Ruptured Balloon (She is like a ruptured balloon.)
He dodges her fist, glowing with electric fire and holding the destructive force of ten sledge hammers, and then he sees the butcher knife coming at him from the side and moves quickly.
(She always seemed like balloon to him, full of energy and vitality and life, and floating somewhere above their heads, never quite touching down to earth.)
Her single eye is crazed, insane, perfectly, wholly, mad, and he wonders if she sees him as her hand connects, shocking his heart and cracking several of his ribs.
(When she looses herself it is like a balloon bursting.)
He can't touch her, can't even get close. He tries again, feeling cold and desperate, straight at her head, but she simply ducks away and plunges the knife into him.
(Air exploding outward, the particles of its previous container ripped apart and falling to the ground, and the air escaping in wild, erratic bursts of energy.)
He reaches forward and grips her hard, arms coming around her back to hold her as she struggles, trying to break away, but her knife is buried in his stomach.
(He is trying to catch the wisps of floating, bursting air and shove them back into a broken, hopelessly shattered balloon.)
He kisses her then, gentle kisses across her face, over her soft, pale skin, tender kisses that catch the corner of her lips, and he holds her tightly, pinning the knife to her side. She jerks it, and fresh blood trickles down his leg and dribbles to form a pool on the floor.
(First of all, he knows that it is simply impossible to catch air.)
And Marie grins and struggles, jerking backwards and away from him, and he tries to keep his grip on her, but the lack of blood is making him dizzy. He sinks to the floor, and the knife bites deep into him. She pulls backwards…
(And maybe the air doesn't want to go back into the damaged, hastily repaired little balloon.)
…and forwards, pushing the knife in up to the hilt, and tears drip from her single eye as she smiles. And Stein holds her.
He hopes that he doesn't die of blood loss before she snaps out of it.
(And maybe she's just been looking for someone to help her get back home.)
When she stops laughing and starts sobbing, and sinks against him, he knows it's over. She whispers, over and over, her voice chocked by tears, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and he holds her and kisses her as she buries her face against his blood stained shirt, and he tells her, It's alright, Marie, it's alright.
(Little balloon, so high in the air, won't you come down and play with me?)
What the fuck is this? Is this… A drabble? Is it? Good Lord. I think it is. I… I think I just broke one of my rules. Wow. I mean, what is this? Does it have a plot? Is it longer than a thousand words? Is it well developed or clearly explained? No. So there you have it. I wrote a drabble thingy. Nothing will ever be the same again.
I'm hoping this is a one-time thing. I don't think my brain can take much more of this. It feel like I broke the fourth wall.
Anyways, Marie's not so sane, and then she is. Hopefully Stein doesn't die before they get to a hospital.
Gah. And I'm going to add a second chapter to Most Formidable, if anyone cares. afdjasldfj