Prt. 8

After calming 13 back down and convincing her to get off of his front, 10 had placed the new female down to the dirt again and simply had becoming her tour guide in someway as he showed her the rest of the garden and the backyard with 11 close by as well. But surprisingly the shorter male was staying on the steps of the backdoor instead of actually following along after his brother or the female. It was almost as if he just wanted to watch the two ragdolls mingle together alone as he sat on the stone of the steps with his legs hanging off the edge idly with a content smile.

'Whether or not you'll admire it 10, I can tell you like her,' he thought completely at ease with himself well he watched his older red eyed brother point to varies flowers and tell 13 the name of them when she asked innocently. 'Just be yourself and don't over think this too much. Lord knows you could use more friends…' He was sad for a moment as he thought of his purpose in this family and the secrets he had to hide from his brother but Marcus had made 11 promise not to long after his creation not to say anything to upset the other. So for the time secrets were hid and friendship bloomed as the short pale male watched happily to 10 moving away from 13 to another part of the flower beds.

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13 seemed a little nervous to leave the other, but still seemed excessively eager to follow 10, and hurried down the grass to catch up with him. She stumbled down the slope before coming to a stop beside the pale burlap one with an innocent smile. That was that for a while; 10 and 13 headed down the side path together, nothing particularly interesting occurring.

It was about ten minutes later when something finally happened. The entire time 13 had been quiet and 10 had merely been chatting about how much he enjoyed it here. Waking in the early hours had been worth seeing this striking counterpart to Luxembourg and he was clear to voice it. 10 liked to travel and see things that he hadn't before, and he was certainly doing that here. The tall statues of the garden were not natural in Luxembourg and instead resided here, lovely pillars with white peaks and figures on top.

Suddenly 13 grabbed ahold of 10's arm and gently tugged at it. The gesture took the taller one aback and he was a bit surprised that 13's sharp hands were so gentle to the touch. A soft smile had graced the female's face and she pointed down the grass beside the stones, "Can we go?" she asked with an excited tone.

10 looked down the grass down towards the direction that 13 was pointing. Like the rest of the area that was not touched by a war yet to be lunched, it was beautiful. The emerald grass lead down through a bed of flowers before ending at the edge of a crystal clear stream; made by the fountain designed for relaxation and comfort here in the garden.

It was certainly pleasant and still close enough to the home that the female probably felt safe as well. 10 decided that it looked pleasant and 13 wanted to go so he agreed, "Alright. Let's go." The canvas one was clearly excited and immediately began to head down the pathway. Her hand slid down 10's arm before clasping on his hand and tugging him along. 10 was nearly laughing at how excited the other was, trying to ignore an awkward feeling in his insides that didn't seem to make sense. The grass was cool as they dashed down through it.

13 stopped at the closest flower and stared at it in interest. 10 had seen many flowers before and somewhat doubted that 13 had seen all of the ones here in the garden. It was a bit above 10 in height and made of a bundle of lavender flowers on a single stem. 13 released 10's hand and looked upwards at it in awe.

"Look at it! Look at the color! It's…" 13 paused before finishing with a quieter tone in her voice, filling with what 10 imagined was inspiration and wonder, "beautiful." Her hands clenched tightly as she resisted the urge to reach upwards towards the petals.

10 decided to reach upwards, as he was taller than his companion, and bent the flower's stem so that he could pull the flower closer. "Want one?" He offered and 13 looked at him with an unsure look, "But… Will it hurt it?"

10 looked towards the plant before smiling, "I don't think so. See all of the flowers? I think they're like… Like hair. If I took a piece of hair it wouldn't hurt Marcus or Lizzie, and I think flowers can even grow back." He insisted, not really thinking further into his thought enough to realize that 13 may not know what he was saying. But the small one smiled again, "Can you get me one?"

The pale male chuckled a bit at the innocent question and nodded before reaching towards the stem. He gently freed one of the purple flowers and laid it into 13's hands. The velvety petals laying across the surprisingly gentle fingers. Because 13 was so hesitant, 10 decided to cup his hands under 13's in a friendly way, a bit hesitant himself to touching her with his own dangerous ones. Or, at least, 10 told himself that this was a friendly gesture between two friends. 13 smiled at the tall male tenderly and looked down at the flower, "I wish… I could make something like this. I want to see something this amazing just like the ladybug and know I'm the one who is responsible for it. I want to be important somehow…"

The taller spoke, "You can try drawing amazing things in time, you seem to take after Lizzie well and she is a very good artist when she does paintings."

13 smiled at him, "That sounds fun. I want to learn how to draw if it means I can make flowers and, Creator, all of this." Her teal optics slid over towards the tall statues, trees, flora and alit with that same wonder, "I want to make something like this. Something amazing, something special, and something that captures…Just all of this." 10 found something strange overtake him as he stared at the smaller. His face grew hot and his voice caught in his throat, he felt somewhat anxious and nervous, and strangely enough he recognized the feeling.

It was almost like feelings he used to feel when Lizzie had told him stories of how her and Marcus had falling in love and married, but he quickly dismissed this. That wouldn't make any sense so he dismissed it and merely rubbed the back of his neck.

13 then perked, "Let's go over there to the sparkling thing over there." she suggested, meaning the water and 10 agreed, lifting his hood and starting over. He pushed through the flowers and looked at the smooth rocks surrounding the stream before looking back, "You know, I think-." 10's voice fell into a look of shock as he noticed that 13 was now open, putting the flower inside herself.

The heat that smacked 10's face was unbearable and he looked away, actually stuttering for a second before he shut off his voice completely. He had not expected to see that and while he hadn't seen anything really he felt like he had done something wrong. Maybe it was because of the budding curiosity that wondered if 13's insides looked like his own. 13 was soon finished and dashed after 10, weaving through the flowers and arriving to the edge of the stream. 10 approached as well and climbed up onto one of the rocks.

He plopped down on the edge and dropped down his scarf before peering into the water. It was crystal clear as expected and 13 was at the edge dipping her hands in. 10 smiled at the sight before laying back on the rock in the warmth of the sun. His burlap enjoyed the feeling of warmth even if his eyes didn't and he sighed in contentment. 13, meanwhile, finished cleaning her hands of the dirt that she had gotten of them from digging in the dirt earlier. She didn't exactly want to keep her hands dirtied if she was going to touch 10 so much, less she end up upsetting him; somehow able to know it may be rude behavior.

Afterwards 13 headed to the side of the rock and climbed onto the top before sitting beside 10 who was laying so relaxed. She sat there, legs crossed in a comfortable position, and took in the scenery. It was very nice; however, 13 wanted something more, and looked to 10. A smile stretched across her face as she started to get a mischievous idea. Quite a weird one as well as 10 soon found out when weight was suddenly on his chest. He immediately opened his optics to see 13 above him, having pounced in his limp form.

The smile stretched across 13's mouth was both relaxed and playful, something seldom seen by the tall pale male because all he knew was his brothers. They were so close that 10 could feel the soft, warm breath on his face, making his burlap tingle even more. Though mostly because the close vicinity was unnerving him. He couldn't help but also notice 13's mouth that was upturned into such a precious smile. Before he could determine why he wanted to lean closer to 13, the female pulled back and climbed off of the other Stitchpunk before climbing down the rock.

10 sat up and watched her running off, glancing back over her shoulder as though she expected to be followed. That was when 10 grasped that she wanted to be followed; she wanted to play and wanted to be chased. 10 was more than willing to do so and hopped down from the rock before sprinting through the grass behind the small female. 13 looked back at her ally before quickening her sprinting. While 13 was not the most balanced so soon after waking up and using her body for the first time, she was quite quick when determined to be, and 10 was having a hard time closing the gap between them.

Unfortunately for 13 and fortunately for 10, she still was a little clumsy in her movements, and eventually she got her foot caught in a tangle of grass and ended up falling, taking down the grass with her. She attempted to scuttle to her feet until 10 managed to catch up and decided to tackle the other onto the bed of grass. Thankfully the greenery was enough to ease their fall and they collapsed in a heap together. 13 took the loss well and actually released a peal of laughter at their current situation.

10 laughed a little as well as he rolled 13 over, the smaller one now stretched out on her back staring upwards at the one above her, 10's hands pressed against the ground on each side of her head. 10 suddenly felt a warmth in his belly and felt a new need. Then, suddenly, he leaned forward and embraced the female into a close hug out of nowhere. 13 gasped in surprise and 10 immediately pulled back. He hadn't even gotten a very good feel of the canvas against his own burlap.

He ignored any urge and immediately addressed 13, "I'm sorry." he apologized, "I don't… I don't know what I… Sorry." He didn't know what else he could say. He had just violated the moment completely by whatever action he had done. He pulled away and sat down beside the female in the grass before averting his optics towards the fence in the distance. Anything was better than looking at 13 herself. The other seemed too surprised to speak or really react, but did look to 10, before gently sitting up.

She simply rested there for about twenty seconds and her hands clutched her chest tightly which revealed obvious distress. 10 knew that he had ruined it, the day, their possible friendship, everything because of what he did.

He planned to apologize again when 13 spoke instead. "10?"

10 looked to her, "Yeah?"

There was a small pause before 13 suddenly slid closer and leaned in, teal optics closing as she repeated 10's previous gesture. Unlike 10, she didn't pull back, and unlike 13, 10's shock was quickly overwhelmed as he fell into the action of allowing another to hug him.

It had to only be a few seconds and 10 took this time to link his arms around 13's smaller frame. Hands massaged over the tan canvas of her back while his face went at 13's shoulder in warm joining. It was when one of 10's hands ran over the stitches of her shoulder that the other decided to touch him as well, her sharp fingers clutching at the other's back and fabric. They eventually did pull back from each other. 10 felt the warmth increase, the internal fluttering that almost resembled affection. Suddenly he realized that he was somehow very fond of 13. That his gesture was the symbol of such fondness if nothing else.

"That was…" he started, but could find the words, and 13 responded with, "I liked it." There was nothing else they really could say at that point. They just sat there together on the grass, only slightly confused, but clearly both having enjoyed the motion.

"13," 10 started again, once again failing to find the correct words. There was so much that he wanted to say, but only so much he actually could say, and decided instead to finish with, "Want to go swimming?" Gesturing towards the stream nearby.

13 jumped to her feet with a smile and grasped 10's hand before pulling him up as well, then dragging him along to the creek. There was something certainly beginning, but they didn't have to worry about that now. All they needed was each other and luckily that was had they had. That and the rest of the day.

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"Well done 10," 11 chuckled from his place on the steps, smiling as he had witnessed everything between the two stitchpunks. "Let the game begin…"