"He even had the fish, Soul. Several plates of it!"

"I told you this wasn't going to work."

"How is that man not sick? How is he alive?!"

Soul shrugged.

"He's a freak of nature. Could eat literal garbage and be fine. Alcohol barely affects him, too."

She leaned into her partner's side, dejected.

"It's not fair. He's too powerful..."

"Black Star's no big deal. You'll get him next time."

She pushed herself away from him to stand freely in the hallway.

"You're so right, Soul. And smart. And pretty. We can do this!"

God, he really was handsome. If only the stupid room would hold still, she could get started right away. The meister took a few steps forward. It was no use. Against her best efforts, she tilted further and further to the right until she once again rested against Soul's chest.

"...how did you know to stand there?"

He laughed.

"I had a hunch. Let's just walk like this for now, alright?"

Maka wasn't drunk. She was, at most, slightly tipsy. Even that was a stretch. She'd only had a few glasses of wine. That should have been a completely safe amount.

"Alcohol is the worst... How can two glasses of wine do this to a person?!"

"Two glasses? Maka, you drank like half the bottle after the others left."

That couldn't be right.

"Nuh uh. I don't even drink."

"Yeah, I know. So what happened?"

What indeed? There was a thick fog in her head.

"She kept asking all these questions..."

"Who? Tsubaki?"

"Yes! Her! About you and me and the bed and our... relationship. It was just too much..."

Maka had trusted her, too. She was so kind. But quiet rivers ran deep. Was that the expression? Where would rivers even go?

"Ah. She asked me about that, too, earlier."

"That river should mind her own business."

She swayed slightly. One of Soul's arms kept her in place. It made Maka feel safe.

"You know they'll find out eventually, though, right?"

"She already knooows. I'm so bad at lying."

They were making their way up the stairs. Soul just about had to carry her. Progress was slow. Maka's thoughts were just rushing out of her mouth.

"I think at one point I told her we had a 'professional entanglement'."

She laughed before continuing.

"What does that even meeeeeean?"

"It's technically a true statement."

"I think I technically want to die."

"You're fine. You haven't even thrown up, yet."

Yet? Was she going to throw up? Maka had not vomited in a very long time. And she really wasn't keen on breaking that streak.

"Being such a great weapon, you wouldn't let that happen to me, would you?"

"Not sure what exactly you want me to do, but you have my full support."

A shabby performance from the experienced drinker. Her stomach got queasier by the second.

"Urgh, I feel terrible. Why didn't I just lie to her from the start?"

"Nothing wrong with honesty. Lying just isn't you."

"Neither is this... or trying to poison Black Star... What am I doing, recently?"

"It's all good. You can't be perfect all the time."

"What if someone sees me like this? What if Black Star sees?!"

Soul chuckled.

"Calm down. Nobody is gonna see. Just me. That's alright, isn't it?"

Strangely, that actually was alright with her. He - and only he - was allowed to witness her shame. She relaxed slightly.

"Okay."

Maka felt better. And dizzy. She closed her eyes for a bit. The sound of a key being turned woke her.

"Woahhhh. When did we get all the way back here?"

"Very slowly over the last ten minutes."

"That's insane!"

"Go back to sleep, dummy."

He led them into the room and laid her onto the bed. Afterwards, Soul tried to pull away, but Maka held on to his hand. He stopped, confused.

"Something wrong?"

Yes, there was something wrong. It was embarrassing, even in her addled state.

"Don't go..."

He smiled.

"This is the only bed we have, remember? I'm going to the bathroom, not leaving you."

She reluctantly let go of him and faced the ceiling. The room wasn't spinning as much now. It took about five seconds until she started missing him. Had she always been this needy? Nope, definitely the wine. It mattered little by now. Her dignity was already gone. Soul soon returned and laid down next to her, his back against the wall behind the bed. Maka subtly scooted close to him and rested her head on his stomach. She rose and sunk with each breath he took. Gentle fingers ran through her hair. She'd never been so relaxed in her life. Even if the meister had wanted to talk or move, her body simply would not comply.

She drifted in and out of sleep. Her partner had turned on the TV, but there was barely any sound. He must have muted it for her. Laying in that dark room, listening to the steady breathing of her weapon, Maka couldn't help but wonder whether dignity was really worth missing out on this for. Eventually, she sank into a comfortable slumber from which she would not awaken until morning.

It came in waves. Badump. Badump. Every beat was agony. As though her heart was pumping more and more blood into her skull. It would burst soon. She could feel it. The invading sunlight had forced her to take cover under the blanket. Lamentably, one could not hide from a headache. Or from shame. That's what really took its toll on her. Maka knew she had remedies for her ails. She carried painkillers in her medicine bag. Just drinking some water would likely alleviate many of her symptoms. But that would require her to get up and face the consequences of her actions.

If only she had woken up with no memories of the prior evening. That was a common thing with alcohol, wasn't it? Yet, the universe had not shown her such mercy. She very clearly remembered what had happened. Talking to Tsubaki. Making an idiot out of herself in front of Soul. Death, she really had been pathetic recently. Some vague psychological attack did not excuse this. She needed to get it together. And that started now. Maka crawled out from under her covers and grabbed a bottle of water from the nightstand. How late was it? Her phone wasn't on the bedside table. She'd better not have lost it. Save for herself, there was nobody in the bed. Her partner must have gotten up before her. Not a good sign. That man really enjoyed sleeping in.

No matter. The plan was simple. Acquire pain killers. Take a shower. Get dressed. Above all: Making herself look presentable. She'd die before she'd let that blue haired idiot notice her condition. The medicine bag was in the bathroom cabinet, which made it her first destination. Standing up brought back the unpleasant sensation of nausea. She pushed through. Soul wasn't in the bathroom. Maka stumbled towards the mirror, took two pills out of the packaging and washed them down with water. She considered consulting her reflection for damage assessment. What point was there? If she looked half as bad as she felt, the sight could only be horrifying.

Her deliberation was cut short by a seismic rumble. Tectonic quakes of unbearable magnitude assaulted her ears, vibrated all throughout her cranium. She finally identified the door as their source. Someone was knocking. Probably her partner. Shouldn't he have a key, though? Then again, forgetting it would be like him. She dragged herself over there. If she opened this door to find Black Star wildly laughing at her, she would just have to kill him. Her hand grasped the handle and hesitantly pulled. Fortunately, the face that came into sight was framed by the familiar white hair of her partner. His voice betrayed his amusement at her appearance.

"You're so beautiful."

"Thanks."

Death, had that been her voice? She sounded about twenty years older than yesterday.

"Forgot the key, sorry."

Maka cleared her throat multiple times.

"Don't worry about it."

Not better.

"How you holding up?"

Terrible.

"I'm fine."

"Yeah, I can tell."

Her brain tried and failed to come up with a witty reply. Banter would have to wait. She needed to sit down. A temporary return to the bed was in order. As she sat down on the mattress, a small bag landed next to her.

"Eat something, it'll help."

The proposition did not entice her. Nonetheless, she unpacked the bag. Her stomach was still quite upset and there was only so much time until they'd have to leave for work. Inside the paper were two bagels. She forced one of them down. It wasn't pleasant. Her body fought her on each bite. Soul continued to dote on her.

"Need anything else?"

His concern was appreciated. He'd been doing so much for her, recently. At the same time, it bothered her. She was sick of being worried about. Of giving him reason to worry.

"No. It's my own fault. I don't even know how I let it happen."

He hesitated.

"Maybe the poison is still affecting you."

"There's definitely poison in my system, yeah."

Soul was leaning against the wall by the window. He appeared reluctant to elaborate.

"Not the wine. The gas."

"What? No. That stuff wore off quickly."

"It could take a while to fully leave your body."

The suggestion annoyed her. He was talking as though she'd been acting crazy. Her behavior had been... impulsive, admittedly. But there were other reasons for that. Maka would never forget how she had felt under the effects of that smoke. She knew for a fact the effect had passed. Even so, she couldn't technically deny the possibility.

"I suppose it's not completely impossible."

"Just keep it in mind, alright? We'll have to fight more of those things, later."

She knew that all too well. Regardless, work didn't worry her. She'd already gathered plenty of experience fighting that creature. Similar gas had been sighted in the additional incidents, so it stood to reason the culprit was a comparable beast.

"I will. At least one meister will need to keep their head."

Soul grinned.

"No confidence in Black Star's calm disposition?"

"None. Why would they send him, anyway? Why not somebody else? Anybody else?"

"Those two have gotten strong. Can't say I'm happy about having him on this particular mission, though."

He wasn't wrong. Considering Tsubaki wasn't even a death scythe, Black Star was a monster in combat. That didn't make him any less miserable to be around. The stronger he got, the more his ego grew. Out of all her friends at the academy, that man was probably the only one who hadn't changed much over the last few years.

"Some reinforcements they sent us. What time is it, anyway?"

"Like elevenish."

Not as bad as she'd feared. That left plenty of time to recover.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to rinse myself in hot water until I don't feel quite as disgusting anymore."

"Good luck, babe."

He really enjoyed throwing that word around. It was weird. She didn't... hate it. She did, however, hate the lingering hint of medicine on her tongue. The remaining sickness. It was all so gross. Maka brushed her teeth for a solid five minutes. Then she spent about an hour taking a scalding hot shower. It sort of worked. She felt considerably better afterwards. Several hours remained until dark. Spending the entire day cooped up had not gone well yesterday. She needed to get outside. Coincidentally, her partner was putting on his jacket when she exited the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"Didn't think we'd be staying this long. Need more clothes."

"So you're... buying new ones?"

"Yeah. Why?"

A rich boy at heart.

"Never mind. This is perfect. I'm coming with you."

He looked to have mixed feelings on the matter.

"You wouldn't interfere in my shopping, would you...?"

She smiled innocently.

"Of course not."

As long as he made the right purchases, that was. Soul sighed.

"Fine."

They left the hotel and walked towards the city center. The air was cold and dry. It wasn't entirely unpleasant. Moving her body felt good. Her legs had regained their steadiness. Within minutes, they found themselves on some kind of shopping street, which had no shortage of clothing stores. Maka mostly associated negative memories with them. She'd always felt out of place there. Between trying on all those items and being hassled by the attendants, it was just so much work. That being said, online shopping hadn't gone much better for her, so these kinds of trips had become a necessary evil in her life.

This particular trip, however, promised to be a bit more enjoyable, since she wasn't buying anything for herself. It was more about hanging out with her boyfriend than anything else. Thus, she had no qualms about entering an outlet and messing around. Style was another one of those areas in which Soul was weirdly proficient. Yet, for whatever reason, he acted borderline embarrassed about it. Some male ego thing. As a matter of fact, he seemed to take pride in intentionally dressing himself as sloppily as possible. You could, therefore, not honestly blame Maka for backseating his shopping. That, at least, was her view on the matter.

"Maka, I am not buying this."

His perspective differed.

"Why not? You look amazing!"

"I'm not going out hunting kishin-eggs in a fancy suit."

"You're a weapon! What does it matter what you wear?"

It took him a second to respond. She was gaining ground. The suit she had bullied him into trying on resembled his Black Room attire. He really did look incredible. Plus, it was affordable.

"If it doesn't matter, then I can wear my usual stuff."

"It matters to me."

He slouched over in resignation.

"If you want me to wear this to work, then I also get to pick an outfit for you."

A tempting offer. What would be the worst he could do? Some stupid anime merch and a beanie? Maka would manage.

"Deal. But I'm using my uniform for work, so I'll have to wear it sometime else."

"That's fine."

There was malice in his toothy grin. She got the feeling she might have just consigned herself to a terrible fate.

"I'm getting you a red shirt as well, if you're going to be like that."

Soul retreated into the cabin to put his comfortable outfit back on, while Maka got to work picking out a shirt of the appropriate color. He was tall, but not too tall to fit into standard sizes. It made shopping easy. Dressing him up had been fun, and now she had a reason to look forward to work. He emerged and they added the new clothes to their prior choices. Two sweaters and a set of pants. The store they had picked on a whim was kind of amazing, seemingly selling just about everything. From sportswear to suits to ripped jeans. But that also opened up plenty of options for him to torture her with. Admittedly, she was morbidly curious about his plans.

"Alright, it's your turn. Where to?"

"I'm thinking about it. Follow me."

There was that sense of premonition again. Soul set himself in motion. Maka followed him. He picked up a multitude of items, only to put them down again. Cat ears. Khakis. Different renditions of the aforementioned anime merch. It was driving her insane. He was definitely doing it on purpose. Probably knew from the start what he'd wanted to get.

"Please just pick something already."

"Hold on. I'm considering my options."

Yeah, right. In retrospect, she really wished she had specified that she'd wear those clothes in a private setting. Too late now. It was fine. Beneath it all, Soul was a classy guy. She was fairly certain he didn't even mind the suit. Ultimately, her partner settled on some kind of black dress. A wave of relief washed over her. She took it from him before he could change his mind and go with something much worse. As she looked at herself in the mirror of the cabin, Maka feared that reaction might have been somewhat premature.

Well, it wasn't that bad. The dress was entirely black. It hugged her chest and back tightly, opening up slightly around her waist and ending in see-through fringes a small distance above her knees. The arms, too, consisted of thin, see-through fabric, which had flower designs embroidered upon it. The cleavage extended downwards a little further than she was comfortable with, but at least her back and stomach were covered by actual fabric.

Measured against the suffering he could have potentially inflicted on her, this was undoubtedly a decent outcome. The meister really didn't dislike the way it looked on her. It was a little embarrassing, but even she had to admit she looked good. The dress fit well, so she changed back into her regular stuff and exited the cabin. Soul seemed disappointed he hadn't gotten to see her in it. He could wait a while longer.

In his hands was a set of black high heels. He was seriously getting greedy. In the end, she agreed to the shoes so that she would be spared lipstick and makeup. They made their way to the counter. This little game of theirs ended up costing them quite a bit of money. The items weren't expensive by themselves, but things added up. Oh well, there was room in their budget, thanks to the cheap hotel and their generally frugal lifestyle.

All in all, this trip had been a success. Standing outside the store's entrance, Maka felt cozy in spite of the cold. She was surprised to find it had begun snowing while they were inside. Death City didn't get very cold, even in the winter, so these thin white flakes were special to her. Alongside the encroaching afternoon darkness, they submerged her world in a fairy tale atmosphere. She grasped her partner's hand and squeezed. He was looking up at the sky, himself, as he mused.

"I guess not everything's shitty about this city."

"It's so pretty. Does it snow a lot here?"

His eyes met hers.

"Used to when I was a kid, yeah."

"I hate to tell you this, but we might have to come here each winter."

He snickered.

"Think I'd rather die."

"I'll ask again next year."

"Go ahead. Won't change the answer, though."

It had been worth a try. In all seriousness, Maka was getting a bit of a taste for the cold. The snow and the winter.

"Then I guess we'll just have to make the most of this visit."

"You know we're here on business, right?"

"Business starts at seven pm. In the meantime, it's our responsibility to take care of ourselves."

Another snicker.

"Wow. It's our responsibility, is it?"

"Yup."

"Suppose we should make sure to get a nice dinner as well then, huh? In the name of work and all."

"I suppose we should."

Maka hadn't eaten anything all day except for the bagel she'd forced down. Nor had she gotten much out of yesterday's dinner. Now that he'd brought it up, she did have an appetite. She inquired about his plans.

"Any special places you would recommend around here?"

"From my childhood? None that we can afford."

The denseness of the city center worked in their favor. Within a minute of searching they had found several places. After a brief debate, they entered a rather inconspicuous restaurant. The interior looked modern, but it wasn't overly fancy. It was sleek in a comfortable, lax way. Soul ordered a steak with some greens. Maka went with a noodle dish. Her meal was good, its taste enhanced by the pleasant atmosphere and the peaceful winter view outside the glass wall they were sitting in front of.

The dinner was over quickly. The pair spent some more time at their table, relaxing, talking about nothing. It was a brief respite before the stressful part of their day began. Yet, that part was approaching rapidly. When the meister checked her phone on a whim, she was shocked to see how much time had passed. They weren't explicitly on a schedule, but wasted time could cost lives. It was time to get moving.

In light of her current thoughts on a certain blue-haired childhood friend of hers, Maka decided to call Tsubaki instead. They agreed to meet outside the hotel, since the other group didn't know their way around the city. Neither did she and Soul, when you thought about it. They had been here longer, though. Either way, the four of them soon converged in the agreed upon location. Black Star had seemingly gone and rented a bike of his own, which somehow looked even more infantile and over the top than the one her own partner had picked. Said partner was approaching his own vehicle when she nudged his shoulder.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"I was really hoping you wouldn't remember."

"Not a chance. Take these upstairs while you're at it, and bring down my coat."

She handed him the bag with their purchases.

"Yeah, yeah."

He disappeared into the hotel. Unexpectedly, Black Star had yet to complain about the delay. The man was fully absorbed in an enthusiastic explanation of his new ride. His victim - err, partner - smiled and nodded along. The poor woman. Maka did not envy Tsubaki's lot in life. Then again, it was hard to feel much pity for her, given the events of the prior evening. Soul soon reemerged, wearing the outfit she'd picked for him. He looked stunning. One would expect regular sneakers to ruin such a distinguished look, but they kind of added to it, creating an appearance that fit him uniquely well. Half gentleman, half slacker. It even drew Black Star's attention.

"What's with the getup, Soul? You planning to perform at a bar later?"

"Fuck off."

Maka got close to her partner and softly spoke.

"Ignore him. You look amazing."

He handed her the uniform she'd requested and turned away quickly. Maka had already spotted a touch of red in his face. Even her cool guy partner could get embarrassed, at times. In high spirits, she instructed the other meister to follow them closely and they set out to finally finish this job.