"Hey, Soul! I'm home." Maka called into their empty apartment. No reply. "Soul?" She called out to no avail. "Huh. I guess he's not home yet." She raised her left arm and looked at her watch. 8:46 pm He's not usually out this late. Any normal day, he'd be in front of the tv playing video games by now. She had been late herself, due to some extra sparring with BlackStar. She had already turned Soul into a death scythe but that didn't hinder her from trying to get stronger, it only spurred her on more. She had made a vow to herself to help Soul surpass her good for nothing Papa. She had pushed herself extra hard with her Blue-haired assassin friend, so it was especially weird coming home at this hour and her partner still not being here. Oh well. Maka didn't think too much about it. She was too tired to put her energy into finding him.
The second she locked the front door, her stomach let out an angry growl. So hungry! She was tempted to make herself some food but she decided against it. Food could wait a little while longer. She worked so hard she could feel the dried salt on her skin where she had sweat. She felt grimy and dirty. What she needed right now was a steaming hot shower. She putter hand to her opposing shoulder and rolled her arm, feeling the aches didn't notice the pain in her legs until she sat down on the edge of her bed. She felt the pull in her hamstrings when she bent down to unlatch her chunky shoes. She kicked them off and felt the glorious lightness of her feet. Her bulky sneakers were for practicality, not fashion. They were weighted, both to make her stronger, and to stabilize her center of balance. She let out an involuntary groan when she got up from the bed.
She turned the showerhead to hot and stepped away from the spray as she dropped her clothes, waiting for the water to heat up. She didn't bother to try to catch a peek at the state of her body in her quickly fogging mirror and just stepped into the shower instead. With a sign, she felt the warm water cascade over her body.the heat worked out the knots in her limbs as she scrubbed her body. The water ran pink into the drain under her feet.She had trained a little harder than she thought and her whole body felt tender. It hurt but it was a good pain. Pain that meant she wasn't weak. Pain that meant she was worthy to wield Soul. Her mind flowed freely in the minutes she was in her sanctuary. Free from the pressing concerns of the world around her. They roamed into the randomness as she thought about what she would make for dinner. Should she make only enough for herself to feed enough for her and her partner? Would he even be home by the time it was ready?
Her mind flashed to a common memory of them in the kitchen eating and laughing. Then the scene flashed to an inky night, the only light, a glowing red soul. Soul switched from scythe form back to human and walked up to the kishin egg. "Cool!" His raspy voice let out. Soul reached out and grabbed the corrupted soul, holding it above him and tipping his head back. Maka watched as he seemed to almost unhinge his jaw as his tongue darted out to coax the red orb down his throat. He slurped it up like an oyster. "Ahh." He turned to her still form. "Thanks, Maka." An autonomous "Yeah, no problem" came from her lips and sounded like her voice but she didn't remember saying it. She snapped back into real life and turned the shower a little hotter. That scene played over and over in her mind. She could take her eyes off her partner's mouth when he devoured the soul. She had seen him do it a bunch of times before. Over a 100 in fact and she never thought twice about it. So why was it bothering her now? Each time the scene replayed, she was hyper-aware of the movements his mouth made. It was perplexing and it made her body feel funny. She didn't need these feelings, whatever the hell they were. She shook her head and scrubbed her body harder, trying to wash off the uncomfortable foreign senses that ran through her body. She didn't know the source of stand it soon became too much for her. Maka's private shower timed been overrun with thoughts about her partner, who was eating, of all things, and she had enough. She turned the shower off and stepped out onto the fluffy, white, floor mat. The water rolled off her onto the mat before she walked to where her towel lay. Her feet pinpricked from the cold tile. Maka felt the chill on her body before she wrapped the cotton around her, opening the bathroom door to let out the steam.
