Stein grumbled, shoving his hands deeper into his pants pockets as Marie bounced ahead of him, her eye undoubtedly sparkling.
"Oooh! We should go on the Ferris wheel!" she told him, whirling around and grasping hold of his arm, her hands warm over the scarred flesh, dragging him over to the map in an effort to find out where to go.
Yeah. Good luck with that one, he thought. If he let her lead him around, he'd probably end up in Arizona. And she'd be in Kentucky by the time she realized. No, thank you.
From his peripheral, he caught Spirit, the redhead turning away from his gaze to look at his girlfriend the second he realized that Stein was looking. The younger man scowled, glaring at the small woman that took his experiment away from him, and Kami turned to stare him down, gaze unnerving. Her dark brown eyes narrowed in fury when she pinpointed Marie's palm over Stein's forearm, the woman displeased with the fact that her close friend chose to stick around someone who did something so horrible to Spirit.
Stein, realizing that Kami was angry at him having stolen her close friend for the evening, smirked and dislodged Marie's hold in order to grasp her upper arm gently, directing her to the map, which she was walking away from. Ha. Served Kami right, getting a taste of her own medicine. Were he more petulant, he would stick his tongue out. As it were, Marie only let out a soft noise of surprise, and then hummed in happiness when she spotted the sign ahead of them. Stein kept his hold on her steady while he led them, his smirk widening almost into a genuine smile when he saw Naigus shake her head.
He was brought back to the blonde as she all but bounced, her singular eye gleaming when she looked up at him, a new development since he finally, finally hit his growth spurt. Puberty decided to wait out on him, but he was thankful that he didn't have to stand on tip-toes to look over people's heads, anymore. And Marie was measly in comparison, which boosted his confidence. He felt like a tower around her.
"Do you wanna go on the Ferris Wheel?" she asked, concern pinching the edges of her mouth. Stein shrugged, the bright lights of the carnival no doubt glinting off of his glasses. His shaggy gray hair fell into his eyes, and he used his free hand to push it away.
"It doesn't matter to me," he informed, and she smiled at the fact that it wasn't a 'No'.
"Okay!" she replied, eye almost closing from how she grinned. Her blonde pigtails bobbed, and he was sure if she moved in just a little closer, he'd feel some of her hair wisp over his upper arm. The T-shirt was a new addition as well, considering Nevada was approximately the temperature of the surface of the sun. No, he isn't exaggerating.
Frankly, he'd be content sitting in the bus, reading a book. But when they left the DWMA, on what Lord Death considered a fun field trip, Marie immediately made a bee-line for him, plopping down next to him the second she spotted him sitting alone, all the way in the back. For a moment, he'd wondered if Azusa was off on a mission with one of her rotation Meisters, but the younger girl stepped onto the bus right after her, and had to find a seat by herself.
Everyone avoided the back. It was to be expected. Especially when Spirit stepped on, hiding behind his girlfriend who picked the seat farthest from her boyfriend's freaky ex-Meister. That was fine by him, really. He didn't mind that much. It was the dirty look Kami threw Marie that made his eyebrow twitch.
But Marie just smiled at him, nudging his textbook off his lap and into her hands, telling him that they were going to have fun. And, besides, he needed a partner for most of the rides anyway, and he couldn't just expect her to leave him by his lonesome, could he?
He did, actually. Though he should have known better. After Kami found out about his experiments, everyone he considered even somewhat of a friend seemed to ignore him save for her. That was fine, too. Sid was still pleasant, offering casual greetings and such, and Naigus, as his partner, followed suit. But Kami was downright icy, and Spirit refused to even look. Azusa still felt plenty happy to chastise him in the hallways, though, the brat.
Marie almost stumbled, tugging him forward slightly and bringing him back to reality. He blinked, realizing that they were, of course, lost. Damn it. He should have been paying attention. And then Marie simply stopped, and he almost bumped into her from how abrupt it all was. When he peered at what she had her sights set on, he all but groaned.
Ugh. No. He wasn't a fan of carnival games. They were all rigged, besides. And if Marie asked him to win her something and he half-assed it, she'd be pissed. But if he didn't, she was sure to pick the most obnoxious toy they offered and drag it around with her. He was lucky she didn't raid a booth for some cotton candy, yet. But he was sure that was her next stop.
"Step right up! Step right up! Hey, little lady!" the vendor said, standing next to the massive, twenty foot tall Striker Machine, grinning.
"Hello!" Marie chirped, eyeing the multiple toys hanging next to him, before she seemed to locate something that she wanted. Stein was ready to sigh, sure that he had to submit to his fate.
"Is your boyfriend going to win you a prize?" the game operator asked, seemingly amused. Stein's face didn't change at the assumption, only looking down at Marie to see how she replied. Her cheeks dusted over with pink, trailing down her neck and over her shoulders, but she shook her head.
"Actually, I'd like to try," she informed, putting her hand over where Stein was still holding her. He released her, realizing how the two of them must have looked. However, it was everyone else's fault for making assumptions about them: it wasn't either of their faults that the bubbly woman couldn't find her way out a paper bag. Put her in a battle and she could eviscerate anything in her path. Hand her a map and it was an entirely different story. But Marie didn't make a fuss of it, if anything, she looked somewhat pleased.
Stein didn't even lift a brow, only adjusted his glasses and stepped back, giving the petite woman some space when she stepped forward. As the vendor explained the rules and what she should do, condescension in his voice, Stein couldn't help but look forward to when the shock would enter his eyes.
When Marie stepped back, the mallet raised over her shoulder with just one hand and then slammed it down with the fury of a Scandinavian goddess, the ball jumped through the machine and broke through the bell at the top, launching into the sky. Stein held out his hand, waiting a good thirty seconds before it went back to Earth, and caught it, handing it over to a giggling, embarrassed Marie.
"I'm sorry!" she said, carefully holding out the hefty metal ball, Stein leaning back behind her, nonchalant even when the vendor's mouth dropped open. "I didn't mean to hit it so hard. . ."
"My. . .my machine. . ."
"I'd like the teddy bear in the top right corner, please," she requested, nothing but pleasant. Stein, knowing the man was going to be lamenting his machine, and also knowing that they had to get the hell out of there before they attracted a crowd of anyone who knew them, no doubt alerted by the ringing bell, simply stepped up and plucked the toy off from its hook. He thrust it into Marie's arms, grabbing her wrist and leading her away from the game, sighing. Amusing as it was, he did enough destruction as it was. He didn't feel like getting yet another detention for damaging property that the DWMA would have to repair.
"F-Franken! Slow down, woah!"
He didn't, not really, though he shortened his strides. Marie had some decently long legs, especially for a woman her height, but she barely hit the center of his chest so it was unreasonable for him to expect her not to have some difficulties. When she dug her heels into the dirt and stopped him in his tracks, however, he found that it was effective in halting him.
He turned, mouth open to ask why she stopped before he felt something soft hit his chest, and Marie was looking up into his eyes with the warmest smile he'd ever seen.
"Here," she told him, letting go of the toy, which made him obligated to snatch it up before it fell to the dust.
". . .Marie?"
"I. . .I won it for you," she told him, her smile going softer, and he watched her swallow.
He fidgeted, unknowing what to do, before he noticed the slight commotion going on behind her. Ah, there was Queen of the Committee Chairman, sniffing out who broke the machine. Damn. He'd wanted to avoid that. Marie's little break proved enough for them to catch up.
Behind Azusa was everyone else, namely Kami, who zeroed in on her close friend's turned back and was making a beeline for them. He looked down at the toy in his hands, and at Marie's gentle expression, and then at the absolutely frustrated scythe Meister gunning for them and smiled. Carefully, he stooped down, invading Marie's space to put his mouth close to her ear, her blonde pigtail tickling his cheek.
"Thank you," he told her, pulling away in time to see the thunderous expression on Kami's face, the shock in Spirit's.
If he looked at Marie, he'd see her mouth open, face burning as it flushed and glowed.
"Y-you're welcome, Franken," she whispered, biting her lip before her expression broke out into the giddiest, most awestruck look. Had he been paying attention, he'd probably be flattered. When she wrapped her hands around his upper arm once more, dragging him off, he turned his head, eyes locking with the group, but mostly with Kami.
Being just a little petulant couldn't hurt.
Kami's face when he stuck his tongue out, patting Marie's shoulder while she snuggled into his side, trying to find the Ferris Wheel once again, was more than a little amusing.
And, hey. Marie was nice enough to stick by him. He figured he could indulge her, a little.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how obvious is it that I'm absolutely obsessed with them?