"You shouldn't sleep down here."

"I don't give a crap if I plopped myself in the vent, I am not sleeping in the same bed as you."

Soul was at the dining table with the blanket wrapped around him tightly. He hid his mouth underneath the material to make sure Kid, who was sitting on the other side, wasn't getting any devious ideas.

When Soul found himself tuning in to his weapon-instincts and submitting to Kid a while ago, he thought for certain that the meister would kiss him. Yes, the Soul Evans had actually anticipated getting kissed by his male best friend. But instead, Kid leaned in and had the audacity to pause uncertainly and then let him go. It was not like Soul was greatly let down, it was the fact that the shinigami had the nerve to stop halfway.

"I have other rooms. I find it silly how you automatically believe I would actually try to force you into my bed," Kid responds calmly. He had a point, but Soul gave an invisible middle finger to Kid.

"I dunno, man. Some of the things you do give me the wrong impression," Soul retorts. "Besides, no matter where I go, it's cold. Upstairs is even more freezing. Can't I just take all the blankets from every room and use them?"

"No..." Kid said with a bemused expression. "That would ruin the order of the rooms. They need to stay organized."

"To hell with that! Which is more important, me being close to catching hypothermia, or that symmetry crap?"

Kid's blank stare makes Soul's huff in frustration. He is the same as ever.

"It is close to nightfall, isn't it? Would you like to eat?" Kid offers politely.

"No," Soul answers brusquely.

It was another moment of silence before Kid spoke up again.

"Would you like to sleep? You can take my room."

"What difference would that make?" Soul asks peculiarly.

"I believe there are two spare comforters in the adjoined closet. You can use those only for my bed," Kid answers.

"And where will you sleep?" Soul asks with a raised eyebrow as Kid stands and gestures for him to do the same.

"I will take the couch. I don't plan on sleeping any time soon, and my room is the only other space I can think freely in," Kid says while leading Soul upstairs. Soul, on the other hand, felt a guilty pang in his chest. Yet, what should he feel guilty for? At least, in which he hopes, Kid is leaving him alone for the remainder of the night. Still, he's only a guest in the house.

"You may lock the door, if that eases your mind," Kid speaks up as though he had listened to Soul's thoughts. Soul was close to punching the shinigami for making him feel even more guilty. Stupid. This is all stupid!

"I don't have to... you're a friend, not some predator," Soul answers exasperatedly once they reach the bedroom. He sits down on Kid's bed, shivering a little while Kid opens his closet to bring out two comforters, all in which Soul grabbed too eagerly.

"I will make sure breakfast is up to par when you wake up. I wouldn't want you to starve yourself," Kid says by the door, indicitating that he was leaving soon. Soul lets out a heavy sigh.

"You know... you're awfully calm about me literally being trapped here," Soul says uncertainly.

"I choose not to panic, but to think on how to get you out."

"Yet, you choose to calmly put me to bed and offer breakfast as though I live here?"

"If that is all, I will be seeing you tomorrow morning-"

"What about the others?" Soul cuts him off, not even bothering to questioning Kid's sudden switch of subjects. The other male blinks from his place.

"What about them?" He asks blankly.

"They'll notice we won't be around and..." Soul looks down as he worriedly clenches the blankets over him. "I don't want them to think we drop dead or you kidnapped me or something."

"Oh? It is okay for you to accuse me of pulling such an act, yet you are worried they may think the same way?" Kid speaks critically.

"No. That's not what I-"

"It is obvious they are going to assume that, at first. Every possible escape route is sealed. But you don't think I've caught on, have you?" Kid says, making Soul furrow his brows.

"Caught on to what...? Hey-!" Soul suddenly finds himself brought into Kid's arms and he protests against the male's chest. "What happened to leaving me alone!"

"It will be okay," Kid says softly, freezing Soul instantly. "They will know if you are endangered. You also know your limit. So please... stop pretending you are 'trapped'."

Soul's eyes widen. "Wh... What...?"

"You are a weapon, aren't you?" Kid whispers, almost teasingly.

He is.

A weapon.

It was not so much of the realization that he could easily get out with his scythe transformation. It was more of the fact that Kid was lenient this whole time during his rants, because deep down even the shinigami knew he was full of it. He was so caught up in blaming Kid for everything, yet the meister's strange personality made him stay. But what kind of person admits to staying, because they willingly find being tortured intriguing?

"I..." Soul could only stammer, looking down blankly. Here he is, contemplating on the fact that he could up and leave right now. Nothing is stopping him from damaging the walls. Kid is doing nothing to stop him, as per usual.

They both knew.

"Perhaps... the couch may be a little uncomfortable," Kid eventually speaks up. Before Soul could process this. He was suddenly pushed down onto the mattress with a weight resting beside him.

"Don't you even- Kid!" Soul was left to shove weakly at the other boy holding him closely against his chest. He hated it, yet a part of him was accepting of it. A part of him just wanted to let Kid have his way, if it is what will make him content. When is the last time he has seen Kid smile happily?

"I appreciate your efforts, if you think they are going unnoticed."

Soul ceases his struggling, exhaling at the notion with no other verbal response.

Is this progress?

A breathless chuckle from Kid causes Soul to leer up.

"What...?"

"Haha... my apologies. I just recall earlier, when you said you would rather sleep in the vent than with me..." As much as he did not want to admit this, Soul finds his heart fluttering as he is pulled closer. An exasperated smile eventually comes up. That genuine laughter of Kid's... that is what he wanted to hear more.

It certainly is progress.