Like most of my fics, we're moving towards adult behavior. This just gets only a little scandalous, but get ready.

It was another whirlwind from mission to home base, my predictions coming true as the debrief quickly turned into sideways stares from all of the other females in the room. How Tsubaki had transmitted the information was beyond me but the mental link was formed and Liz and Pattie had joined in the silent interrogation, waiting for Kid to stop his summary of all things that weren't Soul-Maka related. As the last syllable left Kid's mouth, Liz's hand clasped on my wrist, yanking me like a ragdoll to their secret group that was already forming. "Maka Albarn!"

"OK," I caved before the threat even came, lifting my other hand in defeat. "Can we at least get coffee while you all berate me?"

"Oh, and pastries!" Pattie threw her arms around my shoulders, rocking me on my feet but at least eliciting a laugh.

Liz shrugged before waving towards our last straggler. "Tsubaki, let's go."

With all the waiting for Tsubaki, who was still struggling against Black Star's latest issue, I managed to slip from Pattie. "Give me a minute," I threw over my shoulder before moving back to Soul. "Told you."

"Yeah." He tentatively reached out a hand, starting with a grasp at my shirt that turned into a slide down my arm to finish with his fingers tangled in mine. "I'll wait for you at home, I guess."

"No boys club meeting about the big news?" I smirked.

Soul threw a glance between Black Star and Kid. "They know. That's all they need."

"Want to trade?" My look back at the girls offered me nothing more than Liz tapping at her wrist like time was flying so I brought my gaze back to Soul, feeling my breath leave me at the new stare I was getting.

His eyes were roaming over my face but there was contentment there, this settled ease that was usually just cool apathy. "Just… don't be too long, OK?"

"I won't."

He squeezed my hand before releasing it.

"Kiss him and let's go!" Liz blared from behind me.

"Shut up, Liz," Soul practically yelped, the color rising in his cheeks. "PDA is so-" the words stuck to his tongue as I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his cheek. "... Lame," he finished as a murmur. The color was blazing now and he tried to reach for me but I turned away with rushed steps back to the girls.

The giggles were enough to tell me I didn't have to look back, just imagining the dumbstruck Soul shuffling in his shoes until his brain came back online. It felt a little cruel, but it was payback for that easy way he'd let the news spill from his lips before. If he could be brave and show it in words I could at least follow in actions.

To my relief, the focus stayed off of me for the walk, just the normal ins-and-outs of our conversations, the hum of everyday news. That lasted until I had my coffee in hand and my ass hit the seat. "When did you start hating us?" Liz poked an accusing finger my way.

"What?" I blinked innocently over the brim of my cup, blowing on the molten liquid.

Liz narrowed her eyes, giving me about as much forgiveness as she would a kishin. "Maka, you go away with him? Go on a date? Sleep in the same bed as him? Why did we not get the play by play?"

"And how did this just happen?" Tsubaki added to the list of grievances. "Last time you said anything it was to complain he was pulling away and you had no resolve to do anything about it!"

My pride bristled as if it deserved to but I couldn't argue. "So… we've been sleeping in the same bed for a while."

"What?" Liz turned every head in the shop before she reined herself in. "But you weren't together together?"

I let my finger trace the lip of my cup, my eyes drifting gutlessly away. "It was the nightmares for him. I was just soothing, not anything else."

"And that dummy didn't read that clear sign?" Pattie sighed, "Dense."

"Soul's density is not in question here," Liz added another wag of that finger. "But was this actually a vacation?"

"No." I could bring my eyes up, this part of the story steady. "His dad had a stroke. You should have seen him, he was so vulnerable."

"And you took advantage of him in his sensitive state," Pattie raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"I…" The coffee served as an excuse to gather my thoughts, to decide on what truths would cross the table. "It was his mother's idea to go on a date."

"Oh, what is his mother like?" Tsubaki leaned in, always the one interested in the full picture.

"That's so not important," Liz interrupted. "He actually took you on a date?"

"I liked her, maybe a little overbearing, but kind," I added just for Tsubaki, getting an eye roll from Liz in return. "And, yes, we went to dinner and then he, well, kind of walked me to a lake and actually picked me a flower and…" The color was burning in my cheeks and I couldn't help the dreamy little sigh that parted my lips instead of words.

"And…?" Liz demanded.

I leaned on my elbow, using my hand to cover one of my blush painted cheeks. "We kissed."

Tsubaki's hands shot across the table, grasping at my elbow. "He kissed you?"

"I kissed him, but he caught on," I hid my aching grin behind the edge of my cup. There was an obligatory squeal from the group, the echoing of my own joy. I took another long sip, buying myself time for the next thought. Of course, it drifted back to the agony of last night, the dangerous considerations of what I'd meant to do with my body. I could absolutely table it here, offer the idea to them and get honest opinions but it was the end of the night that kept my lips pursed together. Whatever it was, I was supposed to be talking to Soul, the person who knew me often better than I knew myself, my best friend and partner. Every other word after that was swift, short, to the point, giving enough to grant me my freedom and nothing more.

I found him lounging on his bed, headphones on and a foot pumping to whatever tune. He was busy enough that I could manage a shower so I didn't bother to rouse him, just going about the regular hygiene routine. It was a relief to strip away the mission grime and I took my time on each curve and rough spot. Each time my hand came to my skin I thought about the possibility that he would be the next one to touch there, spurring on a temping excitement. I couldn't deny that my first instinct was to let him.

The wandering thoughts followed me out of the shower and into my room, springing up here and there as I slipped on my t-shirt and shorts. I started twisting my damp hair into a braid as I slowly moved back across the hall, finding him exactly as I left him, foot still waving. I knew it was pointless to call for him so instead I grasped his toe on the next revolution, laughing at the way he jumped to attention, swatting away his headphones. "Hey," I managed through my giggling.

"When did you get home?" There was his usual grumpy grumble, the normal reaction from being ripped from his revelry.

"Just long enough to shower." I took another tentative step closer and he sat up to lessen the space, his one hand reaching out and touching at the hem of my shirt. One more step and his hand solidified against my hip. "I, um…"

"You wanted to talk," he murmured as he pulled me another step forward before moving over on his bed, clearing his side for me. "How did it go with the girls?"

I eased myself next to him, my back straight against the backboard of his bed. Soul, always the cool guy, fluffed his pillow and fell back into it, rolled on his side to face me. "They got the story that they wanted from me."

A smirk spread across his lips. "Is it still safe to show my face?"

"Well, I told them I kissed you, so there may be some teasing." I could manage mostly to mirror his smile, the thudding if my heart slowly easing.

His hand came up and slid down my arm, finding its home with his fingers tangled in mine. "Was that part of what you were worried about last night?"

"Last night…" I started but tripped over a sigh, his hand squeezing mine. "Soul, if I got naked now, what would you do?"

Soul choked on the air in his throat, letting out a shaky laugh. "That's… Maka, I would do whatever you wanted me to do." He used his free hand to cover his face for a second, another spurt of laughter leaving his lips. "Look, I'm still surprised by the fact you let me kiss you let alone do anything else."

"But I kind of… I don't know. I was ready to push you."

"Yeah, in a do-or-die moment when you were kind of drunk," Soul shrugged. "That's why I wasn't too into it happening that way." He repositioned himself, sitting up a little more to come face to face with me. "If you want to," he faltered here, trying desperately to stop himself from hard swallowing and failing, "Well, if you want to have sex, we can try that, or you want to just, I don't know, try touching each other for a while or, hell, you want to just kiss, I don't care. We'll start and stop wherever, whenever, just… you love me, right? That's not one of those things you panicked about last night?"

"Soul…" I rolled over, pressing him back into his pillow as I settled my body on top of his. Our hands parted and he moved to hold me tightly around the middle as if I were a flight risk. "I didn't doubt that for a second."

His whisper came right next to my ear but it was still muted as if barely a breath fed it. "I was afraid you'd changed your mind. Like maybe being at my house was some fantasy but coming back here made it too real."

I laughed, sinking a further into him as my face hid against the crook of his neck. "It all still kind of feels like a dream, but I don't want to wake up." Tentatively I let my lips press to the skin in front of them, feeling the hitch of breath in his throat that the kiss created.

"Do that again," he murmured.

"What are you going to do?" I breathed out against his neck, considering his request and how true I'd stay to the original. "And try not to say whatever I want."

"But I want to do what you want," it was a breathy, short complaint. Regardless his hands moved without instruction, slipping under my shirt and gliding up the bare skin of my back. "At least tell me it feels good."

"Better than good." I littered a few more kisses along the cord of muscle in his neck, feeling his fingers flex into my flesh in response to each one. His hand slowed as it rounded my hip, running along my side until it planted, hesitantly running a thumb along my stomach just below my breast. The only answer I could give was to nip at his skin.

He tried to catch the groan in his throat but it was too late. "Shit," Soul let a laugh trickle after it, "That's not fair."

I lifted my head slowly, an amused smile stretched across my lips. "Why?"

"You're supposed to make that noise first," he grinned back. The indecision was gone from his fingers as he smoothed them over my breast, that trailing thumb brushing over the peak.

There was absolutely no way I could play coy, hold back the sound that he wanted as it slid smoothly from my throat, overwhelmed by the heat his touch had created. He swallowed the end of my moan, his tongue languishing against mine. This was the first precipice, right? Those bases that kids talked about: first achieved after our first date and now second just because we were finally allowed to be alone. That thought struck me as funny, as so strangely normal in a life that had been anything but. We'd just killed a supernatural being but I was more concerned over whether or not his hand would do anything to release the pressure he was creating.

I parted us, resting my legs at his sides to straddle him before bringing myself up to sit. He only had the time to prop himself on his elbows to try to get close to meeting me before I tugged off my shirt, throwing it absently to the side. The momentary shock and awe I created, that adorable dumbfounded look on his face, was something I wanted to treasure almost as much as his touch. "Take yours off," I murmured as I got my hands under the hem of his shirt.

"Yeah, OK," he was still blinking, still blushing as his eyes looked over me again. He was a bit slower as if the struggle with his thoughts ruined the fluidity of a task he'd completed a million times. After finally tossing his aside, he grabbed at me, pulling me tightly to his chest and bringing me back down on top of him as he fell onto his back. I was surprised by the pause, the just holding on as his hands had been so eagerly searching just a minute ago. "Maka, this is going to sound so lame," he murmured as his hands started roaming my back again, calloused fingertips skating across my skin perfectly, "but this is… you against me, it's perfect."

I only brought my head up slightly, still leaving most of my chest pressed against his. I just had to see his face, had to let him see my amused smile. "If that's lame, what's the cool thing to say?"

Soul laughed huskily, "I don't think it's possible for me to be cool with your shirt off. And you came in here with no bra on?" He whistled low, letting it trickle off into a laugh. "Yeah, coolness is out the window. I feel… fuck, like a nervous kid right now. Like it's the first kiss and we're about to clank teeth."

"I don't think we will," I whispered as I leaned back in, his lips smooth and gentle against mine. This was a good place to linger, to let his rough hands explore my soft skin. We did that for most of the night, touching and feeling each other's warmth, again sitting on the edge and looking at a sheer drop. As we tried to sleep that night, both of us still seeming restless for obvious reasons, I could only weigh that against the nervousness of the next step. As he slowly fell asleep, his usual spot occupied and his breath heating my neck, I was starting to think that fall looked pretty good.