A/N: Hey, guys! So, I was getting really annoyed at the lack of SteinxMarie love going around, so I decided to write this fic. About this chapter, yes, there's sex, but I made sure that it was implied, as opposed to all the graphical, sweaty details. Because, if I'd put all that in, then I'd have to give this fic an 'M' rating, and the rest of the fic would have been 'T' at worst. So, yeah, this should be taken with the highest 'T' rating for, what I'm calling 'sex prologue,' and such. Plus, if you don't like reading or don't want to read this, don't be discouraged, you CAN read the rest of the story without reading this chapter. Or, you can just read after the border that I've put for those less smut-inclined than myself. Also, don't read this story if you don't like fluff. Because quite a bit of this fic is fluffy.

One other thing just generally about the story, you really don't appreciate how hard it is to explain in your fics how the hell Stein has all these feelings which he doesn't really display in the series until you have to write it. So, I think I've done alright, but I apologise if, in some places, Stein seems slightly OOC. In my opinion, Stein can understand and display these feelings; it's just that nobody's given him a chance to display them (except Marie, which is why I'm writing this fic!) Sorry if you don't really care about this, I'm just pedantic.

This story is also based mainly on the anime. Some chapters are based solely on the anime, and I'll label those. One plot point that is consistently from the anime is Marie's Wavelength of Redemption saving Stein from the madness. Okay? :)

And thanks to kyonkichi's kitten, my friend and essentially my beta reader.

Sorry for the really long A/N.

Ri-chan x

Marie laced her fingers through the short, choppy, silver mop of hair that was attached to the man, her best friend, who was currently kissing her. Funny thing was, she was currently him kissing back with just as much fire. She couldn't believe it. She didn't know what to call it. Did she 'fix' him? She sure relieved him of his madness. She just didn't know what else she'd managed to uncover.

All she knew was that she liked it.

She probably would have liked it when they were both students at Shibusen. But, better late than never, I suppose. She'd just been put at ease, the Kishin having been defeated and Crona having been guaranteed safety at Shibusen. And Stein had saved Crona's life. If anyone asked, she was repaying him.

Stein had developed a whole other set of feelings when he was released from his madness, feelings that had been locked up for years, and even some feelings which were locked up before Stein was old enough to experience them. Some feelings that Stein probably couldn't even associate with a term. But there was one that he recognised. It was hard not to.

Anyone who had passed through the ranks of awkward teenager knew what it was.

The feeling was one that, due to his lack of it, previously prevented him from getting even remotely close to the woman who obviously cared so much about him. It was something other than madness that was encapsulating the doctor.

It was something that made him want to do things of an inappropriate nature to the golden haired woman before him. And, rarely for him, things which didn't involve a scalpel.

Marie pulled on the collar of Stein's trademark lab coat, enticing him into his bedroom. That, or she was trying to get it off him. Or both. Either way, Stein was discovering a whole other side to himself. An emotional side. A passionate side. A lustful side. A side which was obviously taking over Marie at the moment, as well.

Stein smirked at Marie as he picked her up and placed her over his shoulder. In essence, this was as bad as the madness. It was encapsulating him and he couldn't escape. However, this was a lot more fun than the madness.

And involved a lot more breathlessness.

Not to mention the fact that when the madness was overtaking him, there was a lot less undressing of gorgeous blonde Deathscythes.

Stein chuckled slightly as Marie slid from his grasp and landed on her back on the bed. She pulled at the incessantly clingy fabric of Stein's shirt and pulled him close to her as he slipped off his white, stitch-laden coat and followed her coaxing.

Stein propped himself up using both his arms which were placed either side of Marie. She giggled slightly as she slid his two tone grey shirt over his back and broad shoulders. Stein found the small, hidden zip on the side of Marie's skirt and unzipped it, sliding the cotton fabric off and onto his bedroom floor.

He grinned at her with the slightest amount of mad scientist in his glare, which Marie knew and loved. It was nice to know that she hadn't completely changed him. This suited her, because, well, nobody likes a completely sane man, right?

Stein lifted his arms only to completely remove his shirt. He got up onto the bed and knelt either side of Marie, ripping open her black blouse and revealing the soft, pale skin of her stomach. He slipped his hand under the elastic of Marie's eyepatch and took it off. He stopped for a second. Marie looked confused.

"Why do you wear that eyepatch, Marie?" He asked, kneeling up over her.

"Really? Now?" Marie asked, cocking an eyebrow. To be perfectly honest, there was no reason for Marie to wear her eyepatch. Sure, it glowed when she was giving someone her Wavelength of Redemption, but it wasn't like that all the time. Pure coincidence. To be honest, she was poked in the eye when she was five and was now quite overcautious.

"Apologies, Marie. I-" Stein was cut off by Marie.

"Uh uh. Less talking, more..." Marie smiled, her voice running out as she ran her finger down the rippling muscles and stitches on Stein's chest, shuddering slightly in awe as she did so. She grabbed the front of his waistband and pulled his body on top of hers.

He landed on her and she let out a soft grunt as the flesh of their torsos met. She switched places with him, rolling on top of him and sitting up, slipping off her blouse. She flicked her hair over the top of her head and laid down on Stein's chest, breathing in his ear as he unfastened her bra, which was oddly colour-coded with her clothing.

"Must be a woman thing." Stein thought.

Marie sat back up, her hair still covering her face, and flicked her bra halfway across the room. Stein sat up once again, Marie lacing her only-underpants-clad legs around his waist. He threaded his fingers through Marie's golden mane of hair, pushing it away from her face and kissing her passionately once again.

Marie pressed her finger against the centre of Stein's chest, pushing him down onto the bed. She slid herself backwards, unzipping his trousers and pulling them off in one deft movement. She pulled both herself and Stein under the quilt covers and began what would be the night that those two souls would come damn close to becoming one.

The next morning, Stein awoke to the faint sound of boiling water. He sat up, rubbed his eyes and cranked his screw backwards twice until it clicked, trying to clear his thoughts.

He remembered exactly what had happened last night, and even if he had forgotten, the lack of clothes on his person and the clothes of two people strewn around his bedroom probably gave it away.

He smirked slightly and stretched his arms out above him, feeling his muscles strain.

"I didn't think I was that rusty." Stein thought to himself, hoping Marie hadn't noticed last night. He went to try and grab his glasses off of his bedside table, but they weren't there. He glanced around his floor, but they were nowhere to be seen. Stein cracked his neck, and as he turned back to his door, a blonde woman wearing nothing more than a pair of yellow and black underwear, a stitched lab coat and an awfully familiar looking pair of glasses was standing there, holding two cups of coffee.

"Good morning." Marie smiled, placing the cup of coffee on Stein's side of the bed and placing a light kiss on the top of his head. She looked slightly embarrassed as she turned away, walking to the other side of the bed, placing the coffee on the other bedside table and sitting down, shivering slightly. She didn't really want to get back into her normal outfit. It was rather tight and was quite starchy and stiff, even after the treatment it had been put through last night.

Stein glanced over at her and slid out of the bed, pulled on the pair of boxers which were strewn next to his bed and glanced in his wardrobe.

"What are you doing, Franken?" Marie said. Stein smirked. She only called him Franken when she was happy with him. Or if she was mad at him. It was too early in the morning for him to distinguish between the two. He pulled out a grey, stitched t-shirt and gave it to her.

"Here. You look cold." Stein said, giving a compassionate smile. They were another couple of feelings that Stein had only just discovered. Compassion and sympathy. Although Stein was able to feel these emotions, that didn't mean they didn't confuse him.

"Thank you, Stein." Marie smiled as she turned away, slipping off the lab coat and putting the t-shirt on. She slipped underneath the quilt and sighed contently, sipping the cup of coffee.

"That's alright." Stein replied. After a slightly awkward silence, Marie spoke.

"Look, Stein. Last night was... last night was great. You were a little rusty, but..." Marie trailed off, laughing slightly.

"Damn." Stein muttered under his breath.

"Anyway. You showed me that... I don't need to get married to be happy. I love working at Shibusen, now that our deals with Medusa are cut. And, I know that you're only just discovering all these feelings. So, we can go back to just being good friends, I hope. At least until you're used to your new emotional range." Marie said.

"Of course we can still be friends, Marie." Stein said, holding out his hand as she placed hers on top of his.

"I'm glad, Stein." Marie smiled. She glanced up at Stein, still wearing his glasses.

"Wh- Why are you wearing my glasses?" Stein asked.

"Oh. Uh... Well, I've... I've kind of always wanted to wear your glasses." Marie giggled.

"Really?" Stein asked.

"Yeah. They're kinda... sexy." Marie smiled, sultrily.

"I can safely say I've never heard anyone describe them like that before." Stein said to her. He looked into her multi-toned amber eyes as she glanced back at his green ones. She was captured in the glare as the next words flew out of her mouth.

"You know how I said we should be good friends again?" Marie said, beginning to breathe more deeply, sliding closer to Stein, turning over and kneeling next to him. She bit her bottom lip as her stomach did somersaults.

"Yes..." Stein said, pressing his forehead against Marie's.

"I lied." Marie said, connecting her lips with Stein's again, forcefully and passionately, as Stein was pushed back against his bed head.

Little did they know, they were going to become a lot more than just good friends in the coming months.

A/N: So, how'd you like it? I tried not to make it too explicit, hopefully it wasn't too bad. The plan is to have this fic finished before I start posting it so I don't have to keep continually writing, so I hope you like the next chapter!