Please review. For my poor little ego.
'Have you seen the whole library?' 0 asked from her seat on the floor.
4 was sitting much farther above her, on a stack of books. 3 was so far up in the shelves they couldn't see him. 'No, not even close,' signed 4 with a smile. 'Have you even seen how big this place is? There's way too much.'
'Do you think you ever will?'
'Oh, yes. And then we will know everything.'
0 suppressed a smile. 'I don't think you can know everything.'
'Do not test my power!' signed 4, hopping up and striking a dramatic pose. 'I shall know all there is, and then no one shall question my rule!'
'Oh, I'm so sorry, most powerful Four!' signed 0 quickly, going to her knees. 'Far be it from a lowly peasant such as myself to question your supremacy!'
'Do not do it again!' signed 4, sticking out her lower lip. 'Or I shall call Seven to finish the job!' 0 gulped and sat back on her heels, the playful wind going out of her sails. 'Too far?' 4 asked, her hands small.
'Little bit.'
'Sorry.'
Fortunately, they were saved from any awkwardness by a rope that dropped from the highest shelf. 4 smiled and held out her index finger, middle finger, and thumb. 0 grinned as well, gripping the rope and letting herself be hoisted up with 4. After a moment of riding, they reached the top, where 3 stood, wringing his hands to loosen his wrists. He flickered at 4 for a moment and together they pulled a small book (one that might have fit in a human's pocket) and dropped it open. 0 saw the page and gasped.
The black-and-white ink drawing that looked back at her was one of the most beautiful she'd ever seen. In the background was a forest, dark and mysterious, and far beyond that the traces of a castle. In the foreground was a girl, a human girl, sitting beside a well. Her long hair, which 0 imagined was gold, fanned out on the ground behind her, topped by a small crown. A princess. She was holding the tips of her fingers to her chin, her head tilted, a bemused smile on her face as she looked at the creature in front of her. Resting on the well's low wall was a creature like none 0 had ever seen. He had a flat, wide head and a squat body with large, dark eyes. He was holding a finger up, perhaps instructing the princess? Or commanding her. But what could such an awful creature have to say to this beautiful thing?
4 pointed to the animal and spelled, 'F-r-o-g.'
0 looked at 4, wonder in her eyes. 'And a princess?' 4 nodded. 'What's it saying?'
4 turned the page over and revealed lines and lines of small type, topped by the words, 'The Princess and the Frog'. 'It's a story,' signed 4. 'Three thought you might like it. There are hundreds of them.'
'There are books for fun?' 0 asked, her mouth agape.
'Half the library is books for fun,' 3 signed. 'They're called fiction.'
0 stared at the book for a moment, reading the first phrase, signing it with small gestures as she did, until eventually she became so enthralled she no longer moved except to shift position when her legs got stiff. 3 and 4 read over her shoulder for a while, until they heard the voice down below.
"Zero!" 6 yelled far below, his hands cupped around his mouth. "Three! Four!"
3 and 4 beamed and ran to the edge of the shelf. They flashed their eyes, quickly, drawing 6's attention before throwing down the rope. 6 latched on for dear life as the twins hoisted him up, where he stumbled off and nearly ran into 0, who had lain on her stomach to read more easily. 6 dropped to his stomach, too, shimmying over to read as well. He smiled as he realized that it was a story he was familiar with. This book was not one that had come with the library, it was one 7 had found out in the wastes one day.
"The twins found something!" she'd said, leading the twins into the sanctuary. They held the book over their head like it was the Ark of the Covenant.
"What is it?" 5 asked, setting down the telescope he'd been working on and coming over.
"A book," shrugged 7. "They seemed to get excited about it, so I figured we'd need to come back as soon as possible."
The twins set the book down and opened it to the first page, which read, 'Ten Fairy Stories by the Brothers Grimm'. They turned a few more pages to the Princess and the Frog, which they immediately began cataloguing.
"Pointless," spat 1, toeing the book with disdain. "A foolish waste of time. What need have we for fairy tales?"
"They're children," said 2 soothingly.
"I fail to see how that has anything to do with it."
"You bitter old man," said 7, stomping her foot. The stomp drew 6's attention (a rare thing those days). 6 was not well, then; the source still clogged his every thought, but this thing the twins were cataloguing seemed to draw him slightly out of his trance. "You can't help but think anything even remotely fun is useless."
"Fun is a waste of time," said 1 firmly. "Get rid of it."
"Now, One—" said 2, smiling slightly.
"Do not test me, Two," sneered 1. "Get. Rid. Of. It."
8 stood from where he'd been sharpening his blade, presumably to carry out the task 1 had deemed necessary. "Now, hold on," said 7, interposing herself between 1 and 8, and the twins. "What harm does it do?"
"It makes them think bad thoughts," snapped 1. "It makes them think of paradises not possible. It's unhealthy."
"You tyrant, I should just—"
"I am the leader here! What I say goes!"
"What is that?" asked 6 quietly from where stood looming over the twins. No one had heard him sneak up and now the argument fell silent as 6 sat and pulled the book closer to him, inadvertently scratching long black marks into the page with his still ink-wet fingers. "One fine evening," he began, reading aloud in a thoughtful tone, one they'd never heard, "a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in the wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water that rose in the midst of it, she sat herself down to rest a while."
"What harm does it do?" 7 repeated, gesturing at the sack doll they'd all thought was insane.
1 watched the tableau for a moment, the two children listening to the lunatic read, and huffed. "Fine. They can keep it." He spun on his heel and stalked away, back to his throne. 7 smiled triumphantly and sat across from 6 and the twins. 5 put down his telescope and leaned against the wall to listen, and 2 sat wearily on an overturned teacup. 8 went back to sharpening his blade, but quieter and with less intensity; and even though he'd never admit it, 1 strained forward to hear as well.
"Open the door, my princess dear, open the door to thy true love here!" said 6 happily. "And mind the words that thou and I said by the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade."
6 smiled at the memory, touching the still-present ink marks on the page, pleased to see that the old thing still survived. 0 had nearly reached the end of the story, and he decided to read along with the last part. He sat up and leaned against her so she could feel his voice and began to speak. "But when the princess awoke on the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince, gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and standing at the head of her bed," he said, keeping his voice even. 0 sighed happily; she loved feeling 6's voice. It was one of her small comforts. The twins leaned against the wall of books behind them and tilted their heads together, listening to 6 read as they had so long ago.
"He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog," said 6 quietly, "and that he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the spring, and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights. 'You,' said the prince," 6 put on a funny, croaking voice for the prince, he always had, "'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should go with me into my father's kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as you live.'" 6 suddenly fell quiet, reading the sentence again, silently. After a moment, he repeated, "I will love you as long as you live." He stared down at 0 for a moment, the gears in his head turning, the connections slowly forming, until 0 turned the page and 6 snapped out of his reverie. He turned to the twins.
"I love her," he said, astonished.
3 and 4 clapped their hands over their respective mouths. It was one thing suspecting it and another altogether hearing it.
"That's the thing, right?" asked 6, feeling like he was about to babble again and being powerless to stop it. "It's, it's, it's wanting to be here, forever, and touching her, and holding her, and it's love, right? Right?"
4 slowly nodded and 6 split into a big grin.
"I love you," he said to 0's head. "You can't hear me, and I love you."
4 gripped 3's hand tightly, smiling deliriously at being right. 4 flashed his optics at his sister rapidly, trying to get her to help him make some sense of what was happening. 0 only finished the story, completely oblivious to her surroundings, and unconsciously took 6's hand.
The scouting party returned that evening with a whole pair of skates worth of stuff. The library was not equipped to deal with so many guests, so mostly they'd brought back beds: a large kitchen sponge for 8, a pair of beanbags for 1 and 2, and gobs of netting and a box of eye screws for the smaller, more agile dolls to make hammocks. Regrettably, 7 had been unable to find ink and paper, but somehow 6 was okay with that. For one night, at least.
When they'd finished hanging up their respective beds, 0 and 6 had decided to sit in 0's room and read the book. "Hey, Six?" asked 9, popping his head in. "Can we talk?"
0 looked up at 6 and he indicated 9 in the doorway. 0 waved slightly, then turned back to the book while 6 rose and walked over. 9 pulled him into the next room (which was 9's) and said, "So, did you figure it out?"
"Yes," said 6, proudly putting his hands on his hips. "I love Zero."
Suddenly, they both heard a 'thunk' as 5 fell out of his bunk a shelf above them. After a moment of them looking at the ceiling, confused, 5 popped his head over the edge, upside down. "What?" he demanded.
"Zero," said 6 simply. "I love her."
5 nodded slightly, then disappeared. His legs appeared a moment later, kicking as he shimmied himself into 9's bedroom. "Now, Six," he said after he'd landed, dusting himself off. "When you say you love her—"
"'M not crazy," 6 mumbled, crossing his arms and hunching over.
"I never said you were," said 5 quickly, walking over to 6 and putting his hand on his back. "I'm just—do you love her like 3 loves 4?"
"No," said 6 defiantly. "I love her…like in the story."
"The story?"
"The frog story," said 6. "Like that."
"I'm sorry, Six, I'm still not quite—"
"Like how you love Nine!" said 6 exasperatedly.
9 and 5 blushed a deep green. "Six, that's not—quite, uh," stammered 5.
"And how's that?" 9 interrupted.
6 paused, putting his hand on his chin and looking at the ground. "I want to…be there," he finally said. "When she's hurt, or scared, or forever. And touch her. And kiss her." He looked back up at 5 and 9 and grinned. "You don't know anything," he said teasingly before running back into 0's room.
The other two remained silent for a moment before 9 finally turned to 5. "About what Six said—"
"Forget it," said 5 quickly, walking back to the edge of the shelf and jumping up, flailing for the edge of his shelf and missing. 9 watched, amused, for a moment before going over and taking 5's feet, lifting him up to his shelf.
9 watched the ceiling for a moment, following the sound of 5's footfalls with his eyes. When 5 was about halfway across the room, he blurted, "Five." The footsteps above him stopped. After a long moment, 9 swallowed and said, "Goodnight."
Above him, 5 stared wistfully at the floorboards, internally kicking himself for being such a coward. "Goodnight, Nine," he replied, walking to his bed and flopping across it, running his fingers down his face and groaning.