Mable: This is a request for my friend Ink! It's a 6xChild fic, the first I have done, and is considered in 'Souls Run Deep' timeline while being a spinoff. Not canon, but takes place during the trip to Mullerthal. Anyway, I hope I wrote it well! I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Mouth to Lips

Mullerthal was beautiful. There was no doubt about it. Untouched by humans and lush with fauna of every kind. It was almost hard to believe that a place like this still existed in the Emptiness. Especially for Child himself to believe, not understanding why the Machine would leave a place like this remaining. It could obviously provide some sort of nourishment to humans and animals so it seemed more than a bit risky to simply skip over the area without question. Either way, he did manage to pull himself out of his thoughts as his attention turned to the small pond nearby.

A few of the others had admired the pond and decided to go for a brief swim, even though few of them could actually swim. Five was in the shallow edge of the pond with the twins who were wading about, Six was climbing along a tree that was leaning over the pond, and Seven herself was the only one actually swimming, though she soon after left the water. Child sort of scowled at the water itself; it was not the pristine water that they acted like it was. It was filled with loose dirt, foggy, and nothing that Child wanted to deal with. He wasn't especially picky, but the pond itself didn't exactly spark his interest.

His optics slid back over to the other Stitchpunks nearby. They were simply arranging the camp to be more stable. Eight was assisting Two with some heavy lifting as the latter tried his hardest to make a covering shelter to shield from the coming storm. Child glanced to the sky; there were a few clouds, but didn't appear to be anything serious. Though Child wasn't one to judge the weather in any way. To be fair, Child wasn't even very fond of being outdoors, with his sensitivity to the sun causing his head to occasionally ache.

Two claimed that his legs ached when a storm was coming and because Child knew the reason why this would occur, with pressure and such, he trusted Two's judgment, and played with the idea of going to help. He was somewhat in a state of repose that he found he could not will himself from. His body seemed to refuse to function and he contemplated that perhaps he was straining himself too hard. There was a splashing noise and Child winced at the thought of someone actually jumping into the pond and stirring the muck to the surface.

That was when he heard more splashing that sounded strange and was quickly followed by Five crying out, "Six!" Child glanced back over at the pond and scanned the half rotted log that Six had previously been crossing. The Artist was now gone and the male then looked towards the water where he saw the scene. The twins were panicking at the shallow end while Five was wading out towards the center of the pond as fast as he could, towards an area of bubbling water. It clicked immediately; Six had fallen in.

Then Child immediately realized that Five could not swim and, as well, wouldn't be able to retrieve Six. Child didn't wait to see if the others were closer and sprinted towards the water, ripping his hood off on the way and tossing it to the ground. He had really not wanted to get into the sludge filled pond, but there was no option, Child wasn't willingly going to let Six sink and drown. He dove into the water and began to stroke, mentally noting that the others needed to learn how to swim if they were going to be out in the water.

Upon reaching the area with the bubbles he took a deep breath and plummeted underneath the water, beginning to swim downwards to find Six. It was foggy and disorienting, but he could see a bit of striped fabric sinking towards the bottom of the pond. He managed to reach near the bottom and grasped ahold of Six's limp body. Apparently he had already inhaled enough water that he had went unconscious and Child wrapped his arm around the other's waist. Then he began to swim back towards the surface.

Upon reaching the surface Child choked in the fresh air, his mouth tasting like the tainted water. He started swimming towards the shore with Six in tow and could see Seven on the shore, looking like she was preparing to dive in before he appeared. Finally he had his feet sunk in the thick mud along the shore and drug Six onto land. The small Artist was heavy with water soaked into his fabric and insides so he weight much more than usual. Child nearly dropped him onto the ground before kneeling beside him.

So here was the main issue with Child attempting to save Six's life. Child had lived among humans, though hidden, and lived inside the Machine. His knowledge of Humans and Machines were both top notch. Most Machines did not need to breathe, but humans did, and when humans inhaled water they were given mouth to mouth resuscitation. It was unknown if it would work in this case, if it would do anything at all, but he had no other ideas. Five had appeared right beside him with, "Is he alright?" Before Child suddenly dropped down and pressed his mouth to Six's.

The pale male actually did catch Five's face out of the corner of his optic. If the situation wasn't as serious as it was, he would have smirked in amusement at the look on Five's face; a widened optic with a hanging open mouth. Apparently he wasn't too aware of this type of treatment which wasn't doubted considering that the Stitchpunks weren't very used to being in the water. Child focused on forcing as much air as possible into Six's body before pulling back and folding his hands across Six's chest. Then he used all of his strength to shove downwards a few times.

By time he lifted Six's head and met their mouth together again was when the few others ran to the scene. "Dear Creator, what is he doing?!" One demanded; apparently he didn't know what this was either, but Two seemed to recognize it well enough as he kneeled on the other side of Six and folded his hands over Six's chest. Once Two began to assist him it went much quicker. Only a few seconds passed before Six let out a pitiful cough. Child felt a wave of relief and exhaled before letting his head drop into his hand, rubbing his forehead.

"Thank goodness." Two murmured before rolling Six over on his hands and knees, gently patting his back as Six choked out the rest of the water remaining. "What happened?! How did he get in the water?!" One demanded and Five explained, stuttering a bit, which Child didn't know was because of seeing his treatment or because of the event itself. "H-He… he was climbing that, umm, that log over the water and slipped. If Child wouldn't have jumped in…" He faltered off and Child, seeing that Six was in Two's safe hands, stood, "He's fine. Just keep him away from that… deathtrap."

He trailed off as he noticed that his white fabric was now dyed a tan color from the water, "And somehow I didn't expect this… I am going to find a cleaner body of water. Or a body of water period." He said quickly before heading off, then letting him go except for a few praises from the twins and Nine. Six himself just watched him leave, staring at his back with widened optics and a look of pure admiration.

The rest of the day was uneventful until the evening time. Child was at the edge of the shelter watching the twins studying fireflies, making sure they didn't wander too far, when he was approached from behind. "Child?" The soft voice obviously belonged to Six who sounded somewhat quiet. Child guessed his voice was hoarse from his voice box getting saturated and glanced back before giving a nod of greeting, "Evening Six. Are you feeling any better?" From what he had heard, Six had been sleeping most of the day away, and the Artist slowly wandered to his side.

"I'm okay." Six murmured quietly before kneeling beside Child, resting on the ground and clutching his key. Child could tell that something was wrong and watched the male sit there, "Is something troubling you?" Six shook his head, "No, I… Thank you." The other male raised a stitched brow and Six explained, "You saved me. Thank you." Child nodded and gave him a small, reassuring smile, "There is no need to thank me, Six. I was simply the first person to get to you."

The Artist straightened and faced him, "No. You did. You did that to me, that… With the mouth. You put air in me." He was clearly trying to describe Child's efforts and the male explained, "It's called mouth to mouth resuscitation. Humans use it to save other humans who are drowning." The striped one smiled a bit wider, "It… It was like you put your breath in me. You gave me your breath." Child shrugged slightly at the comment, trying to somewhat deny how delighted the thought was making the Artist.

"Perhaps. It was not as much effort as you think it was, Six. I was simply-." Child cut off as Six touched his arm and glanced downwards at his hand. The sharp fingers were gripping onto his arm and, looking to him, noticed that Six looked very strange. Staring at Child with a smaller, shyer smile, "Child… Because you gave me your breath… I want to give you mine." Child didn't understand what Six was trying to say until the striped one leaned in, mouth posed open. Child knew immediately what the Artist was going to do.

He caught the other by the shoulders, "Six, that is not necessary." He insisted, a soft chuckle on his voice to cover the growing warmth on his cheeks. It certainly was an embarrassing situation and absolutely the last thing he had expected of Six. The Artist insisted, "You saved my life." Child retorted, "Six, I am flattered, but-." Six interrupted, "I didn't know it felt so good." He explained softly, almost desperately, "The water hurt, but… But the mouth to mouth was-," He paused to think of a word and immediately finished with, "filled with life."

Child knew that he should do so, it was wrong, but Six was so insistent that he had half a mind just to get over with it. Pacify Six and secure that the other would be content, considering the fact that he nearly drowned earlier. "Alright. If you are this determined." He knew clearly well what they were doing could be taken in a different context, but because Six thought it was innocent 'breath giving' Child saw little wrong with it, or little that he would admit. Either way, he exhaled, and took ahold of Six's arm.

He was steady, slow as he moved forward, and the other smiled in delight before leaning forward as well. With that, their mouths met together. Child was almost certain that he was enjoying this too much to be able to excuse this as simply pacifying Six. There was no fear of death and no rush; simply his mouth against Six's softer one. He wasn't sure when exactly putting air into Six's mouth turned into their lips massaging each other, but it evolved from one into another, and it didn't seem to be fading back again into innocence.

Child blamed his age; he was a young, healthy adult and his being simply wanted a mate, even when it meant randomly kissing Six. He did gain enough control to eventually pull himself back and pointedly tried to avoid Six's gaze. Six was clearly thrilled with what they had done; perhaps his own urges were becoming a bit too strong as well and subconsciously indicated that this was what he wanted. He seemed content and cautiously came forward, wrapping his arms around Child's frame.

"Thank you." He said in a hushed tone just in case the others were close enough to hear while somehow not seeing the scene they had made. Child wrapped an arm around Six, deciding to stay quiet and simply pacify Six by holding him for a few seconds. Now he would admit to himself that maybe there was a reason he leapt into the water so quickly to go after Six. If this was the case, maybe the warmth in his frame was more than his age reacting to the kiss. It was very confusing, but he decided to simply hold Six closer against his chest.

Six, meanwhile, could only bask in the thrill that Child hadn't caught on to his little trick to get their mouths back together. Child hadn't just saved his life; he gave him another reason for living.

FIN

Mable: Ink, I hope you enjoyed! I know it may have been a little awkward, but, again, this is my first time with this couple. I haven't wrote Child with anyone other than his main love interest in 'Souls Run Deep'. ^-^ As for everyone else, I still take requests if anyone has them. I hope everyone enjoyed!