TW: description of violent death (burning), implied racism
"I've been thinking…" Maka kicked her feet over the edge of the dock, trying to take in the night air instead of the copper scent of blood that was waving off of Blake.
"That's too easy of a setup," he snorted.
"Be mature for two seconds," she snapped as she leaned her head back to tap at Blake's knees. She'd been ticking away the better part of an hour waiting for him to finish with the last of his butchering as the final rays of the sun left fuzzy halos around the trees.
Blake nudged her tailbone with his foot. "Then call mophead over here- he's the grown one."
"I gave him the night off," Maka sighed.
A bark of a laugh echoed off across the water, scaring some waterfowl to the right as Blake grabbed at his splitting gut. "Fuck, it's like we're on shifts or somethin'. Boss Albarn, crackin' the whip while-"
"Cut it out!" She headbutted his legs again, this time forcing his retreat. Blake settled down next to her instead, rubbing at his sore knees while he flashed her a frown. "I'm serious, Blake, I can't always ask him to do these things for me."
"Why not? And what makes it OK to keep askin' me then?" He nudged her with an elbow but it lost its playfulness as he watched her wither. "What? He say somethin' about it?"
"No," Maka mumbled.
"So?" Blake pressed.
"So," she spat before running fingers that tried to exude calm through her hair. "He said we were even; I take care of Reggie and that makes it fine, but…"
"Quit fussin' and spit it out," Blake grunted before leaning back on his palms to keep from jostling her again. He stared at the back of the blonde head as it shook.
Maka's eyes focused on the water to keep him from seeing too much. "He's frustrating!" She let the words explode, rattling any of the wildlife left just as much as they shook her heart. "He needs more than that and he just won't ask!"
"Soul ain't the type to ask a girl to dance," Blake grumbled out of the side of his mouth.
Her head flicked back over her shoulder, trying to melt him with a severe glare but only finding it strengthening his smirk. "I don't even think I'm that to him- he won't even call me by my name."
"For a smart girl, you sure are thick-headed," Blake sighed. "Come on, Maka, what's your guess?"
"About the name thing?" she muttered back exasperatedly, getting the same wave of emotion right back from Blake as he nodded boredly. "Just… maybe he's doing it to piss me off?"
Blake made his famous buzzer sound- the one that grated down Maka's spine.
"I'm just some girl-"
Another blare from Blake's mouth cut her off.
Maka spun back to the water, threatening to explode again as her fists wrinkled the fabric of her shorts. "It's like a door."
Blake waited but when she left it at that he complained, "Here you go with your big book talk."
"Just- whatever we are is on the other side of it." Maka waved her hand out across the water as if the boundary would appear and become clear to both of them. "If he keeps calling me Ms. Albarn, he can keep me from whatever's on the other side of that door- whatever dark room he's keeping."
He started to chuckle, tilting his head back so it thundered into the air. "That's way too fucking complicated. Too fancy. Just say it, Maka. You like him. You think he likes you, but-"
She stopped anymore from him with a hiss, "It's complicated."
"Ain't that the understatement of the year." Blake rolled his leg to the side, letting his knee knock into the meat of her thigh. "So what are we doin' tonight?"
"Grandma Asuka." Maka paused to spin the ring on her finger. "Suzume said to find her next. The only thing Liz and Patty could tell me was that she was murdered out on the swamp. Exact location unknown so… I don't know how long I'll be walking or where."
"Give me the tough job." If that was prideful or complaining she couldn't decide, and when she looked at his smile it divulged neither, just an interested tilt to his head. "Hey- you ever think you'll be able to do it without the walkin'?"
The reply was awkward on her tongue but there was no other reality she could produce, "Mama always walked."
"But she didn't know anything, right?" Blake turned discerning eyes back out towards the water, studying it for the answer. "You think Grandma and Great Grandma had to?"
"I-" Maka's confused blinks turned his face into little snapshots as his grin grew. "I guess not. Maybe not. I'll ask." Now it was pride shining on his face, that insufferable kind that had somehow always burrowed into her heart. "Thanks, Blake."
"Yeah, no problem." He shrugged off the gratitude as easily as he popped to his feet. "Come on, I'll tuck you in," he snickered as he reached a hand down to her.
"Asshole." She slapped his hand away but was still smiling as she got to her feet.
Nerves. Soul hadn't exactly experienced them like this since his last piano recital, and that date was fuzzily in the past so the pinpricks in the pit of his stomach were alien to him. It didn't help that Wes was eyeing him across the living room, catching Soul in the act of only half-listening as Reggie sat in his lap reading one of the thirteen bedtime stories they had to get through before tucking in. His phone buzzed in his pocket and all those synapses fired, sending electricity through his spine.
Blake's name flashed as he retrieved the phone. [walking past ur house come out n play]
[*walking* or walking?]
[*walking*]
Soul's eyes flicked from the screen to the page in front of him and Reggie settled in his lap. Somehow, the little boy was heavy as a rock and his legs withered at the idea of standing. "Reggie…"
The sweet trill of the tiny voice paused. "Yes, Uncle?"
"I-" Soul tried to swallow it, to crumple it to nothing as he stared at the red eyes blinking up at him inquisitively.
"Reginald," Wes chimed as he abandoned his papers to the side. "Come here and read to me instead."
Reggie's surprised face flew in Wes's direction. "Really, Papa?"
"Yes, come on." Wes barely got the motion of his hand out before Reggie was leaping from Soul's lap and bounding across the living room floor. "Slow down, slow down," he chuckled as Reggie instantly heeded orders and took the last two steps in controlled, long strides. As Reggie settled, Soul stood slowly, that worry still cluttering his head and cementing his feet.
"Where are you going?" Reggie suddenly piped. Even though Wes was trying to open the book, those little eyes were focused only on Soul.
"Uh," Soul started but found nothing left after the sound.
"Your uncle has somewhere to be," Wes explained to his son as he offered Soul a Cheshire grin.
"Where?" Reggie flipped his head between his father and his uncle, black hair bouncing.
Thanks, Reggie, like I never leave the house, Soul almost produced a huff but the heat crept up his neck instead until his ears were pink.
"If you're going to see Ms. Albarn, I want to go!" Reggie was suddenly trying to wriggle free but Wes had a solid hold on him.
"It is very close to your bedtime," Wes insisted.
"But-"
"Reginald." Soul balked as he watched Wes catch Reggie's chin, turning the tiny face to him. "Your uncle needs some time to himself. Please allow him that."
Do I? While those nerves still tingled away his mind started to settle. Yeah, I do. I want to read with him, but he's with his father. That's… alright, isn't it? I can see her- Blake- If I want. "I'll be back later."
"Take your time." Wes waved him off easily even though Reggie still tried to hold him in a stubborn stare.
Soul shoved his phone back into his pocket as he shuffled quickly to the door. Somewhere he could hear his mother's voice echoing since this was the time of night for half-screaming at his father. The door offered freedom and he pounced on it. With his sleeves rolled up, the night air brought a hint of goosebumps to his forearms, forcing him to stuff his hands in his pockets in hopes of chasing them off. He hurried his steps, starting around the side of the house to catch Blake sauntering in the distance. "Blake!"
The other man didn't bother to turn, just throwing a hand up over his shoulder.
Soul picked up the pace, jogging until he was in step with him at the fence. "Where's she goin' this time?" He didn't bother to pause at the barrier, hefting over just before Blake. He could hear Maka's eerily haunting song from up ahead and watched as the wind whipped at the edge of her shorts.
"Dunno. Supposed to be grandma tonight, but it looks like we're headed back to the church. Heard you two had an interestin' meetin' there." There was still something wolfish about Blake's grin, leaving Soul to wonder if he'd been taking lessons from Wes.
"Jus' Ms. Albarn gettin' into trouble," Soul chuckled.
"When you gonna cut that out?" Blake suddenly spat at him, the smirk turning sour on his face.
Soul's eyebrows shimmied upwards before he tried to make his shoulders roll in an easy motion but found them still tightly wound. "Jus' is what it is, Blake."
He only sucked his teeth in reply.
"What?"
"Nothin','' Blake muttered, "you jus' got a door or whatever." Soul's brow furrowed but earned nothing more from Blake as he came to a halt. "I hate repeatin' myself but- holy shit."
Originally when Soul glanced over the field, it was nothing more than the breeze giving life to the grass, making it sway and flutter in the shadowy, weak moonlight. As his eyes narrowed, the realization hit him that it was tiny beaked mouths ticking from side to side, watching with one eye and then the other as Maka stood at the edge of the massive flock. Wings flapped frantically and suddenly the darkness was alive around them, the night air cut again and again by swooping avian bodies. They spun a hurricane around Maka, obscuring most of her from view as the singing started to build to a roar. Even though there seemed to be no room for another decibel, that unmistakenly familiar scream pierced Soul over all the rest.
The field was alive with people generating an uneasy hum. They drifted over the church lawn, obscuring anything from Maka's view but the fidgeting of backs. "Brothers and sisters," a clear, solid call resounded and parted the flock like Moses at the Red Sea. The divide lit up with torchlight, allowing Maka to take in a sight that left her mind disjointed. It was as if a beaver dam had been left in the middle of the field, kindling of all sizes strewn haphazardly around a decaying, desolate tree. There was no foliage but the branches were dotted with hundreds of twittering sparrows, wings stationary but mouths parting for sharp snippets of song.
"We've come to an impasse," the same voice pounded through the clearing again. Maka searched for the source, finding a severe-looking man whose hair had already turned downy white even though a face without wrinkles still spoke to some youthfulness. "The law will not act, but the very moral fabric of our community is in jeopardy! Our souls hang in the balance, purgatory threatening ever nearer each day we allow the devil's voice to reach our ears. You've seen it just as well as I have, this deceitful witch passing her sin as some kind of divine right. She's claimed many victims with her honeyed lies and now she's even trying to tear down the good names of our community to serve her own! Tonight, we act as the Lord urges us! We must keep ourselves from eternal damnation by sending the devil's plaything back unto him."
The words alone brought a chill, but a secondary flush hit her as the figures suddenly solidified in front of her. The kimono Maka remembered was no longer pristine but covered with all the detritus of being dragged. Suzume's head only half turned, just one terrified eye coming into focus for a split second to look through Maka.
"Stop!" Maka recognized the voice and when she turned Rhys's all too familiar face was broiling with anger behind her, charging after the men as the crowd tried to close him out. She followed quickly on his heels as if the bodies could stop her, just turning to wisps as she shouldered in next to her. Rhys was in the white-haired man's face, the muscles of his neck straining with the yell, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Edward Law? Some preacher you are- draggin' a woman from her home, spouting threats like a damn fool!"
"Rhys Evans, you're the last person who should be trying to talk righteousness," Edward admonished, his head shaking in slow disapproval. "You've fallen victim to the devil's tongue- loving the witch Seren and then supporting her coven-" He waved a dismissive hand towards Suzume.
"Seren wasn't a witch and neither is she!" Rhys's disgusted scream flew across the crowd as he turned towards the two men, attempting to try to grab hold of one of the men keeping Suzume in place.
"Rhys, don't," Suzume's calm order was only betrayed by the tears on her cheeks.
Rhys's rage faltered, but a firm shake of his head recovered his motivation, making him force one of the man's hands off Suzume. "I'm not gonna let them-"
"Rhys!" Suzume's voice cut him sharply, her eyes wide and unblinking at him. "Leave. Forget what's happening here and-"
"The evil will burn!" Edward was suddenly behind Rhys, claws digging into his shoulder to turn him back. "And you will burn with it if you can't repent, Rhys Evans!"
"This ain't Salem, Edward!" Rhys shouted as he wrenched from Edward's grasp. "And this ain't the 1600s!"
The man to Suzume's left grabbed at her face, aiming it at Rhys roughly. "But look at'er, she's a-"
"She's a woman, and we ain't at war anymore so you got no excuse when it comes to her people," Rhys hissed back as he forced the man's hand off of Suzume's face.
"Rhys," Suzume pressed. "Please, leave me, and see to my house."
Suddenly the sense slapped him in the face, Rhys taking a step back in woeful confusion.
Maka followed his movements, watching Rhys's painful hesitation as he looked between Suzume and Edward. She's telling you to save Asuka, isn't she? Do they not know? Do they have no idea she had a child? I didn't see her in the house when Rhys visited, but…
"Get out of my fucking way!" Rhys bellowed as he started back towards the crowd.
"I'm not done with you, Rhys!" Edward called after the man already forced himself through the crowd. Instead of any brave charging, Edward wavered next to the men holding Suzume before clearing his throat. "Do you see, brothers and sisters? Even the supposed pillars of our community have fallen to the devil's temptation!"
Maka's stomach rolled violently, making her turn with Rhys and head after him. Rhys, take me to Asuka, please. Show me. She followed closely until she almost exploded through his image, Rhys stopping quickly just as they turned the corner of the church. There, barely reaching the height of Rhys's hip, was a small girl, her fingers clenched into white-knuckled fists. The child's hair was only a shade lighter than Suzume but didn't hold the strict straightness of it, starting to curl and wave just as Wren's did. As Maka knelt to come face to face with her, another flash of Maka's mother hit her as umber eyes stared past Maka. "Asuka?"
"What are you doing here? If they find you!" He grabbed Asuka and started hurried steps towards the trees. "Oh, damnit, what's your name? Don't you have a name?"
Asuka just stared at him, arms stiffly pressing hands to his chest to make room.
"Suzume…" Rhys breathed it out like a woeful curse.
"Suzume," Asuka echoed.
Rhys seemed to shut his eyes against the pain of the sweet little voice. "Your mama…" Rhys shook his head before turning soft eyes back to Asuka. "Listen, I'm going to take care of you, alright? It's my fault… it's my fault anyway… askin' her to talk to Seren. Gettin' the goddamn Sullivans-"
The tiny hands relaxed some of their force, settling uneasily against Rhys's shoulder. It was then that the deep doe eyes blinked to Maka. "It's strange," came the soft whisper from the slightly gaping mouth, "that the moment she died was the moment my fate was sealed as well. Rhy was a good man; he tried his best." Her lips pressed together in a smile that spoke of age far beyond childhood. "Hello, Maka. I'm glad you're here." Everything about her voice echoed Suzume's, and even with the terror building behind her, Maka could hold on to a modicum of calm.
"So you're my grandmother, Asuka?" Maka's steps fell in the misty leftovers of Rhys's as he hurried through the forest.
"Yes." The child nodded sharply. "My daughter had a daughter…" Asuka's eyes drifted off over Maka's shoulder again as her voice shrank. "She used to run from me- I used so much strength trying to reach her but she let it drive her mad rather than realize. You realize, don't you, Maka? What you are? What you have to do?"
"I'm… a Rossignol?" Maka offered.
A tiny giggling scoff tumbled from Asuka's mouth. "That's what the people call you- us, I suppose. That's fine. You speak for souls, Maka. The dead, and the closer you get to that, the living."
Maka's breath started to come thinly as Rhys's pace started towards desperate while the wind picked up and that same smell from the church accosted her again. What does that mean- the closer I get to that?
"You'll be more powerful than her- much better than me…" Asuka's body started to slip into smoky ribbons as Rhys became nothing but a haze.
"Asuka?" Maka called but the name choked in her throat as the drifting vapor turned to smog. She tried to press the back of her hand to her mouth in order to stop the next cough but all of her muscles froze as she turned back.
There was no more forest, the darkness flickering away as the crowd flared back into her view. The hum was gone, an entire hush on the congregation as they watched what they'd all come to worship. Even in the absence of the moon, the flames offered more than enough of a glow to illuminate every inch of Suzume's slowly shriveling body. Her eyes were mercifully closed but her mouth gaped in a soundless scream. The skin of her face and neck had begun to crack and peel, oozing and sputtering in the continuously coruscating blaze.
Even though the air threatened to suffocate her, Maka pulled in enough of a breath to blare out a scream.
Soul was batting through the wings even before they entirely parted, ignoring the beak strikes along his arms and hands as he reached for her. This time there was no denying the sound was coming from Maka's mouth- a long, steady howl of utter nightmares trembling through the air. Blake wasn't at all behind, just a stride to his right as they both barreled through the finally dissipating wall of fowl.
"Maka!" Blake stole the name right out of Soul's throat as both men managed to get their hands on a shoulder each. "Hey, we're here," his bark was oddly comforting but all Maka's eyes did was roll back in her head as her knees buckled.
It was Soul's turn this time as he was unable to bite his tongue as he floundered to catch her. "Maka!" He managed to get under her arm as Blake snatched at her waist.
"Sit 'er down." The order was easy to follow, Maka's knees folding easily as both men knelt down next to her. Blake slid his hands from her waist to her armpits, hoisting her to position her back against his chest as her head still lolled to the side.
Soul settled back on his haunches as something entirely uncomfortable rattled in his chest.
"Maka, huh?" Blake prodded.
The other man chewed on his tongue in reply.
"Hey, you could help you know," Blake didn't lose an ounce of his amusement. "Clear her face, maybe give her cheek a little pat to wake 'er up."
Soul's brow furrowed as he studied Blake's face first. When that playful grin didn't disintegrate, Soul leaned forward with shaky hands. He'd brushed away tears before- heaven knows Reggie had enough of them- but as the kitchen flashed back in his mind, there was no way to stop the trembling in his fingers. Would you trust me? If you wake up, if you see my face, what will you do?
The risk sent his heart clamoring in his chest but the pads of his palms still slid over her cheeks, cradling her face enough to smudge away the mess. "Ma-" He rubbed a thumb over her cheekbone, banishing the last fleck of liquid. "Ms. Albarn," he murmured.
Maka's eyes moved behind her lids before those fine eyelashes fluttered open. "Soul?"
"S'alright." He had used this voice a million times, at every instance when Reggie would awaken crying, but this time his heart felt empty instead of full. "Blake's here too, don't worry."
A rattling breath left her, but instead of moving her head away from his hands as Soul expected, she gently leaned into the touch as half of her eye disappeared against his palm. Even more surprising was the swiftness with which her arm rose, slapping Blake on the side of the head with uncanny ease. "You called him!"
"That's the thanks I get?" Blake howled as he started to jostle her up to sitting. He steadied his hands at her back, pushing her.
Soul had barely been prepared to touch her face let alone catch her as she teetered. The hand at her cheek awkwardly slipped to the back of her neck, the other catching her right at the waist to keep her from pitching forward. "Hey," there was a squeaky quality to his voice he didn't exactly enjoy, though he could see Blake relishing in it. "Don't go faintin' away. I don't wanna carry you back."
Regardless of his warning, Maka let her forehead fall to his chest. Her shoulders tensed and curled as her hands tentatively touched to the roll of his sleeves. "They murdered her," mournfully erupted from Maka's mouth as it sat so close to his shirt buttons.
"We knew that," Blake answered gently, "but you saw it? Thought they killed her out in the swamp."
"Not Asuka," Maka continued through a stuttering breath. "I watched them burn Suzume. That was the- Soul, the smell in the church. It was her. It was what they did to her!"
"Shit," Blake muttered as he let his pushing hands turn to rubbing, drawing circles in Maka's back. He looked glumly at Soul, waiting for the man of few words to offer at least some.
Soul tucked his chin, trying to get his whisper just for her, "Gonna touch your hair, alright?"
Nodding was all she could do in reply.
His hand slid out from behind her neck, falling to the back of her head to smooth down towards her back. It was another familiar motion but an entirely alien sensation as the strands tickled his skin. "Can't say it'll be fine," he continued softly. "Can't imagine anyone seein' that and bein' fine but… You said 'better to know the truth' so that's what you got, and we're here to jus' see you through it. Tell us what you need, Ms. Albarn."
Maka raised her head, bleary but bright eyes blinking up at him. "You know, you don't say all that much but when you do, it's the right thing."
Soul's ears tingled with the rush of blood.
"Hey, Romeo and Juliet, you know I'm still here, right?" Blake nudged Maka in the back again.
Maka was spinning instantly to join the fight, lunging for Blake only half-playfully and mostly with the purpose to strangle. "You're the one who invited him," she spat as she got a hold of Blake's shirt.
"And you're the one makin' goo-goo eyes at him," Blake cackled back as he smoothly slipped from her grasp, leaving Maka to fumble into the grass.
"Damn it, Blake," Soul hissed as he got to his feet, attempting to slip a hand to Maka's arm to help her up.
Instead, Maka was well on her way to getting to her feet without an ounce of assistance, the annoyance suddenly feeding her enough strength to get after Blake. He was howling with laughter at this point, dodging her advances until she was on her feet entirely, standing and ready to chase after him.
Blake put two steadying hands on her biceps, stopping the rage for the moment. "See? You're alright."
Maka huffed but nodded. "Alright enough to beat the shit out of you," she muttered but without half as much gusto, only edging forward enough for Blake to move to wrap an arm around her. "Take me home."
"No problem." Blake rattled her shoulders before slipping his arm away. "You walkin' with us?"
Soul looked between the two of them, that unsettling feeling tightening his chest again.
"Of course he is," she replied pertly as she started walking ahead of them.
"'Course I am," Soul echoed with just enough hint of mocking to get Maka to flash him a look over her shoulder. He settled into slow steps in time with Blake while Maka led the way. You didn't balk, sweetly sighed over his mind as that fluttering sensation hit his ribs. But you didn't invite me, either. I'm offerin', Maka. So let me. Please let me.
The chatter had died down as soon as they reached the back porch. Blake stood still in the grass, causing Soul to cease his stride as Maka played with the knob of the door for a second. "Thanks, both of you."
"That's a start," Blake chuckled, "but I think I deserve extra, maybe a-"
"I said thanks," Maka hissed. "Now will you go home? I technically think you're still grounded as far as Marie is concerned…"
Blake snorted, "I'm not- Oh!" He played with the vowel, darting eyes between Soul and Maka. "I see- lil' alone time for the two of you, huh? Finish off what-"
"Shut up!" Maka barked as she tried to swat his words out of the air with her hand. "It's just none of your business what I have to say so will you leave, Blake!" He started a long whistle as he turned on his heels. As he walked towards the carriage house his resounding laughter tore at every last one of Maka's nerves. "Idiot," she muttered.
"Listen, Ms. Albarn…"
Maka finally let her eyes fall to Soul, finding that the consternation on his face only spiked that crinkling feeling in her gut.
"I'm sorry- 'bout touchin' you and 'bout showin' up tonight," he was murmuring towards his shoes, his eyes tenderly focused on the grass rather than her. "I know- I guess I know you didn't want me there, so it wasn't my place, but-"
"Stop," Maka ordered and he froze in reply. "Can you just come inside, and we can talk?"
Soul nodded hesitantly, waiting as she opened the door and shooed him in. He went right to his seat, folding his hands with all propriety but letting his shoulders curl and his elbows rest on the table.
Maka instantly went humming around the cabinets. "Tea?"
"Guess so," he answered weakly, sure that it would only just become something to clench or at least to busy his hands with. Most of his mind wasn't necessarily on her movements anyway, already too much to compile and apologize for as he made a detailed list in his mind of the transgressions for the evening. Just as he was adding all of the Reggie-related sins to it, the cup appeared in front of him. "Thanks."
"Really, Soul, that's my line," Maka closed that softly with a laugh, warm and radiant in all the coolness of his anxiety. Soul raised his head just to catch that and the searing look in her eyes. "It's not that I didn't want you there tonight, it's just that-" she paused to fiddle with her own mug, busying her fingers with tapping the porcelain. "We're not even no matter what you say. I meant it when I said I love Reggie; I don't do that for you, so I don't see how it's fair for me to keep asking you to be a part of this crazy- I don't know, what would you call it?"
"Shenanigans?" Soul offered with a lopsided grin as he leaned, letting his elbow settle into the table so he could palm his cheek. "Maybe hijinks."
"Soul," Maka was trying to make motherly admonishments but the giggles took her, his words untangling some of the restlessness. "I just want to make sure you're…" She shut her eyes for a moment, pulling in breath and arranging the words like a far too intricate puzzle. "You're doing what you want to do, free of guilt or obligation, and that you know the minute- the second you don't want to do this I'm not going to be mad at you for stopping."
Soul hummed thoughtfully before adding, "Yup."
"That's it?" Maka couldn't stop the incredulous snap.
"Not obligated to you in the least, Ms. Albarn." Soul shrugged the words off easily. Guilty, though, I'm lying if I repeat the next line with that word in tow because I'll be damned if I'm not guilty. He puffed his cheeks at the thought before slowly leaking out the air. "Doin' what I want to do. If it ain't, I won't, but I'd appreciate it if you did what I tol' you: to just ask. You could'a asked me if I wanted to come tonight and I would'a given the yes or no. That's what I'd prefer. Not Blake-" he cut that with a wave of his hand as if motioning to the man himself.
Maka huffed at the thought. "How does he have your number, anyway?"
"Gator dealin'," Soul chuckled. "'Member, that number was for business only. Stein, Blair, Blake, the Rungs. That's all. 'Til you."
"I'm not business?"
He swallowed some air, knowing that the negation of that should come with such a dynamite yell. All he could produce with his arid mouth was: "Don't think so."
"Alright…" She took it as a gift with a smile.
Soul attempted to nurse his tea, blowing off the steam as he kept his eyes on the rippling tension that his breath created. Her fingers went back to tapping, not fast enough to echo the beats of his heart, nor loud enough to drown out each pulse. He concentrated every ounce of energy on willing his insides still, not that anything his mind was offering was doing a modicum of good. "I know tonight musta been terrifyin'..."
A warbling sigh left her before Maka started, "I guess I thought I could treat seeing these things like a movie- as if it wasn't real, but I could feel the heat and the smell…" She had to force a swallow to keep the bile from coming back. "With Chi, I only saw through her eyes so I didn't have to watch the suffering, though I definitely felt it. Before that, with the water, I didn't see anything, just the feelings but… I can't tell which part is worse. All of it kind of just sucks." She let that trail off in a weak murmur.
Soul detached from the cup, sliding his warmed hand across the table towards her. Maka took it.
"But you were right," she punctuated that with a sweet smile at their connected hands. "It's what I wanted to know- the truth, and now I think there's something more I can do. Because you should know something about what I saw- the other night and tonight."
His fingers tightened around hers. "Alright."
"That first night," Maka paused to pull in a long inhale, "I saw two people, Suzume and your grandfather, Rhys."
He didn't offer words, only his eyebrows climbing up his forehead.
"He wanted to know about Seren, that's why he came to Suzume."
"To find out about the curse," Soul murmured.
"No," Maka instantly corrected. "He said he didn't care about that. He thought- no, he knew Seren wouldn't hurt their baby, and that's what he really wanted to find out. Something wasn't right about how she died and that's what Rhys wanted to know. He didn't care about himself; all he wanted was for her name to be clean."
"But you… saw him tonight, too?" Soul's voice stuttered with doubt.
"I did." She played with his fingers in hers. "He tried to save Suzume, and when he couldn't, he saved Asuka instead. She said he was a good man."
Soul let a long, low breath spell out his relief.
"But it just seems like…"
"What?" He was quick to jump on her thoughts as his own had started to tangle.
"Just… strange how our families seem so tied together." Her eyes rested on him for a moment, studying the way he was tightly holding together, that forced blankness on his face. "Is that why I trust you? Is it because somewhere along the way your grandfather made some kind of promise and somehow you're echoing it?" Maka slapped a hand over her mouth, trembling through a laugh before she barely let the words sneak from behind her fingers. "That's crazy, isn't it? I mean, ghosts, visions, walking- all of that's crazy but you and me-"
"You trust me?" he cut in as his lips wrinkled after the words.
Hers came back without hesitation: "I do."
His brow furrowed as the silence ballooned between them. He was toying with words, settling them in his mind and his heart before he opened his mouth, and she gave him his time. Not without a few nervous breaths of her own, but at least with the comfort of their connected hands. "He died when my dad was fifteen, so I don't know nothin' about him. Don't even think dad's said more'an a dozen words about 'im to me. But whatever Rhys did doesn't matter- I'm makin' my own choices. I guess that's just one piece'a magic I don't wanna believe. I ain't echoin' some past like I have no choice, I-" How his eyes could turn sharper, could concentrate harder on her seemed impossible but Maka felt his glare tearing away at any last defenses she might have had left. "I made this my business when I pulled you outta the lake. And it'll stay my business until it's over."
"Until what's over?" she asked breathlessly.
"Dunno, Ms. Albarn. Whatever you've got planned." Soul rolled his shoulders with ease as he pulled away his hand. He needed to cross his arms over his chest in hopes of adding any stillness as his heart stuttered along in unsteady beats. With an precarious hold on himself, Soul managed a smirk. "Guess I'm just followin' your lead."