wildly slice at the air again. Sooner or later the wyvern was going to get sick of this game…

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Do you think it is safe to go back to the shack and scavenge for food?" Maka muttered.

Her stomach growled in an embarrassing manner as she poked at the feeble fire by their feet. The night was cold, and left the two little choice but to huddle close together for warmth. They couldn't risk a big fire in case the wyvern noticed it and tried to take them unawares, but they were both comfortable in guessing that the beast was just as tired as they were, as it had finally retreated for the night with an angry roar a few hours after the sun had set.

Kid frowned; his golden eyes glowed in the dark reflecting the firelight as he thought of an answer.

"I think… it'll actually be better to head back there for the night. We aren't too far away now… and you could use an actual bed to get some rest," he decided.

"You could use some rest too Kid. You have barely slept since we've been here."

"I don't need sleep," he said calmly.

"Of course you do," she said softly letting her head slide into his shoulder. "Everyone needs to shut down and relax for a while."

How was the future God of Death so warm? And why did he smell so nicely? She stifled a yawn as his hand nervously came down to pat her head. She blinked a few times, noticing how heavy her eye lids had become she tried to stare into the fire to help her concentrate. Only the flicker of the flames and the soft crackle of it eating the wood did little but lull her deeper into a state of relaxation. Kid's unique scent wafted over her and its effect was almost drug like. She would have fallen asleep right then had Kid's soft voice not interrupted her temptation.

"Maka… I've admitted to having a crush on you, basically told you I can't help myself around you, been worried sick and unable to function when you get hurt… In the midst of this crazy endeavor I've realized something... and it scares me."

"People do crazy things, feel crazy things… when they're in love," Maka muttered.

She was thankful that her face was hidden in his arm as she felt him whirl his neck in a sharp jerking speed that must have been awkward so that his face peered down at her. She was sure it would have been a comical expression, one of pure horror, surprise, and fondness. If he had cracked his neck with the sped and force he had applied to look down at her she wouldn't have been surprised.

"How did you—"

"After reading about a certain feeling so much, after having such great and amazing friends that I consider family, is it really so farfetched that when the real deal comes stumbling into my lap I would recognize it right away? When you first told me you had a crush I knew you felt something deeper, it just scared me because I thought…"

"What did you think?" he whispered encouraging her as he caught her chin and titled her head to meet his gaze.

"I thought I doubted you, that I possibly didn't know you well enough, that you didn't know me well enough," she whispered. Was it just her or was his face leaning closer to hers? "And I was being rather stupid… seeing as I have felt the same way—"

"Can I kiss you?" Kid asked, his cheeks turned a dark shade of red as he cut her off. "I mean I know I've been an annoying prick with all the back and forth on whether we should even be kissing… but I was really worried there for a bit that you might…"

"Don't lie," Maka giggled. "You were doing the whole 'I'm immortal and she should have a mortal to live out her life with' bit. I felt it earlier when we were chasing the wyvern."

If it was at all possible Kid's cheeks turned a darker shade and his golden eyes flickered over to study the fire as he pulled away slightly.

"Well it's a very real problem," he muttered sadly.

"It's a problem that can be faced later. If you're so scared of losing me why not enjoy my life with me?"

"Wow," Kid sighed, "this topic has taken a rather huge turn," he grumbled rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Maka shrugged and sighed lightly trying hard to fight the corners of her lips that were begging to pull up in a smile.

"Not in particular. It's just being voiced out loud instead of vague excuses and awkward silences."

Kid grinned shyly at the fire for a moment before his gaze flickered back to hers.

"This is the closest I have ever been to being in a relationship… and I'm not very good at expressing my emotions Maka."

She nodded urging him to continue.

"So I just… uh… wanted you to know… that um. I uh… uh, I love you," he gulped the last part with a strangled gasping noise.

Maka nodded, the grin became a full-blown across her face as she stood up. The sapped energy feeling from earlier gone as she yanked Kid to his feet as well and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm no good at this either Kid…" she whispered burying her head into his chest and felt his rapid heartbeat there. "But I love you too."

()()()()()()()()()()

Maka woke the next morning with a fluffy white pillow and a warm blanket wrapped around her body. She stretched feeling the scratchy piece of shit cot underneath her groan in protest but it didn't stop the smile that spread across her face. It might not have been the world's most comfortable bed but it was still better than the cold hard ground of a cave that she had slept on the past week. The delicious scent of waffles (or pancakes) seemed to dance around her nose and made her stomach protest loudly.

A sense of déjà vu overcame her as she blinked a few times to see Kid's back busy slaving away in the kitchen, only this time the dark black cloud of smoke swirling chaotically over his head was comically, thankfully, missing.

She sleepily stumbled out of the bed and noticing that Kid had already made his bed to reflect perfect symmetry she half growled before adjusting her sheets so they weren't in such a jumbled heap. Was she doing it to be nice to her lover? Probably. But was he really considered her lover? After their little confessions the two had pulled out of their hug a bit unwillingly and then doused the fire before them. They packed the few things they had, and in the dark stumbled back to their tiny untouched shack, where they both had passed out on separate beds. Lover was a term used for … well at least to Maka, the term lover was for when a couple became intimate in uh, a physical way.

Isn't professing love intimate? Her inner voice jeered causing her cheeks to blush.

"Maka, would you like some orange juice? I found some fresh fruit this morning. We must have missed it. It was too oddly shaped to slice up symmetrically, so I wound up… well anyways it's juice now. Would you like some?"

She smiled softly and padded up to him in her bare feet on the surprisingly cold floor before pulling him away from whatever task he was doing and caught him in a light kiss. She pulled the glass full of the promised liquid that rested loosely in his dumbfounded hands before he dropped it and stepped back before he had time to react. Her burning cheeks didn't overtake the feeling of self-satisfaction at Kid's shocked expression.

"I would like a good morning greeting first," she said easily with a shrug. "Then scarf down as much food as possible and go find that bastard," she added in nonchalantly.

"Well then. First order of business as set by the Princess," Kid started teasing, Maka smacked him playfully, giving him a hard glare before breaking and giving in to a light fit of giggles. He bowed dramatically, grabbed her hand and softly whispered into her skin, "good morning."

If Maka could catch on fire with the strength of her blush now would be the time and as Kid straightened to a stand he grinned wildly as he noticed. He chuckled as he bent slightly to peck her forehead with a tender kiss. For a moment they both froze, enjoying the warmth that spread through them both. The smile on Maka's face grew larger as she leaned forward and let her arms wrap around the young reaper, trying and failing to discreetly breath in his intoxicating scent.

"You're right," Kid finally mumbled. "I like this feeling better than all that … denial."

"I'm not the only one who guessed it. We'll have to pepper Stein with questions when we get back," Maka teased, "and I feel like he may have had some accomplices."

"Eh. It didn't cause much harm," Kid said laughing.

"Oh damn. You're one of them aren't you?" she accused, but no hint of anger lingered in her voice, just amusement.

"Possibly, but I was thinking more of a tropical island with time to read intellectual books and long night discussions lit by the gentle glow of a campfire that eventually led to you falling madly in love with me more than a mission in the middle of nowhere freezing our asses off and our lives being threatened daily by a flying mystical beast."

Maka snorted, rolling her eyes as she stepped out of her lover's embrace to reach around him and scope up a plate filled with delicious food on the counter behind him, she made her way to the table.

"Well you got the campfire right," she teased before digging into the mound of food.

Her first bite she had expected to gag and barely be able to eat, besides food that Kid could split over a fire, his cooking skills were largely unknown to her. That first disastrous time had been rather interesting but it was edible and even then she had helped to some small degree with preparing it so she wasn't sure exactly what the results were going to be this time. Yet the first bite was actually surprisingly good, so much that the food filled her mouth with saliva and she had to hurriedly stuff her face with more food to avoid drooling. Maybe it was a side effect of only eating game the past few days, but Kid's cooking suddenly felt like heaven in her mouth.

"And apparently extraordinary cooking can be added to the list of ways to make you fall in love with me too," Kid teased as he flopped a stack of pancakes neatly on to her empty plate and sat beside her with his own breakfast.

"I had to eat quickly!" she protested, "We have to go out and catch that damn thing!"

"Nice excuse," Kid deadpanned drily, "Most people don't eat like a starved shark in a pile of fresh dead bodies."

They exchanged toothy grins before falling into a fit of laughter.

"Well you two appear to be getting along better now," Stein's voice piped up from the glassy clock next to the table.

Both teens glared at their professor, the mood in the room instantly dampening.

"I didn't expect it to apply to me as well," he said with a shrug answering the pair's silent anger.

"You've been spying," Maka noted drily.

"Yes," he admitted, "but only because it makes the next part of the mission to do so much easier after you catch the wyvern."

"We're aware of the second part," Maka and Kid growled together, both blushing furiously.

"Why are you calling on us now Stein?" Kid finally breathed after a shared look with Maka. "We thought we were clear that if we needed help we would contact you."

"I just wanted to make sure… that you two weren't distracted this morning," he said slowly. "And I have some rather… uh… what's the word… hmmmm… oh yes unsettling news."

"Which is?" Maka pressed.

"I'm moving up the requested date by a whole week."

"That gives us three days at the most to kill that thing," Kid growled instantly bristling and showing it by standing in his chair, slamming his hands down forcibly on the table so that it rattled the pair's dishes, and glaring so hard at their professor that Maka was surprised that the man seemed unaffected.

"Correct, Kid," Stein said smoothly taking a drag of his cigarette.

"So we'll just clean up and head out. We'll be done as soon as possible," Maka said easing out of her chair and calmly collecting their plates into her arms before dumping them roughly into the sink.

Stein's image had already disappeared from the clock when Maka returned a moment later. Kid was still frozen glaring at his shinning reflection before letting out a defeated sigh.

"I'm going to shower," he said lowly, "and then we can go take care of this shit."

I don't want to you to be in a bad mood. I don't want you to be cold and standoffish. I just got back the Kid that I've always been in love with. Wait, what? Always been in love with? Maka, you've lost it, you've gone off the deep end. Sure you might be falling in love with him, sure maybe you are in love with him…. Her thoughts interrupted themselves as she noticed Kid's expectant and waiting look for her to at least acknowledge him. Her cheeks burned at her thoughts, before she shook her head as if to clear it. What could she possibly say to him that would help? A dangerous idea came to mind.

"I'll join you," she squeaked.


A/N: NO, THIS STORY WILL NOT INCLUDE A LEMON! OR SEX! But typical themes that teenagers go through that make life horribly awkward and surprisingly intimate. I just wanted to make that clear before I get a bunch of requests asking for this story to include a 'lemon' or theories about what is about to happen next. Other than that I hope you all enjoyed. Until next time~

Oceanwind