tw: insinuations of assault, continued misgendering of Crona

Maka was thankful for Shelley and her beautifully musical laugh that was keeping Reggie from noticing that she could barely put a sentence together for the little boy. Instead, every time she looked at him she saw his uncle's face, that horrible jagged pain tearing from his throat as he howled at her. His order to "leave" still rang desperately in her ears, barely overpowered by the twittering of the two children.

Joyful eruptions of "Mama, mama, mama" were what finally pulled Maka from her thoughts to see Marie standing, hands on her hips, in the doorway.

"Reggie, darling," Marie started as she moved into the room before dropping down to her knees. "I'm really sorry, but would you mind going back to your house? I need to borrow Maka for a bit."

Reggie nodded slowly before he turned hesitant eyes in Maka's direction. "Can I see you tomorrow?"

"I have school all day tomorrow," Maka murmured, forcing a wavering smile. "Maybe you can tell your uncle to let you call me before bed? And then I can see you Thursday before dinner. If not, definitely Friday."

"Friday," Reggie echoed as his little brows furrowed. He got to his feet, rushing towards Maka to fling himself into her arms. She caught him, a breathless grunt coming along with the impact. "Promise?"

"Promise." Maka pulled in a deep breath, trying to steady her heart as she pressed a soft kiss to the boy's hairline. "Friday. You and me. Bring over some books, OK?"

He pulled away, nodding again before slipping from her arms. "It was nice to see you, Mrs. Stein."

"Same, Reggie. Tell your uncle I said 'hello'..." Marie chimed sweetly but let the rest drift off as she eyed Maka.

Maka refused to meet her gaze as she tried to lean closer to Shelley, exchanging soft chatter with her.

"Maka," Marie murmured. "Hey, are you alright?"

The smile she had pressed into her cheeks wobbled. She tried to form "fine" but her throat clenched around it, forcing her to clear it instead.

Marie slid next to her, a hand gently falling to the back of Maka's hair and playing with the ends. "You think you can talk about it?"

She reached for Shelley and brought the baby to her feet, trying to concentrate on the little one's teetering rather than the kind in her heart.

"It's not Wren, is it?" Marie prodded.

Maka shook her head.

She let a sigh drift over her lips before she continued, "You're still the one they call about her though, aren't you?"

A nod came this time as Maka bounced Shelley to encourage soft babbles.

"Blake!" Marie's voice rattled through the house.

After a moment, footsteps hit the stairs. Before Maka could even blink, Blake appeared in the doorway. "What?"

"Take the baby," Marie said plainly.

He didn't bother taking a look at either of them, Marie's tone enough to get him instantly on the move. He scooped Shelley, making her squeal with joy as he pretended to toss her. Rapturous giggles followed Blake out of the room, leaving the two women in a tight silence.

"I noticed Soul didn't come with Reggie…"

Maka sent pleading eyes in Marie's direction, but no amount of begging would dissolve the motherly entreating in those amber ones. "Marie…" She tried to force down all of the cluttered words that had been repeating in her head since that night at the piano, the way the songs he played somberly echoed in her head. "Did you know him before?"

"Soul? In passing, mostly," Marie answered quickly, but when that elicited nothing in reply except for Maka's lips wavering she continued. "Blake didn't seem too interested in him when we moved here since, well… Soul used to wander around aimlessly, like Reggie. The only difference was that while Reggie always seemed interested in the world around him, Soul just looked more lost than anything."

What makes him a 'cowardly bastard' then? Maka had no strength for the accusation, so she let her eyes drift back to the floor rug as she dug in her heel.

"I never formally met Viv either," Marie murmured as she put extra attention into the fingers toying with Maka's hair. "Only to wave at, say 'hello' once or twice in town, or at the chapel when I went."

"The white chapel?" Maka offered quietly.

"Really, it's nothing but a rumor mill," Marie huffed. "I thought religion was about being kind and creating community, but I swear those old biddies only use it as a place to pass around the latest gossip. That and the pastor…" She shimmied her shoulders with a chill. "Seriously gives me the creeps. His father was apparently worse, but again, rumors."

"I've met him," Maka murmured as the relief painted across her mind, the dove's head moving in ticking motions and creating shadows in the candlelight.

"Oh." Marie's hand stopped. "You didn't like him either."

Maka shook her head.

Marie's fingers hesitated before fretting into the back of Maka's t-shirt. "When did you go to the chapel?"

"Not that long ago…" She tried to draw up a lie but the ability faltered as the sadness's grim grip on her heart continued. "I asked Soul to take me."

"To church?" Marie pressed.

Soul said Henry was Justin's father though, so Edward… Edward Law, the white-haired man that burned Suzume- that left Asuka an orphan- who threatened Rhys. "Edward Law- that was the first preacher at the white chapel, right?"She pulled in her legs, letting her chin rest on her knees as she tilted a thin smile towards Marie. "I thought I might find something there, but… I don't know." Her stare was a silent plea, begging for peace and some kind of forgiveness for it.

Marie offered neither. "Edward was the first one I remember. Then his son, Henry, and now Henry's son, Justin." Marie rolled her wrist through the list before sighing. "Edward was undaunted in his faith but Henry took it to zealous levels. Henry was already head pastor by the time we were in high school. Does this have something to do with all that history you've been digging up? I know you were interested in your great-grandmother… You could ask Spirit- his mother used to make him go every Sunday."

Maka's incredulousness didn't diminish in the face of the obvious, so she still balked, "To church?"

"I'm not saying your papa's actually devout," Marie paused to roll her eyes before continuing with gravity, "but he would at least know about Henry if that's what's bothering you about the church. Just be careful- Henry killed himself, so you might be hitting some sore spots if you do too much digging."

Maka's eyebrows popped up her forehead. "When?"

Marie paused to ponder that, counting years and pulling in slow breaths. "Seven or eight years ago? That's when Justin had to become pastor. I did honestly like him at first. He was a bit odd but nothing too outrageous. I thought maybe the apple had fallen far enough from the tree, but then the town was shook up with Viv's death and- unfortunately to a lesser extent- Chi's murder. I guess that must have rattled him to the point that…" She let that trail off with a shrug, no words that could encompass the man at the pulpit.

"He was normal before Viv and Chi died?" Maka prodded.

"Well, 'normal' is a very subjective word…"

Maka rolled her eyes.

"But yes," Marie fed the same sass back to her, "Justin was quiet and mostly kept to himself. If it wasn't time for a sermon, he had his headphones in, off in his own world. But when his father got into trouble, I think it started to shatter all that and once the girls died, it broke him."

"Trouble for what?"

"Oh, Maka," Marie broke to sigh forlornly. "I can't say how much of it is rumor or true, but he had been picking up prostitutes which I suppose is problematic for a preacher but not exactly the worst sin until… one of the girls had been hurt. She had to be hospitalized and that's when it all came out, because what he did to her-" Her lips pursed shut as she shook her head. "Again, rumors."

Maka's fingers moved on impulse until they hit the plastic of her phone case- That's my first reaction, isn't it? I need to tell Soul. I need him to know since all I ever do is ask for his help but now… She withdrew her hand in the next breath. "What isn't just rumors?"

Marie was never one to touch a toe first, instead jumping in headfirst. "You and Soul, I'd say."

In reply, Maka moved her face back between her knees, trying to hide the obvious from Marie.

"You know, Soul reminds me a lot of Franken."

She hiccuped a breath in reply, unable to form a syllable other than the trembling sound just before a sob.

"Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but… smart with things, ideas, but with his own feelings…" Marie finished that with a sigh. "And getting him to admit to anything that isn't completely and utterly overthought is a dream." She twirled a finger in one of Maka's strands as she smiled with that forlorn pain of loving him. "It's just because he'd been hurt so much that the idea of letting himself have feelings, letting them be crushed again wasn't an option he would fathom. You've seen his scars-" Mentioning the crisscross mess of his skin always dammed up her throat and Marie had to take a moment, a breath before she could continue, "And all I've ever wanted is for him to be happy, which I think just scared him most of all."

Maka's watery vision turned to catch a sweet, knowing smile on Marie's face.

"Actually, scratch that- what scared him most of all was the idea he could be happy, so when I tried to offer that to him, that's when he'd say something cold and walk away to brood quietly with a cigarette," Marie finished in complaint. "That's Soul- just minus the cigarette."

Maka shook her head slowly, a tear trembling loose down her cheek. "I don't think I make Soul happy."

"Oh, baby," Marie crooned as she reached both hands to cup Maka's cheeks and clear away the fresh stains there. "You're just like you always are- a light for those around you. You definitely brighten my world, Franken's, your father's, your mother's-"

She shuddered through another shake of her head.

"Don't do that." Marie caught her chin, stopping the motion. "The most I ever saw of that boy was a wave down the lane, but I've heard things from Franken about the weight Soul carries around on his shoulders and the way he insists that only he has to." She let her fingers drift up to tuck a tendril of hair behind Maka's ear. "Until you came, Maka. Sure, he's taken some of your burdens, but he's also let you have some of his."

"I pushed him too hard- I screwed it all up…" Maka murmured.

Marie laughed softly before she shook her head. "Maybe you feel like that, but something tells me it's a bump in the road. Soul's not like he was." Her eyes suddenly misted, leaving Maka blinking at her inquisitively. "I… I remember the day it happened."

Maka's heart clamored in her chest and for a moment, it was the only sound she could hear, filling up Marie's silence until she could break it with her own voice, "When Viv…?"

She nodded. "I was in the kitchen with Blake at the table, and Franken was in the office. I'll never forget that scream." Her pause was filled with a heavy, painful breath. "I guess the first few were him screaming her name, but it's not like we were actually close enough to hear it. With the windows open it was like a howl- like someone was skinning an animal alive. I had Blake run for Franken and I… it didn't make a difference when any of us got to him. Franken put his coat over Viv, and Blake had to grab Soul to keep him from clawing it off. Both of them… they held him but it took both of them. Even then, he screamed himself hoarse."

"Marie…" Maka reached for her, folding her hands in the other woman's.

She shook her head quickly to toss away Maka's worry. "I thought that I watched Soul die that day. I was sure that all that aimless walking would be the rest of his life because he looked so broken, but you, Maka- you have to realize you changed that. I know he's well aware of it."

Maka's lips pursed over a useless argument.

"The boy even had the nerve to sneak into my house to see you after I threatened him," Marie finished with a laugh. "So give yourself a break. Sometimes there are things you can't fix- that's it up to the other person to do. Give him time and he'll realize that." She reached for Maka again, pulling the younger woman back into the safety of her arms.

Blake had the baby by the back of her overalls, leaning slightly so the little legs to reach the ground and toddle along. Originally the movement was aimless, simply wasting time as Maka and Marie had what he assumed would be a tearful mother-daughter bonding moment, but as soon as Blake spied that mess of raven hair still dawdling at the edge of the woods he started to move with purpose in that direction. "Hey, Reg, what're you up to?"

Reggie huffed as he dug the toe of his shoe into the dirt. "I don't want to go home."

"Why?" Blake filled Reggie's glum pause with a swing of Shelley, earning him a peal of laughter.

"Uncle's sad," Reggie spat dejectedly.

"You tell Maka?" Blake offered coolly.

"I think-" Reggie peeked around the woods for a moment before stopping to study Blake. "It's a secret, Mr. Star."

"So?" Blake shrugged off the statement easily. "You can trust me with secrets. I didn't tell your Uncle you were watchin' that day or about the deal we made. I can keep my mouth shut."

The rustle of insects filled Reggie's pause as his worrying hands worked into the hem of his shirt. "I think I asked Maka a question I wasn't supposed to," Reggie sighed out mournfully. "So maybe that made them both sad because Maka wasn't right today either."

"Wasn't you, Reg," Blake corrected quickly as he sunk down to his knees. "No matter what you said to Maka, if they're both sad, it wasn't you. I can promise you that." He scooted Shelley into his lap, ignoring the frustrating mewling from the baby at being wrangled.

"I don't know, Mr. Star…" Reggie's eyes drifted to the ground again, focused on the dirt at his feet.

"I'm never wrong." Blake hooked a finger in between the buttons of Reggie's shirt, moving him a step closer. "Hey, look at me."

Reggie raised his eyes hesitantly.

"Not your fault," Blake intoned each word sharply. "Got it?"

He nodded.

"Alright." Blake shimmied the button slightly as he gave Reggie a grin. "So, you want to hear my plan?"

"Plan to fix it?" The boy's eyebrows lifted hopefully.

"Plan to get those two idiots to fix their own mess," Black corrected.

"It's not nice to call them that," Reggie grumbled.

Blake entirely ignored that, continuing with tired certainty, "I swear, Reg, you and me, we have to make sure those dummies don't screw this up." He rose to his feet, planting Shelley on his hip as he offered Reggie his hand. "Let's go to the shop. I think I still have some of those popsicles left in the freezer. Once we finish those, we've got a phone call to make."

Reggie dutifully took Blake's hand, letting him start the journey towards the gator shack. "Mr. Star, who are we going to call?"

"Well, you got all those numbers memorized, right?" The bit of pride in Blake's voice perked Reggie further, bringing a smile to those little lips.

"Yup! I have Granmama's, Papa's, Uncle's, and even Maka's!"

Blake let out a long, impressed whistle. "Well, we only need your papa's. You have a usual time you call him when he's gone?"

"We always talk before bed when he's away." Reggie's smile fizzled to a line.

Blake squeezed their connected hands. "Your uncle with you when you talk?"

"No, Uncle put an old phone in my room. Not the kind you keep in your pocket." Reggie started to swing his free arm, looking up at Blake expectantly. "Are we going to call Papa?"

"No, you are," Blake laughed. "We're just gonna practice what you're gonna say."

"After popsicles?"

Blake grinned. "As many as you want."

Maka wrapped her sweater tighter around her as she exited the front door. She turned her head over her shoulder to see Marie at the window, throwing her one last wave before moving down the stairs and onto the lawn. It was then that the headlights started far up the lane, and Maka paused at the edge of the carriage house to examine the car as it drove up the gravel driveway of the Evans household. Her heart lurched as she tried to see the outline of the car she wanted, to catch a glimpse of white hair in the driver's seat but it instantly fizzled away at the realization that it was nothing but an intruding vehicle.

She turned then, abandoning hope and trying to urge her feet back to her house. By the time she reached the first step, she heard the door slam, pausing at its nearness. Maka stared out into the darkness, watching the avenue between the two houses with breath stuck in her lungs.

"M-Maka?" The timid voice turned the corner before the body did.

"Hi, Crona," Maka suffused that with enough pleasantry to get Crona to take a few more tentative steps towards her, now illuminated under the porch light. "You were driving up to the Evans house, weren't you?"

"Y-yes," Crona trembled out. "Clara sent me since, well, she's still mad at Soul, so…"

Maka forced a smile. "It's nice of you to do that for her, but I'm not sure-" Soul will be in any mood to hear it. But I'm saying that as if I know. As if I've heard from him since… "Well, it's nice of you anyway. But now you're here because…?"

"Oh, I-" Crona worried fingers into their elbows, clenching at the fabric of their jacket. "I don't know. I saw you and I thought… you looked sad. I wanted to stop by."

She let out a trembling breath, adding an ounce of life to her smile. "That was sweet of you. I appreciate you checking up on me."

"Well… are you?" they probed shakily, their voice cracking with the force of exertion.

I was happy, her heart whispered mournfully. I was so happy with them- with him. I forgot what it was like to be lonely, to feel the weight of being by myself, but now… "How about a secret for a secret?"

Crona took another step, letting the light show the start of a weak smile on their face. "I- I can try that."

Maka wrestled with the words, her heart bleating at the honesty. "I haven't been this sad since I had to leave my mama."

Their eyebrows ticked upwards. "Why?"

"You first," Maka murmured as she slid her arms around herself, holding the painful wound those words made. "Tell me a secret."

"I…" Crona's grip tightened, the fabric straining in their fingers. "I didn't want to come here. Clara doesn't- she doesn't ask though, she tells."

"Like your mama?"

Their grin twitched sickly. "Secret for a secret, right?"

Maka snorted weakly. "Alright. I'm sad because… sometimes I'm so stubborn I can't see that I'm wrong- that I'm hurting someone. I just think I know best and…" She shrugged limply to finish.

Crona let the cricket chirps creep in for a moment, glumly watching as Maka pulled in another slow breath. "Mama knows everything." Their voice was nothing more than a trembling whisper but their shaky grin was starting to grow. "She even knows you and Soul had a fight."

"What?" Maka eased a step back as one of her hands reached into her pocket and clutched her phone.

"I- I think you're nice, that's why I told you." Crona took another step, closing the gap that Maka had started to create. "I told you he's different and Mama- she's not going to stop." Their voice was now somewhere between pleading and delirious as their hands started to outstretch towards her. "It's better that this happened- really- so don't be sad. Don't worry anymore because as long as you're not with him, you'll be fine."

No, Maka's mind bellowed back. What kind of 'fine' is that going to be? Not hunted by a witch but haunted by- by how much I love him.

Crona crept forward, the light starting to disappear behind them to cloud a face with an unearthly grin.

Tinnitus seemed to echo from his ears to his heart, moving Soul's feet out the front door before his mind could offer a rational explanation as to why. As he started a few steps on the gravel, he caught sight of Blake with a sleeping Shelley in his arms meandering with Reggie at his side. "Hey," Soul called to them. "Reggie, it's awful late."

"I was having fun with Mr. Star!" Reggie's blue tongue spoke the rest as Soul let something close to an unencumbered sigh leave his lips.

"Thanks," Soul directed towards Blake.

"I'm gonna assume there's no sarcasm there." Blake grinned widely as he dropped his attention to Reggie. "Go in and brush your teeth so your uncle doesn't kill me."

"Good night, Mr. Star!" Reggie knocked into Blake's legs, giving him a quick hug before zooming up the steps.

Blake waited for the clap of the door before dropping his smile. "What'd she do?"

Soul's tongue snapped against his teeth. "Ain't her."

"Then I gotta feed you to the gators?" Blake offered with a hardening in the line of his lips.

He squeezed air through his teeth, trying to expand his lungs enough for the answer. "Maybe I wish you would."

"Dude, that's pathetic," Blake huffed. "Y'all have one fight-"

"Wasn't a fight," Soul corrected with swift misery. "It jus'- it's better this way- better that I don't hurt 'er."

"If this is that damn curse again," Black rumbled.

"My family is my curse," Soul muttered weakly. "It ain't fair. None of it's fair, to 'er, to Reggie-" He snapped off his misery as his eyes snapped down the lane. The car that had been inching up the drive had stopped. "Y'all expectin' someone?"

Blake followed Soul's glare, catching the headlights as they snapped off. "Your driveway."

"But they stopped at your house," Soul corrected with a snap.

The other man narrowed his eyes, trying to find fine details in the darkness. "Don't know that car."

Both men stood in silence for a moment, watching for renewed life from the vehicle. They moved shoulder to shoulder as the dark stillness started to wear on them both.

"Gimme the baby," Soul rasped.

"You're really not gonna go," Blake muttered as he slipped the sleeping Shelley into Soul's waiting hands.

"I don't deserve to," he muttered back. "I'll get Shelley back to Marie. Jus' make sure Maka's alright."

Blake took a few quick strides forward before turning sharply. "Now you call her by her fuckin' name?"

Soul let out a bitter laugh. "Didn't stop me from fallin' in love with 'er, so I suppose it was stupid to begin with."

Blake's only reply was his back, a huff of a laugh drifting off into the night as he stalked down the lane.

He watched the other man go, finding that the movement didn't decrease the pull in his own heart, that echoing call that seemed to come from her. Instead, Soul looked down at the sleeping baby, unaware of the loss of Blake. "Think your mama will skin me alive? Or maybe she'll follow through with that guttin' she promised." Another pained laugh left him. "Guess it wouldn't matter- deserve either of 'em if I can't-" The idea drowned in that anxious buzz, the hum of his need to be near her.

She's pretty, ain't she?

Pouty, cupid-bow lips.

Soft, blonde hair.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

It was an oily, black voice in the back of Crona's mind, a devilish cooing that echoed the darkness with just a hint of their mother's lilt.

Didn't your mama say to be nice?

To get close.

To prove you're a man.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

Crona slapped their palms against their thighs, nails biting into the skin as they fought back against the motion forward.

Why not give in?

Soul's not here.

Nothin' to be afraid of.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

"I'm sorry!" they mewled as they took a shaky step back, their legs collapsing and bringing them to a hard seat on the ground.

"Crona…" Maka effortlessly tossed any worry from her mind, watching as the fragile thing writhed on the ground in fear. "It's alright, let me help you." She made the space between them disappear, both hands reaching down for aid.

"Oi!" Blake's call cut through the darkness but not Maka's purpose, leaving her still reaching and connecting with Crona despite the worry lining Blake's steps. He was instantly next to her, one hand on her arm as if to brace the pull. "What's happenin' here?"

"Nothing," Maka chided softly as she instantly gave Crona the spotlight again. "Really, Crona, are you alright? There's nothing to be scared of, I promise."

"Drove up the wrong driveway if you're here to see Maka." Blake's tone was as flat as his lips, no grin to chase away the cold. "Soul wasn't expectin' you either, so maybe you should move on."

"He was being nice," Maka snapped. "And-" You were with Soul? Just now? She just reined in the roll of her eyes at those shrill questions that so frantically wanted to spill off her tongue. I sound so desperate, so pathetic! "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you had the baby?"

"Soul's got her. No big deal," Blake muttered as he jutted a chin towards the carriage house.

White hair was easy to spy in the darkness as Soul stopped at the foot of the porch at the carriage house. In a flash his eyes were off them, slowly plodding up the stairs with the sleeping baby in his arms. Maka only let her mind settle on that for a moment, fluttering back to their connected hands and Crona's wavering. "Maybe you should just go home, Crona. You don't seem like you're feeling well either."

"I- I'm fine," they murmured as they jerked their hands away as if from a flame. "I didn't mean to bother you, so I'll just- I should go."

"You should listen to her." Blake didn't relinquish his hold on Maka's arm, instead slipping his hand down into hers. "Can't say I think Soul's in any mood to talk to you, and I bet he's gettin' an earful from my mom right now. Maybe another time."

"Oh, sure, alright," Crona squeaked before taking a step in retreat. "G-good night, Maka."

"Good night-" Maka barely had the words off her lips before they'd disappeared into the darkness, nothing more than shuffling feet in the night.

Maka twisted her wrist, showing off their tangled fingers. "What's this?"

"Nothin'." Blake didn't release her, just forced out of the awkward angle to let their connection easily rest at his side. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Maka whispered out in a sigh. "He's convinced something's wrong with Soul."

"What isn't wrong with Soul?" Blake snickered back.

She shot him a glare but Blake laughed in the face of it, urging more hissing from her. "Like seriously wrong."

Blake was losing all composure as a wide grin took up his face. "Again-"

"Crona said Soul was 'something else' and that something's in his blood. I think- I think Crona's just hurting like Mama."

"You can't save everyone," Blake grumbled and tugged at her hand. She was now in range for him to drop their grip and snag an arm around her shoulder. "Stop takin' in every fledgling that falls out of the nest. You already got at least two and one's got his feathers ruffled."

"Please don't," Maka muttered, knowing that no matter the volume she was simply inviting more.

Blake turned his head towards her, puckering his lips as he leaned closer. The words warbled mushily through his pursed mouth, "I mean, from what I heard from Kilik, you two were awful close to-"

"Nothing happened!" Maka slapped an open hand against his face, pushing it away. "And it's not like he wants to kiss me anyway."

He started to cackle as he cleared her hand away and waggled it at the wrist. "And that bothers you! Never thought I'd see the day when Maka Albarn would be bothered by the idea that a boy doesn't want to kiss her. Hell, I haven't wanted to kiss you for twenty years and-"

"It's fine." She tried to add some stinging finality to that but it only needled her heart instead. It's not fine. I don't feel fine, and every time I think of him, I know it's not fine. I pushed him too hard because I…

"Earth to Maka," Blake blared as he tapped a finger to her temple. "Look, clear the air. Soul's a cool guy. He's not gonna be a dick about it, and once you say it, let it out in the open, you'll get over it."

Wrinkles erupted on her forehead as she toyed with her lip. "It's not even about that…" I forgot all about kissing him- being with him. I was too focused on being right.

"Shut up the head talk," Blake barked with a rattle of her shoulders. "Tell him. Get it over with. Then the three of you can go back to being Soul, Eggie, and Maka like always."

Her frown softened as she eyed him. "You know you could add yourself to that list."

Blake sucked his teeth before erupting into a laugh. "You wish I was part of that list. I'm above that list, I'm over that list!" He stopped his steps just in time to give her a push. "Listen, I'll go in there, smooth things over with him-"

"No," Maka spat. "You will not."

"Suit yourself." Blake tossed his arm off of her as he shrugged. "But I think he'll forgive you if you give it a shot. Don't run scared."

"I'm not-" Maka huffed as she clasped her hands momentarily over her face before running them through her hair. "Please, just don't get in the middle."

"Me?" Blake tossed over his shoulder with as much innocence as he could manage as his strides started him for the carriage house. "Sorry, I'm a little too busy to bother with your lame problems."

Maka watched him go with a sigh. "Somehow I don't believe you."