Mable: A long overdue request for KawaiiCake22! KawaiiCake; I hope that you enjoy it still even though it took so long to get complete. ^-^ I've just been really stuck on this one. Even tried to change the premise, but I kept coming back to this one. Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Feeling Faint

Four didn't know if it was a good idea and pointed it out to Three quickly, curiously. Three encouraged and pointed out how it would definitely help the others, who were asking more about human culture from before the war. They were all going through the books, curious about the twins' knowledge, and it seemed like it would be a perfect time to show what they could. Four wasn't sure if they could show everything through a single projection, but Three encouraged the sibling insistently about it. It seemed like a good idea.

Finally Four agreed and Three rushed them both out, clapping her hands eagerly to draw attention. "Looks like the twins found something," Nine pointed out with a warm smile and looked over in interest. The others started to look over as well and the twins started to open the propped upwards book. The pages seemed light enough to send a clear enough image onto. Three braced her sibling whose optics alit and began showing the most recent news article they had recorded before the war.

Five, Two, Six, and Seven also gathered around with Nine and began to watch closely. Three pointed out the things while Four focused on showing them the images. From a festival picture to scene of a council meeting, to a photo of the chancellor to a photo of the Scientist, to a clip of the Wizard of Oz, to a clip of Gone With the Wind, to Four starting to feel a little light headed. She hoped Three would notice soon but kept pushing herself as she could hear the others' delight. Especially considering the fact that Five was involved.

Four liked Five; she wasn't sure in what way, but she did know she would've liked to have more of his attention than she currently did. Part of her wanted to look over but knew better as she was at work. Yet she was starting to get a fuzzy feeling in her head that was spreading along her neck and back. It wasn't a pleasant one either and she felt a second of panic. Her optics flickered and shut off only fast enough for her to sway backwards. Three watched in horror and barely caught her twin from falling to the hard floor.

She stared down at her sibling who was completely unconscious now. The others hurried over in alarm. "Four!" Seven cried out and Two gasped, "Dear Creator!" Five knelt down with his mentor who leaned over, and the buttoned male looked her over. "I think she fainted! Here, we need to get her into the Workshop. Nine, help me." Before Nine could do so the Inventor stepped in and started to lift Four's lower half. "I'm fine to lift, my boy. Let's just hurry." They stood together and hurried off, Seven in tow behind them.

Meanwhile Three watched with an overwhelming guilt. She knew that her sister would get unsteady during and after projecting images, but hadn't even paid attention to her plight to see her faltering and shake her out of it. As she covered her face in despair she felt Nine's hand resting on her shoulder. "She'll be okay, she must have just overdone it," he tried to reassure her, but Three only felt worse hearing it. She slowly nodded in agreement with him and they followed after the other Stitchpunks.

Four still hadn't roused by time they arrived, but Five and Two were at work overlooking her and making sure she was alright. "Her pulse is steady and she is breathing well, so I'm not too concerned about her staying under a bit longer. She may need the rest," Two explained and Five attempted to rouse her with a last, desperate pat on the cheek. There was no response. "Yeah," He agreed with a sigh, "I don't think she's going to wake at this rate. At least not now. I'll stay with her and watch her until she comes around."

Three came forward to take her twins' hand and affectionately pet over it in soft motions. She stayed like that for a while, staring at her sibling and waiting for her to awaken, until eventually Nine spoke to Seven. "Maybe we should take Three out. I know she's worried about Four, but she's liable not to wake for a while and…" He looked over at Three who still looked utterly distraught, "She needs something to get her mind off of all this." Seven seemed hesitant to tug her away at first but soon nodded in agreement.

"I'm not going to force her if she refuses, but I'll offer," she agreed and approached the twin. Resting her hand on the twin's shoulder she roused her from watching her twin. "Why don't you come down into the Library with us? Four will be fine; she just needs her rest," she encouraged and Three looked to her sadly. She wanted to refuse, but seeing Seven's smile and hearing everyone's encouragement about Four's wellbeing made her decide to agree. She gave a nod and allowed herself to be led out, releasing Four's hand.

"I'll keep an optic on her," Five playfully pointed out and tapped his optic. Three got a slightly amused smile in return and stepped out. Five continued to sit beside Four's side even as Two stretched and announced, "I'll be right back. I'm going to tell One about what happened before he assumes that we're hiding something from him." He joked playfully and started to head out of the room as well. Five gave a nod and casually turned back to the bed only to see Four's optics partially open.

Five blinked and looked back to the doorway, but Two was already gone and he supposed calling after him would be in vain. The one eyed male instead looked back towards the smaller female and stood beside her bed. "Hey… How are you feeling?" he offered and Four shifted a little bit with a confused look on her face. "You passed out while you were showing your video," he added in with disturbance and seemed to be holding back. Five didn't want to reprimand her, but the Healer part of him wanted to explain how dangerous it could have been.

Still he managed to hold back. Four started to sit upwards and Five moved in to stop her. "Uh, are you dizzy? Tired? Don't sit upwards right way." Four shook her head and gave an assuring smile, trying to straighten further, but Five again stopped her. "I know you probably feel okay now, but what happened was pretty traumatic. Just… Here." He stood and headed to the bed in the corner to grab the pillow off of it. He then returned and tucked it under Four's back who fussily pointed to the door.

"Three just stepped out," Five knew what Four wanted and wasn't ready to let her rush off, "Still, you need to relax. You completely fainted and not just for a few seconds like last time." Four got an embarrassed look; there had been near fainting spells before and somehow this had been the worst. Feeling a lit bad, Five got a small smile and reached out to rub her shoulder. "Just a few minutes, okay? I don't want to see anything else happen to you."

Even though it was such an innocent, Four felt a slight warmth beginning to fill her, one that she wasn't too unfamiliar with. Four wasn't oblivious to her feelings for Five, in fact she embraced them with fluffy daydreams, but it was another thing entirely being stuck with Five in the workshop alone. "It'll be alright. Let me just check you over," Five insisted and reached out to feel over her face. "A little warm, but-..." Suddenly Four's cheeks lightened with green in an obvious blush.

Five suddenly caught on that he was a little too close and nearly blushed as well, "M-Maybe later…" He squeaked and pulled back. "I'll just… I'll be over here if you need me." He crossed over to the workbench to work while Four laid on the cot. She silently sighed and stared upwards at the roof above; it wasn't like there was much else she could do. Except, perhaps, daydream.

Three sat on a book and stared out at the water fountain in the center of the Library. Nine and Seven managed to distract themselves long enough that she could briefly get a few minutes on her own. She didn't feel too social at the moment and preferred the serenity of the cool water. Six came by to ask about what happened, Nine brought him to speed, and then the zippered male sat down with the Artist as he began to draw. A little after this Eight passed by and offered to spar with Seven. At first Seven had hesitated to leave the twin, but soon gave in.

While both were distracted Three had wandered off, and now here she was, calm and trying to take her mind off of her guilt. It was then that she heard heavy footsteps. She perked as the large male appeared from the stacks of books and into the opened area with her. "Hey," Eight greeted the smaller female with concern. "I heard about what happened. How are you doing?" The larger male watched as she suddenly leapt to her feet and rushed over to him, letting her calm demeanor drop and cuddling to his front.

He looked surprised and couldn't help but glance around out of reflex. It wasn't as though the others knew that they were together in the way they were, the still untitled but affectionate way they were, so he wanted to make sure no one was watching. Three was beyond caring and only felt comfort when his strong arms were around her tiny body. "Hey, come on. I'm sure she's going to be fine," he encouraged, but Three nodded before moving back enough to point at herself. "What?" he asked and she pointed even more frantically.

Finally he caught on enough and responded, "It's not your fault, Doll. These things happen sometimes. You both got excited and pushed yourselves too hard, and you could've been in the same situation just as easily." The small librarian wasn't certain if this was true of not, but nodded as though listening. Eight stroked over her back affectionately, toying with her coattail playfully to get a smile out of her, and nuzzled into her neck. He boldly lifted her into his grasp and carried her over to the book again, sitting down and holding her in his lap.

Three eagerly embraced the affection and for a moment she started to feel better; like everything was going to be fine.

Four was starting to become antsy. Five was paying her little attention and Three had been whisked away, so she was left with little to do. Sometimes she would look over at Five and wonder if it was worth trying to get his attention or if she would just be too shy to do so. Finally she started to sit upwards and Five turned to pay attention to her, "Feeling better?" She gave him a frown and he chuckled, "I guess you're pretty tired of sleeping. Okay, let me check you over and if everything's fine I'll take you to find Three."

He crossed over to the cot and sat down, checking her pulse on her back. She couldn't help but shiver at the feeling of the warm hand on her back. "Sounds good from here," Five pointed out as he checked her temperature next, then her optics' reactions. "Everything looks good! I guess that means you're free to go, but let me walk with you just in case." The female nodded in agreement, but then followed with a slightly discouraged look. It was clear that she was still bothered and the Healer noticed it.

"Something on your mind?" He inquired and she gave a nod before attempting to sign. Signing had only recently been implemented and wasn't fully practiced, but she was aware that Two was currently teaching Five to do so. As such she took her time and slowly signed to him. "I ruined everything! You were all going to learn so much and I ruined it all! If I could've held out longer." Now shut cut off and Five took a moment to decode before realizing what she was saying.

"Four, no, don't worry about it! We can still learn without you straining yourself; don't worry about it," he encouraged with a warm smile. "In fact, I'm even more curious now." The female smiled a little and looked down at the cot. That was when Five leaned forward and slid his arms around the female's body. "Don't be worried about what happened. We- We should feel bad that we didn't notice… I feel bad that I didn't notice that you were in distress." Four couldn't really respond as she was mentally lost in the hug.

Just the sheer amount of affection and warmth in such a soft movement was enough to drive Four wild. She pressed into his front and against his buttons, fondling one of them curiously, tracing her fingers around the thread that crossed the inside. "Uh… Four?" Five quietly asked, his voice slightly heightening in pitch at the strange delight of the touching on his front. Suddenly Four straightened again and sat there, her mind a mess of ideas. Three wasn't here, nobody was here, just her and Five alone in the Workshop with him being so concerned and kindly to her.

She still could play off like she was recovering from the fainting from earlier if it didn't work. Four knew this as the gears in her mind turned a bit. "No, it's okay. You didn't have to move away," Five insisted and got a smile once more. This was more than enough to signal Four to be a bit bolder. She sent a small smile back at him before leaning forward and returning the hug once more. He hugged her back, "I know it's been a long day…" He began as she tilted her head upwards. "But it's get better," he added as her tiny hand reached to pet his patch.

He resisted pulling back. The patch had mostly been considered off limits by most Stitchpunks. Nobody asked to touch it, nobody tried to touch it, that was just it. They saw past it so much that the missing eye went mostly ignored, so suddenly having a curious hand boldly petting the patch surprised him. He simply fell silent and looked with confusion as Four continued to pet lovingly. She watched him as she did, as though making sure that he didn't show any true discomfort, for then she would pull back and apologize.

Instead Five eventually found his nerve and slowly reached upwards to rest his hand on hers. It was a silent signal to show he was okay and that she wasn't bothering him. This made her only all the bolder and she reached her hand upwards, resting it on his other cheek. Her optics flickered in an attempt at communication, but she realized it wouldn't work. She would have to sign to get her feelings across and yet knew it would slow the mood, and that was if she would get the nerve to sign.

Instead she had another desperate idea and with his face so close she dared to lean forwards and inch their mouths close together. Five inhaled sharply in a gasp and Four closed the gap between them. His rough lips felt perfect against hers and for a moment she couldn't draw away. Even though she didn't want to scare him off she had trouble pulling back. When she finally did she could see his look of shock and her own blush returned with a vengeance.

She moved her hands back and tugged her hood down around her face in embarrassment as though trying to hide from the outside world for a brief moment. Almost immediately Five was roused and now it was his turn. Torn, not knowing what he was doing, and confused to what was to come of this, he reached forward and took her hands from her hand gently. He then slide his hand underneath it to push it back and let it drop to her back. Nothing hiding her face she was forced to look back at him, and felt relief upon seeing his smile.

"Four, I… I don't really know how to… Here." He finally caved and leaned in before briefly pressing his lips back to hers. The female shivered in delight and once they were apart again she smiled back. There was a fuzzy feeling that was starting to form once more, but Four wasn't worried about fainting this time. Even if she did she would have someone there to catch her.

"You coming?" Eight teased as he looked back at Three who was starting to lag down the hall towards the Workshop. The female folded her arms behind her and looked down towards her feet. "Come on, Baby, you know you'll have to see her eventually. She's probably already awake and waiting to see you." Three knew this was true and nodded slowly, shuffling further as Eight opened the curtained door into the workshop. The Guard looked back towards the twin librarian, so he didn't notice the two Stitchpunks hugging on the cot.

They moved apart as Three wandered through the doorway. She looked upwards towards her sister in clear guilt while Four smiled back. She hopped down from the cot and Five partially reached after her, worried about her suddenly going to walk around. Regardless Four ignored it and hurried forward to Three who snapped out of her mood and hugged her sister tightly. For a few minutes they just stood there hugging each other, Three flickering apologies while Four flickered back reassurances that it was alright.

"So how's it look, Doc?" Eight offered in a joking manner. "She free to go?" Five gave a nod, "As long as she takes it easy for the day then she's as good as ever." Three apologized again and Four turned it down, reminding her that she wanted to share the knowledge too. A moment passed before Four added that she still wanted to continue, even if they couldn't project any images. Three beamed and nodded in agreement before guiding her to the door, takin Eight's hand with her other one.

Naturally Four knew of Three and Eight's relationship, but her sister didn't know of her new one, if it even was one yet. She stopped abruptly and flickered to her sister in brief conversing to which the twin nodded eagerly. Then Four turned back to Five with a smile and encouragingly beckoned him. "You want me to come too?" Five was delighted by the invitation and perked happily, "Alright! Lead the way!" He hurried over to them and followed the twins out the door with the Guard following as well.

With that the twins guided the two males down into the Library to continue their lesson. Perhaps it was on a much smaller scale, but they both were eager to have some time with the ones who had comforted them during the previous event. By the end of the day the fainting spell was mostly forgotten and was overshadowed by an afternoon worth remembering.

FIN

Mable: More stories and request fics to come in the near future! I hope that everyone enjoyed!