Reflex
By vivalarapture
Chapter two, Naive
"I know, she knows that I'm not fond of asking.
True of false, it may be.. Well, she's still out to get me.
I may say it was your fault,
because I know you could have done more.
Oh, you're so naive."
-Naive, The Kooks
They were at a very delicate stage in their partnership. Being 17 years old and living with the person you may or may not be desperately in love with wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Especially when you merge your souls together on a nearly daily basis.
Soul ran a hand through his hair, kicking his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. Maka wasn't around to yell at him for putting his feet on the furniture, so he had nothing to worry about. That didn't stop him from glancing around quickly, just to make sure she wasn't hiding in the hallway with an encyclopedia.
He sighed, roughly turning on the TV and flipping through channels mindlessly. No, Maka was not here. She was on a date. He mashed the buttons on the remote a little harder than necessary for the next few channels.
Tonight was supposed to be their night. Every Wednesday they would pick out a few crummy horror movies and stuff their faces with Chinese take out. They had this routine for months before Kid came in and swooped his meister right out from under his nose. And Maka had let it happen! She had agreed!
"What was I supposed to say, Soul? We're just going as friends, it's not a big deal. We'll watch movies tomorrow night, okay?"
Her words echoed in his brain, and it only made him more aggravated. She was supposed to say no and cuddle on the couch with him. No one goes out to dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in Death city as "just friends". That damn Kid was pulling out all the stops to get Maka. He had been buying her flowers whenever he got the chance and hanging out with her one on one whenever Soul was forcefully removed from her side.
Soul gave up trying to enjoy anything that was playing on TV, and tossed the remote onto the coffee table, subsequently chipping a piece of the plastic. He winced, picking it up and inspecting it, hoping Maka wouldn't notice.
Who was he kidding? Maka noticed everything.
He stood up and walked toward the fridge, hoping food would distract him. His meister was an observant little bookworm, but she failed to see his futile attempts at flirting lately. It was because they were so damn close she didn't think anything was out of the ordinary.
He popped open their carton of milk and downed the rest, throwing out the empty half gallon on his way to his bedroom. Anytime he casually threw an arm around her shoulder when they were on the couch together, she acted like nothing had happened. When they laid down together in her bed after a particularly tough mission, she would let him wrap his arms around her, but would lay still as a board.
Even when he pulled out the big guns and kissed the nape of her neck when he snuck up on her cooking dinner, she simply brushed him off and kept cooking. He collapsed face first onto his bed, hands pulling at his hair in frustration. He was supposed to be the cool one! How had she managed to wind him up this tightly?!
He groaned into his pillow and slapped his hand around on his bedside table to find his Ipod. He grasped a tangle of wires, and he tiredly plugged the buds into his ears, searching for some smooth jazz to hopefully slow the erratic beating of his heart.
He awoke to the sound of the front door clicking shut, and someone toeing off their shoes. He sat up and wiped the drool off of his cheeks, listening for anything that might tip him off how Maka's night went.
He heard a deep exhale, that wasn't quite a sigh, and a disgruntled sound of confusion.
"SOUL! Why in the world does our remote look like you threw it at the wall?!"
He grimaced, shaking his head. His meister was observant in all the wrong things.
He opened his door cautiously, peering around into the living room. Maka stood clad in a long black dress, a wide dip in the front fabric showing off her newly acquired, ahem, goods. One hand rested on her hip, the other was twirling the remote in her fingers.
Soul walked into the room, a sheepish smiling playing on his lips, "You know, Black*Star was over here a few days ago, you know how he is.."
Maka huffed and rolled her eyes, setting the remote back down. "I know you're lying. It was fine before I left."
Soul scratched the back of his head, chuckling, "Yeah, I guess.. Sorry." He felt a twinge of anger in the back of his head. Wasn't he angry earlier? What was he angry about? Oh yeah! Maka! He walked closer to her, poking her in the forehead, "So how was your date with Kid?" He didn't mean for it to sound like Kid's name was poison on his tongue, but of course, Maka noticed.
She raised an eyebrow and started walking to her room, smacking his hand away from her, "I don't know why you're so upset about that. I told you we would have our movie night tomorrow."
Soul nearly groaned in agony. She was so off base it wasn't even funny. He followed her to her room, denying every step that he missed her and just wanted to be near her, even if it continued their argument.
"I don't care about out stupid movie night."
Maka turned towards him, a sly smirk spread over her features, "Oh really? So why are you mad? It's not very often anything breaks your oh so cool shell."
Soul sputtered, hands shoved in the pockets of his wrinkled jeans, "I'm not mad! I'm just.. Irritated that you seem to be so ignorant about Kid being into you."
Maka raised an eyebrow, her face a mixture between exasperated and confused, "I told you, we're just friends!"
Soul threw his hands up in the air, "You're so stupid sometimes! He just took you on a date to the fucking fanciest place in Death City! What is that, like, your third date? How can you not know that he likes you? He has been putting himself out there for so long now and you just.. You just don't get it!"
Maka's features were no longer in a battle for an emotion, confusing officially winning out. She stopped attempting to get the zipper of her dress down, and turned to fully face him. "Soul, what are you talking about?"
Soul mussed his hair with his hand, his muscles stiff after his outburst, "It's nothing, Maka."
She inched towards him, her hands resting lightly on her hips, "Tell me what's going on."
Soul groaned inwardly, taking a step back every time Maka got too close. They never talked about this. He didn't want to say it. He may talk big game, and even get the occasional crazy bout of courage to engage her, but he didn't want to say it.
They were nearing the living room again, their awkward dance of avoidance making Soul knock his shoulder against the wall and just about lose his balance to faceplant on the carpet.
Her stern look cracked for a moment as she giggled at his embarrassment, and he was sure of it. She was toying with him.
He put his hands up as his calves backed up against the couch, halting his escape plan, "Okay, okay Maka, stop stalking me. What do you want to know?"
Maka grinned, getting up in his face and poking him in the chest, "I want to know why you've been acting so weird lately." Soul glanced down at her, enjoying the view from his new height of boob vantage point. Maka poked him again, her brows furrowed in irritation.
Soul snatched her hand that had started continuously poking him, pulling her into an embrace. Maka squeaked, wiggling to get out of his grip. He slithered his arms down from her shoulders and around her waist, nuzzling his face into her hair and sufficiently silencing her.
"Why did you go on that date with him?"
Maka was silent for a minute, something that was very rare for his meister, until she sighed, "Because he asked, and there's no one else that's ever going to be interested in me."
Soul chuckled, his anger fading at her admission, "You really are naive, you know that?"
Maka looked up, her emerald eyes flashing between angry and hopeful, "What do you mean by that?"
He hooked his hands under her thighs and hoisted her up so she was face to face with his sideways grin and hazy red eyes. Her face had completely flushed bright red, slapping his chest and demanding he let her go. He only tightened his grip on what was nearing dangerously into ass territory, and crashed his lips into hers.
She was still at first, her shock radiating through her bones. Until something much warmer started making her blood vibrate and she tangled her hands in his hair, slanting her lips over his. Soul raised one hand to her lower back, pressing her closer and keeping her steady.
Maka broke the kiss, gasping for air, her eyes wide and clouded over at the same time, "What.. What was that for?!"
Soul chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "I've been wanting to do that for so long now. Don't go on any more dates with Kid, please?"
Maka nodded, and Soul laughed again, the dazed and breathless look on her face made him sure she would not let him down.
Authors note- Sorry this one is so short. My spotify was on in the background earlier, and I got a little snipit of an idea. I have so many head canons, and they are running rampant here. The next chapter will be based on an idea by Tawny Haired Wild Flower. Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites!