Maka awoke with an audible groan, first registering the lack of her weapon's familiar soul wavelength in the room before anything else. Whether she was disappointed or grateful of his absence was difficult to determine in her hazy mindstate.
Soul had been fussing over her for the past day, and while his concern for her comfort was endearing - his mother hen routine got old fast.
His over-attentive behavior was at least understandable. He had little to do cooped up in their hotel room, and ended up alternating between watching cooking shows at a considerately low volume, pacing around what little square footage they had, and laying in his bed beside hers tapping out the rhythm to whatever was blaring from his headphones. He was sure to pester her about how she was feeling at least every 20 minutes and his restlessness had been grinding on her last nerve before she fell into a fitful sleep.
If she had to hear "you okay?" or "need anything?" one more time, she was liable to snap and throw the closest object to her directly at his dumb, fluffy head. Not that he actually deserved it.
If she were being honest with herself, she was mostly frustrated with the situation itself - not Soul.
Well, maybe she was a little frustrated with Soul.
He may have been outwardly kind towards her in her predicament, but she could feel something else beneath the surface of that. She was well-versed in the subtle language of Soul's facial expressions after all.
He was dying to tease her, and while she commended him for keeping his mouth blessedly shut about the humor in her suffering - she knew it amused him at least a little bit.
Because despite the fact that they had been sent to the bustling beach-side city of Recife, Brazil to take down a particularly cunning and repulsive kishin - she was not stuck in bed over any kind of work-related injury inflicted during their battle with the corrupted beast.
There was no glory or dignity that could be gained from the current state of her weakness. She had not received her injuries from a tense and thrilling battle, but instead from being negligent in her application of sunscreen before falling asleep splayed out on a beach towel under the unforgiving afternoon sun.
Soul had even recommended that she apply sunscreen a second time for her "hella pasty" skin and she responded to his comment in kind by throwing the sunscreen bottle at him with impressive accuracy and force.
Now she was bedridden with what was likely sun poisoning and had a complexion comparable to a hot dog.
Perhaps she should have taken Soul's advice after all.
She also may have reached her last straw with Soul's smothering behavior earlier and said something along the lines of "please get the hell out of here and give me at least an hour of peace," before taking her rather unsatisfying nap.
That certainly explained his absence.
She let out a heavy sigh before deciding she would deal with the pain of moving so that she could re-apply aloe vera for the twentieth time that day. Only this was the first time she would be doing it without Soul's assistance.
It was difficult to reach most areas of her back without him. She was certainly flexible enough to do it on her own, but the pain that came with stretching her arms was something she would prefer to avoid experiencing if possible.
She started on lathering her arms and chest area first, grounding herself in the way it stung yet soothed at the same time.
She only got through a small portion of her back before the combination of fatigue, nausea, and pain convinced her to give it a rest.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just figure out where Soul was. She didn't need him or anything. She was just checking in - making sure he didn't get himself into any trouble while she was asleep.
She made an awkward hobble across the room to retrieve her phone, careful to avoid bending her scorched appendages on the way there.
It only took a ring and a half for Soul to pick up her call, and she cursed herself for the way her entire body relaxed a little at the sound of his voice.
"Hey. Everything alright?"
He had that pleasant gravelly quality to his voice that usually indicated he either just woke up or he had a few drinks.
"I'm fine, Soul. I just woke up, actually. What have you been up to?" she'd tried to sound casual, but the hitch in her voice when she tried to lower herself back on to the bed betrayed her. The soft cotton sheets felt like they may as well have been a brillo pad against her sensitive flesh.
"Just givin' you space like you asked. Found a neat little place to drink just down the road from us. To be honest with you, I think it might be a swinger bar or somethin' - everyone here is middle aged and horny as hell."
Maka felt a twinge of irritation at that last comment. Was he really off flirting with a bunch of Brazillian cougars while she was stuck in bed?
"S'not like I'm interested, but they keep buyin' me drinks anyway. I don't speak very good Portuguese and they seem to think that's pretty sexy of me," he added with a throaty chuckle that raised goosebumps across her skin.
"Why don't you just stay there all night then! I could care less what you do!"
She felt a bit childish for her outburst, but blamed it on Soul's innate ability to push every last button she has in very few words.
"If you don't care, then why'd ya call me in the first place?" She could just tell that his lip was curling into a smirk by his voice alone. Oh, he is so lucky he's not in book-throwing distance.
"Just wanted to make sure you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere," she murmured with only a little bit of edge left in her.
"Oh yeah? That all?"
"... Also, I guess you can come back to the hotel room."
"Sorry? Can you speak up a little?"
"I said you can come back to the hotel room! Don't make me say it again or you can sleep on the streets!"
He responded with an amused snort, "Oh, that's very gracious of you. What a loving and benevolent meister I have."
"Yeah, whatever. Don't fall in a ditch on your way here."
"Love ya too, Maka. Be there in a few."
With that the phone call cut off, and she was left staring at the ceiling and feeling an overwhelming warmth in her face.
She decided to blame that on the sunburn rather than her weapon's comment.
It only took about 20 minutes before she heard the click of the hotel door as it swung open, her partner poking his head in first and flashing her a shark-toothed smile before he kicked the door open the rest of the way. He was carrying an entire pack of drinks under his arm and a plastic CVS bag in the other.
"Stopped by CVS round the corner. Dunno if you'll like 'em, but I got these weird electrolyte drinks. S'posed to help hydrate you better or something," he said as he plopped down at the end of the bed, emptying the contents of the plastic bag.
"Also got you some ibuprofen, more aloe, and a couple snack things. I know you said you weren't hungry, but you should really try and eat at least a little bit."
Maka only nodded, slightly overwhelmed by how caring he was being despite her recently sour attitude.
He tilted his head to the side for a moment, regarding her with gentle eyes before he got up and sat closer to her on the bed, being especially careful not to let his legs touch hers.
He slowly placed the back of his hand against her forehead muttering something about a fever, but she was too focused on his close proximity to her to even register what he was saying. He smelled of beer and limes and sunscreen.
His skin was a perfect bronze color, and he was showing off a lot more of it than he usually did. He was clad only in swim trunks, slider sandals, and a loose-hanging tank top that the top of his scar peeked out of.
He had been out in the sun just as long as she had, napping right beside her even, and yet his skin only tanned; never burned. The lucky bastard.
He used the same hand he'd checked her forehead with to brush back a few stray hairs from her face. "Sleep okay?" he asked in a hushed tone, as if he were worried his voice would bother her.
"I slept okay, I guess. Not much else I can do right now anyways."
He nodded and gave a sympathetic click of his tongue, running his hand through her hair a few times before reaching for the aloe on the nightstand.
"Need me to get your back?"
She ignored his question, opting to rub the short-cropped silver whiskers covering his jaw with her palm.
"You need to shave."
He rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated huff, squeezing the tube of aloe into his palms and rubbing them together.
"I'll just take that as a yes and pretend you think I'm roguishly handsome."
That earned him a laugh from her that clipped short when he placed his hands softly on her back. It only hurt for the first brief moment of contact, but she soon hummed her approval as the stinging sensation in her back felt dulled and soothed wherever his hands caressed her.
He was talented with his hands - knew just the right amount of pressure to give and take at each moment. She really had needed this. Trying to reach that spot between her shoulder blades on her own had been a nightmare.
Minutes passed with only the sounds of their breath and Soul's practiced hands over her skin. It should have been awkward, but it wasn't. Everything was just easy with him.
"Hey, Soul?"
He acknowledged her with a noncommittal grunt.
"Thank you. I know I haven't exactly been pleasant lately, but I really do appreciate all of your help."
She wanted to say more, it felt as though she hadn't really expressed to him how much he means to her, but Soul wasn't one for flowery words and declarations of love. She knew that was enough of a thanks for him.
"You don't gotta thank me for all that, Maka. We're partners, this is what we do for each other."
"Right," she whispered, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"All done," he announced, "you gonna hang tight and read for a bit?"
"No - I'd like to, but I just feel too tired and nauseous to focus on anything like that right now. Maybe I'll just try to take another nap."
Without a word, he sauntered over to the book she had brought - a period-piece romance novel that he would make fun of at the first given opportunity. After it was in his grasp, he collapsed on his back right next to her. He really did kind of reek of beer, but she didn't have the heart to push him away.
Once he found her bookmarked spot, he started from the top of the page with a hardy clear of his throat, reading the lead male love interest's lines in the most posh and ridiculous accent she could have imagined.
She immediately burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles and snorts, which only encouraged him to continue, smiling from ear to ear as he did.
She nearly ran out of breath when he began reading the female heroine's dialogue in a shrill voice that sounded more like an old British nanny than a pretty young woman.
He continued this entertainment for an admirable hour and a half before he had to admit that his vocal cords were defeated from the strain of 'fancy British lady voice.'
By the time he had put the book aside, she had a hand curled around his bicep and her face was buried in his neck.
He'd said he was watching TV, but he fell asleep within 10 minutes of setting her book down much like an old man.
Her skin felt dry and tight, a feeling she was easily able to ignore while Soul was reading for her. She was aware that she'd need to get up soon to re-apply aloe, or she'd regret it later. Yet, it was so difficult to move away from him.
He was breathing deeply, and he smelled less like a bar and more like a beach the closer she was to him. He always looked so peaceful when he slept too. He looked young, like he didn't carry the exhaustion that he usually does.
Despite the calm, collected demeanor he always tried to hold around others - he carried a lot of weight on his shoulders from pretending to be the person that other people need him to be. From taking the load off other people's backs, he only strained himself and she felt this tiredness from it all that seeped into the very cracks of his soul.
She wished he didn't have to try so hard all the time. She wished he could let himself be taken care of for once.
"I know you told me before that I don't need to thank you. That the things you do for me are what I should expect from a partner, but you really are more than that to me, Soul," she'd only whispered this into the crook of his neck, but she lifted her head up just to check that he was still unconscious.
He appeared serene, his breathing steady and not a crinkle in his face to indicate her words had disturbed him from his slumber.
"You can always depend on me too. I'd love to take care of you the way you take care of me. You deserve that - you know that, right?"
Not even a twitch.
She sighed, not expecting him to respond in the first place, but a little disappointed she hadn't had the courage to tell him this while he was awake. She assumed it safe that he was in a deep sleep and began threading her fingers through his thick tufts of hair sticking up from his forehead.
"I know that when you say you love me, you're talking about as a partner, as a friend. Well, I love you too. I love you a lot, Soul. I'm always afraid to say it back ... because it would carry a different weight when I say it. It's like I'm afraid you'd just know."
His breath hitched for a moment and her heart nearly jumped into her throat.
He only readjusted slightly, pressing his cheek against the top of her head and making a small sound akin to a whimper before his breathing evened out again.
She let out the shaky breath she had been holding and turned her head ever so slightly to press a soft kiss to his throat, where she could feel the warmth of his pulse.
"I hope we stay partners for a really long time."