Soul flinched as he heard the knife hit the cutting board as it sliced through whatever vegetable his meister was cutting up. It was technically his turn to cook (though it was uncool that he was thinking about that) but he wouldn't have been able to make anything, given that he wouldn't have been able to see what he was doing.

He wasn't really seeing anything lately.

Fuck that witch right to hell.

The sound of the knife stopped and he tensed.

"Soul?" Maka asked softly. "What's wrong? I can hear your soul from here you know."

He scoffed quietly and muttered, "What isn't wrong?"

Unfortunately he hadn't been quiet enough as Maka came closer, slippers slapping on the floor. He knew she had been trying to accommodate for his lack of sight by making sure she was extra noisy when she approached him, she learned not to sneak up on him the first three times she made him jump and he'd nearly sliced her.

She stopped right beside where he sitting on the couch and let her hand hove over his shoulder for a moment, letting him know she was there before she let her hand fall. She gave his shoulder a little squeeze and let her soul brush against his.

"Stein said it'll probably wear off in a couple of weeks," she said and sent out soothing feelings from her soul.

He took a shuddering breath and turned his head up so that he would've been looking at her if he'd been able to see anything at all. "I know, I just don't like feeling so...useless in the mean time."

She let go of his shoulder and walked around him so she could sit next to him on the couch. Her hand curled around his that had been fisted on his thigh and she began to pull at his fingers till the fist fell open.

"You're not useless," she told him and brought his palm up to her lips so she could press a small kiss there.

He gulped and said, "I can't see."

"Neither can lots of people, doesn't mean they're useless," she murmured. She held his hand up so it cupped her cheek. "It's just a couple of weeks, we can get through it."

He took another shuddery breath. "And if it doesn't wear off...?"

"Then we adapt," she said simply. "It'll be OK, we'll work it out together."

He smiled slightly and stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. What he wouldn't have given to look into her eyes in that moment, to see the way she looked at him to match her voice.

"Thanks," he whispered. He cleared his throat and grinned. "Sorry, 'm being uncool."

He could feel her relief through their bond as she shook her head, keeping his hand pressed to her cheek. "It's OK, I get it."

Then she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his gently and he kissed back, cupping her other cheek to keep their faces close together. They stayed like that for a few moments before she finally pulled back slightly.

He could hear the smile in her voice as she chuckled and said, "I should probably finish dinner."

"Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea," he teased and laughed when her face shifted under his hands into a pout. He guessed he knew her face better than he thought he did.

"OK, OK. I'll turn the radio on so you aren't so bored, OK?"

He mourned her loss momentarily as she pulled away from him but settled back down when she pressed a kiss to his forehead on her way back into the kitchen after turning the radio on to the jazz channel he liked.

"Dinner'll be ready in twenty minutes!" Maka called as she resumed cutting up the vegetables.

This time he didn't flinch.