EXPLANATION TIME!!

Okay, so long ago somewhere, not in this site, I came across a fic that was an 3/8 pairing fic. And Naturally, I went "WHAAAAAAAAT". Several days later and here I am taking another perspective on the situation. So here we are. I will admit, 8's not my favorite character, but he's at least somewhat better than 1, right?

… right …?

There's not really much of a 3/8 pairing in here, more of a Brother-sister relationship. Enjoy.

3 knew that 8 wasn't a stitch-punk filled with many words – often at times, she heard 1 call him 'unintelligent', 'Brainless', 'foolish', and his personal favorite, 'slow on the uptake'. She never knew if all these words actually hurt him or not, for he always stared on thoughtlessly, the only emotion overtaking his face was confusion. It struck the little librarian multiple times – does the giant warrior actually know he's being insulted? And if so, why doesn't he show any sort of signs he's been hurt? Was he even hurt? Why does he still follow 1 like a loyal lap-dog?

She admits, the first time she ever saw the brute; she was terrified of him – so much so she refused to look at him and clung onto her twin brother for support, trying to avoid staring at him until they found residence in the cathedral. And even then she was afraid to approach him. Thankfully, he was hardly found too far from 1's presence, and 1 would hardly ever leave the throne room, but there were times that she saw the monster without the self-proclaimed leader under his arm, or vice-versa, and she would urge 4 to move to another place until 1 and 8 were gone.

It took a long time for 3 to get use to 8's presence. He was here to stay and she had to live with that, as long as 1 remained around. 2, 4, 5, and 7 were able to help her accept this fact, but there was never a time she found herself ever liking that fact. She would still avert her gaze from the giant when he stepped into the room, focusing on something else that she or her brother had found. This was enough to help her accept his presence more; to the point she hardly noticed 8 ever stepping into the room at all.

Then there came a day where she had noticed him for the first time – but in a different way. Apparently the warrior had done something wrong, so wrong that 1 let out a plethora of curses at the brute. No one liked it when 1 yelled, save for 2 who would try to find ways to calm the leader down. But this time, 2 wasn't around, and 3 and 4 were left helpless to listen as 1 threw a wall of explicative words at the monster. And it was clearly 1 who had won the battle, or else the one who ended it, as he stepped off in a huff, demanding that 8 would fix this problem. 3 had a moment to stare at 8, who wore no expression of hurt or anger – just … confusion. Perhaps he didn't understand he had done something wrong. Or perhaps the 8 didn't know how to express sadness.

Weighed down drastically by these thoughts, 3 had to leave 4's side just for a moment. For some reason, these thoughts had kept her from dozing off in a restful sleep like she usually does, and she got up, searching for the warrior. Thankfully, he wasn't too far from where she and her brother slept, just outside of 1's throne room. What he was doing was what surprised 3.

The normally tough brute that she'd normally see sharpening his blade was just … sitting there, holding a strange object above his head. Curious, the little librarian stepped closer to the monster, wary to keep her presence unknown. On further inspection, she noticed the dazed, happy look that 8 carried on his face as he babbled incoherent nonsense.

So focused on the giant she was that she never noticed her foot colliding with a loose screw on the floor, sending the screw skipping across the room, awakening 8 out of his high. He stared at the rag-doll, who stared back at him with a frightened look in her eye. She knew he wouldn't hurt her, but with ever hardly knowing him, she had no idea just what she would do.

She almost jumped when the brute smiled at her.

She was even more surprised to find that he could talk.

"Hey." He said, his voice deep and gruff, "What're you doing up so late?"

3 found this as an invitation to approach 8, curiosity overpowering her fear. She stared at him, glancing once or twice at the strange object above his head. 8 chuckled hoarsely and gave the horse-shoe shaped object to her, and 3 caught a glance of his slightly amused face as 3 began studying the object, turning it over her hands multiple times.

"Dunno what it is," she heard him say as the magnet became illuminated with quick flashes of light, "But whatever it is, I like it. Found it once day out in the emptiness."

3 stared at 8 for a moment, and then went back to checking out the object.

"Put it above your head." He instructed, pointing a finger above his head, "You'll like it, I promise."

3 stared at him once again, and then hesitantly lifted the object just above her head …

Almost immediately, she felt like she was dancing on air.

The colors that she saw, the feelings that she felt, the sounds she heard, all of it was enough to send the librarian into a euphoric state that she hoped would never end. The very trip across this strange universe tickled her inside as she floated through a world of colors, swimming on her back to touch the clouds with her hand. It felt soft to the touch, her fingers barely stroking the white puffy clouds just above her face. She flipped back onto her stomach to check out the colorful land below, smiling as she saw everyone she knew in a happy circle, all waving to her to come down to the land.

And come down she did. She floated downward and gently landed on the soft, fuzzy grass her feet touched. She shook hands with her 7 other siblings as they all handed her a fruit-like substance. For some reason, she felt the need to stuff this fruit inside her mouth – and she couldn't ignore that instinct. She swallowed the fruit, a blast of sweet and sugary erupting within her mouth – she had no idea that she could eat! And it all felt so wonderful, to be with everyone sharing a sweet fruit with her, everyone happy and safe and –

The feeling suddenly dropped when she felt the object suddenly forced out of her hands, and the dark, death-ridden world returned to her. After shaking her head vigorously, she turned, seeing 7 staring down at her with a most displeased look. She then stared at 8, who had dropped his amused look upon seeing 7's frown.

"8, I can excuse you from using this thing as long as you used it in private, but when you show it to a child, that's where I draw the line." She yelled, tapping her foot. She then faced 3 again, her eyebrow cocked in disappointment. "And 3, I can't believe you! You know better than that! You should be in bed with your brother --!"

"It wasn't her fault, 7." 8 interrupted, taking the magnet from 7, "I told her to do it."

"Well … well you shouldn't have." 7 said, glaring at 8, "You know the twins are young and impressionable."

"'Ey. They're smarter than me." 8 remarked.

7 sighed in defeat laying her face in her clawed hand. "I don't believe this …" 7 groaned, turning to leave, "Next time I see you, 3, you better be in bed. And 8, I don't want you to show that … thing to anyone ever again. Got me?"

Both nodded in unison as 7 stepped away. When she was fully out of sight, 8 chuckled through his teeth and put the magnet away behind his back, staring at the little librarian.

"So did you like the trip?" He asked.

3 stared at the man for a long time, and then pondered her experience with the object. It was like no other trip she felt before, and it was one that made her extremely euphoric. She nodded vigorously with a wide smile, making 8 laugh out loud.

"Yeah, I did too." 8 said, sitting down again, "Nothin' like the feeling that thing gives you to wash away the sorrows of the day."

3 stared at 8, blinking.

"It's really the only way I can survive 1's constant yelling." 8 explained, "It if weren't for this thing, I may have beat the living daylights out of that sod by now."

8 turned to 3, furthering his explanation. "But it's okay. He doesn't really mean to call me all those names, right? I mean, we've all been through tough times, right?" 8 asked, smiling, "I think he's still angry 'bout everything, y'know? How the responsibility and mistakes of the humans were left on our shoulders. He just needs to control his anger like I do … not … saying that this is the correct way to solve them."

3 slightly smiled at the brute, who patted her head then shoved her off into the direction she came from, smiling at her. "Better get back to bed, kiddo. If 7 sees you again it's both our butts."

3 honestly felt like laughing, but resisted the urge as she slipped back into her room where her brother was sleeping in – thankfully, he didn't seem to have moved from when she slipped out from under the covers, meaning he may have been sleeping the whole time. As she slipped under the covers, her mind kept recalling observations she made about 8.

He wasn't really mean, he was actually very gentle. Perhaps these feelings were to be remained hidden while he was at 1's side. She also notice that … well, it was very possible that 8 did have feelings, some of them hurt, but he at least found a way to manage those feelings without acting rashly.

All these thoughts were calming enough to send the little stitch punk into a soft slumber, her optic closing slowly as she drifted off into a sleep beside her brother.

Hooray for drugs.