Title-Something Right

5 notices a certain stitchpunk having trouble keeping his head up late at night, and knows he has to help.

My first 9 fanfic, kind of embarrassed to post it up. Hope you enjoy reading it.

I Own Nothing!

5 always noticed it, even when 2 didn't know he was watching. He knew that the other was old, not as old as 1, but still much older than he was. He knew of the gear he had made for himself, his eyesight was worse as his optics were old, so a 'hat' with an old lens from a pair of glasses, and a candle, this helped him see, especially on long nights that he spent building new things.

But 5 also knew that as much as the 'hat' helped the older stitchpunk, it was taking its toll on him. 5 often stayed awake, long past when the younger ones did, and saw what late night inventing did to the other. Most nights he would stay in the tower with 2, they would form and create things, and then he would stay until the elder was ready to go, but the other was staying there longer and longer each night.

2 wasn't having trouble coming up with ideas for inventions, he was having trouble keeping his head up. The large hat provided him with the help for his sight and the candle for light, but neither would help but burden more. 2 needed the lens to see properly, but it was attached to the candle, and therefore made it impossible to wear on its own.

5 always sat in the shadows of the tower, pretending to be asleep, but knew he had to think of a way to help his mentor; he had done so much for him, especially helping him cope with the pain of losing his eye. It pained 5 to see the other at work late at night, having to stop for long periods of time as his head would be weighed down by the heavy candle at times. 2 would always joke about it, telling him not to worry. But he knew he had to do something to help him.

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One day, 5 had snuck out, his needles and gear all in the material slung over his back. Going out he would search all over the grounds outside of where the other stitchpunks and himself lived for now, Looking for certain items for his new invention. It wouldn't be easy, especially with the way everything was now. If he took someone else, it may have taken a shorter amount of time, but he knew if he did take another, 1 might find out, and then he would just cause trouble for everyone. 1 had the ability to make him feel terrible about himself, making him feel like some of the ideas he had were bad, and even wrong.

It wouldn't be easy, and it would take about a week to find all the materials he needed, though after everything was found he was surprised at how close everything was, and thanked his luck that nothing caught him while he was out for long hours.

Finding the materials seemed simple compared to the next part, which was to alter the items and invent this new thought without 2 actually finding out about it before it was done. He chose to do it at night, long after the time when 2 suspected him to be asleep, but secretly he worked. It was hard, as he had to work in the dark, making his errors frequent, but he wouldn't stop, the sooner he finished, the sooner 2's jobs would be easier. Though to keep 2 from finding out what he was doing was a job in itself. He was always in the tower, creating blueprints out of scraps of paper, and often 2 would sneak up on him, curious what the young stitchpunk was coming up with. 5 had to hide from the other while he drew up plans, he couldn't have the other finding out yet, and it had to be a surprise.

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It wasn't until late one night, about a month after 5 began searching and creating his invention that it was actually finished, and luckily, that was the one night that 2 decided to check up on him. 5 was already asleep when it was done, tired from all his long nights. 2 would be looking for him, holding a small broken candle stick as he searched for the younger stitchpunk.

2 was surprised when he saw a little hideaway that 5 turned into a workshop, it was a small space with just enough room to put all of his equipment and materials. There were a few other inventions here and there, but nothing as perfect looking as what he was holding against his sleeping form. This new invention was almost like the others hat, but instead there was no candle. There was firm material, round with a circle cut large enough to rest on top of a head though it seemed rugged and looked as though it was hard to shape it. A pair of glasses, or half a pair really, with the lens portion hanging down the front, and the arm facing back before it was bent, hooking around where the back of the circle of sponge, also doubling as support to hold it up, before it came around the front side and was attached to the bridge of the broken pair of glasses with string, tied tightly.

2 looked at all the tools scattered around and knew that this must have been what had preoccupied 5's mind so intensely for the past month, and suddenly felt warm despite the cold night air. He took the invention out of the others hands gently and tried it on. It was much lighter than the other, about one quarter of its weight, the lens was a little dirty, but it wasn't cracked or anything and that helped. 2 moved his head and found it was a lot easier for him to move around and felt refreshed enough that he even believed he might be able to work more that same night. The elder smiled at 5, the boy was so thoughtful, and he knew that even if 1 and 8 were against most ideas of change, though mostly 1, at least he would always have 5, the one who truly cared to help him. He smiled and left the little hideaway, returning a few minutes later with a large piece of spare material, slinging it over 5 and clearing some of the mess from around the boy. He sat at the opening and closed it off, sitting there admiring the others work, taking it off and looking over everything the other did, smiling and even chuckling at how nice the design was. 5 stirred at the sound the other made and his right eye made a sound before opening and looking at the other, seeing he had his secret project. He sat up quickly and was about to say something when 2 put a hand on his shoulder, smiling to him, thanking him wordlessly and pushing the other to lie down again. 5 blinked and then after a few moments, he smiled, knowing he did something right. Sleep finally came easy as he settled down, and let his body drift away for the night. He knew there would be no more long tiresome nights, for either of them, starting with this one.

This was originally thought of when I started doodling 9 sketches, after drawing 2 I remembered that he had the candle headgear but forgot what it looked like so I thought of an alternative for the doodles, and after sketching it a few times I had the idea for this story.