He wakes up with a banging headache. She wakes up shortly after, as morning floods unwanted sunlight in the window. A second ticks by, and it dawns on him that he's currently spooning Maka, for lack of a better word.
He briefly considers his options, and realises that they're limited to two things: he can either make a fuss and move away from her, probably waking her up… or, he can pretend to be asleep. As tempting as the second option is, and it's very tempting considering how comfortable he is – he settles on the first.
"Maka," he coughs, rolling onto his back.
She groans. "What?"
"You're awake?"
"Yes," she replies tersely. "I'm tired," she states simply. She rolls over and grabs his hand; pulls it back over his waist. She's too skinny, he worries as he feels her hipbones jutting out to the side.
They'd need to find something to eat, first thing.
Well, second thing, perhaps.
"Okay," he says pliantly, letting himself be essentially curled back over Maka without any further complaint.
"What's the plan today, then?" Patty asks once all parties are officially up and out of their respective beds. "I don't know about you guys, but I slept soooo good." She stretches up and a big yawn reveals her tongue for a few seconds, illustrating her point.
Soul coughs. "Me, uh. Too," he scratches his head, feeling the eyes of two of the three women boring holes through his skull. He shakes it off. "So, uh. I was gonna say we should stay here for a few more nights, but I think considering yesterday – we should get transport out of here as soon as possible."
Maka pulls a small folded piece of paper from her pocket and unfurls it into a large map. "Look what I found!" she exclaims. She lays it out at everyone's feet for them to see and jabs a finger at a random location in the Nevada black rock desert. "And if I'm not mistaken, right here is where we can find some hot springs to wash off and chill out before we head to the colony."
"Oh, you're a queen. I haven't cleaned myself in ages." Liz runs her hands through her greasy hair to demonstrate her point. "But… are we going to have enough gas to get us there and to the academy? You gotta figure that there's probably not gonna be any way we can re-fuel or re-vehicle in the middle of the damn desert," she points out.
Maka does some mental gymnastics as she tries to work out the average fuel consumption rate per mile crossed with the average fuel-holding capacity of a truck.
Soul cuts her off. "I think so."
"We really gotta be more than just 'I think so' sure, don't you think?" Liz puts a hand on one bony hip.
Soul shrugs, and looks at Maka. "What do you think?"
Maka bites her lip. "I… I think we'll be alright. And I think we should take a backup vehicle. Just in case we break down – I really don't need to be stuck in the blistering desert without any way of getting anywhere."
"Good idea!" Patty giggles. "Maka, you're good at this."
She grimaces. Maka knows she's good at planning and strategy. What she's not good at is feeling like she's responsible for other people's lives.
She's on edge the entire drive to the hot springs, that much is clear to Soul. At first, he'd assumed that it was being on the back of his motorcycle, but then he'd remembered how much she'd enjoyed it the first time.
He briefly wonders if it's because of the conversation that they'd had while he'd been drunk in the hotel.
He shakes that idea off quickly.
Worrying about the past wasn't cool, he tells himself. And he was nothing if not infinitely cool.
"You all good back there?" he calls for what seems like the fourteenth time.
She calls back with a quick 'yep' and Soul keeps on driving, not missing a beat.
He wasn't entirely sure how long this motorbike would hold out, but he already misses his orange Buell. This one's a red standard Yamaha they picked up back in Reno. It would have been fine, but the steering kept awkwardly locking up.
If he was taking this to the academy, he figured that he'd have to make some adjustments.
He's used to driving a motorbike, so he lets his mind wander freely for a couple of miles as Liz follows him a little too closely in the black Jeep.
He thinks about the academy.
He wonders what will have changed since the last time he was there; how different the people will be. Who will be gone, and who will be new?
He thinks of the last time he'd seen most of them, and shudders.
Would they even have him back?
He briefly wonders how possible it would be to simply drop Maka, Liz and Patty at the front gates and do a runner.
For at least a mile or two, he entertains himself with a vague sort of idea – how he would go about getting the girls safely to the academy without actually having to physically interact with anybody from the old days.
He even comes up with a semi-lucid plan of action.
"Turn off here, Soul!" he hears Maka chant from behind him.
He chuckles inwardly. The girl was an excellent navigator, that much had to be said.
He focuses for a fleeting second on the feeling of Maka's arms wrapped around his waist, leaning into him for support and gripping just a little tighter around every bend.
And then a sigh escapes him, because he knows that for all his plans, he's not going to leave her side now.
"Quit splashing me!" Patty growls at her sister, splaying out hands to return the favour and consequently soaking her sister with steaming water from the spring.
Liz throws back her head and cackles, responding by shooting even more water at her sister in a big wave gesture. "No! You did it first, anyway!"
Patty crosses her arm across her chest and sulks – a comical scene, as water plasters her hair to her scalp and drips down her pouting face. "My hair is ruined."
"So is mine!"
Soul sniggers, watching them out of the corner of his eye from the other end of the spring. He is submerged until his top lip, just about allowing him space to breathe while still having most of his aching muscles soothed by the warm water.
Out of the other corner of his eyes, he can see Maka. She's sitting at the edge of the spring, only her toes dipped in, reading her book.
"Maka," he raises his mouth from the water for just long enough to call. "Are you coming in?"
She glances up at him and then shakes her head. "Nope." Her eyes flicker back to the pages of her novel and Soul lets out an exasperated sigh.
He floats over to where she's perched and drags himself out of the spring, sitting on the marshy bank next to his sulking companion. "Is everything okay?"
Her eyes flicker up from her book again and she snaps it shut, irritated. "Yes. Quit asking."
"You don't seem okay…"
"I don't want to swim, Soul!" she snaps. "I don't know if the water here is… is…"
"It's fine, Maka," he furrows his brows. "It's hot enough to kill any bacteria or virus. Seriously, this is probably the cleanest water we're going to find around, except for maybe a running stream," he narrows his eyes. "But you know that, don't you?"
She scowls, looking very intently at a spot that isn't his burning eyes. "I don't… I don't want to undress," she murmurs, an embarrassed, scowling blush spreading through her pretty features.
To his credit, Soul doesn't laugh. "So, don't," he says, shrugging. "I'm still wearing my shorts," he points out. "Just because Liz and Patty wanted to get naked, doesn't mean you gotta."
"You should join us, Maka!" Liz waves over from the other side of the spring. She can't hear their conversation, presumably.
Maka shifts uncomfortably. "Should I?"
"If you want," Soul shrugs. "It's nice."
She sighs, placing her book to the side of her and slowly lowering herself into the spring with a hiss. Her arm stings a little upon entry, but it's not too bad. The warmth spreads quickly through her body and she can't help herself; a contented sigh escapes her lips before she can reign it in.
Soul watches her with wide eyes. "Feel better?"
"Oh, God, yes," she practically moans. "Jesus, why didn't you tell me it was this good?!" she demands as the water rises to her waist level.
Soul doesn't reply, simply sending her an amused look with his eyes. She lowers herself to the neck and feels her feet hit the ground beneath.
"Yay!" Liz cries out. "You did it!" she cheers, as Patty claps and whoops. "Isn't it orgasmic?"
"Wouldn't go that far…" Maka mumbles, still not over the worst of the embarrassment. She moves around and suddenly, her footing slips on the mossy bank of the floor, and she splashes forward.
Against his better instincts, Soul's arms reach out to her waist to steady her. They linger there a little while after she's found her footing, and she finds herself drawn into his eyes as his hands stay around her.
"Er, sorry," she breaks eye contact first. "Gotta be more careful, I guess."
Soul removes his hands and coughs. "You realise I've seen you in various states of undress before, right?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but…" she trails off, her eyes landing somewhere near the girls who are still messing around with the water. "Not around the girls."
"So…?" Soul shrugs. "I don't get it."
"You wouldn't." she murmurs, quieter now. "I'm… too skinny."
Soul scoffs, "Who among us isn't too skinny? Every one of the four of us is probably severely malnourished." He makes a face. "I look like Jack Skellington these days."
"Yeah, well, I look like the Corpse Bride!"
"Alright, spooky-pants, you win," he shrugs. "Not sure why you care, anyway."
Maka doesn't know how to respond. "Neither do I, really. Guess some things really stick."
"Like the gross way that guys used to expect girls to look?"
Maka gives him a playful shove. "Don't act like you weren't guilty of that!" she grins. "You men and your damn pornography. Giving us girls an unrealistic body image to try to attain, and then making us feel like we're inadequate when we don't look that way…"
Soul rolls his eyes. "Someone's got a chip on their shoulder."
She blinks, surprised. "I do not!"
He reaches his hands down to the water, cupping them together and collecting a small handful of the water before reaching back up and dumping it out unceremoniously over her head. Throughout the gesture, he doesn't say a word but Maka finds herself laughing at his completely laconic demeanour.
She splashes him back with a hard laugh and he flinches away. "Hmm, you afraid of a little water are ya, Shark-boy?"
"Shark boy?" he questions, raising a brow.
"You called me spooky-pants earlier!"
He nods in understanding, realising that she's talking about his spiky teeth. His hand instinctively flies to his face to cover them, but not before he flashes her a big, spiky grin.
"Oi, you two!" Liz calls from the other end of the pool. "Patty and I are going to explore a little bit. Alright with you?" she asks.
Maka nods distractedly as the two girls haul themselves out of the pool and shove their clothes back on, just out of sight. "Huh," she says, turning her attention back to Soul. "Wonder why they're disappearing off?"
Soul grimaces, a vague and hazy recollection of his conversation with Liz last night coming back to haunt him. "No idea," he lies, drawling. He reaches his arms above his head and stretches upwards, a big yawn escaping him. Maka has to restrain herself from immaturely poking her finger inside his mouth and instead accidentally finds herself gawping at his chest.
"Quit creeping on me, spooky-pants," he says at the end of his yawn, a tired and teasing smile appearing on his face.
"I wasn't!" she spouts indignantly, splashing him in the face again by way of a rebuttal.
He makes her jump suddenly as he splashes down so he's entirely submerged in the water.
He transforms partially, so that just a single one of his black and white blades pokes out from the surface, not unlike a shark's dorsal fin. Underwater, he swims in loose circles around her, pretending to be a shark.
She rolls her eyes even though he can't see her face, extending a leg out to kick him underwater. He surprises her, grabbing her leg and wrapping his arms and legs around it, pretending to capture her. She's splashing around in the water now, laughing hard, as she struggles against his joking shark impression. Luckily, the water's not deep enough for her to actually lose her footing for real and after a few seconds, Soul comes up for air with a big breath and shakes his wet hair out like a shaggy dog.
"You asshole!" Maka giggles, leaping from the rocky floor of the spring and launching herself at him front-first.
His first instinct is to reach his arms out and catch her.
Needless to say, they're both a little surprised when the whole exercise somehow ends in Maka's legs wrapped around Soul's waist as he holds her up by her thighs.
"Uh…" she murmurs, her face flushing just centimetres away from his.
"Well, what were you trying to do?"
"I don't know!" she protests, groaning and leaning her head back. "To get you underwater, I guess."
Soul grins, smug. "I win."
"Oh, do you count that as a win?" she teases him.
"What, a hot chick throwing herself at me?" he barks a laugh, cool as ever. "Yes, I count that as a win."
Maka's insides burn at that last comment, and in the second of silence that follows his retort, they seem to realise at the same time how compromising this position is for both parties.
That doesn't mean that they move, though.
Soul's eyes take on that half-lidded quality that they do often did, again, and Maka's face burns red as his gaze drops to her mouth. He's staring so intently at it, that Maka absently wonders if she's got food around her mouth or something.
Instead of snapping to her senses, like a good girl, she finds herself moving her legs so that they're wrapped even tighter round his waist as her hands busy themselves twiddling a wisp of his hair.
She's waiting for him to kiss her, she realises, as she dips her head down to nuzzle against the side of his neck. Is she crossing a line, she wonders?
"Maka," he states simply, still not managing to tear his eyes away from her lips.
"Yes?" she mutters, moving her head back to face him, curious.
He doesn't say anything, just leans forward into her.
She feels her blood coarsing through her body; bursting into liquid fire before she feels the physical sensation of his lips on hers. It's a little clumsy at first, but oh so sweet, she thinks, as he fingers the nape of her neck. He's leading her through it, but she's strangely nervous so she's grateful for that.
They stay still, kissing gently like that until Maka realises with a jolt that it's been about a minute since she came up for air. She breaks apart from him and inhales quickly, almost like a gasp.
There's a tentative silence, which Soul breaks first. "Ah, sorry," he says tersely, removing one hand from her waist to tangle into his own hair. He thinks for a second or two, and then settles on saying 'sorry' again.
Maka laughs. "Why are you sorry, idiot?"
He sends her a wary look, his eyes flashing a little darker than before. "I didn't know if you wanted that."
"How's this for confirmation?" she asks, before grabbing the back of his neck with a new violence, not sure if she's irritated or very pleased with herself. It didn't really matter, she thinks, as she elicits a sharp intake of breath from Soul.
He lets her control it, this time. She can feel the heat coming from his body; it's hotter than the water around them. The scent of him rises with it, intoxicating her. She's never kissed like this before.
She wonders, briefly, if it feels the same to him as it does to her.
Then, she bites him lightly on the bottom lip – drawing a groan out of him – and she doesn't have to wonder anymore.
Their bodies must be so tightly wound together, all legs and arms and lips wrapped around each other. Maybe that's why she feels so giddy – because he's cutting off the oxygen supply to her brain with that hand – that hand - on her neck.
She's just getting used to the sensation of his lips when he decides that she's too low down for his liking and hikes her up a little higher on his body; matches their hips to a symmetrical height.
She shudders violently in pleasure, and it must be palpable because Soul pulls away from her lips to ask her if she's okay.
Her brain has to come up with something on the fly to explain what just happened to her body, and she inadvertently blurts out: "I'm cold!"
He blinks at her as if she's just grown a third ear. "…we're in a hot spring…"
"I know that, idiot. I just, ah…" she scrambles to think of something, now mortified of her own body's betrayal. "I'm just worried that the girls' are going to come bustling around the corner," she admits, half-truthfully.
Soul's eyes begrudgingly move from her face to the other end of the spring and he sighs. "Yeah, I guess. This might be kind of weird to explain."
He lets go of her waist and she floats a little backwards on the water. Something angry and frustrated coarses violently through his blood; just for a second, but then it passes, and he leans back and enjoys the water flowing through and around his legs once again.
