Author's Note: This is my first fanfic ever and I chose to do the Stein/Marie pairing, because they're one of my OTPs for Soul Eater and this beautiful pairing is in need of more love! I'm also a softie for Spirit, so let's give the man a chance to shine. I know that Soul Eater is kind of old, but I still love reading fanfics about it; thus, I decided to contribute for once. :D
Anyhow, Soul Eater is not mine it's Atsushi Okubo's. If it was indeed mine, then Soul's fangirls who've hurt Maka and made her wield a broom would have had hell to pay.
"You're getting married?"
Spirit exclaimed the phrase loud enough for the whole Death City, heck the whole Nevada, to hear. A small almost indiscernible smirk made its way into Stein's face, while Marie sported a pretty blush on her cheeks along with a shy yet guilty smile. Meanwhile, many of the other patrons turned to look at them, but quickly swiveled their heads back after seeing the dangerous glint on the lab coat-clad man's glasses.
The three adults were lounging at the veranda of a nice restaurant for their lunch when Marie accidentally let the information slip during their conversation. She forgot that due to the hectic final battle against the Kishin three weeks prior and everyone being busy cleaning up the mess, they were unable to tell the news to their friend and resident casanova.
The redheaded Death Scythe was gaping like a fish as he stared alternately between the Mjolnir and her meister. Saying that the man was surprised was an understatement; who could blame him though? He had been on the receiving end of Franken Stein's creepy hobby and he had honestly believed that his friend was too devoted to science (and too wacko) to even consider settling down.
"I know that I've suggested marriage and settling down in order for your lives to be a little bit normal, but I seriously can't believe you guys will actually do it." Spirit proclaimed as he still stared unbelieving at the couple sitting across the table from him.
"Then again," he continued smiling slyly. "I did joke about honeymoons and look where it got you!" Spirit guffawed and he proceeded to waggle his eyebrows at Stein and give a conspiratorial wink towards Marie. This prompted her to kick his shin under the table while harshly muttering a frantic "Keep your voice down or else!…"
Spirit pouted while rubbing his sore appendage, but he decided to abide by Marie's wishes. Everyone knew not to push her buttons; she's not called 'The Pulverizer' for nothing.
He even bets that her anger will be easily triggered especially now that she's expecting; that thought alone was enough to bring a small smile to the Death Scythe's face. Sure, his friends' situation was a little unexpected, but he can't help being happy for them.
"Well, technically, the act was done even before you stated your tactless joke, so your statement is invalid." Stein shot back as he subconsciously placed a cigarette to his mouth and fetched his lighter that was ever present in his lab coat pocket.
"Oh for the love of Death, shut up Stein." Marie whined against her partner's smart-ass comment as she stopped playing with her salad and brought her hands to her face. All Stein gave was a nonchalant shrug and an indifferent "Hn".
Marie turned to pout at him, but a scowl immediately replaced its place on her face as she swatted Stein's hand that held the lighter. Then, she immediately went on a rant about how he promised he'll stop smoking, the risks that first hand, second hand and other hand smoke can do to a body, how much of a hypocrite he is for being a doctor yet an avid smoker, and all other things pregnant women like her deemed worthy to rant about.
Stein just slouched in his chair and rebutted with smart comebacks every once in a while. Anybody who did not know the man would claim that he looked quite stoic and indifferent towards the petite woman who sat beside him, but Spirit was not anybody. He may have not recognized it at first, but now that he had solid basis that the duo's relationship was not purely platonic he can easily tell the changes on his friend.
Stein was still generally sadistic and emotionally challenged, but Spirit can see the telltale signs of morality slowly etching themselves into his friend's features. Stein's stance when he's beside Marie is guarded and intimidating, yet undoubtedly protective. He is notably always by Marie's side and ready to wield her, shield her, or even hold her close. He also sends glances her way every once in a while accompanied by small almost barely recognizable smiles whenever their gazes meet.
Spirit can't stop the chuckle that bubbled in his chest. For the past weeks he had enjoyed simply watching the dynamics between the couple. To him, who had known the both of them since their DWMA days, seeing Marie and Stein acting like lovesick teenagers was a relaxing sight to see. Well, Marie somewhat acts like a lovesick teen, while Stein tries his best to act like he doesn't care. In Spirit's point of view though, Stein's clearly failing at it.
"Yeah, Stein. Listen to your Wifey!" Spirit cheerily butted in while laughing seeing that Marie has her right fist raised and was ready to pummel her uncooperative fiance if needed be.
Marie's face exploded into a brilliant shade of red and she comically stuttered; thus, ending her rather long and intimidating rant.
Stein smirked as he placed his left arm on her shoulders.
"I guess Senpai's right. Sorry for not listening, Wifey~!" Stein drawled in an almost sultry tone as he looked at her which made Marie's blush even redder, if that was even possible.
"Oh stop it you two, this is embarrassing!" Marie exclaimed as she placed her hands on her hot cheeks.
"You need get used to it Marie. You are the one who agreed to marry this nut job." Spirit bluntly pointed towards Stein, while the doctor rudely flicked the cigarette towards his senior. It hit Spirit squarely on the left eye and like the big child that he is, he picked some salad and spoon-catapulted it towards his silver-haired friend.
This started a mini food fight between former meister and weapon. Spirit's aim was not as impressive as Stein's, so most of the catapulted salad ended up hitting Marie. She gave the stink eye to the two males and declared that she'll go freshen up and when she comes back and the table is still unclean there will be hell to pay.
"Did you do this on purpose or not?" Stein asked after Marie left to go to the restroom. He was lazily picking up the salad pieces from their impromptu and, admittedly, immature food fight.
"Inviting you to lunch? Or starting the food fight, so that Marie will leave and I can talk to you alone?" Spirit asked as he too started cleaning up the table and himself. He sure as hell fared way worse than Stein, his coat is ruined while the doctor's lab coat was almost pristine except for a few blotches of salad sauce here and there.
"The latter." Stein huffed. "I doubt you're smart or observant enough to know about the latest happenings in my relationship with Marie for you to initiate a lunch meeting to interrogate us."
Spirit spluttered and yelled indignantly at that. Stein just chose to ignore him as he continued on.
"If Marie didn't let it slip that we were planning to get married, I doubt you'll learn about it. Hell, you might even be clueless about it until four, no, five months after the wedding."
"Ouch, I'm glad you have such great faith in me."
"You're welcome, Senpai."
"You're mean!"
"Hn."
"I mean it!"
"Oh, shut up." Stein rubbed his temple as Spirit was beginning to shed anime tears and start his dramatics. "Going back to our topic, did you do that food fight on purpose?"
"I told you already, it's so that Marie will leave, because… Uhmmm…"
"You should be glad I know you well enough to go along with your ridiculous plan, because I doubt you did it for no reason." Stein further explained as he noted how his senior became quiet and looked at him seriously. "You're childish, but I know you're not that childish enough to start food fights, so -"
"Do you love her?"
Stein blinked, clearly caught off guard by the question. He looked at Spirit and recognized that he was definitely acting weird; he looks dead serious, but he's definitely jittery.
It couldn't be. Stein thought as he breathed deeply and exhaled.
"I know that it took me a while before my interest in romantic emotional and physical relationships was piqued," Stein started slowly as he leveled his gaze towards his redheaded companion. "But, I am a man of science. Considering the factors of genetics and reproduction, I know for a fact that being involved in heterosexual relationships is the natural way to go. Thus, I must tell you that I cannot entertain the prospect of being with you in such -"
Spirit just blinked and looked puzzled. All he asked was if Stein loved Marie and then the crazy doctor went on an explanation about genetics, reproduction, heterosexual relationships, and not being with hi- Wait! What?
"What the hell Stein?" Spirit exclaimed in horror.
Stein adjusted his glasses and looked solemnly towards his friend.
"I told you. I'm sorry, but I cannot entertain the prospect of - "
"Woah! Woah! Stop! What the hell are you implying you senile asshole?"
"Implying?" Stein asked with a raised eyebrow. "Senpai, you were the one who looked worried about me marrying Marie. I'm sorry, but I'm not g-"
"What the fuck!" Spirit stood and slammed his hands on the table. "I didn't ask that, because I'm planning to be with y-. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me nauseous." Spirit slummed and started to look green.
"Then why did you -" Stein asked, but was swiftly interrupted by his loud companion.
"Because I wanted to know if you love Marie enough not to let her go!" Spirit exclaimed as he raised his hands in an exasperated manner. He realized that their conversation and his outbursts drew a lot of the other patrons' attention, so he meekly bowed and apologized to them, before sitting down again.
Spirit sighed and shook his head, "Look. Both you and Marie are very important people to me, that's why I'm happy for the both of you. But I want to make sure that you guys are marrying for the right reason…"
Spirit raised his head and his eyes were met by Stein's contemplative gaze.
"Did you or did you not ask Marie to marry you simply because she's pregnant?"
Then and there, understanding sparked in Stein's eyes. Spirit knew that his friend finally understood his worries.
"I don't want you to repeat the same mistakes that I did. One asshole of a husband and father is enough for this world, you know." Spirit sighed and slouched on his seat. He can't help but feel miserable at that moment.
"It's rare for you to genuinely admit that you were wrong." Stein quipped as he played with his lighter, flicking it on and off.
"Yeah. Well, it's because of you really…" Spirit sighed as he looked up at the sky. "You were right when you told me before that a divorced philandering parent like me is hardly a role model. I didn't have the right to recommend having a family to live a more orderly life."
"... Because clearly, I failed at my own suggestion." Spirit murmured as he closed his eyes; willing the tears pooling at its corners to go away. He wants to cry, but he knows he doesn't deserve it; his ex-wife and daughter had already shed enough tears through the years for all three of them.
To say that Spirit feels like shit is an understatement, because he knows he's much worse than that. Anyways, he's genuinely worried for his friends though. What he said to Stein was true; he doesn't want his dear friend, who he secretly views as a brother, make the same mistakes that he did.
Don't get him wrong, he had loved Kami; heck, he still loves her even now. The problem was that he had not loved her enough as what he needed to. He did not love her enough to stop his womanizing habits and focus his affections solely on her. He did not love her enough to care about her as much as he cares about their daughter. He did not love her enough to beg her to stay and prove to her that staying was worth it. Spirit loved Kami, but it was not enough not to let her go.
Spirit was glad that Stein doesn't have his womanizing habits, but the man has his own issues. For a very long time, his silver-haired friend was as emotional as a rock. Due to having innate madness within him since he was a child, he became unable to feel positive emotions such as love. Being with Marie and her healing soul wavelength and personality had transformed the once positively emotionless man, but Spirit wasn't sure at to what extent. The man is really good at being stoic and pushing people away even now.
Spirit also fears Stein's dissection hobby. He knows that his friend had noticeably calmed down, but he wasn't sure if he has enough sanity to not dissect his soon-to-be-wife and unborn child. Or if he was able to prevent himself from dissecting Marie, would he have enough love or acknowledgment towards the kid for him not to hurt it once it was born? He heard once that Stein jokingly mentioned that he will finally have a new guinea pig. Marie chastised him, yet did not take his declaration seriously. But what if -
"Yes, I do."
"Wait. What?" Spirit opened his eyes and looked at Stein, believing the gruff statement came from him.
Stein stared at his friend and heaved a sigh. "You asked if I love Marie; then, the answer is yes. Yes, I do."
"Huh?" It was the most intelligible phrase that Spirit can think of as of that moment. He was visibly stunned by the sincerity he was hearing from Stein's voice. He is sure he was not imagining it; his friend's voice was filled with sincerity and affection.
"I know that you're genuinely worried. You've been like that even before you knew that Marie was pregnant, but you don't have to worry Senpai. I've listened to your suggestions and so far I'm doing good, right?" Franken Stein smirked towards his senior and he can't help but chuckle at Spirit's stunned look.
"Well… Uh… I-it's good that you love her and all, b-but are you sure you didn't decide to marry her, because she's carrying your child? Because it's uh -"
"No." Stein stated firmly as he cut off Spirit's nervous rambling. "I didn't decide to marry Marie, because she's pregnant. I'm marrying her, because I love her. She's pregnant, because I love her. I know it's quite difficult to believe, but trust me Senpai; what I said is true. I love her."
Now, Spirit doesn't only hear it, but he can see the sincerity and affection radiating from his friend. He can't stop the goofy grin his mouth was sporting. Marie had really been a great influence in Stein's life, if it had led his silver-haired friend to be as sappy as this.
"So... She's pregnant, because you love her, eh?" Spirit sly smirk was now very evident on his face. "I'm excited to know about that part." He waggled his eyebrows towards his friend while leaning forwards conspiratorially.
Stein grunted and rolled his eyes.
"Too bad we aren't tattletales about our sex life. Right, Hubby?~" said Marie as she sat down beside her fiance.
Stein merely raised a silver eyebrow and sent a look towards Spirit. The two exchanged identical mischievous smirks, clearly not acting as the responsible adults they're supposed to be.
"Not really!" Stein started as he purposefully looked at Spirit. "If you really want to know, our sexual life was really stimulating. Marie likes it when - … "
Marie shrieked and fervently hit Stein as he enumerated their sexual encounters using colorful descriptions. Spirit did nothing, but laugh at the blonde and her predicament.
He's not sure which from Stein's descriptions were true, but most of the imagery were enough to make Marie blush a deep red. It's a good thing that the other patrons on the veranda had left already, because Spirit was quite sure Marie would have died of embarrassment if not.
Author's Note: Voila! It's finished! I hope you guys liked it! :D Please send a review if you want to!
This story was based on this facts:
1. When Stein and Marie came back from their Justin Law hunt, Spirit teased them about their little "honeymoon". Stein just laughed like his crazy self, while Marie stated that she'll never do that with a pervert such as Stein. (They were clearly pulling everyone's legs though! Liars! Hahaha :D)
2. Marie is pregnant at the end of the Soul Eater manga. For all I know, the only ones who know about it yet were Stein (obviously), Death the Kid, Spirit, and Maka. (Maybe Soul, because Maka usually tells Soul everything)
3. Spirit suggested that Stein should settle down, because it may help in his recuperation. By that time, he still didn't know that Marie was preggers.
4. Stein joked about making the baby his new guinea pig, but Marie didn't react harshly so I'm betting that he may not be serious about it.