Mable: Chapter Thirty-Four, the final in another story arch, and so on and so forth. It was a little rushed, but I hope it is still enjoyed. I don't own 9, Enjoy!
Souls Run Deep
Chapter Thirty-Four: The Future Bundle
Five had built a fire by time One and Two returned to the camp. They were both feeling a little awkward and decided to not tell anyone of what they had figured out yet. Two especially felt uncomfortable knowing that he had a precious, possibly in risk, soul that he was unable to protect completely. He could cover his belly with his hands, but it didn't help him feel any safer. He was carrying a new life and there was nothing he could do to help it any more than he had by assisting in giving it life.
"Where have you two been?" Seven asked from her kneeled position by the fire. She was poking at it with another small twig before tossing it in as well, it snapping as it was engulfed by the flames. She was asking innocently and yet One immediately was defensive and obvious with such, "Nowhere. Simply wandering about. Nothing more." It sounded clearly guilty, but Two decided not to intervene, less he make it worse with his own stuttering.
Thankfully, Seven only gave him a confused look and returned to the fire again. The others looked relatively content with the night and none as interested as she had been. Five and Three were assisting Four on making a wreath of her own, Eight was sitting and guarding nearby, Six was asleep again, leaning against Eight's side, and Child was still teaching Nine Luxembourgish phrases.
The zippered Stitchpunk looked up when Two began to sit down at the opposite side of the fire to warm himself, "Oh, hey Two! …Gutt Nuecht." He pronounced slowly before looking to the white male. Child nodded afterwards, "Yes, you're correct." Nine beamed from the satisfaction of knowing he was learning the words like he was supposed to. Child also seemed a bit pleased about the progress he was making.
One, however, suddenly cleared his throat as he still stood there, "Unfortunately, we will be leaving tomorrow and returning to the Sanctuary." This immediately caught the others' attention and they didn't seem too pleased about the sudden revelation. Most were genuinely shocked by the random news being presented. "Leaving?" Five asked in alarm, "But… Why?" One waved his hand in dismissal, "It does not matter why. We must leave."
Two knew this was only going to cause a commotion and exhaled calmly, "One, we should tell them what exactly is occurring."
"You're not well." Seven suddenly and softly accused Two who couldn't say he wasn't surprised by the assumption. The Inventor's optics dropped to the fire, "…I am…In a way." The way that the two were acting was obviously distressing the others; especially since even Two seemed concerned with this new arrangement and possible illness. Surprisingly, nobody else persisted with wanting to know. In fact, most of the others seemed too hesitant to ask of more details, and instead quietly lingered about with the concern etched on their face.
Two felt poorly from not telling them the truth, but didn't feel that it was the right moment to blurt out the truth. He could just merely rest a hand on his abdomen, making it appear like nothing, and press in until he felt the quick beats of the baby's soul. When he felt it this time, though, he noticed that now the joy had solely returned to his being. He began to think back on all that he had learned about human children, human babies, and was enjoying what he could remember.
A small, loving creature that would be a mixture of himself and One; it seemed remarkably amazing. He began to very much enjoy the prospect of parenthood that was before him. Teaching the baby to walk, to talk, maybe even to try carpenter work as he himself did, raising him up to ascend to the throne, and having a full future to look forward to. Yesterday he imagined that he was going to die, yet today he knew he had much time left and was even providing another with life.
Though Two didn't decide to finally tell One of his change of heart and new confidence until the next day. They were walking back towards home, barely making any progress with the frequent stops One made them take, and Two approached the Leader who was taking the front. He spoke quietly so that the others wouldn't hear them speaking. "One…" He started, "Have you thought about the… The baby?" The leader seemed to go stiff at this, "Yes… The soul."
"It's a baby." Two briefly argued before continuing, "I… Well… I've been thinking about it for quite some time now and I think that this is going to be a good thing." One was very skeptical at this and didn't answer right away. When he did, he still seemed torn about the arrangement, "Two, we have brought a child into the world that we spent absolutely no time thinking of." He pointed out and the Inventor looked away, "I know that, One."
"We won't be able to give him a good life, Two." The Leader insisted and the Inventor retorted abruptly, "I think we have a good life, One. We have family, we have a home, and that's all we need for a child to be content. We could supply anything he needed." Still, One was obsessively attempting to prove Two wrong. "The Beasts, Two. How can we raise an infant in the Emptiness, with the Beasts and Machine? Creator forbid, we bring it into the world only to have it taken back out-."
"Stop it." Two suddenly commanded, stopping in his tracks, and One fell silent in shock, "I want you to stop doing this right now. I know you feel the need to be pessimistic, but, honestly, there's no reason to be. The baby is already with us and there is no turning back." Then he suddenly looked away from the leader, "If… If you want me to raise the child alone, then I will. However, I cannot enter this with the mindset that something will go wrong. That's no way to raise a baby. That's no way to raise our son."
One caught the added fact that Two abruptly provided and became interested. "Son?" Two shrugged slightly and explained, "I have a feeling that it is male. I am not sure whether this is true or not, but I'm thinking of continuing on with this thought." Maybe it was giving the baby a gender, but One seemed to suddenly be a lot more curious, and a lot less pessimistic. Two chuckled a bit, "Think of it, One. When you finally decide that you no longer want to be leader, we'll have a child to pass the role onto."
Instead of snapping about how he wasn't near time to leave his throne, One actually seemed to contemplate this a bit. Then, finally, admitted, "We certainly are capable of raising a child. We raised the others fine enough and they are all stubborn adolescents." Two smiled once again, "I'm assuming we'll have to make a body when we arrive at home. Let the soul bond with it before we can actually hold our baby."
The words 'our baby' sent the oddest spike of pleasure up his back. He suddenly felt giddy and pleased with the prospect of having their own child. One seemed to be as well from the way he suddenly felt the need to rest a hand upon his mate's back. He stoked over his number in gentle strokes as Two sent him a smile, "We'll tell the others when we get home. I'm sure they'll be just as pleased to hear about the baby."
However, by time they arrived at home days later, One suddenly decided something on his own. "You see," One insisted as they entered their bedroom after Two who promptly crawled onto the bed and lay across it. The walking, added with the strain of nursing a soul, had left Two exhausted, so One was sure he would be willing to do anything. "I was the one to tell the others of our relationship and our vows. As such, you will be the one to tell them that they will be sharing their home with a baby."
Two nodded tiredly and One continued, "Also, make them aware that this is not a normal Stitchpunk. This will be their leader and will be treated as such. They will also-." Seeing that Two was now clearly not paying attention, One stood, "I'll do it myself." He exited the room once again. Without Two even paying the slightest bit of attention to him as he left. The others were still in the throne room trying to adjust to arriving home again.
"There is something that must be discussed." One abruptly announced to the group who all looked immediately disturbed. Since Two said he was sick, none of have them had been told exactly what had happened, and were all obviously concerned about how the Inventor was doing. One took his time to sit down on his throne before he was suddenly joined. Apparently Two had forced himself off of the bed and staggered into the throne room to join his mate. He rested against the armrest tiredly.
"There is to be another Stitchpunk living with us." One abruptly announced and it seemed seconds later that Six was standing before him, "You found…?" He cut off as he noticed One's negative look and retracted, "There's… There's someone else?" Two decided to enlighten the Artist a bit more. "There is going to be someone else. Quite soon, in fact. However, we are telling you all because he is not going to be like us."
"What does that mean?" Eight muttered from his spot beside the throne. He sounded suspicious and was strangely eyeing Child who gave the most perplexed look in return. One huffed, "Let Two finish." He commanded and the Inventor gave him a small, tired look before looking towards the others around them. "This Stitchpunk isn't going to be like us. It won't understand the same things that you understand. It's going to be a baby."
A few of the Stitchpunks recognized the word, but that didn't change the confusion. "Baby?" Seven asked, "But, wait, we're not born as babies. We're born as adult." One spoke up, "Few of us are adults." Now that he had attempted to put her in her place, he continued, "However, it will be a baby, a small Stitchpunk, which means that we will have to watch our behavior a bit more carefully."
He stood and paced a bit, "As such, you all will have to learn how to live quieter and keep less stress around him. You all will also have to pay attention to the baby. If he cries, he will not go ignored." Seven huffed, "One, if we can listen to you screaming, we can listen to a baby." Two chuckled a bit and One gave an annoyed glare to the Warrior, "Yes, thank you for your input."
Nine, however, was still confused, "So where is this… Baby coming from?" Two lit up, "Actually, I have the baby's soul inside of me now. Soon it will be implanted in a body and be a Stitchpunk, very small, incredibly fragile, and will not understand much speech yet. Because of this, he won't be able to speak until he learns, nor will he be able to walk until he learns. What One was saying was that we will need everyone's assistance in watching him. As he could easily be in danger."
As soon as he finished, Five suddenly blurted, "You're having a baby?!" The others decided not to question why he asked now when it was so clear. He seemed to overcome the question and crossed over to Two's side, "Two that's-that's great!" Five did know a little about babies, human babies, but knew mostly that this meant One and Two were creating a Stitchpunk. He gave the Inventor a friendly hug and his mentor was relieved that his apprentice was taking it so well.
Nine's stitched brows furrowed, "I'm… Still a little confused." However, nobody was willing to explain how the baby was actually created, and instead went forward to congratulate the parents. After seeing that even Child was participating, Nine joined in to give his own support. Two turned to Five, "We'll have to hurry and finish the new bedroom and baby's room quickly. Do you think you could assist me further?" Naturally, Five smiled, "Of course, Two, anything."
"Then it is settled." One voiced in finishing, seemingly relieved, and turning to Two. Everything had went quite well so they assumed this meant positive things in the near future. Soon after, Two dismissed himself from the throne room and headed back to his bedroom for a rest. He entered inside and immediately blew out the candle that his mate had lit earlier. He then walked over to the bed and lay down once again. His hands rubbed over his front as he imagined what their baby would be like.
It wasn't much longer when One also entered the room and moved over to the bed. He actually seemed pleased, actually had a smile as he moved to rest on the bed beside his mate. He moved his arms around the smaller male and let one of his hands rest onto his front. Petting in circles over it, One moved like he was glad, as though he was thrilled about the prospect of having a baby.
Two took this time to speak up, "Perhaps we should think of names?" One contemplated this a bit, "I suppose a number, of course. Addition would only equal Three, so perhaps we should put our numbers together in a different way, such as Twelve or Twenty-One." Two seemed to perk, "Twenty-One… I like that number. It has both the 'Two' and the 'One' in it. Almost like our 'little One'."
One seemed to enjoy this. "Twenty-One it is, then. Suiting for a future leader; suiting or our child." Two leaned closed and tucked his head under One's chin as he began to drift off to sleep. Filled with ideas and images of the future.
Nine didn't awaken when Five climbed out of bed and headed towards the hallway. This was good for the one eyed one, as he wanted to be alone for the present. During the time that Two announced the baby, Five had been thrilled, thinking of the possibilities. However, now he wasn't nearly as pleased, because something new was bothering him, prodding at his mind vigorously until he was forced to haunt the halls.
He made his way past the throne room and into the unfinished edition. Even though a bit tired, he needed to do something, and decided to work. After a few minutes he began to go back to nearly carving a doorway into the open space that would soon be One and Two's new bedroom. He was working for about twenty minutes until someone appeared at the doorway. "What are you doing up?" Five looked back to see Eight and smiled a little bit, "Just… Just working."
"It's about the baby, isn't it?" The Guard suddenly confused, "That's why you're working in the middle of the night." The Healer stared at him quietly, unsure how the other deduced it so quickly. He looked away pitifully, "Maybe a little." He went defensive, "I'm not mad about the baby, I'm happy, I just…. I don't know. It's a bit of a change." Then he questioned, "How could you tell?" Eight looked a bit amused, "What do you think I'm doing up in the middle of the night?"
Five smiled at this and looked at his work again, continuing to address it, "Really, I am glad there's a baby… Honestly, though, I'm going to miss the time I spend working with Two." He knew that the baby would need time and attention, which Two wouldn't be able to work with him as much, and it was a bit saddening. He noticed that Eight didn't answer and looked over to see the Guard was staring at the wall with an unreadable look.
"That's what I'm worried about." Five admitted, "What about you?" Eight looked back, "Not really worried about anything. I just don't like change that much." The buttoned front was a bit unsure about this excuse and instead made a small suggestion, "That's good… I thought you'd be afraid that One wouldn't need you as much for communication since he'd have the baby. That's not true, though. One wouldn't replace you with the baby. He couldn't."
"I know that." Eight didn't sound too convinced, but finally looked to Five, "Not like Two's going to be able to do with the baby what he does with you. Working and all." Five shrugged, "Maybe." However, the Guard was insistent, "Five, he said it wouldn't even be walking when he's born. How could it build?" This did make sense and Five gave him a small, sheepish smile, "I guess I didn't think of that… Maybe I'm overreacting."
"Both of us." Eight muttered as he entered the open space, "You heading to your room?" Five shrugged a bit, "I… No, not yet." He smiled reassuringly, "The room needs to get finished before the baby comes anyway." The Guard didn't look tired and so he offered, "Want to help?" The Guard shrugged and came forward to do so. Maybe they were still a little unsure, but at least they felt better, and a little more reassured.
Maybe this baby wouldn't be too bad after all.
Mable: Everyone loves babies, even when they're concerned about losing their parental figures. ^-^ By the way; Gutt Nuecht means 'Good Night'. The next arch shall begin next Friday and will be a bit longer than this one. I hope everyone enjoyed!