It didn't often happen. Six using her voice, that is. Six did so on occasion, but she did it only when she was sure he wasn't watching.
He'd first noticed it a little bit ago. Before, when she had elected to go off and find some supplies for an anti-adult butt-kicking device they were planning to build this very week. Six he had known for some time to be feisty and strong-willed, eager to show him she could contribute to their cause with her umbrakinetic abilities like he did with his boyishly-brutish strength. But still Mono felt a pang of worry each time she brushed off his concerns. Did she not have some worry?
Of course she didn't. Six was somehow the bravest and most reckless person he had met in a while. Even to this day, the sheer nerve she possessed awed him.
"Six, I know you just ate, and you're certain that you'll be able to take care of yourself-" Mono fussed over her. He tried to follow her out the doorway of their current shelter, but she merely whipped around to face him and shook her head in refusal. "But you going off alone, in the DARK, isn't going to do anything good!"
Six shook her head a second time after he finished talking, and held her arms up firmly into an 'x'. You're not coming with me, she seemed to say, but her deep blue eyes sparkled mischievously in the low light. He knew she didn't mean it to be nasty. But that didn't stop Mono from feigning disappointment. He liked to poke at her playful, childish side at times. Would Six bite this time around, though?
"Uuuuuuugh…" Mono groaned, sinking to his knees. The boy hung his head lowly, and sagged against his smaller friend. For added teenage boy angst, he grasped her wrists in what he hoped would convey desperation. "But Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiix!"
Six dissolved into girlish laughter. Light and musical, like the tinkling of a glass wind chime. A smile crossed Mono's face underneath his bag. His goal to at least amuse her before she left fulfilled, he stood up, patted her head, and watched her as she scampered off into the settling twilight. He knew Six liked this time of the day, as it allowed her to better hide herself from the depleting sight of adult eyes while still enabling her to illuminate her surroundings when things got too dark. She was alone, though, and his worry for her would not leave him until he could make sure she was safe and sound.
It had all the makings of a perfect storm. But so did she.
Whether it be out of worry, out of curiosity, or just plain boredom, Mono had not been able to go without fidgeting as the day soon dwindled to night. His desire for Six to return safely had eclipsed all else, and he saw no reason that he shouldn't just go out and return her to the safety of their fort. So after some brief deliberation that culminated in the result that a peeved Six would be better than a hurt Six, Mono ventured out from their sanctuary into the unknown. Down the path he had seen her take, lit by his flashlight.
Luckily, he knew she wouldn't have wandered TOO far off. Mono had made Six promise a while ago that their search-areas were readily accessible for cases like this. Not like this was routine, but on the off-chance that one would need to run and grab something… Well, their solo-exploration radius was delegated to a small section of abandoned houses. Only when they were together did either of them venture outside of it.
Mono sought her in the first two houses without luck. But in the third… That's when he heard it. Something pure, high-pitched and sweet, lilting softly but joyously in the breeze wafting through the creaky house. Nothing that he was used to, because it was definitely a voice, but…
The voice was singing. And whoever it was sounded happier than he had ever heard anyone sounding in his short life.
He hadn't heard it when he was outside, which meant whatever it was, it was safe from prying, sinister ears. Mono tilted his head, and followed the sound like a sailor entranced by a faraway siren. Had this house become inhabited in the short time since he'd been there? Mono and Six hadn't come across anybody recently, let alone anyone who felt secure enough to sing in a place filled to the brim with destruction and death at every turn! But this voice he followed seemed dissonant in a way the longer he listened to it sing. Almost detached from reality itself; either it didn't realize the gravity of the situation outside, or it was coming from a different reality altogether. Channeling its joy from an energy that did not belong there.
Mono tracked it down to what looked to be a moonlit conservatory. The room was round, and held a mishmash of items. Pillows, papers, wooden and metal things that looked like decorative toys, books… This room was somewhere Mono hadn't seen before. And the singing culprit was prancing throughout the circular space. But once he noticed them from behind the doorway, his heart clenched tightly in his chest. Forlornly, and with a longing he hadn't realized he was holding onto.
Because it wasn't just anybody clowning around in this room like a goof. Six was the one singing, and it was such a clear, pure sound that came from her that Mono found himself questioning it — and his friend — immediately.
Six had never been a girl of more than a few words when they'd begun to travel together. But this? This was an entirely new development in their friendship. While he watched her, skipping and jumping and twirling in her own world, Six was at her most vulnerable here. Oftentimes she was the one who exercised the need for stealth and gaining the drop on their adult foes; but here, it was she who felt safe enough to sing and dance like nobody was watching. Like she was invincible, and no threat that they'd encountered thus far could rob her of her joy.
Mono listened to her clear, sweet voice ring for a while more, and then it stopped. Whereupon he darted into the shadows, fully expecting her to pop out at him. To catch him red-handed at the scene of a crime he'd inadvertently committed. He heard the soft sound of Six's bare feet slapping on the wooden stairs a few moments later, and he counted to fifty to ensure that she would be gone by the time he re-emerged.
It was time to sneak back. Now with the added bonus of not tipping Six off to where he'd been.
By the time he made it back to their hideaway, Six was in fits.
Yelping, slamming her hands on various objects they'd collected, punching the metal walls in her fear. But when she saw Mono, a sort of fuming squeal left her. She stomped over to him after he'd entered, and started fervently smacking at him in her fury. Luckily due to her size compared to his, her railing fists didn't do any real damage. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Mono laughingly appeased her, grabbing at her arms and trying to halt her "mighty" baps. "I know, Six, I know.. You weren't expecting that. I probably shouldn't have left while you were gone, but I thought it'd be quick! Please, Six.. Don't be upset with me. Shhhh.."
Here Mono pulled her into a full hug. In this hold he allowed no thrashing, though Six squirmed to maintain her raging. But like so many times before, her resolve melted the longer he held and soothed her. Her ire stood no chance against his shhh'ing and rubbing her back. Soon enough Six was crying softly against his shoulder, and Mono led her to where they slept. Now that he knew what she was doing when she gathered supplies, Mono figured the best thing for right now would be to focus on keeping Six calm. He could worry about the singing later, if it was even a cause for concern.
This routine she was on happened four more times, and each time, Mono followed her to watch what she did. Watching Six had become routine, as had what she liked to do.
It was always the same. First she'd gather whatever it was she was looking for, and put it near the door. Then when she was sure she had the rest of the time to herself, she sang. Six started in on her song and hopping and prancing, and Mono watched the raw exultation radiate from her. He always left before she finished, though. Repeating the last time in succession would only worry Six more, and possibly raise her suspicions. Six was perceptive; and somehow she always knew when Mono tried to keep things from her. With the way he was going now, what Six didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
That was the way it stayed, for the four times Mono watched. Until the time he fucked it all up.
Like clockwork, Six had left. She waved goodbye. He reciprocated, and watched her small form disappear into the shadows. Mono waited. Counted to fifty to make sure she had a decent head start, and set to tracking her down.
Once again, her sweet, lilting voice led him exactly to where he needed to go. Were it not for his certainty that she was mostly human, Mono might have sworn that sirens existed. Not only that, but he'd befriended one to prove it!
This time, Six sang and frolicked and jumped blissfully on top of a master bed. Mono observed after a few minutes that her hood was down, too, and her dark hair streamed wildly around her face.
It was nice, he reasoned, to see her so euphoric. Without fear, jumping and laughing without a care in the world like a child should be doing. Mono's heart twisted longingly, and he took a step forward from his hiding place. Six deserved this. She deserved to feel safe and secure wherever she went, not just in a place they needed to carve out for themselves.
Her voice surged. Mono, again, stepped forward.
Before he'd even realized it, he was halfway through the room, staring up at her as she moved. And it was only a sudden, shrill shriek after hearing such a pretty sound for so long that snapped Mono out of the state he was in. He gasped, blinking, only to catch sight of Six flinging herself off the bed and making a break for the closet on the other side of the room.
She'd seen him. Oh, Gods, she had seen him.
A very different kind of worry seized him in this moment. Mono had wanted to breach this topic with her eventually, but.. Not like this! Not with Six yelping and cowering in a closed space, sectioning herself off from his comfort, and most importantly, his support of her.
"Six, please wait!" Mono pleaded, nearing the closet. From the outside, all he could hear were muffled squeaks. A rustle of her raincoat against the floor. But she did not come out.
"Six…? Can I please come in? I really need to speak to you.." He tried again, softer.
Six did not offer any yes'es or no's. Only gave a noncommittal grunt which he took to mean as her being okay with his presence. Mono stepped into the dark closet, and carefully edged over to the corner that Six had jammed herself in. Back to the wall, her face was buried in her knees. And she trembled.
"Don't look at me," a small voice in the room, not Mono's, asked tearily of him. "Please…"
Six had just… Talked. To HIM! Elation rose in his chest, but Mono getting closer to her was met only with Six whimpering. She clutched her knees tighter, and refused to meet his eyes.
"You weren't supposed to know. You weren't supposed to hear that."
"Six," he started, voice just above a whisper. "I, uh… Firstly I should probably apologize, because I know you weren't expecting anybody to be looking at you. So I'm sorry for watching you now, and the last four times you went off by yourself."
Silence. Six didn't even move a toe in response. The boy cleared his throat awkwardly, and tried again.
"Let me explain. I got worried about you after it got dark, so I followed you. I just wanted to make sure you didn't get into any trouble. But when I heard your voice.. I don't know. I'd never heard you say anything before, and then I find out that my closest friend CAN speak? Not only that, but she SINGS?!" He paused. Just to let that sink in. She might not see anything weird about it, but he certainly did!
"I just… I never knew. And your voice is unlike anything I've heard, or expected. I wanted to hear it again, so I followed you each time. You just seemed so over the moon when you were singing.. I like seeing you like that. It was something else for me, to see you acting like you deserve to." Mono rubbed at his arms, fighting the chill of an awkward moment. "I guess it just made me curious, and it made me want to find ways to make you feel that way again, with me. I'm sorry, Six.. I never meant to embarrass you."
For what felt like a long time, there was only the house ambience. Six's crying had died down, but she did not lift her head until it got to where Mono wondered if she was going to even forgive him. It was a tight place, but Mono prioritized her comfort above all else right now.
But then the ice was broken. Six's frosty mood seemed to dwindle after her time to process what he'd said. And when she did, the result was beautiful. With silvery tears tracing salty paths down her cheeks, Six unfurled from her tight ball and clambered into his lap to cling to him.
"I'm not mad at you," the tiny voice whispered again. This time, closer to his ear. "It was something I'd wanted to keep secret to protect myself, but you're not someone I need to protect myself from. You're the one I want to be happy with." Complete with a small, cold hand snaking to clasp itself in his.
"Will you… Stay here with me?" Six asked, after a beat. "I don't mind if you hear me anymore."
Mono wrapped his arms around her. He smiled when Six so easily got into position, with her head rested on his shoulder, and her allowing him to hold her close. Mono laid his head atop hers, then, and let his hand stroke up and down her arm. Nestled together like this, in a place they felt safe, was a place that Mono never wanted to leave.
Surely enough, Six's voice delicately began to intone again. This song was different than before, more somber, but it was one that they both liked the sound of regardless.
"Gone, gone away, gone away in the night," Six chorused. "In the night, in the night, in the night, is the light.. Is the light you won't ever see.."
Mono hummed along, and Six took him with her into her song. It was a beautiful, melancholy tune. And it matched her in every sense.
It was in this moment where she was at ease, and sharing this moment with him, that Mono had finally gotten what he wanted.
This is based off a headcanon I have for my six. It's not much, but it has some hints to how she is, and I hope you enjoyed anyways! Feedback is always appreciated. Also bonus points to whoever knows what song Six is singing! It's a real song, and partially what inspired this!