Open up,
Open up your heart to me now,
Let it all come pouring out,
There's nothing I can't take…
Aged 29 and 30
Spirit's hand slipped underneath Stein's shirt, his fingers brushing against coarse stitches and smooth skin. Less than a second passed before Stein's cool fingers had grasped at Spirits, pulling his hand away from his body viciously.
"Who said you could touch me?" His voice asked menacingly, a teasingly mad smile spreading on his lips. Spirit raised his other hand to touch the lips only to have that hand tightly grabbed also, Stein restraining the twitching fingers with a grip of death. "Poor, poor Spirit. Who is in control now?" Stein's voice was distant, almost echoing, and his head dropped forward like a rag dolls, shadow covering his eyes so that all Spirit could see was the demented smile of the meister.
"Stein..." Spirit tried to say but something wasn't right. Fear and panic rose up in his gut as he watched a thin trickle of blood start to pour from in between Stein's teeth. The flow increased as the dark red liquid dripped from the gaps between his teeth, running down his chin to form a puddle on the floor. Spirit could swear he felt his fingers breaking under Stein's grip and as he went to cry out in pain, Stein threw back his head and laughed and laughed and laughed...
Spirit woke with a jump, his red hair sticking to his sweaty forehead and his mouth dry from fear. Once he had assured himself that he was in fact safe and it had all been a nightmare, he dropped his head into his hands with a sigh. It was the third night in a row he had had the nightmare. And it never stopped terrifying him.
He leapt out of bed to fetch a glass of water, his mind buzzing with the details of the dream. He knew the reason he kept having it. Several days ago, he had been informed that Stein would be working at the academy as a teacher, starting next week. He had been shocked, and when people had queried him about his reaction, he had told them he still feared the professor for all the experiments that he conducted on Spirit when they were younger. Spirit couldn't deny that there was an ounce of truth in that. He did still get shivers down his spine remembering the day he woke with his chest stitched together.
But that wasn't the real reason he had reacted so strongly to the news. The real reason was that if Stein was so close to him for so long, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from letting his heart, and his lust, get carried away. He wouldn't be able to hide his feelings any longer.
Spirit sighed and after taking a drink he went back to his empty bed to curl up under the covers. His arms wrapped around his body protectively, and for the first time since Kami left him, he felt really very alone. He wished Stein could be with him. He wished that over the last few years their relationship had been more than a few one night flings and longing glances when they passed on the street.
And then Kami had gone. And Maka had moved out to live with that obnoxious weapon of hers. And Spirit was alone for the first time in his life. The thought had occurred to him that he should come out into the open about his feelings. To let people know that all he wanted was to be with the silver haired man that haunted his dreams; and especially to let that man in particular know. But the weeks passed by and he found himself unable to take the leap, hoping he wouldn't see the meister on the street, hoping he would never have to confront the feelings that he kept bottled up inside.
He gave a groan of frustration and buried his head in his pillow, shutting his eyes tightly. But no matter how hard he pushed his eyelids together, he couldn't erase the image of Stein's olive gaze from his mind.
…
Stein found himself staring up at the classroom ceiling and after a moment of puzzlement, he realised that he had once again managed to tip his chair a little too far whilst rolling into the classroom on it. Undeterred, he pulled a text book from his lab coat pocket and opened it up to the right page, holding it up above his face.
"Now, everyone turn their books to page 45!" He called out to the stunned class, who simply stared back at the unusual looking professor who still lay sprawled out on the floor. After a second of no movement, Stein tilted his head backwards so that his silver hair fell back away from his forehead and the class glimpsed a flash of his hard stare from behind his glasses. There was an instant scuffle as everyone in the class hurried to find the right page, leaving Stein with a small smile on his face as he stood himself back up and sat back on his chair the wrong way round, his arms resting along the back of the chair as he rolled it into the centre of the classroom. His gaze glanced over some familiar faces, who looked practically petrified of him after the fight they had taken part in not too long ago and he tried not to smirk.
Among them was Maka, the young girl's green glare staring defiantly back at him. She's so stubborn… just like her mother, Stein instantly thought and then turned the screw in his head a few clicks to bring his attention back to the text book.
"Hello class, I'm your new professor. You can call me Professor Stein."
…
As the students filed out at the end of the lesson, Stein watched them with a slight wave of nostalgia washing over him. It was so long since he had been at the academy. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the students, Stein heard a familiar voice from outside the door,
"Oh, Maka! How was your lesson? Tell daddy all about it, I want to know ev-"
"Go away!" Stein heard Maka retaliate and a small chuckle escaped as he heard Spirit shouting after her.
"That's alright, honey! I'll let you have your space. I know you need to study! Daddy's so proud!"
Stein moved to the door and opened it to reveal a shocked looking Spirit, who jumped back at the sudden appearance of Stein beside him. His blue eyes darted around the hallway nervously and Stein could see him start to panic although he couldn't quite understand why.
"Good morning, Spirit." He said calmly and Spirit seemed to be struggling to come up with a response.
"S-Stein, hi, I mean… yeah." Spirit stuttered and gave a nervous laugh, his hand scratching at the back of his head. Stein cocked his head to one side in confusion,
"What's wrong? Why are you acting so scared?" He asked and Spirit raised his eyebrows.
"Scared? What? No, no, no, I'm not… scared." He babbled out, his head turning to look around the hallway once again. Stein gave a small sigh and then quickly grasped at the older man's tie, pulling him into the classroom and closing the door behind them.
"There, we're alone now. Are you going to stop panicking so much?" Stein asked him and after a moment of hesitation, Spirit gave out a long, exasperated sigh, his face dropping into his hands.
"I'm sorry. It's just, you're here now and… and what if people notice? About us, I mean?" Spirit mumbled through his fingers and Stein took a step closer to him, his hand reaching up to curl around one of Spirit's, pulling it gently away from his face and revealing one shiny blue eye and half a frown.
"And if they do notice?" Stein said quietly, his fingers squeezing Spirit's ever so slightly, "Would that really be such a bad thing?"
Spirits gaze flitted about Stein's face and he lowered his other hand to place it gently on Stein's chest, his fingers splaying out against the dark fabric. He tipped his head forward so that his vision filled with red hair, his thoughts hitting him at a hundred miles an hour. This was exactly what he was so scared about. And he didn't know what to do.
"I still love you." He said eventually and he felt Stein take a step closer.
"Then stop being so afraid to show it. Let other people know." He said and he placed a single kiss on the red heads forehead, his lips barely skimming Spirits skin and driving the weapon into a frenzy. But then Stein was moving away, Spirit's fingers slipping away from his chest and their hands untangling as Stein made his way towards the classroom door. As his hand rested on the handle, he turned back to Spirit with a serious look on his face.
"I still love you too." He said and then exited the room.
…
Spirit's footsteps were loud in the empty corridor leading to Shinigami- sama's head room. He tried to stop shaking like he had been ever since his encounter with Stein an hour before, but he couldn't seem to calm his emotions. He was all over the place and what he really wanted was to just go home and sort his head out about the whole situation. But he couldn't, he was a death scythe now, and he had to honour his loyalties.
He entered the room and Shinigami-sama turned away from the long, golden framed mirror to greet him.
"Ah, Spirit! How are you?" Came his cheery voice from behind the cartoonish white skull mask he wore. Spirit attempted a smile, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets so that Shinigami-sama wouldn't see the desperate way they were clenched into fists.
"I'm fine, I'm… good." He managed to stammer out and Shinigami-sama stared back at him in silence for a few seconds.
"Why are you lying, Spirit? There is clearly something bothering you!" He said, happy as ever and moving forward slightly. Spirit sent his gaze flying around at the clouds drifting by them, desperate not to give anything away to the cloaked figure in front of him.
"I'm not lying…" He squeaked out and Shinigami-sama moved even closer, the tall black figure still managing to give off a dominating and intimidating aura despite his cheery appearance.
"Is it because you're in love with Dr Stein? Is that what is bothering you so?" He announced and tilted his mask in question. Spirits mouth dropped open in shock, his face turning pale then a rapid crimson in the space of a few seconds.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT I HAVE KNOW IDEA WHY YOU WOULD EVER THINK I LOVE STEIN THAT IS SO RIDICU-" Spirit's rambling shouts were quickly silenced by the painful blow to his head Shinigami-sama had delivered. The death god raised the oversized white hand from his weapon's head and Spirit instantly grasped at his head in pain, his eyes turning shiny from emotion.
"I advise you calm down before I am forced to Shinigami chop you, Spirit." Lord Death said and turned away.
"But you already have-" Spirit started to mumble but stopped when Shinigami-sama turned to look back at him in warning.
"Now, are you going to tell me what you plan on doing about this whole love situation, hmm?" Shinigami- sama clapped his hands together then sat by a readily prepared table to help himself to some tea, motioning for Spirit to join him.
Still rubbing at his sore head, Spirit gave a small frown and then reluctantly sat opposite the shinigami, his hands curling around the teacup which was offered to him.
"How did you know?" He asked and Shinigami-sama gave a pleasant chuckle.
"It's not hard to see… And I see a lot of things that happen in this city…" Shinigami-sama took another sip of his tea and Spirit couldn't help but blush, remembering all the rather explicit things he and Stein had conducted together whilst in this city.
"Well, I'm afraid there isn't much I can tell you, as I'm not quite sure what to do about it myself." Spirit said sadly and he looked down at his reflection in the settled tea, his thoughts drifting to the encounter in the classroom and the ultimatum he seemed to be faced with.
"Do you love the man?" Shinigami-sama asked, and although Spirit couldn't bring himself to look up, he did manage a small nod, "And does the man love you?" Spirit nodded again, "Well, then I see no issue." Shinigami-sama said simply, finishing his tea quickly and placing his cup down.
"Oh, but there is… I mean… What, what about Maka? She still hates me after the whole ordeal with her mother. I don't want to drive her away even further by announcing I am hooking up with her teacher." Spirit grimaced at the thought of his daughter's reaction to such news. He knew it wouldn't be pleasant.
"Hmmmm… You do raise a good point there, I suppose." Shinigami-sama rose a finger to scratch the top of his mask in thought, "And she is going through a very vital time at the moment, with Soul- don't make that face," Shinigami-sama rose his hand in a threat against the unpleasant face Spirit had pulled at the sound of Soul's name before continuing, "-with Soul coming so close to becoming a death scythe earlier in the year. The two of them are very powerful as partners."
"They are… And I'd hate to distract her from her studies at such an important time…" Spirit admitted, his head falling to rest on his hands.
"And I fear there may be harder times ahead for us all in the near future…"
Spirit's head rose at the serious tone in Shinigami-sama's voice, his eyebrows rising in question.
"What do you mean?"
"Dark times are coming, Spirit-san. I can feel it all around. Madness and twisted forces are at work, although the exact cause is not quite identifiable at the moment."
"And what does this all mean?" Spirit gave him a worried look.
"All I'm saying is that do you really think now is the right time to be distracted by love?"
The question hung in the air between them, neither of them particularly willing to provide an answer. Spirit looked out at the white clouds slowly drifting by them, the settling feeling of a decision made weighing down on his stomach, making him feel almost painfully heavy.
"I understand." He said.
…
God, I know I said this would be the last chapter but it isn't, I still have one more to go I think. ^.^ Anyways, I apologise for the slight lameness of this chapter (and the fact it took me longer to get this one out than the last few, oops).
So thanks to Lazy Gaga, Bananas, lilac01 and IcedCherryHeart for your reviews! You guys are all super fabulous. :D
Lyrics at the top are taken from the song "I won't let you go" By James Morrison rather than "Guns and Horses" like the previous chapters, by the way.
