A/N: And here's chapter two! I can't stand waiting around for fics to get updated, so I'm going to try to update this every day. So, here you have my shameless attempt to kiss up to the 5/6 fans. I'm not even that big on the pairing, myself- it's cute, but not my OTP. I really hope my shipping bias doesn't show through here...

B is for Baffling

There were times when Five honestly had no idea what was going through Six's head.

Well, okay, that was most of the time.

However, at times like this, the artist's thoughts were especially cryptic. There were times when Five wondered if it had really been such a good idea to fix the lock on the door to his chamber, as the other had taken to disappearing into it for days, barring everyone else from coming in. It was strange, and sad, to see how he acted at times like this. He seemed to grow even more skittish than usual- he would always shrink away from One and Eight, of course, but when this happened, he went to great lengths to distance himself from friendly faces such as Two, Seven, and even the Twins, with whom he was the closest. He avoided Five, too- and for some reason that the stitchpunk could not quite place, it hurt. He liked to think of himself as sociable, or at the very least non-threatening. Seeing the most nervous, neurotic member of their group be so shy of him always made him feel guilty.

This guilt was the reason he was currently pacing backwards and forwards outside the door to the other's room. He felt silly doing it, knew that Six was fine (probably) and would come out when he was ready to. Seven had already scolded him for being so anxious. He had tried to explain to her that it was the circumstances under which he had last seen Six that made him so upset.

Five, as a rule, hated fighting. Six did, too. Whenever Seven and One squared off in the throne room, they were the ones who hid behind the bookshelves. It was even worse when they were the ones being shouted at, and every angry word made them flinch. Yet, despite the meek nature that they shared, they had somehow ended up having a slight spat. It hadn't been a good day for Five in the first place; he had been out scouting with Two earlier, and dropped their map. Nothing that the other said could convince him that he wasn't a stupid waste of space who had no business going out into the emptiness, and would be devoured by a beast in ten minutes if her were alone.

He had wanted to go up to the tower to brood for a while, and bumped into Six, who had just finished a new drawing, and was eager to show it off. Five's immediate response was that he didn't care about the drawing anyways, and if Six was so busy making scribbles on sheets of parchment, could he please make a new map for them, or kindly get out? Five reflected that it really hadn't been fair- the poor stitchpunk had bad social skills as it was, and certainly wouldn't have been expecting such a violent outburst from the kindest and friendliest of them. In any case, the artist had run away to his room and locked the door.

That was how Five came to be here, pacing and wondering if Six was alright. Two and Seven had seen him here, and neither had been particularly sympathetic towards him. He couldn't say that he blamed them. He glanced out at a nearby window; the sky was dark. He wondered how long he had been there. He sat down on the floor, and pressed the side of his head to the door, listening. He could hear faint scratches coming from inside. He sighed, slumping against the wall near the entrance. He shouldn't be worrying so was evidently well-off enough to draw. Nevertheless, he felt that hew owed it to the other to make an apology, whenever he got the chance. He would wait.

Five awoke to a gentle nudging on his arm. His eye flickered to life to see Six, staring at him, mouth twisted nervously, eyebrows pinched. He cocked his head to one side, expression partly scared and partly hopeful. He stood up and back away from Five. "Awake?"

Five smiled, pushing himself off the ground to meet his gaze. "Yeah, I'm awake. Listen, Six," he said, taking a step forwards, "I'm really sorry I snapped at you earlier. That was so... unlike me. I just wanted to tell you that I do care about your drawings- and I like them, too. I really hope you can forgive me for that." His gaze flicked down to the floor every so often as he spoke. He still felt ashamed about it. Six, however, looked relieved.

"You like them?" His voice was hopeful, and his eyes stared into Five's own.

Five grinned weakly. "Yeah. I really do."

Six whipped a piece of paper out from behind his back. "For you," he said, simply.

Five accepted it, looking it over. It was him. He was clutching the telescope, and there were a few sketchy stars in the space above him. Five opened his mouth, then closed it again. Finally, he said, "I... Thank you, Six. It's really nice."

Six grinned, shyly, and slipped back into his room, pulling the door shut behind him. Five held the drawing up to his face again, examining it.

Sometimes, he really couldn't make sense of Six's actions.