Lord Death is talking when the call comes in. "I don't expect we'll see any major effects of the Madness Wavelength for a few weeks at the earliest, and probably not for another month or so. The Kishin's Madness shouldn't be underestimated, but it won't kick in all at once or we'd have been in big trouble way before now."
"Mmm." Spirit has enough experience with this to know that the right thing to do is nod and agree and let the words wash over him. He is trying to pay attention, but he's not been sleeping well, jerking awake from nightmares he can only half-remember, and the Death Room is warm and the teacup in his hands is sending a drift of soft steam into his face that is entirely counteracting the enlivening effects of the liquid itself.
The mirror hisses with static, beeps in warning, and then Stein's voice cuts into the room and Spirit's exhaustion evaporates like it was never there in the first place. "Lord Death, it's Stein. We need to talk."
Spirit skitters sideways without thinking, edging out of view of the mirror where Stein's face is now visible. He hasn't seen the meister in person since that conversation on the basketball court a week ago and he'd like to maintain his careful avoidance as long as he reasonably can. It's selfish, he knows - he should be happy that Stein has found someone, that Marie has someone to dote on - but he can't force himself into joy on their behalf past the bite of jealousy, and it seems a better option to stay away so he doesn't pick a fight or sabotage any of the relationships involved in a moment of reckless frustration.
Lord Death doesn't turn, just glides over to the mirror to answer. "Hey there! Hiya! How ya doing? Thanks for coming, good ta see ya!" Spirit has tried to explain greetings before - namely, that one is sufficient to start a conversation - but the details never quite stick, and at this point he has a suspicion that Lord Death is doing it just to tease him, so he rolls his eyes but stays quiet. "Well? What's up? Have you got something figured out?"
"Yes. I believe the Heretic Witch Arachne scattered her body and left her soul inside the golem that's gone crazy in Loew Village."
Stein sounds calm, reciting back information rapid-fire like he's reading off a page, but he looks exhausted. He always looks tired, of course; Spirit's never know him to lack the shading of insomnia underneath the edge of his glasses. But now his shoulders are tipped forward, his glasses catching the light in that way they do when he's trying to hide his expression, and there's tension along the edge of his jawline.
It's at this point that Spirit realizes he's cataloguing Stein's face, drinking in the details from his unseen angle as if he can make up for the mutual silence between them with one-sided observation. He glances to Lord Death, terrified that he's been caught, but the shinigami is fixed on Stein and appears entirely oblivious to the weapon's focus.
"Arachne?"
"That's right. It makes sense for her to be the first one we've seen to be dramatically affected by the Madness Wavelengths."
Spirit's not sure what it is that tips him off. It might be a shake in Stein's voice, a motion half-seen out of the corner of his eye, something sensed rather than seen, but he is turning towards the mirror, stepping forward in a panic before he sees the meister move.
Not that there is anything he can do. All he manages is to be just over Lord Death's shoulder, just out of range of the mirror itself, when Stein clutches at the front of his coat and crumples forward. The meister manages to stay on his feet, although from the tension in his arm he's bracing himself heavily on the edge of the mirror on his end, and when he speaks his voice is strained tight over hysteria. "Even here I can feel it. The Madness inside me...her madness is clawing its way inside my body." His chin is tipped down, taking the glare off his lenses to show the tremble as his eyes try to focus on nothing in particular. They are wide and staring and Spirit has seen him like this before but it is worse now, worse to see it and have no support to offer. Stein bites down on his lower lip, hard enough that Spirit half-expects to see blood.
"I know it's hard but try to endure it," Lord Death is saying, and Spirit could hit him for sounding so calm when Stein looks to be on the verge of collapse on the other end.
Stein folds over further, almost out of range of the mirror entirely, and visibly sways on his feet. Even so, when he speaks his voice is more steady, even if the effort to make it so is audible in the words. "This is too much for Maka and the others to handle alone. I'll head there now to help them."
"What-" Spirit starts, but Lord Death talks over him, drowning out his protest and his voice both.
"Now now, Stein, don't be hasty. I had a bad feeling about this situation too, you see. Necessary measures have already been taken."
"Oh?" Stein steadies, pushes himself upright on whatever is in front of him. His eyes clear, focus on the glass. The shadows under them are only as bad as they usually are, which is something of a relief, but the green in his eyes is dark, heavy with fear or dread or resignation or something of all three. Spirit wonders if Stein knows he's broadcasting his emotions so strongly. Maybe he can't help it just at the moment.
"Yep. I asked Justin to go out to the village as well. Between his abilities and the Demon Swordsman, the students should be able to safely retreat back to the Academy, even if they end up running into Arachne herself."
The idea of Maka facing down the Heretic Witch makes Spirit cringe, whimper like he's been hit. There is a prickle along his spine, the desire to transform and go out to offer support physical sensation as his body considers the possibility...but without a meister he's less effective than the students are themselves, and he has been ordered to stay with Lord Death, and...he doesn't transform. Maka will be fine. He's still glad neither of the other two are watching him, because he's pretty sure his expression isn't that of a "grown man," as Stein would put it.
"Arachne. The mother of magic weapons. This must have happened because of the Madness Wavelengths. They've stirred her at last from her slumber." Stein has regained control of his voice if not his face; he sounds as steady and almost bored as usual.
"Who knew she was still alive after all this time?" Lord Death responds. He begins to ramble, telling Stein about the history of magic weapons as if the meister doesn't know the background as well or better than either Spirit or Lord Death himself. Spirit ignores it, more concerned about the lines across Stein's face and the fact that Stein lets Lord Death continue rather than cutting him off. Spirit's not sure Stein is hearing the shinigami at all, from the way his eyes keep sliding out of focus like he's looking at something far in the back of the Death Room.
"Call me if you need me for anything else." Stein's voice brings Spirit's attention back to the mirror. The meister is upright now, the glare is back over his eyes, his voice is steady. If it weren't for the recent past Spirit wouldn't know to look to his wrists, to see the shift of the fabric that says that the meister's best efforts can't quite control all of his trembling.
"Will do! See ya Stein!" Lord Death chirps, and then the mirror goes flat and ordinarily reflective once again.
Lord Death doesn't turn to Spirit right away; he gazes into the almost-perfect reflection of himself, and when he speaks Spirit isn't sure it's directed at him at all. "Hmm. He's not doing as well as I'd hoped he would be."
"What?" Spirit's voice comes out flat rather than startled, and that is when Lord Death twists to face him.
"Have you been able to keep an eye on him as well? How has he been doing?"
Spirit opens his mouth, shuts it. He can't decide whether he wants to lie and say he has been or tell the truth and explain his reasoning. He opts for something in the middle.
"The Madness Wavelength is really hard on him but he's fighting it." He can't tell Lord Death that he's horrified, that he didn't expect to see Stein so tired and so fragile this soon, that he thought Marie would be more help and that the Madness would progress more slowly and that Stein would hold out...longer? Any resistance is only temporary. Spirit hasn't let himself calculate how long Stein has before the Madness takes over him entirely. His head charts the progress, the descent over the last week, and nausea hits him as strongly as it ever has after a fight.
"Uh. I think Marie is the best choice." He's not even sure what he's saying, rambling through words and half-formed ideas. "I mean. She was there before, right? She's been great for him in the past. And she's there all the time and can be there to help whenever he needs her, she doesn't have any other responsibilities, and besides he -"
He stops. He can't quite manage to put words to what he saw between Marie and Stein in the park, can't face that on top of Stein's impending Madness, not when he's still reeling from the first realization.
"Spirit?" He can't look at Lord Death. There won't be anything to see but the mask, but he feels irrationally like he can hide something if he keeps his face down. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." The words sound flat, dead, drained of emotion. "Is there anything else you needed me for today?"
There is a pause just slightly too long for perfect normalcy. "Nope! That's everything! You're free to go."
"Thank you."
It's startling to realize it's still daylight outside. The sun is still laughing down over the city and golden light is pouring into the dark corners of the alleys. It's entirely unsuited to Spirit's mood. ChupaCabra's isn't open for hours, and besides he can't drink while Lord Death could need him at any moment, at least not to the level of intoxication that could let him sleep dreamlessly past the current painfully sharp awareness in his head. Instead he goes home, to his empty apartment, and pulls the blinds shut over every window in the house. It's almost dark enough, then, and Spirit turns on the television and stretches out across his couch in his suit and tries to let the influx of meaningless images wipe out the shake of Stein's arm and the awful smile across his face, and tries to stay awake so he doesn't have to dream of Stein screaming for help on the other side of glass that Spirit can't get through no matter how bloody he beats his fists.