:3 Yay! People read my fics! Thank you for all of the opinions you gave me! I hope I can learn. ; w ; Eventually. Thanks for all the nice feedback! I'll have a chapter out every few days or so, so don't worry!
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"How's your hand?" Stein asked, sipping a cup of black coffee in front of the computer, slightly swiveled around to face Marie.
Marie was sitting on the purple couch, and in the past few days, had continued to clean up his house. It was a lot brighter in this room than it used to be. There were lights actually in use, and it was cleared of its usual paper and dishware clutter. Marie set down a cup of tea she made for herself on the coffee table beside its arm. "Fine," she replied with a smile, looking at her left hand for a brief moment. "It's healing."
"Good." He nodded, taking another big slug out of a chipped mug. She had offered to give him his coffee in some of the mugs and cups she had bought recently, but he had refused. He liked his own chipped mugs and beakers to drink out of. Maybe it was just habit. She would admit that she too had a few unstoppable habits.
"I'm sure your future boyfriends would question why you've got that scar. It's better that it heals and isn't noticeable."
"Hah hah, yeah," Marie agreed, her shoulders relaxing and she softly looked at her left hand. In time, it would heal, and the reddish scab that was there now would eventually fall off and form a fleshy raised scar. Like Stein had said, she too hoped that it would only become a small scar. "I don't think I'm too proud of that little accident." She had absent-mindedly jumped over the words 'future boyfriends'.
"So you still plan on retiring from patrolling in the Oceania and getting married?"
Marie giggled lightly and nodded, "Yep. I'm not changing my goal. I've made up my mind. He's only a year older than us, but Spirit's already a daughter a little over 14." Her hands reached up to her cheeks and she started pulling and squishing parts of her face, "I wanna get married before I get too old. I don't wanna be a granny."
Stein smirked, "You aren't one…And keep in mind Maka was born when Spirit was only 18. He got busy fast. "Stein joked.
Marie laughed lightly, "That'd be a little too young for me, but I'd like to be a parent someday…What about you, Stein? You teach—or used to teach—the students at Shibusen, so you can't be entirely against kids…"
Stein sighed, resting his chin on a palm. "I don't know." He admitted. "I guess, but I seem a little bit too scary to be a dad."
Marie's lips curved upwards to form a smile, "If Spirit raised Maka, then I'm sure you'd be an okay parent too. It could also depend on the child's personality, but if you had a good wife, then I'm sure you'd be a great dad."
Stein chuckled, "You're so sure?"
"Huh?" Marie blinked, a little confused.
"You see so sure of yourself, Marie. Are you suggesting that we get married?"
Marie's pupils contracted immensely and her face glowed a bright red. "I…uh…I wasn--…Uhn,"
Stein just chuckled, "Your embarrassed face is cute."
Marie was a little angry, being backed into a corner like that. "Are you asking to marry me?" She retorted, her face flushed from embarrassment and annoyance.
Stein just smirked slyly, "Would you accept if I asked you?"
Marie shut her mouth and averted her eyes for a moment. The man she had fallen in love with had just—in a way—asked her to marry him. Of course she wanted to scream 'yes', but her mouth just wouldn't open. She looked back up him, blinking a few more times, rather speechless. "I would accept." She squeaked.
"What was that?" Stein said with a hand to his ear. He had heard her, but just to toy with her, he pretended to be hard of hearing. "I couldn't quite hear you. Speak up."
"If you asked me, I'd marry you!" She said a bit louder, a little forceful because she was nervous and tense.
Clunk. Huh? Marie looked down; her tea had spilled over and was dripping on her foot.
Marie opened her eyes. Hah, she smiled to herself, I knew it was too good to be true. Just a dream. She had wished it'd been reality, but unfortunately, it wasn't. It was just a little fantasy she had while she sat at the now cleaned dining table in Stein's house—the Patchwork Laboratory. She sat up, but noticed something around her shoulders. She looked over at it to realize that Stein had placed his lab coat on her shoulders to serve as a blanket. She smiled, and her gaze softened.
Marie had fallen asleep with her face buried in her arms in Stein's kitchen. She had just finished cleaning, and fully exhausted, she took a quick nap on the table. She stood up and scooted the stitched chair back into its place, taking Stein's coat off of her shoulders and folded it over on an arm, and decided she'd return it to him.
Now that she had accomplished a lot of cleaning in the past few days, the grey, concrete box-like house seemed a bit livelier, despite only housing two people. The lights in most of the hallways were on, which easily dispelled most of the forbidding atmosphere this place gave off. Marie rounded a corner, headed towards Stein's office, and beyond that, his lab.
CRASH! What was that? Marie dashed towards the sound of the noise, hoping that whatever it was just happened to be an accident. "Stein!"
Stein picked up a piece of the broken mirror on the floor, standing back up again to see if he could place it back in its proper place. The mirror hovered over the sink, and with one hand on the sink, Stein used his olive eyes to try to locate one of the missing pieces in the broken mirror. Where did that little missing piece go? There were thousands of little specs of glass that had fallen to the floor of the small room adjoined to the rest of his lab.
The mirror was completely shattered. Only gravity held it in place. There were larger cracks in the mirror, where Stein had punched it a few days ago, but hardly remembered why. There were smaller cracks in the mirror, farther away from where the original fist had made contact with the glass. As he tried to slip the missing piece back into a specific spot, the mirror had distorted into some kind of metallic liquid.
Stein stepped back once, staring at his mirror that resembled a pond of mercury. Within an instant, in solidified, and a reflection stared back at him in the parallel surface. It had black and white hair, and unnatural combination that made him seem like some sort of pedigree experiment. Three red eyes glowed with hate as they connected to Stein's. The male figure was wrapped in what looked like flesh-colored scarves.
What are you doing in that mirror, Stein? The voice asked him, sounding like fingernails dancing against a chalkboard.
"The mirror?" Stein laughed, unable to control himself. "I'm not in the mirror, you are!"
Oh? I am? Well then, help me out. The figure reached out of the mirror and two hands materialized on each side of the mirror, and soon poked out the figure's head as he started to emerge slowly, almost as though he were being born again.
"Don't come out here!" He screamed at the figure, his face warping from a psychotic grin to that of a drill sergeant. "You should stay in that mirror!"
The three red eyes looked up at him all at the same time. Why aren't you helping me? Aren't we on the same side?
"No!" Stein corrected him, "We're not!" And balling up a fist, he lobbed a fist at the mirror, hearing a satisfactory din. Something was wrong with his hands; the figure had absorbed back into the mirror and started laughing. Kehahaha! You've gone and broken yourself!
Stein stared at both of his hands, they were falling apart like little glass shards, cascading to the floor like jagged raindrops, and soon all of him started to fall apart. "No!" He screamed, trying to clutch his shoulders as he eroded.
"Stein!" Marie's voice called. She came bursting in, and had thrown his coat on the purple couch. She dashed into the small room with the medical supplies and a few other implements, where Stein remained in a heap. "Stein!" She screamed, kneeling down in the glass shards, but enough adrenaline was in her bloodstream that she was oblivious to the pain of the microscopic shards being imbedded into her knees. Stein's body was limp, and she held up his torso. His head rolled back and his arms flopped out, looking somewhat like a dead body. His forehead was bleeding, and the thin layer of skin on his knuckles was ripped and torn, oozing blood.
"Stein!" She screamed in his ear, tears falling onto his face. He still remained unresponsive. "S—Stein…" Marie cried, holding him closer.
"Is he gone?" Stein breathed weakly.
"W—what? Who?" Marie sobbed, trying to hold back tears and sniffled, clearing her throat once.
"Ashura." Stein replied. "He nearly got out of the mirror, but I stopped him." He smiled, letting out a relieved laugh. "You don't have to worry, Marie. I stopped the Kishin for you." He grinned.
Stein's mental stability was completely erratic. One moment he was a sly man who subtly antagonized Marie, the next, he was hallucinating and getting himself hurt. It pained her to say this, but she needed to bring him out of his delusions. "Stein, there never was any Kishin here."
Stein's expression warped. "What do you mean?" He sputtered, obviously gaining some of his strength back. He forced his way out of her grasp and leaned against the wall for support, holding his right hand under his left arm in pain.
"It's just been us, Stein. No one has come here for a few days, not even Spirit or Chrona."
Stein chuckled, "You're lying to me! Ashura was right here, I saw him! He was going to escape and kill you!"
Marie blinked in disbelief. "W—what do you mean?" She asked him, almost ready to cry again.
"That bastard was going to kill you!" He thundered, screaming right in her face. "I wouldn't let him! I wouldn't let him kill you! You're not going to leave me, ever!"
"What are you saying, Stein?" Marie placed her hands on her thighs as she sat on her feet and knees. Luckily, her skirt was thick; she wouldn't have to worry much about the glass underneath.
"I'm saying you're important to me, damnit!"
Marie said nothing, but stood up, brushing the little glass bits off of her person and tried to help Stein up, "I'll take care of you, Stein." She said solemnly. "You should probably be resting…"
Stein shirked her off, pushing her helpful gesture away, and managed to stand himself, a little shaky. "I'll take care of myself." He said gruffly, glaring at her. He staggered out of the room, still clutching his right hand. The knuckles were still bleeding from punching that glass even harder than before. The mirror now was nothing but an empty frame. The glass bits that hadn't crashed to the floor fell into the sink directly below it. Marie watched him silently, then brought herself to straighten her spine. She eyed the bandages that were still lying about from her previous hand accident. Grabbing them quickly, she went after Stein. "I'll help you with your hand—"
"No," He brushed her away, pushing back her offering hands with his uninjured one. "I don't want your help. Leave me alone."
Marie felt crushed. A second ago he had screamed at her that she was important to him, and he didn't want her to die. He needed her, but all of a sudden she was like some stranger to him. There was now a third side to this new Stein. A side that avoided her. She was stuck with a mischievous, insane and solitary man. This was the man that she had fallen in love with.
She watched the man fish out a packet of cigarettes out of one of his pockets and he rested his back against a wall, sliding down slowly. He tapped the bottom of the container lightly with his wounded hand and out popped a single cigarette. He bit down on it and pulled it out, using his upper lip to bring it to the point where it wouldn't fall out of his mouth. He additionally scooped out a chrome lighter with his uninjured hand and ignited a small flame, it came in contact with the tobacco-filled stick and sizzled.
He inhaled deeply, letting the smoke escape out of his nostrils and at that point, looked very much like an agitated dragon. He glared at her, olive eyes narrowed. "Why are you still here?"
Marie blinked, after she had walked out of the smaller room, she just stood there, watching Stein light his cigarette. "Hah?" She uttered, waking from her trance.
"Get the hell out…!" He said forcefully, his face scrunching up and his upper lip curled.
"Y—yes…" Marie muttered, and left his room, closing the big charcoal door behind her. KLNK. The door boomed at her. Patchwork Laboratory had fallen silent. That is, until a quiet and shy knock sounded on the front door.
Marie didn't hear it at first, but every few seconds, there was a stream of quiet little knocks. She tilted her head to one side and pondered who it could be. If it were Spirit, he'd have just busted in nonchalantly.
Marie walked to the door a little gingerly, rather anxious about whom it was. She gently clicked the front door open, and there stood a willowy pink-haired androgynous figure clutching her right arm. Her face was tilted downwards, and she was shaking a little.
"Chrona?" Marie asked, a little surprised to see her out of nowhere. She ushered Chrona into Stein's house and led her to the kitchen, trying to keep away from Stein as long as she could. Stein in this state wouldn't be thrilled to see anyone. At all.
"M—Marie…" Chrona started, shaking.
"What is it, Chrona?" Marie smiled, pouring a small cup for Chrona and set it on a saucer, pushing it towards the thin, seemingly-genderless student.
Chrona didn't bother with her tea. She just hung her head, and choked sobs sounds emitted from her mouth. "I--I'm sorry…Marie." Chrona forced out, her voice shaking and tears already had bubbled over.
Marie leaned over a bit to try to seek Chrona's eye contact. "Sorry about what?" Marie blinked unknowingly.
"I'm sorry!" Chrona cried, "I didn't want to but…but she made me do it."
"Do what, Chrona?" Marie asked, narrowing her eyes lightly. "What did you do?
"I put…I put a…I put a microphone…I—in your d—drink…"
"Huh?" Marie asked, confused. Then it hit her, it was that black mass that Joe had removed from her. Marie's amber eyes relaxed, in disbelief. A scared smile started to grow on her face, "Chrona…"
"I'm sorry!" Chrona cried, bowing her head low, trying to wipe her tears away, only for more to start flowing, like a continuous waterfall. "Medusa made me! I didn't want to! I want to stay here with my friends…I…I don't…I don't know what to do anymore."
Marie relaxed, feeling somewhat like Chrona at this point; unsure of what to do next. "I don't know either, Chrona." She said plainly.
Chrona looked up, heartbreak clearly visible on her pale face. Her lower lip trembled and her shoulders shook. "M—Marie…I…"
Marie rose to her feet, staying silent for a moment, but kept a calm face. "Chrona," She started, her eyes softening, "I'm sorry to say this, but I think you should leave now."
"Oh…I—I was j—jus…just a—about to leave…S—sorry for b—bothering you, Marie." Chrona sniffled and wiped away her tears, trying to suck in all of the emotions that had just spilled out. Chrona remembered the way out, and scurried as quickly as she could out of the room, and into a hallway, and out of the house. She closed the door lightly behind her, taking one look back before scuttling on back to her prison cell of a room.
Marie sat back down on one of the kitchen chairs, just letting go and rested her head on her arms. She stared at the two rather full tea cups near her. Chrona hadn't even touched her. She didn't need to even bother. Even last time Chrona had come for a visit, she took about two sips, then left. Now Marie knew why. She had come here for a specific purpose each trip, the first was to plan the bug in Stein's house, the next was to apologize for doing so.
She sighed emptily. Chrona's emotions are far more mutilated than my own… Marie thought, resting her forehead on her palms. That poor enervated girl had a distorted sense of right and wrong from birth. Her mother, Medusa, being a witch. She was torn between her two worlds, the world with her friends, and the world with her mother. The side that Shibusen fought against.
Chrona…I know you didn't mean to. You were just being obedient. If only your mother was a different kind of person. You were just obeying her orders. Don't hate yourself for listening to your parents. You're supposed to, but at a certain age you have to live for yourself. Parents and children are two totally different life forms, and with each new generation, things change.
At least you apologized. At least you told me. You chose to.
At least…You chose your own decision.
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Gwah, I messed up a little bit of the chronology (in the manga) but let's hope you guys don't notice! ; ~ ; I didn't…for a while at least. Thanks again for all of your kind reviews and helpful advice!! n – n