Soul had just watched Reggie burst out the front door, all forms of manners lost in his excitement, when his mother's icy voice hit him from the hallway. "Solomon, come here."
He risked a glance in the direction of the sound, seeing nothing more than a beckoning hand slip away from view and into the living room. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath before changing his trajectory.
"Listen," Lenora started as soon as Soul broke the threshold. There were all sorts of boxes and bags strewn across the sofa from assorted stores that Soul barely recognized half spilling their contents onto the creamy upholstery. "Unfortunately, your father couldn't make it back for tonight. He's stuck in France, so I used it as an excuse to book a flight. I'll need a vacation before we start the wedding preparations anyway."
"What's tonight?" Soul lobbed the question half-heartedly, already mostly sure of the reply.
His mother shot him a withering glare. "Solomon, you're not the least bit funny."
"Wasn't tryin' to be."
"Halloween means one thing, Solomon," his mother toned sharply at him as she started to arrange the bags. "The Delacroix party. Clara sent over a costume to match hers and I left it in your room already but…" Her voice trailed off in the ruffling of plastic.
"Mama, I ain't wearin' a thing, and I ain't in'erested in-"
"Here!" She interrupted him with both hands thrust towards his chest, a delicate black box in her fingers.
"I said I wasn't-"
The velvet top snapped open and the world entirely fell out from beneath Soul's feet.
"Don't look so crestfallen," Lenora chimed cheerfully. "It's really just a trial run- I'm sure Clara will be fussy and want something her own style. This will do just for the proposal."
The diamond twinkled, absurdly large and set against a platinum band.
Lenora pressed it forward again and tapped it to his shirt, but Soul found no will to move his arms. "It won't kill you to be the center of attention just for one party. And it will make up for how you treated her the other night. Honestly, Solomon, tossing her to the ground."
"Mama, she forced me to kiss her!" Soul spat.
A hard scoff broke his mother's lips. "So? She's beautiful, she's smart, and her family has exactly the connections we need to get out of this rut your brother created. You'll propose to her tonight, the wedding will be in the summer, and I know she wants to wait until she's done with school for children-"
"Mama!" Soul pleaded.
"But you'll have them early," Lenora barreled through his yell. Her hand dropped but only to grab at his, forcing the fuzzy box between his fingers. "It'll help you get over this ridiculous drive you have to father Reginald. It will be healthier just to have your own, start fresh and-"
"No," croaked desperately from his throat.
Lenora's eyebrows only slightly pulsed upwards before settling into a hard glare.
His throat teetered towards shut, ready to swallow the bitter order when his phone buzzed in his pocket. That's her. That's Maka tellin' me Reggie's there but I ain't and I should prolly get a move on. I'm goin' trick or treatin' with them tonight. His eyes drifted down to the box in his fingers as he forced a lungful of air back into his chest. "No, Mama."
"That isn't an option," Lenora hissed.
"Livin' my life isn't an option?" Soul spat immediately as burning red eyes shot back to his mother. "Makin' my own choices is jus' a lil' too much for you? I don't want Clara!"
"If this is about that Rossignol girl-"
"Maka!" That boomed from his throat, rubbing his heart raw for all the want of saying her name. "Her name is Maka! And honestly, Mama, it ain't. It's about me. I'm tired'a of all this, and what I want-"
"You don't know what you want!" Lenora charged back, her hand coming to her son's arm to hold him in place. "You think you do because that girl-"
"Maka!" he roared again, this time pulling his arm from his mother's grasp. He let the ring box fall from between his fingers and clatter to the floor. "And again, Mama, we aren't even like that. She- she doesn't even-" Want me, the horrible words threatened along with a swell of tears. "She's my friend."
Lenora scoffed.
"That's all," warbled weakly from Soul's throat. It ain't. Not for me. She isn't my friend, and I've known that for a while- that I'm hers.
"If 'that's all' then you should have no problem marrying Clara."
Soul let out an exasperated sigh as he reached towards his mother. "Mama, please-"
Lenora grasped his hand, squeezing his knuckles tightly. "Solomon, you have your choices in front of you. You stop this stupid dallying with the Rossignol girl and marry Clara, or you stop enjoying the comfort of your life here."
"Marry her or you kick me out?" Soul scoffed. "That's easy-"
She tugged at their connected hands, silencing his mocking. "Until you realize that Reginald isn't going with you."
His spine crumbled in the wake of the chill as his knees threatened to shatter under the weight of the words.
"He is part of this family and if you are not, then he will no longer be part of your life." Her eyes darted across his face, tracing the lines in search of his heartbreak.
"You…" Soul had no strength to finish the accusation. I always wondered if that was the cost'a doin' what I wanted, but you said it. You'd really take him from me? You'd hurt us both that much just so that I follow your rules? "Mama," he pleaded breathlessly.
"You have a decision to make, Solomon." Lenora released him to pick up the ring box before starting easy steps back to the couch and her array of purchases. She spoke to the bags rather than him. "You can either have your little girlfriend or your nephew. I would hope that the choice would be easy, but with how confused you've been lately about your place in this family, maybe you'll need the few hours you have before dinner to get your priorities straight. I'll see you at the party, eight sharp." She waved a dismissive hand before completely falling to her rearranging.
Soul waited for reality to disintegrate around him, for him to awaken gasping from this nightmare, but as the seconds ticked, he had to acknowledge that this horror was his life. He forced one step and then another, making it to the foyer to stand and stare at the pattern in the marble. Lose him, lose her. It shook him, tossing his heart brutally against his ribs. He was drowning in the anguish by the time he reached the fresh air, none of it reviving him. The car lights blinked as he hit the button and slipped into the driver's seat. As soon as the door shut the feral yell left his lips, rumbling and ripping all of the pain from his chest and letting it out into the world.
At the very least, Maka had gotten Soul in the door, but beyond that, the man was stubbornly set in his ways. None of this was to Maka's chagrin, since every contingency had been planned for along the way; he was a stubborn mule, and she was set on breaking him at least for tonight. Coordination with Kilik had been easy, a simple whisper of the projected plan, and the wheels were set in motion. Kilik would keep the family on the patio entertained with the prospect of a seafood boil. The children had fought it at first- the idea that they had to put off donning their costumes irking the little ones to no end- but the promise of delicious cookery prevailed.
It was then that Maka ambushed Soul on one of his planned revolutions into the kitchen. She had excused herself to the bathroom only a few moments before but it was all a clever ruse; instead, she stationed herself behind the door to grab him as soon as he entered. Soul instantly tensed, but when he realized it was Maka's hands on his arms, he entirely gave up the fight, letting her start him back towards the wall of the kitchen. "What are you-?"
"Soul, I warned you," Maka chided as she pressed him into the chair at the table. The facepaint was already strewn across the top, left for easy access as she tapped her knees between his legs to lock him in place.
"Ms. Albarn, don't you-"
"I'm going to touch your face," she warned before bringing her two fingers under his chin, tilting his head up towards her. "I'm-" she cut off as soon as their eyes met, that intense glare looking through her.
"You're gonna make a fool outta me," he muttered through lips he was trying to forcefully straighten, but his grin was betraying him, the corner quirking upwards slightly.
"You do that just fine all by yourself." The power of Maka's tease sputtered lifelessly into a murmur. His fingertips had come to tap at the back of her knees, eyes still steadily holding onto hers.
"Well?" Soul raised his eyebrows.
"You're not going to fight me?" The words were wasting time as Maka tried to use them as a distraction from the slow movie that was playing in the back of her mind. All he'd have to do was tip me a little closer, just his arm around my waist and-
Soul sucked his teeth. "As if fightin' you now's gonna do a thing. You just better know you're taking this off me later. You ain't leavin' me with green behind my ears."
"I-"
"Hey…" One of his hands left the back of her leg, reaching up and grabbing the fingers out from under his chin. "You're shakin'. Are you alright?"
… darling, love… toyed coyly at the edge of her mind, and for a second, it wasn't Rhys but Soul's sweet lips stealing breath from hers, making dedicated promises with each exhale.
It's Seren, Maka tried to stubbornly press back but the locket was safely buried at home in its trinket cemetery.
"S'alright, Ms. Albarn," he murmured. "I ain't really mad, I-"
A tremble of air that was meant to be a laugh left her throat. "It's not that." It hits me sometimes, that need. I want to say it's Seren's, but I know better, don't I? "Sorry, just got a little lightheaded."
"Then we ain't doing this now," he hissed through a grimace as his fingertips whiffed the air next to her legs while they scaled up to her waist. Soul pushed her back just enough to stand, and before Maka could manage an ounce of complaint, he was turning the tables and forcing her into the chair. Once he planted her in the seat he went bustling around the kitchen to grab a glass and fill it from the cool water in the fridge. "You haven't sat for a second since we got here," he grumbled over the counter before turning to her. "Sometimes you do too much and-" Soul cut off with a huff as he pressed the cup towards her impatiently.
Maka took it and quickly sipped, knowing that the only thing she was quelling was a little of his anxiety. "Thank you."
Annoyance ground at the back of his throat before he grabbed the facepaint. "You jus' sit." He didn't have the nerve to look at her while tossing out the order, simply turning on his heels and disappearing further into the house towards the hallway.
She looked after him with a sigh, hearing a door somewhere clapping shut. The gentle rustle of talk and laughter floated in from the patio but Maka stayed staring at her water. What I want isn't… it isn't right.
"Hey." Kilik's gentle voice cut through the shadow of her mind.
"Hey," Maka echoed glumly.
"Guessing things didn't go as planned?" He motioned towards the empty table and her occupancy of the seat.
"Not his fault," she sighed out.
Kilik's eyes rolled along his eyebrows before letting out a gentle laugh. "It's so funny how both of you get each other but don't."
Maka snorted, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"The friendship part you have down just fine but the romance part…" He let that wander with a lame shrug.
She shook her head as she slid the glass to the counter, freeing her hands to run through her hair to try to brush away the frustration. "I'm not-"
"I think we're friends enough that lying to me is kinda stupid." Kilik ambled closer, finding a good spot on the counter opposite of her and leaning into it.
"Let me finish," she snapped half-heartedly, the attitude brought down with the glum turn of her lips. "I'm not the kind of girl that's right for him."
Kilik's brow wrinkled incredulously. "Didn't peg you for the type to fall into that whole Southern royalty stuff."
Her head moved back and forth bitterly again as she squeezed her eyes shut through a breath that failed to calm. "Sometimes…" Let it go. Say it out loud. Admit it. "Well, it's funny that everyone, especially myself, keeps comparing me to my mama when… sometimes I think I'm really just my father's daughter."
"Can't imagine you have time for a harem of other guys when you have Soul and Reggie on your calendar…" He tried on a reassuring grin and watched it blossom a weak smile in reply.
"I have this thing called self-control," Maka spat the word before continuing, "but sometimes I wonder how long that will last. So far it's just been…" She searched for the right words, her fingers digging into the fabric of her pants at the knees. "Unfair. It's unfair to him."
"I'm not following," Kilik replied with a tired sigh.
"The touching…" Maka unfurled her fingers as if she were trying to reach for the idea, a floating phantom of the words too far from her grasp. "He's just not into that and I can't expect-"
A gentle laugh started from him especially as Maka's eyes popped wide. "He said that?"
"Not his exact words, no, but…"
All subtlety was gone, Kilik letting the chuckle deepen as he grinned wide. "Remember, the guy swore off romance when he was about fifteen. He didn't exactly cultivate the handsy-ness of your average teenage boy." A sly slide came to the edge of his smile. "I assumed you were teaching him."
"Kilik," Maka chided but only got more laughter in reply.
He held up innocent hands before easing them back to the counter. "He doesn't know, Maka."
She scoffed.
"You think I'm kidding, but I'm not." He pulled in a breath as he crossed an arm over his chest, rubbing against the bicep awkwardly. "Look, when we were seventeen, well…" Kilik blew out that breath anxiously. "We were drunk one night and I tried to kiss him."
Maka's eyes fluttered wide but she bit into her lip to keep the shock from running amuck on her tongue.
The weight on his chest drifted away with another laugh. "He wasn't pissed, wasn't disgusted, just lost. He was nice about it- said he cared about me but not that way- and while I expected the most awkward silence ever, he asked me probably the hardest question of my life: "Why? What made you feel that way?" Not saying he was fishing for a compliment, but he doesn't know what he wants. He's not used to trusting his feelings since the last time he did that it got him in trouble."
"Viv," Maka murmured.
"Yeah, Viv," Kilik intoned with exasperation. "It feels like I'm a fucking broken record, but Viv. The way he loved her might've been childish, immature, but it was the first time he ever felt that and it burned him."
"But that was at fifteen- he must have had crushes before that," Maka muttered in withering objection.
Kilik grimaced, lines hard at the corner of his mouth. "You think Lenora's idea of treating him like livestock to be bred is something new? He's been taught you marry for money, not feelings. He definitely saw that with his parents, but he saw that with Wes too. He never watched anyone fall in love besides the movies, and he technically didn't get TV until he could break into his father's office."
A weak laugh from both of them followed that mental picture. "What a great pair- a girl who can't keep her emotions in check and a boy who doesn't know his."
"Nah, he knows 'em, just can't trust 'em." Kilik cleared his throat. "Why don't you go outside- the kids probably have crab behind their ears by now."
Maka heaved a breath before she sprung from her seat and started for the back door.
Kilik watched her, shaking his head somewhere between disbelief and humor. Once he heard the door click shut, it was off to the hallway as he followed the sound of rushing water. The bathroom door was locked but when he knocked he heard the mechanism pop. "Coming in." The door opened just enough for Kilik to squeeze through.
Soul was on the floor, chin resting on his knees. A haphazard line of green paint marred his cheek. "I look ridiculous."
"Well, you're supposed to paint your whole face," Kilik teased.
Red eyes snapped upward to glare.
"You should put that headband of yours on first too. Keep your hair from going green." He broke from Soul's look as he examined the paint left on the sink. "What happened in the kitchen?"
The intensity of Soul's gaze faltered as a miserable groan grumbled up from his chest. "Jus' me bein' an idiot. She- she gets close to me and I-" Both hands came up to cradle his head and push back his hair from his face. "I can't figure if it's normal to feel like- like my spine is fuckin' jelly, and she could just crush me with a fuckin' whisper."
Kilik snorted as he tried to control the laugh, but it won, resounding off the tile walls and smacking Soul shamelessly in the face. "Oh, man, you've got it bad."
Soul tried to make the rattle of his own annoyance overpower the laughter but it was hopeless, leaving him to simply plop his forehead back on his knees. "I want her." He spoke to the chasm between his thighs and his chest. "But I-"
Kilik quelled his chuckles long enough to spit out, "If you're about to say something about-"
"Mama gave me a ring."
That brought the other man squat to the floor, hands instantly jutting to Soul's knees. Pained red eyes finally popped up to meet incredulous brown ones. "The fuck?"
"A ring." The reality of saying it out loud flooded him, making his throat squeeze out any remaining air in its vice of fear.
Kilik dropped the rest of the way, hitting hard on his ass as his back struck the vanity. "Oh, for fuck's sake- are you serious? For Clara?"
Soul nodded as his lips stretched into the face of a man swallowing hot coals.
He let the shock of that settle before finally letting the accusation fly. "And what the fuck did you say?"
"Why the fuck do you think I'm here?" Soul wheezed weakly. "It'll be a fun little sleepover for Reggie, Kilik, but it's my last night alive. Mama finds out I wasn't where I was supposed to be tonight- arrives at the Delacroix party and I'm not there to put on a show… I'm dead. I got one more night'a both of 'em and then-" The oily nightmare seeped from the deepest depths, turning his gut and bringing the horrible picture to play right before his eyes. "I lose him or I lose her. I don't- I can't make that choice. I'll beg Mama's forgiveness tomorrow but… I can't outright say no, not if it means I lose Reggie."
"Fuck." The word withered along with Kilik's shoulders.
"Fuck," Soul echoed mournfully as he let his head fall back to his knees. He tried to resist the wave of sorrow that wanted to grip him but it shook his shoulders. There were no sobs, but a silent shuddering that ached through his tightened muscles.
Kilik slid across the floor to get close enough to throw an arm around his shoulder. There was no holding him together, but at least Kilik would try.
Soul was nothing but many shades of green. Not only was he clothed neck to ankle in a grassy hue of fleecy fabric that reminded him of the pajamas he would put Reggie in as a toddler, but his face was smeared a lime tone that stood shocking against his white hair. The color bled beyond his skin to his bones as he sat alone in the entryway, stewing in his envy. Maka was entirely unavailable as she wrangled the three children with Nana Rung, and Kilik had abandoned all attempts to soothe at Soul's request.
The bustling in the kitchen had started to die and there was a ghost of a glance of movement towards the hallway, but he remained steeped in silence. He ticked time uselessly with the tap of his fingers against the side of his knees. Nothin' to be done, anyway. I've been livin' a stupid dream these past few months and I shoulda known it'd come to a head. I'm cursed in more ways than one.
"Are you done pouting?"
He tried to force his eyes to stay on the obnoxious green but his heart betrayed him, always yearning to look at the face that accompanied that voice. That night on the veranda hit him with full force, but the memory of the dress didn't do the actual piece justice, especially as she stood barefoot and annoyed in front of him.
Even in the finery, she crouched easily to get her furrowed brow close enough to him to spell out the frustration before her voice even started. "Honestly, Soul, you look fine, and it's not like it's going to matter to anyone other than Reggie."
"That ain't it," Soul murmured breathlessly. "Hey, you're gonna be cold."
She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, dad, but I already thought of that. I bought a cloak!"
"Not when you were with us." Internally, he was kicking himself for the complaining nature of that, as if she couldn't exist outside of them.
"I'm already wearing enough of your family's money." It came thoughtlessly, but Maka watched it tear a cannonball hole into him. She instantly reached for him and clapped her hands over his. Her knees met the floor so she could lean against his. "I'm sorry."
"Nah," he laughed weakly as he tried to slip his hands away from her. "Not really a lie, is it? Don't apologize for the dirty truth."
She refused to relinquish him, a sudden tug of war starting between their fingers. "I meant- it's not that I don't appreciate it, it's just that I- I wish-"
"Don't," Soul cautioned. "I know you ain't necessarily puttin' it down, so don't bother." He wouldn't let her win as he forced his hands away to the floor, giving him leverage to get to his feet. The view of her from above was even more painful, a beautiful puddle of jade around her with her striking eyes glowing up at him. "Is Reggie ready?"
"Soul-"
"Ms. Albarn, don't," he warned again but it was warbling towards pleading. "You said it yourself, it's only gonna matter to him. So if he's ready, let's go."
Dismay wrinkled her brow but her hand shot up between them. "Help me up," she ordered.
There was a split-second of contemplation about running, about avoiding her touch at all costs in hopes that it would keep him from going mad this evening. Instead, he took her hand, bracing her and himself to bring her to her feet. Maka used the closeness to get a grip on him, her fingers wrinkling the soft fabric over his heart. "Quit makin' that face, Ms. Albarn. What you said is fine. What I'm wearin' is fine. Tonight will be fine." The last repetition took a life of its own, making his heart lose tempo. It's tomorrow that won't.
"Promise me it'll be more than that," she pressed.
"Promise you what?" His hands hovered, ready to touch her waist but fell dead to his side as the idea echoed in his head. I can't promise her shit. I can't be with her whether I want it or not and makin' hollow promises now hurts her.
It wasn't just her hands that shook him but the words. "Can you please just try to be happy tonight?"
"Ain't Halloween 'bout being whatever you want?" he echoed her words weakly.
There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in her reply as she snapped it back clearly at him, "You don't want to be happy?"
He tossed a sigh, turning his head to make sure it hit the wall instead of her.
"Soul," she made that an order for an answer.
"Think that's the problem, ain't it?" he muttered away from her, kicking himself for the crypticness and the way it made her grip on him tighten. "You're gonna ruin my costume." Maka dipped her head, contemplating butting it against his sternum with the futility of it all. Instead, her breath caught in her chest as his forehead softly tapped to hers, his exhale suddenly bringing the words to life to flutter between them. "Stop worryin' yourself." His throat clicked through an uneasy swallow before his voice trembled again. "I'm the closest I'm gonna get to happy, I think."
Maka shut her eyes, trying to concentrate on the contact and pull every last bit of closeness from it. "What if I don't believe you?"
His short laugh flooded her with warmth. "Jus' trust me, alright? I- well, I should thank you." A shaking hand touched her cheek, the pads of his fingers drawing a tentative line on her jaw. "You didn't have to do any'a this- not the past few months or anythin' like that, but you… you love him like he's your own. Guess sometimes I still wonder what the hell you even get outta it. What the hell can I-" his voice broke as his fingers fell away from her and the rest of his warmth disappeared as transient as rain in the desert. Because what the hell can I give you?
Her lids stayed stubbornly shut, hope burning in her that he would only be gone for a second before he crashed into her again. Instead, she felt only his fingertips brush her arm as he moved past her.
Mortification had kept Clara in her room, but it was raging fury that enveloped her as Crona entered, just squeezing through the crack they made in the door. "Tell me he's here!"
"No," Crona murmured as they tried to still their spine against the wall.
Clara stomped across the floor, her hands instantly clutching into the lapels of Crona's suit to shake them into the wall. "Is Lenora here?"
"Yes," they replied weakly, trying to turn their head to look anywhere but the burning rage that was in Clara's eyes. "S-she seems just as upset as you are, b-but-"
She tossed Crona again, their head smacking against the wall before she released them to ball her bitter fists. "He needs to be here. Everyone knows tonight is the night and if he doesn't show-" Clara cut off with a ferocious howl as she barely stopped her hands from tearing at her perfectly arranged hair. "He's with her, isn't he? That bitch! I just know he's with her and-" Her feet flew across the floor to her bedside table before grabbing the keys off the top. "You're going to drive to her house-"
Crona tried to throw up their hands to placate, but the waving gesture was completely lost at Clara's back. By the time she turned, Crona's hands had already withered to dig into the side of their jacket, holding their guts in. "C-Clara, please, he'll come, I'm sure he will. Even if he doesn't, Mama said-"
"I don't care!" Clara screeched. "You're going to her house and whatever you have to do to interrupt them you will. If they're not there, check the Thompsons and then the Rungs." She stomped towards them, hand outstretched with the keys and orders blaring from her mouth, "You'll go to each spot until you find him. If that bitch is with him, you make it very clear what he was supposed to be doing here tonight. We're engaged- make sure that little bitch knows that."
Their mouth gaped weakly around another plea of "Clara" but snapped it in half under the strength of her glare. "I- I'll go. I'll try." She shoved the keys between their fingers in reply. Without another word, Crona slid the door open wide enough to slip back through, taking a moment to stand in the hallway as the party hummed below. Their fingers worried at the knob as a forlorn sigh left their lips. "Marrying him… you won't even get to enjoy it."
The twins were still going strong, Storm and Black Panther running candy-fueled circles around Nana Rung as she led the group. Reggie had waned, feeding Soul's jealousy as he headed straight for Maka's arms, nestling into her with eyes half closed.
"Lemme take him," Soul muttered but one look from her told him he was out of luck. It was that glowing pride of her face again, another phantom of Viv to shake Soul's heart against his ribs.
"I'm fine, but could you help me with the cloak?"
He eyed the black fabric draped over her shoulders. "Help how?" Maka slowed her steps and Soul turned to her. He caught Kilik's face in the periphery, a shit-eating grin that was only slightly tempered by Soul's earlier admission. Maybe you think it's cute, Kilik, and it sure would be if this was the moment I could steal her breath away, but I shouldn't.
"Wrap it around like a blanket."
Soul started the process, tucking the one side in while he pulled the other tight, cocooning his nephew to Maka's chest. "You can't hold the other side up," he complained.
"I threw an emergency fix bag in the bottom of Reggie's candy. There should be a safety pin in there if…"
He didn't reach into the bag, instead, his other arm came around her shoulder to hold the fabric there. "Guess we can walk like this for a while." Soul pulled her closer, tucking her against him as they started to trail in Kilik's shadow. "This alright?" No, he answered himself quickly. It ain't. I just want this. It'll be the last chance I can have it, but how's she gonna feel tomorrow? Next week? How's she gonna feel when she remembers tonight and then gets to hear that I'm getting married and it ain't a rumor?
"It's nice." The blush that was threatening instantly drained as she dared to look at his face, finding his stony glare focused ahead. His fingers were sending messages straight from his heart into her skin but his face was that same blank slate that he so often forced. She sighed softly. "You're worried about something."
"Maybe."
She waited until he glanced sideways at her to roll her eyes.
"Sure am," he let out the words on a lingering breath.
"Do I start playing twenty questions, or are you going to tell me?"
Soul grimaced. It's 'bout you. Normally I'd say it's always 'bout Reggie, but lately it's been a back and forth between the two'a you and that's been fine. Fine until that means I lose one'a you.
"Well, I know your father is home," Maka grumbled through the memory of those sharky teeth. "Did something happen with him?"
"Nothin' outta the ordinary." While the streaming thoughts in his head threatened to push her away his hand tightened on her shoulder, bunching the fabric beneath his fingers. "Next guess."
Maka huffed. "You're seriously going to make me ask?"
"You offered." He produced a sickly grin with no chuckle to follow it.
Her grunt was heavily ladened with annoyance. "Look, the twins are on another doorstep. Go up there and get more candy for Reggie."
Soul shook the bag in his hand. "I don't think he needs it. Plus, you think they'll give it to me? A grown man in a dragon suit?"
Maka's frown wrinkled, threatening a smile. "I need it- consider it payback for tonight. Anything peanut butter or caramel, grab it."
Soul took a step even though his voice still echoed his doubt. "Again, me? Lookin' like this?"
"Just motion back at us, you big baby," Maka chided. "They'll see our sleepy little knight."
Our! A repeated, melancholic blare of that hit him as he pushed forward. A war was waged between a blush and agony as he headed up the walk, trying to let the twittering voices of the twins drown out his mind.
Maka watched him go, heaving a sigh once he was out of range.
"Maka?"
She turned quickly at the sound of her name, clutching Reggie closer inside her cloak protectively. Her breath fluttered weakly as the face finally shifted into the ray of a streetlight. "Oh… Crona, right?"
"Yeah…" they took a few more shaking steps, bringing themselves within whispering distance.
"Are you out trick or treating?" Maka offered with no skepticism, only saturated in a curious sweetness that brought a pained smile to Crona's already agony laden face.
"No, I- Clara-"
Maka's smile faltered as she stared in silence through their stuttering.
Crona grasped at fabric on their thighs, raking lines in them with their nails. "Maka, you have to stay away from him."
Her brow furrowed as she slowly shook her head. "You don't get to make that decision. Neither does Clara, though I'm sure she thinks she can."
"No," Crona bemoaned. "You don't understand. You don't know what he is, what he could do-" Frantic eyes darted behind her, scanning for the man in question.
More confusion clouded Maka's mind as the fear seemed to fill the air between them in waves. "Soul?"
Crona jumped before letting the words continue to sputter, "Everyone thinks she wants him just for his money, his name, but he's something else. She knows what he is and what's in his blood and she-"
"Crona, slow down." Maka moved to comfort, a soft hand coming to their arm just in time for them to jerk away again as if her touch were searing. "What does Clara think is wrong- different about Soul?"
"Not Clara," they hissed in a panic. "Mama, Mama wants him because-"
"Get the fuck away from them." The icy spear of a voice shot from behind Maka. She turned to see Soul striding forward, a cold rage threatening a hailstorm as he instantly came between the two. "Crona." It was an invitation for death rather than a greeting.
"Hold on," Maka hushed Soul harshly as she bumped an elbow into his gut, instantly deflating the growl that wanted to follow from him. "Crona, are you trying to-"
"No," Crona shook their head quickly as they took a step back. Innocent, trembling hands started to reach up to placate between them. "I- I was wrong. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry. S-Soul, Clara wanted me to-"
"Shut up," Soul snapped.
"But, please, you have to listen," Crona begged. "She just wants you to come-"
"I ain't," he spat harshly. "You can tell her-" I'll talk to her tomorrow. I'll probably have to beg on bended knee like a fuckin' fool. I'll marry her like a fuckin' fool. "If you know what's good for you, you'll tell her you didn't see us at all."
"Soul," Maka chided at the threat.
A weak warble of a whine came from Crona's throat.
"Crona, if something is going on- if you're scared of the two of them, you can talk to us." That came with a quick glare at Soul, hushing anymore of his opposition.
"Why would I ever be scared of Mama?" A decrepit smile ached on his cheeks, a bearing of teeth that hadn't held joy for years. "J-just, Soul needs to see Clara, that's all, but I won't- I swear I won't tell her you two were together."
Soul sucked his teeth, only to receive another prod to the stomach from Maka's elbow. "He doesn't hafta," Soul hissed out towards the night and under his breath.
"Crona-" Maka started but they were already on a backwards trajectory, eyes fluttering back and forth between the darkness behind them and her pleading face. "Just wait-"
Soul grabbed her shoulder, stopping her forward step and letting Crona scamper back into the night. "Don't bother."
"Why not?" Maka couldn't stop the accusation, especially as her memory replayed the fragility and fear on Crona's face.
"Whatever he said," Soul whispered low through a jaw so tight his teeth could snap, "comes from his Mama. You know we can't trust her, and that means we can't trust him."
"Soul, he was scared," Maka urged. "Didn't you see that?"
"Sure, but-"
"Let's get a move on, lovebirds," Nana Rung cooed, making Soul scutter a step away from Maka.
"Mama," Kilik tried to scold her but it lost all its strength as a low laugh rumbled from him.
Soul had no pockets in which to shove his hands, instead adopting a still cross of his arms at his chest. "Nana Rung, you got some nerve," he muttered.
"What'd you say, boy?" She smirked over her shoulder at him.
"I said, 'ain't we done yet?' This bag weighs a ton and I think those two are about to overdose on sugar." Soul waved a casual hand at the buzzing children as he caught up in step with the Rungs. His hand searched back, finding Maka's cloak and tugging her between Kilik and himself. "And look at Reggie. Out like a light."
"Alright, alright." Nana Rung waved a dismissive hand at him. "Jus' the end'a this street. Then we'll all go back and figure out the sleepin' arrangements for tonight."
"Reggie should sleep with us!" Kea chimed as he flipped up his mask.
"Yeah!" Lana echoed the sentiment as she moved to tug at Maka's cape. "He'll stay with us, right?"
Maka glanced at Soul.
"Guess so," Soul shrugged off the reply. "Unless he says otherwise."
That appeased the twins, leaving them chattering in joy as they circled the group.
"And you two can take Chi's room," Nana Rung added matter-of-factly. "Unless you can't share a bed?"
Kilik snorted before painfully pressing his lips together to hush the rest.
"Well," Soul started but it fizzled on his tongue. There was a desperate need to look at her but at the same time not, the agony of either choice like ants gnawing under the skin.
But Maka was too busy to notice, just reliving the lines of his palms with Crona's warning echoing somewhere behind.