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Soul isn't having a very good day. She received bad news from home in the morning, something which ruined everything to come. A comedy of errors at lunch had led to her not having anything to eat, which enforced the bad feelings. Later on at basketball, Black*Star had decided to tease her for being a girl, something which hasn't upset her since she was twelve. However, since she was already in low spirits, she powwed him right on the nose and got a scuffle in return. He didn't actually care if she was a girl; when it came down to it, he'd beat her up all the same.

Soul opens the door to the apartment very gingerly, wanting to try to sneak in without alerting her roommate. She knows if Maka sees the state that she's in, she'll get yelled at and booked to the head and all sorts of things. Not an enjoyable experience to cap off that already terrible day.

Sneak in, sneak in, channel Tsubaki and be a ninja because she's the coolest and Soul's cool too.

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Her partner has been ignoring her all day. First she was out the door and off to school before they could even talk over breakfast, which she knows is always a bad sign, and then she didn't sit with her meister at lunch, either. After that, Maka gave up seeing her partner until that night.

Unfortunately for Soul, Maka is worried, fussy, and attentive.

She's sitting on the couch reading with a single lamp on, even with her headphones on, but when Soul is halfway across the room she lifts her head, looking very cross. She pulls the headphones off.

"And just what have you been up to all day?" Like that's your business, Maka.

Soul facepalms as she's caught and resists the urge to duck, because she doesn't want to look like an idiot on top of all the other things. If Maka closes that book to ready it, then it's ducking time.

"Just being around. Nothing special about that."

It wasn't really a lie?

Oh, far too late for that, buddy. Maka thinks you look like an idiot already, trying to sneak around like that. She sighs and closes her book with a sharp snap.

But instead of going at Soul with it, she sets it to the side and scrutinizes her.

"You're avoiding me."

It's an accusation and a statement at once.

No ducking, then. Soul mentally thanks Shinigami for that fact, then her eyes widen slightly at what Maka says. Sighing, she deflates. "I'm not," she says. "It's just a bad day."

Of course usually she sticks by Maka's side on bad days, but this was different. This involved things she'd never told Maka and never planned to, either.

Normally, her anger would motivate her to go for the Maka-Chop, but today feels different. Her worry is outweighing her rage, for now, and Soul acting so out of the ordinary is prompting her to act somewhat out of the usual, too.

Apparently, that took her weapon partner by surprise. Soul really expected her to be angry, huh? Hmph.

"You still don't usually turn tail on me when you're having a bad day. You whine and complain and make me deal with it. What's different this time?"

She will not admit she likes being complained at, even if it gives her the satisfaction of supporting her partner, nope. She hates it. It's annoying. She's definitely not prompting Soul to do that now, nope.

Soul takes a deep breath to try to steel herself for admitting what's going on. When she finally speaks it's all in a rush. "Stupidproblemswiththefamily," she says. "Theywantmetogohome."

She sits down next to Maka and sighs heavily. "I'm not gonna," she says in what was meant to be a firm voice, but falls flat and pathetic. "I'm not!"

It's Maka's turn to be surprised. She blinks stupidly when Soul admits, and watches as she sits. Then a warmth spreads over her, and a feeling of.. steel? Protection? Yeah. She would want to protect her partner, right? Even from herself.

She leans a little to the side, so her shoulder is pressed against Soul's.

"If you don't want to leave the Academy, I will fight for you to stay." She smiles. "I don't want any other weapon partner."

"Thanks," Soul says, and quite a bit of the stress leaves her because of Maka's promise. Of course she feels a little possessive (okay, a lot) at the idea of her partner having another weapon, but that's not going to happen because Soul is staying here.

She just doesn't want someone to be that close to Maka. That privilege belongs to her.

Soul takes Maka's hand in hers. "Really, thanks," she adds, because saying it just once isn't enough.

Maka watches as some of the tension leaves Soul, feeling satisfied. She did a good! Without them arguing over every little detail first! This calls for a celebration.

Or just a quiet, soft moment at home. That's good too.

"No need to thank me! I'd probably want to kick your butt if you said you wanted to leave." You promised. You said you'd stick with her to the end, and leaving her would be betrayal. Not that she has trust issues or anything like that.

She gives Soul's hand a gentle squeeze. "If you need to vent about your family, you know I'm here. You listen to me complain about my dad often enough..." Fair is fair.

Soul frowns deeply at that. She's used to hiding... well, every single thing about her family. How could she possibly open up? It's been like this for years. "I dunno..."

She doesn't want to seem ungrateful though! But what the hell is she supposed to say? Soul's first impulse is to call her own mother a bitch, which wouldn't go over so well. "Mom's a... jerk," she manages finally. "Does a lot of stupid crap."

Maka doesn't expect anything. She just wants Soul to know that she is here for her... when it really matters. Okay maybe they fight when it's important to get along, but Maka has her moments of being able to control her overactive crankiness! Especially when she's so worried about her partner.

She is especially glad she went the fussy route here, now that she knows Soul might be in danger of leaving. If she had gotten angry instead... made them both do things they'd regret... let Soul leave... no, she won't think about that.

Her hand curls tighter around her friend's. "You don't have to give me details, if you don't want to. The important thing is you know I won't let you get taken away. We have a goal to reach! You're going to be the strongest Death Scythe ever! And I'm going to get you there." She grins a little lopsided grin, a little unsure she's taking the right tactic.

"Sounds like your mom isn't very... cool."

Soul is also glad they didn't fight. It would have been the cap on an already terrible day. She probably would have cried, and that would have been terrible and embarrassing.

Soul snorts at the evaluation of her mom. "She thinks she is. But she acts like she's sixteen."

But she doesn't really want to keep talking about this. She stares down at their joined hands and says quickly, "But there's other reasons I'd want to stay, you know. Not just becoming a Death Scythe."

That's less hard to admit.

Maka has absolutely no idea how to deal with crying, she hopes she never has to try to learn. Especially not with Soul. She's sure to screw it up and make everything terrible and awkward.

"We know a lot of sixteen year olds, which one does she act like?" Its one third sass and two thirds playing along. It's a stupid joke, really, but Maka never claimed she was good at this.

She isn't good at surprises, either. She glances at Soul, confused, follows the path of her gaze to their hands, and then back up to the scythe's face. She doesn't get it. "DWMA better than your home life, too, huh? I know that one..." She isn't sure that's it, but it certainly makes sense.

"She probably acts like a mix of Patty and Anya," Soul says. "It's really fucking annoying." Okay, so neither of those people are quite sixteen, but Soul's never been good at keeping up metaphors.

DWMA is better than her home life, but that isn't what she meant. She offers Maka a hesitant smile. It doesn't show her teeth like her grins do, but she's not sure how this is going to go, so...

"You're the reason I want to stay."

Maka just makes a face, not bothering to comment on the breakdown of the metaphor. Age aside, that sounds horrifying. Not that she doesn't love their friends, but yeesh. Not in a parent figure.

The blinkings continue at that smile. It's not the usual shark grin Maka is used to, and she doesn't know what it means. Soul is often a bit of a mystery to her, but she's at least come to be able to make a mental handbook of some of her weapon's more common expressions and what they mean. This one? Not in the encyclopedia.

Oh jeez is this another one of those emotional friendship moments? When Soul does something really sappy or loyal and Maka can't make herself say anything out loud and just ends up feeling dumb and weird and special? She can feel the blush rising to her face. Emotions are hard why are you doing this to her.

"Can't imagine anyone else griping at you for being a hothead? That's a little sappy for you, Soul."

De...flects????

And that brings one of the more common expressions to Soul's face, an 'are you an idiot' look in her eyes before laughing with a shark grin. "Probably," she says. "But you're the only one I can tease about her figure."

Something she tries to watch out for doing lately, actually, but Maka ruined the moment and this is Soul's verbal revenge.

Ah, we're back to charted territory. Maka puffs her cheeks out in retaliation. You're the idiot, Soul!!! Then she hmphs, "Like I care." What her figure is, what anyone else sees... whether Soul finds her visually appealing or not. Maka tends to not think much about how big of a deal Soul makes about other girl's bodies, and the potential motivations behind that.

She considers taking her hand away, and her grip does go slack, but something tugs at her that tells her not to. Like a little wavelength from Soul's soul is reaching out to her and urging her to stick this through. It'll be worth it. She tries to call on the fussiness she'd worked with earlier, and it's enough to keep her from totally pulling away.

Soul's grip tightens when it looks like Maka might let go. She doesn't want that separation yet. "Sorry," she mumbles, and they're back into uncharted territory. She feels completely uncomfortable with that word and glances away so she doesn't have to look Maka in the eye. The fussiness is still there, definitely.

Maka makes a small confused sound, almost just a breath, and the squeeze. Usually when she pushes back against Soul, she lets her go, or pushes again until they're fighting. Maka is not used to her... hanging on. Sure they hold tight to their partnership, their friendship, in certain ways, but never by actually preventing the other from leaving. There's just a trust they she would come back.

Then the apology and Maka is really confused. Her fingers hesitantly curl again, and she turns to look at her partner even as Soul is looking away.

"Did you just apologize?" It's not accusatory, even if the phrase itself could be. It's pure surprise.

Soul feels bad for not letting her go. It's not that she doesn't trust her not to come back, it's that she doesn't want Maka to go at all. A separation feels unbearable right now and she can't really puzzle out why.

She's silent for several seconds, contemplating denying the apology. But it's right there, hanging between them, and it's going to stink up the air if they don't get it out of the way. "Maybe?"

It surprises her, but it actually feels nice, being held back from leaving. It's an inarguable sign that Soul wants her here, wants her company and support. Not that she would ever think otherwise, but the obviousness of the gesture feels good. It's a little scary, when most of their emotional interaction is based around hints and sidestepping, but there's a warmth in her chest she can't deny.

"That's unlike you." She doesn't want to leave it at that. It's a useless statement. "There's something else on your mind, isn't there?"

"Isn't there always?" Soul snorts at herself as she says this. Really, her mind was always filled with useless things. Useless feelings and useless thoughts and none of it ever stacked up to get her what she wanted. "It's like a tidal wave in here." She swirls her finger around. "Pshew."

She huffs something that might be a laugh out of her nose. She doesn't ever laugh fully when Soul puts herself down, but the scythe is clearly trying to be funny here. Maybe she's deflecting, too.

It isn't like Maka doesn't know how busy of a place Soul's mind can be, but the answer is still a non-answer. "If there's something you need from me, I'd rather you ask. I'm your meister and your friend. I want to help, if you need help."

Her turn to be a sap, apparently.

"I dunno if I need help exactly." No, she needs serious help, mental help. She can't say that out loud without Maka getting pissy, though. "I just..." Soul trails off and finally looks at Maka again. "You ever like someone? You know, in that way?"

Maka's smile is soft and she shrugs a shoulder. Okay, maybe her hardheaded weapon partner doesn't want help, but her point still stands. She holds onto patience, waiting for Soul to get the thought she wants to say under control.

And immediately regrets. "Romance isn't really my thing, you know that, Soul." She tries to not resent the question. "Boys aren't worth it. Why would you ask that?

She doesn't even make the connection that the last thought they talked about was her.

"Who said anything about boys?" Soul looks a little exasperated and sighs. "Boys are stupid, they're all like Black*Star or Ox and that's really annoying, or they're neurotic like Kid and I couldn't handle that, I'm too neurotic myself. I'd maybe date Kilik but he's not even hot."

She's rolling on a tangent now and there's no stopping her.

"No boy is hot." Soul makes another motion with her hands, one that sort of curves as she moves her hand up and down. "They don't have the right shapes. They're too hard in their muscles. And that thing between their legs... eww! Black*Star made me look once, it was really gross and Liz said they move on their own and why the hell would anyone want to touch that?"

No, Soul does not like boys at all.

"Oh..." Maka guesses she said something about boys. She watches the rant unfold, confused and fascinated. On many points, Soul isn't wrong. Her guy friends are great, but they are still gross boys.

She can't get in a word edgewise, and she isn't even sure what it would be if she did. None of this makes a bit of goddamn sense to her. The movements Soul makes with her hands suggest a curvy feminine body and that ignites something angry in her. The stupid boob thing again, ugh.

But there's something else for her to focus on. "Black*Star did what?!" That is sexual harrassment! Maka is furious and she will kick his ass if Soul gives her the green light.

"Yeah, he flashed me." Soul doesn't notice that Maka's furious for a moment, so wrapped up is she in ranting. "I ran into a guy in a trenchcoat on the street and the dude was all 'look at me!' and opened his coat and I was all pissed and Black*Star said he could show me something better so he dropped trough and said his was greatest so it should make me feel better and I kicked him in the nuts with my shoe on and that's why he sang falsetto for a week."

She pauses and Maka's anger registers now. Finally taking a breath, Soul gives her an apologetic grin. "You can kick him too if you want."

Maka's face just keeps screwing farther and farther into a look of rage and horror. Her poor weapon got flashed twice. She rubs at her face and groans.

"The worst part is I can see him doing exactly that." That phrasing and everything. Gross. "I'm glad you kicked him, though," she laughs, flashing an encouraging smirk at Soul. That's her girl. "I will probably kick him next time I see him. If I don't get over my fury before then."

She won't get over her fury before then.

Yeah, Soul has no illusions that Maka will get over it until she's made Black*Star pay. Part of her feels bad for him but the other part feels complimented that justice is being served on her behalf. "He won't even see it coming."

She shakes her head and laughs. "But yeah, that woulda put me off boys if I hadn't thought sour of them already."

Feel a little bad for him, because Maka kicks are a force of nature, but also don't because he totally brought it on himself. By being a total creep.

"No kidding. Ew." There will never be enough ew. She will never be able to respect Black*Star again. "So... wait." Maka is dumb about romance, but she is observant and clever, at least. This is turning out to be a bad combination for her right now. "You were asking me about... crushes... but you also think boys are pointless, so, why?"

She blinks. By the sound of it Maka hasn't put it together yet, and that's kind of weird - Soul's not being anything but obvious about her sexuality right now. But then, Maka's never been all that up and up about romance.

"I'm not into boys," Soul says. "Boys are dumb, girls are smart. Boys are ugly, girls are pretty. Boys drool, girls rule. Get the picture?"

For a very smart girl, Maka is very stupid about romance and sexuality. Hints are not going to get you anywhere, no matter how obvious they are. She thinks about it too little, other than harping on how men just can't be loyal, and just takes what popular culture feeds her at face value because she has no reason to question it.

It shouldn't be too much of a challenge to convince her it's all garbage, though, at least.

A confused realization does start to dawn on her. "You... like a girl?" Gold fucking star, Maka. "That's a thing you can do?"

"Of course that's a thing you can do. You can like anyone you want, just as long as you don't like, go out and try to kiss a skunk." Does Soul mean metaphorically or literally? Who knows.

"Some people think girls are cute and nice but that's all," she says and subconsciously leans in a little. "But others think they're cute and nice and perfect and want to like, do romance stuff with them." She's not even going to talk about the dirty stuff, the idea alone makes her face go red.

Maka is torn halfway between a thoughtful 'huh' and a disgusted 'humph'. She sort of assumes Soul means metaphorically... but she could be wrong. It wouldn't even be the first time in the last ten minutes. Not a good track record for Albarn tonight.

She feels stupid. She hates feeling stupid. It isn't as if this is something she can argue about though. Even stubborn Maka knows she can't try to deny that there are.. girls who like girls. All she can do is be embarrassed that this is apparently obvious information that she didn't have.

Why is her face heating up and why is Soul so close and why does it make her thoughts go all spinning around and whizzing out of her ears?

"W-who has time for romance anyway?" She's suddenly finding it a lot harder to look for her usual excuses and complaints about romance, when it isn't about boys. There are... a lot fewer things to be disgusted about romance, when one takes 'men' out of the equation, actually. She blushes darker.

"Anyone can make time for romance if they really want to," Soul says. "It's just a matter of finding someone who inspires you." She studies Maka's face and finds it very hard to repress a smile. "Why are you blushing?" Does Maka find the idea of liking girls to be appealing or just embarrassing? Soul hopes not the latter. That would be a let down in more ways than one, though she'd never admit such a thing.

Maka opens her mouth to retort, again to find that her usual complaints don't seem to apply anymore. Who would want to make time for a man who would inevitably be unfaithful? Well, if it isn't a man, then... Maka had always lived under the assumption that she had the power to make time for something worth prioritizing. School, reading, music, meister practice, even friends.

She'd never imagined herself putting the time into romance. But she had also never imagined romance happening with a girl.

"I'm not." Yep, good old-fashioned petulant denial. That'll get her far. Maka puffs her cheeks a bit and crosses her arms. "Why are you bringing all this up anyway? I'm not exactly the love guru."

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