Theo and Franken walked back to their dorm after dinner with a bagful of various containers that contained leftovers from the meal. They walked in silence, though Franken was happy to see that his weapon partner had a smile on his face, albeit a small one. Franken led the way, and cut down an alley to make the trip a little bit shorter.
He sensed the wavelength an instant before it slammed into him, sending the boy and the bag flying backwards and into the weapon. A prekishin stood in front of them, barely more than a child itself. A hideous grin contorted a face that was painted like a clown, its limp hair long and hanging down into its eyes.
"Play with me," it hissed out, darting towards the pair, a butcher knife in its hands.
"Theo!" Franken shouted, staggering to his feet, his hand held out expectantly. Nothing happened and Franken's eyes went wide as he felt the blade the prekishin had brush against side, tearing the flesh slightly. "Theo!"
Franken ducked out of the way to see his weapon partner huddled against the wall, his eyes wide and his hands trembling. He could feel the blood running down his side but he ignored it, darting towards Theo. The prekishin stepped in front of him, and Franken charged into its stomach, knocking the creature back and into the alley wall with his wavelength.
He grabbed Theo's shoulders and shook him. "Listen you have to transform or we both might die! We're E.A.T. students, so act like it!"
Theo's eyes snapped to Franken's face and widened again, looking over the boy's shoulder. Theo shoved the shorter boy to the side and dodged to the other just as the prekishin's blade came down in between them. An instant later Franken was on his feet, Theo lunging towards him.
He caught the boy's scythe form easily, swinging through only to find that the prekishin was no longer where he had anticipated. He brought Theo's blade up just in time to block the child-sized prekishin's knife and kicked out with his foot, connecting solidly with the prekishin's stomach and knocking the thing into the side of the alley.
Franken charged then, and brought Theo down with all his strength, suddenly glad for all the time spent training with Black*Star. A moment later a mottled red soul was hanging in front of the pair. Laughter escaped Franken as he hit his knees, his hand pressed to his side and Theo's shocked weapon form clattering to the ground.
Theo was in human form an instant later, his hands on Franken's shoulders. "Are you alright?" True concern laced through the weapon's voice, and he was ignoring the soul that Franken was staring at intensely.
"I'm fine, Theo. Just a scratch. We did it. Before any actual training in class, on our first day, we did it." Franken's eyes were wide as he turned to look at Theo. "Eat it. That's what E.A.T. students do. We defeat prekishin, we feed them to our weapons, and our weapons become death scythes. You're going to be a death scythe, Theo, and this is the first one of our 99!" Franken's eyes were as animated as his face and he grinned widely. "We'll make them all proud."
Theo smiled slightly and reached out to grasp the soul in his hand before opening his mouth and swallowing it whole. He shuddered a little, but the change was obvious to Franken's eyes. Theo's soul had just grown stronger.
Franken stood to his feet, the cut on his side forgotten and insignificant as he looked at the bag his parents had sent home with them.
"Mom is going to be so mad if any of her bowls got broken." Franken said suddenly, and both boys laughed.
None of the bowls had broken, though one containing vegetables had opened. The boys put the food in the fridge in their designated space and Franken shrugged out of his shirt while he was still in the room, slipping his shoes off and walking into the shared bathroom to shower. He winced a bit as the water ran over the wound, but realized that it wasn't bad or deep. The proverbial flesh wound. It probably wouldn't even scar.
He wasn't sure if he was happy that it wouldn't. A sudden image of himself opening the wound up so that it would flitted through his mind and he wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. 'Who in their right mind would ever consider cutting into their own body? That's just stupid!' Franken thought as he tried to not laugh.
He climbed out of the shower and dried off, grabbing some Neosporin and gauze from the cabinet to put on the wound. A knock on the door startled him and he called out, "Give me a minute longer."
Theo's voice answered him. "I've taken basic first aid. Do you want me to take a look at your cut?"
Franken hesitated, the gauze and Neosporin already in his hands, the wound already clean. He realized suddenly that this might be good for Theo's self-confidence and he quickly put up the supplies. "Just give me a second."
He pulled on his clothes, minus a shirt, and then unlocked and opened the door. Theo stood awkwardly a few feet away and Franken stepped back. He blinked as he realized that the boy was carrying a small kit with him.
"I… I make sure to have my own kit, just in case there's something missing and this way I know that everything in it is sterile." Franken couldn't help but smile, and Theo continued talking as he motioned for Franken to sit down. "I know it's weird, but it just seems so useful, and if I had had one a year ago…" the boy's voice trailed off as he ran an alcohol soaked pad over the wound on Franken's side and the boy winced a bit.
"It wouldn't have made a difference, Theo. Your parents… they died to protect you. Like my father did. He died to protect my mother before I was born. To a witch too. That's why we have to make sure that we turn you into a death scythe- so we can protect people from witches." Franken shivered a bit as he felt the Neosporin go on next, the other boy's touch light and gentle.
"I met your dad though…" Theo said as he continued.
"You met my dad, not my father." Franken said simply. "My dad adopted me when I was born."
Theo placed the gauze carefully over the cleaned and dressed wound, taping it down; he was digesting what he had just learned. "I'm going to be a death scythe. And we're going to protect the world from witches."
Franken smiled. "Yes, we are. I've got something to show you, if you'd like."
Theo followed Franken back into their sleeping quarters and Franken pulled the leather bound journal out and handed it to Theo. "My biological father wrote that, all of it. You went out of your way to take Basic First Aid before enrolling… you might be interested in that."
Theo held it reverently, opening the pages slowly, and Franken could see the eagerness on the weapon's face as he looked at it.
"I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep, just be careful with the pages while you're reading it, alright?"
Theo just nodded, settling on the side of his bed, just the night stand light on. He was still reading when Franken woke a few hours later. Franken smirked slightly, and went back to sleep.
A/N: Yay! No serious injuries, some bonding, AND their first soul! :D I hope you're enjoying, I don't own Soul Eater.