A/N: Right, this story, Marie doesn't have an eyepatch on at the moment (because it's a ball and she doesn't actually need one, which is my story and I'm sticking to it), Stein is screw-and-stitch-free, and he's not quite as insane, right? That's all cleared up :D I don't own Soul Eater :( aw, frowny face. So, on with the extravaganza!
~Ri-chan
Marie Mjolnir sat on the Shibusen stairs, wiping away her mascara-tinted tears with her hands. She looked up at the stars in the sky, listening to the music which was playing in the Shibusen ballroom. Marie started the night with a date; Scott Datsuke. He was an incredibly handsome yet not very skilled meister in Marie's class, who asked her to the dance himself. However, he decided that the single girls who turned up to the dance, desperate and alone, were much more enticing than the slightly unconventional girl with the eyepatch, dumping her as soon as he got in the ballroom. Marie had been sitting out on the steps of Shibusen for nearly half an hour, watching all the happy couples walk in and some of the more, shall we say, amorous, couples stumble out. After watching hordes and hordes of people walk in and out of Shibusen, one particular person came and sat down next to her. Marie looked up, and through her tear-stained eyes, made out the familiar silver hair and green eyes of Franken Stein.
"S-S-Stein? What are you doing here?" Marie said, sniffling.
"Well, at the moment, I'm sitting here, comforting the poor girl who's obviously been abandoned by Datsuke." Stein replied. Marie smiled, slightly.
"No, I mean, I thought you weren't coming tonight." Marie said.
"Well, it's lucky I changed my mind, isn't it? Because otherwise, you'd be here, all alone, until the awkward ride home with Scott and whatever poor girls he's picked up in there." Stein replied. Marie giggled.
"Well, I'm glad you're here, Stein." Marie said, placing her hand on top of Stein's. They sat, quietly for a while, before Stein went to speak.
"Would you like to go in with me?" Stein asked.
"Really? I mean, I thought that you said you wouldn't be caught dead in a Shibusen dance." Marie said, composing herself.
"I did say that, didn't I?" Stein asked. Marie nodded.
"Yeah, you did." Marie said.
"Well, I know how much you want to go in there. Plus, I could rub it in Scott's face that I stole his date." Stein replied, standing up.
"But there's barely 20 minutes left of the dance." Marie said, once again.
"Well, we may as well make the most of it, right?" Stein asked, holding out his hand to Marie.
"O-Okay. Just give me a second." Marie slipped on her high heels once again, wiped her tears and grabbed Stein's hand. She stood up precariously on the stairs and took his hand. She looked up at him with her big, two-toned golden eyes. He looked back at her with his olive-coloured ones.
"Thanks for this, Stein." Marie said, leaning on Stein as they walked up the stairs. As they walked together through the front doors, Shinigami-sama must have noticed them.
"Hi, Stein-kun! I didn't think you were going to be here! And Marie, looking lovely, I see!" Shinigami-sama said, his voice enthusiastic and slightly flamboyant, as always. Stein awkwardly walked past him and kept a strong hold on Marie's hand, ready to stand up for her if Datsuke showed up with any of the single girls from the ball. Instead, they met an inappropriate red-haired, blue eyed boy and his sandy-blonde haired, green-eyed date.
"Hi, Spirit-kun, Kami-chan!" Marie said, her voice gaining its usual bounce as she proudly stood with her new date.
"Ah, Stein-kun, I see you finally got yourself a date! Didn't think that was ever going to happen." Spirit said to Stein.
"Spirit! I bet Stein could get any girl he wanted." Kami said to her boyfriend. Spirit looked at her, expectantly.
"Oh! Except me, of course." Kami said. Marie smiled at the couple, whilst Stein remained relatively stony-faced.
"C'mon, Stein, lighten up! Come on, let's go and get some punch." Spirit said, pulling Stein away to the table filled with food. Stein reluctantly followed.
"I'll be back soon, Marie." Stein said. Marie smiled at him sweetly. Kami looked at Marie.
"I'm really glad you're taking care of Stein-kun." Kami said to Marie, pulling her over to a bench on the other side of the ballroom.
"I'm not the one taking care of him, He's the one taking care of me." Marie said.
"What do you mean?" Kami asked.
"I was going to come with that jerk, Scott Datsuke. But he dumped me halfway up the stairs. And Stein was there, and he offered to come in with me." Marie said, sweetly. Kami smiled.
"You really like him, don't you?" Kami asked. Marie blushed.
"You do! That's really sweet, Marie." Kami said, putting a friendly hand on Marie's shoulder. Marie smiled at her.
"Thanks, Kami."
"Plus, Stein looks a lot better on your arm than Datsuke did." Kami giggled. Marie smiled back, sweetly. Spirit, however, was being less subtle.
"So, why are you here with Marie?" Spirit asked.
"Because she was alone." Stein said, quietly.
"But you weren't going to turn up at all, Stein. You were studying at the apartment when Kami and I left. Does that mean... Oh!" Spirit said, drawing his own conclusion.
"What?" Stein asked.
"You like Marie! Ah, I get it now! I mean, I love Kami and all, but Marie's bo-" Spirit started.
"Don't you dare say those next words, Spirit." Stein glared. Spirit stopped talking. He slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small packet, handing it to Stein.
"Here, Stein, I want you to have this, just in case." Spirit said, taking his hand off of the packet, allowing Stein to see. Stein cocked an eyebrow.
"Really, Spirit?" Stein asked, holding up the small packet.
"Hey, Stein. You never know when you're going to need a condom." Spirit said.
"Well, whilst having sex, I would presume, but that's really not the point. I'm saying, I don't need it." Stein said, trying to give it back.
"But she could get pregnant, Stein!" Spirit said, worriedly.
"No, she won't, because we're not going to have sex." Stein said, still trying to force Spirit to take the condom back.
"Just keep it, Stein. Maybe Marie will want to... repay you." Spirit said, waggling his eyebrows like an idiot. Stein elbowed him in the stomach.
"Ah, I see, a display of dominance. That ought to get Marie racing... eh? Eh?" Spirit said, nudging Stein and winking at the same time. Stein rolled his eyes. He conceded that Spirit wasn't going to take the contraception back and awkwardly stuck it in his pocket. Spirit slapped him hard on the back.
"Good man." Spirit said. Stein slid his hands in his back pockets and looked at Spirit.
"I'm going back to find Marie." Stein said. Spirit was too busy stuffing his face full of food to reply. Stein, after some fumbling, found Marie.
"Ah, you've been released from Spirit's grasps, I see?" Marie said, her eyes lighting up as she saw the silver-haired boy.
"Barely." Stein said. Marie looked down at Stein's pocket.
"What on Earth is that?" Marie giggled, slightly. Stein looked down and noticed the condom peeking out of his pocket. He fretted.
"Oh... Uh... Spirit, he...It's not mine... I just..." Stein stuttered. Kami noticed him struggling and walked over to them, looking at Stein's pocket.
"Don't worry, Marie. Spirit hands out condoms to anyone within a five-foot radius." Kami asked. Stein nervously stuffed it in his back pocket and tried to change the subject.
"So... uh..." Stein started, before Spirit obnoxiously barged in.
"Ah, Marie, I hope you appreciate my gift to you and Stein?" Spirit said, winking once again. Marie, not as immature as everyone thought she was, gave a reply.
"Oh, yes, very much. I look forward to using it later." Marie grinned at Spirit, who, after the comment, stopped talking. Stein looked down in shock at Marie.
"Wh-" he started, fretting slightly.
"I'm joking, you dope." Marie said, laughing slightly and leaning against him.
"Oh... oh, yeah." Stein said, smiling clumsily. Marie looked up at him and smiled. As she did so, a slow song began to play in the ballroom. Spirit walked over and took Kami's hand, leading her to the dance floor. It was an odd and swift switch from his brash, inappropriate nature. Kami's nature seemed to change slightly as well. It was times like that where onlookers had a mild understanding of why Kami stayed with Spirit. Marie looked down at the floor as many couples made their way to dance. Stein looked over at her. He went and stood straight in front of her and held out his hand.
"Would you like to dance, Miss Mjolnir?" Stein asked, smiling at the blonde haired girl in front of him. She beamed back at him.
"Yes! I mean... uh... I'd like that, Stein." Marie smiled, placing her small hand on his. He clutched onto her soft hand tightly and led her to the ballroom floor. They would have taken the usual slow dancing pose, but Stein was much too tall for Marie to rest her hand on his shoulder comfortably. She slipped her hand around his waist as he did the same to her. Stein awkwardly tried to link his and Marie's fingers on the other hand. Marie smiled at him sweetly.
"Here, let me help." Marie spread out all her fingers, linking them with Stein's one by one. She loved his awkwardness. It gave her a sort of comfort that, even though Stein was a gifted and extremely intelligent meister, she could always help him with something. Even if it was something as little as helping him dance.
"Thanks, Marie." Stein smiled, as he began to sway along with Marie to the music. Stein smiled as Marie sighed contently. She'd been looking forward to this dance for most of the year, and Stein was glad he was able to stop Datsuke from ruining it for her. Marie looked up at Stein's olive green eyes as he looked back at her golden ones. Marie smiled widely and leant her head against Stein's chest as they continued to rock from side to side, the music fading from its crescendo. Her hand, which was first interlinked with Stein's, was now firmly wrapped around his waist like the other.
"You're amazing." Marie mouthed, wishing that she could tell him to his face. Marie looked across the dance floor and saw Scott Datsuke with a girl on each arm. Datsuke chuckled as he walked over to them with his two 'dates,' both of whom were obviously a year younger than him, if not more, and too inexperienced to know that you can't judge a book by its cover. Stein and Marie let go of each other and glared at Scott.
"Well, well, well. Marie, I can't believe you'd stoop to that after coming so close to getting this." Scott said, pointing first to Stein and then to him.
"Stein's ten times the man you'll ever be." Marie said to Datsuke. Stein looked down at her, not knowing that was what she really thought. He inwardly smiled.
"Is that why he needs you to defend him?" Datsuke retorted. Marie went to yell at him, but Stein placed a calm hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, Marie, I've got this." Stein said to Marie. He calmly walked over to Datsuke, and began to speak in a composed voice.
"I don't need Marie to defend me. I just respect her right to do so, Unlike you, who obviously doesn't respect women in the slightest." Stein said, Marie latching onto his arm. The girls on Datsuke's arms looked confused, although, that may have just been their usual expressions. Datsuke, who wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, became automatically defensive.
"Hey! Stop using your logic on me!" Datsuke said, trying to swing a punch. Stein blocked it with ease.
"Then don't use your lack of fighting prowess on me." Stein snapped back.
"Getting antsy are we, Steiny?" Datsuke asked. Stein rolled his eyes at him and began to walk away.
"Hey! Don't you walk away from me!" Datsuke said, throwing a punch.
"Stein!" Marie yelled. Stein turned around and ducked, causing Datsuke to overbalance and fall onto the floor. Marie had to stifle a giggle.
"See you later, Datsuke." Stein said, taking Marie's hand and walking out the ball. They saw Shinigami-sama on the way out.
"Oh, Shinigami-sama?" Stein asked.
"Yes, Stein-kun?" Shinigami-sama replied.
"Datsuke has had an accident over there. You may want to get his mother down here. He's crying and asking for her." Stein said quietly, smirking. Shinigami-sama headed over to Datsuke. Stein chuckled to himself.
"Why are you laughing?" Marie asked.
"Datsuke's a 16-year-old boy. Now, I know I'm not normal, per se, but I know that the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a teenage boy is to have their mother bail them out of a situation." Stein said. Marie giggled slightly. As they were quite for a while, Marie turned the conversation's direction around.
"You know, I was going to ask you here." Marie said. Stein stopped, a lump forming in his throat.
"R-Really?" Stein said.
"Well, yeah. B-But, then I overheard you saying to Spirit that you weren't going. And then Scott asked me, and I felt so bad that..." Marie started.
"Marie, it's alright. I understand." Stein smirked. He felt a sense of self-worth that was fairly rare for the silver-haired loner. Marie was glad that she had that off her chest. They began walking down the stairs, but Marie stopped after a few stairs.
"Ah! My feet are killing me." Marie exclaimed. Even though she had kicked her shoes off at the top of the stairs, her feet still had sharp pains running through them.
"Let me carry you." Stein said. Marie raised an eyebrow. Her heart began to beat fast and butterflies formed in her stomach.
"Really? You... You'd do that? Even with all the people around here?" Marie said, referring to all of the Shibusen students who were sitting around the staircase. It was a small gesture, but it meant the world to Marie.
"Of course I would. Ready?" Stein asked. Marie nodded. Stein slipped one arm around Marie's back and under her arm, the other under her knees. He picked her up with ease and proceeded to walk down the stairs with her. A gusty wind was blowing at Marie's back, causing her to shiver. She snuggled closer to the warmth of Stein's chest, which stunted her shivering. Having Marie so close to him, Stein couldn't help but admire her. She smelt amazing. She looked amazing. She felt amazing. Stein tried to snap out of it and focused on carrying Marie down the stairs without breaking any of her bones. She let out a little sigh of contentment.
"You alright?" Stein asked.
"Yeah. I was j-just cold. But I'm alright now." Marie said, perhaps slightly too enthusiastically.
"That's good." Stein said, holding Marie closer as to shield her from the wind. At the bottom of the stairs, Stein, somewhat reluctantly, put Marie down.
"Thanks, Stein." Marie said. She looked at her wrist.
"Oh, no! My bracelet!" Marie said, worriedly grabbing at her now bare wrist.
"What's the matter?" Stein asked.
"I lost my bracelet." Marie said, beginning to giggle.
"Wait, what? Why are you laughing?" Stein asked. The female mind was confusing as hell.
"I never liked the bracelet anyway. Spirit gave it to me." Marie said. She didn't mind Spirit, and could cope with his demeanour, but that didn't make him good at choosing presents.
"Ah, I see. Yeah, Spirit's idea of a gift is not what we would call 'normal,' that's for sure." Stein smirked, thinking back to all of the weird and often inappropriate gifts Spirit had given him over the years. Marie giggled slightly before starting to shiver again.
"Oh, here. Have my jacket." Stein said, pulling his jacket off and placing it over Marie's shoulders, but not her arms. She smiled at both the warmth of the jacket and the smell of Stein on the piece of clothing she had just acquired.
"Thanks again." Marie smiled.
"You don't have to keep thanking me. I should thank you." Stein said.
"What for?" Marie asked.
"For putting up with me all these years. I don't think I would have survived if I was only allowed to hang out with Spirit." Stein smiled.
"No, no, it was my pleasure." Marie said, taking Stein's hand tenderly. Stein looked down at Marie, his silver hair hanging in strands over his eyes. Marie looked up at Stein, her golden eyes slightly covered by her hair. Stein brushed the windswept hair out of Marie's face. She stood on her tiptoes and Stein leant down over her. They were so close, they could hear each other breathing. Stein could smell the scent of Marie's perfume, Marie could smell the familiar scent of teenage boy on Stein. She hated it on everyone but him.
"Your eyes are very pretty." Stein said. Marie blushed slightly. She bit her bottom lip. She looked up at him and let out a small giggle.
"You're allowed to kiss me, Franken." Marie said, slightly nervously.
You see, she'd never kissed anyone before. She'd had boyfriends, but she had a knack for repelling them once she got them. Stein, well, he had a knack for not getting girlfriends in the first place. Marie knew that it would be his first, too.
As Stein smiled, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her, she gulped slightly. Stein, making the final move, caused their lips to meet in a moment which should have happened a long time ago. The Shibusen students on the stairs whooped and cheered as Stein and Marie continued to ignore them. There really wasn't anyone else for them at that moment, just each other. And it sounded clichéd, but there was no other way to explain it. Marie and Stein pulled away from each other as Marie leant her head on Stein's chest once again. The other Shibusen students dispersed after witnessing Stein and Marie's first kiss. Stein wrapped his arms around Marie's shoulders as Marie wrapped hers around Stein's waist. His jacket fell off her shoulders, but she didn't care. She could feel Stein breathing through his shirt; she could feel his warmth and the soft ripples of his chest muscles. She let her hands slip further down to Stein's back pockets, sliding her hands in them. Stein began to run his hands up and down the soft, pale skin of Marie's arms, his fingers dancing around her shoulders, causing her to shudder, and not from the cold.
"S-Stein." Marie said, removing one hand from Stein's back pocket and running it up his back and neck, threading her fingers through his silver hair.
"Marie." Stein said back, quietly. Marie picked her head up and pulled Stein's forehead to press against hers.
"You know, I'm pretty sure that Spirit is staying with Kami tonight. I have the apartment to myself." Stein whispered to Marie. Marie's heart began to beat faster.
"Do you want to... go back there?" Marie asked Stein. Stein may not have had much experience in the female department, but he wasn't naive.
"Are-are you sure?" Stein asked, holding Marie close to him as a gust of wind blew.
"I've never been surer." Marie said. Stein smiled.
"About what? What exactly are you planning, Miss Mjolnir?" Stein asked, cheekily.
"Well, put it this way. It could well involve this, if you're lucky." Marie said, pulling Spirit's 'gift' from Stein's back pocket and placing it in his hand. Stein let out a short, sharp breath.
"Shall we go?" Stein said, anticipation lacing his words.
"I've been waiting to hear you say that." Marie said, placing her hand in Stein's back pocket once again and proceeding to walk down the rest of the length of the stairs. Nothing but impure thoughts about each other and the night to come were going through their heads at that particular point in time.
It seems that Marie's bracelet was not all that was lost that night.
A/N: So, how'd you like it? Sorry about the ending, I've just had that line in my head since I started writing. I really, really like writing about when all the teachers at Shibusen were actually students there, I don't know why, it's just nice to try and put together a puzzle of what could possibly have shaped them this way. Plus, I like to write about SteinxMarie's history, you know, why they're such good friends and all. OH, just one more thing, this is almost certainly just going to be a one-shot, and I could have gone into... let's just say explicit detail... but I wanted to keep it T rated. That's all!
~Ri-chan