Sorry for the wait! It's been one heck of a month for me. I promise that I'll try to update chapter 7 as soon as I'm able!
I know this one's pretty short, but I couldn't find a better place to cut it off.
I hope you enjoy it regardless!
K.T.
Chapter Six: Chocolate This, Chocolate That.
Maka turned to continue through the doors, Soul forced to follow after her. He had expected for her to want to play a few rounds at least. Feisty little beasty. She always seemed to surprise him. They reached the next pair of doors as Maka silently admired the different furniture pieces scattered about the hallway.
"Alrighty! What does the young lady guess to be behind door number two?" he asked enthusiastically, holding his invisible mic up once again.
"It has to be another ridiculous room ... " she said thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. She looked to Soul as his eyes bore into hers, making her shiver slightly. Was it getting colder in here? Maybe he didn't heat this floor as much? Why was she suddenly beginning to feel so hot? Wait. Wasn't she just cold? She shook her head to focus.
"I'm going to guess ... an arcade room." She pointed at the door in a gesture of enthusiasm. Soul smirked and opened the doors to reveal a small movie theater.
"So close." He shook his head in mock disappointment. "I can't believe you didn't guess movie theater."
Maka looked on in amazement until a saddened look overtook her features. "What's wrong?" he asked. Was she sweating?
" ... does this mean no chocolate?" Soul chuckled and moved into the room, walking her down the middle aisle to pass four rows on each side of them. He stopped in front of the large screen.
"Ohhhh, I suppose I could give you more chocolate," he joked, catching her pull at the front of the hoodie she was wearing and began fanning herself.
"Score." She smiled up at him before turning to take in the theater. Four big, comfy, black leather recliners lined three rows on either side of her. There were three aisles, one in the middle and one on each outer wall. The floor was a smooth dark pavement with swirls and some sort of coating, giving it a more elegantly rustic feel. She liked it. It was practical and could be cleaned easily. "What"s behind the curtains in the back?" she asked, pointing to the back left.
"Popcorn machine, small refrigerator, and snacks. Didn't want the light shining during the movie," he explained. She simply nodded as she made her way back up the aisle toward the projector. She loved watching movies, but she preferred to read books. It aided the mind in developing an imagination.
"Can we watch a movie later?" She was looking over the buttons on the projector, her small fingers tracing over it lightly.
"Don't see why not. I might even make us some real popcorn, if I'm feeling generous." A wiggle of his eyebrows and a snort later, they were leaving the room. There wasn't much to look at in a dark room meant for movie watching.
Before they could make it to the next pair of doors, however, Maka failed in holding back a rather loud sneeze. Soul nearly jumped out of his skin at the unexpected noise, clutching a hand to his chest.
"Jiminy Pete, smalls! You okay?" Soul turned to her after making sure his heart hadn't raced down the hall from fright.
"Yeah, yeah," she sniffled. "I'm fi ... fiiiaa-achoo!" She would need a tissue soon. "fine," she finally finished.
Soul crossed his arms over his chest as he observed her, she was looking a little more flushed and sweaty than she had a minute ago, her body had begun to shake slightly, and he could almost hear her heart beating.
"You sure? You're not looking so good."
"I'm fiiine." She waved him off, bringing her arms up to hug herself. "Just a little cold. Now, what's behind door number ... three?" Maka moved to the door and turned to hold the invisible mic up this time. "I believe it to be ... " she paused for effect, "an arcade room!" she finished, opening the doors herself. Low and behold, it was, in fact, an arcade room.
"Yes!" She brought both arms up over her head only to bring them back down. Was the room spinning? ... Nah, she was probably just imagining things. She turned to Soul, a large smile spread across her face. "That's two for me."
"Well, that's not fair." She was definitely sweating. He could see her face glistening in the arcade lights. Though her sparkling attitude made it appear as if she was okay. "I have nothing to guess!" Should he ask her? Did she even realize she was sweating so profusely?
"More chocolate for me." She stuck her tongue out at him and began walking around to see what games he had.
"Do that again and I'll grab your tongue," he threatened, pointing a single digit her way.
"I'd like to see you try." Maka walked passed an air vent, feeling some cool air, and backtracked, nearly running into Soul.
"Watch it, ittzy bitzy. If you're not careful, I might plow you right over."
"Oh, pish posh, a ginormous rex like you isn't much of a threat; definitely a herbivore." If he was going to play the name game, so was she, and she was going to win.
"Meat eater, actually," he whispered before being lightly elbowed in the lower abdomen for his purposefully perverted joke. Okay, he deserved that. He watched as Maka seemed to enjoy the air vent until it began to produce a heated breeze, forcing her from bliss as she quickly stepped out of its range. They continued to move through the room, looking at old games from their childhoods and new ones yet to be conquered, stopping occasionally to rant or bicker about a particular game.
"You have so many of the good ones."
"Yeah, I'm a collector, as you can see." Soul had been keeping an eye on her. She was having sneezing fits for no reason and would then brush it off. She would stop and look disoriented when she turned too suddenly. She seemed to be having hot and cold flashes, going from sweating like she was in the Sahara, to shivering like she was outside in that blizzard. Maybe she was sick? It could be a possibility. She had almost frozen to death only a couple days ago.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, worry evident in his voice and features. Maka looked up at him from the Pac Man game she was playing.
"I'm fine, Soul. Really," she answered, turning back to the game. After dying, she began to walk back towards the door. "Next room!" He simply sighed and followed her, hitting the lights on his way out. He closed the doors and they started making their way to the next set of doors. He wasn't all that sure he wanted to let her into the next room. He preferred people not see it. It was more of a private hobby than an entertainment room for when friends came over. Soul was consumed in thought, weighing the pros and cons until Maka halted and began to sway back and forth in front of him.
"Maka?" Soul's right hand came up to the small of her back as he looked down at her. She was sweating again, more than she had been. Her face was red and he could feel the heat radiating off of her through her clothes. "You don't look so good."
"I don't feel ... so good," Maka finally admitted, almost collapsing onto the floor before Soul caught her.
"Maka? Maka! Can you hear me?" Soul gently lowered them both to the ground to examine her. Did she just faint?! She did! She fainted!
Soul scooped her up into his arms and rushed back downstairs to his living space, careful of the stairs and doorways. He strode into his bedroom and laid her down, checking her pulse. Her heart was racing and she was burning up. Soul pulled her damp tresses from her face, using one of his own hair ties to put it back and proceeded to wrap her up in all of the blankets he could find. He went to the bathroom and grabbed some rags and left them on the bed as he went to get a bowl of hot water. His mother had always taught him that it was better to sweat it out than to cool down the body. Using cold water only made the healing process longer. Using hot water would help the body to continue sweating, but somehow make the patient feel colder. He didn't know how it worked, but it did.
He began to soak a rag and put it on her forehead. Her face was overtaken with pain and he reached to feel her hand, which was extremely cold compared to the rest of her body. He then uncovered her feet to check the appendages. They were also cold. He went and microwaved some heating packs, bringing them back and placing them around her feet and hands, wrapped in blankets so they wouldn't burn her.
"S-Soul." He turned up to look at her quickly.
"Yes, Maka, what is it?"
"I'm really hot."
"I know … but it'll be over soon," he assured her, a hand resting on her shoulder.
"I'm thirsty."
"I'll get you some water." Soul got up and almost ran to the kitchen. When he returned, glass of water in hand, he helped Maka drink the cool liquid, holding her head up as she gulped it down greedily.
"Thank you." She soon fell back to sleep as Soul rubbed up and down her arm.
"No problem."
He continued to monitor her condition, changing her wet rag every so often and reheating the heating packs. She was sweating a lot, tossing and turning, grumbling in her sleep. After about the third time she had awoken for water and fallen back to sleep, Soul was beginning to feel a bit drowsy. He fought the urge to close his eyes, but sleep soon won, overtaking his large body.
When morning came, Soul found himself lying next to Maka on top of the covers. As consciousness brightened his memory of the incidents from the day before, he sprung up onto his hands and knees, hovering over her. He brought his hand up to her face, knowing the extent of her fever before contact could even be made. She was burning up, heat radiated off of her in thick waves. Strained was her breathing, as she seemed to gasp for air, and sweat trickled down the sides of her face. Her body trembled, still feeling the coolness as it raked over her even through the layers upon layers of blankets. Soul sighed. He couldn't do much for her in this condition. There was no way to get her to a doctor with the weather being as it was, and he sure as hell had next to no knowledge on how to take care of someone who was this ill.
Soul resolved to continue pumping her with liquids and vitamins when she awoke, all the while keeping her warm and comfortable. He brought the new bowl of water to rest on the floor next to him and Maka, ringing the wet rag to wipe the sweat away. He had also reheated the heating pads and placed them around her, which seemed to bring down the number of times she'd shiver in a minute. Maka had come in and out of consciousness, Soul making sure to keep her hydrated. Just when he'd thought that she'd cooled down, her temperature would begin to rise again, making her whimper with discomfort.
The poor girl - err, woman - she had already suffered through almost freezing to death and now she was burning up to ungodly degrees. He couldn't feel more sympathetic than he already did. How unlucky.
After awhile, Soul heard a phone ringing in the distance, which he knew to be his office phone. Quickly looking over her to make sure she was okay, he swiftly left the room to catch the phone before it was sent to voicemail. Just in the nick of time, he grabbed the receiver before what could have possibly been the last ring.
"Hello, this is Sullivan Evans," he answered.
"Oh, good! Soul, this is your momma," an angelic voice all but sang from the other side of the line. "Just checking to make sure you're alright! I saw the weather on the news the other day and decided to see if I could get a hold of you!"
"Yes, thank you for calling. I apologize I haven't been in touch lately, mother. The electricity has been going in and out, messing with everything."
"Oh, that's awful! What about your personal backup generator?"
"It kicks in about five minutes or so after the power goes out. Now that you mention it, I should go check on that to make sure it'll work again." Soul wrote himself a small note, telling him to do just that. The city electric had to be working at the moment, otherwise, the call wouldn't have gone through, but it was better safe than sorry.
"So, what have you been up to, Soul my sweet?" his mother inquired. Should he tell her about the small woman he had saved? How he had some stranger sick in his bed? He thought over his answer for a moment, deciding it best not to mention Maka for the time being. He had a hunch that mommy dearest wouldn't be too awfully happy about his overly gallant behavior towards a woman he didn't know.
"Nothing much." Other than saving lives. "The weather doesn't allow for walks."
"Well, be sure to stay active. Don't just sit around listening to Jazz while drinking that dreadful black coffee you like so much. Honestly, I don't know where you get it from." Soul chuckled. His mother probably had the largest sweet tooth of anyone he had ever met, next to his father. He briefly wondered if Maka had a sweet tooth or if she just liked chocolate. Speaking of Maka…
"Okay, mom. I gotta go. I have a, uh, phone meeting in a bit," he lied through his teeth, making an uncomfortable shiver run up his back. Lying to his mother was something he had become unaccustomed to after his rebellious teenage years.
"Oh, alright. Call me more often! I'd like to hear more from you."
"Will do, mother. Talk to you later."
"I love you!"
"Love you, too. Mhm, bye-bye." Soul waited for his mom to hang up first and then set his receiver down in its rightful place. He stood for a moment more before shaking his head, leaving his office to go check on the sick stranger in his bed.
Soft Jazz could be heard dancing with the smell of coffee through the air, a light tapping sound trying to cut in. Soul sat at his office desk, looking over files upon files that had been sent to him over the past few days. Surprisingly, he had completely forgotten to do any work after he found Maka, leaving him buried in mountains of paperwork. He was the owner of a big multi billion dollar company after all.
He sat at his desk, adorning a pair of glasses meant for nothing more than to simply keep him focused. He had on a large, comfortable grey shirt with a baggy black jacket and dark blue jeans, his feet kept warm by grey socks and his black house slippers. He had the same thin black headband on his head to keep his unruly hair at bay so that his eyes could function properly without distraction.
Soul finished reading a document about the production of their new product or something rather before his currant orbs drifted to the time on his laptop screen. It had been almost a half hour since he last checked on his guest, so he removed the elegantly masculine black frames from his face, rubbing over his eyes into the bridge of his nose as he stood. He moved around his desk, grabbing his empty coffee mug, and proceeded through his bedroom quietly to the kitchen. He set the mug on the counter, started a new batch of black coffee, and walked back to his bedroom where he found a ball of messy blankets had disappeared. Worry shot to his stomach and back up his chest.
"Maka?" He strode towards the bed, seeing the ball had fallen to the floor. "Maka?" Soul walked around the California King and knelt down next to the wiggling mass of bedding. "You awake?" Reaching down and grabbing the hem, he slowly peeled the cloth back to find a pouting Maka. He grinned down at her until she shook violently from the chill that had attacked once the sheets were withdrawn. Soul picked her up and placed her back on the bed.
"You okay? Thirsty?" he asked her. Quite the opposite, actually.
A brilliant blush deepened her already rosy cheeks as she fought to steel her resolve. She must say it. She obviously couldn't even get out of bed by herself properly, let alone use the bathroom.
"Maka?" Soul's voice captured her attention, bringing her eyes to his face. She must say it.
"I have to use the bathroom."
There you go! Hope that was enough to sate you all for now!
Please review! With ice cream and whipped cream and all that goodness!
P.S. For all of you going back to school, good luck! I hope all is going well!~