I took a break from my deep dive into resbang to give this holiday gift to roseyskypeach. Hopefully this tides you all over until I can release my resbang! Special thanks as always to justpockychange for betaing.


Maka had fixed her skirt at least fifty times, trying to avoid letting her hands rest on the keys until she heard the clack of the door. Soul sauntered in with a sigh, his hands shoved in the pockets of his dress pants as his shoulders slouched slightly.

"Maka, seriously?" He waved the note she'd had expressly delivered by Tsubaki, giving it the least likelihood to be intercepted or read without her permission. "One- I told you today was that stupid day that Marie was makin' us dress up for that mock-interview-" he pulled anxiously at his button-down "-and that I'd wanna go home right after class. Two- the music room?" He motioned towards the piano before beginning to untuck his shirt. "Don't tell me you read in some moldy-oldie from the library that-"

Trembling fingers finally came to the keys as she tried desperately to play the tune he'd offered to her all those years ago. Maka got through the first few notes before she felt him, that little bit of his soul washing over her before he sidled up behind her, his chest dipping towards her back. His hands drifted from her wrist to the tops of hers. "Now who the hell taught you that?"

Maka stiffened but she lifted her chin pertly. "I taught myself. There were a few books I used for finger placement and notes, but it wasn't all that hard."

Soul's throaty chuckle buzzed against her back. "Not all that hard since you're not doin' it all that well. First, you gotta relax these fingers." There was a certain beauty to the utter dexterity of those gentle digits, the way they splayed to mirror hers before smoothing them into place. The manipulation was so minute that it had to be the warmth that emanated from him that loosened her from shoulders to the pads that pressed to the keys.

"Better?" She just barely turned her head, only to catch his cheek against hers. Maka could blame it all on his body heat, but it was also the sudden lack of hesitation. Soul was a molecule away from her now, enveloping her for the sake of the lesson.

"Barely," he murmured back. "Now, you should start with somethin' a lot easier than that dumb song." Soul tried to press her fingers into the keys for a different melody but she resisted.

"I wanted to learn that song."

His blustery sigh heated her cheek. "Don't know how the hell you got that far. Not like it's somethin' written down."

She stared down at the delicate curves of his fingers over hers as she almost mirrored his breath. It sort of is, Soul. And that's why I wanted to play it, to show you that I-

His grip tensed momentarily. "You didn't go through my music sheets, did you?"

"Well…" Maka fluttered the word less than innocently.

Soul huffed. "'Course you did." He relinquished his hold on her, back straightening as his hands hovered by her shoulders. "Alright. Fess up. What are you up to?"

She turned, lip already firmly snipped between her teeth.

"Maka," he growled, but her mouth remained the same. He dropped next to her on the bench, hip tapping into hers to move her over enough so he could actually have a spot. "Y'know- sorta thought this was Star playin' a trick on me." Those fine fingers started to move airily over the keys as his smirk came to life.

Maka was mesmerized by the movement, so much so that the word barely warbled off her lips. "Why?"

"Top secret practice," he mocked her all-caps with a rumbling baritone. "Not to mention I sorta might've played a joke on him last week so…" He chuckled at the memory, his head tilted just right that his hair caught a gleam from the light that gave him a halo.

It was moments like this that proved every last bit of that horrifying but still wonderful truth to her: Maka Albarn was a complete and utter goner for her weapon. She let some weak mixture of a sigh and a groan leave her lips, luckily finding it drowned out by the light melody he was playing.

"So, how much longer do I gotta play piano man?"

Until I find my courage. Maka's eye roll fit perfectly there, irking Soul even if it was meant for herself.

A few more tinkling notes of the piano struck her before the fingers on the keys slowly drifted over to hers, covering with a soft clink. "Maka, I'm tired, I wanna get outta this stupid monkey suit, and I'm dyin' for some pizza so just… tell me what's wrong."

She blinked, heat fizzling at her lids against her will. Nothing's wrong, Soul. Or at least that's what I figured out… it's not that it's wrong it's that you… you're so right. "That song was supposed to show me what kind of guy you were."

He chuckled. "Yeah, guess so." His shoulder gently nudged into hers but lingered there. "So, what? You tryin' to rub it in my face that I was some moody, prepubescent, wannabe Satie?"

"Was?" she managed to shoot back while his grin exploded.

"Ah, there she is." His sigh was laced mostly with satisfaction. "Can't be that bad if you're still able to rib me."

"You make it too easy," she murmured. With a hum from the keys, she repositioned her hand, slipping her fingers between his. "I wanted to show you that… I know who you are."

He cleared his throat. "Alright… I mean, I guess I sorta already felt that way so I don't think you had to jump through all these hoops, Maka."

"But it's more than that-" the desperate pleading hit her voice but she sucked in air to press it away. "It's more than that."

"OK…" His fingers squeezed around hers. "I ain't that good at twenty questions."

His shoulder was just the right height that when she tilted her head, her cheek would comfortably rest there. She couldn't tell if the heat was from the blush that she knew was exploding to color every inch all the way to her ears or the thin layer of dress shirt not being able to hide the warmth he always exuded. "I want…" she started in a thin murmur as her heart climbed towards her throat "... I want to be the one who knows you better than anyone else."

The coziness was gone in an instant as Soul stood, leaving the bench empty even though Maka was sure her heart had tumbled out into the space.

"Soul-"

Her panicked call was broken by the echo of moments before as his chest pressed so perfectly against her back. "Then put your fingers like this," he urged softly as he slid his hands under hers in the keys. "Feel that?"

Feel what? Maka barely bit back the shriek since there was no end to the storm of emotions that were churning in her chest.

"Loose. Cool. Not little-miss-perfect wound up." He pressed closer, an embrace that Maka couldn't imagine escaping. His hands now flipped while they formed hers against the keys. "Now, slow down." The order was a beautiful rumble from his chest all the way to her ear. "Can't say I expected any less from the one who wants to run head-first into just about everythin' but… take a breath. Stop thinkin' about where you'll end up, more just where you are in the moment."

With you- purred down every last nerve ending as the melody started.

Soul was leading, but Maka was falling into a gentle place underneath his fine fingers. It was his song resounding off the instrument– or maybe now their song as Maka felt it change under their connection. It drifted between them, around them, all encompassing in the same way that his soul was when it wrapped around hers. Lines drawn between them didn't exist, just interlocking as her heart finally steadied in her chest. The last note petered off into a pleasant hum but he still leaned into her, his cheek only gently sliding against hers.

"You already got what you want," he whispered. "Song or no, playin' or no…" it only took a slight nod before his lips brushed against her cheek just as tender as his whisper. "... you're already that person for me, Maka."