Gentle Shower
Fandom: 9
Characters: 7, 3, and 4
Word Count: 1,018
Warnings: None
“Well, now I am grown
And these days have shown
Rain's a part of how life goes
But it's dark and it's late
So I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close.”
------ A Lullaby for a Stormy Night, Vienna Teng
A crack of thunder filled the empty world with echoes as rain came pouring down upon the ruins of mankind. The storm may have seemed loud and riotous, but the rain itself was soft and quiet. It pattered gently against the stones of decimated buildings and the metal roofs of abandoned cars. Each decaying piece of the old world had its own ring, and the lively tinkering that filled the darkness was like music. Even the sudden claps of thunder created a serene feeling deep inside the chest of a young stitchpunk in love with the freedom of this fearless new world. But two pairs of nervous arms tightened around her white waist with each thunderous roar of the unknown. Lightning flashed across the scene, illuminating the darkness briefly, allowing them to gaze out at Mother Earth’s growing wonder in awe. The sight of that life-giving water kissing this broken world they had inherited from the humans was wondrous. As she held the twins close to her side, watching the renewal of a world she had once thought lost, a warm feeling crawled into her chest. It made itself at home, bringing a soft light to her optics. 7 could feel no fuller of life than she did at that moment.
The twins, on the other hand, were grasping at her pale skin with frightened fingers and wildly flashing eyes. She smiled down at them in amusement. She had never seen them so unwilling to study something new. The first rain had been gentle, filled with the love of their fallen comrades, so they’d documented all they could about the wet and the wind and the clouds on that day. Now, it varied from week to week, and 7 found it utterly fascinating. She loved never knowing what weather the day would bring or when a sudden shower would catch her off guard. But the howling winds and lightning and thunder of the more violent of the storms had frightened her little wards. They had attempted to study it once, regardless, but each clap of thunder sent them scurrying back into whatever shelter they’d taken to that night. They had finally decided that the only fact they needed to store in their catalogue in association with these kinds of storms was rather simple: they were frightening. So, they clung to their protector, hoping the storm would pass and bring the morning light into their cold nook between the tire of an old car and a slab of broken wood.
7’s arms were gentle but strong as they clung to her. They lent the twins comfort and confidence beyond all words. What could harm them when she was near? Her fingers curled around 4’s hip and 3’s chest, cheek resting against one head now and the other next. There were small, soft sounds now and then. They came from somewhere deep inside her, somewhere secret, somewhere forgotten. They meant nothing that she knew, but somehow they meant everything to 3 and 4. Slowly, fingers stopped clutching at her as frantically. The flashes of light from their optics grew fewer and far between. Little hooded heads began to droop as conversation died down. 4 gave a small sigh as she curled up against 7, fingers gripping the cloth skin of her right arm loosely, growing limp as she neared her sleep cycle. 3 kicked his feet as he tried to push himself closer as well, but it got him nowhere. His feet were only sticking in the muddy entrance of their shelter, and he seemed too tired to try anything else. She laughed softly and placed a hand under his rear end, pulling him up to her chest. He laid his head against it, smiling contentedly as his optics shuttered. Sleep was coming for them, but 7 could find none for herself.
She sat, long into the night, staring out at the rain as it fell around them. It isolated them from all of this world, from the new creatures being born every day, from the decaying bodies of humans who had died long ago, from 9 who remained in their permanent shelter at the Scientist’s house in his search for truth. She shuttered her optics for a long while at the thought of 9, alone in that battered house. 7 didn’t like that – being alone – but it never seemed to bother him. He became lost in his search as 7 and the twins scoured the new world in constant search of adventure and discovery. There was a distance growing between them, the distance of the present. He kept reaching back into the past while she only had eyes for the future. She had to have her mind focused on the future, so she would know what the world had to offer them. She hadn’t spent all those years as the only barrier between the twins and the dangers of this world for nothing. Her mind would always be on whatever helped her make life the best it could be for them.
7 returned her attention to the slumbering duo, unwilling to let her mind rest on 9 for too long. She placed her cheek against 4’s head, staring down into 3’s lax face lovingly. She remained that way for hours, the only movement her fingers brushing across their light skin affectionately. They were most important. They had always been the most important. She had relied on their dependency for so many years; she had no other way of motivating herself. She knew they thought of her as the strong one, but she would be weak without them. She would be weak alone. Her smile grew soft, almost sad, as 3 shifted in his sleep, fingers reached out for his sister’s. As their fingers connected they made a ring around her with their arms, and 7 felt safe in that ring of love. She would be nothing without it. They didn’t know this. They only knew she would always be there for them. And she would. Her arms tightened around them, drawing them all the closer. She would.