Mable: Here's a request for a guest! Sorry it took a while, but I hope that you still enjoy it. ^-^ I don't own 9, Enjoy!

A Beautiful Muse

Six seemed to need a constant stream of inspiration to draw anything other than the images that came in his mind. While it seemed like the dream drawings would be more important, Six found that it was the drawings brought on by inspiration that he enjoyed drawing the most. There was nothing that seemed to invoke more inspiration than Five. Five was considerably Six's best friend, even though he seemed to be very close with Nine as well as Six, and in his mismatched optics was incredibly interesting to look at.

The only was the striped artist could describe it was like staring at an ancient painting. Naturally it is pleasing to look at, but it's when you stare and examine further that you truly see what waits underneath. He didn't necessarily have a word to describe what Five was; perhaps he was just simply 'Five'. Regardless, looking at Five gave Six an inspiration that had been recently more difficult to achieve. More and more Six had found unfinished drawings in stacks around his room. Occasionally he would look through them, but almost never finished them.

Sometimes Six didn't know what he wanted to draw, sometimes the urge to draw something would fade, but regardless he was having an increasing trouble trying to keep work going. For the first time in his life Six was questioning his ability to be an Artist. An Artist was supposed to make art for others to enjoy, but he couldn't even make art for himself at this rate. Maybe Five had noticed his distress as one evening he appeared in his drawing area of the Library with a warm smile and a soft suggestion.

"I'm going stargazing on the roof. Want to come with me?" Five had been on the roof quite a lot recently. He, Two, and Nine were trying to build a second Watchtower and, while it was going well enough, it seemed to be taking longer than any of them intended. Mostly because of other things that got in the way. Six looked to him with a frazzled look, ink staining his yarn from him repeatedly raking his pen tipped fingers through it. Five could already tell he had been awake the whole night before. Six got a smile after a second, "Okay!"

Six wasn't one for words and simply hopped to his feet. He practically ran past Five; so desperate to get away from his work for a few minutes that he didn't even close his inkwell. He needed some time to rest and it was best spent with Five. The two crossed the Library to the makeshift bucket lift and raised onto the roof together. Six mostly watched as Five raised the lift, watched as Five guided him, and watched as he got out the spyglass for them to look at the stars. "Look at them! Look how many!" Five practically gushed as he stared at the sky.

"Great to see a clear night like this!" Six finally dragged his mismatched optics away and stared at the sky. Immediately he gasped upon seeing the black blanket topped with dozens of white pinpricks. Hundreds of stars waiting high above; it was enough to inspire, but Six couldn't very well draw stars like these. "They're beautiful, aren't they? For years humans would stare at the sky and use the stars to learn more about the world. They made constellations with the stars, mapped them, and even used them as a guiding light. It's really amazing to think of all of that out there!"

"It is…" Six quietly agreed. Though he found his optics sliding back to admire Five again. The male had a delighted smile as he stared with wonder. Everything Five said was an embodiment of his own interest in the stars and every word was overflowing with vigor. The carefree smile as his optic stared in such interest was beyond what Six would expect. Five looked perfect in this moment; an Artist would want to draw him. "They are beautiful," Five concluded. Six nodded and murmured a soft agreement. Or he thought he did.

"You're beautiful."

Then it suddenly struck Six what had come out. Five did a double take and words spilled from Six like ink. "Oh, wait- no- I mean-!" The Artist was filled with panic and his mismatched optics darted around in a sudden desperation. The Healer just stared at him as though fully gawking at him. "That- That came out wrong…" Six desperately squeaked out and wrung his hands. "I-I didn't mean in a weird way. I mean in a- In a 'I would draw you' sort of way." This sounded even worse in Six's opinion and he fought the urge to disappear by covering his face with his hands.

"Six…" Five started slowly, in a surprised manner, and continued to stare at the striped male. "You… You think I'm beautiful?" The way he accentuated 'I'm' caught Six's attention immediately. Though he slowly nodded even through his embarrassment even when he refused to look at the other. "Six, I… That's really nice of you, but I'm not- I'm not exactly beautiful." He chuckled in forced amusement and rubbed the back of his neck. Now it was Six's turn to look surprised and he dropped his hands to gawk at Five.

"What… What are you talking about? Five, you look amazing! Why would you say that?!... Wait, are you being humble?" He looked a bit confused and Five chuckled in true amusement. "It don't think I look really bad, or anything, but with my patch I'm not exactly-…" he trailed off, not wanting to dwell more on it. The previously embarrassed Artist who had literally wanted to disappear moments before suddenly became very verbal in his opinion. "Five, that's not true!" He scrambled for ideas and then pointed to the sky.

"See the stars? They are beautiful too, but to the untrained eye they look like simple dots and nothing more. I…I am an artist. I can put dots on paper, but I won't see a starry sky." He leaned on the half-finished railing and looked out as Five stared. He had never heard Six be this verbal before or even be this clear and confident with what he would say. Six still continued onwards, "Only an untrained optic would think that your patch does anything less than make you what you are, which is beautiful."

Slowly he turned around, becoming meek again as he clutched his key, "I, umm, I'm not as good as the others are at talking, or fighting, or… Or pretty much anything that involves me using my hands for anything." Six playfully added in the joke to ease the mood, briefly holding up one of his pen tipped fingers. "But I do have a trained eye. I was created to be an Artist and I… I can say fully, honestly, that you, Five, are absolutely beautiful." The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Six got an awkward smile, "M-Maybe I went a little too far?"

In that moment Five suddenly slid forwards and took the smaller male in his arms. Six was a little surprised, yet almost immediately hugged him back, nuzzling into his neck. "Thank you, Six," Five murmured to him. "Nobody's ever said anything like that. It's… It's one of the best things I've ever heard!..." He pressed into his yarn affectionately. "I didn't know you felt that way, but if an Artist as good as you are sees that in me then there must be something I haven't been seeing." Six beamed at Five's soft, stuttering words and continued to hug back.

After a few moments they finally pulled apart. Five had a wide smile on his face and was eager to look back at the stars with an arm around Six's back. Six tried to watch the stars, but couldn't help as occasionally his optics went back to the other male.

By the next day Six had all the information he needed and began to draw relentlessly. Five gave him his space as he worked and didn't see him until Six called upon him that evening. "Five…" Six began in an almost shy manner, "Could you… Come here for a second? I want to show you something." He sounded shy, but had an unbreakable smile on his face and was clearly eager to show off his work. The Healer didn't have to be asked twice and sat down on the striped male's bed as he waited to be presented with the new work.

Six brought it from the corner, beaming all the way, and presented it to the one eyed male. Five was surprised to see a drawing of himself, regardless if Six had said he would draw him or not. "Six, it's-!" his voice cut off as he didn't know how to finish the comment. It was certainly well detailed and perfectly presented him standing before the workbench, accompanied with a warm smile. The Artist clutched his key after handing over the drawing to the object of his inspiration. "Do you like it? I… I tried to make it as close to you as I could."

"It's- It's wonderful!" Five beamed as he lowered it to look at Six. "You didn't have to do this." Yet his face clearly showed how happy he was and Six moved closer to take the paper back, fiddling with it. "I meant what I said; I've been wanting to draw you and… And last night really helped. I think you became my muse." He looked at the floor shyly, a light glow of green taking to his cheeks in a soft blush. "Oh Six," Five voice grew softer in an affectionate way. It sent Six's insides trembling, quivering in excitement and delight at the other's happiness.

Then Five's large hand cupped his cheek. Six's optics shot upwards in surprise as his face was tilted upwards enough that the other male could stare directly at him. "T-Though I think I'd prefer a drawing of you…" Five admitted and Six's mouth slightly dropped open in surprise. At that moment Five seemed to get some sort of cue and suddenly leaned in to press his lips to the smaller male's striped ones. It took Six's breathe away and a soft gasp made it past his lips, along with a noise mixed between a groan and a whine.

It wasn't a long kiss. Five's lips only stayed on Six's for, ironically, five or six seconds. Rough and warm, gently and soothing, and then he pulled back to see the younger male's reaction. Six's optics were wide open and filled with adoration, causing Five to chuckle warmly. He then softly inquired, "Could you do something for me, Six? I-I know you just drew that, and it's amazing, but I… Can you draw us together?" It took a second for him to get his voice to work so instead he nodded vigorously. "I don't want you to keep yourself awake all night or anything, I just…"

Five trailed off when Six vocally replied. "No, no! I… I would love to draw us together… I'd love to be together." He knew he was slipping words out that perhaps needed more thought before spilled. Yet he didn't silence himself, not after such a boldly affectionate movement from Five. "Would you like that too?" Five paused only for a second and then blurted out, "Yes! Of course! We could- We could go back to the Watchtower tonight, just the two of us, and look at the stars again."

Six agreed to the idea, then promptly rushed the male out of his room so that he could begin on his next project, the one that Five had suggested. The afternoon was a quiet one for Six, involving intense focus on a single piece of paper and a steady hand to trace careful lines across it.

Five was already on the roof when Six appeared in the evening. "There you are! I was wondering when you were going to get here!" Five chirped in delight and came over to greet him. Six was almost surprised to have the warm arms comfortably wrapped around him. It felt so different, but it still left him smiling back happily. "Sorry, I had to finish some things. My eyes are still a little out of focus." He rubbed one of them and Five tsked in his 'Healer' way, looking at the mismatched optics to check for anything.

"They're probably a little strained. Just relax them and try not to look at anything too closely and intensely for a while." He sighed and looked out at the night sky. "Not that it'll be a problem for us. Looks like it's a little too overcast to see the stars tonight." He guided the other male to sit down as he now turned his attention to the paper in the striped male's hands. "How's the drawing going?" Six gave an excited smile and presented it to his love, "It's finished! Tell me what you think!" Five looked impressed, "I didn't think you were going to finish it that fast! No wonder your optics are tired!"

Looking at the drawing immediately turned his face from amusement to awe, looking at the scene of the two of them together. It almost looked like a snapshot of the scene with minor differences. It showed them from the side as Five had been cupping Six's cheek, right before he had kissed him. Six blushed to himself as he waited for an answer, "Was it what you wanted?" Five gave a positive response and leaned in for another kiss. Six considered it a perfect reward for all of his work.

When they separated Five pointed out, "I don't think you've drawn anything like this that fast. It's amazing! I doubt anyone less than an Artist could manage that." Six decided to change the compliment in a different direction, "Maybe it's the view?" The Healer looked out at the sky, "It certainly can inspire. It's a shame that the stars aren't out tonight; hopefully the clouds will move." The striped Stitchpunk suddenly wrapped in a tight and warm hug, resting his head on his shoulder and staring out as well. "That wasn't the view I meant…"

He was pleased to glance upwards and see a little bit of green light on the Healer's cheeks. Then Six's tired optics closed and he rested against his muse, enjoying the night with him. Six had a feeling that inspiration wouldn't be that hard to find from now on.

FIN

Mable: This is written a little differently than my usual stories, being broken into three time periods, so I hope it still worked out in the end. It was certainly a fun fic to write. I hope everyone enjoyed!