Theme: 14, Smile
Wordcount: 1138
Rating: G/K
Warnings: None...Soul's being a bit of a hardass, but he's lovable that way.
Notes: Soul knows how to get Maka to smile even when she's not exactly happy.

Her smile was fake.

Soul's perpetual scowl hardened into an annoyed frown. Something was bothering her. And, as usual, she wasn't telling anyone (him) what had upset her and pretending that nothing was wrong. It made him want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she told him what was wrong or until her head rolled off her shoulders. He wouldn't do that, though. It wasn't cool to assault anyone, especially not his meister...who was also a girl. Soul didn't hit girls. That was more than uncool. It was...despicable. It was one thing for a girl to hit a guy (cuz guys did deserve it sometimes), but it was just plain wrong for a guy to hit a girl.

Looking around the crowded classroom, Soul knew he wouldn't get her to talk about it here. She'd set her jaw, frown at him, then assure their friends that yes, she was fine, that Soul was "just in one of his moods again." Past experience told him so. Past experience also told him that he would have to wait until he was able to catch her alone. That could be at any point in the day, though. It frustrated him to no end. Not for the first time, he wondered why the hell he'd decided to be her partner. But, he told himself (with extra emphasis on the "but" because it was a pretty important "but"), he'd ignored pretty much everyone except Maka at orientation. She was (and always would be) the only one cool enough to be his meister. He didn't think he'd be able to handle being anyone else's weapon. Everyone else had a tendency to drive him nuts after a while if Maka wasn't around.

Without warning, he stood up in the middle of Stein-hakase's lecture about the properties of kishin eggs and witches' souls and how they differed from human souls and what-fucking-have-you. It was something he rarely did, but he grabbed the boys' hall pass from the hook by the door and quickly disappeared into the hallway. The rest of the class (Maka included) had already assumed that he was going to the restroom. If he took long enough, though, he knew Stein-hakase would send Maka after him. Stein-hakase had already seen through him.

He'd been wandering the halls for fifteen minutes when Maka finally found him. "Good to know you're just out for a stroll and not lost or drowning because you fell in." she muttered Her tone was hard to place, as it sounded exasperated, annoyed, sad, and accusatory all at once. Though he wasn't looking at her, Soul knew she wanted him to react, whether she herself knew it or not. But he wouldn't, not in the way she wanted him to. He would wait her out first so that he would know her next move.

Maka darted in front of him, her pigtails seeming to stand up somewhat as she puffed up a little. "What is with you today?"

Soul leveled her with a flat stare. "You're faking. Again." He reached out and clamped his hand over her mouth when she began to protest. "It's not cool to lie to your partner, Maka." He removed his hand, but did not look or walk away. Instead, he fixed her with a firm glare that he only used with her. No one else was tough enough to hold this one for the full ten minutes Maka stood there, feebly glaring back, until she finally had to look away. Even after she looked away, Soul continued glaring. He didn't need words. He'd said enough already. As it was, Maka was already beginning to crack. Within the minute, Soul told himself, she'd spill the beans.

Five...he counted, ticking the seconds off in his head. Four...three...

Maka's hand darted out and gripped his tightly. She neither moved nor spoke for a moment after, then stepped forward and hugged him like she was scared to let go. Except she was scared to let go.

The nightmares were haunting her again. It was almost like Nightmare on Elm St., only Freddie wasn't real and things far worse took his place.

Soul held her close, silent as he always was whenever he soothed her. Maka was peculiar like that. She internalized everything and faked happiness when she was a complete and utter mess inside. That was normal for kids their age. Soul was guilty of doing the same thing. When it came to scolding her or providing comfort, though, Maka needed silence. Words were...words. They didn't mean anything unless there were physical actions to back them up, and even then it was hard to get through to her. Soul refused to touch her when he was letting her know her behavior was unappreciated and only spoke when he knew his words would hit home. He held her, kissed her, and kept her close when he comforted her.

It helped that Maka was a cuddler by nature. She knew what he was up to when he did this, but that made it easier to get it out of her when she was upset. She wanted that physical reassurance so badly – from him, no one else – that she would eventually come around, therefore helping him to help her feel better.

"I'm here," he murmured, gently nuzzling her ear, "I'm okay."

He almost didn't hear her response, as it was muffled by the front of his shirt (which she'd fairly smushed her face into), but there was no mistaking her tone. "You'd better be," seemed to be the most appropriate translation in this case. It made him smile a little; only Maka – his Maka, his meister – could say something like that.

They backed away just enough to be about to look each other in the eye without leaving the safety and comfort of one another's embrace. "You think you can make it through the day without faking?" He sneered, baring his sharp teeth.

After a moment, Maka nodded, then smiled back. "Yeah."

Soul stepped away from her, placing his hand on top of her head to ruffle her hair. "Good. Let's get back to class."

"Soul!" Maka swatted his hand away, but she laughed a little all the same. She pointed down the hallway toward their classroom. "Go."

He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He began walking in the direction of the classroom, slowing to allow Maka to catch up. At least he'd gotten her to smile.

05 May 2010

I really need to stop being lazy...but is it being lazy when I'm busting ass for school and going to work? Hmm.

This theme took forever to get started. I would start with one idea, then I'd come back to it and think, "No, that sucks," and then rinse, repeat. Then I got this. Even though I'm not too happy with the ending, I'm not going to mess with this any further. I hope you guys like it all the same. I'm going to get to work on Theme 15: Silence as soon as midterms are over. It's already Week 6 in the quarter. Finals are coming up in the 2nd week of June. Freaky shit. I can't believe the year has gone by so fast.

Okay anyway yes, here's Theme 14, Theme 15 is coming up soon, and I might have some stand-alone oneshots appearing every now and then. Thanks for reading!