Mable: Here's a request for MoonValley; I'm sorry it took so long and I hope it was good enough. ^-^ I don't own 9, Enjoy!

The Aging of Wine

Nine didn't know why Two had led him here but was curious and eager to follow him. After all, he had been having a rough day and just needed to get away from everything. They went past the New Sanctuary in to the depths of the Library that were in the far back. Farther than Nine had yet to explore. Since the Incident the Library had become their new home that they were building onto daily. Unfortunately, since the Incident, life had been a little hard on Nine. Of course the others had been brought back by the rain so that was a clear positive out of this.

Other than that miracle Nine found himself having trouble adjusting. Firstly, Nine had to deal with the guilt from all of his mistakes and had trouble doing so. Then his relationship with Seven, which seemed promising in the beginning, failed before it really had time to take off. The second he tried to start securing them as mates something seemed to fall apart. They ended up mutually agreeing that they weren't meant for each other, even if Nine wasn't exactly mutual and merely saying it so that he wouldn't hurt Seven.

Finally was this fight with One that occurred today. Nine retracted from being Leader because of a mix of guilt and reluctance to be one. One agreed to take his throne again and, until the moment, had proved that anyone could change. He was still strict on beliefs and had made rules for his followers, but everyone was equally proud at how toned down the Leader had become. There was one thing that the Leader hadn't become lenient on, however; leaving after the night curfew. He believed the more dangerous Beasts would hunt at nighttime and because of this had given them a clear time to return home.

The night before Nine had been out too late trying to find a replacement bulb for a new Lightstaff to be built with. He got home, fell asleep, and awoke groggy in the morning to have One properly reprimanding him. It erupted into a large argument that had went incredibly out of hand. It ended with Nine storming out and sitting out in the courtyard for an hour until Two came to him to invite him to see something. He guessed that Two probably saw the fight and was planning to show him something to make him feel better.

That was when they arrived in the small room in the back. It was a simple room with a few chairs and a table, partially caved in, but nothing else of interest except for the area that Two himself set together. There was an opening in the wall and through it Nine could see the rainfall coming down from outside. Beside the opening was a bottle that Two immediately headed towards. "I wanted you to try something. None of the others have yet to see it and, well, you certainly aren't a child." He got an amused smile while Nine remembered back to when he had yelled that point to One.

"I guess I'm not." He admitted with a small smile while rubbing the back of his neck, "Two, about that fight…" The Inventor immediately waved it off as he climbed onto some stacked books to get to the top of the bottle. He had set everything up already and even had two small bowls carved out of wood. He worked on the cork with some sort of twisted object made of metal. "It is fine, Nine. I know that One can be overbearing and it is understandable to be frustrated." The zippered male looked away pitifully, "Yeah, but… But I shouldn't have yelled back. I should have just let it stop."

Two lowered both of the bowls into the liquid in the bottle one at a time before they were both filled. It was a burgundy color and Nine was immediately interested as Two climbed back down and handed him one. "I found this back here earlier. It's wine; humans were known to frequently age and drink it on special occasions, but they could only drink it once they arrived at a certain age." Nine gladly took the bowl in interest and stared inside. "It's still good?" The shorter chuckled, "It gets better with age. Considering that, I am guessing it must stay good for quite a long time."

Nine smiled and Two raised his bowl, "Cheers. To our youth." Then he showed the younger how to cling their bowls together in a makeshift cheers. They then both began to drink and Nine immediately stopped. With a mouthful of the bitter liquid he merely let it soak into his fabric while barely moving, not wanting to stir the taste as he found it rather unpleasant. Two also pulled back a second later, "Well, it is certainly strong." He pointed out and Nine forced himself to speak even though the taste still remained, "Why would they drink this?"

"From what I have read," Two started, beckoning Nine to follow him to the books where he sat down, Nine coming to sit down beside him, "it gives humans feeling of euphoria, almost like magnets give us." Nine suddenly let his brows furrow in a quick second of worry and Two again waved it off, "No, no. It won't bother us. Don't worry yourself." Nine sat down beside him, swirling the liquid around in the bowl. It smelled strongly as well and Nine was trying to casually not drink any more without Two noticing.

Two didn't seem to mind the flavor and tasted a bit more, "I doubt we will find much more of this in the world. Human luxuries have all turned by now except for certain cans and bottles. It's actually rather unfortunate." Then he exhaled softly, "Age is a cruel thing. It must be, however, or else we could never gain. We cannot live forever." Nine blinked at this tone and made a guess, "So I should enjoy my youth?" Two blinked before perking and suddenly managing to focus back on the subject, "Oh… Oh yes! Of course! Youth is a wonderful time in any human, or Stitchpunk's, life."

Nine wasn't that naïve and both caught the odd tone in Two's voice and now noticed the strange hesitance as the Inventor stared at his bowl of wine. "You're talking like you're upset with your age." He suggested and the smaller released a dry chuckle. "Ah, Nine. Always the perspective one." He fell a little more melancholy, "But, yes, I guess the thought of youth has made me a bit wistful for the time being. It will pass. It always does." The younger grew serious, "Two, you just said I was an adult, you can talk to me like an adult."

Silence filled the room and for a second Nine was afraid he said the wrong thing. Two stared at him with wide optics that slowly melted into a second of sadness before returning to wistfulness, "Well… Perhaps I am a bit… How about this." He looked straight to Nine with a more perked and interested look once again, "How old do you feel? Mentally, emotionally, not physically as that would be how old you actually are." The zippered Stitchpunk thought a bit, pausing to do so, and stared at the bottle as he thought.

Then he came to his conclusion. "I feel old. I feel weary, like I've seen everything and don't want to see it anymore, and like I don't expect to learn much more after now." He replied solemnly as he thought back to everything he had dealt with in his short time of life. Two was sympathetic and now explained himself, "I, well, I must feel completely opposite. You see, sometimes I wake in the morning and I feel young, so young, that I make plans to accomplish tasks that I cannot possibly accomplish in my state."

Nine blinked, "State? Two, I don't…" Two let the faux pleasant look drop as he sat the bowl down beside him and stared at his hands. "Nine… I was not supposed to be this old. My creator made me to take after him and I gained his age, but mentally I feel too young to be trapped in this body…. Then I begin to think of the things that I will, unfortunately, miss because of my separation from the others. I cannot take a mate, I cannot even attempt to have children, and before my very eyes I continue to count the failures I am beginning to go through."

"But Two," Nine insisted, "You're not old. You've just been having troubles since your legs have been fixed, it- Wait…" He paused briefly, "Why can't you take a mate?" The Inventor smiled at the younger's innocent question, "Age difference. It would not be fair to entrap any Stitchpunk with someone twice their age." The younger male seemed visibly disturbed by this comment. To be fair, Nine never expected Two to be with anyone else, and usually did take comfort in the fact that the Inventor preferred to be unattached.

Nine really did admire Two in a way that rivaled Five's own admiration for him. He respected Two as not only the only Stitchpunk who stayed in a constant state of being pleasant, but never accepted anything as being impossible or undoable. But now he was seeing him in a completely different light; Two clearly had his own problems that he merely didn't focus on around the others and perhaps that made Nine respect him more because he could feel the recognizable warmth pulsing in his chest.

"Two…" He started softly, "You still… You can still do those things. We know that you're not old; your body is just having trouble recovering. You're not old and you've got a chance for… For everything!" He insisted and could see a small smile grow on Two's face. It still didn't seem good enough; a smile didn't erase that Two was clearly distressed. It didn't even prove that he was feeling any better. Instead, he was simply putting on the same worry free look, the one to reassure the others instead of his own.

Nine suddenly felt the warmth spreading along his insides and decided to comfort Two in a confusing way. He suddenly leaned forward and chastely pressed his lips to Two before pulling back. He stared at the Inventor whose optics were quite wide. "I… Umm… I don't know what that was." Nine started hesitantly, "But I… I know that I've been acting foolish. I'm the one saying that I feel old when I'm in perfect health. But maybe… Maybe if I feel old and you feel young, maybe we can figure out how to even ourselves out. Together."

Now the Inventor smiled again, but this one was a bit different, it was more real. There was clear hesitance, "Are you certain, Nine, that you would be willing to find some sort of midpoint with me? What… What about Seven? You and Seven have been…" He trailed off and Nine realized that he was agreeing to something much deeper than he anticipated. However, it didn't scare him off, and instead endeared him even more. The thought of sharing something so deep with a Stitchpunk who he clearly adored seemed perfect, especially since this meant that it would perhaps help Two as well.

"I want to, Two. Let's try it. Maybe we can grow young together." He suggested playfully and Two linked an arm around him, "I think I would enjoy that very much." With that he moved in and took Nine's lips and Nine started to realize that this meant much more than a simple gesture, and he also realized that he felt much younger with Two.

Even the wine was better when tasted from Two's lips.

FIN

Mable: To Lily Pie, I put a message on my profile regarding your request since I can't PM you. As a reminder I do requests for anyone of any couple or content, save something like gruesome character death, but nobody ever requests anything like that. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed!