Soma Week Day 4: Dragons

We're both meant to be going on blind dates with other people but we sat down at the wrong table and got our hopes up AU

–

I don't usually do things like this," a cute blond girl whispered as she dropped down across the table from Soul. Her eyes darted across the cafe nervously and her hands were clasped so tightly that her knuckles were white.

Soul sipped his coffee, amused. Her schoolgirl-esque outfit suggested that she was the serious type but the Doc Marten steel toed boots and bandages on her knees told him that she had a bit of an edge. He was intrigued. Aright, he would bite. "Don't worry about it. Everyone's first drug deal is awkward. You got the stuff?"

Blondie's eyes widened and Soul almost spit out his coffee at the completely scandalized look on her face. "Wha– no! You have the wrong person, I–"

He snorted. "I'm kidding. Chill."

Her shock melted into annoyance, a blush blooming on her cheeks. Cute. But this was why Soul didn't date, he thought. What was Kilik thinking setting him up like this? He wasn't good with girls, that much was evident from how terribly this was going already. "Not funny! I'm nervous enough as it is, I don't need to worry about getting arrested on a stupid blind date!"

"Sorry," he said for the sake of not getting kicked in the throat with those boots. "Soul."

"Maka." She picked at a stray napkin on the table. "This is weird."

"Yeah."

"I don't know anything about you. You don't know anything about me!" Maka exclaimed. "You could be a serial killer."

Soul snorted again. "I'm not."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's something a serial killer would say."

"Can I please just buy you a cup of coffee so we can tell our friends we tried, it didn't work out, and they'll never try this shit again?" Soul asked, already exasperated. This girl– Maka– was pretty and had amazing legs, but this was clearly not a match made in heaven.

Maka sighed. "I'm sorry. You seem like an okay guy. I've just really never done this before."

"I couldn't tell," he said dryly. "But if it makes you feel any better, neither have I."

"Oh!" She perked up and grinned. Soul's traitorous heart skipped a beat but he would chalk it up to the five coffees he'd had while he waited for her. "It really does make me feel better!"

With the mood lightened and his guard down, Soul actually found himself having a good time talking to Maka. She was nice and funny and wickedly smart. She worked hard to pay for school through scholarships and she enjoyed martial arts, reading, and chocolate ice cream sundaes. Her father was a cop (which explained her reaction to his offer of paying for illicit substances) and he had a different girlfriend for every day of the week, which was why Maka had been hesitant to start the whole dating thing.

She was open and honest and it made Soul want to be a little open, too.

Soul had been listening intently to a ridiculous story about Maka's all girls' high school and how the physics club managed to get the principal's car on the roof when his phone buzzed.

sorry ur date bailed dude. drinks on me tomorrow night?

He stared down at his phone, confused by Kilik's text. If his date bailed then who the hell had he been talking to for the last half an hour?

Maka's date had probably ditched her, too. This was some sort of serendipitous, destiny, romcom bullshit that Soul would have usually scoffed at but hey, he was doing really well flirting with a pretty girl. They could laugh about it on their next date, Soul decided.

"Sorry I'm late! I got stuck at the Con," a giant green dragon said from behind Maka. It looked massively out of place in the cafe and everyone stared. Cell phones were whipped out to take pictures and videos. Soul almost died of secondhand embarrassment but he willed himself to be strong.

The dragon took off the head of his costume and shook out his blond hair. He might have been considered good looking with his piercings, chokers, and baby blue eyes… if only he wasn't wearing a dragon costume. Both Maka and Soul gaped at him. "You're Maka, right?"

Maka looked horrified. There was no way Soul was going to lose his potential next girlfriend to a dragon. "Sorry but no," he said and grabbed Maka's hand. It was a tough break for this guy but maybe he could try ? "Wrong girl."

They both ran out of the cafe and kept running until they were a good few blocks away. They stopped in front of a home goods store and tried to catch their breath. "Oh my God," Maka gasped. "What was Liz thinking?! I thought you were my date!"

"Yeah," Soul panted. Shit, he was out of shape. Maybe Maka could help him work out? "You might want to reconsider that friendship."

"It's a good thing I met you. That would have been awful," she said. "But your date–?"

"Don't worry about it," he said smoothly. Soul pushed his bangs out of his eyes, trying to look cool and unaffected. Inside, he felt like he was going to vomit blood from nerves. "Maybe we could try this again sometime? Without the dragon."

She beamed. "I'd love that."