Work Text:
“It would just be until we can afford our own home. We’ve looked everywhere in Death City, and there’s just nothing out there that we can afford.”
Stein's ears were nearly ringing like a bomb had just been dropped in the city. Spirit was asking to
with Stein. Not just Spirit, but his wife and baby as well. Stein would have to see her every day. The lab is supposed to be his home. He’s supposed to be able to relax and feel at peace when home. She’s going to completely invade his safe space.
“So, is that okay? I know it’s not ideal, but I really need this, Stein.” I need this. Like he knew Stein couldn’t say no to Spirit.
The man shrugged. “Fine.” He wished Spirit's smile was enough of a reward. Contempt was brewing in Stein's chest though, radiating off his soul, and if Kami ever cared to look she would surely see it. He couldn’t stop those feelings no matter how much he wanted to.
Kami took Spirit from him for good. Dating and getting her pregnant was one thing, but marrying was what sealed the deal. Spirit trapped himself with that girl the moment he said ‘I do.’ The worst day of Stein’s life he’d say (being admitted into the first psych ward was a close second).
Spirit patted Stein’s arm with a wide grin. He knew Stein wouldn’t want a hug.
“Thank you so much!”
Stein was a good friend when he tried. Being a good friend seemed to also include sitting next to your rival at a dining table meant to hold two people, not three plus a baby. He was going to be forced to see them kiss and let them sleep in a bed across from his own.
Stein always considered himself as someone who doesn’t like children. They are noisy, needy, and annoying for both those reasons. Just like any baby, Maka cried. She cried for food, when she needed a diaper change, and for various other reasons that were almost never apparent. She liked Stein though. She quickly acknowledged Stein wasn’t a stranger, which made his babysitting easier.
Right. He’s babysitting. Well, something like that.
After moving in, Kami and Spirit put together a crib in Spirit’s bedroom, but Maka kept waking them up during the night as babies tend to do. Stein doesn’t sleep well himself and is often up late in the night. So, they all agreed that he could stay up in the living room with Maka out there. If she needed anything, he would be there to check what it was. Kami and Spirit could sleep.
Stein should be upset, he thinks. He’s letting those two live with him out of the kindness of his own heart (ha), and now he’s babysitting? It’s laughable. But Stein gets through it. He has…methods.
If those methods tend to be him conjuring an in-depth fantasy where Kami doesn’t exist and Maka is somehow his and Spirit’s baby, then that’s his business. It’s how he gets through nights like tonight.
Maka fell asleep on his lap. She’s snoring softly against his stomach. He’s holding her up with one arm while he lifts the other to type away on his keyboard or flip the page of his book.
At some point in the night, she wakes up with a mumble and then she starts to cry. Stein has to stop what he’s doing for this child. He has to get up, holding her to his chest as he shushes her gently, hoping she doesn’t wake up her parents. When she starts picking at his shirt, he knows what she needs. He should change her diaper afterwards anyway.
Stein walks her to the kitchen. “Oh, hush now, I’m getting your bottle.” He speaks to her in a flat tone, as if he was talking to any other person. He opens the fridge while bouncing and shushing Maka, and he grabs a bottle. Spirit is well known to be a heavy sleeper, so Stein is not worried about him waking up. Kami’s sleeping habits on the other hand, Stein does not know. He’s never been in a situation where he would accidentally wake her, and he really doesn’t want to deal with mama bear now or ever.
He stirs the bottle gently so the layers of formula combine again. Maka reaches for the bottle and is finally satisfied when she can get her mouth around the nipple. Stein watches her and the world around him feels weird again.
Spirit is in bed with his wife under Stein's roof. The same building that Spirit, at one point, thought might be his home forever. That was until Maka happened. And Stein doesn’t hate the baby for that; she didn’t ask to be conceived or born. He watches her and the way her eyelids droop.
Stein had a strange feeling in his chest and he knows what it is. It’s similar to something he feels for a certain redhead. It swirls in his chest, forcing him to take a deep breath to ease it a little. Maka is…fine. She looks like her mother too much already, but if Stein doesn’t think about that woman, he can even feel a sense of fondness. Tiny fingers hold onto him and the baby’s incoherent babbles captivated him in moments like these.
Stein sets the empty bottle by the sink and looks at Maka. She’s so little. It’s incredible that she’s so small. She has so much more growing to do, and she’s alive and in his arms. He gently strokes her hair and he really could just crush her skull in an instant. The idea makes him sick. Stein has killed animals and cut them open. Back in his old days, he definitely could kill a person with little to no remorse. But this is what gets to him. Spirit’s baby and the idea of how bad he could hurt her.
She’s such a helpless little thing and, instead of pity or disgust, Stein feels fondness. She’s tiny and sweet. She grabs onto his glasses and giggles; she recognizes his face and she trusts him. She likes him. She doesn’t know what a monster Stein could be. She doesn’t know the level of restraint he’s been exercising to not hurt her papa or Kami. She’s a pure being and he really does hope she can grow up healthy and happy.
Stein tears his gaze away from the child and sighs. How gross... Stein turns to leave the kitchen, but there is Spirit in the doorway with a horrid, soft smile on his face. He looks tired and he definitely is. It’s way too early to be woken up yet. Stein gets rid of the surprised expression on his face after just a few seconds.
“Did she wake you?” Maka’s eyes are just slightly open. She looks around the room, sees her papa, and immediately starts reaching for him.
“Nah. I woke up on my own.” Spirit walks over and takes his baby from her ‘uncle’.
‘Uncle Stein. That name isn’t too horrible,’ the scientist thinks. Maka babbles and touches Spirits face. She makes him laugh.
“She might need a diaper change too.”
Spirit nods and they head back into the living room. Spirit glanced at the computer screen, bright and the only light in the room. He frowned and tsked.
“Turn on a lamp, you’re probably hurting her eyes in this lighting.”
Spirit lays Maka down on the changing table and Stein turns on a lamp by his desk. The stitched lampshade always made Spirit uneasy; it reminded him of Stein’s mangled body. Sometimes he couldn’t look at Stein’s face.
Spirit changes his baby girl's diaper and kisses her face. Stein leans on the table and watches them. Spirit loves his baby so much and it actually makes Stein smile. He remembers Spirit bursting into tears and getting drunk in their kitchen the day he received the news. Stein hadn’t known what to do. Just as much as Spirit, he felt his world falling apart and crumbling to the ground.
Stein doesn’t even think as he reaches down and pets what little hair Maka has. She’s already comfortable and calming down to fall asleep again. She is quite marvelous. Her soul is tiny and vibrant. He’s thinking she’ll be a meister one day.
He looks up when Spirits chuckles quietly. “What?” he asks. Spirit is looking at him with such an amused smile and so much tenderness tracing his facial lines.
“It’s just funny seeing you with a baby. You always claimed you don’t like kids yet here you are.” Stein rolls his eyes and looks at Maka again. He could barely stand to look at Spirit nowadays. “And you’re fucking huge compared to her, it’s just funny.”
Stein takes his hand back and steps closer to Spirit. They both look down at the girl as her eyes slide shut and don't peep open again. Stein turns to look at Spirit, leaning slightly at the table. The redhead looks back at him and there’s something different than usual. It’s not exactly pure softness but Stein has seen it somewhere before.
“Thank you.”
Ah. Stein doesn’t particularly enjoy gentle conversations like this.
“Seriously. I would be so lost without you. Thank you for letting us live here.” Spirit paused, biting his lip as he felt tears start to form. “Thank you for taking care of our baby.” He blinks and looks at Stein. “Me and Kami’s baby, obviously! Uh— Just, just thank you…”
He chuckles a bit nervously and can’t look back at Stein, even as he can feel Stein's gaze and see him turned in his peripheral vision. His face is strangely warm after that slip up. After a too-quiet moment, he looks up at his meister (for how much longer, he doesn’t know).
Stein's expression is too damn soft. That deep scar doesn’t even mar that look. Spirit flinches slightly when Stein raises his hand.
“It’s not a problem,” Stein simply says and then tucks Spirit’s red hair behind his ear.
Oh no. Stein combs Spirits hair and the man, the married man, is goddamn confused. Sure, Stein is kinder to him than literally anyone else (except his baby now apparently), but this is purely odd. Hell, if Stein can’t see Spirit’s blush in the dim light, then he must feel the heat radiate against his thumb with each stroke.
But Spirit can’t pull away. He’s stunned, shell-shocked, dumbfounded. It doesn’t make him uncomfortable. The way Stein touches him isn’t like Kami. Stein isn’t like the stupid teen girls Spirit has dated. Stein knows Spirit; sometimes he feels like Stein knows him better than himself. Stein is confident with Spirit, with talking to him and touching him.
“You should get to sleep,” Stein says quietly. Spirit scoffs.
Oh fuck off, is what he almost says, feeling tired and exasperated. He only responds with, “Speak for yourself.” Stein just gives a lopsided grin and tucks his hand back into his coat pocket.
Spirit looks at Maka. Stein looks at Spirit. “I’ll go back to bed. Hopefully I can catch up on sleep before another job tomorrow,” Spirit says and Stein nods. Spirit hesitates and then he gently picks up Maka. “I’ll take her.” When he looks back at Stein, that near-sappy expression is gone, and he finds himself missing it. “Get some sleep, I’m serious.”
Stein rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine.”
Spirit isn’t sure if Stein really will, but he trusts Stein to know his limits. Spirit decides it’s good enough.
“Well, goodnight,” he says with a slight nod.
“Goodnight.”
Stein watches Spirit leave and he cannot suppress his Cheshire grin once he’s finally alone. He steps back over to his desk, trying to keep his mad giggles quiet. Spirit is truly an oblivious idiot. If he knew his wife was around the corner of the doorway, he would’ve ripped himself from Stein’s touch instantly.
Stein flops down into his chair, letting it roll backwards with his weight. To think, Spirit is going to bed with his wife and child, still thinking of the way Stein touched him. It sends chills through his body.
Stein thinks he’ll sleep well tonight.