I is back, people! So sorry for the delay, I hope this chapter will sate your thirst for now. I'm already working on the next chapter and my other stories. Life kicked me in the *non-existent, very much fictitious* balls a lot as of late. Anyway! Enjoy!

Chapter Nine: It's All Fun and Games...

"No! No, no, no, nooo gaaaaaaahhh!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

'YOU LOSE' read across the screen in bold red letters, taunting Soul as he sat back with a defeated sigh.

"Man! Where did you learn to play like that?" At some point during the day, the two had stumbled upon the subject of video games and, somehow, had made their way upstairs to the movie theater. Soul had attached his Xbox up to the big screen and they had been playing all kinds of games ranging from simple Go Kart crap to Fable and such. Needless to say, she had beaten him far too many times for his comfort. His pride was dwindling.

Maka shrugged. "Hanging out with Blake," she answered simply, getting up to go find another game to play in an attempt to hide the victorious smile forming on her lips. Winning was a good friend of hers that left her satisfied.

Soul followed her, watching her as she shuffled through the large box of Xbox games.

"Blake?" he asked.

"My cousin."

"Ah, and I'm guessing with how good you are you spent a lot of time together. Your only friend?" he teased; a desperate attempt to salvage anything left of his pride. Maka simply rolled her eyes as a smirk spread across her face.

"Absolutely not. I have plenty of friends that I play with, but if your gaming skills are anything to go off of, I'd have to guess that you don't," she shot back. Attempt Update: miserable failure. Abort!

Soul chuckled and feigned physical pain as a hand rested over his chest. He had come to realize her words were quite venomous when she wanted them to be.

"Ouch." He smiled as his nose scrunched, his eyes twinkling with delight; a face Maka found meant that he was amused. "Ye woman of few words, I find it utterly incredible the hurtful remarks that leave your lips, yet you somehow manage to continue that innocent facade of yours." Soul shook his head as a smirk quivered to stay at bay.

Maka looked up at him with a benign expression. "Why, whatever do you mean?" she inquired, only making it harder for Soul to hide his delight. Raising an eyebrow, he leaned down slightly to better face her; crimson interrogating shamrock. After a brief moment, Soul playfully glared at her, saying, "I'm onto you."

"Mmmhmm." Maka smirked and looked away first in an attempt to keep from laughing at his facial expression. She skillfully retreated back to her seat after popping the next disk into the console. Slippery booger, she was.

Soul followed after grabbing a snack for both of them, continuing to play to their heart's content. Soft curses were thrown through the air from both parties as they battled to the death.

Soul glanced over at Maka repeatedly every time she'd laugh. This was probably the real reason he hadn't won a match yet, this beautiful beast next to him. He was actually very skilled in the gaming world, but ... he smiled softly in her direction... she didn't need to know that just yet.

"Wanna go swimming?" Maka opened her eyes and looked over at Soul. They had just finished watching the last of the Star Wars movies, the credits still playing softly in the background. His eyes were still glued to the screen as he downed the rest of his soda.

"Seriously?" she asked. How would they swim? She knew he had a pool, but she lacked the proper garments for such an activity.

Soul finally turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah? We need to get some exercise. Why?"

"Well, I don't have a swimsuit," she answered.

"That's no big deal. You can just wear some of my clothes."

"It would be a bit awkward for me if I did that..." she hesitated to explain why, but fortunately, judging by his understanding expression, she didn't have to. Soul seemed to think it over for a moment.

"Maybe my brother's girlfriend left that swimsuit behind?" he pondered aloud.

"What?"

"My brother and his girlfriend visited a few months ago and he bought her this swimsuit as a joke. You see, Blaire is rather..." he paused, opening and closing his fingers as if that would somehow help him to better grasp the right word. "voluptuous," he stated. "To be frank, she's like a G cup, or something outrageous like that, and he thought it'd be funny to buy her something much too small for her..." he explained, the story making Maka begin to giggle. She was already starting to see where this was going.

"He had given it to her saying that it was a present from our mother, which will never happen by the way; mom is not fond of her. So, ... she ended up wearing this ... thing that was only big enough to hide her, uh..."

"Nipples?" Maka laughed out, surprising Soul.

"Yes! Exactly! And when she found out that he had lied, she was furious at him. She took it off and threw her top while we were in the pool! Our parents were there!" Soul sat up as he explained, becoming animated. Maka was now in a fit of laughter, barely able to breathe.

"Who does that?!" Soul was snickering away as well. "Needless to say, my parents were mortified." They continued to laugh for a few moments, commenting back and forth about the hilarity that had ensued.

"But, anyway," Soul chuckled out. "I'm pretty sure she left it in the guest room."

"Well, if it's there and it fits me - and it isn't too stretched out -" she joked, making Soul bark with laughter again. "I wouldn't mind going for a swim. Is the pool heated?"

All of a sudden, this seemed like a bad idea. It hit him brick by brick that Maka was just now getting over her cold and swimming might not be the way to go. That and ... other things.

"... Soul?" she asked, grabbing his attention.

"Oh, yeah, it is. I also have a hot tub, but..." he trailed off as their eyes met. "Maybe it isn't such a good idea with you still being on the sick side?"

Maka smiled at him softly. He was so sweet.

"I'm fine now, but thank you for your concern. As long as it's heated, I should be all good to go!" Soul studied her for a moment only to nod and send that deathly sexy smirk of his her way. Damn him.

"If you say so." He stood and stretched, yawning briefly. "Shall we?"

Maka was somewhat appalled at the condition of the swimsuit - if you could even call it that - that Soul had found hanging in the closet of his guest bedroom. It was very ... exposing and small, even on her. But Soul had also found a sheer swimming gown that Blair had left behind as well, which would aid in making Maka's insecurity relinquish, though only slightly. She looked herself over in the mirror in front of her. It didn't look too bad on her. The swim dress was black and came to about mid-thigh. It had a low v neckline stopping just above her abdomen with laces strung across to keep it from showing too much. It's shoulder straps were about three fingers wide, giving her enough coverage for her to feel a bit more comfortable. The ... swimsuit(?) Was oddly the perfect colour for her. It was a beautiful green, almost like her eyes, but not quite. The bottom had two parallel strings on her hips to keep it together, matching the band below the top's breast cups. The top only had a string behind her neck to keep it up, making Maka even more uneasy. Both breasts had just barely enough material to hide what needed to be hidden and were tight enough to make her bust appear larger than it actually was. She turned to scrutinize her backside then. She was amazed. Her ass actually looked plump. She nodded with a bit of confident satisfaction and turned forward once more.

Maka sighed, this was as good as it was gonna get. She tied her long, golden-ashen locks up into a high ponytail.

*Knock, knock*

"You about ready?" she heard Soul ask through the door.

"Yeah, I'm ready!" She grabbed the towel he had given her and strode to the door, stopping to take a calming breath at the handle. Why was she suddenly so nervous? Shaking her head to rid herself of entertaining any inappropriate thoughts, she opened the door to find Soul leaning up against the adjacent wall wearing black and red swim trunks and a grey t-shirt. His hair was in complete disarray and his scruff was just beginning to come in, giving him an overly handsome and rugged look. With a towel over his left shoulder and his hands in his pockets, his gaze shifted to her, eyes widening slowly. His eyes. Those captivating red eyes. They were like nothing she'd ever seen, full of adventure and unknown; deep pools of wine that she could get drunk on if given the chance. And they were looking at her, wide and openly gazing upon her person.

A low whistle floated through the air as he scanned her up and down, breaking her from the spell that his enchanting orbs had cast upon her.

This. This was why she was nervous. It was his viciously erotic stare as it swept up and down her body, not quite predatory, but definitely invasive. She had never felt so comfortable with being uncomfortable and out of control. She'd usually slap any guy that checked her out so blatantly, but somehow she didn't feel threatened when Soul did it. It felt more like his way of complimenting her; showing her that she looked good - dare she say, appealing - by physically reacting to her while keeping his distance. It was ... refreshing, in a sense. But, then again, she could be wrong. Perhaps he wasn't really checking her out, maybe he was just teasing her again. That made more sense, she supposed, though it left her feeling slightly more vulnerable and disappointed.

"You look good. The colour is almost perfect," he stated. Was that what the low whistle had meant? That he was surprised that the colour matched her eyes so closely?

"Thank you." Maka willed herself from blushing. "As do you. You own a lot of black, red, and grey," she joked. He smirked at her, turning her into goo almost instantly.

"Because it looks good on me," he answered matter-of-factly. He could say that again. Heck, he would probably look smoking hot it almost anything he wore. "But not quite as good as that looks on you." She looked up at him from her fidgeting in slight surprise to find him a little shocked himself.

Had he really just said that? He guessed it was more of the way he said it; the tone he had used to say it rather than the words that made it sound somewhat repulsive to his own ears. 'That wasn't very gallant of me,' he chastised himself. He sounded like some guy hitting on chicks at a club. How distasteful.

Soul stood at attention at that. "I apologize. That was rude of me. I didn't mean for it to come out that way." He felt dumb in that moment as he watched her face overcome with a fierce blush.

"No! Uh, no need to apologize. It didn't seem rude to me, it just caught me off guard," she amended. "No harm done."

A sigh of relief left his lungs, seemingly allowing him to breathe normally once more. 'I guess she took it as more of a compliment. Next time I'll be more gentlemanly.' He nodded and smiled at her. Damn that charming smile of his, it made her knees weak.

"A-anyway!" Dammit, now she was fumbling over her words. "I wanna get in that hot tub!" she stated light-heartedly, making him chuckle.

"As you wish. Right this way, madam." He gestured down the hall to his right and then led her to the staircase.

This was gonna be so. much. Fun… and potentially very awkward.

They climbed up the stairs as they had before, Soul insisting Maka go first, but perhaps there had been a flaw in his judgment. Being a gentleman wasn't all it was cracked up to be. 'Ladies first' should most definitely have exceptions, such as this very moment right here. Soul had neglected to take Maka's revealing attire into account before following her up the steps, looking up to be met with her plump ass teasing him as it swayed it's way up to the next floor.

'Well, shit...' he thought to himself as he pointedly averted his gaze and began his ascent. This was a dangerous situation, indeed. Swimming had been a very, very bad idea. He pondered over whether he should walk in front of her on the next flight but argued that if he did that now after having basically forced her to go first all day, she'd suspect something was up and eventually conclude the inevitable. That he, the valiant Sullivan Eaton Evans, had blatantly been distracted by her backside and decided either that he didn't like what he saw and didn't want to look at it anymore - blasphemy - or that he did indeed like what he saw but thought it best not to indulge - bingo. Nope. He couldn't let her become aware of his sinful thoughts. He would just have to try his best to ignore it. Thank God the next stairwell was wider so they could at least walk side by side.

Maka was feeling... unnerved. She thought it had been awkward before. Ha! This was 100 times worse. Waltzing up the stairs in a swimsuit and a very short swim dress most definitely gave Soul a full view of her ass. She could almost feel his gaze shift to and fro. She had repeatedly wanted to use the towel to hide herself from those piercing eyes of his, but didn't want to make such an obvious attempt at covering herself for the sole purpose of not wanting him to misunderstand. What if he wasn't even looking at her? It would be rather presumptuous of her, and they were almost to the top anyway, so … She strained to keep her movements normal and relaxed as they approached the door, almost opening it herself before Soul's large and masculine hand shot past her. She gasped, surprised at its sudden appearance as she watched it leisurely turn the knob. His appendage slowed as his body came to stand close behind her, yet again carrying out the same routine as before. He placed his left hand on her waist, a bit lower than the last time, as his right unhurriedly opened the door. He again ushered her forward into the darkness that was the third floor as he closed the door behind them.

Maka's breath caught in her throat as she felt Soul's hand slowly travel up her back, draw a few circles on her right shoulder, and then make its way down her arm to take hold of her hand. He reached out and turned on the lights - never taking his eyes off of her - to find a rather red Maka, the sudden brightness making her eyes squint. He smiled down at her only to turn and begin leading her to the next stairwell before she could ask why he had decided to hold her hand. It was a simple hold, completely innocent to the naked eye, but upon further inspection, the blush blossoming over the skin of both parties would prove otherwise. Intentions unknown, but full of wonderful butterflies and mind races, pitter-pattering of hearts and shortness of breath; sweet, new, and sigh-worthy. It was exciting and intoxicating and, so far, worth the risk. Soul continued to smile dumbly as he held her small, delicate hand in his. He liked it, even though he was pretty sure his palm was sweating, he refused to release her.

What was happening? Maka wasn't quite sure. Was Soul even aware of his actions? She wasn't complaining, really, she was just curious if he knew. Did he know that he was currently taking her breath away? Or that he was making her chest tight with joy? Perhaps he could feel the nervousness leaking through her palm's skin, manifesting itself as the unwanted liquid known as sweat. Had he even a clue that her stomach was doing backflips and somersaults or that her face was so hot that if he were to feel it, he'd most likely think her fever had come back? She dared a glance at his tall, broad back. He moved confidently as he led her to their destination. No. He definitely didn't have a clue.

They finally reached the double doors at the end of the hall to the right of the bowling alley. Soul used his free hand to open the door for her and switch on a light.

"Ladies first," he grinned down at her. Thank God his blush had died down before looking at her. It had taken the entire journey down the hall, repeating in his head to calm the fuck down, to get his face to turn its original shade.

Maka nodded and smiled up at him as she went through the door. Their hands bid each other farewell reluctantly as she began to ascend the stairs. She was slow, noticing the width of the steps. He closed the door, quickly caught up with her, and took his place to her right, greedily and sneakily grabbing her hand once more. Maka felt her mouth form a smile as contact was made. They climbed quietly until she decided that she missed his voice, sparking a need to summon it forth.

"So, how big is your pool?" she asked, looking up at him. His eyes lazily drank in her face as a soft grin spread across his devilishly handsome features.

"It slants from 1' to 12' and it's about 50 meters across. I also have two water slides." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her giggle. She was so damn cute.

"That's amazing. What about the Jacuzzi?"

"It's a good size. It's a circle and can sit about 12 or 13 people in it," Soul answered her as they finally came to the door leading to his pool. He opened the door and, of course, let her in first, forcing himself to let go of her hand again.

After closing the door behind him, he turned to find Maka gawking at the unbelievable pool. It was huge. The floor she entered on was a marvelous mural made of many shades of mini blue tile. To her right, she found men and women bathrooms. There were also a few lunch tables and what looked like a Hawaiian hut bar. As her vision steadily trailed left, she took in a corner which, after peering around, she found the massive hot tub, steam rolling from it. The pool came next; a regular sized swimming pool, a few lanes on one side, that had little waterways exiting to several sides. Those led to smaller sized pools, one being a kiddy pool, another to the end of the slides, and on the far left wall, there was a door that she swore read "Sauna."

She slowly turned back to him, a huge smirk on her face.

"Oh, this is gonna be so much fun."

And there it is! I really hope you all take the time to leave a review and let me know your thoughts! It would mean a lot!

Happy Holidays! I hope exams and whatnot have gone or are going well!

Much Love~!

K.T.