Yay! I updated! And it's twice as long as chapters 1 and 2!
There is a lot of Stein and Spirit in this one. Bear with me, it must be done. I promise some Lord Death in the next chapter. It should be up (hopefully) by the end of this week. :-) Please, leave me some love! P.S. I own nothing. P.P.S I'm not going to give the disclaimer that I don't own Soul Eater every time. It should be obvious by now. So, this is the last time, promise. ^_^
It wasn't the most graceful of reunions. Not that Spirit was expecting anything special or not awkward (this was Stein of all people), but he wasn't expecting to make a complete ass of himself. Spirit, being the natural flirt he is, decided to visit the nurse. Making pretty women smile and playing coy little games always seemed to make him feel better. Knowing that he would eventually have to see and interact with Stein again put him a bit on edge. However, the empty words and shallow promises of a "maybe this could happen" putting smiles on the faces of women he found beautiful was fun and made him feel somewhat…normal. Death Scythe rarely engaged in anything more than that (although one of the few times he did he was caught by his wife, but he didn't want to think about her right now). No, he just didn't want to think about Stein. Or his recent dreams of a certain shinigami. Today, he just wanted to not think of anything. So, when he thought the nurse finally came back to the office and he went to "greet" her, he was quite shocked to find himself hugging Stein. Stein. He then proceeded to act like a fool. So many thoughts and emotions bombarded him it was amazing he could even function. After he managed to calm down (somewhat) and confirmed his toes were not switched he was hit with something else.
"The Demon Sword has appeared." Stein had said to him, finally being the serious, emotionless man Spirit always knew him to be. The weapon willed himself to stay calm. Something this big would need to be dealt with, and who better for the job than himself and his former meister. Spirit wondered if this is the true reason Lord Death brought him back to the school. Spirit nodded and followed Stein out of the office. Stein continued speaking while they worked their way to the Death Room. "There's no word on who is wielding it, but it is killing indiscriminately. Killing innocents. I assume that since Lord Death asked me to retrieve you, that you and I will be working together on this." 'Ah, so he thinks the same,' Spirit thought. He hummed in reply not trusting his voice. He focused on the back of Stein's head trying not to look further. The mad man hadn't changed too much. A new scar on his face making Spirit wonder how many more have been added to the rest of his body. He forced that thought out quickly. The gray-scale clothing and lab coat that he started wearing toward the end of their school days. After they had separated as partners. He also noticed he had to look up at him. That would take some getting used to. He didn't notice the figure in front of him had stopped until he nearly collided with him.
"What?" Spirit asked, trying not seem too anxious. Stein just turned around and gave an unreadable glance. Spirit felt trapped as he looked into those green eyes, thinking of how close he and this man (a boy then) had once been. "I won't hurt you. I give you my word." Where did that come from? With that, Spirit was left in the hallway alone as Stein walked into the Death Room. Releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding, Spirit squared his shoulders and followed.
'Finally home. What a day.' Spirit felt exhausted. He got home after almost 3 hours of talking to Lord Death and Stein while trying not to think about the effect the two men were having on him. Now that he was home, he could think. He didn't want to but he knew it would need to be addressed eventually. 'Might as well get it over with.' He began with Stein. That was one that was fortunately…unfortunately?…more familiar to him. Spirit remembered the first day he met Stein. The young scythe had been with the DWMA for a few years and due to his unique soul wavelength, did not have a meister. Then one day, out of the blue he was called to see Lord Death. He feared he was in trouble or was getting kicked out since he could not work with anyone. He was elated to learn that a boy (just two years younger than himself) had enrolled. A boy that could master any weapon and match any soul wavelength. Death, at the time, tried to explain to Spirit that this boy, Franken Stein, was different, but Spirit didn't care. He would finally have a partner, and he told himself then and there that he would do anything to make the partnership work. He met Stein, learned just how different he was, but it didn't matter. Spirit was determined to keep his partner, and he gave himself the job of helping Stein whatever way he could. He reminded him to eat when the younger would get engrossed in his experiments, got the other to smile at something other than sharp objects and gore. They became friends and looked out for one another. They were both different, Stein was just slightly more open about it. They became powerful, very quickly, and Spirit felt on top of the world.
Spirit could remember the first time Stein dissected him. If he were to be completely honest, it freaked him the fuck out. But, by this point, he understood Stein's motives. When his meister didn't understand something he simply took a look inside. It was a weird feeling, knowing Stein had seen him in a way no one else (save for a surgeon) would. It also invigorated him. There was an unspoken agreement between the two: Stein would never tell Spirit what he did to him while he slept and Spirit would never mention the stitches he would wake up with. He found himself standing up for Stein when he would go too far with other class mates and would comfort and control his meister when the madness would hit a little harder.
The one thing Spirit couldn't remember is when he fell for his crazy partner. He thought maybe it was due to the amount of time they spent together. They lived together, neither had any family to speak of. Spirit basically took care of Stein (cooking, cleaning etc.). They trained together, they did homework together (Spirit copied Stein's homework, rather) and on Stein's really bad days, they slept together. It was a comfort, or at least, that's how it started out. Spirit also partially blames hormones. It was when he was around 15 that the sharing of one bed became almost commonplace. Not every night, but still often. When he was 16 he noticed one night that instead of being on their respective sides of the bed, they were holding one another. He also realized this wasn't the first time. Touches began to linger between the two, as well as looks. There was a tension building. One that Stein didn't understand and one that Spirit knew, but feared.
It was after a soul collecting that he found himself pressed up against Stein, his weight pushing his meister up against a brick wall in some dark alley near their apartment. He couldn't take it anymore. Resonating with Stein and sharing warmth in a bed just wasn't keeping him sated any longer. He needed more. He ran his hand through that short white hair, staring into those green eyes that held a glint of wildness. Stein hadn't attacked him yet, and he saw that as a sign to continue. His fingers trailed down the side of his partner's face and brought the other hand up to lay it on the younger's chest. Their breaths were coming out in pants and hearts were hammering as Spirit leaned down ever so slowly. He didn't want to frighten Stein, that could leave him hurting for days. Looking for confirmation once more, Spirit stopped just short of connecting their lips. When Stein made no move, only gave a genuine look of curiosity, Spirit closed his eyes and kissed him. Eventually, he found his tongue in the other's mouth, tasting the nicotine from Stein's most recent cigarette, tasting Stein. They kissed outside for a while, then Spirit led Stein back to the apartment. Back to his room, their room. He removed both of their shirts and brought them to bed. More kissing and touching and everything felt so hot. Spirit had kissed girls before but this…this was nothing like he had ever experienced.
*Knock, knock, knock* Spirit shook himself from his memories and went to answer the door. 'Who would come visit me?' he wondered. He opened the door to find a very human shinigami staring back at him. Death Scythe opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come. Lord Death cocked his head to the side, worry evident on his face.
"May I come in, Death Scythe?" Lord Death asked slowly. Spirit nodded and moved to let him in. This was strange. Sure, Lord Death had been over before, but it was a rare thing. Usually it was just the reaper looking in on him, making sure he was okay. They'd make small talk and he'd leave, but Spirit just saw him…he looks to clock to see it had been nearly an hour since he left the school. Had he been lost in thought that long?
"Can I get you something? Do you need anything, sir?" Spirit found his voice. His boss only shook his head and took a seat on the couch opposite the door in the living room. He patted the cushion next to him.
"We need to talk, Spirit." The weapon swallowed and sat beside his meister with only one thought in mind.
'Shit."
