A/N - *glances coyly at arc title* Oooh, what's this about dates? Heh, heh, heh. :3
Yeah, I've been wanting to get into this arc for a while, because of the events it covers. Well, one event. I always like storylines where characters just relax and get to know one another better, and it annoys me when characters hook up after three conversations. Like, where is the development? Where is the chemistry? Why are these characters eating face when they don't even know each other's birthdays? This is incredibly contrived! So, yeah, I promised myself everything I would write would have interesting an in-depth explorations of various varieties of romance, and not just "male lead and female lead hook up because that is what the formula dictates." That is why we have arcs like this.
Not the shippery is the only reason this arc exists. There are other reasons, too. Double pistols and a wink.
Mega thanks to DemonSessama, MegglesGG, Kiitsu, Keyworks Kid, hey-im-a-nerd, Lurkig Phoenix, and Midnight15 (Jesus Christ, that's a lot of people) for leaving such lovely reviews! To DemonSessama: Yeah, that Panthera, she's definitely a tricksy sort, what with her plotting and her scheming. She's fun to write, though. I can't believe that past me wasn't planning on writing all these Panthera scenes, they're delightful. They're like those little grocery store samples, only instead of cheddar cheese bites, it's all bits of irons in the fires. And I'm glad that that you're excited for the not-a-date definitely-a-date, because I'm excited to write it! I'm also glad the filler/AU collection sounds like a good idea, though like I said, a lot of it is incredibly TF-spoilery, so I'd have to wait until after certain things are revealed before starting that.
MegglesGG: I'm glad you like it! :D If you think you're fangirling now, just you wait. The fluffiness is planned on reaching critical levels.
Kiitsu: Thanks! I'm pretty glad to be back with Alecto and Tempus as well. It might be a little tricky to get back in the hang of writing them both, considering how long it's been, but boy did I miss it. Especially the Latin. It's almost shameful how much I'd missed the work that went into writing Alecto's Latin ramblings. And yeah, my sister is a pretty great beta. Case in point, I'd almost written myself into Inevitable Plot Hole Land with that last scene, and was about to rewrite it completely when she pointed out that my rewrite would turn Panthera into a passive agent instead of the instigator she was meant to be, and she helped me figure out how to avoid plot holes without sacrificing that initiative. Beta readers are a writer's best friend!
To Keyworks Kid: You get an internet high five and my undying appreciation. *high five* I appreciate you greatly and eternally! :D
To hey-im-a-nerd: Thank you! I'm glad that my characters are well-developed. They are the focus for this story, after all. (And so much speculation about the fragment, I love it. So many questions that I want to answer but can't, it's great. :3) I'm also glad that I've managed to hit that sweet spot of "intricate without being incomprehensible," because that's my ideal plotting spot. I don't want things to be distressingly confusing when all the cards are on the table, y'know? The Deal with the Things being revealed needs to be straightforward, otherwise it kind of kills the point of the Deals and Reveals.
To Lurking Phoenix: *grabs your shoulders* *pulls you really close* *whispers* Having a weapon character that gets just as much development as the meister is incredibly important to me and I'm glad that I succeeded in getting people into giving a damn about him because as Alecto's partner he is literally her soulmate and as such it would be not good if he faded into the background. Weapon-meister dynamics are very important to me okay. *lets you go and steps back* Now that I've gotten my inner character dynamic nerd out of the way, let me say thank you! I don't want to burn myself out, either, which is why I refuse to let myself add any more pointless arcs! Not that I need to, I think I've got all the main plot stuff pretty well thoroughly planned out at this point. Anything else would just be pointless complications for the sake of pointless complications, and as I mentioned up about I don't want to stray into "what is happening why was any of this necessary" territory.
Midnight15: Wow, thanks! :D I know what you mean about overpowered characters; while I wouldn't ever roast a writer over their self-indulgent escapist fantasies (God knows I can get behind a good escapist fantasy now and again) it's a little frustrating from a narrative perspective to see characters already be the Strongest There Is with super cool abilities that they can use without breaking a sweat, because that takes out the potential for a lot of character development and growth. You start out from the bottom and make your way to the top (or further bottom, depending on the type of story it is), that's how a character arc works. Starting from the top and staying there all day every day kind of makes it uninteresting, and this goes for both OCs and canon characters (looking at you, Kirito from SAO). Even Kid (who starts out a Grim Reaper and skilled dual-weapon meister with all the cool powers that come with that) grows in strength over the course of the series. I also know what you mean about Black Star bashing; it's always bugged me that a common trope is "Black Star fighting the new kid" because that happened once in canon, and that was because Kid was a godling and Black Star's all about surpassing god. If he was fighting every new student that came around, then orientation day would be such a cluster of fuck no one would get anything done.
Notes and translations of the Latin will be at the end of the chapter.
DISCLAIMER: Soul Eater is the intellectual property Atsushi Ōkubo. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.
Chapter Forty - Peppermint and Strawberry - Is It Really A Date? Part One
"Again."
"Ally, you have got to be kidding m-"
"Again, Tempus."
In the back of Alecto's mind, Tempus sighed. "Fine, but this is the last one, understood? I can tell that you're exhausted, and quite frankly I'm feeling none too spry myself."
If it had just been Alecto, she would have insisted on pushing on even further. She wasn't too concerned about the state of her soul in the end if it meant she could get the job done, after all. But Tempus had just admitted that he was exhausted, too, and as his meister and friend she wasn't going to push him so hard over her weaknesses. "All right," she agreed. "Last one. Promise."
"Thank every god that was every worshipped, ever. Okay, then," Tempus said, rolling his neck and bare shoulders. "Let's get this show on the road, because I am pretty damn eager to get my show on the road. The road home, that is. You know, where it's warm and cozy and there is a lovely leather chair with my name written all over it. Speaking of which, if your boyfriend's butt goes anywhere near that chair there'll be hell to pay."
"He's not my boyfriend, you know he's not my boyfriend-"
"Yet."
"-and you can tell him about your chair rules yourself when he arrives." Alecto stood up straight, stiffening her back and strengthening her resolve. "So," she said. "Last time. Paratus es?"
"Ready."
Alecto concentrated on both his soul wavelength and her own, feeling them pulse in near sync. She nudged hers into place, layering it over her partner's like an echo, amplifying both soul energies and drowning out the rest of the world. Focus. Nothing else matters except your souls. The rest of the world is just a distraction. Tu vincēs hoc. Tu vincēs tu ipse. "Let's go, Soul Resonance!"
Their soul wavelengths exploded outwards, filling them with power as they concentrated on their goal. It was more difficult to keep the Resonance up than it had been before. Tempus had been right; this was starting to put a strain on them, both physically and mentally. But this was important. This was worth it. It had to be. Alecto held out her right arm, holding Tempus so that the face of his buckler was pointed outwards, perpendicular to the ground. As their synchronized wavelengths grew stronger and more stable, A brilliant yellow glow enveloped and expanded around him, coalescing into a flat disc of energy. "Soul Shield!"
They couldn't test their new technique's effectiveness, not with the two of them alone in Death City's arboretum where students often practiced Resonance techniques. But they could test its physical limits, seeing how much area it could cover. Right now it was about the size of a regular shield, reaching out to the edge of Tempus's hour hand and engulfing it as a perfectly circular disc of (hopefully) impenetrable resonance energy. His minute hand had disappeared as well, leaving behind just the shield. We wouldn't be able to use this technique in an offense heavy situation, then, Alecto thought. Not unless we wanted to bash the enemy's face repeatedly until they fell over, and I'm not even sure if Soul Shield allows that.
They were beginning to reach the limits of their endurance; Alecto's breath was growing shallow and ragged, and she could feel Tempus's soul struggling to keep up its current output. We probably shouldn't push it any further. "Soul Resonance, release," she said, and Tempus faded back into his original weapon form and then right into his human form, leaning against the nearest tree as Alecto fell to her knees. The tall boy had ditched his suit jacket due to the surprisingly mild weather and had tied his hair back in a loose bun as opposed to a ponytail for the day, a few locks of hair sticking out here and there. and He was breathing heavily, and a thin sheen of sweat across his forehead was pinning his golden bangs pinned to his face.
"We have got," he said between gasps, "to think of a cooler name that Soul Shield."
Despite her exhaustion, Alecto couldn't help but let out a short laugh. "What we've got to do," she replied, "is get someone to help us test that technique's resilience. See how many hits we can block with it." She paused, thinking it over. "Not Professor Stein, though. Not this time."
"Yeah. No point of being a shield if I can't protect you, yeah?" Tempus said. "What about Black Star? I know he's insufferable, but he can perform direct wavelength strikes as well as regular physical attacks, so we can work on my ability to protect your soul from damage as well as Soul Shield." He shook his head at the last to words, as if bewildered at the completely lack of creativity in its titling.
"Non, non, non, non, non," Alecto said harshly. She stood up, still a little wobbly on her feet. "Absolute non. I'd rather chug a dozen cups of Deathbucks. Besides, do you really want to willingly stand between me and a 'Black Star Big Wave?'"
Tempus rubbed at the back of his neck. "I guess not," he admitted. "It certainly looks painful, and unlike you I'm willing to think twice over throwing myself into certain danger." He pushed himself away from the tree, adjusting the bottom hem of his waistcoat. "Welp, no point in dithering about waiting for the sun to set. We need to head home and clean up."
Alecto blinked. "Clean up? Why?"
Tempus rolled his eyes and ambled over, shoving one hand into his pocket with a carefully manufactured casual air. "Well, for one, you've got a little get-together that is totally a date don't even lie planned in a few hours, and you're all covered in dirt and sweat. You, dear Ally, need a serious shower." He reached out with his free hand and rumpled her hair, sending her ribbon askew. "For two, I'm covered in dirt and sweat and in dire need of a shower, and I do like to maintain a reputation as a guy who keeps himself well-groomed, yeah? I don't want people seeing me looking like something the cat dragged in. That would wreak havoc on my image."
Alecto fought the urge to roll her eyes and failed. "Tempus, do you really have that much of a reputation? You don't exactly have boys and girls lining up to ogle your brilliance or whatever."
"True. Consider this: I like not smelling awful. Come on, let's get going. First to get home gets first dibs on the bathroom."
Alecto managed to get home first, and as such she was the first to get into the shower and wash away the day. She didn't take too long, choosing to focus mostly and getting her hair clean (curly hair was a pain in the natibus to maintain) and getting out before Tempus started nagging her about his turn.
She eschewed the idea of wearing her usual romper, tights, and crop jacket for the evening, instead donning a simple sky-blue t-shirt, a pair of dark brown shorts, and a white hoodie over it all. She didn't put the bow in; Still vigorously rubbing at her damp hair with a towel, she exited the bathroom and shot a pointed look at Tempus, who quite unexpectedly was waiting just outside with his own change of clothes at hand. "Your turn, now," she said. "You can quit hovering."
"Awesome!" Tempus ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him, and seconds later the sound of running water could be heard. Alecto haphazardly flung the towel into the laundry basket, running her hands through her pink curls in a desperate attempt to untangle the knots that were beginning to form. As she dealt with that, her thoughts drifted to the same place they always drifted these past few days: Kid. Specifically, the fact that he was going to show up in about an hour and a half and they would have tea and talk about... actually, she wasn't quite sure. What did people talk about on tea dates?
Not that this was a date in the romantic sense, mind, no matter how much Tempus teased her about it. It was a perfectly platonic date, just two friends hanging out, and anyone saying otherwise was factually incorrect on a fundamental level. But it wasn't that Kid was completely undesirable or anything. He was nice enough, to be sure, had a good head on his shoulders when it came to non-symmetry matters, and wasn't exactly bad looking. It's just that she wasn't interested in him romantically.
Definitely not.
Almost certainly.
Which was why she was actively inviting him over for tea, something she hadn't ever done even with Tsubaki, the person in her social circle that she respected the most. Vae, Tempus, now you've put all sorts of thoughts and second-guesses into my head. I blame you for this. This is a platonic date, meant to further our friendship, end of discussion.
But whether the date was platonic or romantic, Alect found herself fretting a just little. Well, okay, more than a little. She couldn't help it. She'd spent her entire pre-DWMA life dealing with the stares, the disturbed gazes that were turned her way when she spoke, the whispered questions of what's her deal. And even at the DWMA, she was the only living time meister on record, which had generated some conversation upon the grapevine. It didn't help that she was the only one who could resonate with Tempus, who'd gained a reputation for being hard to work with in more ways than one.
As such, she'd grown to be a little apprehensive when it came to social interactions, for fear that the other party would leave the conversation thinking her a "weirdo" or "freak" or worse. It was easy with Tsubaki and Maka, because the latter was a pretty patient person who, while occasionally possessing a wickedly vicious streak when it came to certain idiot boys and a certain mega-idiot dad, was never actively malicious. And Tsubaki was just… well, Tsubaki. As for their partners, Soul was about as social as she was, and Black Star was too obnoxious to be made anxious by.
But those were friendships forged over a year and a half. She'd only met Kid a few short months ago, and while rationally she knew that he probably didn't find her too weird to like (he'd agreed to the tea date, after all, and he seemed more 'pleasantly curious' about her quirks than 'vaguely disturbed') but that infuriating little voice in the back of her mind told her you're just going to mess this up, you know.
If Alecto ever figured out where that voice was coming from, she was going to track it down and pour boiling water down its throat.
Iuppiter's great red spot, Alecto, she told herself. Kid's just another person. The son of a god, sure, but that doesn't make him any less of a person. Besides, he's already coming over. You can't just ring him up and say, "Sorry, Kid, I know you're a perfectly nice boy and would probably make a really good friend, but my social anxiety is telling me that this is a terrible idea, so we can't hang out tonight. Mē miseret!" You are a meister. You've stared death in the face, both figuratively and literally. In the words of Tempus, buck up and get friendly, because this is happening.
It was only when she heard the running water in the bathroom slow to a halt that she realized that she'd spent the better part of ten minutes standing at the hallway entrance, doing nothing but get herself worked up. She flushed and immediately ducked over to the couch before Tempus could could get dressed and exit the shower, pretending that she was reading the book left out on the lamp table. As she struggled to calm her pounding heart, the sound of the bathroom door creaking open echoed throughout the apartment, followed shortly thereafter by Tempus wandering into the living room, clad in a pair of black slacks, a white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a cerulean-blue waistcoat. "You know," he said, fiddling with a lock of his own damp hair, "evening showers are supposed to be for unwinding. It's sort of hard to do that when your soul wavelength is exuding enough anxiety to make sloths tense. What's the deal?"
Vae. So much for her attempt to play it cool. "Mē miseret," she said, closing the book and staring down at the stray threads poking out of the couch cushions. "It's just… I suppose you could say that I'm a little nervous."
Tempus raised an eyebrow, a wicked grin stretching across his face. "Because of your date?"
"It's not a date!" Alecto hissed, her face turning as red as a kiddie wagon. "It's just… This is the first time that I've ever really initiated this sort of thing, you know? Friends, just hanging out… I'm not really used to that. And Nadia doesn't count, we don't invite her over, she just sort of shows up and she hasn't done that in a while." Apparently things had been busy down at the Plenitude. "What if I end up messing things up?"
Tempus dropped the teasing attitude. "Is that all?" he said. "Ally, trust me, when I say that you don't need to worry." He fell onto the couch with a solid fwmp, leaning his head against the threadbare back. "If you were as prone to mess up social situations as you sometimes think you are, well, we wouldn't be here, would we?" He reached out and patted her shoulder comfortingly. "You've talked with Kid plenty of times before, and now you two are friends. Like, actual friends. This isn't some pity-friendship, I can promise you that much. This isn't so different. It's just that now there's tea and an underlying romantic tension that will make awkward silences even more awkward."
"Oh, for the love of- Tempus, what do I need to say to convince you that this isn't a date? Because tell me and I will say it! In two languages, to boot!"
"Aw, that's sweet. Not that it means anything because seriously, Ally, denial ain't just a river in Egypt." Tempus yawned and stretched his arms over his head, pulling his legs up so that his feet were resting on the coffee table. "Think of it this way, at least. If Kid does turn out to be a jerk - unlikely at this point, but possible - then he'll have me to deal with. Grim Reaper or not, I'll shred him and scatter him in bits and pieces across the globe."
Alecto leaned back, aghast. "You can't do that!" she exclaimed. "Imagine how Lord Death would react. He'd obliterate you, and then where would we be? B-besides, Kid's a good person. I'm not worried that he'll end up being a jerk. He's not like that."
Tempus frowned thoughtfully. "Eh, fair enough. Maybe I won't shred him, then. Knock him silly, maybe. That's harmless enough to escape a Reaper Chop, right? Not that it matters, in the end. You're right; he's a twerp, but he's a decent twerp. A little bit weird sometimes, but hey, the same could be said for all of us, right?"
Knock knock knock knock. Knock knock knock knock.
Alecto jumped at the sudden rapping at the apartment door. Tempus looked up, grinning. "Oooh, speak of the devil…"
A/N - Yes, I'm gonna end it there. Yes, I'm evil. No, there's nothing you can do about it. And of course Alecto's still fretting over things and pushing herself beyond the limits of what is healthy and only quits when Tempus puts his foot down. Wouldn't be Alecto, otherwise. Literally, really. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the name Alecto means "unceasing" and Bellatore is derived from the Latin word bellator, meaning "warrior," meaning that Alecto Bellatore's full name roughly means "unceasing warrior." Rather appropriate. It's also appropriate that a boy named Temperance is around to curb her more extreme tendencies.
I know it's a shorter chapter today and not really my best work to boot, but I wanted to get it out yesterday and I missed the deadline, so I said "frick it" and posted this. Next chapter will have more substance to it beyond "Alecto's still a bit of a worrywort," I promise. And Kid. Because we all just can't get enough of Kid. (Also I'm still getting back into the groove of writing from the point of view of Alecto and Tempus, and it's a little tricky. Three months, guys. Three months. Give me a few chapters to fall back into my stride, please? ^_^")
Latin time! Fun fact: I was trying to translate "focus" into latin, but that was tricky becaue a) I couldn't quite find the word that meant exactly what I needed it to mean for this context and b) focus is already a Latin word meaning "hearth" or "fireplace." And we turned it to mean, well, focus. English language, you have betrayed me once again!
Paratus es?: "Are you ready?"
Tu vincēs hoc. Tu vincēs tu ipse: "You'll win this. You'll conquer yourself." Finding the translation for "yourself" was tricky, by the way.
Natibus: "Buttocks." On a related note, why is "buttocks" so much funnier of a word than "butt," "bottom," or "ass?" Is it just the way it sounds? Buttocks. Buuuuttocks. God, that's gonna bug me forever now.
I feel like I'm forgetting something dreadfully important, but for the life of me I can't remember what. If someone figures it out for me, can they let me know? No? Ah, well, it can't have been that important.
Chapter forty-one will be up soon. In the meantime, please feel free to favorite and leave a review!
- Diana "Nocte"
