Day 7: Just Kiss Already!

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Soul pursed his lips. Maka's heart pounded and she mustered her courage. "Depends what you're thinking," he said.

"The thing I was curious about last time we were here...I was wondering what it would be like to kiss you." The world felt distant as she waited for his answer.

His voice was low, perhaps with caution, but it contained an encouraging lack of anger or disgust. "Do you think it would be different from kissing a human?"

"No," she admitted. "It's...more about you."

Soul nodded. "I see." He squeezed her hand, licked his lips in a movement that reminded her of her own that day in the rain. "You realize that most people would consider that wrong."

"Well then, most people are wrong," Maka said, clenching her empty hand into a fist.

With a rueful grin, he pulled her closer, willing to ignore the ache of his wound. "Yeah, I know. But do you really want to risk everything over this? Me?"

"I believe everyone I care about will understand," she said. "Or at least, they'll stay for me. Mama will understand. My grandparents will be confused, but they won't disown me. I don't see Papa often, but he'll understand. My friends will understand. And my school…" She looked him straight in the eyes. "They don't have to know about it right away, but I believe even some of the people there will understand. And if they don't, they're not worth our time. I'll figure something else out. Besides," she added, "aren't you the one who said we should be making these decisions for ourselves, Soul?"

"I did-"

"Then you decide if I'm worth it. Your friends won't be too happy, probably. I'd understand if you didn't want to go any further."

He lifted his arms higher around her and thought of Masamune's words again. "If I know anyone else who would stop being my friend because of you, they're full of shit."

"Are you gonna be in danger of getting attacked all the time? I didn't think anyone would go that far, but..." She trailed off. She didn't want to imply that weapons were naturally violent people, knew they weren't, but what had happened to Soul was deeply alarming, the kind of thing she had only encountered in distant news stories before.

"I don't think so, but I also don't care that much." Soul shrugged. "Masamune was a weird case. I told you, he's going mad. People here will mostly be the same as where you are."

"You mean like they might kick you out of school, tell you you're a bad person committing crimes against nature, and cut off their relationships with you?" Maka asked.

"Only the assholes," Soul said. "I'm sure I'll get by. Seriously, Maka, stop worrying about me and worry about yourself."

She grinned and kissed his chest. This time, he did not push her back, only nudged her face upward to meet his. Soul wore a tiny smile, the tenderness in his eyes making her heart flutter. She paused on her way to his lips, overwhelmed by the cosmic fortune it must have taken to land her in this moment with him.

They kissed, tumbling gradually from a chaste exploration to an impassioned engagement of tongues and sighs. She had never kissed this way before and was fairly certain that he hadn't, either, but instinct carried them far and she was more than happy to learn the rest together.

Their bodies intertwined where they stood, and they finally lowered themselves to the grass, the easier for Maka to climb into Soul's lap. What had paralyzed her with emotion at first quickly became addictive as she lost her tolerance for any sort of restraint and wrapped herself around him. As their interactions heated up, Soul pulled back, grinning at the little whimper she let out, and put his forehead against hers.

"I think we'd better keep this in private," he said, voice practically a purr. "Wanna go back to my place?"

Maka had been to his apartment before, but they did not spend a lot of time there. It was only one room, after all, and there was little to do there. Little to do, that is, except for getting in bed together. Admittedly, she had wondered what it would be like to do this before, and as they sank onto the bed together, her heart felt at once light and infinitely full.

After a tremendous amount of kissing and touching, Maka finally stopped them again by putting a hand alongside Soul's face and looking into his eyes. "Let's keep it a little on the slow side, okay?"

"Alright, agreed," he said. They laid back, curled together in a warm tangle of bodies, thoughts abuzz now that they weren't so occupied.

"If anyone I really care about asks, I probably can't lie," Maka said, "but we should be careful about this, right?"

"Yeah. We should. It's our secret."

Maka sighed. "I hate keeping you a secret, but I guess in this case it's the best option for now. For you."

Soul drummed a drowsy, imaginary tune on Maka's back. "Don't worry about that, Maka. I just have one question."

"Hmm?"

"Do I taste like metal?"

She frowned. "Huh? What? No? Why would you ask that?"

"Ah, it's an old rumor I've heard that weapons taste weird, like metal, if you kiss them." He chuckled. "Obviously, weapon couples say that's not true, but then they say you can only tell the difference if you're not a weapon."

"Sounds like someone making up stories to keep regular people from kissing weapons," Maka said, yawning.

"It didn't work," Soul observed.

They fell asleep in each other's arms. The next morning, Maka came to fully appreciate the brightness of the sun through Soul's window.

/

EPILOGUE (THREE YEARS LATER)

/

The knock came very early. Maka chose to answer the door, leaving Soul on the couch in their living room, watching her curiously. Their caller was an ethereal-looking man, tall, pale, and skinny with bizarre horizontal white stripes in his hair.

"Good evening. Ms. Albarn, I presume?"

"Y-yes," Maka said, thoughts racing as she searched his appearance for a clue to his purpose here. He bore the insignia of Lord Death, one of the mysterious Great Old Ones, and Maka wondered if she was in trouble. What was Lord Death's purpose? Order? Had she and Soul finally been pegged as violators of the natural order? Things had been getting better, so why now, of all times?

"Nice to meet you." The stranger nodded. "Is Soul Evans here as well?"

"Yeah, that's me," Soul answered, coming to Maka's side. She recognized caution in his voice. "What is it?"

The man cleared his throat. "Well. It's a bit awkward, but before we start, I should preface that rumor has it you two are involved, a relationship between a weapon and a human, and that is why I'm here."

"He's - he's my roommate," Maka said stiffly.

"I am not here to bother you," said their visitor, holding up both his hands in appeasement. "I'm here to - well, offer you a job, essentially. My father is interested in starting a project, an organization, and we are looking for ordinary, open-minded citizens like yourselves to collaborate."

Maka looked to her lover, who shrugged. "Sure, we can hear you out," Soul said. "Come in."