Moments

The One Hundred and Fifty-Third:

Couches and Thinkers

Maka wakes up to the sound of footsteps.

The sandy-blonde groans, her mood immediately souring as she looks at the clock on her nightstand. It's not even one in the morning, and she's awake. Why does her life suck?

She sits up with a yawn, hearing more footsteps that couldn't be anyone other than her partner, Soul Eater. Even though they've been living together for almost a year now, he can't figure out how to walk quietly in their apartment.

Instead of letting it go, like she usually would, she shoves her duvet off her body. This is it. This is the final straw. He knows there's a test in Stein's tomorrow and they both need their sleep. This is completely out of line! Even for him!

She rolls out of bed, going to her door and ripping it open. She opens her mouth to cuss out her partner, only to find him sitting on their couch- shirtless and looking as though he's just seen a ghost. Her eyes are drawn to his chest where his scar looks irritated and inflamed as if he had been clawing at it. Then, she makes eye connect with him. He's obviously trying to hide his tension, but she knows him better than that.

All the fight drains out of her, and it's replaced with guilt. He's been having nightmares ever since he was allowed to return home two weeks ago after his recovery from Chrona. Her heart feels heavy. He never likes to show his true emotions, and she always has to drag it out of him.

She wonders if he were to answer honestly if he would blame her. She certainly blames herself.

"Hey." She says softly, feeling the tension in his soul as their wavelengths interact. "Are you okay?" He nods instantly, and she almost sighs aloud at the blatent lie.

"Yeah, of course." He leans back on the couch, not fooling her for even a moment. "'Just can't sleep is all." Maka knows better, and she gets the feeling he knows that.

"I can't sleep either." She says, although he doesn't look like he believes her. She crosses the room to sit next to him on the couch. She sits close, reaching for the remote control that sits on the coffee table and clicking on their television. She leans against the back of the couch as she puts on a kids' network.

"Cartoons?" He mutters, the girl nodding.

"They're good for the soul." She replies. He doesn't say anything back to her, so she keeps it on.

For a few minutes they sit in silence and watch a mouse chase a cat around a house. The tension slowly drains from her partner, but Maka thinks that if they were even closer it would help him more. So she closes the small distance between them, laying her head on his shoulder and curling her legs up on his lap. He freezes at the bold move, and he hesitantly adjusts. His arm comes to settle around her shoulders and he leans his cheek against her head, his other arm coming to rest on her curled up legs.

They've never cuddled before, but Maka supposes there's a first time for everything. She likes the feeling of being close to him, and it makes her heart pound in a way she can hardly understand. She realizes his wavelength has settled down, and he pulls her a little tighter against him. She would almost mistake his soul to be peaceful if she didn't know him so well.

"You're always surprising me." Soul murmurs, the teen shutting her eyes as she brings an arm up to rest on his bare shoulder. She has the good grace to blush, but the feeling dissipates when her cheek presses against a small divot in his skin from his scar. Guilt flushes through her once more, and she feels a resolve settle in her heart.

"Soul," she says seriously, "I'm going to become stronger." He stays silent at her words, and she thinks if he speaks, she might lose her sudden confidence. "I won't let anything like this happen to you ever again. You can count on me." He chuckles under his breath, the teen feeling him peck her on the head. She can feel a blush work its way up on her cheeks, but she isn't embarrassed. She likes it.

"I know." He tells her smoothly. "It was our first time facing an enemy... like that." He seems to collect his thoughts, rubbing her back slightly. "You're already stronger, and we both can get there. Together." Maka smiles, her heart warming to degrees that shouldn't be possible. She snuggles into him more, her nose pressing against his neck.

He doesn't blame her, and he believes she can grow stronger.

"You're amazing." Maka says without thinking, wondering immediately afterwards why her voice is so... breathy. It's probably because of her pounding heart and thousand-degree cheeks (by the way, the hell is she reacting like this!? It's just Soul!).

"I know." He repeats, the teen giggling as she begins drifting off to sleep in the arms of her best friend.

Soul holds her close.

As soon as her breaths even out, and her heart stops pounding like a fricken freight train, he allows himself to run a hand through his hair.

Holy shit, that was too close.

He thought he was about to spill his entire life story to her- like, seriously! What was he thinking?

Oh right, he wasn't. As proven by the fact that he kissed her on the head! What has gotten into him?

Well, he knows the answer to that to: a tiny little, itty-bitty, teensy-weensy crush on his partner. A tiny little, itty-bitty, teensy-weensy crush that will go away before the end of the week.

Seriously, his feelings are getting in the way of him being cool. It's her fault anyway, what with her always caring about him and asking how he was doing or whatever. She's just so damn considerate and kind when it comes to dealing with him. Although, he could totally do without the Maka chops.

However, as he holds her in his arms, her soft puffs of air hitting his throat and her course hand burning his skin in the best way, he feels at peace. He wonders why they've never been this close before outside of combat, and now that he's here he doesn't ever want her to leave his arms. It's impossible now. She should've thought of the consequences before getting here.

He sighs to himself. But she wasn't thinking of the consequences. Even on that day when they faced Chrona, she was prepared to die instead of using him to defend herself. It was the reason that he threw himself in front of her, because she was about to do the very same thing. She puts so much pressure on herself to only ever protect him; she forgets about all those moments when she has put herself on the line to keep him safe. The one time he returns the favor is the time where she beats herself up.

"Idiot." He murmurs, shutting his eyes and burying his nose in her hair. She should realize that it's his job to protect her, not the other way around. Not in their world, at least. Weapons die for their mesiters... and that's that.

His nightmare just reflects the part of him he hates the most: the part of himself that he can't control. The part the tells him to flee into the madness and abandon what he knows is the most important thing. Maka.

So he picks his partner up bridal style and carries her off to her room. She was too nice to come out and comfort him like that, but she needs to get a good night's sleep for Stein's test tomorrow... a test he was going to flunk out on real hard.

But then he gets a great idea. A smile spreads across his lips as he slips out of her room, and he stalks back to his own. He grabs his yellow-black jacket and headband and his textbook. There is no way he's getting to sleep tonight, so he might as well get to writing down his cheat sheet!

He laughs into the night, thinking of his awesome partner and his awesome brain.

Maka glares at Soul.

"Maka... help me..."

"No, you cheater!"