three

Maka looked over her right shoulder.

Maka looked over her left shoulder.

Once she was convinced that no one was behind her, she sighed, steeled herself, connected to the mall WiFi, and waited for the browser to load on her old tablet.

Despite her ability to sense souls and the fact that she was hidden amongst six hundred other mall goers in the very crowded food court (wearing sunglasses and a hat indoors, no less), she couldn't be too careful. Normally, she would shut herself away in the library to do work but this was a special case. Maka was currently engaged in very sensitive research of the highest confidentiality and no one, certainly not loyal library-goers, could ever find out what she was looking up.

She barely typed how to seduce a dragon into the search bar before a loud voice from behind her startled her.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you tried to get into those skinny jeans!"

Maka screamed and fumbled with the tablet, watching in horror as it fell onto the sticky food court floor. "Nooooooo," she groaned as she surveyed the cracked screen. The tablet had been on its last leg but Maka couldn't afford a new one, not on a librarian's salary. "No no no no."

A beautiful blond woman slid into the booth next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "If you wanted some man advice, you should have consulted an expert not a bunch of loser virgins on the internet." Liz Thompson raised a perfect eyebrow. "And for God's sake, take off those sunglasses, you look nuts."

Maka scowled and threw her sunglasses off. Liz was a neighborhood friend, a selkie who had voluntarily left the sea with her little sister, Patti, "in search of adventure and a rich husband." She was a nice person, a great shopping partner, and incredibly fun to hang out with. However, Liz was also an acquired taste, much like coffee or whiskey, because she could sometimes come on a little… strong.

"I did a dragon once."

And there it was.

She loved Liz, she really did, but Maka didn't know if she could stomach another gossip session about Liz's wild sexcapades. She was still scarred from the story about the last guy Liz dated that was ¼ wood nymph and had been "very creative" with vines. Maka could have gone her whole life never knowing that Liz "had ligature marks and possible poison ivy rashes in places that she never knew existed."

"Liz," Maka said tiredly. She mourned the loss of her tablet but then realized that at least all physical evidence of her perversion was now erased from the world. A blessing in disguise. "Please."

"I'm giving you valuable advice here, Maka," Liz said, stealing a fry from Maka's tray. "A rare, firsthand account of dragon seduction."

"I don't actually want to- to do that," Maka whispered, face heating up. "This is purely for research."

Liz snorted. "You're living with one of the rarest, richest, most powerful species in the entire universe who also happens to be an incredibly hot guy with a nice butt," she said, "and you're trying to convince me that you're only trying to find out what turns him on platonically?"

Maka winced. "Yes?"

"All that eyesex you two do says differently." Liz noisily slurped Maka's soda. "Shameful."

"Shut up, we do not do- that," Maka hissed. "There is no sex. Not of the eye variety or anything else!"

"Oh, there is," Liz said wisely. "You're a sinner, Maka, but it's okay. Welcome to the dark side."

"Ugh, stop. I don't need this." Maka buried her face in her hands. "I can't even flirt with a human guy, let alone Soul. This is a mess. What am I doing?"

Liz patted her arm soothingly. "You're trying to get laid."

Maka flailed, shushing her. "Liz!"

"I know, I know, casual sex isn't your thing so I'm sure you've got all these gushy feelings and whatever." Liz waved her hand, as if shooing away a fly. "All the more reason to come clean with Soul and get 'im done!"

"You make it sound so easy," Maka said wryly. "He might not be interested."

"He's interested," Liz insisted, sliding her straw through the plastic top of the cup in a rather lewd fashion. "Trust me. He's always watching you. It's cute, if not a little pathetic."

Maka snatched her drink away from Liz. "That's only because he feels like he's in debt to me. I saved his life now he thinks he owes me."

Her argument was weak and they both knew it. Sure, Soul was probably grateful to her, but there was something more there. She could see it in the way he was able to relax in their apartment, around her, when he admitted that most of life had been spent trying to find a place to belong. She could see it in the way they coexisted so perfectly, floating in each other's spaces and falling into a routine so easily. She could see it in the way they understood each other's thoughts without a word being uttered.

Liz gave her an unconvinced look, fluffing her hair with a perfectly manicured hand. "There's a big difference between grateful and wanting to do the no-pants dance."

"Stop that!" she hissed.

"Tell me I'm wrong!"

God, Maka hated when Liz was right.

"I'm in so much trouble," Maka whined, trying to tug her wool hat over her eyes. "He might not even like humans. Is this even legal? It feels illegal to be lusting over a protected species."

"If banging a dragon is illegal, take me to jail immediately." Liz's eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Ew, Liz."

"Do you want my help or not?"

"... fine."

Liz grinned. "Good choice. Now, I can't speak for all dragons, but the one I met at was pretty charming and surprisingly kinky considering he was some sort of fancy classical musician-"

Maka mentally strapped herself in.

This was going to be a wild ride.

The graffiti outside of the Library's large frosted glass windows was almost a welcome distraction from the hour long discussion of Dragon Tongues: How Long is Too Long? Maka was forced to endure at the mall.

HUMANS KEEP OUT.

She recalled being young and watching her mother scrub the paint off of the building time and time again, wondering why Rei Albarn, proprietor of New York City's Library of Magical Rules and Regulations, was deigning to do grunt work. The memory was so visceral- the feel of her mother's rough hands, the smell of the soap, the sweat and determination that went into making sure no trace of the foul language remained.

This is a challenge, Maka, her mother had said, rolling up her sleeves. And we never back down from a challenge.

Now that Maka was older, she realized how much weight her mother's words held. They were the keepers of knowledge, the symbol of a delicate balance between humans and supernatural creatures and not everyone envisioned a world where they could live in harmony. Hate crimes were on the rise, more and more non-human run businesses were being vandalized, and whispers of protests and riots had reached Maka's ears more than once in the past few months.

It was probably only a matter of time before someone attacked her directly, Maka thought, but when they did, she would be ready. She would defend the Library- and her city- with her life.

"Oh my, this looks horrible," a voice said from behind her.

Maka paused in soaping up her sponge. "Medusa."

The snake witch smiled gently and it sent a chill up Maka's spine. There was something so saccharine about her, so venomous, and Maka didn't trust her as far as she could throw her. Maka liked to think the best of people, but she had heard too many horrible rumors- experiments on humans, mostly, bloody and terrible ones- and trusted her own intuition to know that Medusa Gorgon was bad news.

Medusa's eyes were round and innocent. "People are just horrible, aren't they? Humans can be so unpleasant." She paused. "No offense, of course, Maka dear."

"None taken." Bitch. "Can I help you?"

"Oh no, I was just taking a walk," Medusa said.

Then keep walking, Maka wanted to growl but instead turned back to the window. "Hm."

"If you want, I can help you with the spraypaint," Medusa offered. "I am a witch, after all."

"But are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Maka asked before she could stop herself.

Medusa only laughed, continuing on her way. "'I'll get you my pretty. And your little dragon, too'."

The heat was out in their apartment, which only added to Maka's irritation.

Dinner was delicious, as per usual, and Soul wisely did not question why Maka was in such a bad mood. All of his questions were answered with grumbles and growls, because she couldn't get Medusa and the spray paint- or her talk with Liz- out of her head. Maka was a storm of emotions and she needed to sleep off her annoyance before she committed a serious crime.

However, sleep would not come easy tonight, for many reasons.

"Makaaaaa, the heat is out."

Maka only rolled over in her little blanket cocoon, trying to ignore her roommate, who had rudely barged into her room without permission. "You have the space heater. Stop complaining."

She could hear the annoyed fluttering of his wings and she almost smiled imagining his snarky, annoyed expression, which was always thoroughly comedic on a little white dragon.

"It's warmer in here," Soul said stubbornly.

She pretending to mull it over; they both knew she would give in and this was purely for show. "Fine, you baby. You can sleep in here."

He practically divebombed into her bed, wings smacking her in the face. Soul sighed contently and Maka thought he had fallen asleep but then she saw a stuffed animal of hers- a very round, very fluffy little white dragon she had gotten as a joke to annoy Soul- sail off of the bed.

Soul snorted. "Poser."

"I can't believe you feel threatened by a stuffed dragon."

Soul only burrowed under the covers, trying to steal some of her precious body heat. Maka took pity on him and put her arms around him, drawing him close, much like one would a beloved pet. It should have felt weirder to do this, Maka realized. But they engaged in casual touching all the time- hand holding, hair touching, arms around shoulders- so this was No Big Deal, right?

Maka was sleepy and didn't want to think about the repercussions of sharing a bed with the object of her affections. It just felt nice to lie with him like this, nice and warm and comfortable and like she was truly home.

Of course, it would have been much warmer if he were human and not a dragon.

She hadn't even realize that she voiced this out loud until Soul asked her, very quietly, if she was serious.

"The bed's small but I think we can fit," Maka said, hoping that she sounded casual and not like her heart was about to literally explode right out of her chest. "If you want."

Soul was silent and Maka wondered if she had crossed a line. Was their friendship ruined? The internal panic bubbled in her stomach and she was about to profusely apologize, or at least try to make a joke of it, when she felt the bed dip under the heavier weight of his human body. Now they were shoulder to shoulder in her too tiny bed and Maka cursed herself for not thinking this through more clearly.

She nudged him to roll on his side and Soul complied without complaint. Maka decided it was safest to hold him from behind, effectively making her the big spoon, and Soul had no issue with this. They were both tense for a moment before they remembered who exactly it was they were lying with, and both could breathe again.

"Warm?" Maka asked against his shoulder.

"Mmmyeah," Soul slurred, voice heavy with sleep.

Her thoughts raced: Was this platonic spooning? Was her hand just platonically resting on his stomach? Was her face just platonically pressed against the back of his neck? Did he think this is what humans did with people they were just friends with? He wouldn't have been wrong, technically, because some people probably did cuddle their friends like this but Maka most certainly did not cradle Black*Star gently to keep him warm or let her mind wander about how good Liz smelled.

It felt rude and wrong and disrespectful to be sharing a bed under false pretenses.

"Soul," Maka murmured, sitting up in bed. "Roll over for a second."

He whined but rolled onto his back, not opening his eyes.

"Can I kiss you?"

Soul's eyes slowly opened. He blinked up at her, looking groggy and confused. "What."

Maka was losing her nerve. She swallowed thickly, hands in her lap to stop them from shaking. "I- I just thought… is that a no?"

"No."

"Wait, so that's a yes?"

"Yeah."

"So, yes you don't mind or no you don't want a kiss-"

"Just kiss me already!"

Not wanting to lose her chance, Maka leaned down to kiss him gently. It was awkward and clumsy and her neck hurt from bending at this angle, but it was also soft and warm and Maka was fairly sure this was not a platonic kiss. Soul was fumbling through the kiss more than her- nerves?- and he couldn't decide where to place his hands, so Maka unceremoniously climbed on top of him, putting his hands on her waist.

There. Decision made.

She could practically feel the heat coming off of his cheeks and pressed kisses to them, filled with affection and amusement at how shy he was being. No inch of his face went unsmooched- Soul's hands squeezed at her hips when Maka journeyed from from his chin to his neck and his breath became labored, making her pause.

"Did I just find your weak point?" Maka asked.

"Shut uUUAhhh," Soul managed to get out, groaning when she bit lightly at his throat. "Fuck. Do not put this in your journal, so uncool."

Maka continued the barrage of kisses against his neck and collarbone, only stopping to whisper in his ear- bright red, even in the dark- how cute he was. Soul made an annoyed noise at the back of his throat, stating that he was a bad ass dragon and not cute, but that was cut off as Maka's hand slid under his shirt, tracing the healed scar across his chest.

Immediately his hand fell on top of hers, holding it to his heart.

"Do you hate humans?" Maka asked softly, the rise of the scarred skin almost scalding the palm of her hand. Her mind went back to the graffiti at the library and Medusa and the plethora of homeless non-humans she passed by on the way to work.

"I hate everyone," Soul corrected and Maka snorted- for a flashy dragon, he was the epitome of the antisocial introvert. He slid her hand out from under his shirt and brought her palm to his lips. "... but you're alright."

She rolled off of him, snuggling up against his back again. "You're alright, too, Soul."

And that, Maka would note later in her writings, is how the Modern White Dragon says, I love you.