Stein's hot ex-girlfriend is friendly, with a bubbly laugh and a vicious right hook, and her husband is just as friendly, with a passion for good coffee and an occasional sharpness to his expression that hints at more intelligence than someone might expect.
The other kids at the ranch are younger than Shiro, though not too much. Maka is seventeen, with ash-blonde hair, green eyes, a spade-tipped tail, a short pair of dark horns, and enough bossy determination to lead a small army. Soul is the same age, with white hair, a mouthful of shark teeth, and a siren's way with words (if he ever felt like saying more than a few snarky syllables at a time). Crona is slightly younger, thin and skittish, with scars from restraints and needles and a shadow that doesn't want to follow the rules of physics. Kuro Hoshi prefers the literal English translation of his name, Black Star, and likes to stand on roofs and in the top of trees and yell about how great he is at everything, while simultaneously being almost completely useless at everything. Tsubaki is a quiet girl who always somehow has flower petals caught in her hair and clothing, razor-sharp fangs in her gentle smile, and razor-sharp claws on her careful hands.
Marie has a fondness for outcasts and lost souls, gathering children and giving them somewhere to stay where their relation to demons doesn't really matter. Shiro is just the newest addition to this weird little family, and the others are all willing to give him a chance, since they have to.
It's not a place for Stein, and he knows it. Even if he hadn't blown his chance with her all those years ago, he isn't the sort of person who could stay in Marie's circle for long.
"You could always make a break for it," he says, glancing over at Shiro in his sun hat and sunglasses and layers of sunscreen.
"I'm sure you know enough about the outback to survive and get out of here."
Re: FOR STEIN
The other kids at the ranch are younger than Shiro, though not too much. Maka is seventeen, with ash-blonde hair, green eyes, a spade-tipped tail, a short pair of dark horns, and enough bossy determination to lead a small army. Soul is the same age, with white hair, a mouthful of shark teeth, and a siren's way with words (if he ever felt like saying more than a few snarky syllables at a time). Crona is slightly younger, thin and skittish, with scars from restraints and needles and a shadow that doesn't want to follow the rules of physics. Kuro Hoshi prefers the literal English translation of his name, Black Star, and likes to stand on roofs and in the top of trees and yell about how great he is at everything, while simultaneously being almost completely useless at everything. Tsubaki is a quiet girl who always somehow has flower petals caught in her hair and clothing, razor-sharp fangs in her gentle smile, and razor-sharp claws on her careful hands.
Marie has a fondness for outcasts and lost souls, gathering children and giving them somewhere to stay where their relation to demons doesn't really matter. Shiro is just the newest addition to this weird little family, and the others are all willing to give him a chance, since they have to.
It's not a place for Stein, and he knows it. Even if he hadn't blown his chance with her all those years ago, he isn't the sort of person who could stay in Marie's circle for long.
"You could always make a break for it," he says, glancing over at Shiro in his sun hat and sunglasses and layers of sunscreen.
"I'm sure you know enough about the outback to survive and get out of here."