A/N: HOLY SHIT, AN UPDATE?! TWO YEARS LATER?! Yeah, sorry. Long story short, I got pregnant and had a baby. Took up some of my time. But! I hope this chapter makes up for it. I SWEAR I WILL FINISH THIS THING. Also, warning for a lime-y start to this chapter, wink wink.

The monsters had let him alone for a little while, given him room to breathe and pretend everything was fine. He'd almost forgotten the flaking plaster and the shiny red door.

But everything wasn't fine. The game had changed, and it had been a nice distraction, but it also burned and tore things up from the depths. Paint started to bubble and peel with the heat. Shadows wisped out of the cracks in the wall, hissing in his ears. He pressed his hands tight on either side of his head and bared his teeth at them, hoping that he was finally old enough to scare them off. After all, he was a monster, too. He'd accepted it, learned to live with it. Being a monster didn't mean you were a bad thing. Not if you were brave and loyal. Not if you stood strong and refused to run. Maka had shown him that.

These monsters, however, were cowards. They came at him en masse, swirling and stripping down his defenses, regressing him to someone small and scared.

Everything turned to shades of gray and he blinked up at the ghost of a room long forgotten. The angles were just as he'd remembered, which meant he was ten years old again. Bodies moved around him, whispering. Fingers rested on his shoulder and piercing blue eyes stared down.

"Time to play," the shadow said.

Soul answered, "I don't want to." Too much pressure. "I don't like Chopin." Could never do it right. "He makes my fingers trip."

The gray blurred and twisted, reforming into a piano. His fingers stretched over the keys, so much tinier and more hesitant than he knew them to be. How did it start? He couldn't remember.

The whispers got louder. The blue-eyed shadow waited above him.

"Time to play," it said.

"I can't." I won't.

"Play."

Soul's hands were in his hair, his breathing growing shallow and fast. He shook his head. This wasn't right. He wasn't this kid anymore. He'd grown up and moved on and he never wanted to go back. Why was he here?

The blue eyes sighed and came closer.

He cried out.

From everywhere and nowhere, a boot swiped the shadow aside with a fan kick, shredding it to nothing. Gentle hands spread over the ones he held to his ears and a weight settled in his lap as someone straddled him on the piano bench. He was almost-nineteen again, taller and broader and better. He let Maka draw his hands away.

"You don't have to play if you don't want to," she said.

He pulled her close and kissed her fiercely. Arms wrapped around him and he leaned forward. When her back hit the keys, the sound muddled together into chaos and it was beautiful. She was skin, and he was skin, and they rocked together, making messy music.

Light hit his eyelids and he rose to the surface, clenching them shut with a grumble. Threads of sleep came loose one by one, but not yet, not yet. Not when her mouth was so hot on his, when his insistent need pleaded to keep going. He knew he was going to have to deal with the shadows sooner or later.

But not yet. Not. Yet.

His hips rolled and he murmured. That felt good, but not quite right. He tried again.

"Soul," Maka said. He'd never realized how much he adored his name in her mouth, the way she kept it warm and safe, even when she spoke it in anger.

A hand rested on his waist, stilling him.

"Wake up, Soul."

The last threads came undone and he blinked awake. Sunlight peeked through the drawn blinds and spread like warm butter over the bed, and Maka was there, filling his line of sight. She was on her back, her head turned to the side so she could look at him. Her sleepy green eyes glanced downward, and through the haze of waking, he realized he'd been sleep-humping her thigh.

He floundered onto his back and sat up, tenting his knees slightly to disguise the tent in other areas and trying desperately to feign nonchalance. "Morning," he said.

She scooted up to sitting beside him and gave him a look that said she wasn't buying anything he was selling. "Were you having a dream?"

"Uh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe."

Her fingers went to her lips to hide her smile.

"Sorry," he said, sheepish.

"Don't be. It's kind of nice, I guess, to know you're thinking of me when you're asleep."

"If that's what you want to call it," he said with a half-grin.

She angled her chin down and smirked at him before leaning in to kiss his neck. Without even thinking about it, his hand went to the side of her jaw and he brought her up to his lips and caught her there. How had they only been doing this since yesterday? He wanted to start every day like this. They both had morning breath and he didn't even care.

Then she nibbled his lip and his dick twitched.

Maka pulled back an inch and glanced out of the side of her eye. "Did your thing just move?"

He snorted to cover his embarrassment. "My thing?"

"Sorry." She held up her hands in false supplication. "Did your penis just move?"

"It has a mind of its own sometimes."

She shifted closer, pressing up against his arm. "You know, I can..." She snaked her hand under the sheet.

In an instant, he grabbed her wrist and held her in place, his eyes lidded. "Uh-uh. You first this time."

He kissed her and guided her onto her back, running his hands up and down her sides as he rested his torso between her legs. There was something he'd wanted to try since yesterday, but nerves ate at him, so he wasted some time kissing her while he built himself up. She didn't seem to mind at all, hands roaming over his back.

Finally, he started kissing down her body, spending a special amount of time on her belly and laughing as she jerked beneath him. Every now and again, he'd test her skin with his teeth, ever mindful of their sharpness. She rolled and sighed beneath him, so it seemed safe enough. When his mouth got to the hem of her sleep shorts, she gripped his hair in one hand.

"What're you up to?" she breathed.

"Fair's fair," he said, grinning up at her as he tugged her shorts down.

"But... oh... I... gods..." she stuttered, covering her face with her hands while he bared her open. Looking at her there was kind of like staring at the sun - he couldn't really look directly without feeling like he was burning up. Her legs shook a bit and he steadied them.

"Hey," he said gently. "It's okay. All good."

She peeked through her fingers and he made sure to catch her eye as he teased her inner thigh with his teeth, letting her get more comfortable before he started kissing down to her center. Gods, the smell, just as intoxicating as yesterday multiplied a hundredfold. He waited until her breaths went even and deep before he gave her a first experimental lick and learned what sex tasted like.

"Hah," she gasped, swirling her hips a fraction. That was very cool.

He tried again. And again. He kept trying, listening intently to her coos and sighs until she started to swell under his tongue and he switched up his attention. Her voice told him what worked, and he teased and sucked and nibbled and traced until she grabbed him by the back of the head and rocked into him, which threw him a bit, but it was also indescribably sexy. His tongue lolled out and curled, giving her ample real estate to utilize, and he rubbed his hands up her legs, her belly, her breasts, whatever her could reach.

She pulled away and he protested, reaching out to grab her back, but then her firm hands were yanking him toward the headboard and flipping him onto his back as she stalked up his body like a hungry tiger. When his skull thunked gently against the wood, her fingers were there, soothing the small bump, and her mouth was hot and needy on his. What was she up to? He wasn't done.

Then she kept crawling, right up his chest until she was straddling his neck and oh, okay. She wanted to sit on his face and that was totally, completely fine. That was awesome. He leaned up to slide his tongue across her slick, reddened folds and she gasped, wrapping her hands over the top of the headboard until he swore he heard a crack. With a chuckle against her that got him another gasp, he ran his palms up her thighs and ass so he could stroke her back as he worked, supporting her weight as she started to grind against his mouth.

Now she was riding his face and he had no idea how this had happened but it was maybe the coolest thing in history of ever.

"H-h-higher," she stammered, and he followed her guidance, rolling his tongue closer to the darkish curls up top. The fold at that spot made her voice flutter like dragonfly wings, so he paid it special mind.

It wasn't too much longer before she snatched up a free pillow and leaned her face into it, her howls caught in hotel cotton while her thighs smashed against his ears and the flesh above his mouth shivered and twitched. The bucking of her hips slowed and she fell to the side, pillow still clutched to her face. He sat up on his elbows and laughed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She pulled the pillow off and gasped at the ceiling. "I'd rather not explain the early morning screeching to our neighbors," she managed.

"Too bad," he said as he ran his thumb over his lip. "Knowing you're not really quiet as a church mouse would scar Star for life. Might be worth it."

She rolled over on top of him and he was painfully aware that her lower half was still bare and wet and in very close proximity to his own. He twitched again.

"Hmmm," she said against his lips. "Should I see to that?"

"I'm not gonna say no," he answered.

She got off and shimmied her shorts back on before nudging him to sit up on the edge of the bed. He thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of anticipation buzzing through him, not quite sure what she had in mind as she sat behind him and draped her legs on either side of his to dangle over the side. Her hands twined around his waist, hugging him to her as she kissed up his neck to his ear, and he tilted his head to give her better access.

He might have purred a little bit. Possibly.

Then her fingers were creeping under the waistband of his sleep pants and he arched back into her.

"Hold on," he said, reluctantly leaning away despite her discontented murmurs. He fumbled until he managed to grab the box of hotel tissues on the side table by his (former) bed and pull a few loose. Then he assumed his former position. "I'm prepared this time."

She breathed a laugh into his jaw line. "Biology kind of sucks that way, huh?"

"The body fluid situation could be better," he said, turning his head to try and look at her. She leaned in and kissed him slow, watching him through her half-closed eyes. He watched her back.

A light moan escaped him as her hand resumed its previous action and brushed along his length, drawing him out into the open. He watched her eyes glance down, and it was still kind of weird being totally exposed for her, but getting less weird by the minute. Her lips went to his neck again.

"Show me?" she said.

Well, she didn't have to ask twice. His hand went to hers, wrapping over her tiny, dexterous fingers and showing her the sort of grip he preferred. With his thumb, he guided hers over the head of his cock and shuddered his breath in when she brushed over the clear fluid at the tip. He brought her back down again and she started pumping, which made his eyes roll in his head. A little more guidance to let her know his favorite speed and rhythm, and she had the hang of it. He sighed and leaned into her, his head resting back on her shoulder and his hands rubbing into her thighs on either side.

Gods, it felt good. His meister was creative, twisting her wrist or using a knuckle or finger to graze something extra sensitive. She really did know how to handle his shaft. He huffed his laughter between his pleased "mmmm's." All the while, she kissed and smiled into his skin, clearly enjoying what she was doing to him the same way he'd enjoyed her.

"Oooooooh man," he groaned. "You're gonna ruin me for self-service. It's just... hmmmn... never gonna be the same... uhn... again."

In answer, he felt her teeth graze his jugular and her hand pick up speed.

"That's just rude," he sighed.

In moments, his smirk turned into the points of his teeth digging into his bottom lip. His core muscles started to constrict, the familiar, exhilarating tension building and tightening in him.

"I'm close," he managed to grit out.

"Let go," she whispered hot against his ear. "I'll catch you."

That did it. His mouth fell open and the world fell away beneath him, flame and pleasure rushing to the time of a beating heart. It lasted longer than usual, stretching out as Maka slowed her pace. Absently and out of habit, he lifted his heavy hand to catch the mess with tissues before it spread too far.

Maka carefully released him, nudging his shoulder. "Hey. You all right?"

"Sssssuper cool," he slurred, opening his eyes to look over at her. "So good."

She ran the fingers of her other hand through his hair. "You went all rigid and stopped breathing that time. I was a little worried."

"Breathing's overrated."

"Not by the living."

He shrugged. "I could be dead. I don't know."

She nuzzled into his neck. "You seem very much alive to me."

They'd just gotten themselves all remedied of clothing malfunctions and readied for a quality lie-in when loud knocking sounded at their door.

Soul cracked an eye open. "That freaking jackhole," he grumbled.

"Lazy asses," Black Star bellowed through the door. "Food time. Time for food. There is a food o'clock and it is now."

"We're coming," Soul yelled.

"Hella TMI, bro. No one wants to hear about your nerdgasms," Star replied. "Lobby in fifteen, dweebs. Take a fucking shower. And I mean an actual shower, not a shower in which you are fu-"

"Black Star, start walking," Tsubaki's voice warned.

"Ugh," Soul grunted, burying his face in the pillow. "I wish he'd quit acting like we're in here getting off all the time."

"We are in here getting off all the time," Maka said.

"It's the principle of the thing."

Fifteen minutes later, right on Black Star's infuriating schedule, they strolled out into the lobby. Tsubaki gave them a wave before Star got his bitching-ball rolling.

"It's about time," he grumbled. "I'm wasting away. Do you know how many calories I burn an hour? Do you? I'm like a godsdamned hummingbird. I need sustenance, and you're buying. We've got like an hour before we go to meet Kid and the girls."

"Shibusen covers all our meals, and wait, we're meeting Kid?" Maka said.

Black Star gave an exaggerated eyeroll and leaned toward Tsubaki. "Somebodies aren't the favored bodies anymore, know what I'm sayin'?" He looked back at Maka. "He let us know to meet him at Pele's place. Big all-day party, welcome wagon style."

"Huh," Soul said. "We talked to him yesterday and he didn't mention."

The fact that he probably hadn't mentioned anything due to their obvious disarray at the time went unsaid, but Black Star had never been known for being unassuming. He tapped the side of his neck and gestured at Soul.

"Nice suck mark. I never figured Maka for the biter. Gross, by the way."

At that, Maka flushed.

"It's not-" Soul started.

"Yeah, whatever, you're fooling exactly zero percent of the populace, and it's boring now. Know what's not boring? FUCKING BRUNCH, THAT'S WHAT. LET'S GO."

With a snap of his fingers, he walked off, expecting him to follow. Soul and Maka stared daggers in his wake while Tsubaki sighed good-naturedly and went with the flow.

Thankfully, Black Star did indeed seem too bored to keep ribbing them, so grabbing a bite was a quick and uncomplicated affair. They made it to Pele's manor just as their comrades were unloading their bags from the car out front. Kid looked cool as a cucumber in the wilting heat, as always. Liz and Patty both sported a sheen of humidity-sweat, but their rapture-filled eyes as they took in the dripping blooms and sprawling guest quarters plainly revealed that they didn't mind.

As the attendants unloaded the newcomers' bags, Kid caught Soul's eye and gave him a measured nod before turning to the head attendant and accepting the invitation inside. The manor already pulsed with activity, meisters and weapons milling about the open air walkways. Kid's meaning was clear - there'd be time to talk later. For now, there was partying to do.

He hoped it'd end better than their last luau. Fewer dead bodies was a solid goal.

Maka brushed his knuckles with her fingers, paying him a soft smile before breaking off to mingle. The skin on his arm prickled all the way up to his shoulder and he felt the point of his eyetooth against his lip as the corner of his mouth ticked up. For the first time in forever, the world felt... right.

His high spirits carried him through the doorway. He very nearly went to say hello to a few vaguely familiar weapons before the siren song of the banquet table lured him away.

Alas, their love was never meant to be, because Liz sidelined him halfway there, dragging him across the flagstones to the nearest alcove.

"But there's mahi mahi," he whined as he stared longingly at the platters.

Liz planted one hand on his shoulder and used the other to pull his head around to face her. He furrowed his brow.

"Soul," she said, looking very serious.

"Liz," he said.

"Soul."

"Liz."

"Soul."

"Are we playing a weird and very boring game of verbal tag or can I go eat?" he said, flicking a thumb back toward the main room.

She released him, putting a hand on her hip and allowing a disturbingly wicked smiled to pull back her mouth. She'd abandoned her usual hat and gear for a bikini covered in a loose floor-length dress, which made her look far more at ease than he felt.

"We need to have a talk," she said.

"About?"

In answer, she flicked open her clutch and held out her hand to him, something carefully concealed in her palm. Carefully, with a raised eyebrow, he accepted it. When he turned his hand over to see what it was, he immediately shoved it in his pocket and turned on his heel.

"I'm not done," Liz said.

"Nope," Soul respond. "A world of nope."

She caught him by the collar and dragged him back.

"Protection is important, friend," she said.

He flailed his hands at her until she let him go. "I don't need a sex talk and I didn't need you to buy me condoms. Jesus."

"You can call me Liz," she said. "Look, I'm just going to give you some pointers. I assume you already know the general mechanics and the biology and all that."

"Oh my gods." Soul covered his eyes with his hand.

"Trust me, dude, you're going to thank me for this later."

"Liz, no."

She started drawing in the air with her finger. "I want you to imagine it like a canoe, okay, and there's a little man sitting riiiiight up here at the top..."

"I know where it is, oh my Christ, I'm not twelve."

"Well aren't we Mr. Confident. Anyway, the most important thing is to know your partner well enough to know what works and what doesn't. You have to know them almost as well as you know yourself."

"I do!" he blurted, flustered beyond belief. "You really think that I don't know her better than I know anyone -"

He paused long enough to catch Liz's widening smirk. "Knew it," she said.

Shit. He'd practically just confessed.

"You asshole," he snarled.

She put her hands to her cheeks and giggled as she jumped up and down. "So cute."

"You tricked me," he said.

"Oh come on, honey." She patted his arm in a sisterly sort of way. "You may be the master of hiding your emotions back home, but you've been an open book since you got here. We could read you a thousand miles away."

"Literally no one respects our privacy," he grumbled, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist, but I'll butt out, street rat's honor. I just wanted to make sure you were being safe."

"You're the worst."

Looping her arm through his, she guided him back to the main room. "I'm the best. I also want you to be happy. You are, right? Happy?"

Soul looked away, trying and failing to hide his smile. "Yeah."

"That's all I care about. Go get your food. Gotta keep that energy high for lovin' up your lady later." With that, she gave him a solid smack on the ass and skipped off to find Patty.

He rolled his eyes skyward, briefly wondering if he should curse the gods for saddling him with such busybodies for friends, but the gods were busy on the far side of the room. Kid stood beside Pele, head bowed, listening to her speak with polite reverence. Soul was positive they were talking politics and divinity, but they looked for all the world like old friends catching up over drinks.

Shaking himself out his reverie, Soul finally made it to the food tables and gathered up generous samples of anything that struck his fancy, which was a not-insignificant number of dishes. Once he'd eaten his fill, he decided to seek out Maka. The familiar tingle in his fingers when he'd gone too long without touching her had taken on a new quality, a heat that wasn't there before. It pulled him to her, and he emerged from a crowd of partygoers to find her at the center of a game. He smiled.

It was an old game, one they'd played at Shibusen countless times as young kids, mostly before they'd officially partnered off, sometimes after. Figured it translated to other cultures and meister-weapon academies, as well. One part testing boundaries, one part show of strength, one part silliness.

A partner swap.

Mostly a meaningless exercise, trying out different partners, seeing who you could and couldn't resonate with. It started out with a purpose - to find potential partners - but ended up being more showy and ridiculous once partnerships were established. It was rare to find souls that could resonate with yours well enough to do more than spark against each other, but meisters especially got a kick out of proving their strength or soul flexibility. Even moving another meister's weapon a few inches was enough to earn that meister's respect.

At present, Maka had the chain of a meteor hammer wrapped around her forearm, her lean muscles straining with the effort of trying to make the ball move. Eyes closed in concentration, Soul knew she was seeking the wavelength that would allow her to step into sync with the weapon, but she was never that good at dancing. Still, after a few breaths, the ball moved a nearly imperceptible centimeter across the flagstones and Maka sagged in relief.

The weapon transformed back to his human form and both he and his meister laughingly clapped Maka on the back. She wiped the back of her had across her glistening brow, spotted him, and flashed a grin his way. Her soul brushed against his like fingertips across the back of his hand and he felt warmth bloom in his chest.

"Someone else's turn," Maka called to the crowd before stepping out of the circle.

"Not yet, hey," Jinah called, moving forward. The breeze caught her hair and it fluttered like a dark sheet behind her as she planted her feet and beckoned Maka back. "Keon says there's no way we have the right rhythm. Help a girl win her bet."

From the sidelines, Keon shook his head, his half-grin giving him away. "Don't listen to that lolo, sister."

Maka, never one to back down from a challenge, rolled her shoulder. "Just for that, I've got to try."

"Ah," Keon said, waving his hand with a laugh.

Soul dipped his head to hide his own smirk. While he admired Maka's tenacity, they both knew they'd never resonate with anyone like they did with each other. That bond was something they alone shared. The only person who came close was her papa, and only then because of their blood relation. Still, he hoped Maka could give Jinah a solid swing, if only to prove she could.

Jinah and Maka stood across from one another, their stance wide. They looked one another up and down, reaching out along soul-lines, testing. He could feel the familiar hum of Maka's soul, thin as spider silk and strong as steel.

"Ready?" Jinah called.

Maka nodded, reaching out a hand.

Jinah transformed, a stream of fire leaping to Maka's palm and lengthening into a spear. Like everyone else, Soul waited for Maka's arm to sag under the weight, for the shaft to slip out of her grasp.

When it didn't, Soul stopped smiling.

When Maka launched into a series of spins and arcs, the spear moving between her hands and around her body as naturally as his own scythe form, his own strangled yelp was drowned out in the gasps of the crowd. People pressed in all around him, desperate to see, and his skin suddenly felt too tight for his body.

Maka finished a particularly complex maneuver and ended with the point of the spear pointed down, just above the flagstones. Jinah transformed back and the crowd exploded. People bombarded Soul on all sides trying to make their way to Maka, Keon leading the way, and he felt like he watched the scene from somewhere else.

She'd wielded another weapon. He wasn't the only person who worked with her soul.

Through a gap in the crowd, her green eyes locked onto his. They shone with excitement, which immediately turned to concern when she found him.

He turned and made for the nearest hallway.

Thunder sounded deep in his chest, a pounding at the slick red door of the locked room. Something seethed behind it, howling to get out, and he pressed the heel of his hand hard against his scar to silence it. Fire licked up his arms, reaching his neck and making his hair stand on end.

The noises of the party grew distant as he turned into a quiet hall, not unlike the wing they'd stayed in not so very long ago. He found the first unlocked door and went inside, breathing hard and desperately trying to swallow down whatever was clawing at the inside of his throat. The room was a study or lounge, with comfortable chairs and cushions strewn about amid shelves full of books and folded cloth scrolls stamped in brown ink. Soul threw himself into the nearest chair and put his head in his hands.

He'd never known jealousy like this before. Watching his brother shine while he lurked in the shadows came close, but that had been a different sort. Quiet, sad. This jealousy burned. It made him want to scream.

In a far-away memory, he heard Keon warning him about getting tangled up in fear and jealousy, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

A soft knock at the door brought him out of his tortured reverie and he glanced up at the newcomer standing in the doorway.

Maka. Of course. He could feel the waves of worry pulsing from her.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Your soul has more spines than a cactus right now."

His teeth cut into his tongue. It wanted to lash out, pelt her in old petty insults that used to come so easily whenever she got too close. This time, he wouldn't let them come. He didn't want to go back.

Instead, he stood and rushed to her, pulling her in close and kissing her hard. She squeaked behind her closed lips. It wasn't like before when everything was soft and warm. This was desperate.

Carefully, but with strength behind it, Maka pushed him back with a hand to the chest. Her brow was furrowed and she stared up at him. She didn't need to ask again. The question still hung in the air, unanswered.

He backed away, laughing humorlessly as he ran his fingers through his hair. He paced, an old habit from his younger days when he was bursting with nervous anxiety but unable to express it beyond a moody glower.

Maka waited, ever patient, and that made it even worse.

The words ached behind his teeth and he finally let them out. "Why do you have to be so... so..."

She crossed her arms, guarding herself. "So what, Soul?"

"So open?" he yelled. "You're always throwing your doors wide open and letting anyone in. Even if it hurts you."

Even if it hurts me, he didn't say.

Maka blinked at him. "Jinah isn't going to hurt me. What are you talking about?"

He growled at the ceiling. Somewhere far in the back of his brain, his "you're fucking this up, dude, CODE RED" alarm was going off, but he couldn't seem to stop.

"This isn't about Jinah, this is about you letting everyone into your soul," he said.

"It's not a bad thing to let people in," she said. "You know that. What's really wrong?"

"If you keep letting everyone else have a piece of you, what'll be left for me?" He slammed his mouth shut, but it was too late.

Maka took a step back, her arms dropping to her sides. "My soul doesn't belong to you. It belongs to me, and I get to decide who gets to come in and stay. Right now, I'm not sure I want you there."

He turned away from her and huffed to hide how badly her words stung. "Bet you wouldn't say that to Crona."

"Are you kidding me right now?" She stamped up to him, grabbed him by the arm and whirled him to face her. "You're pulling the Crona card on me? You gonna tell me that all that talk about getting them back was just bullshit to make me feel better?"

"You can't save everyone," he mumbled.

"Ha," she said, dropping his arm. "Guess not."

Naturally, Black Star chose that moment to stick his ridiculous, thick-skulled, blue-topped head into the room. "Yo," he said. "No canoodling in the study with the candlestick. Wait. Jesus. Forget I just said that. Carry on."

"There's nothing to carry on with," Maka said, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she turned away from Soul.

There was a twinge in Soul's breastbone as he felt her pull away, physically and at the soul-level. The warm rushing tide of her soul receded and his head swam from the loss.

"Wait, Maka, I didn't mean -"

She didn't turn. Just stormed past a bewildered Black Star where he still stood in the doorway.

"Godsdamnit," Soul spat, hitting his knuckles against the side table and barely registering the pain before he whirled on his friend. "Why do you always have to fuck everything up, Star?"

Black Star's eyebrows knit together, something curiously like anger flashing in his eyes. "I dunno, dude, looks to me like you were fucking things up in here perfectly well on your own."

That stung like a slap to the jaw. He took a step back before hardening his face and going after her. Black Star stopped him with a hand to the chest.

"Back off," Soul growled.

"I've known her longer than you and I'm pulling my childhood friend rank card," Star said, meeting his stare. "Let her decide when she's ready to talk to your dumb ass again."

Soul's sharp teeth flashed. "You don't know anything. I know how to handle my... my..."

"Your what? Your partner? Your cuddle buddy?" Black Star shoved him back against the doorframe. "Your girlfriend?"

Panic flooded through him and he struggled to keep it out of his expression.

Star jabbed a finger at him. "Look. You're right, I don't know her as well as you do. But one thing I do know is that you are a fucking jackass about letting people in, and that's a problem for someone like her. So quit being fuckstupid. When she's done being pissed, go tell her that you're in whiny baby emo love with her or whatever gross squish you two are into."

Soul opened his mouth to respond, but his friend cut him off.

"And don't blame me for shit I didn't do," Star said. "If I'm getting accused of something, then I'm gonna make it a reality. I don't like getting whinged at, period, but I especially don't like getting whinged at when I didn't do anything."

With that, he turned to follow in Maka's wake, leaving Soul alone and feeling very, very hollow.