2"You could have booked any other hotel, but no, you went for a friggin' motel in the middle of nowhere!"
"It looked bigger in the pictures," Maka whispered. She leaned over to unzip her boots, and after a good look at the carpet, she decided against it.
Soul grumbled, "This is why I told you to read the description and the reviews. Why didn't you just let Kid book the hotel?"
"He was busy perfecting our cosplay," she tried. "Right, Kid?"
"Don't drag me into this."
"Erm, are you still working on it?"
"No, I left it in the car. I don't believe this room would be… suitable for any fine tuning."
Exhausted and irritable, the three were in mid commute to their next convention. It was Maka's idea to drive from Nevada to Southern California rather than book three plane tickets, and it was Soul's to not attempt a straight shot drive. After a series of arguments and finally with Kid as the mediator, they all settled for two days of driving, one in the evening and one early morning just before the con.
When he examined the state of the motel though, Soul wished that he'd managed to convince Maka to buy plane tickets after all. It was raggedy at best; The curtains were large and looked like it harbored layers of dust, and the room didn't have a full room light either; it had just two wall lamps by the side of the bed, hoods cracked and discolored, and the bathroom's light. Soul was almost afraid to look into there out of fear of finding mold or worse.
Instead, he propped up their overnight bag onto the suitcase stand and took a deep breath- but not too deep.
"This wouldn't have happened if you booked the place yourself," Maka said behind his back. "But you were-"
His glare stopped her in mid sentence. "Busy with packing everything else that we needed? Checking to make sure that the car had gas and was maintained so that it could make the ride? No please, go on."
She looked down sheepishly. "I was busy, too. With checking the events and making sure we could fit in all of the meet ups and photo ops," Maka said quietly. "Sorry. I shouldn't've jumped the gun."
Kid chimed in, "Well, it's certainly in budget, and with Soul's careful planning, we'll be sure to get plenty of sleep before we need to leave again. It's fine, it's just for one night." He patted Soul's shoulder. "How bad can it be?"
Maka sighed and fiddled with the tag for complimentary toiletries at the small table. "I don't know if that matters anymore since the bed is…" She trailed off.
"Small?" Soul finished for her. He crossed the small distance to check under the covers for bugs or stray hairs. Brandishing the lint roller, swept across the sheets and checked the pillow cases. "At least it's not deplorable. Dunno how the heck we're all going to fit, though."
"Two on top and one by the feet?" Maka suggested.
"We're not sacrificing any one of us," Kid said, going off to check the bathroom.
"I mean, it's my fault this happened, so I mean…"
"I said no."
Soul eyed the chair, determined it to be too small, and then turned to the floor. "Yeah, we're not putting any of our heads on this. I'd like us to be as far away from it as possible." He wrinkled his nose. "Can any of us fit into the bathtub?"
"No." Kid reemerged. "God, no. No one go in there."
He stiffly walked to his backpack and pulled out an arsenal of cleaning products and a "disposable" hand towel. Soul stiffed, grabbing two pairs of gloves from the bag's side pocket and his personal can of Lysol. The both of them steeled their faces and tackled the bathroom together.
"I am so sorry," Maka called to them. For good measure, she added, "So fucking sorry, guys."
Once they settled down for the night, the question still stood: how were all three of them going to fit on the queen sized bed? Kid suggested that they changed the orientation of the bed and slept with their heads on the longer stretch of the mattress, but couldn't convince Maka to let her feet dangle off the side. Soul went back to the original idea, to have one person sleep at the foot, then backed out once he remembered that both he and Maka kicked off the covers if it got too warm.
No idea seemed to be the right fit, so they resigned to the shoulder-to-shoulder method, sparking another argument over who was going to be sandwiched in the center.
"Maka should be in the middle. She's small," Soul said, crossing his arms.
"Hell no, I like my space. Plus you both would overheat me."
"Soul?"
"Haven't I suffered enough?"
"Well, which side do you want then?" Kid yawned.
"Far away from the dusty A/C," was his answer.
Maka rolled her eyes, "What's wrong with it?"
"Didn't you listen to me? It's dusty; management probably hasn't even changed the filter in years."
"Does that really matter? We're already all in the room."
"Plus it's closest to the door."
"Again, why does that matter?"
Kid hummed, "Actually, I agree with that."
"See?"
"Not with you, Maka. I mean, if someone were to break in, the person closest to the door would be the first to die."
"You guys are ridiculous."
Soul clapped his hands together. "Right, so now we know Maka doesn't mind danger, so she can have the left side. I definitely don't want the middle-"
"I'll take the middle. Let's just get to sleep," Kid said, already climbing over.
Maka followed suit, dropping onto her side and making Kid airborne for a moment because of her impact. "Sounds good."
Soul frowned, but the other two were already pulling the covers over themselves.
"Get the light, wouldja?"
"You two are annoying," he grumbled, but did it anyway. He felt around in the dark, bumping into the side of the bed with his hip on his way back. However, his struggles were short lived since a hand reached over to guide him. "Thanks."
"Just get in," Kid said, eerily close to his ear.
He laid down and turned away from Kid and Maka, tucking the blanket up to his chin. "Night."
"Good night," Kid said, following suit.
"Night-o," the last one said, turning away to face the window.
Silence fell over the room and their eyes began to fall shut. However, before anyone could drift off too far, Kid began to complain.
"I can't get comfortable. You're both pulling the blanket over me, and I can't relax my shoulders."
Maka groaned. "I thought you said you could handle the middle?"
"I said I'd take it, not handle it." He moved onto his side, snuggling into Maka's back.
Hearing the rustling, Soul whined, "Hey, I want to do that too."
Kid switched over reluctantly to quell him, but didn't mind the change. It was equally as comfortable to him. Maka, however, took full advantage. She rolled over and across to meet with Kid, fitting herself into the pair and bundling the blanket up with her.
"Better?" Maka asked.
The two had to readjust themselves and their position, but once they found a suitable place to put their arms and legs, they agreed.
With Maka big spooning the both of them and Kid sandwiched in between, Soul was a happy burrito, though he would never admit that out loud. Droopy and warm, he felt himself melt away into their arms. Forget the motel mishap, Maka tried her best. He knew that she probably felt guilty from the way she reached to hug both Kid and Soul, and he understood that she wasn't a fan of messy rooms or dirty spaces either. She was simply making the most of what they had.
Kid was an even bigger trooper than both Maka and Soul deserved. He compromised and took charge when everything slowed to a stand still. Though he was detail oriented, he was also careful to keep everyone content. Taking the brunt of the driving before, it was expected that he would be the first to knock out.
Soul gave a soft smile to the dark and closed his eyes one more time. Perhaps tomorrow, he would take a small detour and drive them out to breakfast.
Written for Soul Eater Polyamory Week 2018
Day 6: Cuddles
Prompt:
-An ot3 must share a ridiculously small hotel room. The floor is horrible and there is no couch or cot. The only bed is a single cue fighting over who has to lie at the end of the bed and who is what spoon
Borrowed Mrsashketchum's headcanon with permission:
Small spoon: soul is a fanged shark boy but he's a soft bean
Middle: kid just cant with life but wants to feel their warmth
Big: maka's just like a cuddle master
