Mable: This is a request for Lacey Vill for the couple 6x9; this was one I had a good time writing so I hope you like what you see and are satisfied. ^-^ I don't own 9, enjoy!

Stripes with Floral Print

Nine hadn't felt the same since the Machine's defeat. Even when the others returned, from the Life Giving Rain, he had still felt an empty pang of guilt lingering in his chest. It wouldn't go away while they looked for the other Stitchpunks, it wouldn't go away when they worked on the others, and by time they were resting he was done with it. None of the others were awake from what he could see and Nine decided that this was the perfect time to go through with his plan. He would never be able to not feel like a failure; so he would exile himself into the Emptiness.

The thought of never being a danger ever again was wonderful to say the least and an ease off of his shoulders. So once he was positive that they were all resting he stood to leave. He wandered past each one of their sleeping figures and looked upon the Stitchpunks that he saw as his family. He loved them, even when they fought he loved them so much, so he couldn't just sit by as he made another foolish mistake. With that he headed for the exit of the Library and out into the Emptiness.

What Nine didn't know was that he was inaccurate in his belief that none of the others were awake. Someone was awake; the striped Stitchpunk who watched him wandering around in confusion. Once he saw him leaving the confusion turned to concern and he scrambled to his feet before following him out. While he had been injured by the Machine, having his soul completely removed, he had not been injured in the fall afterwards by some miracle so he was possibly the only one who actually could go after Nine.

He did think about getting Five and Seven, but to be honest neither seemed able to assist. Five was currently holding his mentor in his sleep while Two rested a hand on him. Neither would want to be separated. It didn't help that One took to sleeping on the exact opposite of Two and it was obvious that in an attempt to wake Five that he'd also be awakened as well, and was sure to not be pleased. Seven was propped against some books and standing on guard, but the problem was that Nine was clearly avoiding her.

This wasn't the only time that Six had been watching Nine today. Ever since he awoke he had been practically idolizing the male and wanted to praise him for saving them, but Nine had been acting too strange to do so, and the Artist knew that something was clearly wrong. Now here he was leaving and Six ended up following him out into the Emptiness. The rain had stopped for a bit, but was sure to begin once again if the thick rainclouds were any indication. They grumbled and rumbled above in a menacing manner.

Six remembered that he was once afraid of thunderstorms and would spend those nights shivering in bed worse than with the nightmares. Then Two found out one day from one of the others and decided to help him. He explained exactly what made the sound and light, why it was necessary, and then spent the night holding Six. Eventually the treatments helped and Six was glad to say that he was no longer afraid. Well, he wasn't afraid to listen to thunderstorms, but being out in one right now was a little unnerving, he wouldn't deny.

However, Nine came first, and Nine was moving fast. He had to have known where he was going. In fact, Nine did know where he wanted to go, because while searching for the others he had managed to scout the house out and pondered the idea of using it. It was just a small house nearby with an intact front room that looked safe enough for him. It didn't take long to get to the house where he quickly climbed the ditch outside the front of the house and headed to the front door that was only barely ajar.

Six followed a few feet back and, while seemingly a bit clumsy, managed to stay quiet in his endeavor. He climbed over the same ditch that Nine did and hid behind a wheelbarrow propped beside it in some mud. As he leaned on it, he swore it moved, even though it was much bigger than Six was and filled with bricks. He ignored it as his imagination and watched as Nine hopped on the front step and slipped into the house. Six watched after him solemnly and tried to figure out why Nine had come to this place.

"From the way he was looking at the others…" Six thought to himself, "It's almost like he didn't plan to come back…" Six wasn't ignorant; he was beginning to grasp the possibility that Nine bluntly left, while still being unsure why the zippered male would leave. The Artist started to climb under the wheelbarrow when suddenly, unexpectedly, everything went wrong at once. Apparently the dirt was softer than he imagined and suddenly the Wheelbarrow was sliding into the ditch from Six's touch only, him being pushed down and thrown into the muddy ditch as well.

Six tumbling into a ditched was not the problem; it was the heavy brick that landed on his leg that he soon found distressing. Thankfully the entire wheelbarrow didn't fall atop him, but no he could only panic as the pain shot through his limb. Worse still, Six wasn't the strongest Stitchpunk, and was finding it very difficult to push of the brick, alone, when it was on his leg. A flash of lightning lit the sky before booming with thunder and triggered Six to shriek, "Nine!"

He was trapped in the weather alone and as he struggled to pull his leg out he felt rain begin to pelt down. "Nine, help!" He yelled again in the direction that the zippered male went. He became frantic in terror as he tried to yank himself free from under the brick, it being held down by another brick leaning half on it, and the entire situation leaving Six completely defenseless. He could imagine the ditch filling with water and drowning him in seconds; he honestly thought that he was about to succumb.

Nine had moved inside the house and scanned his new home. It was safe enough, that was good, but it was certainly empty. There was a small fireplace filled with half burnt wood that looked inviting though and he played with the idea of lighting a fire. That was when he had heard the cries from outside and at first thought they were in his mind. After he heard them continue he realized that there was no doubt that they were real and dashed out of the house into the rain.

"Six?!" He perked as he heard Nine's voice nearby. Immediately his cries grew louder and more desperate as he tried to drag himself free, "I'm in the ditch! My leg's trapped!" Soon Nine appeared at the top of the ditch a little ways away, but managed to see Six and ran to him, looking over the scene. "Six, what are you doing here?!" Nine asked in sheer confusion, but Six didn't answer with any more than, "Help, please, it's crushing me, the rain is going to come, I'm going to drown!" The frantic cry managed to shove Nine into action.

"Calm down, I'll get you out." Nine answered and crossed to the brick leaning on the one on Six's leg, pushing it off before lifting the brick trapping him just enough that Six could drag himself out. While it felt better to be free, Six was still in pain, and pitifully looked over his leg in an attempt to access the damage. He was unable to see anything from the outside, but clearly knew something was wrong, and looked to Nine desperately for help. The zippered male kneeled beside him.

"Think you can walk on it?" He asked calmly and Six immediately shook his head, nearly trembling from a mix of the pain, fear, and perhaps chill from the rain. Nine didn't know why Six was there, but certainly didn't like seeing him in this state, and felt the same guilty feeling return once again. "Okay…" He ran a hand over his own head as he thought of a plan, "Okay, I'm just going to carefully pick you up. I think I can carry you and there's a shelter over there were I can look and see what's wrong with your leg, alright?"

Another quiet nod before Nine went along with the plan. He slid an arm under Six's back and another under Six's knees, being careful to be gentle on the injured leg. "Hold on so you don't fall." He spoke and was rewarded with Six latching onto his neck for dear life. It was a tight hold and Nine felt a strange heat rushing into his face as Six buried into his shoulder pitifully. Nine carefully lifted the smaller and was genuinely surprised at exactly how light he was compared to what he had expected. Then he began to trek over to the house that he had planned to make his new home.

He nudged the door a little open with his foot and slipped into the home, looking around the darkened front room for anything that could help them. Rain began to tap heavily on the glass windows and sent the noise throughout the house, a calm, rhythmic pattern. Nine still noticed that his own breath sounded obnoxiously loud in his audio receptors and that his pulse had rose from the previous rush. Six was still shaking, but Nine was now certain that it was from the cold, as the evening had caused the rain to turn much colder.

He began to hold the smaller Stitchpunk tighter as he searched around the room. Eventually he found half of a blanket dangling from the sofa and struggled to tug it down the rest of the way. It fell into a small lump on the floor and Nine used this to his advantage, laying Six down upon it. "Here, just lay down for a second and rest. I'll go see if I can get a fire going." He still found himself being overly fussy with Six. He tugged the blanket until it nearly formed an indention for Six's body and used the excess to cocoon around the Artist.

He glanced up at Six's face and immediately regretted it. The artist looked a lot worse than he was, optics closed and mouth parted slightly to let out soft breaths, but at the same time Nine found himself staring. To the sharp hands that clutched the blanket in clear distress, to the wet yarn that pasted down against Six's forehead, and again to his mouth. Striped lips, slightly parted, allowing the soft breaths. Soft breathing through soft lips. Nine then snapped out of his faze, feeling completely confused at whatever just happened, and quickly moved to address the fire.

It took some time of searching the house to find the things that he needed. Some matchsticks in a little box, some spare paper to help light the wood, and even some firmer cloth that he knew he could find a use for. He worked on the fire for some amount of time before managing to get a small flame going. The warmth was a clear comfort, but Nine still wasn't finished. After pushing the front door shut, hoping to dissuade any wandering Beasts from coming in, he approached Six.

"Six?" He asked quietly, thinking the Artist was asleep. The striped one's mismatched optics flickered open as the sound and he looked to the burlap Stitchpunk. "I found some fabric in the back that feels pretty tough." He pointed, showing the fabric to Six, "I think, maybe, if I bandage your leg that it may be easier to move you closer to the fire. Five will probably need to look at you and I don't think it's safe to go out in the rain." Six nodded without a word and Nine looked to the fabric, "Sorry about the weird designs on it."

Nine's hands began to feel over Six's leg and felt every time that the Artist flinched in distress. The zippered male trained himself to move slower, to dodge the spots of increasing pain, but couldn't feel exactly what was wrong. "Can you move it at all?" The Artist spoke shakily, "Yeah, but it hurts when I do." He then began to demonstrate and let out a quick cry of distress when the pain returned. Nine stopped him, "I think that's good; that means that your leg still works, but don't move it anymore, okay?" The other silently agreed and Nine started to wrap it in the fabric.

"Flowers." Six remarked and Nine looked to him quizzically. "The designs. They're flowers." Six pointed out and Nine stared at the fabric. To him, the bizarre mix of maroon shades and squiggly lines didn't look like anything other than strangeness. "Flowers, huh? I wouldn't have guessed." Not that he knew what flowers were. His mind trailed off and he, unfortunately, became a bit distracted, and accidently wrapped a bit too tight. Six's mouth clamped onto his lip and he let out a dull noise of distress, bring Nine to reality.

"Sorry!" He apologized briskly and reached to rub the part of Six's thigh that had responded to the wrapping. He massaged the striped canvas and heard Six release a sigh, a mere exhale, but this time it didn't sound pained. It actually sounded as though Six felt good. Nine smiled in relief and continued to stroke the slender leg before continuing to wrap it in a firm, but not too tight manner. Then he stood, "Hold on and I'll drag you closer to the fire." Then began to drag the blanket over to the fireplace as best as he possibly could.

Once closer, Six immediately tried to prop himself in a sitting position so that he could face the fire, embracing the warmth gladly. Nine watched him stretch and noticed as the striped one twisted his body to sooth himself. Nine found himself staring and watching the smile of contentment stretch across Six's face. He looked away before speaking, "Were you following me?" he asked and Six's smile dropped as he looked hesitant, then guilty. "You left." He pointed out, clutching his key, "I… I followed."

"But why?" Nine asked and Six quietly responded with his own question, "Why did you leave?" Nine paused, not expecting the other to ask such a question. He looked to the fire, trying to think of how to answer, and eventually answered, "I just… I thought it would be best if I set out on my own." The Artist looked saddened and Nine looked away, "It doesn't matter, Six." Six surprisingly continued to press even though Nine never knew him as one to do so. He was a little glad that the Artist was that comfortable with him.

"It does matter!" Six protested, "You saved us, why would you want to leave?" The other scoffed, "I didn't save anyone. I just tried to fix what I caused and I barely did that. No, I didn't do that, the rain did that." He admitted and the striped one realized what was occurring; Nine felt guilty about the incident. His voice lowered in a comforting tone almost as Two's did when he was comforting someone. Almost as though he was comforting Nine like Two comforted him during the thunderstorms.

"Nine, it wasn't your fault what happened." Six spoke quietly and Nine waved it off, "Six, please, let's not do this. You're injured and you can't deal with the stress." He didn't look towards the Artist who slowly shifted and nearly crawled closer to Nine, having to lean against him to take weight off of his leg. He smiled a little and Nine was taken aback when arms wrapped around him in a friendly manner. Six was still smiling and Nine was clearly questioning it with a confused look.

"I didn't sleep." Six spoke, "I didn't sleep because I didn't want to see the nightmares. Because I didn't sleep I was confused. Because I was confused I couldn't warn the others. Because I couldn't warn the others what happened did happen. Because I was scared." His smile turned a bit sadder, "So maybe it's my fault, but it's okay because it's over. It doesn't matter what happened because it's over. We can't blame ourselves anymore. It wasn't even your fault."

Nine had been listening to Six, listening to his words, when he started to notice something overtaking him. Words stopped mattering halfway through and all he could recognize was that Six felt the same as he did, was comforting him, was willing to not blame him after what happened on the bridge, and had the softest looking lips. Nine couldn't understand what this new obsession was, but found it overbearing. He could remember the last time they were this close, on the bridge, but he was too scared then to feel anything else.

Then, out of nowhere, he jolted forward and claimed Six's tender lips with his own. There were a few seconds of awe as he felt their soft canvas and relished the soft tingles that pinpricked through his mouth. That was, until he realized what he was doing and ripped back, alarmed. Six was staring wordlessly, mouth slightly agape, surprise clearly on his face. "Sorry." Nine answered, unsure what else he could say. There was nothing more that he could say and looked downwards.

"Can you…" Six murmured softly, "Again?" Nine stared at the floor for a second before his head shot upwards, "What?" The Artist looked surprisingly shy, moving his hands back to caress his key nervously, and murmured, "I… Would like you to do that again." With that, Nine suppressed a sharp inhale in alarm, but stopped himself midway. His hand came out on its own accord and separated one of Six's from his key, taking it in his own. Something about the sharp, pen tipped digits were strikingly attractive to him and his thumb ran over the fingers delicately.

Six now let in the sharp inhale; Nine assumed that not many Stitchpunks touched his hands and he was unused to the touch. Nine brought his other hand to cup the bottom of the hand while his other stroked over it. Curious fingers dipped into every place they could, listening to Six's reactions. They were soft whimpers and sighs, but they were definitely not from pain, and this only spurred Nine on. He slowly leaned in once again, this time patiently taking his time, and then pressed his lips against Six's.

This time there was no abrupt separation. Instead, their lips massaged together, and Nine was glad to feel the Artist's moving back against his own. It showed that Six clearly wanted the gesture as much as Nine did. His other hand that wasn't caressed by Nine removed itself from his key and moved to Nine's cheek, caressing over his burlap. The sharp tips were so careful that Nine feared no scratches. One of his own hands moved to Six's head and burrowed into his yarn hair, feeling the softness.

When their breath ran out they separated. Both were pleased, smiling, and Nine pulled Six closer to hold tight against his chest. He pulled the injured leg across his lap so that it wouldn't bend uncomfortably, stroking the flowered fabric bandage and watching as Six cuddled closer against the zippered one. "I like you." Six admitted and Nine chuckled a bit, "I like you too, Six." There was a small pause. "No, Nine. I like you. That's… That's why I followed you." Nine felt his pulse begin to race faster, "Six… I really like you. I don't know how to explain."

Six seemed confused, "Seven?" He asked and the zippered one understood, "No. I thought before that, maybe, I did. But it stopped. It stopped after the Machine was gone. This is different." Six's smile widened, "It is. It is different." Then burrowed his face into Nine's shoulder like he had before when the Stitchpunk carried him to safety, "Don't leave us, Nine. Stay with us. Stay with me. Please." Nine paused for a short while, not answering, as the fireplace crackled in a warm glow beside them.

Six yawned out of nowhere and Nine found his smile return. Apparently the injury mixed with the lack of sleep had left the striped one feeling exhausted. "Tired?" Six nodded against him, but was clearly still waiting for Nine's answer. Nine slid onto the blanket and reclined Six with him onto the soft cloth, stretched out before the fire, making sure that Six's leg was comfortable. He traced over the flowers playfully before lying beside Six and holding him. Six immediately accepted the feeling and murmured against Nine in contentment.

Nine couldn't say that he wasn't a little surprised to find Six so apt to cuddle. Being so standoffish, Nine thought Six didn't like physical contact, but now he was practically inseparable. He held Nine desperately and Nine decided to speak, "Six…Tomorrow morning I'll take you to the Library and maybe we could… Could just say we went out, but not tell them that I was planning to leave, alright?" He could feel Six smiling against him, "You'll stay?" Nine nodded against him, "I don't really think I could live alone. Not anymore."

This was true. He didn't think that he could confidently leave Six now, not when he felt so good when he was with him. He leaned down and briefly captured the tired Stitchpunks lips. Then pulled away before cuddling together on the blanket. Alone and secure together before the warmth of the fire. Counting the flickering shadows upon the walls and waiting for when morning would come. Meanwhile, the rain pattered on through the night.

FIN

Mable: I am still taking requests. In fact, I have a 7x9 one that I got today and are starting to work on. It will be done shortly. I hope everyone enjoyed!