Stein blinked bleary eyes, staring up at the ceiling for a long moment before one hand reached up to shakily twist the screw in his head. After a couple rotations and the resounding click he became aware of pressure on his chest, and hazarded a glance down.
He was lying on the purple couch, Spirit sprawled out against him. An empty bottle was still clenched in Spirit's hand and the man was snoring contentedly, his face resting against Stein's chest.
Stein was at a loss for what to do. If he moved, it would wake Spirit. If he didn't move, Spirit would eventually awake on his own, and this was a very, very awkward position for them to wake up in. He was still wearing his lab coat, but he could see the contents of said lab coat sitting on the table, just out of reach, along with one of Spirit's shoes.
He didn't remember emptying the pockets, and he had no idea how Spirit's shoe got onto the table. He vaguely remembered sitting down on the couch to pull his own shoes off. He did however realize rather suddenly that his head was pounding terribly. With a sigh he began the process of trying to move the death scythe without waking him, slipping his hands underneath Spirit's armpits and gently sliding the man upward.
Getting Spirit to move on his own was a bit of a challenge, but Stein eventually managed it and he stood, leaving the death scythe lying face down on the couch. The man murmured a bit and Stein sighed, slipping his lab coat off and draping it over Spirit. Stein stretched then, feeling his back crack, and walked into the kitchen to start some coffee before he went to the lab to get some pain killers.
Spirit was sitting up and yawning when Stein came back in. "Yo, Senpai," Stein said, as he walked back in, "take these."
Spirit almost didn't catch the tossed bottle. "What… what are they?" Spirit asked suspiciously.
"Pain killers."
"I don't need them." Spirit said, yawning, and he tossed the bottle back.
Stein caught it, and turned to set it down on the desk beside him. "Alright, Senpai," he said as he shrugged.
"Marie's wake went well." Spirit said casually, retrieving his shoe from the table and looking for the other one. Stein kicked it to him. "Thanks."
"It did. I think it helped everyone to cope a little bit, though I have to admit that things got pretty fuzzy towards the end, Senpai." Stein said sitting down across from the death scythe. "I have coffee started."
"Yeah, it ended well too," Spirit said, staring at the ground for a moment before standing. "I should probably just go on home, Stein."
Stein's eyes flicked up to the man, "If that's what you believe, Senpai." Spirit paused for a second. Stein could see the something in the man's eyes, hidden quickly. Before either could say anything though, the pot in the kitchen began to whistle, and Stein stood, walking into the kitchen.
He could sense the hesitation in Spirit's wavelength, and bits of the night before began to leak back into Stein's memory. Stein's hand twisted the screw as he poured two cups of coffee.
Spirit's wavelength was still hesitating in the living room.
"Have a cup of coffee, Senpai. You may not be suffering from a hangover like us normal people… but my head is pounding." Stein held out the cup.
Spirit took it and sat down. "I'm just used to waking up like this," he said with an almost forced laugh. "You haven't gotten that drunk before have you, Stein?"
"Considering I barely remember what happened after we left the bar? I can honestly say no. Though I assume that we drank the bottle that you pilfered."
Spirit laughed. "Yeah, I remember downing it before we even managed to get to the Death Room. I was pretty sloshed then too though." Stein watched Spirit's wavelength closely as the man took a drink of the coffee, nearly spilling it when it proved hotter than he had anticipated.
"It was nice of Shinigami-sama to come to our rescue. I wonder how many times he had to do that for Marie." Stein said, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the stitched ceiling, taking a careful drink of his coffee before balancing it on his knee. It felt like he had swallowed a rock.
"Probably more times than we would ever guess." Spirit said, leaning forward onto his knees. "I know the first few days she was back at Shibusen Sid had been assigned to help her. Even following him she managed to get turned around and lost."
Stein smirked. "She'd get lost in the lab, too. I'd find her eventually in some disused lab that I hadn't sat foot in for years. Occasionally she would have given up trying to find her way back and I'd find her cleaning it or looking at an old notebook I had been using."
"How long did she stay lost?" Spirit asked as he looked over at the other man.
"I think the longest time was about 12 hours. I was unaware of the time, having gotten wrapped up in an experiment. I didn't notice that she was gone until I realized I was hungry. I stood and ended up finding her asleep in one of the labs." Stein's smirk softened somewhat into an almost true smile. "She told me that she knew I'd come find her so she hadn't been worried and that she'd get dinner started."
Spirit chuckled a bit. "That sounds just like Marie. You know, Stein, the best thing for a hangover is more alcohol and it does happen to be nearly 5pm."
The scientist stood to his feet with a smirk and felt his stomach turn over, the world spinning in addition to the pounding of his head. He saw Spirit look at him in concern before he turned on his heel and headed towards the bathroom. He was nearly running at the end, and almost didn't make it before he vomited out the contents of his stomach into the toilet.
"Hey, Stein?" Spirit's voice came from the door, and Stein just heaved into the toilet again. A moment later Stein felt the death scythe's hand touch his back, rubbing gentle circles. Stein glared down at the pain pills that he could clearly see in the mess, his mouth open and ribbons of mucus and bile trailing between his mouth and the toilet. He spat into the toilet, trying to get the taste out of his mouth as best he could.
Spirit pushed something into his hands. Stein blinked when he realized that it was a washrag, already wet. He started to push it against his lips, but Spirit grabbed his hand.
"Use it on your forehead first, and your cheeks. It'll help, trust me. Then wipe your mouth off, gargle and brush your teeth." Stein glanced up and found Spirit smiling down at him. "I've been through this enough, Stein. You can trust me."
Stein just murmured, his stomach much more settled, and did as Spirit had instructed. He stood shakily to his feet, Spirit's hand under his arm and grabbed a toothbrush out of the cabinet above the sink. Spirit stood quietly beside him as he brushed his teeth, and Stein could see the nervousness about the death scythe as he finished brushing his teeth, threw the toothbrush away and repeated the process.
Spirit watched and when Stein had finished brushing his teeth the second time, Spirit leaned against the doorframe and sighed.
"Tell me, Stein… just how much of last night do you actually remember?"
Spirit's question caught Stein slightly off guard, and he dug through his hazy, muddled memories. A turn of the screw cleared some of the murk from them and he smirked at Spirit through the mirror. Even almost lost in the haze of alcohol as it was, Stein knew exactly what it was that Spirit was asking about.
"I remember everything from the wake, and I remember getting to Shibusen. Things go blurry after that until I am standing over Marie's grave with her weapon tag, and then I remember walking. I don't really remember arriving at the lab, or going to sleep." Stein turned slowly to face Spirit, the weapon's eyes wide.
"You remember the whole wake." Spirit said slowly, and Stein could see the tension in Spirit's posture even without using Soul Perception. The scientist just nodded, a smirk on his face as he twisted the screw. "Look, Stein, I'm sorry about what happened after the others left. We were both-"
Spirit was cut off as Stein stepped to him, one hand curling around the weapon's loose tie while the other slipped up behind Spirit's head, tangling in the man's red hair. Spirit's eyes went wide as Stein's face came impossibly close to him, something warm and soft pushing against his lips.
Stein pulled back slowly, watching the weapon. "I made a mistake, Senpai," he said quietly. "I ignored the feeling I had for Marie because I didn't understand it, and honestly, didn't think that it was important to. She's gone now. I am not going to make the same mistake with you."
Spirit stood there, speechless; his former meister's body close to his, the man's hand still entangled in his hair. A smirk crossed Stein's face at the look on Spirit's face, the weapon's eyes wide, his cheeks slightly flushed.
The only thing that saved Spirit was the sudden ringing of the mirror behind them.
A/N: The ball is definitely racing down the hill now, neh?
I don't own Soul Eater.