Five was proving to be...difficult in terms of birthday presents.

He had vague interests and there weren't many things he strongly liked or disliked, which made it stupidly hard for Nine and Two to think of ideas for a present.

"I've known him for a very long time but I can honestly say I have no earthly idea what to get him." Two sighed, before slumping over his workbench. "He's always helped me with my inventions but I can't say that it's his favourite thing in the world. I don't think he's had a chance to broaden his horizons, and he wasn't exactly born with any...talents, like Eight or Six."

As harsh as that may have sounded, he had a point. Eight was built like a tank and was naturally strong in combat; Six was artistically gifted and with his unusual fingers, that was a given. The twins were hyper-intelligent, Seven was athletically gifted, Two was a practically a genius in more than just mechanics and One...

...well, One was a leader. Not much else could be said about it.

Nine found himself relating to Five in that aspect. He was technically the 'saviour' of the group, but he had no special talents. He was generic as they come, and there was no way curiosity was considered a talent. The only thing that differentiated Five and Nine was Five's lack of an optic, and that was pretty much his gimmick. The 'one-eyed' one.

And yes, Five was an excellent marksman and very capable with ranged weapons, but that was down to standard practice (and the loss of an eye). He wasn't born with incredible aim and heightened reflexes. He'd developed them over his life. Between his missing optic and his crossbow skills, that was what made up him as a person.

Five had one redeemable skill that placed him above Nine, and that was his 'healer' status. He knew the in's and out's of the stitchpunk anatomy, but he couldn't deny that he'd been taught a great deal of it by Two. Nonetheless, that made him the groups designated healer and he had a place in the hierarchy.

Nine had no place. He had no title. He wasn't fit for much besides getting into trouble.

But there was no point lamenting that now. He had to find a present for his friend and it had to be good. He knew Five would appreciate anything given to him, but he didn't want to just give him 'anything' and he was sure Two felt the same. Two was eternally grateful for Five's help over the years in a way that he couldn't express with words.

"How are we going to do this?" Two asked nobody in particular. Nine hoisted himself up onto the workbench and rested his head on his hands. "I...don't know. We could try and look out in the emptiness but there's no guarantee we'd find anything." He mumbled.

"Do you think it's worth a shot?"

"It's better than nothing. I doubt we can find anything here..."

"Then we'll go tomorrow."


So Two and Nine set off into the emptiness the following day, and Six decided to tag along as well. (Two joked that Six's accompaniment could be their lucky charm.)

"Perhaps we could fashion him a new crossbow. Or something for his room?" Two muttered to himself. Nine was feeling progressively more hopeless as time went on and he wasn't sure if they would find anything. "Does he have anything that holds great sentiment for him?"

"I don't really think so..." Two replied, quietly. "The only thing I can think of that he has any kind of attachment towards is the telescope in the watchtower." Nine thought about that for a second.

"He has stronger attachment to people than objects. He's really attached to you, after all." Nine commented with a small smile. Two flushed slightly at this and chuckled uneasily. "I know he does. He's shy, so he couldn't exactly approach the others, especially not One or Eight. I became his first friend, so I suppose we have a strong bond. But don't forget, he has a strong attachment to you as well."

Now it was Nine's turn to flush.

"I'd say you were the one to boost his confidence. You dragged him out of his comfort zone and forced him to adjust and I'd say that helped develop himself as a person. He respects you for that, but I can't help but feel he has a somewhat stronger bond with you than I." Two commented. Nine looked up in surprise.

"That can't be right. He talked about you all the time when the Cat Beast took you. He really looks up to you." Nine told him. Two smiled and shook his head. "You may be right, but that makes me his role model, I suppose. I think after I died, he replaced me with you as his role model, but now things are back to normal, I think I've taken the spot once again." Nine watched him blankly. Where was he going with this?

"What I'm trying to say is...Well, I'm like his teacher more than anything. Maybe a father figure, but I'm like that towards most people," He shot him a small smile, "But you're more like a brother. I'm sure I've told you before, if Five still had his eye, you'd almost be twins, not to mention you're somewhat alike and he trusts you like nobody else." Nine felt flattered by this comment. He hoped that Five trusted him, especially since he led him into danger more times than he could remember and was probably indirectly the cause of his untimely death. Nine shuddered to think about that.

The two stayed silent for a while and it wasn't until ten minutes later that Two sensed that their party felt a little bit...empty.

"Does something feel off to you, Nine?" Two asked, quietly. Nine stared at him, silently. "It feels a bit..." He turned around to face Nine and his optics widened a fraction.

"...artistically stunted."


"Six!"

"Six!"

"How did we manage to lose him? He was right behind us!" Two said, frantically. Nine scanned the area, looking for any sign of the small artists whereabouts. He'd half expected Six to leave a trail of ink in his wake but alas, that was wishful thinking.

"Maybe he found something? He can't of gone far, either way. We haven't even reach the old cathedral site, yet." Nine commented. Two nodded, but his face looked grave. "I say we retrace our steps."

So the two headed back in the direction of the library, desperately crying out Six's name in a hope to get a response. It was starting to get dark now and they were getting progressively more worried as time went on. "What if he's hurt himself? If he's been attacked by a beast, there's no way he could effectively defend himself..." Two was muttering to himself in a fashion that was highly reminiscent of Six. When Nine thought about it, the old inventor wasn't exactly the poster child for sanity.

"We'll find him, don't worry. He's smart, he'll know to go back to the library." Nine found himself doubting his own words, but he had to stay strong. He was about to make another reassuring remark when the figure of Six suddenly bolted out from a pile of garbage. He stopped short in the middle of the path, looking rather breathless, before spying the other two in front of him.

"Hi!" He waved, eagerly, apparently oblivious to the panic he had caused.

Two said nothing, but he sighed deeply in relief. If he hadn't been so worked up, he might've gotten a little mad at Six for wandering off, but right now he was just glad he was okay. "Where have you been?" Two asked, with concern.

Six seemed completely unfazed to their previously panicked expression, as he fiddled around with his key. "Bomb site." He said simply. The two stitchpunks looked at him with raised eyebrows. When he realised he wasn't getting his explanation across, he sighed, and instead, took Two and Nine by the arm and forcibly dragged them towards the pile of trash. Nine broke away from his grip, "Why don't we just walk around it." He suggested. Two smiled weakly in agreement and Six shrugged. "Okay."

Even when Six had led them to the place, Nine still hadn't a clue what this place was. It was a long road, with houses either side. The road was dotted with large potholes and bullet holes. It seemed like a monster had rampaged down here.

This place seemed to have a more significant effect on Two, however, who stared out at the desolate road with clear optics. It didn't seem like a single thought was running through his mind. Nine placed a hand on Two's shoulder. "Are you okay?" He asked, worriedly.

"This was when those awful machines dropped those gas bombs. It killed everything within a fifty mile radius almost immediately." He spoke quietly and full of remorse. Nine obviously hadn't been around to witness this, but he was fairly glad he wasn't. On the other hand, he would've liked to see what the place was like when life still thrived.

And that wasn't to say life wasn't thriving now. It was just thriving at an incredibly slow pace.

"This was the place Five lost his eye." Two mumbled, sitting down and letting his legs dangle over the edge of a pothole. Nine flinched, but sat down anyway. Five hadn't told him much about the loss of his eye and hearing from Two felt somewhat like betrayal, but he continued to listen.

"It was those gas bombs. One of them had knocked Five off his feet and his eye had been ripped from it's socket during the chaos." Two explained. Nine winced. That didn't sound good no matter how you looked at it. He certainly didn't want to imagine it.

"If only I could've fashioned another optic for him...maybe then he'd feel a bit more whole." Two murmured, and Nine couldn't find the words to respond with. Was he blaming himself? He wanted to give the inventor a hug, but when he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by the sound of Six shrieking.

"I found it! I found it!"

They looked up towards the sound of the artists voice. The sudden screams definitely took them off guard but it didn't sound like he was being attacked. They got to their feet and followed the sounds of the artist's excited yell.

Six suddenly sprinted over and promptly knocked into Nine, but he was in too much of a daze to care. "I found it." He kept repeating, "I actually found it!"

"Six, calm down a second. What did you find?"

"I found his eye!"


This was weird. The three were sat in a circle, back at the workshop, all looking down at the optic that lay on the floor. In any situation, looking at a disconnected eye would be weird, but the fact it was Five's optic, missing for a very long time now, made it that much more surreal to them. Two seemed to be in a state of shock by the turn of events, but Six was too excited to sit down properly. He kept fidgeting and twitching.

"What do we do with it?" Nine finally asked. Six actually looked annoyed by this. "We give it to him, obviously!" He stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It sounded like a good idea, but would it really make a good present? There was a fifty fifty chance of it working out in their favour, but the undeniable fact that it could backfire tremendously ate away at Nine's mind.

"It's broken beyond repair. I couldn't fix it no matter how much I wanted to." Two sighed softly, clearly torn up by this. "You don't need to fix it." Six told him, firmly. Nine wasn't sure if he'd ever seen the artist speak so much.

"His eyepatch is one of his significant features. It's differentiated him from other people, so it's one of the things that make him his own person." He said, quietly. "You were struggling to think of something sentimental or meaningful to give him, and it's hard, naturally, because he doesn't have a prominent personality. But the thing you were searching for was right in front of you the whole time. Since you've known him for so long, you wouldn't think about it, but if you were to take a look at him for the first time, you'd immediately notice his eyepatch and, by extension, his missing eye." He took a deep breath.

"Why wouldn't he be sentimental about that?"

The two stared blankly, mouths open, at the artist. Usually he found it near impossible to articulate or explain himself, but it appeared that he was capable of it once in a while. This explanation alone gave Nine a real insight into Six's personality. He was more observant than he let on, it seemed.

"You have a very good point." Two smiled.

It seemed a bit odd, nonetheless. The lack of his eye was what made him who he was, so to speak. If he still had his eye, he'd look just as generic as Nine. Maybe he wouldn't have started using ranged weapons and developed that skill. (Using melee weapons was somewhat impossible for Five due to his lack of depth perception.)

But the more Nine thought about it, the more it seemed to come together. Of course Five would feel sentimental about his eye, even if he said that missing an eye had it's advantages. It was so glaringly obvious, he completely overlooked it.

He smiled widely.


Five awoke to the faces of Nine, Two and Six around his bed. He wasn't sure whether to be immediately alarmed or not, but when the realisation that it was his birthday had sunk in, he smiled shyly.

"Do I need to ask?"

"Happy Birthday, Five." The three chimed, quietly, before Two handed him a small object wrapped in paper. Five took it and merely stared at it silently. "You didn't have to do this." He said, sitting up and hooking his legs over the edge of his bed. He carefully took apart the wrapping paper and he could've sworn, for a split second, his soul had left his body.

Having your own eye staring back at you was, without a doubt, the strangest feeling in the world.

"Where did you..." His words died before they even left his voicebox, as he covered his mouth with his hand. Nine, Two and Six collectively held their breaths, waiting for a verdict.

"You found it." He said simply. "You actually found it." He looked up. His single optic was full of more emotion than any two eyed creature could show. He looked as if he were about to burst into tears, but he smiled. He laughed. He was in utter shock, but he was laughing.

"You...How, I don't even know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much." He said, trembling. His fingers clenched around the small flat cylinder. He felt like a piece of his soul had been restored. Even though it wasn't attached to his body, he felt whole again in a way he hadn't felt for a while.

Nine felt embarrassed that he didn't think of it sooner. He'd found himself thinking about the depths of Five's personality, in an effort to dig up some ideas, but maybe Five was just a simple person. He was shy, but he was trustworthy. He loved his family more than any earthly possession (even more than his eye) and Nine found himself respecting that.

Maybe they didn't have to find him such a special present; after all, it was a total fluke that they (Six) found it. He knew Five was the type of person to say 'I don't mind what you get me' but maybe he should've considered that. Five didn't want physical things like that. He wanted his family. He wanted to know they were thinking of him. Even if they gave him something equating to trash, he'd be grateful because they gave it to him. They were thinking of him.

As far as Five knew, they had gone out to find his eye specifically. They had gone out to reunite him with a part of his body; Nobody could tell him that it was a fluke. They could see the gift of his eye wasn't the real present. It was the sentiment behind it.

Five, Nine found, was both simple and complex at once and that made him more interesting than anybody he'd ever met.


I can't tell you how much fun I had writing this. Before I knew it, I was in too deep with Five's personality, damnit. All these sentiments. i also like the idea that once in a blue moon, words can just tumble out of six's mouth and form the most intelligent thing in the universe.

also, you guys who review this, i appreciate it more than you know. you are now my friends. deal with it. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

also, request cause i'm bored as all hell.