Maka woke up later to a dark room. Only the TV, that was still quietly playing cartoons, provided any light. She rolled over and found herself practically nose to nose with a sleeping Soul. She sighed before she rolled peered over him to check the time.
"Oh my God," she said a little too loudly.
Soul jolted up in the bed as he groggily slurred back, "Whatsamatter?"
"I went down for a nap 4 hours ago. It's almost 7 o'clock in the evening!"
"So?" Said Soul as he started to get comfy again.
"The library is probably not open anymore slash its dark already and we don't necessarily know where we're going. So we might as well not bother at all today."
"So?" He replied again.
Maka growled and jumped to sit on Soul's back with her elbow digging into his spine. "Say 'so' one more time and I swear..."
"Ouch. God damnit Maka. We've got nowhere to be and nothing but time. Besides I don't necessarily even wanna remember anything. I feel like most of it is not good."
Maka was about to argue when she was interrupted by the loud growl of her stomach. "Ughhhhh," she sighed. "Let's find a diner or something." She climbed off his back. He gave her a grumpy look as he rubbed the sore spot on his back, before sitting up excitedly.
"Alright! I love food. Let's get food!" Soul said bouncing up and down on the bed.
A few minutes later they had freshened themselves up from the nap and headed out of the hotel.
"Fine. FINE. You can pick where we eat.
"Awesome." Soul said as he finally stopped poking her in the arm. "You're so kind, Maka."
"Well you kept whining like a baby and poking at me to let you choose. So the kindness I'm doing you here is not hitting you."
"That's a first." He said laughing.
"Keep being a smart ass and it'll be the last," she said giving him a scary smile.
"Alright so let's go here!" He said pulling her into a hole in the wall restaurant. They entered through a heavy wooden door with a skull and a scroll with the words 'Gallow's Pub' painted on in peeling paint.
"Ughhh, but it looks gross." Maka said quietly as they entered the dimly lit pub. All the furnishings were in the same dark wood as the door, including the long bar at the other end of the room. All the tables had one candle glowing in the middle and varieties of stained coasters randomly placed on only some of the tables.
There were a few men sitting solo around the bar but other than that there were no other customers in the bar. "Just grab a seat wherever you'd like. I'll be over in a moment!" A man called from behind the bar.
"C'mon then," Soul said. He grabbed Maka's hand and tugged her to a table when she didn't immediately move to follow him.
"I regret letting you pick," she grumbled as she sat at the table in a far back corner that Soul had chosen.
He rolled his eyes, "You seriously do not get to call me a baby after acting like this. Besides. These places are like local hubs usually, so I bet the food will be great. Just trust me."
"Fiiiine, and I guess I haven't had a cold beer in at least forty years...so that could be fun."
"Ah. A lady who enjoys beer. This bodes well for our friendship," he smiled. Just then the bartender showed up at their table with a couple menus.
"Good evening folks. Here's the evening menu and on the far back panel you'll see what we have on tap as well as other drinks. Anything I can start you with right now?"
Maka quickly scanned the drink menu before responding, "Well I actually don't recognize any of these beers, do you have any suggestions?" She looked up at the bartender turned waiter expectantly. He was very tall and broad shouldered with short brown hair. He was sort of handsome but not particularly remarkable, other than his height.
"Hmm, well the Dunes Lager is pretty good. And it's local."
"Great I'll take one of those please." Maka said.
The bartender looked at Soul, "And for you?"
"I'll just have the same, thanks." He said nodding.
Maka picked up her menu to see the food choices as the bartender walked back towards the bar. "Okay mister local foodie nonsense. Tell me which sandwich I should get." She said opting for some of the less heavy pub fare listed in the menu.
"Hmmmmm. Well that chicken parm one sounds good. And they use some fancy cheese on it." He said as he reached over to point at the option on her menu.
"Cool. I gotta run to the bathroom. If he comes back will you order for me?"
"Yeah sure." He responded not looking up from his menu.
Maka walked across the bar to the doorway with a wooden sign that read 'The Johns', over it. As she was closing in on the doorway she noticed a large man in a tattered flannel shirt and long coat eye her creepily over the rim of his beer bottle. She could still feel his eyes burning into the back of her head as she passed him to enter the bathroom.
Even in the dimly lit women's bathroom Maka couldn't shake the feeling of the large man's eyes boring into her. She shuddered and tried to shake it off, hoping he wouldn't be watching for when she finished in the bathroom. To her relief the man was absent from his seat as she exited the bathroom. She sat back down with Soul to find her drink was already waiting for her at the table.
"You okay Maka? You look….weird," Soul said as he watched her wrap her hands around the cold dewy pint.
"Yeah. There was just this weird guy. He stared me down pretty hard when I passed him on the way to the bathroom. It gave me the heebie jeebies for some reason." Maka could sense it was a train of thought her mind was hesitant to explore.
"Was it a hulking dude with greasy dark hair and a reeeaaalllyyy ugly trench coat?"
"That's the one."
"Yeah, I think he left for a smoke or something. Maybe he won't come back," Soul said encouragingly. "Anyways," he continued holding up his beer. Maka held up her own beer.
"To…starting over," Soul said.
"To starting over, and to new friends," Maka finished.
Soul smiled, "Cheers!"
They clinked their glasses.
"Mm-mmm," Maka said licking her lips. Soul had put his glass down a few moments before and was now staring at her, and her half empty glass with an open mouth.
"Shit Maka, thirsty much?"
"For starters, yes. But also don't act like you're not impressed."
"Impressed but also embarrassed because it looks like I'm going to have a hard time keeping up."
Maka laughed, "Well, don't give up yet young grasshopper."
"I thought we established that I was the older, not to mention wiser, one."
She narrowed her eyes, "Older yes. Wiser…yet to be seen."
"Hey now. I'm not the worst. I was right about this place. This beer is just what I needed. And you certainly seem to like it too," he nodded at what was left of her beer.
"Hold up. That theory won't be confirmed until the food shows up. Oh wise one." She smirked at him over the rim of her beer before she took another chug.
"Hmph." Soul grunted as he tried to catch up on his drink.
The bartender chose this moment to appear at their table again, "Few more minutes for the food folks. But can I pour you kids another pint?"
Soul looked to Maka for an answer, it was unspoken but clear that Maka was in charge of the evening. He raised his eyebrows expectantly.
"Sure, why not. Thanks," Maka smiled up at the bartender.
"Two more of the same then?"
They both nodded in response and he walked back to the bar.
"Okay, so…" Soul started. "Ever broken a bone?"
Maka felt the ache of an old injury in her wrist as the answer to Soul's question came to her. "Yeah. Someone broke my wrist…maybe by accident?" She shook off the thought it may not have been. "How about you Soul?"
He shook his head, "Nope."
"Hmm, well you look pretty breakable to me."
"Well coming from the most violent girl I've met, its not that much of a surprise that you'd think so," he responded haughtily. "Anyways, your turn."
She glared at him and resisted the urge to prove them both right by breaking his nose. "Umm. What's your favourite food?" She finally asked.
"Woman. I like food too much to pick just one," he said passionately.
Maka rolled her eyes, "How about, one thing that you love to eat, maybe its associated with a good memory or event or something?"
Soul's eyes glazed over, and after a few seconds he had even started drooling.
"Ahem," Maka cleared her throat to bring him back from his daydreaming.
"Uh okay. Well, my grandmother, she would make me the same special meal for my birthday every year…until she died. So every morning on my birthday she'd take me to the local market first. We'd buy a jar of fresh honey, and a pint of fresh milk, and then whatever the freshest vegetables were. Then she'd take me home and we'd cook these beautiful grilled veggies and some honey glazed pork chops together. And she'd give me a glass of that fresh milk to wash down the special birthday cookies she'd only make twice a year."
Maka suspected that Soul was a little watery in the eyes as he throwback the last of his first pint. "So I guess you were quite close to your grandmother then?"
"Yeah we were both big foodies. And I used to do everything with her when I wasn't at school…or piano lessons...or piano practice."
The bartender set down two new beers and cleared the now empty glasses away.
"I guess that's why my job was hard for me, the music reminded me of time I gave up. Gran was sick for a little while. I used to visit her when I could but I hadn't gone to visit her at the hospital the day she died because my parents didn't want me to miss a practice."
On top of sensing how sad Soul was, she felt sad for him too. The bartender came over with their plates of food just then. "Alright," he said as he set their food down. "So my name is Tom, if you need anything else just holler. Njoy the food folks."
Maka waited a moment as Tom walked away before asking quietly, "So why twice year?"
"Hmm?" Soul hummed as he picked up his fork.
"The cookies, you said you got special cookies twice a year."
"Oh!" He exclaimed around a mouthful of food. He gulped it down before continuing, "Once for my birthday, and once for my older brother's."
"Oh…you had a brother?"
"Guess so. His name was Wes and besides Gran he's probably the only person I'll miss."
Maka nodded and started in on her own meal. She wasn't sure how to approach Soul, especially if he was still feeling sad.
"What's your favourite food?" He asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Hmm. Probably pie. Oh and anything barbequed."
Soul nodded before following up her answer with another question, "So do you have any siblings?"
"Uh. No. Nope, it was mostly just me and my slut of a father," she couldn't cut the bitter edge from her tone.
Soul choked on his mouthful of beer.
"Did you just call your potentially dead and gone father, a slut?"
"Yeah. He didn't just cheat on my mom. He cheated on her countless times, despite being caught countless times. AND he didn't stop after she left us. I was constantly being woken up by the drunken giggles and crashing around of him and his bimbos in the middle of the night. Not to mention, I'd often have to step around their passed out asses as I got ready for school the next morning."
"Rough," Soul said somberly. "What a skeezeball." He picked up his beer and raised it, indicating to Maka to do the same. "To ditching lame, deadweight family!"
"Cheers to that," Maka said before she downed the rest of her second beer. "Mind you," started Maka as she put down her beer. "Once we find out what the hell has happened, we should probably try to find out if anyone we know is still alive, and maybe also make contact."
Soul shrugged, "I guess it would be cool to see Wes again."
Maka started mowing down on her meal again when she realized Soul was watching her with a smirk. "What?" She said around a mouthful of fries.
"Am I right or am I right?"
"What are you talking about?" She replied.
"Good beer, good food, good choice of restaurant?"
Maka noted that Soul sounded pretty hopeful. She decided he deserved at least one win. "You were right Soul. This place is perfect. Really chill, good service and god food. You win this one."
He threw his fist up in the air, "Alright! I am the wisest time traveller!"
Maka rolled her eyes, "Time travellers. Huh."
"Well, its the best word I could think of," said Soul.
"You're not wrong. We weren't voluntary travellers, but travel through time we did."
Soul polished off his beer and looked at Maka, "One more for the road?"
"Alright, but that's it, I'm feeling a little fuzzy."
"Yoh Tom!" Soul's deep voice rang through the near empty bar. "One more round and then the bills please!"
"Sure thing!" The bartender called back as he scooped some empty glasses from the counter behind him.
"Alright, I was trying really hard not to break the seal, but man oh man I got to go," Maka said as she stood up. It wasn't until she started walking that she realized just how fuzzy her head was.
It wasn't until she started walking to the bathroom that she realized just how fuzzy her head was. She bee-lined for the bathroom to relieve her insistent bladder. When she walked back out of the bathroom she was startled to see the same creepy man perched on the nearest bar stool. He looked her up and down fully before turning away from her. She rushed through the bar to get back to Soul, feeling every little hair on her neck standing at attention.
She shuddered as she sat back down at their table, "Creepy man is back."
"Yeah, I saw him walk back in so I kept an eye out for you. He looked you over pretty hard eh? You gonna be okay, or should we leave now?"
'I'm fine. Besides those beers we just ordered are already on their way over," she said nodding her head towards the bar where Tom was just heading their way.
They bumped glasses again, this time silently, and they both had a sip.
"So, the question game got less fun," Soul said, finally breaking the silence.
"Infinitely less fun. I miss books. I'm glad we're going to a library," Maka added wistfully.
"You know. I think I actually think I miss my Ipod," he sounded a little surprised, and a little sad.
"Oh yeah?"
"It was small but mighty," he was picturing it now. "It was a silver nano but it had a shit ton of memory. It fit my classical and piano pieces on there, which was great, but man do I miss my metal and alt stuff so bad. If I remember anything I hope it's all the bands I used to love."
Maka could tell how passionate he was about his music by the feeling in his voice and faraway stare.
"Well you know," she leaned in close towards him like she had a juicy secret.
He leaned towards her, eyes bright and curious, "What?" He breathed back.
"You can listen to any music you want at a library. If they don't have a physical copy, they have public access computers," she winked.
"Amazing," he said quietly. "I can see why you like them so much."
Maka laughed, "I know right? Make sure show me what you listen to when you figure it out tomorrow."
"For sure," he grinned.
Maka realized his pointy-toothed smile was no longer unnerving. She grinned back as Tom the bartender came back with the bill. "Cash or credit at the table, debit is a no go, but there's an ATM over there."
"Cash is fine," Maka said fishing into her pockets. Soul peeked at the bill and cringed. Maka picked it up, unfazed considering how much beer they drank.
"Steep date this guy eh?" Tom said as she counted out the crumpled bills.
"And I don't put out on the first date by the way," Soul teased.
"Devastating," Maka said sarcastically.
Tom chuckled and took the cash, "Thanks guys, have a good night. And heck sweetheart, he looks easy, maybe he'll put out after all." Tom laughed as he walked away.
"Jeeze, I regret tipping him so well now."
Soul laughed, "Well I am pretty drunk, Tom might be right. Try not to take advantage of me." He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"Ew," Maka replied as she stood up to leave.
Soul laughed again, "Alright alright. I gotta hit the bathroom, then we can take off."
Maka nodded and went to go wait outside the pub. She stepped out the door and breathed in the cooler night air, hoping it would help clear her mind a little. She was interrupted almost immediately when she was grabbed roughly by the arm and thrown against the side of the pub. Instantly a big rough hand covered her mouth. Her eyes took an extra moment to focus due to the impact of her head hitting the wall. When her vision finally did clear, she realized she was face to face with the creep from the bar.
"So time travellers. Dr. M has a hefty bounty out for folks like you and your buddy from in the bar."
'Shit' she thought. She didn't think they were loud enough to be heard or that anyone was even close enough to hear them. She tried to kick the man in the shins, or anywhere she could reach. She landed one square boot on his shin hoping it would be enough of a distraction for her to break away. However, it had the exact opposite effect. He grunted and pressed his other hand against her throat and leaned heavily against her.
"Try it again and it'll be the last thing you do," he growled.
The lack of oxygen combined with the beer made her head swim and the panic set in. The corners of her vision started to dim just as a flash of white cut through the blur. All of a sudden the pressure against her body disappeared. She dropped to her knees gasping and looked over to see Soul struggling to keep the large stranger pinned down in the alley next to the bar.
"Soul," she said quietly.
"Get Tom," he grunted. "I need help."
She struggled to her feet and ran headfirst into the pub. "Tom help…my friend. That big buy…attacked." And as if he'd done it a hundred times before, he reached below the counter to grab a large wooden bat, that looked more like a club. before he ran passed her.
"In the alley," she gasped as she rushed to follow him.
They came upon Soul in the alley just as the creep landed an elbow right in his face. Soul fell backwards off the man as Tom stepped forward swinging his bat. The creep saw he was out numbered and before anyone else could come at him, he raced out of the alley. He ran fast and was quickly hidden amongst the buildings.
"You kids okay?" Tom said helping Soul off the ground.
"I don't know," he started gingerly touching the area around his eye. "I came out and he had her pinned against the wall, so I just charged at him."
Maka looked him up and down. She felt really guilty that he was injured, but mostly she was grateful that he was even there.
"Want me to call the cops?" Tom asked, his bat hanging at his side.
"There's no point," Maka said. "He's long gone and we're staying in the other direction anyways."
"Well alright. You guys head home, I'll keep watch for a few. Make sure he doesn't follow you."
"Thanks," said Soul quietly. "Let's go." He put his arm around her shoulders and guided her steps towards the hotel. She appreciated it after still feeling so shaken up.
Once they were halfway to the hotel from the pub Soul broke the silence. "Bet you're happy you tipped Tom so well now hunh?" He gave her a small tentative smile.
She nodded and granted him a small chuckle.
In the light of their cool, air conditioned hotel room Soul took a moment to examine her for injuries.
"Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, his brow furrowed.
"He-he choked me pretty hard, and I hit my head too," she said quietly.
Soul found himself feeling surprisingly shaken up. It hurt to see this strong, loud woman bruised and quiet. He found himself close to her, trying to examine where she was hurt. He saw the beginnings of some bruising on her neck. Trying to be as gentle as possible he brushed his fingers against the darkening patches around her neck, "Those are gonna be some shitty bruises but they won't be there for too long." She nodded but unfortunately she didn't look up at him. He sighed before reaching forward to check the back of her head. He ran his hand down from the crown of her head slowly and stopped when she flinched.
"Small bump." He carefully felt around the small raised area and checked his hand. "No blood. But it'll probably be tender for a bit."
She nodded silently again.
He ducked down to look into her face, "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah…I will be. Will you?" She said quietly as she reached up to touch the bruise forming under his right eye.
"Of course."
"Alright then, can we please just go to bed?" She was still speaking quietly but Soul was relieved to see she was no longer staring at the ground.
She went into the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind her. After washing her hands she doused her face in cold water. When she dried her hands and face she finally looked at her reflection. She saw purple and yellow bruises blooming on either side of her neck and then she realized her arm had similar finger shaped bruises forming where the stranger had first grabbed her arm. Suddenly she was struck by the same overwhelming sensations as when she had that first flashback back in the desert. She was able to strangle back the scream this time and instead just gasped before she fell heavily to the floor.
Soul had just finished changing into his pyjama shorts when he heard a thud from the bathroom.
"Maka?" he called tentatively. When there was no answer he felt panic rise hot in his throat. He ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door, "Maka?"
He heard nothing in response but felt an overwhelming sense of fear roiling just behind the door. He carefully pushed the door to find Maka in the fetal position on the floor. He checked that she was still breathing. "I'm going to pick you up and move you from the floor okay?" He didn't expect her to answer but felt it was better to try to warn her.
He bent down and scooped her tense body off the floor. Being careful to not knock her head, he carried her to the bed and gently put her down. He pulled the covers over her before grabbing each of them a glass of water and sitting next to her. He leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes. While the alley incident combined with Maka collapsing suddenly, did a lot to sober him up, he could still feel the effects of the beer pulsing through his brain. He downed his glass of water, then Maka's.
"Phew," he sighed, rubbing his extremely full belly. Maka stirred next to him, she was no longer a tight little ball and was a little more relaxed and stretched out. Her eyes were still closed so he didn't say anything to her. Soul figured he should refill a glass of water for Maka before settling in. He brushed his teeth, turned off all the lights, and finally climbed in to bed next to Maka. Cleaning up made him feel substantially better.
"Soul?" Maka said quietly from next to him.
"Mmm?" He hummed and turned to look at her.
Her big green eyes reflected the light of the alarm clock behind him.
"Are you okay?" she continued.
"Yeah, why?" He responded surprised. If anyone should not be okay it should
be her.
"That guy you pulled off of me was huge. I'm surprised you aren't more hurt."
"Oh. That guy?" He scoffed. "I can take three of him, no big deal."
She chuckled, "Tell that to your black eye." She reached over and gingerly pressed under his right eye.
He flinched, not even realizing he had been hit. "I'm sure it'll help me impress the ladies," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
"You're such a dork," she said smiling.
"Pfft. Whatever," he replied. They fell silent for a few minutes.
"Maka?" Soul said tentatively.
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Well…for the most part I think. I am a bit sore though."
Soul felt a twinge of guilt, "I'm sorry. I never should have left you alone. We knew that guy was somewhere being creepy. I just thought he was gone, I totally forgot he might be around." He was shaking, perhaps a delayed reaction to the adrenaline from the fight and finding Maka in the bathroom.
"Shh, don't be ridiculous," she kicked him lightly on the shins under the covers. "It was no one's fault."
He nodded against the pillow unable to meet her glowing green gaze.
"Soul, seriously," she reached over and nudged him under his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Not. Your. Fault. If anything you saved my life, so thank you."
Maka smiled at him so he did his best to smile back before he asked, "So what happened in the alley?"
"I didn't see him but he just snuck behind me grabbed me, and dragged me to the alley. He said some weird stuff, I didn't know what he was talking about, he got mad, I kicked him, he got more mad, and then started choking me. Then you showed up," she spilled.
Soul was irritated with her ability to sound so removed and unaffected by the whole thing. "You kicked the giant dude trying to kill you in an alley…?"
"It's not like I had anything to lose at that point," she said mirroring his annoyed tone.
He reminded himself that Maka was not that one he was mad at. "And…just now, in the bathroom?"
She breathed a deep sigh before responding, "Seeing the bruises form that guy triggered a bad memory...well memories…"
He waited, sensing she needed time to answer.
She sighed again, "I didn't leave my fiancée for cheating. I left him because he used to abuse me. He was perfect, minus a few red flags, until we announced our engagement. He actually hurt me so badly once that my wrist was broken. The letter he wrote me was total bullshit. The night of his bachelor party he came back high and drunk, he beat me up really badly and then passed out. When I was able to get back up I packed up my shit and left town. I went to the last place anyone would ever think to look for me. My father's."
Soul could feel his blood boil at the idea of some guy, lucky enough to have her in his life, using her as a punching bag.
"He was always doing that for the last few months. Hurting me, then apologizing for some nonsense, begging, belittling, just really fucked up stuff. Whatever he has to say to keep me from leaving. That night was the last though. He forwarded the letter to me through a co-worker's email. I don't think I was going to go back to him though."
Soul didn't realize he could hate someone he'd never met so much. He sat there, expressionless and silent, not wanting to do or say anything wrong after such a heavy revelation.
Maka looked at Soul and appreciated his concern. Considering her newly discovered past it was clear to her now why she liked Soul's gentle and relaxed demeanour. Although remembering him jumping to her defence in the alley made her realize that despite his gentle way of dealing with her, he was capable of being strong when necessary. Quite suddenly Maka yawned widely. When she opened her eyes she saw that Soul was now glaring at her, brow furrowed and mouth set in a frown.
She laughed at the sudden change, "What are you thinking about now that's got you all scowly?"
"Lots of things," he growled.
"Like what?"
"Well I don't really wanna upset you again…"
"Go on. I can take it," she said.
"Well for starters, I can't stop thinking about how I'd like to destroy your scumbag ex," he said tightening his jaw.
"Well I wouldn't stop you," she replied smirking. "But he'd be a harmless old man by now…probably anyways." She chuckled at the idea of him crotchety and bent with age.
"The other thing that gets me is how the hell are you so calm and collected now? You were practically catatonic until a few minutes ago. Now it's like nothing even happened."
"I think that's your fault actually," she replied.
"How do you figure?" He said, baring his pointy teeth at her.
"Well, you've kind of been saving me this whole time, you know?"
His whole facial expression changed and he looked rather surprised when he heard her answer.
"I feel safe with you," she continued as his face relaxed even more. "Not only have you been looking out for me since I found you, but you literally saved my life Soul. I don't even know how to begin thanking you," she finished with a smile. To her surprise he looked like he was about to cry.
"Soul?"
He shook his head, "I think in the end you'll be the one to save me…" the statement hung heavily in the air. He felt the weight of what he had yet to learn about himself pressing into his mind. He met Maka's quizzical stare.
He cracked a smile and ruffled her already tousled hair, "Nerd. Stop getting us into trouble."
"Weeeelllllll, not to point fingers but I think you'll find that in your infinite wisdom you may have picked the wrong place for supper," her eyes gleamed mischievously.
He pulled the pillow from under her head and gently bopped her in the face. "As if I don't feel guilty enough, you jerk."
After a few seconds she pulled the pillow off her face and put it back under her head, "As much as I'd like to destroy you in a pillow fight, I did recently hit my head off of a brick wall…so…rain check?"
"Oh shit. Sorry." Now he'd done it, after trying to be so careful.
"Don't worry," she said, still smiling. "Just prepare for an ass kicking in the near future."
He smiled back before rolling over to get comfortable. "Goodnight Maka."
He felt her shift behind him. She wedged herself against his back, he could feel her knees against the back of his legs. "Night Soul," she said quietly, he felt her breath against his neck. "And thank you. You really did save me today," she squeezed his arm and then settled into her pillow.
He started dropping off into a comfortable haze. He enjoyed the contrast of another warm body next to him in the chilly air-conditioned room. All things considered, he felt pretty content as he fell asleep.