Chapter 25: Before the Sun Rises; Does Soul Have What it Takes?
My alarm clock starts doing its obnoxious little dance across my nightstand. I reach over to silence its daily seizure and whack Maka in the face in the process.
"Oh, God! I'm sorry! I forgot you were here…I mean I'm not used to-" Super suave, Soul.
Maka mumbles something and rolls over pulling the cover up over her head. Someone is not wanting to get up this morning. I beam. Maka is in my bed. I like this. My whole body feels warm and alive and all I have to do to get hopelessly turned on is look at that lump of blankets with the knowledge that under there is my sexy meister attempting to catch a few more minutes of shuteye before we hit the road. It's funny how just thinking about it makes me high. Shinigami, I am so in love. It's almost embarrassing to be this excited. I'm never this excited about anything. Soul, get a handle on yourself remember you gotta stay cool, but I look around. There's no one here but me and my unconscious meister in my bed. My bed! I do a little pseudo-moon walk across the room because no one can see me so I can actually dance.
I'll let Maka sleep a little longer and then after my shower I'll come wake her up with a kiss. On the past, she's accused me of not having a romantic bone in my body. I'll show her!
Opening my bedroom door to head to the bathroom I almost trip on Blair in her four legged form as I strut out of my room. She's sitting right outside my bedroom door swishing her tail back and forth.
"Well, well," she says flying into my room as though she's a lioness trying to take down a gazelle. She hops on the bed, sticks her front paws under the blanket and begins kneading my meister.
"So, how is he, Maka? I've wondered, you know? I mean, does albinism change anything down there? Come on! Spill! I want details. Size, length, positions!" So much for my plan of letting my meister get a few more minutes of rest.
"For Death's Sake, Blair, leave Maka alone. She's tired."
Blair smiles evilly and stretches her back with the flexibility only a feline can. "I bet she is. Were you a naughty boy and wore her out?"
Blair runs over to me changes into her human form, naked, of course and continues, "Cause I'm ready to start my turn any time." She bats her eyes at me and I groan. This is not funny. I don't have the time or energy to deal with her teasing.
"Nothing happened, Blair." Maka mumbles as she rolls onto her back, her head emerging from beneath the covers.
"Ohhhh….poor, Soul. How disappointing for the both of you!" Blair coos at me knowing full well what Maka meant. "You know I heard about this herbal remedy that-"
Oh, great. That's all I need, Blair playing nurse to my nonexistence impotence. I decide to let Maka deal with our friend's warped sense of humor and I head into the bathroom cursing the day we welcomed that fur ball into our home.
When I come out of the shower I find that Maka has made a kettle of tea and Blair is back in cat form seated in the exact middle of our dining table.
I grab my cup of tea and bark at her to get off the table as Maka grabs a towel and heads into the bathroom. "That's gross, Blair. I don't go stick my bare ass where you eat your dinner."
Blair doesn't even pretend to listen to me. "So, are you and Maka boyfriend and girlfriend, now?"
I take an especially long sip of tea while I consider how best to answer this question. We had said that if we got asked point blank we wouldn't deny it, but neither of us really want people to know yet. It seems like people expect couples to act a certain way and if we're just meister and weapon we can do what we want without the constant scrutiny of the school newspaper's gossip writer, Maka's Dad, and Lord Death who seems overly involved with our love life.
"I don't think we like to use that terminology," I say.
"You aren't trying some stupid friends with benefits thing are you? Because that sort of arrangement would never work with you two."
"We're exclusive if that's what you're wondering. Which means you can stop pretending to come on to me."
"About time! I was beginning to wonder if those rumors about you and Kid were true."
I roll my eyes. "For the last time, it was a dare! For Shinigami's sake, there is nothing weird about two straight guys kissing when you're playing Truth or Dare. Everybody does stupid shit when they play that game." I will kill Patti. It's been two fucking years and I still occasionally overhear people refer to me as Death the Kid's boyfriend. I swear some people read too much yaoi.
"You sure Kid is straight?" Blair asks.
"I dunno. I've never bothered to ask, because unlike you I'm not nosey about what people do in their bedrooms."
Blair swishes her tail and saunters across the table toward me. "I'm far less interested in what people do in their bedrooms than what they do in dark alleys, on top of washing machines, or in janitorial closets."
"Fuck, how do you know about that?"
"I hear things."
"Well, Maka and I would really appreciate it if you keep this to yourself. We'd like our privacy. You know how the kids at school get about things."
"Or how your future father-in-law gets."
I don't say anything. I know she's testing me. If I jump too quickly to say that we're not getting married just dating or messin' around she may assume I'm using Maka…
After a sizable pause, she continues. "Oh, I see. You do like her an awful lot don't you?"
"Duh. You know how I feel about her."
Her oblong pupils stare at mine. "I thought I did. Till about a week ago when you broke her heart. You ever hurt her like that again and I will cast a spell on you so terrible and cruel you'll wish you weren't born."
Even though Blair is threatening me I find it comforting to know that Maka has other people watching out for her. "Fair enough, but you don't need to worry. I won't be leaving again. I made a mistake."
"I'd like to believe you, Soul. I really would, but relationships are hard. Things can get very complicated."
"Is that why you reject any form of commitment and amuse yourself sleeping with sluts and causing nosebleeds in teenage boys?"
Her head tips down and she suddenly starts grooming one of her paws. "Yes." She actually sounds sad. God, I didn't mean to hurt her feelings. I thought we were bickering like usual.
"Blair, I'm sorry," I rush to apologize. "I didn't mean anything by it. I swear, I was just joking around. I'm a dick. You know that."
She laughs, but it sounds hollow. "No, you aren't sweetie. That's just a stupid persona you put on so people don't think you give a shit when you do."
I contemplate this. If it is a façade, it's a subconscious thing.
She sighs. "You've got me pegged. You're actually very observant about people." She pauses, her gaze focused somewhere past me with the intensity only a cat can achieve. "Sometimes, I get so jealous of what you two have."
I set down my coffee cup and walk over to pet her behind her ears. "Blair, I know we give each other a lot of shit, but I hope you don't think I actually feel that way. You've got nothing to be ashamed of... and it's not my business to judge, anyway. Honestly, if I hadn't fallen for Maka I'd probably be doing the same thing…except not with teenage boys." I need to quit talking before this somehow fuels the rumors.
She transforms into human form and I give her a hug. She gives me a peck on the cheek. "I gotta get going. I'm meeting some hot toms over at the market. Be safe, kay?" She cautions me with a wink and I suspect she isn't meaning only with the mission.
After Maka finishes getting dressed we move quickly to get over to the motorcycle shop. The bar isn't normally open this early which is only a few hours after last call, but when we get there and knock at the door we find it immediately opened by the bartender we met yesterday.
"Well, hello lovely Miss Meister…and weapon. Come around back we got your Brunhilde back there."
Behind the bar is a garage with an accumulation of motorcycle carcasses that must have taken decades to accumulate. Metal blares out of the stereo and the walls are covered with posters of bikes and scantily clad chicks draped over motorcycles or running on beaches.
I notice the bartender appears to be wearing the same shirt as yesterday. I suspect he has not gone to bed yet. A couple other men and one woman clad in skin tight black leather are also in the garage though what exactly they are doing is unclear to me.
"Here she is. She ain't pretty, but she'll get you to the train station and beyond." Brunnie has a 'new' rear wheel and despite the fact that it's been salvaged from a totaled bike it's still in better shape than any of the rest of her. I walk up and run my hands over her. Instead of the smooth feel of steel she is rough from damage, but she still feels good to me. The bikers have taken some black duct tape with Death masks and used it to tape up the tear in the seat cushion.
"Nice," I say under my breath more to Brunnie than to anyone else in the garage.
"Thanks," Maka and I say in unison as though we'd planned it that way.
The bartender shakes his head. "You're an interesting pair. You been out on extended assignments before?"
Maka nods, "We've been to Eastern Europe and Italy and all over the place locally. We almost got sent to Africa once, but at the last minute they ended up sending a Death Scythe from Australia."
"I see." I wonder what he's contemplating. Then again maybe I don't want to know.
"Well, here you go," he hands a large paper sack to her. "We made you a special lunch."
"Oh, thank you so much! This really helps me and Soul out."
"Anytime!" He says as I follow Maka out of the garage door with Brunnie. The bartender leans into me and growls in a low whisper, "I hope you take better care of your partner than you do your bike, kid."
I smile. "It was a tough choice, but yesterday I chose her over the bike."
He chuckles. "That would be a tough choice." He pats me on the shoulder and stares deep into my eyes, "Take care of your girls."
Never before have I felt so much pressure to take care of Maka. It's weird because it's been my job for a long time. From day one as her weapon partner I've said I'd die if it meant keeping her safe and I've meant it, but something feels different now. Maybe it's psychological, maybe I feel even more responsible now that we've admitted our feelings or maybe it's residual guilt from the poor decisions I've made in the past, but whatever it is I'm feeling more stressed than I usually do prior to leaving town.
We ride to our apartment and Maka starts carrying our gear and equipment out of the apartment while I bungee cord it to Brunnie. Strapping stuff down is my job because the one time Maka did it we lost a bag that had half of our food and we both got really cranky from hunger, so henceforth she hauls the stuff to the bike and inventories to make sure nothing is forgotten and I figure out how to get it all secured to Brunnie.
"We got everything?" I ask after I think she's brought the last load.
She shakes her head.
"Great," I grumble sarcastically. "What's missing this time?"
She grins from ear to ear and pulls from behind her back my damn canteen. "You left it in the kitchen."
"Are you serious? I swear I put it in my backpack." I seriously can visualize myself doing it…or maybe that was yesterday after I got it…
"Nope, looks like you were in the process of filling it and got distracted. Maybe it was when Black*Star stopped by."
"Yes, let's blame him. It makes me feel better about myself," I joke wrapping my hands around her waist. "We ready?"
"Not yet," she says then presses her soft lips into mine. A wave of heat rises from my chest and everything else melts away. It's just the two of us and nothing else matters. I savoir this, wishing there was some way to preserve this moment, because something about Blair's words have scared me. Relationships are hard and I'm an idiot. What kind of a chance do we have of making this work?
We reluctantly part our lips and I stand there staring into those beautiful green eyes of hers.
"Soul, why are you nervous?" she asks me and I don't know what to say.
"Do I seem nervous?"
"Yeah. Is it something to do with me or with us?" Now she sounds scared.
"No, course not. I'm just worried about Brunnie holding up. I don't know how much more she can take."
"It'll be ok," she assures me. "Soul, remember we're a team. It's not all on you."
The corner of my mouth turns up in a half-smile. "Thanks, Maka."
"No, problem!" She says hopping on the back of the bike eager to get going.
As I climb on the bike I tell her, "What I mean is…thanks for taking me back, Maka."
"Oh, Soul! I'll always take you back," she replies resting her head on my shoulder for a moment before she settles back into her usual resting spot with her hands on my waist. "I do reserve the right to give you hell first, however."
"I'll keep that in mind, Crazy."
I give Brunhilde a little gas and am relieved to hear the familiar purr of the engine.
Maka raises her fist into the air and shouts, "Falconer, you bastard, here we come!" and with a rev of the engine we gun it out of DC.