Welcome to this lyric-fic that was inspired by macabremermaid making me playlists for my other fics.
"What the hell is this?"
There were never more dreadful words strung together, but the fact that Maka was shouting them as she was unceremoniously plopping onto his stomach while he was lying on the couch added a blistering wave of anxiety to them. As Soul realized it was in fact his laptop in her hands, the utter panic was compounded as his heart threatened to entirely spew from his chest.
Had he perhaps left a porn tab open?
Had she opened his email and saw how much money he actually spent on the new sound system that he bought for the living room?
Had she found the chat logs between him and Liz where she dogged him day in and day out about the uncomfortable reality of his feelings for his meister?
"Soul, seriously- KPop?"
I wish it was the porn, he cursed out at the universe.
"Because I go to YouTube to find a video on how to fix-"
"Why are you on my laptop though?" He finally managed to squeak, even though that was most definitely not even close to raging; it was just the poor, pathetic squeal of a man entirely metaphorically stripped.
"Mine needs to charge," she spat back as if that was a stupid question in the first place. "Going back to my point- I open it up and on the top of your playlists is this one: Mix0903. Which is filled with Korean boy bands." She leveled her eyes at him with the playful accusation. "Does that mean you have nine hundred and two other mixes of Korean pop music or are the others at least filled with the snooty music you've led us all to believe you actually like? I think Miles Davis would be rolling over in his grave-"
"Give me that!" Soul finally let some of his panic feed action rather than frozen fear as he sat up and grabbed for the laptop. Regardless of the implications, part of him wished for it to take a skyrocketing, crashing fall, shattering to bits just as his coolness had moments prior, but Maka had an iron grip on the machine. The only thing his movements earned him was Maka settling in his lap, leaning as far forward as she could manage with arms outstretched to keep the laptop from his grasp.
Yes, this position was in no way, shape, or form comfortable as her ass ground into his crotch, but at least Soul's body was more involved with the hysterics of her hitting play, of that stupid first song starting the emotional rollercoaster that he sat on at least once a week.
"BTS, Soul, seriously," Maka teased through twittering giggles. "Dimple? Do you know the dance for this? Please, please, tell me you do!"
"There's no dance," he groaned as he attempted to wrap an arm around her waist, hugging her closer so that his other hand could hopefully stretch far enough to the spacebar to at least stop the torture. Instead, he was left cursing Maka's flexibility, the tuck of her waist still leaving it out of his grasp.
"OK, OK, next!" Maka clicked a button. "Who's WOODZ?"
"You wouldn't know 'im," Soul grumbled.
"Ugh, even with K-Pop you're an insufferable hipster. You wouldn't know him, he's so underground," she added as she put on her best Soul impression.
He sucked his teeth as he heard the click again.
"OK, Shinee's a classic, Soul," Maka interrupted herself for laughter again. "But this one's a little creepy, isn't it? With all my body baby- I'll crash into you- So that I can feel- Every little thing with you."
Soul huffed.
Another click.
"VIXX?" Peels of laughter left her again. "Oh, and look at the collars, Soul! Are you serious? Is that going to be a new fashion look for you?"
As if I need more jokes from Black Star about bein' on a leash, Soul sighed.
Another click. "Worship U?"
This was spiraling out of control and Soul's only hope with the insufferable length of her reach was to let his head fall in defeat between her shoulder blades.
"If you think giving up already is going to save you from teasing…" Maka started but the words trailed off, overwhelmed by the song.
"I won't stop, never
Until the end of my life
Don't stop forever
Without wavering like this
Now don't worry, worry, worry
I will protect you-"
The line cut off quickly as Maka clicked again.
Soul's hand tensed around her wrist.
"BTS again." She was trying to laugh but it came out a little too breathy.
"Why is it so dark when you're not here
It's dangerous how wrecked I am
Save me because I can't get a grip on myself"
The arm around her waist pulled, and Maka allowed her back to curl into his chest, the laptop now well within his reach. He moved his head to hover just over her shoulder, eyes on the screen. Instead of grasping for it, his hands were busy on her skin, trying to hold her as much as he was holding the words he'd listened to a million times.
Another click.
"Even though I like you, nobody knows
Even when I see other girls, nobody's like you
I'm sorry for having no courage
You can laugh at me all you want
I'm a loser who loves you
Yes, I'm a misery
To you, I'm a nuisance, I'm an outsider
But in this world, I only need you"
"Don't know why you'd listen to that," Maka murmured. "You're such a cool guy, right?"
Soul couldn't help but feel the sting of it, even if her voice was warbly and barely above a breath.
Another click.
"I won't ever let you go again
I'll hold you, we'll be together forever
I'll cover your beautiful eyes so you won't go anywhere
I'll trap you inside of me"
Say it, Soul wanted to spit out the venom from between his teeth. It's possessive. It's awful. It's too much. That's what it feels like sometimes. Too much. It's selfish.
Instead, in the silence that came with the song cutting off, he got one more click.
"It's the last one."
"After that," he barely squeezed out the words as he pressed his face into her hair, "you gonna leave me alone?"
"If a shadow covers your light
I can't see
I get confused again
It's not like me
But you still smile for me
It's you
Will I be able to protect you?
I'm afraid"
"That was…" Maka forced a long, slow breath. "Soul, it wasn't your nine-hundred-and-third playlist, was it?"
He let out a weak laugh as he started to loosen his hold on her, his hand trying to slip away.
"September third." Maka grabbed his hand on retreat, tangling his fingers with hers. "The day we met, right?"
"Yeah," he muttered.
"And I- I actually have a dimple?"
Soul cleared his throat. "Sorta."
"Sorta," Maka echoed. Suddenly her fingers were clacking on the keyboard, hitting the enter with extra vigor. "I don't have a list, but listen."
"How much time
are you gonna spend worrying? question
I'm preparing to go to war
with the things that bother you, yes sir
My mood changes according to yours
I get so mad when I see you sad
Like a wave crashing on sand, erase it all
Your worries are no more, now only happy days are left"
Maka pushed the laptop forward and out of her hands, the song still trickling along to the chorus as she turned her head over her shoulder. "So, are you going to look at me?"
Soul leaned, letting his eyes meet hers with a searching stare.
"You always protect me." She shook her head softly, tossing his ridiculous worry aside. "And I doubt GOT7 had the kind of protection you offer in mind when they wrote that song." Maka tapped her knuckle below his shoulder where his shirt hid that blaring white scar. "You shouldn't listen to some playlist of boy bands mourning how they can't have the girl they love or they're afraid about treating her right when you do." Green eyes hit his, a plea from them, her soul, and her mouth hitting him in the face, "Tell me you do."
"That I…?"
"Stop worrying, and tell me," Maka murmured, saturated in her own fears even as she was asking him to throw away his.
"It's not just…" He sighed as he flexed his fingers in hers. "It's not just because we're meister and weapon, Maka, it's not-"
"I know," she pressed. "Can you just channel their energy for just one second and be cute and romantic?"
Soul's eyebrows shot up. "But, I-"
"Am bad at this," Maka sighed. "Fine. Soul Evans, if you can't put it into words can you at least-?"
He quickly pressed his lips to her cheek, derailing the rest of her thought entirely. Before his lips had even disengaged, Soul was squeezing his eyes shut, ready for the standard Maka-chop to clobber him into next week. When it didn't come, he knocked his forehead against her shoulder, turning his face to rest it against the warmth of her neck.
Maka reached up awkwardly to run her fingers over his hair, letting out a sweet sigh in the process. "That'll work." She giggled to herself as she reached for the laptop again. "But I want a new playlist. It's better when we make music together, right?"