- DISCLAIMER: I do not own 9 or any other related character, that's purely Shane Acker, not me. If I did, I would die a happy fan.

I was bitten by the writer's bug. This little one-shot was written with these songs playing in the background:

Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Alive with the Glory of Love by Say Anything
Lucky by Bif Naked
Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
Collide by Howie Day

Please R&R. Not your cup of tea, don't read.

Enjoy!


SOULBOUND

.

It was pitch-black when his eyes opened. Sitting up, the ragdoll tried to peer around at his surroundings, to make out exactly where he was.

The tab of his zipper clunked against the staff he was holding over his chest. He screwed in the bulb, shedding some light on his surroundings. He was in the watchtower, having fallen in a rest cycle during his shift on the swing that was hanging down from the rafters over his head.

"You're lucky that I was the one that came up. Had 1 seen you out cold when you're supposed to be on watch, you wouldn't hear the end of it."

He jumped at the sound of the new voice, turning toward the source of it. He was surprised to see that he wasn't alone in the tower.

7 smiled back at him. She was seated on the swing beside him, one of her arms coiled around her knee, holding it against her chest while her other leg dangled over the edge of the swing, her foot pressed to the floorboards as she rocked the swing lightly.

9 blinked. The warrior and the twins had long since made a point of avoiding the cathedral that they resided in, not agreeing in the slightest with 1's rule.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, shaking off the shock of the warrior's sudden appearance. He could feel that same spark that always lighted itself within his very core whenever the female was around.

She shrugged. "I just decided to visit, to see how you all are holding up without me."

9 stretched. "We're fine, I guess. 1's still a bit of a pain, but other than that..." he shrugged.

7 chuckled. "Glad to hear everything's still normal."

The burlap ragdoll laughed. "Yeah. So what have you been up to?"

The warrior shrugged, drumming her fingers on the shaft of her spear. "This and that. Nothing that would interest you in particular, really." She paused. "Although, 3 and 4 stumbled upon a certain book that was rather... interesting, I guess."

"Really?" 9 asked, his intrest captured. "What was it about?"

7 looked thoughtful for a moment. "The dynamics of human reproduction." she told him.

9's stitched brows raised. "What were they doing looking at that?"

"I don't even know," 7 replied. "I guess they just found it at the back of one of their shelves and, them being the curious little ones that they are, they starting going through it."

"What did you do?" 9 asked.

"What do you think I did?" 7 chuckled, swatted at his shoulder. "I took it away from them."

9 rubbed his arm where he had been hit. He held up a hand in surrender, though a smile still played on his cloth lips. "Alright, alright." It was then he noticed the thoughtful look on her face.

"It got me thinking though..." she began.

"What did?" 9 asked. "The book?"

7 shook her head. "Not necessarily the book... but, rather, what the book described."

"...Human reproduction?" 9 tried hesitantly.

7 nodded.

"W-why did it get you thinking?" 9 asked, suddenly nervous.

The warrior paused, shrugging. "I don't really know," she admitted. "But... I got this wierd feeling the more I thought about it. Kind of like... something's missing, but you don't know what. Or something like that." she added, suddenly regretting bringing it up at all.

9 wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Well-" he looked at her, shocked to see that her own face was so close to his own. His eyes widened as he felt a gentle pressure on his lips.

Their eyes met as they pulled away.

"I shouldn't have done that," she apologised quickly. "I-I don't know what I was doing..."

"Wait," 9 said quickly as she tried to move off the swing, gripping her upper arm. The warrior blinked, looking back at him.

9 averted his gaze. "S-sorry. I-I just... don't go."

7 was surprised by his pleading tone.

Before either of them could really think, their lips were crushed together once more, 7 winding up straddling his lap, supporting herself with her knees on either side of his hips.

Her lips closed on the side of his neck. 9 moaned softly at the wonderful sensations that flowed through him, melting at her touch. He gripped the edge of the swing, his other hand resting lightly on the red patch sewn onto her back. His copper fingers curled against her durable fabric skin. He needed to feel her!

A whimper escaped his voice-box, despite all his attempts to conceil it. Hearing the pleading sound, 7 stopped and pulled her lips from his neck, staring him in the eye. No words were exchanged, but that one look said all that was needed to be said; they both felt the same way.

The warrior tilted her head to the side to avoid clashing optics and tugged him into another kiss. Her hands ran down the thick knits of his chest, locating his zipper tab and seizing it firmly with both hands, slowly tugging downward.

It was a strange sensation, being opened by another doll, something that was solely done by himself. In their tribe, it had been established as a sort of taboo to unfasten another doll without first gaining their permission.

Unzipping him completely, 7 released the tab and leaned back to get a proper look at him. 9 felt exposed as her hungry eyes traveled steadily down his frame, inner mechanisms bared to her. Her gaze fell on the spot just above where his zipper tab had come to a stop, where a mettallic tip was just barely pushing its way between the two halves of his zipper chain.

She stared back at him, 9 looking away bashfully.

"I-I'm a bit nervous..." he admitted. Had he any way to do so, he would no doubt be blushing.

7, empathetic, offered a gentle smile. She leaned fore-ward, holding either side of his face between her delicate hands and placed a gentle kiss on his brow.

"Easily remedied..." she told him softly.

9's stomach flipped in nervousness as she slid off his lap and settled in a kneeling position in-front of him. She hooked her hands beneath his knees, sliding his legs apart.

"7? Wh-what are you...?"

"You'll see," she told him, kissing his inner thigh. She cupped her hands around the area in question, hooking her thumbs beneath both halves of the zipper chain and easing them further apart.

9 gasped loudly, clenching his fists tightly as she closed her lips around his tip. A low moan escaped him as she began suckling, bringing up her hand to stroke the rest of his shaft that was steadily sliding out into view.

"Se-seven! Aahhh!" he moaned, placing a hand on the back of her head as she nipped at his slit. She pulled away, stroking the underside as she studied his now fully exposed tool.

She couldn't help but marvel at how little similarities were present between the human male's reproductive organ and 9's instrument, at least from what she could make from the book the twins had happened upon. His tool was a fairly simple device, sharing the same cylindrical shape as their human predecessors, but had no head or testes to show of. Instead, his member ended with a rounded, slitted tip.

He was much larger than she had initally believed he would be, but, then again, what could be expected of the most advanced of their kind?

7 looked back at him, noticing his embarrassed expression and how he kept his gaze averted from hers. Realising what was wrong, she reached up, turning his face toward hers and giving him a reassuring smile. "Believe me, 9. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

He smiled back sheepishly, shuddering as she trailed her finger along his slited tip.

The warrior stood, settling onto his lap once more and supporting herself with her knees on ethier side of his hips. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she maneuvered her hips until she was poised just above his tip. She began to lower herself, but stopped.

7's gaze flicked back to 9's face. "You ready?" she asked softly, the slightest hint of nervousness in her eyes.

9 nodded, resting his hands on her thighs readily. His stomach flipped as she kissed the top of his head tenderly, rump wriggling in anticipation. This was really happening; he was about to make love to the very girl he'd fallen in love with at first glance.

7 looked him in the eye as he parted the folds of the seam that ran between her legs, seeking out her depths. 9 moaned softly as she settled tightly around him.

Suddenly, he felt something snap inside of her, 7's pupils constricting as she tensed. Stifling her cry of pain as her virgin threads were broken, 7 bit lightly down on 9's shoulder, gripping his chest flaps tightly.

9, taken aback, stared down at her, confused.

"7 . . . ?" he said softly, concern. He felt her voice-box vibrate inside her chest as she whimpered.

"I-I'm fine, 9. Really," she promised, patting his hand reassuringly. 9, unconvinced, stroked her inner thigh with his thumb tenderly, knowing that he was causing her pain.

Wincing the slightest bit, 7 shifted until she was staring him in the eyes once more. Cupping his cheeks, she lowered herself the rest of the way, taking him completely in. 9 gasped loudly as he connected with something inside of her, a sudden rush of pleasure sparking as he was plugged in.

An unfamiliar wired instinct was set off at the spark and he began to buck into her, groaning loudly as he plugged and unplugged with each thrust, the spark growing stronger each time they connected. 7, affected in a similar way by the spark, moaned shamelessly, rocking her hips with hungry vigor. The swing beneath them shook in the thrusts of their love making, thumping against the wall behind them.

7 leaned against him, 9 falling onto his back with a grunt, not breaking the steadily increasing speed of his thrusts. Groaning loudly, he held 7 against his chest with one arm while his other hand reached behind his head to hold the wall, ceasing the hallow thumps that were produced each time the swing connected with the wooden boards; they didn't want to draw attention to themselves.

Neither of them were aware of how they were preforming such a forbidden act in such an open place. It wouldn't take much for any of their other companions to come up into the watchtower and, with 9's light staff glowing brightly beside them, it was easy to spot the two lovers. It wouldn't leave the best impression if the new leader was caught being dominated by the female.

"S-seven! Ahahh!" he moaned shamelessly, pressing his free hand against her lower back as he increased the speed and strength of his thrusts, kissing 7's neck and shoulder. It felt so good!

7 groaned, their optics clanking together roughly as he pulled him into another hungry kiss. He gasped out her number, fingers digging into her fabric as a coil tightened in his lower stomach, signalling the end of this wonderful new experience.

"9! Ooohh..!" 7, feeling something similar, let loose a reverberating moan, dropping onto him a final time. They connected, 7's silky inner walls constricting around 9's tool, triggering his own release and locking him in place as all his DNA surged into her. The both of them cried out, gripping each other tightly as they climaxed. 9 shuddered beneath her in his own release, burying his face in her shoulder as a shaky, ecstatic sigh drifted from him.

There was a soft 'click' as 9 was unplugged. Gasping and panting, they both lay there in a tangled, tired heap, trying to regather their drained energy.

The silence was broken by a satisfied purr that rumbled from within 7's voicebox. They smiled, kissing softly and tenderly as they stared back at one another. 9 opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a new voice.

"Hey, 9. I just- gahh!"

They both started, turning to see a very surprised 5 standing a ways off, the pupil of his one eye constricted in sheer horror at the sight of his two freinds in such a position.

"I-I-I-I'm-m," the mechanic fumbled his words, flustered. He quickly averted his gaze politely, lifting his hand to shield his sole eye from the sight before him. "I-I-I'm sorry I didn't- I mean- I- er- uhm- I'll j-just go," Quickly, without looking back, the mechanic fled.

Both 9 and 7 lay there for a long moment, their eyes fixed on the spot where 5 had been standing mere moments ago. It took a moment for the real embarassment of the situation to sink in, but once it did, a sense of dread washed over the pair.

"Uhm..." 9 began, staring at the side of his lover's face, of whom was still staring in silent disbelief at where the mechanic had shown himself. "I-I think we should get up now..."

Still the warrior was silent, keeping her gaze averted as she did what he suggested, 9 making a soft sound as she eased herself off of him. With the warrior no longer settled around his shaft, the tool slid back inside of him, hiding behind the two halves of his zipper chain. She slipped off the swing, giving her burlap other enough space to sit up and watch her crouch beside her belongings.

He watched in silence as the warrior slid her armsheild back on, bending to retrieve her spear as she replaced her bird skull on the top of her head.

"7..." 9 tried again, trailing off as she held a finger to her lips.

She forced a small smile. "There's nothing to say. Good night, 9." she told him softly with a dip of her head, a slight twinge of exhaustion present in her voice. She turned to leave, her dignified posture not hiding the slight tremble to her knees.

9 watched as the warrior slid out of view, hearing a startled sound from 5 as she passed him where he had been trying to descend the watchtower silently.

After a few moments, the mechanic reappeared and stepped toward the swing, where 9 was still sitting, trying to take in all that had happened in the past few minutes.

"U-uh..." 5 stuttered, bending to lift 9's light staff off of the ground and hand it too him. "I-it's my shift, I think..." he informed his friend.

"Huh? O-oh, right. Right..." 9, in silence, zipped himself back up and accepted his staff from the doll. He stood and stepped past the one-eyed stitchpunk, making his way down toward the bucket and taking with him the light that had brightened the watchtower.


Sequel: SOULMATE