Hey~! This is my 2nd fic and I'm still pretty new to the concept. Please be nice, and know that Word's spell checker can be retarded. ^ ^lll I love SteinxMarie, so here ya go~ Please tell me your other SE pairings, as I will want to write them! :D

~Toxi

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The grey clouds hung thick over at Patchwork Laboratory, as they usually did. A thick grey blanket silently hovered over the grey building covered in black stitches. Though aside from its usual gloom, the inhabitants of this abode weren't acting accordingly.

Marie, a Death Scythe sent over to Death City from Australia, was placed as Stein's new partner, and had taken up residence in his house for the time being. Marie and Stein did have a little history together, as Marie once had a crush on Stein back in their school days, but she eventually lost it because he had never advanced in a further relationship.

But things were a little different now that they were living together. Though, this wasn't the Stein she remembered. This Stein was a little jumpier and solitary than the one she remembered. He had always been that sort of person, but now he just seemed to shut himself up in a room and pour out his soul in front of a computer. She missed him; it was like his soul had left the rest of him for most of the day. The actual reason she was sent to keep an eye on him was that the Kishin had been revived, and Stein wasn't sane anymore.

Marie sighed lightly, her head swimming with thoughts as she stirred her coffee gently. She had made sure to put cream and sugar in hers, she couldn't take it black, it hurt her stomach afterwards, and she wouldn't eat the rest of the day. Stein, on the other hand, liked his coffee completely black—no sugar or cream at all. She wondered if that was somehow a metaphor about himself.

She set aside her own cup to cool a bit and picked up his—a beaker lying around—and went to go look for him. The house was drearily dark, which scared her a little. While she had been gone, Stein had morphed into something horrendous—like a cute little animal that became more savage as it grew older. Her white heels clicked loudly in the empty hallways of Stein's house. She squinted her amber eyes that weren't adjusting. Ah! There was the door. She opened it as quietly as she could, but it still creaked.

A maniacal laugher gradually escaped out of Stein's mouth. First it was just a low chuckled through his teeth, but then it grew, his shoulders shaking. His computer screen was bright, which was the only light source in the murky room that smelt of metal and plastic. Marie was horrified to find him like that, laughing insanely at a blank computer screen, holding himself as though he would just break down screaming.

She flicked on the light, breaking his spell. His pupils contracted as he turned around, regaining a rather emotionless and serious expression. "Oh, Marie," he let out softly.

Marie pretended she hadn't seen that. "I brought the coffee you asked for!" She smiled, walking closer to him, and handed the warm beaker of black liquid to him.

"Thank you," he muttered under his breath, taking a sip.

Marie turned around, "Oh, I forgot my own coffee." She giggled, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment, "I'll go get it." She started towards the door, and nearly exited when Stein began to speak, "You saw that…Didn't you?" His voice was low, and grim.

Maybe if she acted oblivious, he'd brighten up. It was a high doubt factor, but maybe. "Huh?" She smiled, "Saw what?"

Stein sank back in his chair, "Nothing. Go get your coffee."

Marie was a little intimidated by his irritated voice, but obeyed him nonetheless. She went back to the meager and uncared for kitchen he had, and retrieved her own coffee—contained in a chipped mug. She retraced her steps back to Stein's office area, and he was busily typing something with excessive speed. His expression was blank, but his fingers kept at it, unfazed when she reentered.

She slinked her way over to a purple sofa she had bought in attempts to give his lackluster house a woman's touch. She sat down quietly with her legs crossed and sipped slowly, her hands cupped around the handless mug. It had been broken off, though had no knowledge as to why. Stein swiveled around in his chair, his grey hair swaying with him. He let out a deep sigh, and reached for his beaker filled with black coffee. He took a large gulp, and looked right at Marie. "Sorry for accusing you like that."

"No, it's fine," She shook her head, "I wouldn't call that accusation."

"No, it's my fault, Marie. I haven't really been able to control myself for a little while now. Because of that, I'm unsuitable to teach, and all I do is sit in her and make you do everything else for me."

Marie blinked. In all the time that she'd known Stein, he wasn't the kind of person to apologize. "Don't be so hard on yourself," She smiled back, taking another sip, "I like being a teacher at Shibusen. And I don't mind all of the housework, either." He let out a small giggle, "I feel like a housewife." She said softly, blushing lightly. "Kind of a lifestyle I've always pursued, but never really lived until now. I think it's me you should be thanking you."

Stein smirked and laughed through his nose, taking another gulp. His coffee was already finished, and Marie wasn't even half-way finished with hers. "A housewife?" For a slight moment, their eyes connected, but Marie flushed a light hue of pink and took another sip of coffee. Stein let out another chuckle and set down his beaker, "If you are, I think you've been slacking. It's kind of messy around here."

Marie smiled again, and set down her mug on a little coffee table beside one of the couch's arms. A moment later, she had taken Stein's beaker in one hand, "Do you want your kitchen cleaned up? It's a little difficult for me to cook in there."

Stein nodded, returning to his computer, watching Marie picking up empty beakers and glasses around the room. His fingers started to move quickly again, gliding all over the keyboard. Marie circled the rooms a few times, picking up several things and moved them to different places, rearranging and organizing as she saw fit. She soon returned to the place where Stein's beaker once was, setting down a pile of books beside his left hand. Stein paused for a moment, gazing at her. "Marie, you've changed. "

"Eh?" She said, a grin forming. "Not really, you're the one who's changed."

"Yes, I'll admit that I've changed significantly, but you have too. It shows."

"R—really?" She stifled a snigger. "How so?"

"You were really adventurous and were always interested in finding a boyfriend as quickly as possible—so you could grow up. I know it's been a while, but you've matured a lot as a woman."

Marie's amber eyes widened and she reddened to a shade of light crimson, but tried to hide it as she quickly stacked up a pile of dirty dishes lying around and said, "I'm off to the kitchen!" Faster than she probably should have.

As she scurried over to the kitchen to drop off the culinary in the less than beautiful sink, she dropped something in the process. Stein obviously heard the thundering crash against the concrete floors and abruptly stood up, and went to investigate. "Marie?" He called, his voice alarmed.

Marie was in the hallway, muttering something about being reckless and was bleeding. There was a pile of stacked dishes beside her, but then there was the evidence of a few shattered ones as well—probably a mug and a plate. She held her hand in pain as the large cut in the center of her left hand continued to bleed. "ugh," She grumbled, "I can't even take the dishes to the sink without dropping one."

She hadn't noticed Stein yet, that is, until she heard his footsteps right before her. She looked up like an innocent child who had done something forbidden. She assumed that if the interior of his house was already in this sort of dilapidated state, he wouldn't mind a few shattered dishes—at least, she hoped so. Stein brushed away the broken pieces with a foot and helped her up, careful of her injured hand. He examined in for a moment, "That cut looks pretty big…I think it might need stitches…"

"Oh," she looked a little saddened, "Really? I'm sorry I—"

"It's fine. The dishes don't matter, your hand does."

He never doted over me this much, not even when I tried asking him out several times. Why now? Did the Kishin intensify more than just his insanity?

"You still need to clean the kitchen." He finished, laughing once, and ruined Marie's mood. I should have figured, it was the kitchen.

"I'll keep up the broken pieces," He said, "You go clean your hand. I've got hydrogen peroxide in a bottle in the back of my lab. It's connected to my office. There are some bandages in there as well. Just call if you need any help." He said with a nod as he knelt down on one knee and started to put the shattered pieces into his hands. Marie agreed and put pressure on her hand as to reduce the bleeding and headed over to his lab, "Sorry I'm bleeding everywhere!" She called back.

"Don't worry about it!" He called back, "There've been messier incidents in here before!"

"Gghk," Marie seized up, remembering that Stein's passion was dissection. Visions of all of the dissections that were required in a health unit at Shibusen came flashing back.

"Stein, why is there nothing left but skin and bones on that poor bird?" Marie scornfully asked, folding her arms.

He smirked slyly with a scalpel in hand, "I wanted to see if there was anything that Sensei didn't explain. He left out a lot, but luckily, I learned."

Marie held a hand to her nose, "Ugh, I think you ruptured its stomach or something, it smells awful!" She was right, it did smell horrible. And in actually, Stein had ruptured all of its vital organs, in order to 'learn' about them. Every piece of that game bird had been cut up, slices, dismembered or picked apart by the aspiring surgeon.

"Marie, it's called learning. I learn by experiences. Textbooks just don't cut it for me."

"Apparently!" She said in a rather aggravated tone, tightly holding her nose and covered her mouth, she didn't want the sickening rot smell to inhabit her mouth, which would then float up to her nasal cavities. "Sensei said not to pick apart everything, Stein! You're going to have to clean up all that by yourself."

"I know," He replied solemnly, picking up its liver in his white gloved hands. "I'd cut myself open, but all my insides would spill out, and I'd die…I want to cut open something alive."

Marie shuddered at the thought of him like that. She remembered him being like that all too well. Once he started smoking, it all became worse. If it weren't for Spirit, he probably would be in league with Medusa. Shibusen knew this too, which was the reason they had called back Marie to become the substitute teacher. Of course, they had called other Death Scythes like Justin, Asuza and Spirit because of the Kishin, but they knew that Marie had a calming effect on the erratic Stein, and so she became his new partner, replacing Spirit.

Marie had found a small sink and the hydrogen peroxide as Stein said, but decided she'd look for the bandages later. There was a cabinet with a mirror over the sink. The mirror was shattered, and even little pieces of it were missing. Marie could only wonder what kinds of things were going on his head because of the insanity. He didn't even seem stable anymore.

Marie grumbled lightly in pain as she found the bandages later and doused in the solution, cringing every time the transparent, water-like substance hit her wound, bubbling and fizzing like a pot of soup. Her hand continued to ooze crimson blood into the sink, but at least this time it was just the sink. She was just about ready to apply the bandages when Stein entered, looking a little vexed.

"Oh, I'm fine, Stein," She started, "I found everything just as you said…" She trailed off, her ocher eyes floating down to his own wounded hands. "Stein, your hands—"

"It's nothing," He shirked it off, wiping his hands on his thighs to rid them of blood. "Nothing for you to worry about. I'll take care of myself."

Marie nodded in apology, "Y—yes, sorry."

"Here," Stein offered, picking up the white gauze and started to unfurl it, "I'll help you with that. You're not very good at bandaging yourself are you?"

"Not really," She admitted, "I'm usually not so clumsy…I…" She knew well enough why she was so clumsy, she just couldn't get herself to explain as to why. Stein and changed, and she had fallen for him, and seeing him genuinely care for her made her jumpy. She was in denial, and if confronted, she'd argue that they were just friends.

"That's fine," Stein said softly, applying a thick layer of bandages to prevent infection. "If I was right, you'd probably only need a few stitches anyway. Nothing to freak out about. You can trust me with sewing up your hand right?" He asked her, looking up and smiled rather jokingly at her, his olive green eyes flashing with an emotion quite unfamiliar with his persona.

"I trust you," She affirmed, a small smile growing on her fair face.

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0: HOW WAS THAT!? Atrocious? Why yes, thank you. Review it or I cry. D':