The Thought That Counts
by. Poisoned Scarlett

"M-Maka-chan?" She shudders, holding herself tightly. Goosebumps rise on her fair skin as the ocean chill seeps through her clothes. She holds a map in her trembling hand, referring to it every so often, but she stops when the edges keep flapping back to hit her on the face. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Maybe we should have just gone to the record store after all!"

But they're in far too deep to go back home. They have to finish this, Maka thinks determinedly, they have to see it through because she put a lot of thought and effort into this endeavor and like hell was a little cold sea spray, a little thick darkness, along with a dilapidated cave coupled with the warning, labored, breathing of a great giant sea beast going to stop her from getting her prize.

"We're already here, we might as well do it!" Maka tells her and tightens her coat around her slim body. "You know the plan, right?"

Tsubaki nods, hardening her eyes. "Avoid the sea monster, attack the witch."

"Right," Maka nods. "It's avoiding the sea monster that'll be the hard part. A lot of meister's fall prey to it because it dominates the entire cave up until the mouth of the witch's lair. Contrary to popular belief, the beast can only move around so much. It's cursed to roam only a certain area, it being the length of the cave until the entrance of the lair."

"So all we have to do is reach the entrance before it catches us?"

"Exactly."

"What about after?"

"It'll be gone by then," she answers confidently.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, the witch won't have the curse binding the monster anymore. It'll be free. It'll know it's free and it'll probably leave, and it'll gives us ample time to recover and head back to Death City."

"Maybe we should have done this yesterday, we have to be at Kidd's manor in…ten hours," Tsubaki worries her bottom lip. "Are you sure we can do this in ten hours?"

"If all goes according to plan, yes."

"...If not?"

Maka only holds her hand out, offering her a reassuring smile. Tsubaki takes her hand after a few seconds hesitation and transforms into her chain scythe form. It's currently the only form, along with the shuriken mode, that Maka can unlock. Only Black Star can unlock the other modes she has. But Maka insists she only needs these two modes to defeat the witch and, despite the incredulity they received from their teachers when they told them of their plan, Tsubaki believes in Maka. She is not the frail, weak, little girl she was back in the day – she's a strong woman of twenty, with tasteful curves in the right places and legs that have many of the boys back in their hometown salivating at the mouth - among other places…

"Don't worry, Tsubaki," Maka attempts to soothe although she's as apprehensive about this mission of hers as the chain scythe is. "We'll make it to Soul's party with enough time to spare!"

Alright, so maybe she underestimated the creatures intelligence – or perhaps she overestimated herself, because this thing that dwells in the dank, moist, regions of the earth is kicking her ass real good.

"Maka! Your right!"

She leaps behind a boulder, grinding her teeth when the creature roars furiously and slams its head into the stone. It does this repeatedly, chunks of rock crumbling from the force, and Maka thinks that this was not one of her more brilliant ideas. Perhaps Soul was actually onto something when he called her a stupid genius.

"Tsubaki, shuriken mode!"

She wads through the frigid water until she reaches a few jutting stones and uses them as leverage. She twists around and throws her weapon at the creature, nailing it right in the forehead. It stumbles back in its shock, releasing a surprised croak, and Maka doesn't hesitate to leap upon the boulder it had been abusing previously and taking that daring jump onto the creatures slimy head. The only real risk is slipping but her stumble here becomes her best move yet for she manages to detach Tsubaki from its toad-skin forehead and fall behind it. The splash of water, murky and black and smelling of something rotten, shocks her but she recovers and swims down the pitch black cave as the creature tries to mend the hole in its forehead that's bleeding putrid green.

"We're almost there!" Tsubaki's metallic voice rings out from the chains scythe Maka holds in her hand. "Just a little more! Can you feel it?"

"Yeah," Maka grunts. "Dead ahead! Is the thing still busy?"

"From what I can see! That was a really good shot, Maka-chan, especially since you don't have much practice with me!"

"I have enough! I train with you when Soul is training with my dad, right?" Maka manages a brief smile before the earth-shaking rumble of the beasts howl thins out her lips. "It's back! Tsubaki, make sure it doesn't get too close!"

"Yes!"

Maka's hand slaps out to grip sharp rock and she hauls herself out of the murky waters, climbing up the jagged slope of mounted rocks until the waterside is far from her reach. Cold, it seems, will be what's to be feared the most in this hostile mission she'd recklessly assigned herself. In fact, many would already be shaking their heads and staring incredulously at the Three-Star Meister whose going this far for her beloved, faithful, weapon to smile and mean it.

But doesn't that say it all? Beloved, faithful, loyal – Soul is everything she'd never dared to hope a man could be. He had his moments of absolute idiocy, he could be rough and demanding and moody, but ultimately he had never given her a reason to doubt him. He had always been there, quiet, watchful; always the one to go to when life didn't go her way, always the one to rise her spirits even if they were sometimes not in the best taste.

"I can sense her," Maka quietly informs and Tsubaki looks away from the dark of the cave to the even denser dark that is where the wicked witch resides in. "She knows we're here."

"Maka-chan, are you sure about this?"

"Positive," Maka says and steps forward with new resolve. "She's waiting for us to get closer. She can't be too far away now—!"

"No, I mean…are you sure about killing a witch without your main weapon?" Tsubaki quietly tells her once more. "Maka, a witch a very powerful being. You still have some trouble defeating them with Soul, and you can use him without any restrictions. Me, however…we can barely resonate properly."

"I know," Maka admits, grimly. "Trust me when I say that this isn't the most powerful witch out there. She's actually considered very weak compared to her other sisters. I've done my research on her, I'm about….sixty four percent sure we can beat her."

"Sixty four?"

"It's better than fifteen," Maka weakly says.

Tsubaki swallows. "O-okay but if it starts to get too dangerous, we have to go back, okay?"

"Okay."

But Tsubaki has a feeling that even if things do get rough, Maka will not back down.

That's what she's terrified of.

She doesn't understand his hobbies. This is the root of why she's doing this; the base of all her stupidity. It's because she knows his hobbies, can name them off her fingers, but she doesn't do anything with that information. She only holds it in her hands, staring at it, expecting someone to lead her the entire time. She hates it. She hates that she's been doing that for the past twenty years of her life, but she won't do it anymore. So stuff like this happens when she compromises herself to something like that.

She repeats: his unique hobbies are the foundation of her utter idiocy.

What's there to understand about hers? There is nothing. It's basic; it's all plainly written in black ink. There's nothing fancy about it. She reads books, she likes puzzles, she writes poetry sometimes, she trains to keep up her stamina. But then there's him and his weird little tendencies and hobbies that has everyone cooing and awing and asking for more, more, more. Because he can be so mainstream yet so unique, so grossly himself, that it draws people in. There's something just plainly cool about him and it is that allure that she doesn't have. She's just Maka: genius, nerd, bookworm, force to be reckoned with, with a melodramatic dad who worships her.

Then there's him and his tendency to run his fingers through his unruly mess of silver locks.

Patty gets him a pack of sturdy headbands one year.

There's him and his basketball, his baseball and his soccer – sports, athletics, whatever you call it nowadays, that's what he does when he doesn't want to be cooped up inside like she always is.

Black Star gets him some sports equipment; some gym equipment, too, while he's at it, another year.

There's him and his taste for steampunk or graffiti art.

Kidd gives him a long and tall canvas whose cost is better left unsaid the next time.

There's him and his ravenous taste for sweets – cakes, cupcakes, cookies, chocolate moose, whatever can give you diabetes in a few chomps can give him the biggest sugar rush you'll ever see and then some.

Tsubaki bakes him a three layer chocolate cake with strawberry filling, the icing vanilla and caramel, crowned with cookies and cream ice-cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with pieces of his favorite fruit.

There's him and his adoration for music – the thing that Maka truly doesn't comprehend. She doesn't comprehend it in the sentimental way most can, the raw and soulful way, she only understands lines and staffs and numbers. She only understands the whole, not its parts like he does. She doesn't understand the visceral meaning behind every notes, the soul that can be poured as hot as melting lava into each and every nuance; each and every tone, noise, sound, chord, note, whatever you call what he listens to and breaths to and plays for.

Liz gives him vinyl records – old ones, expensive ones, ones that make his eyes light up and his jaw slack because he thought he'd never get his hands on them since they stopped redistributing.

And then there's her: Maka – boring, dull, regular, normal, Maka who gives him new clothes or new shoes or sometimes even a new instrument that he can tinker with. But it only makes him smile for a little while, it never wows him. They're all thoughtful presents; just gifts that anyone can give him because they're the most obvious. You would think, because Maka lives with him, that she would give him the best presents because she knows him the best.

You'd be wrong.

"TSUBAKI!"

"YES!"

Maka throws her once more – she can't remember how long this fight has gone on for but her muscles burn and her resolve is wavering and her chest hurts – and the witch dodges and mutters a spell under her breath. Maka picks up Tsubaki again, running and dodging the witch's spell attacks in time with her fierce heartbeat. Her eyes wildly search for an opening, for anything, and she tells Tsubaki to transform back into a shuriken and the girl gapes at her because if it didn't work the last eight times, what makes her think it'll work on the ninth time?

"Just trust me!"

"But, Maka—!"

"Keep running, girl, I'll catch you soon and feed you to my pet!" The witch spits, her fingers weaving a spell and delivering it in a beam of insidious violet at the meister.

"Tsubaki, transform!"

"But – oh – alright!"

She throws her but it misses the witch and the witch laughs uproariously before the laughter chokes in her throat. She hadn't expected the shuriken to ricochet off the wall of the cave and slam into her but Maka's always been good with angles. Maka Chopping has helped. The witch's bulging jaundice eyes stare ahead with frozen laughter, her jaw twitching as a wheeze of air steadily exhales from her lungs. The shuriken seems to stab deeper into the witch's neck until it pierces through from the front. Maka can hear Tsubaki's squeak when the witch stumbles forward before falling face-first. Then her head rolls and Maka practically limps to the witch whose body has melted into an awful, stinky, gross green liquid that seeps through the cracks on the wet rocky floor. Her darkly glowing green soul floats above the rags that made up her clothes and Maka picks it up, holding it in her hand with a sense of awe.

"We—we did it! Tsubaki, we did it! We just defeated a witch without resonance!"

Tsubaki transforms back, scrambling away from the puddle of witch on the floor. But the look on her face is pure triumph and admiration and relief things had gone according to plan. "You did it, Maka-chan!"

And she thinks that if Soul doesn't fucking like this, she'll put him in a Maka-Chop coma and never give him anything for his birthday ever again.

When they arrive at the manor, they're, quite plainly, a mess. Tsubaki is the least damaged because she was in weapon-form for most of their little excursion. She only has to fix her hair back into its straight-laced pony tail and dust off any remaining debris from her top and shorts and she looks about as normal as ever. She's only weary from the days excitement.

Then there's her, who looks like she barely survived being ravaged by a pack of wolves. Her skirt is torn in various places, the spandex of her tights had practically snapped from when she slid across the rough floor of the cave. She had taken those off and her legs are, mercifully, free from any lasting scars. But her shirt is disheveled and torn and she knows the back of her shoulder is bleeding from where she'd had to take one for the team if she wanted to get the upper-hand. Don't get her started on her hair, either, she had fixed it somewhat on the delayed flight back to Nevada, Death City, so it wasn't as bad but she's sure it smelled like rotten fish.

Then add the fact that she's still soaked from swimming back out of that unholy cave and you have yourself one displeased and very much irritated Maka Albarn. The only thing that assuages her misery is the soul that she holds protectively to her chest, the witch soul that she knew – because she and Soul had hunted down a few witches after Arachne – would please Soul. Because he liked souls, especially witch souls; she particularly liked the satisfied and sated sigh whenever he swallowed one whole.

This is his big present: a witch soul.

Bam! Boom! No one would even think about getting him an actual witch's soul for his birthday! They're too precious to give away like that. Actually, they're way too difficult to get, and only someone who was either very courageous or very stupid would even think about getting their beloved, faithful, weapon partner a witch soul…without using said weapon partner to get it in the first place.

"We're four hours late," Tsubaki mumbles, meekly. "I think…I think the party is almost over?"

"Even if it is," Maka smiles and looks down at the soul. "I got his birthday present! I hope…I hope he likes it," she hesitates, feeling that gloomy swell of misery rise up her dry throat again. She did all of this just to see her partner's eyes light up for her presents like they have for everyone else. It's her turn, the selfish voice in the back of her mind shouts, it's her turn to wow him! Not Liz's, not Kidd's, not Patty's, not Black Star's – her, her!

"I'm sure he'll love it, Maka-chan! You went through so much trouble to get it, after all!" Tsubaki chirps before they fall into companionable silence again.

"I really want to change," Maka sighs as they both make their way inside the manor. They can faintly hear the throbbing background music come from Kidd's speakers in the backyard. "I look like crap and I smell funny, too!"

Tsubaki sniffs her and giggles. "I can't smell anything!"

"You're too used to it already. You've been desensitized," Maka sighs and they both stop before reaching the archway that would lead to the backyard, where they both know everyone was at. Her eyes just catch the open wrappers of his presents on the table set out by the BBQ. Ah, so he had already opened them, had he? Maka thinks. That made things a lot easier for her.

"TSUBAKI!" Black Star screams, leaping out from the pool when he caught sight of her. "Where the hell have you been? You're like four hours late! What the hell – Maka? Holy shit, are you okay?"

Maka inwardly groans when all eyes snap to her. Liz blinks, bewildered, and Patty coos her curiosity. Kidd sputters, panicking by her lack of symmetry, but it's Soul's wide-eyed and worried stare that catches her attention. He practically scrambles out of the pool, questions already choking in his throat at the sight of his battle-torn meister.

But before he can get any closer, Maka reveals the soul to him and squeaks, "Happy birthday, Soul!" and Soul stares at the soul that floats in her cupped hands. His mouth open and closes. He swallows, throat dry. He tries to say something, anything, but he can only stare at the abnormally big soul, the soul that glows iridescently in the eerier manner that a witch's soul does…

"Maka…is that…?"

"Yeah!" Maka laughs, rather proud of herself that she managed to stump Soul like this. "It's a witch soul! I got it for you for your birthday since you love them so much! And since it's your twenty first birthday, I thought you deserved something special!"

Behind Soul, she can hear everyone else whistle and compliment her gift. She can hear Liz laugh and clap her hands in admiration and Kidd nod appreciatively, and she can glimpse Black Star smirking but admitting that was pretty damn cool and she can see Tsubaki practically beaming, radiating pride for her best friends ingenuity. When her eyes return to Soul, however, her smile falters at the conflict she sees in his own eyes.

"How did you get it? Who did you use to slay the witch?"

"Tsubaki," Maka answers, confused. "But I took her down myself. Tsubaki was mostly my shield, since we can't resonate…that well…Soul?" Maka looks at him apprehensively, suddenly thinking perhaps this was just a really bad idea. "Don't you like it?"

"Of course I do! This is the most awesomest gift anyone has ever given me for my birthday!" Soul huffs out an incredulous laugh, scratching his head as he stares at her in amazement. "This…wow…I didn't think anyone would go as far to get me something like this. This is so cool, Maka, you're the coolest partner ever!" He grins toothily and his eyes light up in the way she'd always wanted them to and he's practically radiating excitement and pride and admiration and respect and she breathes out in relief and hands him the soul without further ado.

"Eat it, then! If you're going to stay at Kidd's place, just text me," Maka slumps forward and runs her own fingers through her damp hair. "I'm going home." She glances at everyone else, who mainly went back to their own thing, and decides that she beat them this time around – which is all she wanted, really, because she wanted her gift to be memorable for once and not just another pair of shoes he'll wear out or another shirt that'll probably be forgotten in the deep trenches of his closet or another fickle instrument he'd play with for awhile before he grew bored of it and bought a better, newer, one.

"Eh? Home? You barely got here!" Soul scowls, sucking back drool from the soul that floats warmly in his palm. "What're you gonna' do at home?"

"Patch myself up, maybe?" Maka says and she means at it as a joke, she really does, but his face becomes somber and he looks down at the soul with that conflict between his brows. Maka thinks she really shouldn't try to crack jokes because obviously she can't do it right. "I'm kidding, Soul, I just need to shower! I stink!" She forces a laugh, clutching her shirt. "Tell you what, I'll come back after I've showered, okay? Give me an hour."

Soul hesitates, his jaw setting. "I'll drive you back—!"

"Heeeey, Soul, when are you gonna' eat that thing so we can get on with the shots? You're twenty one! Legal drinking age, man, we're gonna' get you so plastered you won't know your right hand from your left!" Black Star guffaws and shoots Maka a sassy grin. "You in or out, Maka?"

"Out. I'm twenty, you idiot, it's illegal for me."

"Pfft, you act fifty! No one'll know!" He waggles his brows but Maka is not tempted.

"No, Black Star!"

"Whatever, you're missing out!" He huffs defensively.

"Ugh, I'll be back later, okay? Please don't get Soul drunk in less than an hour, I'd really like him sober when we go home!" But Maka's words barely register in the blue-haired man's mind, he only yanks Soul toward the table Liz has set up for their little drinking match. Soul sends her a loaded look, a look she can't decipher because she'd been rubbing her eyes out when he did it, and by the time he's sitting down on the chair with a shot glass in front of him and the witch's soul protectively in his hand, Maka has already bid her happy but weary goodbye to Tsubaki and everyone else whose in the pool or sitting at the edge just relaxing.

She leaves for her apartment feeling triumphant but weary. She did it! She got that smile out of him, the rare one no one sees. The once-in-a-blue-moon smile that actually brings life to his garnet eyes and makes him look more alive than anything else ever has. She did it and it only took getting the crap beat out of her by some weird sea monster, nearly getting her limbs zapped off by some seaside witch, and walking all the way to the airport and back to Kidd's manor in stinky, still-wet, torn up clothes that will probably make their way into the trash bin by the end of the night.

Maka makes it to the apartment in record time.

She sheds her clothes and instantly jumps into the shower, letting the hot water burn away all of the grim and blood and sweat from the fight. She rubs her face with soap, letting the spray hit her straight on. It's soothing, breathing in plumes of warm vanilla with faint traces of fruity bubblegum. By the time she steps out, she's feeling much better now and wraps an extra towel around her head for her hair. She steps into the hallway, shuddering at the draft she feels, and makes her way to her bedroom where she changes into what can either be a cute tank top and some shorts matched with silk leggings or her pajamas and some slippers.

The pajamas and slippers are tempting. What she really wants to do after such a day is curl up under her sheets and sleep but she did say she'd go back in an hour. It's been around an hour and a half but, as she reluctantly changes into that tank top and short combination, at least she's going.

She really hopes Soul isn't wasted.

She kind of hopes he eats the soul so that it fills him and he won't feel the need to drink.

She wonders if the soul will taste weird, since it's been out in the open for awhile. Getting the thing past security at the airport had been a pain but being a Three-Star had its perks.

She's thinking about souls and expiration dates when the front door opens just as she tries to open it herself. She stumbles back, surprised, and finds Soul looking back at her, a crooked grin making its way onto his face.

"So you were coming after all!"

"I told you I was!" Maka frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did you come get me?"

"Yeah," he replies, remorseless. Maka glares. "Knowing you, you'd talk your way into staying or something and miss out."

"I wouldn't be missing out on much except watching all of my friends drink themselves stupid," Maka blandly says and he snorts, closing the door behind him. She notices that something bright is coming from the inside of his jacket and she's a little grossed out that he'd stick that thing in his pocket of all places. "Won't it damage if you manhandle it like that?" Maka asks and Soul reaches into his pocket, pulling out the soul.

"Nah, it's still good," he smirks. He bounces it a bit in his palm and sighs. "I kind of don't want to eat it."

"Why not? That's why I got it for you!"

He grins wryly at her. "It's a really cool present. I wanna' keep it but I guess some things are meant to be eaten," he grins cheekily to show his sharp teeth and Maka watches with pink dusting her cheeks, entranced, as his mouth parts and he tilts his head back. She doesn't admit it but it always enraptures when he does this: tip his head back and swallow the soul. He chews this one a few times, swallowing it and grinning a lazy grin of complete satisfaction when it goes down easy.

"How…was it?" Maka asks curiously, cocking her head.

"Tasted like sushi."

Maka laughs. "It's a witch that lived inside a cave near the ocean. It was a pain to find her and get past the monster who guarded her, but it was worth it!" She beams, clasping her hands behind her. "I'm glad you liked it, Soul!"

He gives her a measured look. "Y'know, you could've just asked me to go with you."

"Hm?"

"Asked me to go with you so we could hunt it down together," he clarifies. "I would've been cool with it."

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise! And I, well, I wanted to give you something really special and I know how much you love souls…especially witch souls, so I asked Tsubaki if she would come with me to back me up. I knew it was risky but….I really wanted this to be special for you, it's your twenty first birthday," Maka timidly says, feeling her face go redder and redder with every word she says. She should have stopped after she mentioned Tsubaki; she really should have. What is she saying? She's messing everything up with her word vomit! She needs to shut up but the way he's looking at her, that slow knowing grin of his, is making her want to cover everything up yet she's simultaneously making it all worse. "A-and are we…going back to the party?" Maka ends lamely, after many more unnecessary words that may or may not have revealed the fact that she's past the point of being platonic with him.

"Nah, Star's wasted and Liz is hogging all the beer, so uncool," Soul casually says and shrugs off his jacket. Maka takes a few steps back as he walks past her, to toss his jacket on the couch.

"So I got dressed up for nothing?" Maka complains.

"It's still my birthday," he grins smugly. He likes her in shorts. He likes her shorts for many, many reasons, one of them being the fact that she has the best ass he's seen on this side of the planet and mile-long legs as a bonus. "You can just stay like that until I say so."

"Me?" Maka scoffs. "I got you a soul! That's about all I'm giving you tonight! I'm going to change…" she grumbles and stomps back to her room to change into those pajamas she'd been eying the entire time she changed into these clothes. Once she's back in t-shirt soft sweats and a simple white camisole, she walks back into the living room to find Soul sprawled on the couch, rumpling up his clothes.

"Hey," Maka squints at him. "That shirt…"

"What about it?"

"I got that for you last year!" Maka gasps. She didn't think he'd wear it. "I thought you didn't like it!"

"I can't wear this one anywhere, Maka, it's a dress shirt. Today's a special occasion so I decided to wear it, no big deal," he shrugs and changes the channel a few times.

Maka doesn't comment further but she does feel rather smug and happy that he'd worn the damn thing. She had wandered the stores searching for something in his taste for hours before she decided on that and a pair of those shoes he wanted for awhile now. But they'd never gotten anymore than a cool, thanks, Maka from him when he opened them. Not like tonight, his complete gob smacked expression at the fact that she'd actually gone out of her way to hunt a damn witch soul for his sorry ass.

She plops down next to him and sighs, sinking back in the cushions. Her eyes are closed and a small smile adorns her pink lips when she feels an arm drape itself around her shoulders and then her nose is pressed into a strong chest, inhaling the sultry scent of spice and leather.

"Soul?" Maka sputters, unsure of where to put her hands. She kind of really wants to put them somewhere around his neck or even just around him in general but she kind of can't, mainly because her arms are stuck between him and her purposely. "Soul, you're squishing me!"

"Good," he smirks and squeezes harder, laughing when she squeaks and tries to squirm out of his arms.

"Soul Eater!"

"You always try so damn hard," he says, fondly. He ruffles her hair and lets his hand caress her cheek for a moment, a moment that can be passed off as anything but him being overly affectionate, and lets his lips bump against her forehead. "You're always freaking out like two weeks before my birthday and you think I can't tell. I've been your partner since we were fourteen, Maka!"

"I don't freak out two weeks before your birthday!" She argues, feebly.

"Right. You just suddenly become a girl and go to all these malls and stores for hours…dress shopping, right?" he flatly ends and Maka flushes red down to her neckline.

"Well, s-so what if I want to get you something nice! It's your birthday and you deserve it, even if you piss me off every five minutes!" Maka growls warningly at him but he doesn't let her go.

"You don't have to get me something – hell, you don't have to get me anything at all if you don't want to," he smiles lopsidedly at her. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"I'm tired of getting you thoughtful presents, I wanted…" she mumbles the rest.

"Hm? I can't hear you!"

"Something cool! I wanted to get you something cool!" She buries her face in his chest, her eyes shut as his chest rumbles with his chuckles. "Shut up, Soul…"

"Well, you did it, this was the coolest thing ever," Soul smiles into her hair. "But next time you decide to get me something cool, tell me about it, yeah? I called every person I could to figure out where you were at and no one knew. I was going to look for you if you didn't arrive by nine," Soul flatly states and Maka giggles a little at the over-protectiveness that seeps into his tone. "You're lucky you made it by eight or else I would've been seriously pissed off."

"But you got a so-ul!" Maka sings softly and laughs when Soul sighs, his ire draining.

"Watch, when your birthday comes around," he leans down very close, their noses brushing in ways that makes her face feel like it's been under the hot sun for too long. She looks up at his eyes, finding them pliable and content. She knows that by tomorrow they'll be back to their usual cool, hard glass. "I'll give you the best present ever! Not even Liz will be able to top it!"

"I don't know, Soul," Maka teases. "Liz gives me some pretty good presents."

He only smirks and the look in his eye tells her that he already has that special present for her in mind. "It won't compare to mine, promise. Cool guys don't break their promises, remember?" he grins and she laughs brightly and their evening is spent none-too-subtly using each other as pillows and blankets.

.

.

.

And Soul's birthday party continued until the wee hours of the morning without him, until Liz called their apartment very hung over to inform Maka that Soul had been in the toilet since he excused himself at ten pm and she should probably come pick him up now because he probably passed out taking a shit because he was a lightweight.

Needless to say, Soul was not pleased when he woke up later that day to their friends, hung over but alive, mocking him about being unable to hold his liquor.

A/N: I'm sorry, what is this word vomit I just spewed? I know, it's bad. It's horrible. But it happens, I can't help it if it sucks. This is an idea I got while walking back from the public library. Don't ask me how, I don't even know how lol

Scarlett.