Mable: This is a request I've had waiting for much too long. I'll go further into it in the end note, but I don't want to spoil. Anyway, I hope this story fits your request, my friend! I don't own 9, or the reference to Vocaloid, Enjoy!

And The Record Plays

"You don't have to come." Five snapped back to attention at Nine's comment and turned away from the others to face him. The other Stitchpunks were still playing the phonograph and looking through records when Nine announced that he was going to look at the remains of the Factory. Five usually wouldn't be willing to go anywhere near the place, especially since what happened before, but he was willing for Nine. It seemed a lot of the time Five went out of his way for Nine, even when the younger encouraged him not to.

Even now as Nine knew the significance of this area. Yet Five still followed him down the steep slope towards the burned remains that were once the tall factory. He remembered the smell of smoke and was relieved that time dissipated its cling to the area. The rubble still remained along with an empty shell that used to hold the structure. His optic was trained on the building as he followed Nine towards it as though he was waiting for something to appear; like a red eye through a plume of smoke.

"Five, are you sure about this?" Nine offered again as he saw his friend's distress and the buttoned male nodded. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine." Oddly enough Five had managed to retain his less frightened and more strong willed persona that emerged while they destroyed the factory, even after the Machine's attack, but being here almost made that flush away in an instant. Nine reached out to take his friend's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We'll only be a minute," he said with a gentle smile.

It was moments like this that convinced Five to keep along with Nine; to keep following even in places like this. It had grown very apparent in recent times that Five was starting to have more tender feelings for Nine. He had felt these once before for Seven, as did Nine, and yet miraculously it seemed that neither had retained them. Five grew out of Seven and right into Nine during the war. Almost immediately after he had awoken from the Life Giving Rain and had been found by his friend he felt the bubbling joy.

It was definitely love. He knew it had to be. It also didn't take long for him to realize that Nine's obvious feelings for Seven, which had been visible even at the phonograph, had seemed to suddenly vanish. If anything, Seven looked to respect Nine more than ever, but there was something different in how Nine looked at her. There wasn't a longing in his optics and Five began to grow hope that this meant he had a chance. Relationships between male Stitchpunks weren't as unusual as one would think; especially with 'One' being the one in one.

"What's that?" Nine suddenly asked and Five jolted to attention. "Where?" His voice was slightly beginning to turn frantic and Nine gave him an amused smile, "There. Down by that pulley. It looks like… A record?" Five managed to find the pulley that he was talking about laying in the dirt. As he suggested there was a record resting beside it. The buttoned male tensed, "Maybe… It's the one I was going after." Nine looked to him and got a slightly saddened look. Five decided to quickly force out a reassurance.

"It's not going to escape me this time!" He forced a lighthearted chuckle and squeezed Nine's hand back. This seemed to pacify Nine a bit and they continued down towards the record. Now the two Stitchpunks pulled it free from the dirt and rubble. Looking at title of the loose record Five could see that it was different than he remembered, rimmed in a teal color and boldly stating 'Vocaloid' across it. "This isn't the one I was chasing. I would've remembered the blue on it. So… Another one rolled down too?"

"Maybe. It was… I wasn't paying attention to that." Nine added in before looking over the word, "Vocaloid? Vocal means voice, so I guess it's some sort of word that means music or something. Let's roll it over and see what it sounds like." They began to carefully guide it upwards along the slope to the phonograph where they passed it off to the twins. "We found this one down the hill. Think you can put it on?" Both of the twins nodded and gestured to Six on the lever. The Artist dropped down and attempted to hold the lever still.

When he started to have a little bit of a struggle stopping it, Eight strode over and grabbed ahold, stopping it for good. The twins then lifted the needle and popped the record off of the top before sliding it off. Five took to it and rolled it back to the stack with the others. Three hoped down and slid the record upwards while Four grasped on the end and tugged at it. Soon it was set into place and the needle was dropped down. The twins began to walk on the record until the music started to begin. Nine leaned in as a soft female voice spoke.

Before he could even register what she said there was suddenly a blast of music. So sudden that the twins jumped; Three promptly stumbled afterwards and nearly fell off the Phonograph if not for Four grabbing ahold and pulling the small Stitchpunk forward again. Six completely plummeted off of the lever he just climbed back onto and fell against Eight who was unmoved by the small amount of weight. The music seemed to suddenly circle around in a rapid and upbeat fashion before the female's voice returned, quickly singing words that Nine couldn't understand.

"What in the world?" Two asked from his position, sitting on a glass bottle nearby with One who looked back. "Please tell me this demented carnival music isn't what we're listening to now." Naturally he was uninterested in the rush of music, unlike Nine who was captivated by it. "I've never heard anything like this before!" he spoke over the surprisingly loud music and looked to Five who walked back over. "I can't understand a word she's saying." One and Two crossed over where the others were watching.

"It must be in reverse," One deduced and Two chimed in, "No, no. It's some sort of other language." Nine immediately looked to him in delight, "There's other languages out there? I… I sort of knew that, I think, but really?" Now the Healer spoke in, "Yeah, there's quite a few out there! In fact, One and Two both speak other languages." Nine looked to them in interest and One seemed to straighten from a slight stroke of his ego. "That is true. However, I speak French, and this is certainly not French."

"I speak a bit of Latin and a bit of Hebrew, but this language is quite different. I couldn't even imagine what it could be," At this moment Two noticed the twins' optics flicker as they chattered between each other excitedly. "Though perhaps the twins could! What do you think, you two? Any ideas?" They looked to him and nodded eagerly before turning to the phonograph, becoming suddenly engaged in the music as they tried to figure out what it was saying.

"If anyone, they would know," Seven spoke to the others knowingly. "They've probably taught themselves already. Still, it has to be difficult translating a song going this fast." The chorus seemed to circle around and Nine listened more into it, "Maybe she's saying 'pitter-patter'?" Five watched his friend's curious observation with his own amusement. "I guess it was worth going down to find it, right?" Nine looked to him and gave a soft smile, "Thanks for coming with me. I know it wasn't easy."

"Oh, no problem, anything's easy if I'm doing it for you." Five hadn't meant to let that slip in that tone. It sounded too deep and too personal, which wasn't unlike Five or Nine but in this way it felt strange. It made he gave a nervous smile as Nine hesitated, smile briefly wavering, then returned it. The song ended and the twins eagerly reset it, wanting more time to attempt to translate. As it restarted Nine turned to Five and during the brief, quiet moment before the music would overtake asked, "Want to dance?"

Five was surprised by the question but was unable to get his voice above the music in time. Nine already began to move them to the more secluded yet open area by the records and cases. "Nine, I don't know…" Five admitted and dreaded the embarrassing dancing he was surely to do. "What's wrong?" Nine playfully responded as he took ahold of Five's hands in his. "Scared you have two left feet?" The Healer gave a playfully shy smile, "More like, no left eye. My depth perception isn't exactly spot on anymore."

"It'll be fine. If you don't try, how do you know you won't like it?" Nine pointed out as he started to turn them, "Now come on, the music's going on without us." He spun them together in a makeshift dance, stumbling over his own feet in clumsy but joyous movements, trying to keep the speed of the dance with the rush of the music. Then, when the music hit the moment that it quieted down for a short while they slowed their movements to briefly rest. "See? You're doing great!"

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Five responded sheepishly as a blush began to grow. "No, you are, really," Nine insisted with a smile, "We should've done this last time…" A silence seemed to overtake the two even as the music started to grow once more. "Well… At least we can do this now?" Five suggested and Nine seemed to get a warmer smile, taking Five's hands again. "Right… I'm really starting to like this song," He admitted and when Five's face grew more curious. "And I really like that I get to share this with you." He added in as well.

The green light started to settle on Five's cheek and he looked downwards in shyness. He managed to get out his next words though, "Me too. It's great." His voiced stuttered lightly in the short reply as Nine moved in closer. Five noticed it quickly and even though Nine was smiling he was a little uncertain. "Uh… Nine?" He believed that the male was planning to hug him and raised his arms to do so. Yet as he hugged Nine, Nine moved closer and pressed his lips against the seam of Five's patch along his cheek.

The Healer practically froze in his awkward position before dropping his arms to his sides. Nine pulled back with the same innocent smile, as though he didn't realize what he had just done. Five wasn't certain what to say and felt a relief when the other male spoke. "I think the twins are resetting the song again. Would you like to join me in another dance?" Five couldn't make words so he simply nodded and as the music began they spun and danced once again.

It wasn't until a while later that they stopped dancing to rest for a while. Five was out of breath and collapsed onto the glass bottle tiredly. One and Two were over at the phonograph with the others so the sitting place was free. Nine sat down beside him and they rested there for a few moments. It was only now when Five dared to ask Nine about earlier, "Nine… When you put your lips on me… Did you know what that was?" He naturally knew it was a kiss and was unsure if Nine did.

After all, the male was still new to the world and its customs. It wouldn't be the first time that he didn't fully know about something. "…Not really," Nine admitted to him. "But I kind of wanted to do it. I feel like it means something." Five nodded slowly, "It… Does. It's a kiss. Kissing is, uh… Done to show affection." He rubbed the back of his mind as he explained it to Nine like it had been explained to him by Two. "That's what I thought," Nine started to smile again, "You seemed to get a little uncomfortable after."

Five's optic widened and he immediately defended to the other. "No, no! I wasn't- I was surprised, not uncomfortable!" He waved his hands and smiled shyly, "It, well, it was nice." Nine agreed, "It was…" He then sighed a bit as though distressed. Five jumped the gun, "Nine-?" At the same time Nine began with, "I think-." They both went quiet for a moment until Nine smiled, "You go ahead." The older nodded and fiddled his thumbs together. "I was just wondering if… You did that with Seven before?"

He was somewhat relieved to see Nine shake his head. Five tried not to show it and instead encouraged, "Your turn." Nine didn't immediately speak and instead stared towards the destroyed factory. "Five… I really like the time we spend together. I love the time we spend together…" He went silent again and Five rested a hand on his shoulder. "You're the only one who gets me to dance," He offered affectionately and Nine straightened suddenly, getting his nerve in one moment.

"Five, I brought us out to the phonograph for a reason… I wanted to make amends for what I did, or what I didn't do." He carefully took Five's hands in his own, slowly enough so that it wouldn't startle the one eyed male. "Nine, I don't… I don't follow." Five spoke meekly, his pulse beginning to raise. Nine was looking straight into his optic before announcing, "Back then I wasn't even thinking and because of that… I almost lost my chance to tell someone really great how much I really cared about him."

Five's optic widened a bit more until it couldn't widen any further. Nine gave him a lopsided smile and said, "Five, I know now. I love-." Five's hopes were dashed when Nine's voice was cut off by the blare of the song resetting once again. The zippered male's optics widened like Five's and his mouth slightly dropped open slightly, thoroughly dumbstruck by the sudden turn of luck and how the most important word was drowned out. Five gave an embarrassed smile back, along with a light chuckle.

It was a relief to Nine though, showing that Five wasn't angry, and he smiled back. The older contemplated his next move before making a decision. Slowly he leaned in like Nine had earlier. Instead of letting his lips brush Nine's cheek he moved to press their lips together. A warmth bubbled and spread through them both; from their lips to the glows of green that were starting to settle over both of their cheeks. Five rested his hands on Nine's shoulders and massaged them, Nine reached out to trace his patch, and the two quietly continued together until they needed air.

Five couldn't believe this was happening; the excitement was building in his chest so tightly that he was almost afraid that he was going to overheat. They just sat together for a few seconds before Nine leaned forward again. Instead of kissing again, like Five was expecting, he started to speak and was leaning closer to be heard better. "I love you." Five responded, "I love you too." Then he cracked a wider, playful smile, "And… I think this song's starting to grow on me."

This got a soft chuckle out of Nine, "Maybe we'll keep it as 'our' song. Once we figure out whatever the lyrics mean." There was a silent agreement as Five put an arm around Nine, holding him close as the two sat there together, numbed into their own world between the music and the warmth.

"It looks like they've gotten something translated!" Seven announced and immediately Two was over, looking to what the twins had written on a piece of paper that Six brought, ironically using Six's hand. "Oh, so you cracked the language? Very good! Now let's see…" He didn't notice how disturbed Three and Four were looking, nor how Seven's brows abruptly raised as she read some. The Inventor's excited smile slowly started to falter, "Hmm… Oh, well that's… I wish to destroy your soul over and over again?" He flinched at the words.

"Okay, well… Excellent job, you two!" He patted the twins on the shoulders. "…Now let us hide this paper and never let One see it."

FIN

Mable: I… Sort of cheated in this request. See, the original request asked for 9 and 5 finding an Ipod and listening to Vocaloid, but there weren't Ipods in the time period so I just went with a record. Maybe the Machine prints them off in its spare time. XD The song featured in this was 'Breaking Things Into Pieces' and it's worth a listen to. Anyway, I hope that everyone enjoyed!