AN: So these are some of the things I've written on Tumblr. Earbuds was a prompt from the ever adorable Eisschirmchen, it was her idea so go love on her for being way too cute to even handle. Actually blame Alright on Eis too, that one was her idea as well. Yeah so really the only thing I can claim was mind is Swedish Fish. I just write the cute things Eis tells me too.
Anyway, yes. I'm working on the next three pieces of 7 Lives, as well as the next chapters of Northern Man and Dragon. I promise. Shit's just kinda been crazy for me.
I don't own 'em and blame Eis for the cute ideas.
Earbuds
She'd thought it was kind of rude at first, if he wanted to ignore her and just listen to music, he could do it in his room. She'd yelled at him for it once, but had stopped when he actually look hurt. "I just wanted to hang out with you, but you don't like to listen to music while you read. I thought it was a good idea." Maka grabbed his wrist before he could slouch back to his room.
"Sorry. I'm sorry, Soul. Stay?" He'd shrugged and flopped down on top of her with a grin. "Oof, I said I was sorry."
"Yeah well, deal with being my pillow for the evening and I'll forgive you."
"That's fair." She propped her book against him and he put his headphones back in with a smirk.
It became a regular thing, he'd sprawl out on the couch with music blaring from his iPod while she read or did homework. Maka would forget sometimes and ask him questions, or comment on something and then wonder why he wasn't responding. But he'd be nodding along to the music and completely lost to the world. She'd insult him and he wouldn't even notice.
Maka figured that he was practically dead to the world when his earbuds were in. Her insults slowly turned into odd musings about the day or even demands that he do chores. Eventually after a few weeks of his continued ignorance, she starts to compliment him,"Soul, I wish you wouldn't wear that shirt, it makes it really hard for me to focus and it's really not fair that your shoulders look like that." She even told him other things she'd never had the courage to say if he could hear her. "You know, I had a dream about you the other night, it wasn't anything outrageous, I promise! It was kind of nice actually, Soul. You held me close and kissed the top of my head. It felt nice. I felt safe."
On quieter days, when they've just come back from a mission she'd tell him what an amazing partner he was and how lucky she is. It made her feel better to get these things off her chest, even if he didn't hear them or know that she's talking to him. "Soul, I don't really know what I'd do without you." His eyes were closed and she could hear the music from across the couch. It made Maka smile and shake her head.
"Soul? Soul, are you listening?" His fingers were tapping on his thigh and he was taking up the whole couch, feet hanging over the end and head propped up but the arm rest. He didn't even stir and Maka rolled her eyes. She was sitting on the floor leaning against the couch and working on the coffee table, notes and books spread out on the floor around her. Maka watched raindrops run down the window and slumped down a bit. "I love you." It felt strange to say it out loud, especially with him right behind her, but it sounded right. Maka could feel the tips of her ears heat up but she smiled, maybe sometime soon she'd be able to say it to him when he could hear her.
"I love you too, Maka." Her whole world came crashing down and she froze. He'd heard? He heard that? Just how many things had he heard? Had he always been able to hear her? And he'd just let her rant and complain and complement him? "Stop, I can feel you thinking from here." Before she could stop him Soul's hands were under her arms pulling her off the floor and onto the couch with him. Maka squeaked and tried to bury her head in his chest. "Maka, come on, you said it first! What, had you expected that I wouldn't hear?" That gave her some hope that he hadn't heard everything and she risked a glance at him.
Soul was smiling at her and chuckled when he finally saw how red her face was. "You're deaf when you listen to music, so I just, I didn't-" Maka groaned and went back to trying to hide in his shirt. "You were even tapping your fingers to the song."
"Maka, the battery died like an hour ago, I was tapping along to the rain." He hugged her closer. "So what else have I missed when I've been listening to music?" Soul laughed outright at her when she squeaked again.
Swedish Fish
"What the hell are you doing?" Maka stood in the doorway unsure if she should even be in the room, it looked like she'd interrupted something private. Soul looked like a deer caught in the headlights, shock, shame and finally embarrassment all flickered across his face. She was never going to let him live this down.
"Swedish fish?" He offered hopefully.
"Are we just going to ignore you pretending to be a shark?"
"Yes?" He offered hopefully. "Pleasedon'ttellBlackStar."
"You are a dork." Maka slumped onto the couch with her weapon. "Give me some of those."
Alright
Soul wasn't quite sure that you could just start picking up the pieces and go back to normal after something like that. Hell, he was surprised he and Maka were still standing, but the adrenaline from the black blood, the fight, Maka being hurt, watching Maka fight and not being able to do a damn thing to help; he hadn't been able to get his hands to stop shaking even when his meister had wound their fingers together. They walked home together through the rubble, it was lucky that their apartment was on the other side of town. It felt completely surreal when he unlocked the door for them, like everything was completely normal, they hadn't just escaped madness and death, they were just coming back from any other mission. He started to shake again and clenched his teeth together.
Maka shot him a worried glance, she looked like he felt, exhausted, beaten, and in shock. "Come on Soul, warm water will help." He nodded dumbly and followed her to the bathroom. She started to run the tub while he tried to take his shirt off.
"Maka, can you, I can't," Any other day he would have sucked it up, but his back was screaming at him every time he tried to move his arms. She nodded and pulled it over his head. His arms were badly cut from shrapnel and she could already see the discoloration creeping over his shoulders.
"Turn around for me?" He did as she asked and toed his socks off. "Oh Soul."
"That bad?" He asked over his shoulder, he was almost afraid to look in the mirror. The hit he'd taken to save her life ached, deep in his bones even though it hadn't broken the skin. Maka's hand was over her mouth and tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes. "We can feel guilty later, think I remember you saying something about warm water helping, yeah?" He turned to face her, "Come on, let's get you out of this."
Her coat was ruined, her vest was ruined, her shirt was ruined and everything was soaked in her blood. Each time he gently pulled the fabric away from one of her many cuts she whimpered and he was reminded just how close he'd come to loosing her again. "Probably should have gone to the hospital, Maka, some of these are really bad." His voice was raspy and she was bleeding again.
"There are people who need it more. I'll be fine, I've got you." Her voice was tight with pain and all Soul really wants to do is hold her but instead he finishes undressing her and acts like it isn't a big deal.
"Get in." Is all he can manage because her skin is littered with cuts, scrapes, stabs, and bruises and it is going to take weeks for her to heal. "I need to go get more towels. Just get in the tub and start to clean off ok?"
There's something off in her eyes when he steps out of the bathroom, he doesn't manage more than two steps before she's frantically calling for him. He can hear the water sloshing in the tub and he's back in the bathroom to catch his sobbing meister before she falls out of the tub. "Not ok. Not ok." Maka sobbed against his neck, clutching at his hair and shoulders.
"Maka, I'm right here, you're alright." He managed to lower her back into the tub where her shivering sent ripples through the water. It was uncomfortable having the side of the tub between them, but Maka couldn't be bothered. "Let's get you clean." They were both dizzy with exhaustion and at wits end.
Between the two of them they did a half decent job of cleaning her up and Soul didn't try to leave again. He had her wrapped in a towel and sat her on the lid of the toilet while he quickly rinsed himself off. "Come on you, bed and just," He sighed. She nodded and stayed close.
Soul opened the bottom drawer of his dresser and fished out his favorite hoodie from the back of it, Maka had developed a bad habit of stealing it and he'd been forced to hide it or deal with it smelling like girl. He threw it at her and she smiled. A pair of sleeping pants later, some boxers for her and several exasperated sighs they were curled together in his bed hidden from the world by the dark comforter.
"Soul?"
"Yeah Maka?"
"I just—"
"I know." He pulled her as close as he could and she still felt too far away. But they were alive, they were together, and if they were together they could get through anything.