Mable: Here's the next chapter! I don't own 9, Enjoy!
Fabric Runs Shallow
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Costumed Prankster
Pranks were one of those things that Stitchpunks didn't frequently partake in. Mostly because they felt there was no need to do such things. Now that there was an opportunity, though, Eight was unleashing a cunning side of him that was unknown until this very moment. Even now, waiting in the watchtower, he had another plan in the works. The Watchtower was still barely built and was yet to even have a roof, but since Two and Five were coming up to work a bit more it was more than an ample opportunity.
Two and Five had also fallen under the costume craze that was eating at the others; Two was wearing some sort of decorated mask of cardboard that he was having trouble seeing through and Five had a strand of cloth tied around his waist and some sort of rag on his head. Two claimed that he was a pirate, not that Eight knew what a pirate was. While Eight had yet to get the twins to make him something acceptable and was instead just wearing most of his armor. That didn't mean he wasn't in the spirit of the holiday though.
"Hey Five." He spoke, drawing attention from the Healer, "There's something out there." He gestured out into the Emptiness and the one eyed Stitchpunk blinked in confusion. "Really? I don't see anything." He peered out and Eight insisted, "What do you mean? It's right there." Finally the Healer went to get his spyglass out of his bag that had been left in the watchtower. He didn't find it strange at all that the spyglass had been left out and lifted it before pressing it to his optic and staring out into the Emptiness.
"I don't see anything…" He stated again before realizing, "Oh, I get it! You got me, Eight." He smiled, thinking it was a prank to get him to look, and not noticing the black ring left on his optic lens at first. Eight smirked a little and Five blinked a bit before, suddenly, they were joined by a new addition to the watchtower. This time it was Six who entered in, still in his costume but looking strangely uncomfortable. Eight was a little curious, Five was trying to focus on the black smudge now on his lens, and Two headed over to the Artist.
At first Eight was mulling over his prank for Six until he noticed that Six really was upset. He was slumped and tired looking, so the Guard approached as well. "You okay?" He asked and the striped one looked up at him. There was a strange defensiveness in his mismatched optics and he stumbled with his words, "I-I'm just… I'm just feeling a little tired… I think I'm ill." He insisted and Two checked his forehead for a fever before Eight blinked in confusion, "You were okay earlier." He pointed out, though didn't doubt Six as he did look awfully distressed.
"Hmm… No fever." Two remarked before pushing his mask onto his forehead, "But let's not let something get overlooked. Come downstairs and I'll give you a full exam, alright?" The Artist nodded a bit and seemed to rush out of the Workshop quickly. Two followed in his footsteps and Eight glanced to Five, "Do you think-…?" Five now had the ink smudge smeared over his lens, leaving him nearly blinded, but still having enough vision to give Eight a somewhat exasperated look. The Guard decided not to comment on it.
Later on Eight did head downstairs to go find Six. The second he approached the Workshop Six came stumbling out, "Ah, It's alright, Two!" Six said a bit too loud and Eight noticed he was panicking. "I-It's okay, I'll just-…" He turned around and jumped at seeing the Guard behind him. "Eight, ah, how long…?" Eight wasn't impressed by Six's behavior and suggested, "Is this some sort of bad prank?" He asked and Six inhaled sharply, as though hurt, "What…?" Eight smirked a bit, "Stumbling around, pretending to be ill, talking loud; this is just some sort of big prank, isn't it?"
Suddenly Six looked relieved and also looked convincingly truthful, "No, Eight. How could I prank you like that? I'm just not feeling well and…" He sighed a bit and admitted, "Two told me he thinks I should get some rest, but I'll miss Halloween if I do." Finally Eight saw past his suspicion and returned to the concerned mate, "I'm not going to go against Two. If he wants you to lay down, you should." Six shook his head quickly, "No, no. I'm not tired or anything. I just… I'll go to bed early tonight, but I want to do something special today."
"Special?" Eight got a smirk across his lips and nudged the shorter male, "Want to help me with something?" Six blinked in confusion and the Guard looked mischievous. It wasn't too much later when the Artist was roped into another one of Eight's pranks. He had become the supplier and was now carrying around one of his smaller inkwells as Eight tried to quietly work a nail into the wood above Seven's door. As Seven was down in the Library the target was clearly Cat, who was taking a brief nap in the room, and Eight was more than glad to finally get revenge for all the times he had disturbed his sparring sessions.
Six, meanwhile, seemed a little distracted from what Eight noticed. He was peering down the hall at Nine and None who were trying to put together their own kinds of costumes that they had made using spare cardboard, fabric, and more. He wasn't sure what Nine was yet, but he had cardboard on his back that looked like cut wings while None's costume comprised of fake cardboard bellows on his back, a dragging bit of fabric formed like a balloon, and a round bit of glass seemingly tied to his belly.
In a way he somewhat resembled a Stitchpunk Chancellor Drone and Six guessed that it was what he was going for, while Nine must have been going for a Winged Beast. "Ink well." Eight suddenly noted and Six perked before handing it over to the Guard. Eight had a tricky, if not somewhat insanely matted, way of arranging the thread around the nail and the ink well. It held it well enough, but the smallest tug and it would topple over. Naturally this was the point. The Guard then turned to Six, "I'm going to ask you where Seven is."
The striped one answered, "I think she's downstairs with the twins." It took him a second to catch on, "Oh! Oh, okay." He agreed again and Eight got a cunning look before handing the long remains of the thread to Six. "Here. See that tack down there?" He pointed to a tack pushed into the wood on the other side of the door. "Wrap it around there. It'll go across the door and he'll never notice." The Artist felt a bit bad doing so and looked a little guilty before Eight persuaded, yet again, "it's just ink. It'll come out." He then headed inside to wake the male.
Cat was sprawled out on Seven's bed, limbs practically hanging off the side as his helmet covered head was tucked into her pillow. The Guard slipped closer before nudging the other. "Hey," He greeted, "You seen Seven?" The Beast turned Stitchpunk seemed to roll over sluggishly, but at least awoke quickly enough, "She's not been in here." He explained and now Eight looked back to the doorway where Six had finished and called, "Have you seen her?" Six answered clearly, "I think she's still downstairs with the twins."
"Why?" Cat asked curiously with a simple shrug and Eight responded, "The twins got Seven in a dress." It wasn't a lie; Eight knew that they were planning on shoving her in a dress, but this was primarily bait and it shockingly worked. Cat slowly sat upwards and stared at the male with a raising curiosity, "She's wearing a dress? Really?" Eight shrugged, "I'm not promising anything. She may have pulled the thing off by now." The male now stood and hurried to the door, "I've got to see this." Six knew it was coming, Eight knew it was coming, but poor Cat knew nothing.
The second he hit the wire the inkwell dunked over and a splash of black liquid fell directly on the male. Eight quickly sidestepped him and hurried off down the hall while Cat began to let out a clearly annoyed growl. Six scurried off after him, nearly running to catch up with him, and as they entered the throne room they were having much different reactions. Eight was clearly much more pleased with his prank that Six was, muttering something about black cats and bad luck, though Six wasn't sure what he was trying to imply.
Though this wasn't the end of odd occurrences though as Five suddenly sprinted up to them. "Six!" He called out before skidding beside him, "Six, you shouldn't be running-!" He cut off as he noticed Eight beside him and briefly stared. Eight noticed that Five looked fearful somehow, or uneasy, and it was clearly directed to himself. The one eyed one bowed his head slightly, the bandana on his head sliding slightly forward as he tried to subtly whisper, "Six, isn't that a little dangerous in your condition?"
Five whispered and Six gasped before his head flickered to the one eyed male. He whispered quietly, "Two… Two told you?" Now the Guard was becoming a little confused and slightly concerned. Six had been acting ill earlier so maybe he hadn't been acting at all and had really come down with some sort of illness. "What?" He spoke and Six looked back before abruptly saying, "It's nothing, just the tiredness, I… I'm going to go see if the twins will finish my costume." He suddenly hurried over towards the bucket lift and Five casually wandered off.
Now Eight was left alone and was surprisingly feeling less than pleased about the situation.
It seemed like the twins had purposely made her look as extravagant as possible. As much as One loved to make almost mocking comments about how as a female she would eventually end up in some sort of dress, the main issue wasn't that it was one. It was what it was designed like. The makeshift corset design and crude stitching was clearly purposeful, especially as it was red thread dipping in and out of the fabric draping around her body.
She was supposed to be some sort of Seamstress and while she knew she was supposed to be terrifying it just seemed uncomfortable to wear something to resemble one. She drug her optics away from the mirror piece she was holding and looked over towards the others nearby. One and Two were standing by the twins who were attempting to dress Twelve in something. It was pink in color and looked to have a little hood with long things that resembled ears on it, but Twelve was looking a bit disgruntled and was not liking that the twins were fitting the fabric over her legs that was constricting.
Seven could respect the feeling and felt a small smile grace her face. That was, until she heard a familiar purring, hearing it coming from alongside her. She simply crossed her arms, her hands brushing over the red thread sewed awkwardly through the sleeves. "So you finally dragged yourself out of bed?" He began to circle her with a look of interest and amusement, though mostly interest. "And what is this?" He asked coyly and she only stared back as she noticed that he was partially black. "And what is that?" she responded, pointing out a part of the black smudge on his arm.
He looked down and growled, "That's all Eight." He murmured out and she now looked amused and nudged him slightly, "You're not the one dressed like a Seamstress." She pointed out and Cat chuckled to himself slightly, "I think your body is much better suited." She felt a brief heat rush to her face and glanced over to the group nearby who were still trying to get Twelve clothed while keeping her pacified. While Two was clearly more eager about dressing in a costume, One was apparently supportive of his children dressing.
Though Twenty-One didn't seem to be dressed yet, but was very eager for them to attend to him next, bobbling around and watching them manipulate his sister's body to fit her in the clothing. "You know, since you're the Seamstress and all, maybe you can get some revenge on Eight for me, eh Dove? You know how he squirms when he sees red thread." He ran his claws affectionately over her arms, then leaned in to embrace her in his usual, clingy nature. She smiled fully once again, "As much as I would love to, I think Eight will have something coming to him eventually."
"Oh? Care to elaborate?" He pried and she shook her head, "You're not good with secrets, Kitten. This isn't exactly something that can be salvaged if you slip." He shrugged a bit before burying his head into her shoulder. They stood there for a few seconds. "So what would you think about tying me tight and curling around me?" His playful joke with met with a casual elbow in the side.
Now Eight was done. The last straw was Six's avoidance of him and he strode after the striped male who was standing to himself and watching the others who had now grouped together. By now Two was standing with a dressed Twelve who looked like a Rabbit of some kind, though she looked more like a toy Rabbit than a real one. There were a few others standing around, such as Seven, Cat, both sets of twins, Child, and Julius. Child was not in a costume, but Julius was, strangely enough, wearing odd face paint, such as fake fangs and darkened brows to look menacing.
The innocent Artist wasn't actually doing anything, but he still barged up to him, glaring down in frustration as the striped one slowly looked upwards. "Eight?" He asked meekly, quietly, but the taller wanted answers and was firm. "I thought we weren't keeping secrets from each other." He accused and the smaller male looked downwards, "I… We aren't…" The Guard was insistent, "Then what's going on? I'm not stupid, I notice something's wrong." The small male looked over towards the others in paranoia, "Eight, let's talk about this later, please?"
Eight's optics widened briefly, "So there is something going on…" At that moment Six's mood abruptly changed. His optics flickered upwards angrily and he looked at Eight as though he was furious with him, "Just drop it!" It did nothing for his case, but it quieted Eight down massively, and right as Six began to storm away, One stormed over to him. "This is truly the last thing I expected of you, Six!" He bellowed furiously and the small Artist trembled, "Two… Two told you too?"
The Leader growled, "Two didn't have to tell me, I saw the writings on the wall; how could this be happening?! Do you have any idea what responsibility that you have taken on!? I tried to warn you, and Eight, and again my pleads fell on deaf ears!" Eight was confused and started to step forward before One growled, "How could you possibly get pregnant?!" Now the Guard froze, Six winced, and the others all abruptly looked over towards the group in surprise. Quietness overtook the entire Library until Eight murmured, "….Six?"
The Artist fidgeted with his front briefly as he turned around to face his mate, "Eight… He's right…" He admitted before suddenly opening himself, "I'm pregnant!" The Guard couldn't help but let out a short cry at sudden realization and flinch back as though in horror as he saw the glint inside of his mate's belly. A few seconds passed and silence overwhelmed, only broken when Two suddenly burst out laughing. Eight didn't understand how Two could find the situation funny until he realized that the light inside Six's depth was reflective and clear.
It was not a soul, not colored the same or anything, and as Six got a little bit of a smile he realized what was going on. Now all of the others were smiling, except for One, and Six reached inside to pluck the light and pulled it out, revealing a mere bit of glass, reflecting the light slightly. It was fake, there was no soul, it was all a prank. From the way that Six was starting to smirk a little it was obvious that he was proud of Eight's reaction and from the others' reactions it was obvious that they knew. Especially Two who straightened himself and remarked, "We are cruel."
He was still amused at the same time and Eight asked, "You all were part of it?" at this moment One sputtered in frustration, "I was absolutely not!" He fumed and directed a glare at Two who was apparently a big part of it. Eight himself now looked to Six with a look that was expressionless, that look of him about to flip and Six subtly closed himself, still a smug smile on his face, before he pitifully murmured, "You were asking for it." Eight got a clear look of annoyance at being made a fool and Six merely continued to smile, subtly feeling unnerved by the lack of a direct reaction.
Then, suddenly, Eight actually got a bit of a proud smile shockingly. This was the last thing Six expected. "Didn't peg you to be so sly, Six." The smug smile of Six dropped in alarm, "You're not upset?" The Guard insisted, "Course not. I'm going to get you back, but I'm not upset." Six could only stare back at him for a few seconds.
Six had seen Eight's pranks when he was passive, he couldn't even imagine what revenge would be like.
Mable: Whoa, this is… Is rushed, badly rushed. I'm just having to hurry off tonight and couldn't do a proper once over of it… *sigh* This is getting frustrating falling behind like this. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!