It had always been a habit, a subconscious thing she did that she didn't realise or even notice. And when she did notice she didn't think anything of it, she didn't find it odd or strange. It was comfortable, it was warm, it was natural.
She didn't find it odd until Soul pointed it out, that is.
"What are you even doing?" he asked with a confused tone, as she was lying down reading a book on her Kindle.
"Reading, maybe you should try it sometime."
"No, I know that. I mean the…" He made a wild gesture with his arms in the general direction of her.
Maka had no idea what the hell he was going on about until she looked down. There it was, as always, her hand was inside her shirt, underneath her bra, and cupping her own breast.
Okay, she supposed, it was kind of strange. But it was warm, cozy, and bouncy– even though they weren't the biggest, they still had playfullness and bounce to them.
She yanked her hand out of her shirt and sat up, trying hard to act like that didn't just happen.
Soul suddenly looked rather uncomfortable, and there may have been a hint of pink creeping onto his cheeks.
"Anyway, I'm just gonna… go… uh, read! Like you said I should try. Yeah… I'll be in my room." he sputtered out before sprinting off and shutting the door behind him.
Okay, that settled it. It was, officially, abnormal. Or was it? Soul was a guy, he didn't have boobs, so naturally he wouldn't know if it was a normal thing to do.
Maka set her Kindle down on the coffee table and pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed up Tsubaki first.
*Riiiinngg* *Riiiinngg* "Hey Maka, how's it going?" came the sweet voice of her friend.
"Tsubaki, I've got a question for you."
"Yeah? What is it?"
Wait, what if it was a weird thing that only she did? How would she ask Tsubaki that? Would she think Maka was some crazy person?
"Uh, I was wondering… do you ever… like, play with your… chest?"
"What?"
Shit. It was strange.
"Like, your boobs. Do you ever just, like, hold them or something? Because they're warm or something or…" she trailed off. This may have been the most awkward conversation she'd had with the shadow weapon, and they had had explicit discussions about smutty books and even some of their own sex stories. She tries to block stories of the things she and Black*Star get up to out of her brain as best as she can. (But they somehow always manage to pop to the front of mind at the worst of times. With mental imagery.)
"Oh yeah, I do that all the time. I don't know why, it's just something I do, I guess. Why?"
"Oh, just because… no reason. But anyway, thank you! I'll see ya later."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye!" She pressed the 'End call' button and then, just for good measure went ahead and called Liz and Patti.
Well, she did more than just good measure. In order to be absolutely sure it wasn't some bizarre thing was just her and Tsubaki did, she called up Liz, Patti, Kim and Jackie (who both went into a bit more detail about boobs than Maka had wanted to hear), and even Miss Marie (because maybe it was a teenager thing?). All of which came up with the same answer. Yes.
Maka sighed a sigh of relief. She felt much better now that she knew it was a normal thing and she wasn't some freak.
Later that night at dinner, Soul was uncharacteristically quiet. Well, he was normally quiet, but not this type of quiet. This was an awkward quiet, and there was clear an uncomfortable tone in the air.
She was tired of the awkward silence, and tired of him not keeping eye contact with her, and blushing every time his accidentally lowered to the neckline of her shirt.
"It's not weird, you know." she told him.
He cocked a white eyebrow as he raised his gaze to meet hers briefly.
"Feeling your own– my own… one's own breast. It's a normal thing that people do."
His cheeks went a deep shade of red, and he shovelled more food into his mouth to avoid talking.
"Seriously, it's not a sexual thing or anything. It's just that it's warm and soft and all fleshy and squishy and…" this conversation was getting awkward. Her own face felt warm from the inevitable blush. There was no need to be embarrassed. It was a normal thing. She had spent all afternoon establishing that fact.
"But, why do you? It's not weird?" Soul spoke through the small remains of mashed potatoes that were still in his mouth.
"Like I said, they soft and squishy, and they keep my hand warm. And, I don't know, it's relaxing? Calming? I don't know, it's just comfortable."
Soul turned his full attention back to his food, his face still a shade of pink.
She got up from the table and put his dishes in the sink. She walked over to lie down on the couch and try to get back to the book from which she had been interrupted earlier.
"You know," she said as she picked up the Kindle. "I don't understand why you're so embarrassed. I mean, you seem to enjoy the way they feel as well."
He turned his face away as fast as he could, but the bright red of the blush that spread to his ears stood out against his white hair.
It was a good colour on him.