Work Text:
Act I, Scene I
Your name is Liz Thompson, and you didn't think too hard when you offered to share your house with Maka Albarn.
This is how it happened:
You first met Maka when she was your sister's RA, when they were hanging out in the lounge at their dorm. "You'd get along," Patty had told you cheerfully as Maka waved in the background.
You saw more of Maka as she and Patty became friends. When Patty struggled with the endless press of schoolwork of her first year of college, you and Maka together helped keep her sane. In the fall, though, Maka disappeared. (In the fall, Maka met Crona Gorgon and vanished into their life.) You didn't notice this for a while— the summer off had helped Patty figure out her sophomore year, so you hadn't had a reason to talk to Maka. (Later, you would find out that for all the effort that she had poured into helping Patty in Patty's freshman year, she doubled to pour into Crona.)
Maka reappeared early the next spring, but she looked sadder as she waved from behind Patty.
"Long time no see," you said. "How you been?"
Maka wobbled a tired hand over Patty's shoulder. "Been better."
"I can tell her later if you don't wanna," Patty offered, patting Maka's hand sympathetically.
Maka hadn't said anything then, but Patty told you later about Crona, who Maka had tried so hard to help, who was then on leave of absence for their mental health. "They ain't been replying to her messages lately, so Maka's not doin' too hot. They gettin' the help they need now, tho, an' honestly, sis, they were leanin' on Maka too much. Swear she thinks it was her job to make 'em better or somethin'."
"Leave of absence isn' the worst thing in the world," you'd said, thinking of your own patchwork college record.
"That's what I tell 'er. It don't help much, I don't think, but she'll bounce back."
And she did, so quickly that you forgot that Crona Gorgon ever existed. By the end of the spring, Maka has landed a summer internship at your father's company.
"Me and my brother live 'round there, and Pat, too, when she's not in school," you told her when you found out. "You could live with us, if you want."
"Your brother?"
"Kid. He's cool, and he's out on business for most of the summer, and the house is huge enough that you'd prob'ly never know if he were in or not."
Patty waggled her eyebrows at Maka, who laughed. "Alright," Maka agreed. "Sounds good to me."
Your name is Liz Thompson, and you do not remember the first time you met Soul Evans. This is mutual: he will not remember you, either, when your roommate first brings him home.
You do not remember the first time you met Soul Evans, but this is how it happened:
Your brother was establishing relations between your father's company and the Evans corporation. This required a trip to New York City.
You tagged along. Neither you nor your sister were ever expected to carry the weight of your father's company like your brother was, but New York City was the city of your childhood, and you wanted closure for what it had done to you. (Neither you nor your sister were ever expected to carry the weight of your father's company, but you had taken various courses in accounting and economics during your spotty school history, and Patty chose to double major in business and design.)
When your brother met with the elder Evans son and began the formalities of a business relationship, you were there, and so was Soul, along with an entire clan of white-haired men and women. Among these others, Soul was unremarkable and faded quickly from your memory.
Still, when Maka walks in with a white-haired man in tow, you know immediately that he is an Evans, but you have no idea which one, other than that he is Not Wes.
"Hi Liz, hi Patty," Maka calls from just inside the doorway as she wrestles off her shoes. "Come meet Soul."
You glance at her from your laptop set-up at the dining table, and then stare at the man behind her.
"YOU HANZO-MAIN PIECE OF SHIT," Patty roars from across the dining table, leaning away from her laptop screen even as her mouse clicks furiously.
Soul jumps at the volume. Maka puts a hand on his elbow, smiling gently. "That's Patty," she tells him wryly.
"She's in the middle of a game," you explain, still staring at Soul. "She'll be offline in an hour or so. Liz Thompson." But you aren't sure if you're introducing yourself or reminding him.
Soul nods at Maka and blinks at you. "Nice to meet you?" he says uncertainly.
"You're Soul Evans," you say, half to him and half to Maka.
Soul flinches. "Maybe."
"Have you met?" Maka asks you. You lift your brows at her— how can she not recognize an Evans when she just came from a joint Evans-Morton party? But then, Maka doesn't care for big names, or at least not the faces that go with them. (It's why she still doesn't know that you and Patty have any connection to the company she's interning for. One day you'll tell her, probably, but it's been nice to have someone around who doesn't know, and at this point it's kind of funny that she hasn't figured it out yet.)
"We weren't introduced," you say, because that much is true.
Soul looks skittish and uncomfortable. You stand and beckon and make your way to the living room, where you've already set up a couch for him to sleep on. "Have a sit. Do you want a drink? Water? Juice?"
"I'm alright," he says. "Sorry to impose."
"It's nothin'. I heard you were gonna try and haunt the office."
"There's a couch in the lounge," Soul mumbles.
"But you'll have blankets here, and you won't have to fend off security guards," Maka says.
Soul smiles at her, and you think it might actually be genuine. "Yeah. Thanks for having me."
("You two were cute," you tell Maka later that week, when she mentions him over dinner.
"That's not how it is," Maka says back.
Much, much later, you will remember this exchange, and you will wish that it had stayed that way.)
Act I, Intermission I
BAKERBOT: Welcome to the server, @Soup Eater ! Check out #bot-chat for information on how to join other channels. If you need anything else, the @modchefs will be happy to help.
burn baby burn: FRESH BLOOD >:D
Soup Eater: O_o
BAKE STAR: STARBURST COOKIE GUY
burn baby burn: woah srsly?
you are a freaking GENIUS
i thought starbursts were unbakable and i was w ro n g
Soup Eater: O__o
I just had a lot of starbursts...
Mak: shouldn't soup be drunk and not eaten? :p
Soup Eater: ?
BAKE STAR: yo if he says he eats sooup then he eats soup
burn baby burn: drunk or drank?
BAKE STAR: chillax maks :p
oh dude idk but now i want drunk soup to be a thing
Mak: i was just teasing, gosh..
nice to meet you, eater :D
Soup Eater: Nice to meet you too, Mak
Mak: speaking of soup
Mak sent an image file.
Soup Eater: What soup is that?
Mak: it's not really a soup hahah.
it's really... really softboiled egg i guess?
pour boiling water over an egg in a bowl, let sit for 9 min, drain water, crack egg, add soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper to taste, serve with toast.
and you can add little bits of jerky.
quick and easy and you can set it up before you shower and have it immediately after.
Soup Eater: I almost wanna try now...
Mak: dooo ittt
Soup Eater: I can't cook, though.
Mak: i can talk you through it if you want?
i have some time to kill before i go in for work.
Soup Eater: Nah it's okay
I'm not hungry yet anyway.
Mak: yet? when was your last meal?
Soup Eater: Only maybe ten hours.
Mak: go eat.
Soup Eater: It's fine. I'm not hungry.
Mak: go eat.
Soup Eater: I can't cook and I don't want to people this early in the morning.
Mak: eggs, soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, toast.
you could probably even skip the pepper and oil if you don't have them.
Soup Eater: I'm not sure we even have eggs...
Mak: omfg.
dude.
please just eat.
i have been in the so-hungry-you-stop-being-hungry zone and lemme tell you, it's all fine and dandy until you pass out in front of your professor during an academic meeting.
Soup Eater: That doesn't happen to me.
Mak: well if you're not careful, it's gonna, and anyway it's best for your body to eat every 6-8 hours.
and you have overshot by a lot.
AND it sounds like you do this often, which. no. bad.
Soup Eater: You're not going to let this go, are you?
Mak: absolutely not letting this go.
go eat, Eater.
Soup Eater: Yeah, alright.
Mak: i expect process pics.
Soup Eater: Fiiiiine
Mak: @Soup Eater it's been ten minutes where's the egg.
Soup Eater: Oh my freaking god.
I just took it out of the fridge ok don't judge me.
Soup Eater sent an image file.
BAKE STAR: LMAO MAK
i leave for an hour and ur already gettin ur momfriend on
Mak: excuse me for wanting to help when i can
also, you really didn't think i would follow up did you, water? XD
*eater
Soup Eater: No comment.
Gotta watch water boil.
Or not.
Soup Eater's nickname was changed to Soup Water.
Soup Water: ???
BAKE STAR: >:D
Mak: pff
you will never let me live down my mistakes will you, star?
BAKE STAR: as ur surrogate big bro it is my sacred duty ;D
Mak: star pls
Act I, Scene II
You wake to your sister bursting into your room and ripping open the curtains over the window.
“Good morning,” Patty declares.
“Fi' minutes,” you groan, rolling over to bury your face in your pillow.
“Okay, but guess what?”
“Mm?”
“Maka has a boyfriend.”
“Mmph.”
Patty crashes onto your bed. You bounce slightly with the force of it. “Sissy, she has a boyfriend.”
“Nn?”
“Maka don' have boyfriends.”
You resign yourself to being away and pull yourself to a groggy upright, though your eyes stay clenched shut. “You just said she has one now,” you point out.
“She tol’ me jus’ now, jus' before she wen' to work. Said they got together yeste'day.” She drops her voice. “Gettin’ flashbacks to how she was with Crona.”
You squint at her. “Shit. I didn’t know she and Crona—”
“They weren’t,” Patty clarifies, “but she’s giving me the same vibe now, with the not being around and the— Have you heard how she talks about him?”
You cast your mind back to the last time you saw Maka, several weeks ago now, when she had come home and caught you asleep at your computer. “She felt bad about… leaving him alone? And she got mad when I joked about him having family money.” You exchange a wry look with Patty, because Maka still doesn’t know about your relations to her company’s CEO.
Patty shrugs back. “I-dee-kay ‘bout then, but when she tole me this morning she was all prickly ‘bout him,” she says. “Jus’ like how she was wit' Crona. You didn’ see her then, an’ I didn’ pick a fight because I didn’ see her 'nough to, but it’s happenin’ again and I dunno what to do, sis. She gonna get herself hurt if she keeps this up.”
You sigh and flop back onto your pillow. “I’ll talk to her ‘bout it, aright? If she’s gotta be pissed off at one of us, it might as well be me—”
“Ain’t yer job to look after me,” Patty says flatly. “Her, neither. An’ I see her more than you do, anyway, so I’ll be takin’ this one.”
You open one eye. Patty’s jaw is pushed out in a stubborn pout, the same one your mother used to get. You close your eye. “You’re gonna get into a fight,” you sigh. “An’ then I’m gonna have to talk to her anyway—”
“At least let me try,” Patty insists.
You contemplate the sunlight filtering red through your eyelids. “Awright. Good luck.”
You are installed at the dining table facing the front door when Maka comes home, so you see the front door open as your roommate comes in. “Welcome home, Maka.”
“Liz.” She sounds defensive.
You get up to make yourself a snack. “It’s late. Did you want food?”
“I’m fine,” she says. Her stomach immediately betrays her with a groan.
You gesture vaguely at the kitchen. “Sit. I’ll make french toast.”
“You’ll wake Patty,” Maka says, but sits obediently.
“Patty’s out visiting our brother,” you tell her.
Maka keeps quiet as you cook. When you finally bring the food over to the kitchen table, her head is down on her arms.
You sigh. “Wake up, Maka. Food’s done.”
She lifts her head and blinks sleepily at you. “Oh. Sorry, meant to… help.” She waves a hand at the syrup and sugar that you’ve brought to the table.
“No biggie.”
The two of you fall quiet again as you eat. By the time you’re done, though, Maka is only half-way through her plate, so you prop your head on your arm and watch her.
“Wha’?” Maka asks around a mouthful of toast.
“Tell me about your boyfriend,” you say.
Maka’s lips drop into a frown. “What did Patty say?” she asks.
“Patty didn’t say anything, other than you have a boyfriend,” you say easily. “I got curious.”
She relaxes. “You met him already,” she admits. “Soul.”
“Soul Evans?”
She sighs. “Yeah.” She takes a bite of toast. “Did you know about him from his family?”
“I’ve met his family for work before,” you admit. “Just once. But they all look pretty distinctive.” You don’t mention that your brother is dating Wes Evans.
She laughs a little. “Yeah, they do. I didn’t realize until I met his dad.”
“You met his dad?”
“Mmhm. He dropped into the office to check on Soul, and, uh, ran into me. We started dating after that.”
“Didn’t take you for a gold-digger,” you tease.
“No!” Maka snaps. “Not because— I really like him, okay?”
“I believe you.” You watch Maka mop up the syrup and sugar on her plate. “So? What’s he like? We didn’t really talk much when we met.”
“He’s not a bad person.” Her voice is soft and loving. “He’s under a lot of pressure to succeed, and he’s hard on himself, so he feels like he’s never good enough, but he is. He tries not to care, but he does. He needs someone to remind him that things are okay.”
You snort. “Okay, but is he cute? Nice? Cuddly? Cmon, Maka, tell me about the mushy stuff, not how you're mothering him.”
Maka laughs. “He's a complete cuddle bug,” she says. “He doesn't admit that he likes cuddling, but he does. It's adorable.”
You watch her smile. “You really like him, don't you?”
“I do.” Maka pushes her plate away and rests her head on the table again. “I've never met anyone like him,” she sighs. “Boys are always loud and annoying and gross, but Soul— He's so quiet, and he's always so careful to not annoy anyone. Still drools, though,” she adds dryly.
“You sound like you'd get along with Kid,” you say, chuckling. When Maka looks questioningly at you, you explain, “My brother, remember? He's been out all summer, but I'm sure you'll meet eventually.”
"Oh. Right.”
You grin at her. "You forgot he lived here, didn't you?”
Maka smiles sheepishly back. "I haven't seen him at all,” she points out.
"Yeah.” You stand and start piling your plates together to toss in the dishwasher. "Maka?”
"Yeah?”
"I don't know you as well as Patty does, but I respect you a lot, you know. Whatever's goin' on that she's worried about— well, I can't say anything about it, but Patty's smart, you know. Sees things most people miss. And whatever's got her all upset...” You trail off, thinking over your next words. "Whatever's goin' on, you gotta be careful, okay? Take care of yourself, Albarn.”
Maka says nothing as you wash the dishes, and by the time you've cleaned up, she's disappeared into her room.
Act I, Intermission II
burn baby burn: in conclusion i hate everything
/bows
BAKE STAR: shit sucks
Mak: at least the worst is over?
burn baby burn: thanks for listening
blegh
hope so
not gonna jinx it tho
BAKE STAR: do u want cookies
burn baby burn: lmao you treating?
BAKE STAR: excuse, i am ur god
ur cookie delivering god
i treat everyone just by existing, u aint gettin more than that for free
burn baby burn: i see how it is
i bring you customers and free labor and this is how you repay me
BAKE STAR: no free labor around right now :p
deliver urself to my door and u can work for ur cookies
burn baby burn: sounds reasonable
see you in fifteen
BAKE STAR: later, kilik
Soup Water: Hi.
BAKE STAR: eater! sup
Soup Water: Um.
Do you remember the girl I was talking about.
BAKE STAR: hell yeah
u upgrade??
Soup Water: ?
Oh we've been dating for... a couple weeks.
BAKE STAR: WHAT
aw man way to keep us out of the loop
Mak: why are you telling us now? :o
Soup Water: Because I don’t want to break up with her but also I think I have to.
BAKE STAR: y i k e s
Mak: oh noooo
why?
Soup Water: I don’t deserve her.
Mak: um false.
BAKE STAR: dude, that's no way to be
what makes her so great anyway?
Soup Water: She's amazing?
She works so hard but she still saves time to be with me.
I used to stay late at my office because I didn't want to go home, but now I don't want to stay because I know she'll just stay up with me and I don't want to drag her down.
Mak: but it’s her choice?
you should talk to her
Soup Water: That’s not going to happen.
BAKE STAR: ok, so break up with her?
no point dragging it out if you can’t even talk about it
Mak: yes but also talk to her
she agreed to date you, right?
so she must like you
Soup Water: Honestly.. I don't know if she's with me because she likes me or because she pities me.
BAKE STAR: y i k e s
u lke her tho rite?
Soup Water: Like I said, I don’t deserve her.
burn baby burn: that’s her choice to make
Mak: ^
aren't you driving right now kilik?
burn baby burn: stoplight
s green gtg
goodluck dude
BLACK STAR: yo i know ur not rlly chatty but if u need anything i'm here ok?
i know group chats can be awk for some ppl so
/waves
Soup Eater: Thanks?
It's okay, though.
I'm fine.
BLACK STAR: no pressure either way dude but if u ever need anything offer’s open
Act I, Scene III
Someone knocks on the front door.
“I’ll get it,” you tell Patty, pushing yourself to your feet, but then Maka whirlwinds out of her room and beelines for the door.
She's dressed up— or rather, she's wearing the cherry print dress she'd worn to the Evans-Morton party at the beginning of the summer.
“Soul!” she exclaims, throwing her arms around the man at the door.
“Hi, Maka.” He sounds distant, somehow, for all that his voice is soft and polite.
Maka turns around to face you. “I'm going out for dinner with Soul’s family. We shouldn't be out too long—”
“Soul,” you say, interrupting Maka, “nice to see you again, chill out and watch Patty play for a bit. Maka, get the hell in my bathroom so I can fix your face.”
“What's wrong with my face?” Maka protests as you steer her toward your not insignificant make-up collection.
“Can't believe you're going on a date and didn't tell me,” you grumble. “Would've helped you clean up. You need make-up.”
Maka makes a face. “No thanks?”
“Nuh-uh, this's the price you pay for keepin' me outta the loop. You're seeing his parents, too, whatta nightmare.”
“We’re gonna be late,” Maka complains, trying to slip around you.
You take her shoulders and forcibly sit her on the closed toilet lid. “The price you pay for keeping me out of the loop,” you repeat. “Calm down, I'm not gonna put a full coat on, your skin's already perfect anyway.” You open your cabinet and cast a sweeping glance over your collection.
Ten minutes later, you drag Maka back out to her beau. “I fixed her up for you,” you announce to Soul, who blinks owlishly at you. (You notice smugly the blush that spreads over his cheeks when he sees your work— you knew red eyeshadow was a good idea.)
Patty is focused on her match. You glance at her screen to see if she'll be done soon, but your eyes catch on an oddly high death count.
Maka and Soul leave. You close the door behind them, take a deep breath, and wait for Patty to finish her game.
“So,” you start.
Patty lifts one side of her headphones out of the way. “Sup?”
You tilt your head at the door. “Wha'd you think o' Soul?”
She thinks it over. “He’s not as messed up as Crona,” she says dubiously. “An’ Maka’s not stupid, so it’s not like he’s messin’ her up when they’re alone or anythin’. But I told him to treat her good, because she deserves it.”
“Hope you didn’t come on too strong,” you say wryly. “Boy don’ got the strongest of hearts.”
Someone knocks on the door.
Patty doesn’t budge, so you push yourself to your feet, wondering who it is.
You open the door and stare. “Maka?”
She pushes past you, dropping her heels on the floor beside the doormat carelessly. It's summer, so it's not cold, but the heavy leather jacket draped over her shoulders is cool to the touch over her cherry-print sundress.
Patty abandons her game when Maka’s door slams shut in her hallway. “I'm gonna kill Soul Evans,” she declares, ignoring her game character’s increasing number of deaths in favor of setting down her headphones. “Fuckin’ just warned him and he still pulled this shit? Not cool.”
“Patty,” you start, but she's already striding over to Maka’s door.
“We’re ordering pizza,” your sister calls as she hammers at the door. “Whaddaya want?”
“Deep-dish Hawaiian,” Maka yells back, but her voice is muffled.
“You tryna pick a fight?” Patty demands.
Maka doesn’t reply.
“You realize you’re gonna have to eat that abomination on your own,” you tell her door.
“I literally just came from a dinner.”
“Yeah, a fancypants dinner with the Evanses,” Patty retorts. “Don' even lie, the portions musta been tiny, Liz always comes home from those hungry, an’ you eat more'n she does.”
The door flies open. Patty steps back a bit, but Maka’s gaze fixes on you. “You’ve been to dinners with the Evanses?” she snarls.
“Once, with Kid,” you say. “For a business deal.”
“I meant that fancypants dinners always have tiny portions,” Patty explains. “Anyway, pizza? Or do you just want ice cream?”
“You just wanna rub in that you were right about Soul,” Maka accuses.
“No, I wanna make sure my friend is okay,” Patty says hotly, her voice climbing decibels. “We don't gotta talk about that prick if—”
“He's not a prick—”
“Pizza,” you interrupt, brandishing your phone, which rings happily on speaker mode. “Shut up until food gets here, and then you can yell at each other all you like.”
Maka tries to slam her door, but Patty sticks her foot in the doorframe. When Maka opens her mouth to yell, though, your call connects, and you eye them with your best Big Sister Stare until you’ve finished ordering (one large cheese, one medium pepperoni half with mushrooms, and a tub of vanilla ice cream).
“Patty, coffee table. Maka, you have until food gets here to cry, and then you’re gonna tell us what happened so that Patty doesn’t get sent to prison for murdering Soul.” You glare at both of them until Maka nods stiffly and Patty extracts her foot from Maka’s door.
“Thanks,” Patty mutters when you sit on the couch next to her.
“What else are big sisses for?” you ask, ruffling her hair.
She leans into your hand. “She walked, ya know,” she says.
“Wha? How d’you figure?”
“She was holdin’ her shoes. An' her feet were all dirty.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Patty sighs. “I wish this weren’ happenin’.”
“You think you can keep your chill when she comes out for pizza? She’s hurtin’, you know. Makes her all kindsa angry.”
“Dunno. I'll try." But she sounds dubious about it.
End of Act I
Intermission I
Soup Eater: I fucked up.
Just like I said I would.
But I fucked up worse than I even thought I would so…
Fuck everything.
BLACK STAR: shit man u ok?
BLACK STAR: cmon eater
talk to me before i send someone after u
Soup Eater: Good luck.
BLACK STAR: don't underestimate my connections yo
what happened?
Soup Eater: I broke up with my girlfriend.
BLACK STAR: damn :(
Soup Eater: And also ran away from home.
BLACK STAR: damn
Soup Eater: And probably gonna get disowned anyway.
BLACK STAR: da mn
Soup Eater: I'm staying with my brother but he doesn't live here so I don't know where I'm gonna go after this.
His boyfriend would probably let me stay with him but I don’t want to.
I don’t know what I’m gonna do.
Guess I’ll just die.
BLACK STAR: no dying
my apt’s up for renewal, u can move in w me
u’r up in boston right? i have friends, could deffo crash w them n help u get packed to come down
Soup Eater: You don’t have to come up.
I still have a card.
Never used it before but at this point I don’t give a shit.
And it’ll probably stay open for a while.
BLACK STAR: cool
i’ll pick u up from vegas if u tell me when ur plane lands
Soup Eater: What?
No.
BLACK STAR: why not
BLACK STAR: istg if this is ur thing about not deserving help
Soup Eater: I don’t deserve it
I really hurt her
BLACK STAR: nah fam
get yer ass down to vegas
BLACK STAR: if u really feel that bad abt freeloading u can just help me out w the cookies
Soup Eater: Oh, I get it.
You just want the free hands.
BLACK STAR: no one said they had to be free :p
just get here by the first so u can sign the contract w the apt ppl lol
BLACK STAR: u comin?
Soup Eater: Yeah.
Wes n Kid are helping me get a ticket.
BLACK STAR: :ok_hand:
Soup Eater sent an image file.
Soup Eater: Flight stuff.
BLACK STAR: naisu
see u on the 27
Soup Eater: See you.
Soup Eater: Thanks.
BLACK STAR: bro i gatchu