Similar to Five, Seven was also proving to be difficult in the aspect of birthday presents. She had such an interesting personality and made for an amazing character, but birthday presents were a mystery to Nine.
Initially, he considered something similar to her skull helmet. Perhaps finding a different part of a birds skeleton, but the chance of finding one around was slim to none. Nine sighed, sitting alone in the watchtower. The shimmering gold light of the approaching dusk shone down upon him, as he wrapped himself in thoughts. He knew full well he had a tendency to overthink things, not to mention he was useless when it came to the thoughts and feelings of other people. He was a little bit more socially stunted than people assumed. Just because he was the 'saviour' didn't mean he was entirely outgoing. Sure, he wasn't antisocial in the way that One or Six were; he merely had troubles in understanding how people felt.
This was one of those moments. Nine had hit it off well with Seven upon their first meeting (enough for Two to instantly comment on how they were each others love interests) but there were things that were a mystery even to him. Seven was a charming, brave warrior but she had a tendency to be secretive. She bottled things up and kept things hidden; something that Nine found rather annoying, but not everybody could wear their heart on their sleeve like him.
He began to worry. He, out of everybody, would be the one to give Seven a present. That's just how it was, but as time went on, he found himself coming up with nothing. Asking the twins was potentially helpful but he knew there were things even Seven didn't tell the twins. Not to mention the communication barrier was an incredible hindrance.
Who else would be able to help...? Two and Seven always had a friendly relationship, but it seemed more like a step further than pleasantries. They knew enough about each other to get along, but not enough to be close friends. The same could be said for Six and Eight, although Nine wondered if Seven and Eight had any other kind of relationships. Five knew Seven a little bit better than the others, but still not enough to warrant being close and the twins...was kind of self explanatory.
That's when the thought hit him. It sounded stupid (and he was famed for having stupid ideas) but it seemed to make sense.
"What are you doing up here?"
Nine cracked a small smile. Perfect timing. He swivelled around on his stool to face the older leader behind him. One was hunched over slightly, face twisted into a quizzical expression.
"I'm just thinking about a present for Seven. I just thought you might be able to help me." He said, with a small smile. One's confused expression increased upon his words. Nine had to admit, it was a rather ironic statement, considering their relationship.
"I knew you were an oblivious idiot, but I didn't think you were this stupid." One remarked, drily. Nine shrugged. He couldn't deny it; it was a rather stupid idea. "I know it sounds stupid, but I think you might be able to help me." He admitted. One looked intrigued, as he took a seat beside the youngest stitchpunk.
"And what gave you that idea?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Well...I know you fought a lot in the past, but you seem to know people well. I know you don't really think she's just a reckless person." Nine replied. One seemed satisfied with this answer, but his expression held something deeper.
"We aren't just enemies." He said, softly. "There was a time when we didn't immediately jump at each others throats." Nine looked up in surprise. Of course, it was to be expected; they weren't created hating each other. Nonetheless, it came as a surprise to Nine, who couldn't imagine the two being friends.
"Of course, as the war became more dangerous, we began to develop wildly different opinions, which inevitably led to an unpleasant relationship. But before that, we were..." He trailed for a moment. He looked as if he was struggling to find the words a say, but a strange sort of smile appeared on his face. He looked tired.
"It's...rather hard to describe." He said, looking down at his feet. "It'd be wrong to describe it as a romantic relationship." He mumbled, and Nine looked suddenly alarmed. A romantic relationship? Between them?
One could see the shock on Nine's face, and winced. "I said it wasn't a romantic relationship!" He said, sharply. Nine seemed to relax a little, but still looked uneasy.
One sighed. "It was more or less a fling, I suppose." Nine's eyebrows raised dramatically. "A...fling? What did you do then?" He asked, carefully. One seemed hesitant on imparting such information, but he spoke anyway.
"Nothing special. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. It was all quite..." He stopped and shrugged. Nine couldn't blame him, it sure did sound confusing, but he was getting the general picture. He winced, slightly. "Then, did you two ever...y'know."
"Did we ever what?"
"Y'know...um..." He made a strange gesture that gave absolutely no clues to what he was trying to say. Nonetheless, One seemed to understand. He flushed slightly, rubbing at his knuckles. "I see. Well...yes."
Nine's optics widened dramatically and One inwardly flinched. Why was he surprised when he was the one that asked? He sighed, resting his chin on his hands. Nine still looked taken aback.
"You two...you two really did it?" His voice was now a whisper and One cringed. "How did it even get to that? I can't imagine why she'd..." He stopped, now realise how his words could be taken as an offence. "...why she'd want to do that with you." He finished, awkwardly. One seemed quite unfazed.
"Opinions aside, I suppose I would be her ideal type."
Nine gaped. He had to be kidding. One didn't flinch.
Thinking on it, it seemed to make sense. Seven was a strong kind of woman. She didn't hang around for people. She was fast-paced and energetic and those who couldn't keep up wouldn't have a chance. That much was clear.
Although, One seemed to possess a similar kind of strength. Rather than a flexible, fast-paced strength, he had an immovable, stubborn kind of strength. He wouldn't even attempt to keep up with Seven but he'd merely stand his ground where he was.
It wasn't too much of a surprise that a stubborn kind of strength was attractive to Seven. She didn't appreciate people obeying her every demand and tending to her every whim. She wanted somebody with a strong sense of self-respect. Somebody who would naturally put themselves before others. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that they'd never be needlessly selfless, while still helping others. A person who looked after themselves well.
One surprisingly fit most of those. He had an incredibly strong sense of self respect, with a bit of an ego, but hey that was to be expected. He had a habit of being selfish, that much was clear, but he knew how to take care of himself. His actions before his death had hit Seven surprisingly hard, though she'd never admit it. Part of her felt like she'd pushed him to do it, despite never outwardly saying such a thing.
Secretly, One wished it was her he'd jumped in front of, but beggars can't be choosers.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Seven may have been reckless, but she was brave and One respected that trait quite a bit (but only if she was being brave safely and without being reckless). It was apparent that One wasn't really all that involved in finding a partner, but it seemed to make sense that he'd look for a partner equally strong as him. Of course, he wouldn't mind having a submissive partner, unlike Seven.
Two happened to be a mix of those things. He was submissive and easygoing by nature, but he had quite the stubborn streak. He, too, was strong in his own way. He was capable of standing his ground when he wanted to, yet also capable of just going along with One's decisions. He wasn't physically strong but, surprisingly enough, was capable of making incredibly scathing remarks. He was the perfect mix of submissive and dominant.
Seven, however, was all dominant and never submissive. She wouldn't be tamed, or settle down. One didn't have much of a problem with that. Usually, as a leader, he was used to being obeyed with minimal questions, but she seemed to challenge him every step of the way, which was both a nasty and pleasant surprise.
One couldn't ignore the fact that Nine was staring at him, open-mouthed.
"You want to know how it happened?" Nine nodded. "Well...I can't recall the exact circumstances. I supposed it was merely banter at first. Then it probably escalated into ironic flirting or something to that degree. Then into actual flirting and then..." He stopped, leaving Nine to fill the blanks.
"I guess..." He said, lamely, "...I still can't picture it all unfolding though. I mean, you're both valuable parts of our group, but you're both a little awkward." He said, with a sheepish smile. One snorted. "The only one of our group who isn't socially stunted in the slightest, is Two. The word 'awkward' isn't in his vocabulary. It is literally impossible for somebody like him to feel embarrassment." He said, flatly. Nine stifled a laugh.
"I guess you're right. I suppose you have a way with words too, but not in a normal social setting. I mean, the image of you flirting is actually hilarious..." Nine covered his mouth with his hand, laughing quietly. One frowned.
"I'm not that bad. It wasn't as awkward as you think." He said, sitting back on his hands. Nine looked interested.
"Now you have to tell me. I'm curious."
"You remember all the chaos that unfolded the last time you were curious?"
"We all came out alive didn't we?"
One looked rather disgruntled. "I suppose so...All that happened was we talked. Besides, I think it was because she was curious about...well, you know. She was fairly young, after all this was before Eight was created. And she approached me." He added, rather indignantly. Nine laughed. It felt like one big dream, it was so surreal.
"I still can't imagine it. It's too...disgusting." He added, with a wince. One watched his expression, before giving a thin smile.
"That so? Then you probably wouldn't want me telling you about the time we did it over the balcony on the old watchtower." He said, casually. Nine coughed suddenly, almost retching and One stifled an uncharacteristic laugh. When Nine opened his mouth to retort, his held his hand up.
"We were talking about getting Seven a present." He said, smoothly.
He was right. They had drifted far, far from topic.
"Well...what would you suggest? I mean...you described her type pretty clearly, but that isn't much help." He said, plainly. One raised an eyebrow. "Well...I suppose a gift would have to reflect such traits."
"Something energetic? Um... I don't- wait..." He stopped suddenly. One looked curious, expectant for him to explain.
"When we were out to find the twins a present, we came across a machine..." One involuntarily flinched, "...and it was a small kind of robot. It was too small to do any real damage, and we let it escape. Maybe she'd like a kind of pet?" He suggested.
"You aren't seriously suggesting capturing that...thing, and giving it to her as a gift? She hates machines more than I do!" He hissed. Nine shrugged. There was a very good chance it would work in his favour. There was also a very good chance it wouldn't.
"You're coming with me."
"I'm what?"
It was now pitch black and One was less than happy about being out into the emptiness. The emptiness was now generally harmless, with the exception of a few roaming beasts, but they never caused much trouble anymore.
Nine was struggling to remember the way to the bookstore that Seven had introduced them to when they were hunting for books for the twins. One seemed to have been here before, as he was able to steer Nine in the right direction. Nine wondered briefly why One didn't complain about the dangers of the outside world, but Seven's birthday was tomorrow, so he didn't have room to make such complaints.
Nine twisted the bulb on his lightstaff, as they approached the shattered door to the bookstore. Nine peered in, tilting his lightstaff so he could illuminate a good portion of the room. There were no sounds of danger, so he assumed it was safe. One followed behind, not quite sure whether to follow closely for protection, or distance himself, so he could run.
"Where did you see it then?" The elder asked impatiently, rubbing at his arms. Nine gestured to the downwards stairs before them with his staff. "It was down those steps." He whispered, "Five tried to shoot it, but it got away. It was pretty small, so it can't have gone too far." He murmured, and with that, began descending the large wooden steps, being careful of any rickety and fragile planks. One opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out. He looked around fearfully, before reluctantly following him.
The two scoured the area carefully. Nine scampered to the darkest corners of the room, bounding over rocks with grace. One stayed in one spot, gingerly shifting rocks and pebbles around, being absolutely no help whatsoever. Luckily, Nine was able to cover a wide area very quickly and it wasn't long before...
"I found it!"
Nine hissed at One for him to come over. One, however, stood dead still, his optics searching the area. He wasn't going to risk it. When it became clear he wasn't moving, Nine rolled his optics and set his lightstaff against the wall.
The small beast was round, like a ball, with a few legs stuck to it. It was rummaging around aimlessly, not posing much of a threat to anybody. Nine knew such a tiny creature would probably be startled very easily, so he sat down where he was, and watched the creature for a while.
He tapped gently on the rock he sat on, and the creature slowly turned to his attention. The stitchpunk held his hands up, to show he had no weapons and meant no harm, as he sat as still as possible. The beast watched him like a hawk, making no moves of it's own.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Nine said, softly. It seemed as if the beast understood, but it still looked wary. It shifted in it's spot slightly, several red optics trained on Nine intently. Nine sat patiently, with a small smile. "I promise." He added.
He stretched out his hand towards the beast. The tiny creature recoiled slightly, but when it was apparent that Nine posed no threat, he gingerly approached him. It nudged his metal fingertips, as if testing the waters, before relaxing. Nine gave him a gentle pat. The beast sat in his lap for a few minutes, still looking quite wary.
"How would you like to come home with us?" He asked the creature. "There's somebody I wanted you to meet." He said the creature a bright smile, and the creature seemed to perk up. That gave Nine an idea.
He gently shifted the creature off his lap, and reached out to grab a pebble. The creature let out a startled beep, and reeled back. Nine held his hands up again, panicked. "No, no, I wasn't going to hurt you!" He insisted, before grabbing the pebble again. The beast watched the pebble intently. Nine held it up, watching the red optics following the rock in his hand. He smiled, before lobbing it gently in the other direction.
"Go get it." He urged, gently. The creature looked momentarily confused, before slowly making it's way to the pebble. It didn't look entirely sure of what it was doing, but it picked up the pebble, hoisted it onto the back of it's round body, and tottered back. He handed the pebble back to Nine, who smiled. "Good job." He praised, and the creature perked up again, when he gave him a congratulatory pat.
Suddenly, the creature froze up, giving a shrill squeak. "What is it?" Nine asked, softly, before seeing who had approached behind. One was standing behind him, looking slightly nervous about the creature. Apparently, it wasn't as big as he'd imagined, so he was slightly relieved.
"That's it then?" He asked, crouching down. Nine nodded, giving the creature a stroke. "This is it. This is One." He said, gesturing to the leader. "He won't hurt you either." He assured, and the creature relaxed every so slightly.
"So...we take it back to the sanctuary with us?" One asked, looking rather wary. Nine shrugged. "What else would we do? C'mon, let's head back." He stood up, picking the creature up, while One grabbed his lightstaff. The trio climbed carefully back up the stairs, and began to head home.
One sighed in relief, quickening his pace once they reached the library gates. He was glad to be back home. Despite not coming across any danger on this trip, he was still paranoid. He stopped suddenly, when he noticed Nine wasn't following him.
Nine looked rather nervous, as he clutched the creature. One looked back at him, quizzically. "What?"
"I'm worried everyone will scare him. What if she doesn't like him?" He asked, in a small voice. One sighed. "If you want, I'll go in an kiss her. That way, if she doesn't like your present, it'll be cancelled out by mine." He gave a thin smile and Nine snorted. "Thanks. Maybe...maybe you should do that." He said, with a sly smirk. One raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, as he entered the library. Nine looked down at the creature in his arms, who beeped brightly, before grinning.
"Welcome to your new home."
As the creature was very timid, Nine figured it was best if he introduced the beast to all the stitchpunks (sans Seven, of course) so he wouldn't be too startled. Luckily, the beast seemed to adapt very quickly, and the others did too. Six and the twins spent a short amount of time playing fetch with a pebble. The creature ended up racing Six to see who could reach the pebble first, much to the others amusement.
"It's becoming much more adjusted to the surroundings." Two commented, watch the game of fetch unfold. One nodded silently, which made Two glance at him unsurely.
"Are you alright?" He asked, quietly. One looked grave as he nodded once more. He knew he wouldn't get away with just that. He sighed, deeply.
"I ended up getting caught up in the past. I was talking to Nine about...my relationship with Seven." He voice was now barely above a whisper. Two didn't looked remotely surprised.
Of course, Two knew about it. It was blatantly obvious that One and Two were now lifelong partners, which meant Two knew things about One that nobody else knew, and vice versa. One was hesitant to inform Two about Seven, but Two didn't seem to mind. He understood full well that One tended to brood over the past, whether it was about their creator, or their old home. Being the kind soul he was, he never got mad at One. He was patient, and One was secretly appreciative of it.
Two knew One and Seven had an odd relationship, and One obviously still had mixed feelings about the past. He was a surprisingly clingy kind of person. He rarely made attachment, but when he did, they held strong. Back then, he had formed a slight attachment to Seven, which became strained over time. After many long fights, they broke apart and drifted far, far away, but those indestructible attachments still remained.
Seven knew full well about One's strange attachments. She knew he still felt some shred of...something, for her. Secretly, she didn't want to fight him. He wasn't as bad as she described him, but he was capable of some pretty awful things. She would never justify what he did in the past, but a sense of nostalgia prevented her from hating him.
One wondered why Two was never worried that he'd go off with Seven. Of course, it wouldn't happen, but that didn't stop him from wondering. He was surprised when Two informed him that he trusted him more than anybody.
One felt a whirlwind of guilt, for everything he'd ever done.
Two gently gripped One's hand.
Seven awoke to One sat at the end of her bed.
Her optics widened dramatically, but she made no movements. Why was he, of all people, sat at the end of her bed? She swallowed, thickly. One looked up.
"You're awake." He said, quietly. He looked unusually downcast, and Seven felt something tighten in her stomach. She sat up, looking him up and down, before noticing something strange in his lap. She opened her mouth to ask what it was, before the metal thing beeped suddenly. She flinched.
"Before you say anything...Happy Birthday." He muttered, as if he didn't want to be here. He lifted his arms, and the creature rolled off his lap and onto the bed. It scampered around, inspecting it's surroundings, before looking up at Seven. It beeped, cheerfully.
"That...why did you bring that here?" She asked, breathlessly. She didn't know what surprised her more; the fact he was wishing her happy birthday, or the fact he had just handed a beast to her. She watched it climb up the blanket towards her. She wanted to push it away, but it didn't seem to be doing any harm.
"It's not going to hurt you." He said, softly. Seven knew better than to trust One. She'd learnt from previous experiences, but for some strange reason, she trusted what he said. She gently outstretched her hand, and gave the small machine a pat. The creature responded positively to her touch and let out a chirp. She smiled.
"It's...cute. Wasn't this the machine that we found in the bookstore?" She asked, and One nodded. "Nine thought you might like a partner that could keep up with you."
The two watched the strange little machine roll around on Seven's bed with excitement. It wasn't remotely threatening and actually looked rather cute. But why was One giving it to her? One could sense that was the question running through her mind.
"I'm sorry..." He said, quietly. "...about everything that happened in the past. I know no amount of apologies could make it up to you but..." He paused, as if hesitating to speak further.
"What we were before we became...enemies." The word slid gingerly around his tongue. Seven felt something freeze inside her. She hummed, to show she was paying attention.
"I...enjoyed it. A lot. More than you might think I did. I...have no intention of leaving Two, but I just...wanted you to know. You're more than just a reckless brat to me." He gave a melancholy smile, and Seven found her mouth falling open.
It was easy to see these kinds of things were hard for One to say. He wasn't the apologetic type or generally the emotional type, but he had more emotion that people gave him credit for. Seven knew that, but every time he showed shred of raw emotion, she found herself being surprised.
Nonetheless, she smiled sadly. Deep down, she hadn't wanted it to end the way it did. Part of her was craving to go back to that time just one last time, but it wasn't possible. He had Two now and, as happy for him as she was, she still felt a little empty. A little betrayed. Why? She thought she hated him. He was just...he was capable of being such a terrible person! So why did she miss him now? She couldn't take him back, because of the past, but it seemed to tear her up inside.
She felt strangely uncomfortable. She stifled a sigh, looking downcast. Suddenly, she felt a tender hand on her shoulder, as One leaned over.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, before standing up.
"Happy Birthday, Seven."
She smiled.
"Thank you."
this accidentally turned into 7x1 whoops.
also, to Angel, you are a lovely reviewer and I am delighted you like my works. reviews and messages mean the world to me. My witch story is going very well thank you very much. I might post it online.
