Last bit of filler before we hit the final plot arch. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you! Then I really, really have to finish some unfinished fics because I have two new ideas knocking around my head already and I can't string you, my reader, along like that.
"Soul…"
He pulled the sheets over his head preemptively. "No."
"Soul…" Another adorable lingering call of his name.
"Maka, it's Sunday."
"Soul," this was less playful but still came with a laugh.
"I love you, but please, please let me sleep in, just once," he moaned desperately into the pillow.
"Not asking you to wake up," Maka chimed joyously, raising his suspicions to the ceiling. "Just take a look."
A look? Soul let his eyes open, watching the billowed sheet over his head for a second as he calculated the risk. He was getting roped into something and he would have thought that last night would at least have merited a rest. With a withering sigh, Soul threw the blanket down to his waist as he rolled over. On his elbows, squinting into the light of the morning, he fell headfirst into her trap.
Maka hadn't woken with the intention to do this to him. She had woken up completely innocently, ready to go downstairs and leave him be because she'd never met anyone more the opposite of an early-riser but maybe last night had inspired her. As she exited the bathroom, she had started picking up the clothes they had strewn around the night before but as soon as she picked up his dress shirt the idea hit her. She tossed off the t-shirt she'd slept in and replaced it with his button-down, contemplating closing it but instead leaving it askew enough on her shoulders to give a clear line of skin down her middle. That's when she started calling his name.
His first thought was 'this is a dream' because his brain had already backtracked to 'there's no way Maka Albarn is standing seductively in my doorway, mostly not dressed except my shirt.' He had to summon cool Soul back, reminding himself that he was, in fact, sleeping with her now on a regular basis so this was normal, cool, great. Of course, he'd had this vision before, right, so this should be a piece of cake to see except his brain hadn't been as gifted as her wiles, never imagining the beautiful way the shirt would open just enough to give a clear view of that amazing start to her cleavage.
Maka was basking in the dumbfounded look on his face. "Are you alright?" She reached up purposefully with both hands, this was required to make the shirt bow almost to her nipples, in order to unwind the hair tie from her bun. Her hair performed perfectly, cascading down from its original confines to play across her shoulders and the added flick of her head seemed to arrange it flawlessly.
"Come here," finally croaked from his throat.
"I told you, I didn't want to wake you up, just…" She was failing miserably at keeping the coy smile at bay.
A wonder-filled laugh tumbled from his lips before he pulled himself up against the backboard. "Come here, please."
Maka finally left her post at the door, coming to the bed where eager hands grasped at the hem of the shirt to bring her to straddle him. "What happened to sleeping in?"
"Now who has no shame?" he laughed softly as one of his hands drifted under the fabric, stopping just at the curve of her breast, his thumb tempting at the swell.
"Maybe I'm just trying not to be shy about making you feel good," she shrugged, letting the shirt fall further off her shoulder.
"I think this is the first time I'm happy to have my words used against me," he laughed again as he leaned in but she toyed with him, keeping her lips out of his reach.
Maka planted her hands on his chest, pushing him back against the headboard. "Maybe you should just relax."
Soul raised an eyebrow in reply but gave in as her hands drifted down his chest to grasp at the edge of his boxers. For a second he let his mind wander as she relieved him of them, focused on the joyful realization that this was normal, that this could be them any given Sunday without the stress of the world weighing on them because right now he was just a boyfriend being happily awakened by his girlfriend. His only worry as she bent over him, her perfectly pink lips posed to swallow him whole was whether or not he was going to embarrass himself by finishing in record time. That was, until the knock on the door.
Maka stopped mid-suck, her eyes jumping to him questioningly as the knocking continued. At first, it was an annoyance, a long huff of air breaking his lips as he let his head smack against the wall, but as the noise downstairs continued his fear started to build. I told Black Star no interruptions until noon. He wouldn't let anyone over here. She pulled away from him and Soul motioned for her silence. He grabbed his boxers and pants from the floor, rushing to get them on and to at least tuck himself uncomfortably into his waistband to give the appearance he wasn't sporting a raging hard-on.
"Stay here," he said softly as he rushed for the hallway. She didn't exactly listen, coming quickly to the doorway to watch him hit the stairs and head for the door.
Soul could see Mifune, standing and looking indignantly annoyed at the stairs as he was trying to have a muffled conversation with the knocker. At first, he couldn't place the other man, grasping at memories until he got close enough for the voice, the terror instantly flooding his brain. "Oh, fuck me," Soul muttered as he put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it.
"Where is my daughter? And why the hell are you shirtless? And tattooed?" Spirit was pressing to come in the door but Mifune was drawing the line there, grabbing onto his arm.
"Sir-"
Spirit knew better than to scuffle with a cop but he wasn't the bigger man right now, starting to pull his arm from Mifune. "I already told you, I'm Maka Albarn's father and I'm here to see her whether you all like it or not."
Soul could hear the desperate footsteps starting upstairs and he let out another withering sigh before waving off Mifune. "It's alright. He is who he says he is."
"You sure?" Mifune raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if he calms down-"
"I'll calm the hell down when you show me my daughter. She hasn't called me in a week which means you're all hiding something and until I see she's safe and sound-"
"Papa," Maka was half hissing, half shouting at him from the top of the stairs. She'd thrown on the nearest shirt and short combo, definitely still looking a little a mess but better than the vixen look from this morning.
"What did they do to you?" Spirit was matching her tone as he finally got away from Mifune. Soul wasn't about to stop him, only rolling his eyes in reply to the accusation as he opened the door the rest of the way.
"The better question is how the hell did you get here?" Maka snapped back as she bounded down the stairs. "I didn't tell him we were here," she motioned that comment towards Soul even though she instantly regretted the action, seeing that fire another one of Spirit's cylinders.
"And why the hell not? And why are you explaining things to him? I'm your father!" One of Spirit's hands was flailing dangerously close to Soul's face and Maka grabbed it.
Soul took a long breath, something barely possible between the shouts and eked his voice in the middle. "Need me to stay?"
"No," Maka urged. "Please don't."
There he stood, contemplating his fate for a second. Kissing her, even a soft peck on the cheek was asking for another meltdown from her father and would probably damper his ability to exit. Even the considered soft touch to her arm was probably going to end up as some kind of fodder and since Maka seemed panicked enough he opted for a very business casual nod. "I'll be next door." With a sickly grin, all he could manage since the wonderful memories of the morning were fading away Soul muttered, "Nice to see you, Mr. Albarn," as he walked out the door, letting it slam behind him.
"Come to the kitchen, please," Maka hissed as she turned away from him and started the pounding steps down the hall.
Spirit was right behind her, practically running up her heels. "Am I going to get an actual explanation?"
"After you give your own," Maka shot back as she broke through to the kitchen. For the sake of her sanity, she started the old routine of making coffee, trying to let habit at least bring some calm to this moment.
"I thought something had happened to you," Spirit urged as his hands hit the kitchen table for emphasis.
Maka was lucky her eyes were focused on the coffee, the roll so hard that it would have raised Spirit's blood pressure. "Because the eighty texts I sent you this week weren't enough to tell you I was fine."
"Anyone can send a text, but you haven't picked up a phone call in over a week." There was no shame in his voice, only that building anger. "And when I went by your apartment-"
"You stopped by the apartment?" Maka threw a glare of disbelief at him.
"I was in the city," he tried to reason but from the look on her face, it was moot. "I got your landlord to let me in and the place is trashed."
Maka's lips folded into a frown as she tried to structure an answer for that. The apartment hadn't even crossed her mind since they'd decided that was closer to an end of the month problem, but now she felt the bile hit the back of her throat. He obviously didn't see bodies or else this would have started off a little different but… Did he see blood? "Just let me finish the coffee, please," she begged before forcing her eyes back to the counter.
She was thankful to hear the scrape of the chair, her father's weight settling into it with a groan. As she watched the dark liquid drip she was compiling each sentence carefully, trying to curate a description that held the gravity of her situation without throwing him into an end-of-the-world fit. Her sporadic texting had been purposeful, she needed to hold this off until things felt final and she could unload the avalanche of recent happenings but, of course, Spirit had brought this moment surging forward too early. With shaking hands, she poured two cups and turned to the table.
Spirit was drumming his fingers against the table until she pushed the cup close enough to them, opting for a death grip on the porcelain instead.
Maka inhaled deeply and focused on the mirror that was her father's eyes. "Papa, I'm just going to ask that you listen right now, OK? There's a lot to explain and…" She waited, sure this was the place for his interjection, but he was silent with his lips drawn in a tight frown. "I'm going to be honest." This breath trembled on the inhale, her mind darting to where on the timeline she should hit. "I know that before I left home maybe the most exciting thing that happened to me was that fender-bender I was in three years ago so this is going to be a lot to hear. We left the apartment over a week ago because some men broke in there. I was home, I fought them off, and when Soul came home he, well, finished the job and brought us here."
That brought more color to Spirit's neck as he held his breath and his words. "And I know you want to know why those men were there, and I know the answer I'm about to give is going to probably make you very, very angry but it was to hurt me specifically. And even though we were supposed to be safe from all of that out here, there was another break in this week and I…" She pressed a tender hand to her side, her lips working over the words for what felt like an eternity, "I was hurt."
Spirit was desperately reaching across the table. "Maka-"
"Papa, just a little longer." Maka hoped that grasping his hand would stop him and she felt the worried pressure in his fingers. "You can't even see my injuries and they're mostly on their way to being healed because of Soul. If he hadn't come when he did either of those times, I'm not sure I would be alive. So, please, no matter what, do not place the blame on him."
That was the tipping point, Spirit's face flushed the color of his hair. "But none of this would have happened without him, though, am I right? Because before you moved in with him, life was quiet. And while I grew up in that city and know it's not exactly kind I'm sure he had something to do with bringing it to you."
Maka paused for a sip of her coffee, hoping that the bitterness would shock her tongue. "Soul was, past tense, involved with things he shouldn't have been, but he was completely upfront about that and I made my own choices with this. Ultimately, my choices were what led to the second attack here. That was my fault."
"What the hell kind of choices were you making?" Spirit spat.
"Well, our job, Papa. I know you don't want to believe that since you'd never imagine media consultation could be dangerous, but we won a job over someone who didn't want to take no for an answer." And he tortured me. Right where I'm sitting right now. That felt too truthful but the next words sitting on her tongue weren't much of an improvement. Her eyes drifted to her cup again, already knowing the reaction that would fly across his face. "And I chose to start a relationship with Soul."
"No," Spirit started, "Maka, you can't seriously-"
"Papa, please." She clenched the cup tightly. "I told you his involvement was past tense. He's trying to live a normal life-"
"Which has still pulled you in to almost being murdered," he urged as he gripped her hand tighter. "And maybe I get it, you're into him now but think about the future. If they're still coming for him, they may as well be coming for him forever. Is that a man you could marry? Have children with?"
A blush hit her cheeks because she'd already made that strange promise to him, hadn't she? That someday they'd think about the family he was so desperate for? And I meant it then, I did, and now… "Papa, that's up to him and I. I'm not going to make guesses about whether or not something will happen however long down the road. Please just accept that I made my choice already. If two attempts on my life haven't made me think otherwise do you think yelling at me will?"
That was a splash of cold water to his face, his head even jerking back. Spirit's eyes fell to his cup, blinking at it as if it were going to feed him the answers.
Air eked out slowly from between Maka's lips before she murmured, "Papa, how did you know I was here?"
Spirit mimicked her, taking more time on his exhale. "I have a tracker app on your phone."
All Maka could manage was a tight grunt of disapproval as she pulled her hand from his to cover her face. Should I be happy he at least waited? That he didn't jump the gun and just come here as soon as I wasn't where I was supposed to be? Do I even deserve to throw a fit after I told him that I was almost killed twice this month? "You didn't think to just ask me where I was?"
"Would you have actually told me the truth?"
"Something close to it," Maka sighed again, "but I guess that's unfair to say with everything I've been keeping for you. I just… I wanted to do it once everything was over, settled."
"You mean it's not?" Spirit grabbed at her arm, pulling the hand away from her face to see the honest worry shining back in his daughter's eyes.
Maka shook her head slowly, "The man who hurt me is in police custody and his boss is… still trying to make trouble for all of us."
Spirit's frown couldn't get any deeper but the muscles flexed uncomfortably as he tried, "You mean that asshole's still alive? I thought you said Soul stopped him."
"You'll be happy to know Soul shares the same sentiment," Maka managed a laugh. "If I'd have let him, Soul would have killed him."
"I don't know if I should hold that against him or not," Spirit muttered.
"Call it the first thing you both can agree on," Maka attempted a smile, seeing it only thaw Spirit's grimace slightly. "Papa, I'm not going to beg you to try with Soul. You will or you won't, but… I hope you will. All of this has made me think that I want to try to be a better daughter, maybe… more forgiving because it's not always about what you've done in the past."
Spirit let out a helpless groan, "You couldn't just pick some boring CPA? Some pencil pusher that our most exciting conversation would be about stocks?"
An amused laugh broke her lips, "If it helps it's sometimes like pulling teeth to get him to talk in the first place."
The corner of his frown was starting to twist, a little of her cheer tugging at it. "Strong silent type, huh?"
Maka hummed thoughtfully, "More dark and brooding."
"He sounds like a joy," Spirit rolled his eyes. "I still don't like the idea of you in danger like this. Maybe you could come home for a little and…" He was at a loss for any other options especially as she had already started to shake her head.
"That man you met outside, Mifune, he's a deputy from town. The sheriff's been very attentive and I need to be here to make sure the right people pay for what they've done." The words felt strange leaving Maka's tongue, sounding more like Soul's early hero act. "Plus, his family is here, so he won't leave and I can't exactly imagine me being very far away from him right now."
"That's the honeymoon period talking," Spirit muttered.
Against her better judgment, Maka allowed her eyes to roll, thankfully only receiving a huff in reply. "Papa, you just don't know him."
Spirit grunted as he turned his head to the window. You couldn't see the other house from there, but it was as if he was searching for it, trying to appraise the area. "So his parents own this place, then?"
"No, he does." Maka felt an odd sense of satisfaction as Spirit had to rein in his reaction to just an eyebrow raise. For a moment, she faltered. They're not his real parents over there - do I explain that? Is it necessary to compound another confusing thing onto today's complete mess?
Spirit waved a hand towards the door as he stood. "So, you going to introduce me?"
Maka swallowed the groan that was dying to shoot from her lips. Looks like compounding it is. "Papa, you have to be on your best behavior and your tone never leaves happy-go-lucky or I will-"
"Never speak to me again," Spirit nodded as he finished the constant warning that she always flew.
"That is not convincing me," Maka frowned.
"What? You said you wanted me to try, right? Meeting his family isn't trying?" Spirit shrugged at her innocently, still not adding an ounce of believability to his story.
What choice do I have? Maka sighed as she stood slowly. "Let me grab my coat."
Soul had frozen his ass off as he trekked to the other house. He narrowly avoided Marie, who had called to him from the kitchen but in his current state Soul was a hundred percent sure he couldn't have a normal conversation with the closest thing he had to a mother. Instead, he opted to pretend he didn't hear and make the slow ascent to Black Star's room. Of course, Black Star had to be woken up and then immediately began to dog Soul about his impromptu visit. What good are your friends if they don't make fun of you for coming over shirtless in forty-degree weather sporting a still ready-to-go erection?
He stole a shirt from Black Star's pile as he started to retell the story. He was a gentleman and didn't give the specifics of the morning mostly because he didn't want to die at Maka's hands since he was sure that was the outcome if Black Star knew even a minute detail about her body. Instead, he tried to veer this morning's bro-talk to the impending doom of her father.
"You met him before though, right?" Black Star still hadn't bothered to get out of bed, just kind of haphazardly lounging with his hands behind his head.
Soul had opted to stand, leaning against the wall so he could watch the window. So far there was no movement from the cottage. "When she moved in. Was definitely strictly introduced as the roommate from work."
Black Star rolled his eyes, "You say that like you were something else. What, now that you two are having sex are we just rewriting history that you've been together the whole time?"
"We're not just having sex," Soul grumbled grumpily. "And you know shit's been complicated for a while."
"Whoa, wait, you didn't, did you?" This stirred Black Star from the sheet's, springing to sitting up.
"Did what?" Soul blinked at him.
"Did you actually say it to her? Like you told her, 'Maka, I love you'?" Black Star did his best Soul impression which made the question only that much more insulting.
"Of course I did," Soul snapped back before answering back mockingly, "More than once, too."
"OK, one, you don't get to be defensive about this," Black Star put up a threatening finger. "And two, fuck yes, dude. I thought we'd have to have like five or ten conversations about this before you folded. Really, I thought she'd say it first, and then you'd panic and say something stupid like 'cool' back."
"I'll have you know I said it first, asshole," Soul hissed.
"Oh, excuse me," Black Star threw up his hands in innocence. "I forgot that you're so emotionally mature and well-adjusted."
"Asshole," Soul repeated uselessly as he picked up a nearby shirt from the pile and flung it at him.
"Thanks." Black Star sniffed the shirt, found it acceptable, and threw it on.
Movement out of the corner of his eye brought Soul's attention back to the window. He noticed Maka first, then Spirit close on her heels. His eyes kept willing them towards Spirit's car next to Mifune's but the universe didn't listen, the two obviously on a collision course with the house. "Oh, fuck."
"Sounds like this morning is about to get more exciting," Black Star snickered.
Soul didn't hear it, his ears decidedly shutting off as his mind was blaring DEFCON 1 alarms. Oh, no, Maka, please, no, I love you, so please, no, no, no. He was out of Black Star's door and rumbling down the stairs in a second, whizzing past the door to the kitchen.
Marie was thankfully up and completely dressed, nursing a cup of coffee. She had been ready to be miffed at Soul's earlier rejection but the frozen fear on his features instantly demoted that to last thought on her mind. "Soul?"
"She's bringing him here!" It all came out as one panicked gush.
"Who is bringing who?" Marie blinked up at him from her seat.
"Maka and her dad," Soul moaned helplessly.
Marie took a deep breath, examining him. This was the strangest reaction she'd ever seen from him, and while her ability to read her lately-adopted son was usually on point she couldn't suss this one out. "Who do you think is going to mess this up, us or him?"
Soul ran a hand through his hair that ended in a tight tug on his roots. "Once you put me on that list the answer will be all of the above."
"I'm going to only be a little insulted by that because I'm going to assume you're more worried about Stein than me." Marie let a sigh cool over the rim of her coffee cup. "Sit." She motioned him to the seat next to her and Soul helplessly plummeted to the seat. This fear was almost laughable when you considered Soul's past and Marie did have to smother a giggle as she stood from the table and went about pouring another cup of coffee for her boy that now sat straight-backed and tight at the table.
As she was pouring, Marie heard the footsteps and soft voices from the hallway and as she turned with the cup in her hand she almost dropped it right on Soul's head. "Spirit?" Marie gaped.
"Oh, Marie," Spirit paused in the doorway with a laugh. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh?" Soul shot a look up at Marie as his voice cracked.
Maka's face blanched in fear, her mind already racing instantly to another surprise naming of one of her father's trysts. No, please, Marie, tell me you're too good for that.
"I'm sort of the mom," Marie stumbled through the words, having to pause to press her free fingers to her forehead to erase the wrinkle that had started at her lack of eloquence. "But that means Maka is… Maka Albarn? That's Rin's daughter?"
"Yeah, and Soul's your son?"
"Well," Marie paused as she placed the mug in front of a still very expectantly staring Soul. "We've been taking care of him since he was young."
"We?" The fear started to bring a likeness on the face between daughter and father. "You can't mean…"
"Hello, Spirit," Franken cooed as he placed a cool hand on Spirit's shoulder.
Every inch of Spirit's skin crawled. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Stein!"
Maka was thankfully thawing, knowing Stein would have been much more brutal if there was a love triangle at the center of this. She tried to get the words to chime from her mouth but managed them in more of a squeak, "How do you all know each other?"
Marie waved a hand at the two men that were now awkwardly trying to exist in each other's space. "They were best friends in high school."
"Best friends is a little…" Spirit let that die away on his tongue as Stein smiled at him.
"Fine, technically they were the only people who could tolerate each other," Marie smirked as she settled back into her seat. "And I guess I was your mother's friend, as much as your mother had friends." She instantly wanted to suck that slip back between her lips especially as Spirit's hand sunk into Maka's shoulder in reply. Even though she was sure the answer was not going to help, Marie tossed out the question anyway, "How is Rin?"
"Busy," Spirit offered weakly.
Maka shuffled quickly to the table, trying to let the murmur settle between her and Marie. "They divorced when I was fifteen."
"Oh." Marie was now sure she had jinxed herself when she claimed Stein would be the embarrassment as she sat there contemplating how much further she could stick her foot in her mouth.
Spirit let his eyes float between Soul and Stein before the gear finally clicked into place in his brain. "Which means Soul's into your shit, isn't he, Stein? That's what this is all about?"
Stein offered a limp smile, "Soul has been very adamant about changing his ways."
"Which we both know means jackshit," Spirit shook his head tightly. "Is it your boss? That - what was her name - Medusa?"
All other backs in the room straightened by an inch, hair standing up on collective necks except for Stein whose smile turned genuine. "She's entirely not an issue anymore. There's just a little housekeeping that's taking place right now and soon it will quiet down."
Spirit pointed an accusatory finger into Stein's chest. "In the meantime, my girl gets thrown into the middle of a bloodbath."
"Your girl takes care of herself," Stein shrugged as he motioned between Soul and Maka. "Those two have a very effective partnership."
"Wait," Spirit turned to Maka. "Have you been actually fighting?"
"Sir-" Soul tried to start but the Spirit instantly snapped his head to him.
"While I appreciate that you've supposedly saved her life twice, I'm asking my daughter for an answer."
Maka let a commiserative smile cross her face as she looked towards Soul. "I guess that was kind of a thank you."
Soul hid a smirk behind his hand, knowing anything else would cause trouble as Spirit's attention swung back to Maka.
"Well?" Spirit barked.
"Technically, yes," Maka grabbed at his sleeve in an attempt to stop the instant snap back that she was expecting. "But only when I had to. I wasn't part of the gang or anything, just trying to stay safe."
"But I did teach her," Soul interjected against his better judgment. But the last thing I'm going to do is tell lies.
"Because, as I said, I didn't need Soul to get into trouble," Maka clutched tighter into Spirit's arm. "I wasn't making smart decisions when I came to the city and Soul was just trying to fix that."
Because most of those not-so-smart decisions had to do with me, Soul sighed wistfully.
"Spirit," Marie had waited, latching on to a moment where Spirit seemed to be pausing to calculate his next attack. "I get the caution but these are two, grown adults that we have right here. We can't treat them like children even if it's easy to feel like they are." Marie flashed a quick finger of warning, a move that instantly sent a tingle up Soul's spine from one too many memories. "And I'm going to let you know now that accusing me of not actually being his mother is going to get you punched, so take a deep breath before your next comment."
Spirit crumpled into the seat next to Maka, "They're still just kids."
"I don't believe Soul has been a kid since he came to our house," Stein offered as he moved towards the coffee, a soft hand lightly drawing a line on Marie's shoulder before he turned to the counter. "And Maka's nowhere near as naive as most of you assume."
"Thanks, Stein," Spirit grumbled. "Hey, pour me a cup. Don't put anything funny in it."
"And there it is," Marie checked her nonexistent watch. "Fifteen minutes and they're back to their old selves." As Soul offered a snicker for that Marie leaned close to him. "Did he catch you two?"
"Hey," Soul hissed back at her, "Don't open that fucking can of worms."
"Is that how you speak to your mother?" Stein cackled over his shoulder.
"I told him," Maka added bashfully.
"Oh," Soul warbled out a sigh.
"What's that for?" Spirit instantly let the accusing finger come back, only ripped of power by Stein turning and knocking a coffee mug into it.
"It's been a long damn morning," Soul couldn't stop it from coming back as a bark. "But I guess everyone can just know, then, that Maka and I are…" even with all his force, he trailed off, desperately eyeing her across the table.
Maka smothered a laugh before she let a smile appear from behind her fingers. "I'm your girlfriend, Soul."
"Yeah," he grinned at her, the blush only starting as he felt Marie pinching at his arm.
"About time," Marie gave one more sharp pinch before turning her eyes back to Spirit. "So we're going to support these two. I hope that's the end of the discussion."
"For now," Spirit grumbled as he leaned back in the chair. He cradled the cup of coffee to his chest and locked eyes with the blushing idiot across from him.
Soul didn't drop his gaze, just let a little of the glow fall away from his face. He cleared his throat, the options in his head all sounding wrong but his gut telling him this was a chance he was going to have to take. "Look, a lot's happened, we're still working things out and if…" Again, that alarm was going off in his head but Soul forced a quick look at Maka, seeing her smiling at him. "If you're worried you're entitled to come by as much as you like, as long as you call first. We even, well, there's enough room between the two houses if you wanted to stay for a night or two."
"As long as I call?" Spirit turned the start of a grin to his daughter.
"Yes," Maka sighed. "At least two hours beforehand. And you delete that app."