In the church with the doors that only open in, he takes a hit for her. It's first time fear immobilizes her and she won't listen to his call for her to block, she can't risk him getting hurt. When the demon sword went to strike, there was no doubt he would block her, it was his job, and he had promised to protect her.
During his recovery, he can feel her inner turmoil over the link. She feels guilty, like it's somehow her fault the demon sword could cut through weapons. Soul would tell her she's being stupid, except he's been in her shoes before, the feeling of letting your partner down is hauntingly familiar, so when she resolves to get stronger for him, he decides they'll get stronger together.
They are partners after all.
"Hey, move your feet."
He's sprawled across the sofa, taking up as much space as he can manage. Thankfully, they have the day off from lessons, and even Maka has decided they could take a break from practicing. He intends to stay glued to the couch all day. He's not moving for anything or anyone.
"No way. I'm comfy." He gives her a cheeky grin he's sure makes him look like Black Star. He was picking up on too many of Black Star's mannerisms lately.
He can feel her rolling her eyes through the link. "Just lift your legs for a second. You can put your stinky feet in my lap, I just wanna sit and read." He should be afraid she's gonna smash the book into his face, but by now he's learned how far he can push her before she blows. He'll move his feet when she looks like she's about to strike.
"Not happening Maka. It's couch potato day and I'm watching crappy movies all day and not moving."
She narrows her eyes at him and calculates for a moment. Just as he knows how far she can be pushed, Maka knows his limits too, and he can tell she's about to test them. In the craziest, stupidest move she's ever done in the entirety of their partnership, she drops her book on the table and climbs over him on the couch.
"Wh-what?" He splutters, while she settles herself comfortably on top of him, laying between his legs, snaking her arms behind his back and resting her head on his chest. One of his hands grips the remote and the other clutches the back of the couch.
This is crossing some sort of line.
Partners don't just lie on top of each other, do they? This seems way to intimate to be doing with a friend. Then again, he's never had a friend before her, maybe this was something friends usually did?
"If it's couch potato day, and we only have one couch, you have to share." She prods the link to see if he was uncomfortable with this, admittedly, he was enjoying it way more than he thought he should. What should he do with his hands? Would it be weird if he held her?
Sensing his discomfort, she tugs her arm from underneath him and for a moment his heart sinks. But she doesn't move away from him, instead, she awkwardly angles her arm to reach for his hand gripping the sofa and guides his arm to rest across her back. Yes, he can hold her. It's only fair. Her arm sneaks back underneath him and he's never felt better in his life.
He can feel her breath through the cotton of his shirt. "So, what are we watching?"
"Uhh, don't know, haven't decided yet." He could watch anything and it wouldn't matter, as long as she stayed on top of him. He starts scrolling through the movie selection on Netflix, looking for something he's sure she would enjoy. She mumbles into his shirt. "How are you so warm?"
"Huh?" He tries to look at her face, but all he can see is hair.
"How are you so warm? You're really comfy." He knows he's blushing. He wonders if she can feel the heat radiating off his face.
"Well, I have someone lying on top of me, that'll usually warm ya right up."
"No, I mean, you're always warm. Like, when we're home, I see you walking around in shorts and I'm wearing a sweater. And when you're a weapon, you always feel warm, which doesn't make sense, cause you're metal?"
"I don't know. I didn't grow up in the desert, maybe desert kids just run cold to survive the heat. Or maybe it's a weapon thing." She hums, accepting his explanation. He puts on a movie they've seen before, something they both enjoyed, and carefully reaches out to set the remote on the coffee table. His hand joins the other across her back, his fingers grazing the ends of her loose hair.
Tentatively, he runs his fingers through her hair, carefully combing out the tangles and reveling in the silky texture. Her side of the link whispers her bliss at the sensation. He isn't paying attention to the movie at all, he's enthralled by her hair and the fact that they're even in this position. He would have never imagined lounging on the couch with her, but now he's greedy and wants to do this daily. He hopes she does too.
It's not long before she falls asleep on him. He's stupidly pleased but regrets not eating food before lying down. His stomach is gonna start growling soon and shes gonna hear it. He doesn't want her to move, but they're gonna need to eat soon. Just as he predicted, his stomach rumbles and Maka shifts. She lifts her head and peers at him with sleepy eyes.
"Pizza" she mumbles, and slowly drags herself away from him. As soon as she sits up, the chill of the room hits him and he wants to pull her back to him. She stands, stretches, and goes to place their usual pizza order. He sits up and rotates his neck, glad to be able to stretch but mourning the loss of Maka's body on top of him.
Death, he's pathetic.
The pizza arrives and they sit on the couch to eat. Normally, Maka would yell at him for not eating at the table, but he has declared it couch potato day and she can make an exception. They eat their fill, and Soul starts the fourth movie of the day. Maka leaves the living room and Soul tries to hide his disappointment.
She's back moments later with a blanket and pillow in tow. "I'm freezing. I'm stealing your warmth." She plops the pillow on on edge of the couch. "Lie down."
He's happy to oblige.
Whenever they sit on the couch together now, they're always touching. Her legs crossing over his, his head in her lap as she plays with his hair, one of them lying on top of the other completely. It's pure bliss for him. Today he's watching a movie, his back's against the arm of the couch and she lounges with her back pressed against his chest, reading a book. They don't question why they sit together so closely anymore, it's just something that happens. She's stopped using the excuse of her being cold and him being warm long ago, although she is freakishly cold all the time. If it's below 80 degrees, she's practically frozen, and Soul thinks he's lucky he runs warm, they're a perfect match.
His phone starts buzzing just out of his reach on the coffee table. "Maka, can you hand me that?" She looks up from her book and uses her foot to drag the phone to the edge of the table. Somehow grabbing it between her toes, she lifts her leg straight up, dangling the phone dangerously over their heads. He reaches up to grab it. "I said hand it to me, not foot it to me, ya nasty." She just laughs and go back to her book. Soul checks the caller ID and sighs. "Maka, I gotta take this in private."
"Oh, okay." She gets up so he can leave. He feels her eyes on his back as he enters his room and swipes the screen to accept the call.
"Hey Wes."
"Hey Sou! How have you been lately? Just wanted to make sure everything is okay."
"Things are good, still alive." He starts pacing his bedroom. His brother usually only calls once a month to check in, and he's already called last week. He knows something's up. "What do you need Wes?"
His brother sighs into the phone. "Sorry Soul, mom and dad are insisting you come home this year for the Christmas party. We haven't seen you since you left, and we get that you're busy with school and fighting... Monsters, but you've been gone for almost four years. We miss you." Soul knew he couldn't avoid going back home forever, and he feels guilty for leaving his brother for so long, but life really had gotten busy for him. He wasn't just making excuses, he was working hard! "Is there anyway you can request time off to come see us? Just for a few days, for the party."
" yeah... I can probably work something out."
"Perfect! We'll send you a plane ticket, overnight mail, you should get it tomorrow! Oh man, I can't wait to see you! I've missed you so much!"
Guilt hits Soul again. "I've missed you too. I'll see you next week." They hang up and Soul rubs his temples. He doesn't mind going back home, but he wanted to be here for Christmas. Kid and the Thompson sisters were throwing a huge party at Gallows Manor and all of his friends would be there. Now he was going to be stuck with a bunch of strangers on Christmas Eve and be forced to dance with a bunch of girls who were more interested in his last name than him. He'd much rather be dancing with his partner.
When he returns to the living room, Maka's still engrossed in her book, her legs propped up on the coffee table. She doesn't look up at him, but he can feel her prodding through the link, sensing his frustration and trying to figure out what's going on. He flops onto the couch and buries his face in her lap. She marks her place in the book and places it on the arm of the sofa. Her hands run through his hair. "What's wrong?"
He shifts his head to the side so he can speak. "My brother just called, my parents want me to come home for Christmas."
Hands stop moving. "Oh" She sounds about as disappointed as he feels.
"Sorry, I know we had plans, but I've been putting off going back for a few years."
"I'm not upset about the plans, I'm just a little surprised... I didn't know you had a brother." His face scrunches in confusion. He's sure he's mentioned Wes before. Hadn't he?
Fuck, he forgot. He doesn't talk about himself.
He carefully turns himself so he's lying on his back, his head still resting in her lap. He glances up at her quickly before closing his eyes and breathing in deeply through his nose and releasing out his mouth. "His name is Wes." He starts slowly, taking another deep calming breath. "He's my older brother. Before I met you, he was my best friend." Her hand start playing with his hair again, her other squeezes his arm comfortably.
He tells her everything,
She doesn't ask questions, she just runs her hand through his hair and let's him vent. He starts with his happier memories growing up, he doesn't have too many, but he shares them first. Then he tells her how his parents expectations for him and trying to live up to Wes's example fucked him up. He tells her he always felt alone, even when he was with Wes. He's afraid to be alone. There's no way Wes would want to actually spend time with a loser like him. His parents were probably happy when they could send him away. He was a burden on them.
He cries.
The last time he cried in front of someone else was when he was a child. Now, he weeps in front of her. She wipes the tear from his face and strokes his cheeks and eyes, offering comfort the best she can.
He sits up, only so she can hold him better. He needs this. He needs her. And she knows. She holds him and assures him his parents love him, they wouldn't ask him to come back if they didn't. She tells him how much she need him. He's the best thing that's ever happened to her, she's his partner and she loves him. He knows. He feels it over their link everyday, but it's still nice to hear it out loud.
When he calms, he tells her he's not ready to be alone again. She sleeps in his bed that night. They've shared a bed on missions before and when one of them has a nasty nightmare. Tonight feels different, and it might be because he's asked her. He falls asleep in her arms.
She sees him off at the airport. He's not as nervous to go back home, but he still wishes he didn't have to be away from her for Christmas. Wes picks him up from the airport and asks about a million questions before they can even get to the car. For once, Soul doesn't mind answering, he's finally proud of himself and doesn't mind sharing stories with Wes. His parents are just as eager to see him and hear about his time at school. He spends an embarrassing amount of time talking about Maka. To be fair, they're with each other constantly so he doesn't really have much else to talk about. His mother raises a brow and asks when she'll get to meet this girl. Soul has to convince her that they're just partners, it's not what she thinks.
He helps them set up for the party, remembering the grand parties his parents threw in his youth. He still doesn't care for big parties, but he can tolerate them when his friends are around. As they cover round tables in white table cloths, Wes suggests multiple times that Soul bring Maka to the next party. Their parents will probably want to meet their future daughter in law. Soul shoves Wes away growling "bite me." They're not like that. Wes only laughs and they get back to work.
The night of the party, Soul plays the role of dutiful son. He chats with familiar guests, introduces himself to new people, and of course, he's forced to dance with girls who are falsely nice to him. He steps outside briefly for some air. Kid's party is probably way more fun than this. Blackstar's probably spiked the punch by now and things should be getting out of hand pretty soon. It still feels wrong for him not to be with them tonight. He's glad he could spend the last few days with his parents, but Christmas Eve shouldn't feel like a business meeting. He's gotta get home, to his friends. To his family.
He finds his parents and makes an excuse, the school called, there's an emergency and they need him back. His parents hug him and thank him for coming to see them, his mother insists he bring his partner next time. He has no issue with that, he promises he'll bring her. Wes offers to drive him to the airport, he's itching to leave the party for a bit too. Soul uses the school appointed credit card to get on the first flight back to Death city.
Wes pulls him into a tight hug before he boards. "Don't be a stranger, man. And next time, bring your partner with so you don't ditch your family on Christmas Eve, alright?" Wes smirks at him. Soul smiles back.
"She's family too, can't just abandon her on Christmas." He shrugs. Wes gets it. Soul boards the plane, it's about an half hour flight to Death City Airport and he wishes he had changed out of his party clothes. A black suit jacket with matching pants and a dark green dress shirt. He vaguely realizes how much the shirt matches her eyes. Green is her color. He's kinda hoping she'll be wearing green at the party so they match.
The plane lands and he rushes to be the first one off. Racing to the parking lot, he finds his orange motorcycle and straps on his luggage. He peels out and rushes to Kid's manor. He parks the bike outside and tries to fix his hair with the small handle bar mirrors on his bike. His hair is hopeless, but he can at least fix his tie. He finds her as soon as he walks in. He sneaks up behind her, hoping that with so many people in the room, she can't sense him with her Soul perception.
He covers her eyes, "guess who?"
"Soul!" She squeals and whips around to face him, throwing her arms around his neck. "I can't believe you're here!" He squeezes her. She's wearing a red dress. Red is his color. They match perfectly.
"Merry Christmas, Maka."
She smiles into his shoulder, "Merry Christmas, Soul."