"This is absolutely hopeless how am I supposed to find a husband in a place full of kids it's impossible." Miserably, Marie whines whimpering to herself as she sits slumped against the park bench, Stein sitting by her side as they watch the basketball match play out between the kids.
"Heeey nice shooting Kid." Impressed, Stein smirks at Kid after watching him leap up in the air as Blackstar had jumped, trying to reach out to him but falters failing to catch the ball thrown towards the hoop as it slides in causing the kids on Kid's team to cheer joyous as he gushes about the awe of symmetry.
"Are they students from the DWMA?" Curious, Marie questions Stein watching the kids play.
"Yes and they're your students starting tomorrow. I'm surprised you didn't know." Stein smirks at Marie.
"What do you mean?" Marie questions confused, furrowing her brow at him.
"The kid that threw the ball doesn't he look familiar?" Smirking, Stein points towards Kid.
"Now that you mention it…" Marie's yellows narrow at the kid humming.
"That's Death the Kid." Stein tells Marie.
"Ava's child?" Marie's gold hues widen when hearing the words.
"Bingo." Stein chuckles nodding his head.
"Wow, he really does look like her well if you remove the weird striped on his head and being a boy part." Marie smiles beaming brightly leaning in seeing the resemblance as clear as day.
"Yeah…by the way you probably don't want to mention the stripes to Kid, he's a bit sensitive about it." Stein warns Marie.
"I remember you having a bit of a crush on her when we were students." Slyly, Marie smirks smugly at the memory.
"I did not." Stein scoffs.
"Oh come on don't lie. I remember you always going off to that mystical sword trying to claim it but coming back all bruised." Marie wiggles a brow bemused.
"She put up a fight I'll tell you that much." Stein scowls.
"And when she started teaching you were all flustered." Giggling, Marie chuckles.
"I was not." Stein scoffs.
"Oh please I know the troubles of love I also know how giddy you'd be with you special lengths with Ava." Teasingly, Marie wiggles a brow.
"…She was the only one." Stein mutters.
"Hm?" Marie hums arching a brow.
"The only one to understand madness like I did. I grew up with people calling me crazy, psychotic she was the first person to make me feel as if I wasn't alone, when I met her I understood how I could use my madness to the best of my ability. She was the only one who didn't truly see me as you guys did. She taught me madness wasn't to be feared but controlled without madness order would not exist, the two need each other whether we like to admit it or not." Stein explains to Marie her eyes softening sadly at him.
"Stein…" Marie sighs sadly at Stein, her gold hues softening sadly at the sheer intensity of the mad doctor.
"The weakest of people refuse to acknowledge the madness with them. Don't fear it…don't fear what is a part of you." Stoically, the young Ava informs the younger Stein as they stand in the open desert in the outskirts of death city to train to empty their mind as she turns to the young boy before her, brow furrowed frowning at her.
"Lord Death begs to differ." Bitterly, he sneers crossing his arms over his chest.
"Look kid you can't ignore madness it's innate it's all in us. The strongest of people accept the madness within them but they don't let it control you, they don't let the urges control them. They are the one in control just as you need to be in control of your own madness understand? The longer you try to push the madness away and deny it. The stronger it will become and gnaw away at you." Sighing, she explains to him as the two do some excises, the young Stein copying the movements of his teacher, his greens glued to her form as he copies, feeling the sweat slither down his tense temple, feeling the madness flowing through his veins gnawing away at him as next thing he knew…he fell to the ground, heaving huffing, vomit spewing out of him. Stunned, he stares down, his greens glued to the crimson coating of his fingertips, raw red droplets descending down his fingertips bringing a crooked Cheshire like grin to his lips as he chuckles, he had blacked out for a moment and yet look at what he had done, what at what he did, what at what he…
"It's alright. It's okay. Everything is okay…" Shocked, Stein's greens widen when hearing the voice, his nose twitching at the stench of iron, staring down at her mauled arm, seeing his crimson coated fingertips digging deep into her arm, his teeth gnawing away at her flesh but she remains undeterred much to his shock when her arms remain firmly around his.
"You're not alone Stein you're not alone." Softly, Ava's voice whispers to the shell shocked boy, his green hues widening when hearing her words, when feeling her hands wrap around his cold form, his eyes widening, his glassy green shimming, shining from her words, from her tender touch, from her soft whispers as the dam broke and the tears fell freely form the quivering, quaking mess, crying out. But no matter how hard he thrashes how hard he clawed, how hard he tried to escape he knew he couldn't. He felt her arms around him until he went limp, hearing the brief crack in his tone, biting hi lip trying to sniffle the sob that broke through as his shaken, quivering, quaking hands clutched the back of her shirt, his fingertips digging deep into her shirt bawling up the fabric. He clung to her…
Warmth…that was the first time Stein had ever felt such a feeling, he heard of it, he had read of it in texts but never had he felt the warmth that so many people spoke of until that day…