"To Marie!" A chorus of voices echoed the sentiment and cups were thrown back. Alcohol was flowing freely, and the people gathered around the table were smiling and joking for the first time since they had brought Marie's tortured body back to Shibusen.
Glasses slammed down on the table, and boisterous voices talked over each other, each trying to share a different story of their fallen companion. A single glass in the corner sat untouched in front of an empty chair. It was Marie's. The group quieted a bit as Spirit staggered to his feet, more than a little drunk.
"I remember when, when Marie first came back to Shibusen. She tried, she tried so hard to avoid," he hiccupped here, "any type of work. She managed to get lost her first day back although…" his voice lowered to a whisper and he glanced over at the empty seat, "I think it might have been on purpose." Laughter rippled through the table as everyone raised their glasses and took another deep drink of their various alcohols.
Spirit collapsed down into his chair, laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes. Azusa stood next, taking a drink of her sake before speaking. "Marie was so obsessed with finding a boyfriend when we were in class that she never-" the death scythe paused for a second and blinked, "she never studied for any of her tests. To this day, I don't understand how the airhead managed to pass all of them! But she did, without a single bit of time detracted from pining over her love life." Azusa's voice dropped conspiratorially low, "I may have been a little jealous." Another round of laughter broke through the ranks as Azusa stumbled slightly, leaving her drink behind and headed to the bathroom.
"To Marie!" Stein called out, his cheeks flushed slightly from the alcohol as he drained nearly an entire beer during the toast. The assembled friends echoed his sentiment before quieting down as the scientist stood somewhat unsteadily.
"I remember when Marie moved into the lab. She brought with her all these bright colors, and insisted on throwing open the blinds and curtains throughout the entire lab. She ruined not three but four of my experiments doing it," Stein's voice dissolved briefly into flitting laughter, "but she insisted on making amends for it. Her idea of making amends was to strategically place plants in front of windows so that they would filter some of the sunlight and provide fresh air! But she bought plastic ones!"
The table erupted in laughter as Stein slumped back down into his seat, already drinking another beer that Spirit had slid to him from across the table. "To Marie!" Sid called out, standing to his feet to share his story of Marie, this one of their time together at the academy, and he barely caught Azusa as she stumbled over her own heels coming back to the table. The group laughed, and Sid went on with his story.
"I remember the first time I met Marie was when I was still alive. She was lost in the halls, trying to get to her class on time, and bumped into me. I don't know if she thought that I was trying to attack her or what, but she knocked me through a wall and into the girl's locker room. I never knew if I should thank her for that or be angry!" Sid raised his glass to the chair in the corner, laughing as he did so.
"To Marie!" Nygus called out. "To the most stubborn, unmotivated, dedicated and loving person any of us will ever have the privilege of knowing!"
"To Marie!" The small group called out, throwing back another round of drinks.
"To Marie! The only person I've ever seen who could make doing nothing look like hard labor!" Azusa laughed out.
"To Marie!" Another toast, another set of drinks.
"To Marie! The only death scythe who wanted to retire before she was even a death scythe!" Sid called out.
"To Marie!" The group echoed, drinking again.
"To Marie!" Spirit said surging to his feet and swaying a bit. "The most wonderful woman I never had the pleasure of pleasuring!"
The group burst into laughter, drinks emptying.
Stein stood then, his bottle in the air. "To Marie! The woman we all loved and miss."
The group was silent for a moment, processing what the swaying scientist had said.
"To Marie." Nygus said, the others echoing her, drinks being raised one final time.
Azusa was the first to stand, bowing to the empty chair. "Itersasai, watashi no tomodachi." The woman left the bar then, slipping into a waiting taxi.
Sid and Nygus stood after her, both raising one last drink to the empty chair. "Safe travels on." Nygus said as Sid inclined his head. They left the bar, leaning on each other for support. They stumbled together down the road, tears slipping out from underneath Nygus' bandages.
Stein stood to his feet a few minutes later. "I'm… I'm going to the grave." Stein said slowly.
"Sh-tine. She's not… not there." Spirit slurred out. "Y-you s-said it yaself." Spirit stood hesitantly to his feet, moving to the scientist. "No p-point." He glanced over at the full glass. The man hit his knees suddenly. "She's gone."
Stein went to his knees beside the man as Spirit hung his head sobbing. "Wakes are happy, Senpai." Stein tamped down the anguish he felt at the man's words. "You don't cry at them, we're honoring her, not mourning her." His hand hesitantly fell on Spirit's shoulder and the other man looked up. Without the scientist's consent his hand reached up, brushing Spirit's hair away from the other man's face.
A moment later Spirit's lips pressed against Stein's own, pushing the scientist backwards to where he was supporting his weight on his hands; Spirit was sprawled against his chest, the man's fingertips brushing against the scientist's. Through the haze of alcohol Stein fought to understand what was going on, a feeling that he didn't understand surfacing. It was familiar though, one that he had repressed around Marie for almost the entire time they had lived together.
As Spirit pulled away, a blush on the death scythe's face, Stein made a decision. He had ignored the feeling with Marie, and she was gone. He wasn't going to make the same mistake with Spirit. He sat up as Spirit pulled away, apologies already on the death scythe's lips as the adrenaline from the shock burned away some of the drunken stupor they were both in. One dexterous hand wrapped around the other man's tie, and drug Spirit's face back down to Stein's.
Stein's lips pressed against Spirit's and the death scythe closed his eyes, leaning against Stein. A sudden sound caused them to pull apart, the bartender looking down at them.
"I'm closing up," he said quietly, looking pointedly at the door.
The two stood, Spirit sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and Stein turning the screw in his head. Spirit pulled out more than enough money to pay for what they had drank and the two stepped into the night together.
"Her grave?" Spirit asked suddenly, holding up a bottle with a sly grin.
Stein smirked. "To her grave."
Side by side they staggered not towards the graveyard, but towards the Death Room and the grave that Marie's soul was resting in.
Spirit's arm was draped over Stein's shoulder as they wandered down the halls of Shibusen, the bottle already empty, shared between the two of them. They were as lost as Marie ever had been, sharing a laugh over that fact. Coming around a corner both of them hit their asses as Shinigami-sama himself was in front of them.
"You two have been wandering the halls for nearly an hour, come on." The being turned to leave and the two men just looked at each other.
"Senpai, do you see him?" Stein whispered.
"I do, do you?" Spirit replied, warily eyeing the shinigami.
"I do too."
"He must be real then. Guess we should follow." Spirit tried to stand, and fell backwards, laughing. Stein didn't fare much better, his legs unsteady and shaky as he did. He reached out a hand to help the death scythe to his feet and nearly toppled over as Spirit stood. Giggles poured from the scientist's throat before he yawned, turning to follow the cloaked figure.
There, thirty feet ahead of them was a door that they both remembered passing multiple times. Shinigami-sama just shook his head, opening the door and waiting for the drunken meister and weapon to enter the room. They stumbled in, leaning on each other again and stopped, looking around in wonder.
They waited until Shinigami-sama had floated past them, and followed him to the small cross that was Marie's grave. Spirit smiled down at the grave and Stein knelt in front of it his long fingers digging into the dirt before removing an item from his lab coat and placing it into the hole.
"What did you bury, Stein-kun?" Shinigami-sama asked.
"The mate to the other piece." Stein said simply, standing and wiping the dirt off his fingers.
"The other piece?" Spirit echoed.
"Marie had two things that were very dear to her," the scientist explained, twisting the screw in his head. "One was an eye patch her grandmother had given her, which I buried with her body. The other was what I just buried here."
"Which was?" Spirit asked.
Stein smirked. "The tag that denoted her as a weapon. She said entering the academy was the proudest day of her life."
The three individuals looked down at the grave. Spirit's voice was quiet. "Goodbye, Marie. Rest well."
Stein just nodded. "Goodbye, Marie. I'm… sorry." With that he turned and walked off, Spirit following the meister a second later.
Spirit walked with Stein the whole way to the Patchwork Lab, and followed the meister in. He collapsed onto the couch, kicking his shoes off, and was asleep before Stein could even make a smart aleck comment.
The surprising thing to the scientist was that he couldn't think of anything smart alecky enough to say, and that he didn't mind the fact that he wouldn't be alone at all.
A/N: The ball… tumbles. I hope that you enjoyed.
I don't own Soul Eater.