i have a headcanon because of this wonderful 100+ thousand words fanfic series on ao3 that stein is just obsessed with spirit and spirit is literally the only reason stein's still has some sane sense. the guy just desperately clings to him like a little boy to the only adult who didn't reject him, spirit is literally a breath of fresh air for him after a bad battle or a candle that burns forever in the dark. i can't fully explain how stein feels about this redhead idiot, it's just that felling in the chest when he sees him and suddenly everything as it's supposed to be for a few seconds, no horrors, no abstruse thoughts, just spirit, his red hair and his awfully stupid face