A slice of life about the small family of Maka, Blair, Crona, and Soul as they compare their past holidays to now.
Soul "Eater" Evans sat in the dark kitchen of his home watching the calendar clock flicker languidly:
December 23rd, 4:37 AM
With his legs stretched out underneath the table, he glanced down to the mirrored surface of his phone before taking a deep breath. A faint sense had him looking towards the hall where a faint difference in the blackness had him asking "Nightmares?"
The young woman sighed softly and flicked on the nightlight; the underpowered illumination only allowed her to see the vague shape of Soul "Not tonight. Are you okay?"
He jerked his chin at his phone "Waiting to call Wes. To tell him Merry Christmas."
She blinked "I didn't hear your alarm."
Chuckling, he said "I had it set on 1." He caught something that vaguely sounded like 'magic ears' which made him laugh under his breath. It was no secret that if he was listening for something, he had the best ears in the house, hands down.
"Why call him so early?"
Soul took a moment to think through how much of his answer he wanted to give "He has a lot of Christmas performances lined up and I don't want to miss my chance."
He felt a warm hand settle on his shoulder "Why so early though?"
Holding the hand lightly he chuckled "Time difference, he's about eight hours behind right now." There was a noise of affirmation before a silence filled the room but, a comfortable one that neither of them minded. As the minutes continued to tick by, Soul stood before telling her "I'll be right back."
"Alright." she acknowledged glancing to the flashing numbers of 4:45. She moved from the kitchen to the living room where the couches offered a softer seat that she hoped would lead to back to dreamland.
Without speaking, he stepped into room before sitting right next to her, his shoulder touching hers. The small shiver that moved through her was a pleasant sensation that led to her resting her head against him even as both of them moved to sink deeper into the couch. She had hoped for sleep but now a question started running around in her head "Soul?" she waited until he grunted "What is it like having a sibling?"
His right hand found her left and they gently wove their fingers together but that did nothing to fight the growing silence. She was scared that she had offended him but before she could apologize, he spoke "It's different for everybody, I know that's a cop out answer but it's true." He waited for the rebuke but when it didn't come, he continued. "Like Fire and Thunder or Liz and Patty, you don't see them apart and I don't think they can even operate without the other. Or…you can be like Azusa and her brother. They don't talk or even mention each other and if you bring it up, they get very angry."
Her voice was a bit sleepier than it had been so when she asked "Why is that?" he decided to humor her.
"Her brother doesn't believe that we actually do anything, he thinks that DWMA is taking advantage of her. He's not stupid, he has a PhD, but he chooses to remain ignorant about what we do. For Azusa, he's denying her very existence."
Then came the next question "What about you and Wes?"
The silence this time was longer but she remained quiet, waiting for him to either tell her or tell her it wasn't her business. A soft sigh signaled his reluctance "It's weird. I love Wes, he's my brother, but he's just so different than me that we start to frustrate each other after a while. I-" he hesitated and chewed on his lip "I can't be around him too long, I get too many comparisons to Wes-he's the light and personable one while I'm the dark loner, he plays music that everyone understands but my music scares people."
She yawned "No matter who Wes is, you're just right for me." although she couldn't see it, she could feel his smile. Slipping unbidden from her mouth was "So is that why you're not big on Christmas?" His breath suddenly caught and she started to move away but his free hand held her in place gently. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder "Sorry."
A calming breath later he replied "It's okay. I guess I should talk about it." She felt his fingers play against hers like piano keys and her heart melted as she realized just how nervous he was "My thing with Christmas is with my parents, obviously it wasn't as bad as your stuff but it was…well, let's just say my parents probably shouldn't have been parents." He was moving nearly restlessly until she started humming lightly, a tune she had heard him play over and over again.
"If it wasn't for Wes and my grandma, I think I would really hate Christmas. My parents saw the season as just more concerts so more performances and more money. The earliest Christmas I remember is when I was seven and on a stage with other kids with some musical talent, my folks weren't there, Wes wasn't there cause he had his own performance, but Granma was." With her head on his shoulder, she could feel his breathing begin to even out from the panicked spike earlier. "After she said how great I did, she rushed off to make Wes' concert. Mom and Dad didn't go to that one either."
Her voice was soft and beginning to slow down as his voice soothed her "That sounds rough. Did you ever have any holidays with them?"
"Not that I remember. After that Christmas they always sent me and Wes across the country so that we could perform for the season while they stayed home. Granma went with me because I was younger but the week before Christmas was hell, I played two three hour concerts a day every day, then one a day until after the new year when I would come home. Never a word of praise, they either ignored me or if I brought it up, they would listen to a tape and critique me."
She swallowed and thought: Death by Fame. It wasn't what she expected from Soul but she could see how that had affected him, he disliked the spotlight, he was a homebody when he could be, and if he played, it was always on his terms. "Did Wes like to perform like that?"
He snorted "No. Wes and I both hated it and the stuffy parties that our folks threw during Christmas. We loved Granma's small casual get togethers with the servants and their families." There was a pause and his voice was very soft "But after she passed, we never had another one."
She tightened her grip on his hand and let out a bone-cracking yawn "Well, at least here you don't have to be stuffy or do anything crazy for the season."
His response was cut off by his own yawn before she let his words drift away with her consciousness.
Soul woke up with the grogginess that always accompanied unrestful sleep for him. Not understanding why he wasn't able to move, he started to shift only for Maka's voice to turn his head "Hey there. You fell asleep on the couch." Blinking blearily, Soul glanced down to see Blair in her cat form laying on his lap, one eye closed with the other watching him.
Looking at the clock, the flickering light read 8:43 AM and he groaned before trying to get up only for Blair to pout "No! Stay here and sleep some more!"
As he looked at her, Maka giggled and leaned against his shoulder "She's right, you need sleep."
Instead, he asked with his voice rough and soft with sleep "Crona?" Maka took his left hand and squeezed lightly.
Maka smiled at him "Bathroom, she was asleep here with you."
Yawning widely, Soul nodded "I was talking to her when we fell asleep." He turned his head at the sounds of footsteps and saw a sleepy and unsteady Crona stumbling her way back into his side. Blair leapt off his legs to grab a blanket before draping it over the three of them and bounding back to her spot.
Crona was already snoring lightly when Maka repeated "Go back to sleep." Soul didn't fight it this time and within a few minutes he and Blair joined Crona in dreamland. She allowed a very tender smile to cover her face as she watched her little family. Or as Black Star had put it, her "harem" which was an interesting and not totally incorrect term.
She kept her thoughts from going there because she knew that she'd be blushing for hours. Instead, she focused on the differences between her Christmas now and when she was a child. Before she was aware of the trouble between her parents, their holidays were loud and filled with activities trying to distract her from noticing the disfunction but, when she knew about it, all of that took on a bitter taste. After her mother left, her dad tried to make the holidays a happy time but it didn't work between his habits, her own lack of patience with him, and the growing cynicism that Maka had for her mother. It didn't help that her mother seemingly wanted nothing to do with them after the divorce.
Her present was so much different and so much more fulfilling. The quiet wasn't to distract or mask anything and, how slow they took things allowed her to appreciate what she had and the people she had with her. Beyond fighting the unspeakable horrors, the slower life seemed to fit them well, Maka had taken up writing and Soul had more time to write his music. Interestingly enough, Blair and Crona had also taken the time to pick up hobbies, Blair had started designing clothes while Crona had taken to candy making. The Maka of 13 years ago would have scoffed at the idea of slowing down, her dreams of making Soul a Death Scythe running through her head.
Realizing that in her musings she had nearly dropped her book, Maka slid the bookmark between the pages and set it beside her to watch the gentle rise and fall of Soul's chest, the faint twitches of Blair's whiskers, and the faint flutter as Crona's lengthening hair was caught in her breath. The glow of warmth she felt for the trio in front of her was something she would never let go of. After a few more moments of watching over them and making sure they were sleeping well, Maka picked her book back up and dove into the world between the pages.
When it was getting close to noon the sleeping trio started to wake and Maka stood as she told them "I'll make coffee, that should help the three of you wake up while I make sandwiches." There were various muttered and mumbled thanks as she braved the lukewarm room without the blanket. As the coffee maker hissed and rumbled to life, Maka moved around the kitchen with ease to get mugs and the creamer. The overly hot mugs were handed to the trio even as a human Blair complained of having a "cat's tongue" and soon the four of them were again under the blanket eating while the weather played faintly on the tv.
Maka smiled into her mug as she watched Crona giggle at the massive Santa suit that someone had stuffed Sid into, and although she had her suspicions, she kept those to herself. As the four of them had already exchanged presents, the conversation turned from the incoming snow to how they were going to use their gifts. Soul was quiet though, and while that didn't worry Maka, she was curious, that curiosity was answered a few minutes later when he asked hesitantly "I think…I think I'm going to call my brother again. I wanted to ask if you guys thought it would be okay to have him over next Christmas."
Crona immediately responded with "I like the idea; I want to meet your brother." Blair nodded, her attention clearly elsewhere.
Instead of answering, Maka replied with her own question "What brought this on?" her tone told him that this wasn't a 'no' but real curiosity.
He didn't reply immediately. Gathering the dishes, Soul took them to the dishwasher with Maka following him and who continued to follow him through the hallways of their new house until they got to the bedroom. Sitting on the bed, he finally answered "I think I need to talk to Wes about our family. Don't get me wrong, I do want him to meet the three of you and introduce you as my girlfriends, but…I don't want to keep him at arm's length anymore, not when there's no need to."
Maka sat beside him "I'm not sure I understand." she admitted hesitantly.
Chewing his lip, Soul confided "I haven't been good at talking about important things for a long time," he ignored Maka's scoff "but I need to talk to Wes about being in contact with him. After my Grandma died, I didn't really keep in contact and while my parents didn't really care, Wes did. I hurt him because I was petty."
"I doubt it's that simple, I think you needed time to mature. And he probably did too." Maka retorted mildly.
Soul mulled that over before agreeing "Maybe, but I just know that I want to change things, I want to go back to how things were when Grandma was alive but I know I can't so I have to try for something else."
Wrapping an arm around him tightly, Maka whispered "I know you can do it." Then she admitted "I have always wanted to meet him."
He gently squeezed her hand and let the silence settle around them for several minutes before he finally said "Thank you."
Neither Crona, nor Blair, were bothered when Soul and Maka left. The two of them knew that Soul must have been thinking about this for a while and Maka was just there to make sure he didn't talk himself out of a good idea. After a moment of being by themselves, Blair leaned over to peck Crona on the cheek, causing the younger woman to let out a small 'eep' and blush a light pink. Turning to face the cat-woman, Crona asked "What was that for? N-not that I'm complaining! I just-!"
Blair pecked Crona on the lips this time "No reason, just wanted to kiss you." She pretended not to notice the small but extraordinarily happy smile on Crona's face. Blair, by far the more affectionate of the two, leaned into Crona's small frame as they continued to watch tv. The cat-woman let out a soft purr to reward Crona for her bravery in slipping her arm around Blair, it was the kind of thing that the pink-haired girl was working so hard on, these small physical contacts.
Sighing, Crona muttered "When I first met everyone…I was scared of you the most."
"Me-ow?" Blair meowed.
Crona nodded, although she pointedly kept her eyes on the screen "I had never met anyone so full of energy or as vibrant." There was a moment when Crona looked much sadder "Medusa kept me locked away and she was always so blank. Then, in just a few months, I met Eruka, Free, then everyone here in Death City." Giving Blair a gentle squeeze, Crona added "It was an entirely different world."
Blair wrapped her arm low around Crona's waist and squeezed lightly "…Was it worth it?"
"Yes."
Squirming deeper into her pillow's side, Blair said somewhat sagely "Then I don't mind, actually, I'm proud of you for it."
Soul and Maka walked back in, and seeing as how neither of them were scowling, Crona could see the talk went well. Maka sat beside Blair while Soul took the open space near Crona and asked "Well, enough about the far future, you guys think we have enough food for Christmas? Assuming that we'll be snowed in?"
Blair let out a small laugh "No assuming! The weather guy said traveling tomorrow would be rough and that flights on Christmas Day were almost all canceled."
Maka grimaced before questioning weakly "Did he say when it might melt?"
"Um, I think he said something about the 27th being okay?" the cat answered.
Letting out an inelegant grunt, Maka mumbled "Going to have to call Black Star and Kidd…and Papa too."
Soul added insult to injury with "Eh, I don't envy you."
Crona watched the interplay between the three with awe, they were so at ease with how the others would react. She really couldn't fathom that for herself but she knew that the others cared for her enough that they would give her as many chances as she needed-they had promised that the day they started this strange relationship.
Blair noticed and purred just a bit louder into Crona's side. The sound caught Soul and Maka's attention and slowly soothed them, their friendly bickering dying out as the sound took over everything but the forecast. When the meteorologist walked offscreen, Maka took that as the sign to stand up and grab her phone "I'm going to video call Papa, then all of us-yes, all of us, are going to video call Black Star and Kidd." Soul grumbled but the smirk on his face told them he really wasn't bothered.
Taking the news in stride, Crona leaned back into the couch where she had spent more time today than she really intended, and felt Soul's fingers slip around her free hand. She smiled at him while she closed her fingers around his and her smile grew as he started to hum with Blair's purring in the background. It was unfortunate that Maka insisted they move from the couch for the video calls but Crona would admit that seeing everyone, even if only by phone, felt good. These were the people she cared for and who cared for her in turn.
After the calls and being roused from watching tv all day, the group split to do their own things, Crona moved to the kitchen to start making candy while Blair sat at the counter that separated the living room and the kitchen with her sketch pad showing designs and color patterns, and Maka sat at the kitchen table with her laptop. Crona watched Soul a bit more closely, especially after what he had told her last night, as he made his way past the piano to the small keyboard where he plugged in his headphones. Watching his fingers sweep over the keys was mesmerizing but before she could get too dragged into the hypnotic motions, he would stop to write something on the paper beside him. His hobby was the one she understood the least, but she didn't really have to-she just had to listen and let him show her what he was feeling, which was the only way she knew what he was feeling. She and Soul had the same bad habit, it was extremely difficult for them to share their deeper feelings which was why her conversation with him the night before was so different.
Finding Maka and Blair watching her, Crona offered a smile, they knew what she was thinking. As she continued to cook, Crona found herself thinking about how lucky she was. Right before she started folding the rapidly hardening sugar mass. Her grunts of exertion had Blair looking at her warily "What are you making that's putting up such a fight?"
A few panting breaths came out before the cook replied "Candy canes."
Blair let out a whoop of excitement "Yay!" bouncing in her seat the cat squealed "I thought I was missing something Christmas-y and I was right! I forgot candy canes!"
"Want to help me make them?" the cat nearly jumped over the counter to reach Crona before squeezing her in a suffocating hug. After squirming out of the death grip, Crona coughed "I guess that's a yes."
Blair was actually very sympathetic to the situation Crona found herself in, after all, it was somewhat similar to the cat herself. Blair grew up as a cat with no inkling of human holidays and it wasn't until she was much older that she started to be able to use magic and become human. In short, both of them knew nothing of holidays. Both of them also got dragged into the human world by Maka and Soul, Crona from the weaponization of her mother and Blair from her isolation and cat-form.
While Blair did love all three of them, there was a certain kinship of not knowing that she shared with Crona.
Which she was currently regretting as she grunted and hissed while trying to cut the near glass candy. "Is it supposed to be this hard?" she growled. Crona, struggling alongside her, nodded and continued to try and cut her creation with the shears as the futile tink tink of metal on glass filled the air. As much as Blair was tempted to just break them, she shoved those feelings down until their work was done and she felt the small flame of pride in her chest as she stared down at the finished creations.
With a glance at the clock revealing that it was snack time, Crona looked at Blair with what was a failing conspiratorial look and whispered "Hot coco?"
Blair beamed "Yes!"
The next question caused Blair to let out a giggle that roused the other two "Should we put in the peppermint crumbs?" and the pinkette used a broad, sweeping gesture to indicate the mess of red and white flakes scattered around them. Soul peaked over and for a moment before going back to his keys while Maka smiled at them even as her eyes took on a longing look at her empty mug.
"Just let me know how you want to do it." Blair replied to the master chef. While it did take a few minutes, four steaming mugs rimmed and spiced with candy cane crumbs were conjured and distributed. Maka used it as an excuse to stop writing and joined the duo at the counter while singing praises at the creators of the steaming mug.
Blair felt the small grin on her face, the comfort of these people brought that out of her so easily and she couldn't find it in herself to be anything but content with it. Christmas didn't mean anything to her as a cat, now it meant her little family, but not that sappy holiday card type. Her little family meant everything to her.
In her musings, Blair missed Soul putting his things away before drawling "Alright, dinner. What are we having?" What happened next was almost like a game of "Telephone", he looked at Crona, who looked at Maka, who looked at Blair, who looked back at Soul. Soul sighed "Alright then, we can either do leftovers to clear out the fridge for the Christmas leftovers, order takeout, or one of us can cook."
That cat mewled "No leftovers! This would be the fourth day in a row!"
Much more calmly, Maka added "And takeout places are probably closed between the weather and the holidays."
"I-I'd rather not cook…" Crona bravely stuttered.
Soul looked at her with a mix of concern and sarcasm "You've been making candy and coco all day, why would we make you cook dinner on top of that?" Instead of waiting for a reply, the weapon rolled up his sleeves and grabbed an apron before shooing the others out of the kitchen proper. They moved to the bar to watch him and talk.
While Soul was not the best cook, he was good enough for the little family and shortly had pork chops, salad, and stir-fried green beans ready and the voracious crowd fell upon the defenseless plates. After that massacre, the candy canes were next, although, there were many of the hard candies left for Christmas itself. The group again found itself splitting with Maka putting away the dishes and Blair helping while the other two went about their own things.
Maka was not the most perceptive person in the world but she realized that Blair's silence was becoming long "Are you okay?" she asked quietly.
Blinking, Blair did a double take "Oh, yeah, just thinking about how Christmas was as a cat."
Now she was intrigued, Maka inquired "What was it like as a cat?"
Blair shrugged as she continued to dry the dishes "No different than any other day. But I like it now."
Hiding a grin in her chest, Maka retorted "You just like the outfits!"
"Well, you're not wrong!" Blair agreed and they shared a laugh before finishing their chore. Blair found herself gravitating towards their quiet bedroom as she thought, she did like the outfits but she never felt as welcome anywhere as she did with these three. She often went out and did her own things but this group was her home, and as a cat, home and freedom were the two most important things. She hadn't realized how quickly time passed until Soul, Crona, and Maka came in and started getting ready for bed, each of them throwing her concerned looks until she flat-out said "I'm alright, just thinking, nya." The verbal tick was reassuring.
As Crona and Maka continued on with their nightly ritual, Soul sat beside Blair and asked quietly "Everything alright?"
Instead of trying to play it off or trying to distract him, she answered as honestly as she could "Christmas will be quiet this year."
"Is that a bad thing?" his lack of judgement was something that she had found more and more welcoming ever since they met.
Blair mulled it over "As much as I like the festivities, I think I like a quiet day better." His smile looked lazy but she could see the bags under his eyes "Go to sleep Soul, we'll be there in a few minutes." he didn't fight it and when the trio did come to bed, he was already sleeping deeply.
Maka tenderly kissed him on the forehead before they piled onto the bed and curled up around each other. Blair hadn't realized how much she missed the kitten piles of her very earliest days until she entered this relationship and they were near constant things. With the best night vision of the entire group, she waited for the others to fall asleep before planting a small kiss on each of their cheeks even as she could feel her own burn. She was not good with these very intimate displays of deep affection.
As her sleepiness overtook her, she smiled at the group.
Christmas would by quiet this year.
And that was okay.
I know I haven't posting anything in a long time, but between the pandemic, my internship and schooling (graduated this semester with my Master's) it's been really hard to continue writing…although I never stopped so I have like 90 starts of stories sitting on my computer…
Also, I'd like to tell all of you guys some really good news, my good friend OMG Pterodactyls has started a Twitch account under the name polarbearchic, she's really funny and I'm trying to spread the word.
I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season.