April 29th
The whole campus seems to come out with the sun, some people tanning out on the grass while others are, very badly, tossing a frisbee. Soul narrowly dodges a disc flying directly towards his head. Black Star casually dribbles a basketball as they head over to the court; it's an ideal kind of day, even with the end of the semester looming overhead.
"Hey, isn't that Maka and Tsubaki over there?" Black Star holds onto the basketball and points ahead to where the girls are sitting in the grass.
"Yeah, looks like OCD and that kid Crona are with them too." Soul holds up a hand to shade his eyes to see them sitting in a circle, studying. Typical.
"Yo!" Black Star shouts and tosses the basketball at Kid's head, maybe a little too hard. "What are you nerds up to?"
"What does it look like we're doing?" Maka says irately, readying her textbook as ammo.
"You guys should come play basketball," Soul picks up the ball and spins it, so cool.
"That sounds fun!" Tsubaki smiles, closing her book.
"I don't know how to play, but I'll come watch," Maka says, "I still have some reading to do."
"Mushroom head," Soul grumbles, "you're playing, unless you're chicken."
"I am not scared of basketball, I just don't want to play," Maka huffs.
"Come on, let's go," Soul grabs the collar of her shirt and drags her up.
"Hey!"
"If you don't play, the teams won't be even, get it together Maka," Black Star yells.
"I don't know about basketball either," Crona whines.
"Good, both teams can have a handicap then," Black Star laughs, "or maybe you'll all have to team up against me since I'm so great."
"I really don't know about this," Maka groans.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Soul grins and tosses her the ball; the good weather has him in a good mood too.
They get to the court and Crona is still wobbling nervously while Maka looks absolutely furious about the situation. Soul considers taking away her backpack which he knows is full of book shaped ammunition.
"Here, Crona." Maka tries to hand the ball them, but they shy away from it like it's a giant spider.
"I don't know what to do with that," they whine, looking pretty legitimately terrified of it.
"Here." Soul takes the ball, "you just dribble like this, and shoot like this." He shoots the ball and it swishes easily into the basket; he's secretly hopes Maka notices, but she seems to have wandered off to the sidelines, trying to wheedle her way out of playing, no doubt.
"Maka, get your butt over here!" Black Star yells, "you can be on my team with Kid, and Tsubaki and Crona can go with Soul."
"Sounds good to me." Soul shrugs. "let's go then." He passes the ball to Black Star who passes it back for the return.
"What's going on," Maka panics, "you guys are on opposite teams."
"It's just how the game works." Soul runs around her dribbling while she stands dumbfounded. Crona is pretty confused and useless, but at least Tsubaki's height works to their team's advantage, allowing her to score a couple shots early on. Black Star steals the ball away, but with Soul blocking him, he's forced to pass to Maka.
"Don't just stand there," he yells, "run, Maka."
Maka is fast, but she runs with the ball like an idiot. "You can't carry like that, Maka," Soul shouts at her and she stops, giving Tsubaki the opportunity to take the ball from her.
"What? What does that even mean, I don't know the rules," Maka howls pathetically; it's somehow endearing that she's absolute shit at basketball. Of course, he's a little infatuated at this point so he'd probably think it was endearing if she kept pet spiders in her room; the thought makes him laugh inwardly. God he's pathetic. He's gotten so wrapped up in her; he doesn't know how he could ever disentangle himself.
"You can't run with the ball, Maka," he sighs, "you have to dribble." He steals the ball back from her, his competitive side winning over, and runs it back across the court to score another basket. "That's what? Twenty to four?"
"Let's quit before I die of embarrassment," Black Star hoots, "a big guy like me can't stand losing; I'll have to play you one on one so I don't have Maka messing everything up."
"Maybe if someone would just explain the rules to me," she sputters defensively.
"Don't be a sore loser," Soul laughs.
"I'm not a sore loser," she whines, even though she's probably the sorest loser possible, maybe even worse than Black Star.
"Let's just get some dinner."
"I still don't know why you had to drag me away from studying," Maka grumbles.
"Stress relief - it's not good for you to sit in one spot like that," he shrugs.
"Like you're worried about my health," Maka snorts, "it's not good for you to slouch all the time either."
"Wasn't it you that said exercise gives you endorphins?"
"Are you trying to say I've been cranky lately?" Maka stops in her tracks and whips around to face him. Whoops.
"You're cranky right now," he says under his breath.
"Well, I already went for a run this morning," Maka says, annoyed, "so my endorphins are just fine, thank you very much."
"I know you have tests coming up - but you don't need to be so pissy about it," Soul mutters, "it was just supposed to be a fun break."
"Well next time," Maka grits, "you can actually tell me the rules."
"Are you saying you want me to teach you basketball?" Soul grins.
"I'm still mad at you."
"You just don't like not being the expert."
May 2nd
Sunday nights are a joy; Maka is usually done with her homework and too exhausted from work to pick fights with him. Those are the rare nights she's easily mollified, and while her passion draws him in, it's possible to burn out on it; she's so high energy all the time, it's hard to keep up with sometimes. Sunday nights are a respite of lounging around, listening to music or watching movies - a chance for him to catch up to her instead of constantly running behind.
At the moment, she's passed out on her stomach on his bed, snoring lightly through Silence of the Lambs.
"You're going to miss the best part," he murmurs, grazing her shoulder lightly; she only grunts in response. She looks so peaceful, even if she is drooling on his pillow a little bit, that he can't bring himself to wake her up. Her phone buzzes on his desk though, and it's Spirit's name that flashes on the screen. "Maka, your phone."
"Just answer it," she grumbles into the pillow.
"It's your dad," he explains, slightly panicked, "if I answer it, he'll come here and kill me."
"What for? We're not doing anything," she says grumpily; he has awoken a monster.
"You're sleeping on my bed."
"But not sleeping with you on your bed," she is sure to clarify; doesn't he know it.
"I'm still on the bed."
"Get off then."
"Maka, your dad."
"Just ignore it, I don't need to talk to him." She yawns and rolls over on her back. He resists the urge to straighten out her hair, which is getting to be a bit of a bird's nest; he's trying hard not to be fussy and protective over her.
He presses ignore for the call and lets it go to voicemail. "You don't have to always ignore his calls, you know." He flops down on the narrow bed next to her; they're a little past personal boundaries at this point, and he's all the happier for it.
"I know, I just don't want to talk to him."
"He just wants to make things right with you." He's become so invested that it scares him, but he can't stop himself. Partly, he figures his own familial relationships are too far gone to reconcile, and seeing things work out for Maka and her dad would be the next best thing, but part of him is just filled with ever growing, overwhelming attachment to her. He can't pin it down entirely, but he knows it's way outside the realm of friendship and closer to devotion.
"I'll talk to him when I'm ready, I don't need you to push me into it."
"Ok."
"Can we just watch this movie?" she pleads.
"You slept through the best part!" he protests.
"So let's watch it again," she suggests, and he has a hard time denying her little requests, so he gives in; he's seen it a million times anyways, so really, she's the only one that needs to be surprised. She stays awake this time, half sitting up, half leaning on his chest, and he's suitably satisfied with her expletives and T-shirt gripping when it gets to the part he's been waiting for. He's addicted to her and he knows it, and he wants her to stay and sleep next to him because he's secretly somewhere between a humongous sap and a heat seeking fiend. Really not cool. Of course she won't sleep there without necessity, something she probably considers chivalrous unless she's secretly disgusted with him, but he's hoping it's the former. So, when Black Star makes an appearance, she slips out to get some actual sleep, leaving him on his too cold, too wide bed. It used to seem a little crowded with both of them there, cautiously sitting with a defined amount of space between them, but now, with lives and legs so often intertwined, he feels out of place without her within arm's reach.
"Bro," Black Star shakes his head at him, "you have it bad."
"Tell me about it."