Away From The Sun
by. Poisoned Scarlett
Cinq
She hasn't pulled an all-nighter since she was sixteen but pulling one when she's twenty two should be easy, right? Yet right now she feels like she's about to pass out on the seat, after feeling jittery and awake for the past few hours. The subway sways on the tracks, only serving to rock her to sleep as she begins to nod off. There's a moment where she does fall asleep, shoulders slumped forward and chin resting on her chest and all while the subway continues undisturbed, but a sudden bump against her knee jars her awake so quickly she groans when her head pounds.
"You look dead."
Maka cracks an eye open and finds Soul has taken seat beside her, his headphones around his neck.
"Hi, Soul." She stifles a yawn, sitting up straight again. She's relieved to see that at least she hadn't missed her stop – that would've made this shitty day even shittier.
Soul raises a questioning brow at her.
"I stayed up studying for a test today because I couldn't sleep." She bemoans.
"…Staying up studying for a test only to fall asleep during said test doesn't seem very productive." Soul comments smartly, but Maka's too tired to really punish him for it.
So she just sighs and says, "Tsubaki has my coffee. She's waiting for me at Shibusen. That cup will be enough to get through the test. It's my job that's worrying me…"
"You have a job?" He says, casually tossing her a glance. "Where?"
"Bakery by Bronson and Tower." Maka answers, feeling more awake now that she has something to entertain her brain with. "At least I don't have baking duty today. I'd probably burn the place down and get fired."
"And arrested for arson." He adds.
Maka does glare this time. "Good thing for that!" She snorts. "The most I can mess up is the change…"
"Working registry?"
"Yep."
"Don't worry, he'll just take it out of your paycheck." He drawls with a smirk.
"And there goes my rent."
"And your apartment."
"And life as I know it."
"It could always be worse."
Maka frowns. "That already sounds really bad."
He stretches, ignoring the lady that gasps and send him a dirty look because his shoes have dirtied her own. "Well, you could always be dead."
Maka laughs. "I think being dead would actually solve all of my problems, Soul."
"Fine. You could always be in debt." He grins at her ponderous look. "Having someone after you because you can't pay is worse than being homeless. You can always crash at a friends house or something if that happens. But owing something to someone is a bitch."
"You know from experience?" Maka asks, playfully.
"You can say that." He answers, lazily. "Black Star loaned me five bucks once so I could buy lunch. He was on my ass about when I'd pay him back for weeks until I finally did."
"All for five dollars?" Maka says, incredulous.
"That's what I said." He snorts. "He's stingy with his money. You gotta' lose some to gain some, but try telling him that." He yawns, and it's contagious because now she's yawning and, as they're swept into a lull, she's grown sleepy again. Her stop is almost here and Maka tells herself she's only resting her eyes but when Soul suddenly shakes her awake, she knows it's been more than ten minutes and she's probably going to miss her stop.
"Shit!" Maka swears, tearing through the crowd to reach the door. She stops it before it closes completely, squeezing herself through the crack until she makes it to the other side. Heart in her throat, feeling more awake than she'd ever felt before, she looks back to find Soul hunched over with his shoulders shaking. It takes her a few moments to realize it's because he's laughing and when he looks up, Maka sticks her tongue out at him.
That only makes him grin harder and Maka's left with a warm feeling in her stomach for the rest of the morning.
That warm feeling – or the coffee, for the matter – doesn't last very long. Now Maka is struggling to stay awake as she stands behind the register at the bakery, slumped over the counter while the cook is in the back kneading doe. She can hear him rummaging through the pantry, stubbing his toe on the leg of a table and swearing. But it's a pretty dull evening and she's likely not going to make it another five minutes with how boring this evening is shaping out to be.
So she slumps forward, resting her head in her arms. Sticking out one hip, spreading her legs so she won't lose balance, Maka falls asleep on the counter and she swears it's the best nap she's ever taken. Although it's a risk because her boss - who so happens to be the baker filing in for the original cook, Jackie, in the kitchens – isn't a very understanding guy. He wouldn't bat an eye when firing her for falling asleep on the job. But at this point – at six in the evening, after a long day of tests and walking – Maka doesn't care if he does.
She just wants to sleep, is that so bad?
"Hey…" The voice is as soft as a purr, smooth like velvet. It sounds nice, soothing. "Maka…wake up, Maka."
"Ngh…"
"Maka…" It's louder now, losing that alluring edge.
"Fi' more mins…"
"WAKE UP!"
"AH!" She gasps, jerking awake. She's brought out of her daze by laughter, Soul's laughter. The sight of him in the bakery, not in the subway, is jarring. What is he doing here of all places? "Soul? Is that really you?"
"The one and only." He drawls, smugly. "Figures you'd fall asleep. You know, I could've stolen all the money in that register and you wouldn't have noticed. And then you'd be jobless, broke, homeless and in debt."
"Soul, that is not funny." Maka groans, standing straight. She winces: her back aches. Her knee's hurt and she regrets falling asleep in such an uncomfortable position, no matter how lovely that nap had been. "What are you doing here?"
"Tsubaki sent me." Soul answers. At her confused look, he elaborates: "Actually, she told Black Star who told me and I decided to come here and put you outta' your misery. When's your shift over?"
"Eight."
"…It's eight forty."
"What?" Maka squawks, snapping her head to the clock. As he'd said, it was already eight forty. She should've closed the registry nearly fifty minutes ago and she briefly wonders where her boss is. He should've come around to check on her! She doubts he was merciful enough to allow her to catch up on some much needed hours of sleep. " I..I've been sleeping for two hours!"
"Great. Then you won't fall asleep on the Metro." Soul says, unconcerned. "C'mon, it's late and I'm hungry!"
"I…Okay, I won't take long." Maka sighs, closing the registry and heading to the back. When she peeks inside, she realizes the reason for why Ox Ford did not wake her: he's on the phone, laughing at something the person on the other line said. "I'm leaving," she announces, and receives a rude shut up from him, who quickly sweetens at something the person on the other line says and assures that it wasn't meant for her.
It's Kim: who else can get her rude, hostile, boss like that?
Maka just hangs her apron and takes out her sweater, slipping it on once more. She shoulders her bag and closes her small locker, not bothering to wave goodbye at her employer. He'd probably not notice it anyway. When Maka emerges again, Soul's already outside with his hands jammed in his pockets and gazing at traffic. She can't help but wonder what compelled him to go out of his way to ensure she would make it home safe, as she pushes the door open and the bells jingle.
"Ready?" He asks, and starts walking to the train station when she nods. The walk is mostly silent, with the offhanded comment from her and a nod or shrug from Soul. She stops trying to get him to talk by the third try, deciding she'd rather not annoy him. She knows firsthand how it feels to be annoyed by someone you don't want to talk to, Hiro's image flashing behind her eyelids for a beat.
The train station is silent when they arrive. There are few people waiting for the train to come and they show no inclination to speak. They're distracted with their iPods or their phones or their books, even. So Maka and Soul take seat on one of the marble benches and await the arrival of the train, the latter placing his headphones over his ears again.
Maka just reaches into her bag, taking out her textbook and going through her notes. She catches Soul glancing at her sometimes but mainly keeps to her own business: he's probably wondering how she could be studying at a time like this. She tells herself that if he makes even one smart comment, the spine of her book is going to get intimate with his skull.
But he just tosses her a few more glances before looking down the tunnel the train will come through. Maka goes back to reading her notes, encoding the information until the wind begins to pick up. Her hair whips around her and she slips her textbook back in her bag, the train darting into the station seconds after. As it slows to a stop, the doors sliding open, Maka is relieved to find the train hardly occupied.
"Where do you get off this time?" Soul asks, taking seat beside her. This time he stretches without anyone blocking his way.
"At the Hale station." Maka answers, placing her bag on her lap.
"That's pretty far," he comments. But he just yawns and slumps down in his seat, headphones back on his ears and his foot tapping to the beat. Maka doesn't try to study her notes in the train: she'll get motion sickness, and feeling nauseas and drowsy isn't a pretty combination.
She just watches the lights flash past the window, her eyes growing heavier and heavier with every hypnotizing flash. Eventually, her head bumps against the glass but she doesn't completely fall asleep: she's conscious to every stop the train makes, the walking of people and mindless chatter, and especially when Soul's shoulder presses against hers as he sinks deeper into his seat.
After a moment of listening to the screeching of brakes as the train slows on a curve, Maka also leans against him. It doesn't take very long for him to lean back, leveling each other. But he's warm, and if she tilts her head a little she can catch the scent of refreshing body wash and leather.
"Hey, Maka," he whispers a stop early. It makes a tremble race down her body, pleasant chills rise on her arms as he continues: "wake up. We're almost there."
She does, snapping her eyes open. She turns her head towards him, stilling when she realizes he hasn't moved his face yet. They're so close – she can feel his breath on her lips, the unruly fringes of his hair feather the structure of her cheek. In an instant, they both jerk away from each other. The only difference is her face has colored red down to her neckline and he just jams his hands in his pockets, turning away from her awkwardly.
"Uh, yeah, we're almost there."
"Oh. Okay, thanks."
"Yeah."
"Mhm."
When she walks out of the train after biding Soul goodbye, she can't help but notice that as she rubs out a drowsy eye, her face feels hot and her heart is still beating a song in her chest...
A/N: By 'Metro', I mean Metrolink. It's just a transportation service that runs the subway and buses around here and other places.