Marie was so worried about Stein. She noticed that he had been overworking himself lately. He was staying up later than usual, multitasking like hell, and not eating enough. Despite his hard work however, he had fallen behind in grading papers. He had been far more interested in working on some recent experiments and thus a giant stack of papers had formed on his desk; about three weeks of everyone's homework.

Now something else had come up and Lord Death wanted Stein to look into it, so off to the library he went. Marie knew he wasn't going to be home until late which meant that he was going to miss dinner. Also he had decided that when he returned home he was going to grade all of his papers.

Marie considered the situation. If Stein got home at around midnight from the library and it took him about two and a half hours to finish grading everything…then he wouldn't be able to get to bed until 2:30! Marie looked over at the clock; 9:30 pm.

"Stein…" she sighed.

What was she going to do with that man? He was totally crazy…in more ways than one.

Marie smiled suddenly. She had it! She would do the papers for him! Ugh! Oh no…she had to clean first. That was going to take a while in itself. But Marie was not going to just give up. After cleaning for about an hour, Marie finally plopped down in Stein's rolling chair and began to grade papers.

Her eyelid would droop occasionally from sleepiness, but she continually shook herself away. She was doing this for Stein.

After completing the papers, Marie looked over at the clock. 11:30…

"Stein…hasn't cleaned his lab in a while…I'll do that for him…" Marie said with a sleepy smile as she yawned.

Ugh the yawning. She had been yawning since she started cleaning and each time her lovely eye would water and it was getting rather annoying. No matter…it was for Stein…she would do anything for him.

So she began to clean his lab with a smile despite her current exhaustion. She was more tired than usual because she hadn't slept well the night before and on top of that she had had to supervise ten fights that Black Star started. My my, that boy…she adored him anyway though. She loved all of her students.

Marie looked around the lab. "Just a…little…more…" she said softly as she yawned yet again. "Stein will be so…happy…."

Marie finally sat back down at the rolling chair, yawned and began to work on cleaning the desk. She was so tired. She yawned about every other second, but she was happy; this was for her meister; her friend; the man she loved….her Stein.

Finally at about 12:30 Stein returned home; he hadn't expected to be out this late. Ugh…and he still had all those papers to grade. Well, they weren't going to do themselves so he headed into his lab, but was shocked at what he saw.

"Marie…" he said softly.

There she was, her head resting against his desk, sitting in his rolling chair. Her eye was closed so peacefully and her breaths were shallow and darling. Her face looked almost infant-like as she slept.

Stein's face went soft when he noticed the massive stack of papers; they had all been corrected. His lab…it was clean…

Marie…she must have stayed up so late doing all of this. She must be absolutely exhausted. Stein thought as he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

She made a small sleepy sound that made Stein smile. Very slowly and carefully, Stein scooped Marie up from the chair and held her bridal style. Very smoothly he carried her to bed and laid her down, covering her up with her soft blanket.

He watched as she yawned and smiled in her sleep. She was so beautiful…Marie….she had done all of that just for him despite how tired she was.

"Thank you, Marie." Stein said cupping her cheek.

Then he couldn't help it; he very gingerly rubbed her arm and stroked her hair. Then finally he dared himself to press his lips against her forehead. He watched as she shifted in her sleep from the touch of his lips and smiled with warmth and contentment.

"Stein…." She whispered in her sleep.

Stein blinked once; what was she dreaming about?

"Go to sleep…you need….the rest…" she grumbled.

Stein smirked. Even in her sleep Marie was caring for him.

"I wish I could tell you how much I care for you." He said just above a whisper.

Then he found himself yawning. "Goodnight Marie." He said, as he began to stand up to leave, but was surprised when he felt Marie's arms wrap around him and pull him downward.

She hugged him closely like a teddy bear and giggled contentedly in her sleep. "Mine…" she said cutely.

Well this was awkward. Stein wasn't really sure how to feel about this. Should he try and get away? But then he felt sleepiness taking him over yet again as he yawned.

Mmmm it wouldn't be a bad idea to sleep with…ahem sleep NEXT TO Marie tonight would it?

Resolving that it was no big deal because they were friends, Stein returned Marie's embrace with a more relaxed hold.

He and Marie yawned at the same time and moments after that, Stein fell asleep with Marie in his arms and he in hers…

Marie…perhaps he would dream of her tonight…