Maka calmly watched as Soul snored on peacefully. She spent the duration of his nap tidying the hotel room and gathering the few belongings they had. She hadn't necessarily planned for the delay Soul's nap had caused, but she could not deny him the break he clearly needed. He looked hollowed out when they had returned to the hotel room, despite her attempts to cheer him up on the brief walk from the library. Forgoing the nap herself, she decided to pack their stuff up so as to avoid having to pay for another night at the hotel, knowing they may not necessarily return.
Given the few things they had, packing did not take very long. She took stock of the money they had left and was pleasantly surprised; they had enough cash left to bounce between cheap hotels for a wile more if they needed to. As she folded and put her clothing into her backpack she felt the weight of the compact mirror in the bottom of it. She had put it in there after she initially received it, and refused to take it out since.
Once she was satisfied with the room she sat on the bed, contemplating her plan for the rest of the day. Soul was in a pretty deep state of sleep. His mouth was hanging open and his chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. She gently shook his shoulder, "Soul, nap time is over." No response.
She shook him a little harder, "Soul, it's time to get up and go." He grunted back but did not move. "C'mon Soul, we don't want to have to pay for another night in case we don't end up here."
He reached out to her slowly and placed his hand square over her mouth, "Hush."
Aggravated by his response she bit into his palm, hard. His hand snapped back and he jolted upright. "What the actual fuck Maka?!"
"You just covered my mouth, and hushed me!"
"Oh-kay, but you just bit me."
She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously, "I'd get up now if I were you."
He just grinned at her but made no move to get up. She lunged forward to give him a good smack, and unlike some of his earlier encounters with her fists, he was able to deftly roll out of reach to the other side of the bed. He expected, and perhaps even instigated this attack, so he was prepared. Recognizing that he was baiting her, Maka opted to just ignore him.
"Whatever, I'm leaving then." She grabbed her backpack and started towards the door when she felt a pillow make contact with her back.
"Oh Evans, what have you done," she dropped her bag and in one fluid motion grabbed the pillow from the floor as she lunged onto the bed and smacked him square in his smug face.
He laughed as he grabbed the other pillow and fired it back at her. "You have got to be kidding me," she huffed as she shoved him into the bed. "We are grown ass people having a goddamn pillow fight. And given our situation this is just ridiculous."
"Lighten up nerd," he said as he pulled her down next to him.
She landed on her back next to him, breathing a little more heavily from the exertion of fighting him. She looked over at him, "Name calling is not nice."
He looked back into her pouting face as he responded, "I say it affectionately. I think it's great that you're a bookworm. We certainly would not have made it this far if we were running on my brain power."
Her pout morphed into a small smile, "Shucks, that was almost a compliment."
"Don't let it get to your head Maks."
"Well, you're a music nerd…I mean so you say. I have yet to see you at a piano."
"We have yet to even find a piano you weirdo," he said sitting up.
"Will you play for me if we do find one?" She followed suit and sat up too.
He didn't know why the idea of playing for Maka made his stomach tie itself into nervous knots, "Pft. Get your priorities in order woman, we are looking for answers here and we don't need that sort of distraction." He got off the bed and gathered his backpack into his arms.
"Uhm excuse me. Since when were you in such a motivated hurry over there?" She sassed back as she got up.
"Since always, slacker."
She huffed at him as she led the way out of the hotel room door.
-
"So what is the plan, where are we going?" He said as he trailed behind her out of the hotel.
Maka zipped the remaining money back into her bag after she paid for their room. "Well the business card was for the pub right? So I figure that Marie woman was trying to guide us there. That and Dr. Stein, and those big beer mug things are called steins, there were also a bunch of other tips in his papers, but there really isn't a point in me explaining. This is still a hunch after all."
"So what do we do when we get there?" He questioned.
"Well, Tom seemed like a decent guy. And as far as I can tell we just ask for the doctor by name. There is some sort of test we have to pass before we get to far anyways so I don't really know. I figure we could just flash him the card, tell him who gave it to us, and hope for the best."
"Hope for the best hunh?" Maka seemed like much too tedious a planner to be willing to leave things to fate, but he rolled with it.
Within a few minutes they were in sight of the pub. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to gently face him. "This could get weird or dangerous Maka, so… let's just be cautious and stick together okay?"
She grabbed his hand in hers, "We're in this together, don't worry."
They marched back into the pub and were pleased to see Tom was indeed working that moment.
"Hello," Maka said brightly as she approached him at the bar.
"Oh hey. I didn't think you kids would wanna come back after what happened last night," he smiled warmly at them.
"Well, admittedly we aren't here for food or drinks," Maka replied.
"Even though everything was great," Soul added in quickly.
"What can I do for you then?"
"Well, we are looking for…a doctor," Maka said. She slid the business card across the counter to him and continued, "A lovely woman from the library gave us this business card, I think she wanted us to look for the doctor here."
Tom looked at them both quietly. After a few moments of considering them he nodded. "Well, I suppose I do know a decent doctor but you'll have to wait a moment."
Soul and Maka nodded at him and he walked towards the back of the shop. Only a few seconds passed and he came back.
He leaned in close to them and spoke very quickly and quietly, "Make sure no one is around. Go to that side alley, towards the back of it is a door into the back end of this building. Lock the door immediately behind you. All three locks. Under the desk is a mat, and under that mat is a trapdoor, go down there and try to pull the mat as much over the trapdoor as you can. There's a light switch on the right when you get to the bottom of the steps. There are seven steps to the main tunnel. Don't fall, it fucking hurts. And the Doc... well. He's a weird guy, so be careful. Harmless though... for the most part anyways."
Soul was stunned and overwhelmed, he looked over at Maka who nodded, "Got it."
He didn't know how she stored all that information so quickly, but he had no doubts that she had.
"Thank you," Soul said quietly before he turned to follow Maka out of the door.
"You ready for this Soul?" she asked as she stood near the entrance of the alley. He nodded at her as she bent down at the entrance to the alley near the corner of the building.
"I'm going to tie my shoes, let me know when the coast is clear."
She pretended to be immersed in her shoelaces and Soul scanned the area. "We're good," he said as an older couple passed them to enter the diner.
Maka stood upright and quickly followed Soul into the alley. He headed to the back and saw an unremarkable black metal door. He took a deep breath before he pulled the door open. Him and Maka both slid in before he closed the door behind her. He threw the dead bolt near the top of the doorframe as she reached for the latch on the bottom. They met at the middle where they both attempted to push the lock on the knob at the same time. Maka threw him a look. He chuckled and stepped out of her way.
They stepped back from the door and turned to look around the room. The desk Tom mentioned was easy to spot in the sparsely furnished windowless room. There was a small desk lamp on the table providing dim lighting. Soul waited for his eyes to adjust to the lighting before walking up to the desk.
"I'll head down first and turn the light on, then you follow me and pull the mat and door behind you?" He squatted in front of the desk and pulled the small mat from under it.
"Sure," Maka replied as she followed him. "Be careful though okay?"
He nodded before pulling open the door. The steps Tom mentioned weren't too steep so he was not too concerned. He sat on the floor and scooted to fit under the desk before he felt into the opening to find the second stair. He had to slide down the first four stairs on his butt because he was too tall to fit under the desk well. As he was able to stand up he reached to either side of him to locate the tunnel walls. It was not very wide and the brick was cool to the touch. As he counted the seventh step he felt the light switch beneath his fingers. He flocked on the light and looked back at Maka as she climbed in. She had to lower herself in awkwardly so as to maneuver the mat to lie on top of the door.
He waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs for Maka to join him.
"Alright, let's do this I guess," she said as she stood next to him. The tunnel was not very wide, they were able to walk next to each other but their shoulders touched and every few steps he felt her hand brush against his.
The walked in silence for a few minutes, the tunnel got cooler as they went. After a few minutes of walking straight ahead the tunnel angled a little to the right and began to gently slant downwards. He felt Maka slide her small hand into his. It felt cold in his as he gently grasped her hand back. "Bookworms are afraid of the dark?" He said nodding towards the increasingly dim tunnel ahead of them.
"Not really, but we're not big on small, dark, cold tunnels that lead to I don't know where," she replied snarkily.
"It's fine," he said laughing lightly. "I don't really like this situation either. And I get to hold hands with the prettiest lady in the tunnel," he added smoothly.
"Oh hush," she said. He noticed a light blush dust the apples of her cheeks.
He laughed more, "Cute. I kind of forget you're a girl sometimes becuase you're such a scrapper."
"Oh my God Soul. Of course I'm a girl," the blush in her face turned to an angrier red.
"I know."
"Well?"
"I just like to give you a hard time. You should know that by now," he squeezed her hand to reassure her.
She grumbled a little in response but the red started to fade from her cheeks. He smiled to himself at the ridiculousness of his companion. Did she really think he could just forget that she's a girl? Her distressed reactions to his comments contradicted her typically aggressive and confident demeanor.
They walked silently for a few more moments before Maka interrupted his thoughts by clearing her throat.
He looked over and met her gaze.
"I know you like to tease me," she started. "And I know you do it for the reaction… But I can't help but react. You're just infuriating."
He laughed loudly as they continued down the dingy tunnel. After several more minutes they came to a stop in front of a large metal door with a metal handle. They stood awkwardly in front of the heavy door.
"Do we…go in?" Soul asked quietly.
"Yeah. Should we make a plan in case this takes a turn?" Maka asked looking up at him.
Even in the dim tunnel lighting her inquisitive eyes still looked bright. "Sure, well…I got your back regardless of what happens. So where ever you end up I guess I 'll be there too. We fight, it'll be together…And, I'm guessing we will have to be pretty hoenst with this doctor scienctist man, so let's be honest with each other?" He finished with a shrug.
At hearing how supportive Soul was, Maka felt more at ease. They were obviously stuck together, for whatever reason, but it was nice to know that Soul didn't see it as a bad thing. "I agree," she smiled. "And, I've got your back too…unless. Keeping any secrets from me Evans?"
He grinned back, "I'm an open book, and I know how you feel about books."
They both looked back at the door, "Shall we?" Maka said as she reached for the door handle.
"Well hold on. You should let me go ahead just in case. I'd feel better about that than letting you go ahead of me."
"Oh please. You know what I'm capable of," she huffed back.
"I do know," he said as he rubbed a phantom bump on his skull. "But I'd just feel better."
She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, "Let's just go in together then, okay?"
He nodded before finally letting her open the door. "It's pitch black," he said, as they both surveyed what was visible in the room before them.
Which was nothing. The light from the tunnel only illuminated about a foot passed the door. Maka peered in but her eyes were met with only pure darkness.
"Do we turn back?" she finally replied.
"Oh no, I'd much rather you came in," a deep male voice echoed from within the dark room.
They both jumped and held each other's hands more tightly.
"Who are you?" Maka called back.
"It is quite likely that I am the one you came all the way here to see, so I'd come in if I were you," the voice replied dryly.
Soul stood still waiting for Maka to lead. After only a brief hesitation she strode through the doorway pulling him along besides her. As soon as they had cleared the door it swung shut behind them. They were in pure darkness for only a moment before a bright, blinding light, shone down on them. Maka and Soul stood closely together.
"State your names," the voice echoed.
"Soul Evans."
"Maka Albarn."
"How did you find this location?" The voice asked.
Maka spoke up, "We went to the library at the college and did some research, a librarian by the name of Marie tipped us off by giving us a business card to the pub."
"Where did you come from?" The voice pressed.
Maka and Soul looked at each other before Soul cleared his throat and responded, "The past. It was the year of 2016."
"And how did you find each other?"
This time Maka spoke up, "I landed in the desert first. I was unconscious until I felt something strange deep in my mind, or soul, or something. I woke up to see Soul literally falling from the sky some distance away from me. For whatever reason I was drawn to his presence. I found him unconscious. He woke up eventually and…we've been together since."
"What was each of you doing when time stopped in the past?" The voice continued.
Maka looked at Soul, unsure if he would be as forthcoming with the stranger as he was with her.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before responding, "I was trying to kill myself. And in the memory, I got the impression I would have succeeded…you know, if time didn't freeze or fast forward or whatever."
The room remained silent for a few moments after Soul's admission. When the voice didn't immediately echo back in response Maka tried to look at Soul's face, but it was difficult in the aggressively bright spotlight shining down on them.
"What about you?" The voice finally replied.
"I don't remember," she replied automatically.
"Well. We'll have to work on that then. Come along. It's the large door directly in front of you." As the voice finished the spotlight dimmed as the rest of the room lit up. The room was large, with concrete walls and a high concrete ceiling. There were several large, heavy looking metal doors, around the perimeter of the room.
They hesitated only a moment before walking towards the door indicated by the voice. Soul wrenched the heavy door open and Maka cautiously followed him in. Before them stood Marie the librarian and a tall pale-skinned man. As soon as the cleared the door it slammed shut behind them just like the last one.
She followed Soul to stand across from Marie and the tall man where they all stood facing each other silently for a moment. Maka scanned her surroundings, trying to take in as much as she could. Marie looked very much the same as she had at the library; blonde wavy hair tumbling passed her shoulders, long black skirt grazing the floor, and the same kind smile shining from her face. Maka assumed that the strange newcomer was the professor. He was unusually tall with broad shoulders and an otherwise wiry frame. He looked fairly young but his hair was pure grey. Any exposed skin was crisscrossed with pale scars. He was wearing a grey turtleneck sweater and black pants topped off with a long white lab coat. His pale skin, combined with his clothing choices made him look like a character from a black and white movie.
After taking in the people in front of her she hazarded a glance at Soul. On the surface he was wearing a calm and even bored expression, but she could feel that he was tense and on edge.
"I suppose I should introduce myself," the tall man said, sounding annoyed by the whole situation.
"I am Doctor Stein. I know you've briefly met Marie before. She works closely with me as well as at the library. By working at the library she has access to a lot of important information, and she serves as eyes and ears on the outside, and can lookout for people like you. Now it is of some concern to me that you do not yet remember what you were doing when you were sent here. But that shall be of no consequence, we'll make sure that you remember everything that is pertinent."
Maka was not sure why, but the idea of being coerced into something made her feel uneasy.
"However, it won't be today, you will have plenty to deal with soon enough. Marie will introduce you to the others, and then take you to your room. The real fun will start tomorrow," he smirked before walking away from them briskly.
Marie smiled at them and took over, "Alright! Well, welcome Soul, Maka. You've certainly faced some challenges getting here by the sounds of things, so we'll try not to overwhelm you today. Follow me please," her smile was warm and genuine as she turned around to lead them through another door. They went down a short tunnel that opened into a large cavernous room. The ceiling looked to be at least three stories high. There were various heavy doors around the perimeter of the room. On the far wall, jutting out just below the ceiling was a glass-walled room overlooking the large cement room they had just entered. Most notable however, was the large wooden table straight ahead of them, surrounded by several odd looking people.
Marie led them right up to the small crowd by the table. Upon nearing them Maka was able to count five people around that table, and they all looked to be of similar age to her and Soul. "Alright, good afternoon everyone, I'd like to introduce you all to our newcomers, Maka and Soul. Maka smiled and Soul nodded, the same bored mask plastered to his face.
"Hello, my name is Kidd," a young man with jet-black bowl cut hair extended his hand to Soul and then Maka. He had three strange, horizontal white streaks in his hair. His eyes were a golden honey colour that stood out against his black formal clothing. He was wearing straight-legged black jeans, a collared white shirt, and a black cardigan on top. The cardigan was plain black except for a small white skull embroidered on the left breast pocket. Interestingly, he was flanked by, two model-like blonde girls.
Despite their varying hair lengths the girls looked to be closely related. "These are the twins, Liz and Patti," he indicated first the taller of the sisters, then the shorter. They both smiled and nodded. "They are my partners, and together we form a nearly symmetrical team." The shorter sister grinned and rolled her eyes dramatically at the mention of symmetry.
"Don't mind the village crazy man, he's got outrageous OCD," a boy still seated on one of the benches around the table said loudly. His short stature would have made it easy to miss him except that he had vibrant blue hair. It was shaggy and messy, bits of it dangled in his eyes while others stood directly on end, sticking out of his head like he had been electrocuted.
"I am the mighty Blackstar. If you'd like an autograph to save for when I am famous, don't be afraid to ask," he said loudly as he stood up. He reached out and firmly shook her and Soul's hands.
Finally, the last of the bunch stood from her spot on the bench next to Blackstar. Maka saw from the corner of her vision as Soul's eyes closely followed the movements of the girl. She stood gracefully and faced them. She bowed her head slightly before introducing herself. "I am Tsubaki, I arrived here with Blackstar, he is my partner." Maka could not blame Soul for staring. The blonde twins were beautiful, but Tsubaki had a calm grace that accompanied her statuesque appearance. She was tall and spectacularly curvy with long, shiny black hair that cascaded around her shoulders. Her clothing was modest but hugged her shape in a way that was difficult to ignore. Maka swallowed her envy and smiled at the quiet spoken girl.
Marie, who had been observing the introductions with a benign smile, spoke up now that everyone had spoken.
"So these folks have been staying with us for quite a while already. You two are actually sort of stragglers based on the Professor's projections. This room here is central to our operation. We meet, train, and have meals together here. That up there is the observatory and directly attached to it is Stein's lab," she finished as she pointed at the hanging room jutting out of the ceiling behind the group. At the mention of Stein's lab the group in front of them shuddered collectively and Kidd's face even went a little green.
"Anyways," Marie continued ignoring the group's reaction. "You can usually find these guys here, but now I will take you to your rooms, follow me please." She turned and led them through a door behind, and to the left of the table.
"This is the residential corridor," she said as she swung the heavy door open. The corridor was rather wide and flanked by multi coloured doors. On one side there was a blue door, a red door, a purple door, and a black door. The other side was six doors, alternating between green and yellow.
"Okay so the black door is the laundry room, the purple door is a co-ed lounge, the red door is the female facilities, and the blue door is the male facilities. The green and yellow doors are the bedrooms. Are you comfortable sharing a room together?" She directed the question at Soul and Maka suddenly. They looked at each other questioningly, Soul shrugged before turning back to Marie to reply.
"Sure, we already have been for days."
"Alright, good. We used to assign individual rooms, but everyone always ended up with their partners. I'm assuming everyone is just most comfortable with their partners nearby. You've all been through a lot though," she smiled but looked a little sad.
"Anyways, you are in yellow number two," she said indicating the farthest room on the left with a yellow door. Blackstar and Tsubaki are next door, and two doors down are Kidd and the Thompson sisters. Do either of you have a watch?"
Soul held up his left hand in response, showing his plain black wristwatch.
"Okay good. You'll have to set the clock in your room," she popped open their door and led them. The room itself was rather large, and surprisingly well equipped.
Maka began to survey the room when Marie continued, "Everything you'll need, including toiletries is in here. Now don't be too alarmed, but we have been expecting you so there are also some extra clothes in here for you. We weren't sure what state you'd be in when you arrived. You have a couple hours before dinner at six o'clock so I'll let you explore the room in peace. That phone," she pointed to a phone hanging on the wall to the left of the door, "has a bunch of numbers programmed and labeled already. Pretty much any room can be reached, I'll be in my office if you need anything. So anyways, until six you can relax, unpack, and cleanup if you'd like. Whatever works! See you kids at dinner."
"Thank you Marie, see you at dinner," Maka replied as Marie backed out of the door, closing it behind her.
As soon as the door snapped shut behind Marie, Soul felt immediate relief at finally being alone with Maka, for what felt like the first time in a while. After spending so much time with Maka, and feeling so at ease about it, he almost forgot how anxious being around other people made him. He did his best to maintain a calm, cool exterior when meeting everyone, but he really just wanted to run away. He got the sense that Maka was overwhelmed too. She had a tendency to want to analyze a situation, but they both knew there was just too much happening, and it was all too strange.
"You okay Maka?"
"…Yeah, are you?" She replied.
"I think so. But this is…a lot. Not that I had any expectations but…"
"I know what you mean," she said for him before he had to finish his thought.
They both surveyed the large room. To their left from their spot by the door were two small beds parallel to each other but several feet apart, each bed was accompanied by a small beside table. On the wall opposite to them was a large dresser with a coat rack next to it. To their right, taking up the entire wall was a large vanity flanked by an excess of cupboards and drawers. The vanity included a sink and mirror in the center of it all. On the floor next to the vanity were two small laundry baskets. A couple towels were neatly folded and placed at the end of each bed. The bedding was a dark grey and the pillows were a bright yellow to match the bedroom door. The room itself was a pale bluish grey and all the furniture was a dark polished wood with brushed silver hardware to match the taps and the sink.
"This is a really nice room," Maka breathed as she walked over to the farther of the two beds.
"Yeah, although it might be kinda hard to sleep. I got used to sharing one big bed," he said it without thinking. It hadn't occurred to him that it was an odd thing to say until he noticed Maka blushing a little. He was mentally scrambling to find a new topic to chat about when Maka responded.
"I know what you mean. Mind if I take this bed?" She said quietly as she dropped her bag onto one of the beds.
"Be my guest," he said as he flopped exhaustedly onto the other bed.
"I'm going to unpack and then shower okay Soul?"
He grunted back in response from his position face down in his pillows.
"You shouldn't nap, it'll make it harder to sleep tonight."
"Socializing makes me tired, I'm sure I will be able to sleep," he said groggily as he got more comfortable in the bed. He curled on his said and kicked the blankets up around him.
Maka felt a little hurt, "I exhaust you?"
"You don't count…idiot," Soul replied without moving. His eyes had drifted shut.
"Oh," was all she said in reply. She wanted to swat him for calling her an idiot, but she was pleased with his response, and he was already breathing deeply.
She began to unpack her bag by tucking the odds and ends in her bedside table. Things like the compact mirror and their remaining money. She took the dirtier of her clothing and tossed it into one of the hampers. She pulled open the top drawer of the dresser and found that it was already occupied. She reached in to investigate and ended up with a pair of boxers with the tags still attached in her hands. She tossed them back into the drawer and moved on to the second drawer. It was empty so she pulled open the next drawer down. This one had clothing in it too so she poked around. She pulled out a plain white tank top and continued to explore when she realized it was women's clothing meant for her. She found a flannel pajama set, a lighter nightgown, plain t-shirts in various colours, a pair of jeans, a pair of sweat pants, a couple plain sweaters, several multi-coloured underwear. Everything still had the tags and she was pleased that it was all her size too. They had everything covered, although she was not sure why she needed a bikini, she hadn't seen a pool, but the facility seemed huge and full of secrets. The last drawer was empty so she dumped the remainder of the clothing she brought into it.
She then explored the vanity. In one of the drawers there were two toothbrushes, floss, and even mouthwash. In another drawer there were two zippered bags. She assumed the purple one was for her and left the green bag in the drawer. There was more than she would ever ask for crammed into the cloth bag. Deodorant, make-up, hair clips, everything and more. She opened another cupboard and fond several varieties of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. She grabbed a set of shower supplies that carried a description she liked. She found a plastic shower caddy and a louffa in another drawer and dropped all the supplies into the caddy. She gathered all the towels from her and Soul's beds. She kept a towel for use and dumped the rest into an empty drawer.
She looked over at Soul quickly to make sure he was still asleep before undressing and wrapping herself in one the fluffy, bright yellow towels. She gathered herself up and headed across the hall to the red door. She pushed the door open to find a brightly coloured dorm style bathroom. The walls were painted pale lavender, the floors were made up of large, alternating purple and white tiles and everything smelled clean. To her right was a row sinks and a wall of mirrors, on the parallel was a set of cubbies. Some of the cubbies were already occupied with the girls' shower stuff. All the cubbies were labeled and she found one with her name and a pair of plastic, sparkly, green flip-flops for in the shower. Next to the cubbies was a doorway to another area where there were three toilet stalls, and a wall shower stalls. She ran the water in one of the stalls and waited until it was steamy hot before hanging up her towel and jumping in with her caddy. The shampoo and matching conditioner she picked were a warm vanilla and smelled like something happy and sweet. As she was finishing up in the shower she heard someone else enter the bathroom. She heard footsteps pattering towards her rather quickly and then suddenly the shower curtain was thrown open.
"Howdy, howdy!" Patti, one of the blonde twins, greeted her loudly.
"Umm, hello," Maka said as she reached for her towel hanging on the outside of her stall. "Can I help you with something?" Maka continued when the blonde haired girl said nothing more.
"I'm Patti, and I wanted to show you around a bit more. Marie's tour is not super detailed or exciting.
At this point Patti grabbed one of Maka's wrists and pulled her out of the shower. "Whoa, wait…" Maka stammered. The blonde ignored her protests and continued to drag Maka along behind her. Maka stumbled behind her, barely keeping the towel wrapped secured around her, her hair sopping wet and dripping everywhere. "Can I get dressed first?"
"Naw, no time. No one cares anyways."
Maka could feel herself getting more flustered as they emerged from the bathroom. She was pulled along to the blue door, which she then kicked open and announced, "This is the boys' bathroom, it's the same as ours except they have one of those pee fountain things."
"It's called a urinal, and get the fuck out Patti, for the last time, dudes only in here!" A voice echoed angrily out of the bathroom.
"Shove it Blackstar, this is a special occasion!" She shouted back before letting the door swing shut. She moved on to the laundry room and kicked that door open too, revealing a couple sets of washers and dryers, as well as a large drying rack. None of the machines were running, but a majority of the drying rack was in use. "Laundry. Boring. Moving on," Patti mumbled before quickly moving on and dragging Maka to the purple door of the lounge. She pushed the door open excitedly and pulled Maka in behind her. To her surprise there were people in the room already. The other two girls, Liz and Tsubaki, were sitting at a small table in one corner of the room painting their nails. The room was large and cozy with all sorts of comfortable chairs to relax in. There were several bookshelves crammed with books, board games, and movies. The very center of the room was slightly sunken and featured a large plush sofa in the shape of a half-moon facing a large flat screen TV. All in all Maka felt like to call this room a lounge was an epic understatement.
"This is the lounge!" Patti exclaimed loudly. The sudden outburst caused the other girls to look up in surprise.
"Oh for God's sake Patti, leave the poor girl alone, she's naked," Liz scolded.
"No! I'm almost done the resident's area tour," Patti retorted before dragging Maka to the other side of the hall.
She used her hip to pop open one of the bedrooms. No one was in it, but it was already occupied. Half the room was in disarray, with clothing strewn around haphazardly, while the other half was nice and tidy. Maka also noticed that the two smaller beds in the room had been pushed together to form one bed.
"This is Blackstar and Tsubaki's room. She used clean up after Blackstar all the time, but it looks like she gave up," Patti laugh-snorted a little before pulling her along to the next bedroom. "This is where Kidd, Liz, and I live," she said as she held the door open. They had a slightly different set up. Rather than individual beds, there was one bunk bed. The bottom bunk looked to be a double, and the top bunk was the size of the rest of the small single beds.
"We requested a bunk. Marie is very accommodating. Not so much Professor Stein though. So if you need anything ask her first."
"Good to know," Maka mumbled.
Finally Patti dragged Maka back to her own room. She energetically slammed through the door as she announced, "This is your room!"
Soul, who was clearly in the midst of heading to take a shower himself, tripped and fell over his own pants. He had a towel and some toiletries on the bed next to him and was in the middle off taking off his jeans, when they burst in and startled him. Maka stifled the giggle that rose in her throat when she saw his shocked face looking up at them from the floor. Watching him try to simultaneously stand up and detangle from his jeans was quite the sight. Patti grinned down at him before bounding away. "I'll give you your tour later, don't you worry," she called back over her shoulder. Maka closed the door behind Patti before finally letting out a giggle as Soul finally managed to stand up.
"What the hell was that?" Soul growled.
"She ambushed me in the showers. Insisted on giving me a tour."
"So that's why you're still marching around in the nude eh? How risqué," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Maka blushed as she scrambled to come up with a reply, "Well you're the one doing a little strip tease over there."
He blushed a little, but not because she had walked in just the, she had seen him in his boxers before, rather it was because of what he had seen earlier. He was dozing off earlier but had looked over at Maka to ask her something before she left for her shower. He hadn't realized that she was undressing in their room, and it was quite likely that she hadn't realized he wasn't actually asleep yet.
He chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah. I'm sure I put on a good show." He could've got her back by mentioning what he had seen earlier, but he figured it would earn him a solid kick, and things might get awkward. Besides if he mentioned it, he might have to explain why his eyes lingered a few more moments than necessary. It wasn't that he was staring but Maka was a pretty girl and she had caught him off guard.
"Whatever," she mumbled, "Can you go hit the showers already so I can get dressed?"
"Yeah, wouldn't want to flash me by accident or something right?" He smiled at his own inside joke before heading for the showers.
As soon as Soul left Maka headed for her drawers and grabbed some of the less frilly undergarments. She also grabbed a pair of sweats and one of the plain t-shirts. It took her no time to get dressed so she grabbed a hairbrush and flopped down onto the bed. She intended to brush her hair but once she had settled onto the bed she was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it was. She lay down, the hairbrush forgotten completely. She nestled into the pillows and sighed contentedly. As she lay there feeling more and more sluggish a thought crossed her mind. Soul had blushed earlier, and let had let her win their bickering easily. Too easily. It couldn't have been from her walking in on him, he typically seemed unfazed being in his boxers around her before. He had blushed at the mention of his strip tease. What if it was because he had seen her undressing before? She hadn't confirmed that he was actually asleep. She sleepily shook the thought out of her mind. She was overwhelmed, the excitement of the day taking its toll combined with the comfort of her new bed. Her eyes had already drifted shut and she drifted off before she knew it.