When Stein hears the front door to the lab open, his first thought is that he's lost track of a few hours. It's not an uncommon occurrence, after all. But then he glances at the clock and takes in the time, and then Spirit's voice is echoing through the halls as the weapon calls for him, and confusion takes over.
"Stein!" Spirit is audibly drunk, slurring the meister's name long and sliding on the sibilants, and when Stein comes around the corner and sees him the weapon is flushed and grinning with the relaxed looseness of a few too many glasses of wine.
"Spirit," Stein says as he comes down the hall, though he can't help smiling. "Did you forget what day it is?"
"Nope!" Spirit comes forward; he's not stumbling, but only through a visible effort of will.
"What about the party?"
"It was great." Spirit reaches out to rest one hand against the shirt over Stein's shoulder and his eyes trail the movement of his other as he pulls it over the meister's hair. "And then I came home."
"Spirit." Stein reaches out to take the weapon's elbows in an attempt to steady him. "You left a New Year's party early. You missed the point a bit, didn't you?"
Spirit blinks away from the motion of his hand and refocuses on Stein's eyes with significantly ,more clarity than the meister expected. "No." He shakes his head and his grin fades into a smile that's almost shy. "I want to be with you at midnight. And you're here. So I'm here, too."
He says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, like Stein should have seen it coming. The meister supposes that possibly he should have. But he didn't, and he's not blushing but there's a tingle like electricity burning over all his skin.
"Oh." He pauses, glances down the hallway at the lack of any visible clocks. "It must be nearly time. Do you know when it's going to be midnight, exactly?"
Spirit grins and shakes his head as he leans in. "Not exactly."
"Idiot," Stein says soft against Spirit's mouth. Spirit's lips press against his and his mouth fills with the taste of alcohol and his blood lights up like fireworks, and this time he really does lose track of the minutes.
