Chapter Text
Nine sat by the pile of coals. Picking at her fingernails. It had gotten a little boring without the Boy.
'What could he be even doing?' Her mind wandered, her teeth gently chewing at the stray piece of skin on the side of her nail.
'He's surely taking his time with this..'
She groaned in the silence without him, finding it absolutely boring without anyone to talk to. Nine could only stare into the hole above the ladder he had used. She paused.
He was gone for about a few minutes.. And she was really bored..
With a nimble climb, she scaled the ladder. Each foot pressing her way up on the rungs. Natalia’s head peeking through the threshold of the hatch. Nine made sure to let her arms grip the cold metal as she swung herself over the hole.
With a harsh thud, reverberations of her body hitting the solid metal flooring (broken by the fall of coals), soared through the girl’s body briefly before she arose back to her feet. Of course, she let out a minor groan of pain, but only for that short moment.
Natalia’s eyes darted towards the empty niche, occasionally flittering with sparks. The slot was practically in hunger for a second fuse. The thought of pitying an inanimate object slightly amused the girl.
Her eyes glanced towards the small sliver of an opening, the door that was improperly raised all the way and yet perfect for any child or teenager to slide their body under.
With what little light she could perceive, her eyes adjusted slowly. Pupils dilating to sap up any light that could be taken. Her arms gently brushed the slivers of the black rocks away, piling them so she made soundless efforts as she crouched through.
There was no effort to make any noise afterward. Stepping ghostly footsteps as she let her dainty and muffled feet slowly step on the even and solid floor. Feeling the ground with closed eyes for any vibration.
Nine had reminded herself about moles; How usually they lived without sight nor the need for it, as they dug through the pitch darkness of soil. That had been a bit of her favorite read, the word of what the book was called-It was practically on the tip of her tongue!
'In.. Indexes? No, encyclopedias.’ Natalia’s brain scoured for the right word until she held it in the palm of her mind’s eye. She had remembered the word well, the way the word rolled off her tongue when she had said it before.
Nine swiftly paused, planting her hands on the floor as she kept her weight low. Ears pricked and eyes widened. The way a mouse would look in the slightest hint of a cat going its way.
She felt the muscles of her ears wiggle as she tilted her head a little, hearing the gentle tap of the Janitor’s heels clicking softly against the cold floors. Nine stood in a suspended position, a crawl on her knees and toes.
Natalia’s movements were shortened to the slow draw in of breath, and exhale of it. Her heart ran rough fingers along her ribs, each fingertip hooking and pulling the rib back a little to feel it echo back in terrified heaves of breath.
Her body could not hush the terrified way the rapid breaths poured out her cold lips. Each given a hint of harshness in each terrified gasp of air. Nine’s mouth shut tightly, holding her jaw shut so no hint of loud, obnoxious breaths could ever hint at Nine’s own location.
The obnoxious thrumming of her heartbeat swelled in her ears, as if her brain switched places with her heart and was too busy pounding blood to actually give her some silence to think like cornered prey.
The girl only kept her mouth shut, her keen ears hearing the gentle footsteps before her head could swivel.
Her eyes were brought to immediate light. Suddenly narrowing her eyes with a muffled grunt. It stunned her for only seconds before she looked beyond the light.
It was the Runaway Teen.
Nine only looked at the glowing fuse in his arms. The bright yet almost beige lighting casting an upward glow onto his face. She could observe each detail of his face in the perfectly-almost white light.
His expression was muddled in the darkness but by the way he acted, she could tell he was only slightly mad at her for whatever reason.
The girl’s hand met his, holding it tightly as he tried to scuttle out towards she had just come through to yank her back out into the safe and light filled room. The Boy’s grip slowly softened once he peeked his scruffy head back into the room.
He gave an audible sigh as he stood by the door, giving it a small glance as he took a few paces from it. His gaze turned to her. Nine’s cheeks flushed a little as she took her hand away, twiddling her fingers gently as she did so.
“Let me guess, you got bored?” The Runaway gave her a firm look, raising an eyebrow slightly as he twisted his body a little to push the fuse into its niche.
“I was worried.. Slightly?” She exaggerated her words a little, what she meant to be a lighthearted joke made the Kid pause and think. A look of muddled emotion, it was hard to tell.
His voice was soft.
“Really?”
Nine hadn’t really expected his gentle and vulnerable reaction. Maybe it was his first time being cared for and worried about. It made her stomach squirm and flip in her belly, both for reasons she didn’t understand completely.
Natalia gave a hesitant nod, after all she did care for others. Even if that care got her into unfortunate situations and forced her to.. do unsavory things. Her moral judgment always got in her way, doing something for others and ending up nearly escaping.
He didn’t seem to have that though. No compass for morality. No sense of judgment to decide on matters. Nine didn’t exactly know what to think on that matter.
Maybe it was her who had the wrong compass.
Either way, he directed himself towards the shaft, waiting for her as he crawled into it. Sitting down with his legs crossed as she dragged herself up. Nine hadn’t been the best physically to do such things like these, too pampered and coddled from a young age.
She didn’t show any heaves of breath or nothing, just the struggle to climb a simple ledge towards the elevator shaft. It was an awkward silence once she sat down a bit away from him.
The slow and soft rumbles of lift-off were felt. The slow and dreadfully rumbly feeling of slowly ascending whilst in the shaft. It seemed like a good time for smalltalk..
“What's our plan?” Nine tilted her head, looking at him with a sort of curious look. Hand in her lap as she kept picking at her nails.
“More nomes.” The Kid’s voice was very blank, as if it was straining through gripped fists to not let any sort of emotion run free. Desperately hanging on to the comfort of monotony.
She paused in the silence, nodding slowly as she tried to rile up more conversation within him. Stirring gently with her fingers, trying to enlight a flame or idea of “probable friendship”.
’Could I have that?’ Natalia’s inner voice whispered, a drive to grasp and hold onto the idea of him being her friend..
“I understand but, after?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Nine sighed, her brow furrowing when he made a vague and “we’re gonna make shit up as we go” type of plan. She didn’t really like this at all. No overthought? What ifs? No thorough plan??
Worry would’ve been a useful tool.. if she could actually use it on him! Natalia could at least give him the idea to stop and think, instead of forcibly running into danger for no reason.
“You’re dense,” She started, “We need to think this out.”
“Then you’ll do that.”
“Then I’ll do that?” Nine echoed, turning her head to look at the Boy’s “wing it” mentality. She scowled slightly and opened her mouth to add scoldings to her sentence.
The shaft stopped, reaching a stop. The door opened by sliding up with a noisy ding! to mark their departure. He slid out the opening, hands on the ledge, waiting for Nine.
She grumbled, so much for scolding him now..
Nomes scattered about instantly. Scattering to a specific vent under a table. Which had meaningless junk on it. He gestured with a motion, heading under the table; His hands pressed on the vent.
Holding the vent up, Nine slid under the Kid’s arm. She looked into the room, there was a pull-lever, crate, and filing cabinets on the wall. Wooden flooring was at a point until it turned into metal flooring.
The filing cabinets looked as if a major crash had happened. Tilting, unfitting drawers into the cabinet, with drawers crumbled in the slots. Files upon files creeping out any crack of the cabinet possible.
Walking further, the Runaway and Nine saw the filing wall. More drawers on drawers, filled to the brims of themselves with paper. Papers which contained some sort of knowledge.
A table was on the starting end of the filing wall and on the end, from left to right. With a rolling climbing canister in the space between the two tables. The sounds of merciless beating came from the filing cabinets.
The Boy left her side, fingers grasping on the handle of the drawer. With a pull he let a wave of two nomes burst out the cabinet, pushing him back as the two nomes scattered from him.
Natalia gave a soft giggle when he tumbled over, causing him to whip his head back to stare at her. His hair moved so animatedly, when looking back at her. It just felt like a sweeter moment. The slight pout to his lips as if to mean “who are YOU giggling at, missy?”
Twisting over, the Kid got on his knees and elbows. Scrambling to his feet while he pointed to the end table. Natalia nodded, scampering over to stand by the table. He followed, standing in front of her.
“Can I.. touch you?” The Runaway asked, his hands reaching out slightly, “To boost you up一of course.”
“Sure, go ahead.” She raised her arms allowing easy access for her waist to be grabbed.
Natalia could feel the awkwardness radiate off of him, in all of its pubescent-boyish beauty. His hands moved awkwardly, reaching then backtracking when trying to pick her up.
He fudged it, grabbing her waist with impatient force. The Runaway lifted her up, his height allowing Nine to reach up and pull herself up onto the table. She hitched her fingers, tugging herself on.
The girl saw him rub his palms onto his shirt. Through the blips of skin that could be shown through his overgrown bangs, he was obviously flushed. A sort of human-pink color stood out against his paler, bluish skin.
She gently hugged the nome scribbling on the wall, making it chitter and gently squirm in her grip. Nine let the little beast go, gently pushing it over the table’s edge. The Kid turned his attention to the nome, giving her a hesitant thumbs up.
He scrambled behind the box, chasing after the nome. It kept running out of the Boy’s grip and fleeting behind the box in a game of cat and mouse. Eventually making him groan out of anger and climb the crate and see the nome circle around it.
After a few circles, the Runaway descended onto the nome with brute force. Wrapping his arms around it, the Boy hugged aggressively. After all, it was a tedious game of “Tag” and simply was just getting on his nerves. Nine could only stifle a giggle.
Letting the little critter go, it stood passively with the other nome. He tilted his head back at the one standing alone, making his approach. He simply picked it up and hugged it, letting it join the other two.
Since there were more nomes to the mix, Nine only gestured to the pulley that was connected to the door, then the crate nearby. They would need the weight of them or the nomes to lift the door and jam the crate under it.
Cracking his knuckles, the Runaway walked to the pulley. He got on tiptoe to grab ahold of it better, yanking it down. The door was only lifted up an inch, pathetic. He frowned at the sight of it, he wasn’t exactly “strong enough” to lift up the door. Which was a sensible thing, after all the kid didn’t exactly eat enough meat or gain enough weight.
Then again, this work would have its benefits. Getting a few pounds plumper while ransacking a kitchen for its treats.. absolutely great idea for the condition the both were in, Nine and him.
Oh一and they would have to provide provisions for the nomes, probably. They ate too, right? They seemed akin to a “pet”, little companions you kept around and took care of; different from kids but still similar in some aspects. The nomes were sort of cuddly..
A line of thought entered the Boy’s mind and stunned him; a sort of lost train of thought compared to what actually mattered. One spiral led to another as he didn’t notice Natalia stepping closer until she actually tapped on his shoulder.
He tilted his head back, looking at Nine with curiosity. She looked at the Boy thoroughly in his eyes, gesturing with a tilt in her head towards the door. She yanked on the pulley, the door raising significantly..
The nomes started to push a crate under the door to jam it, leaving the door with a gap to crawl under. The nomes flitted around like dizzy butterflies, sweeping under the door. Natalie only gently knocked a lock of his hair teasingly with a finger, following the nomes out the door.
He couldn’t say for certain, but it made the Boy pause.. He felt kind of stunned, but in a sort of embarrassed “i’ve been teased” way that also felt.. Warm? Fuzzy? Fun? He couldn’t find the word for it exactly. He wanted to gently smush the feelings into a little box and not show them, not near her.
In the moment of silence they left the Kid with, he darted under the door. Nine was already gently lifting nomes into the serving elevator. He felt a little off, looking at her. Something was wrong with his eyes一clearly!
He furrowed his brows, pursing his lips as he let a huff of air leave his lips. The Runaway paused and looked away, striding forward as he stood beside Natalia. He glanced towards her once, feeling a sort of gentleness that wasn’t there before. Instead, he only helped her with the nomes.
He hopped onto the serving elevator, offering his hand to help balance her as she got onto it as well. There was something he noticed about her when she would do things, just the tiniest mannerisms he picked up on.
Her braid swaying as she walked, the sideways bangs that got in her eyes as she scrambled underfoot, the locks of hair she would always push behind one ear if it got in the way.. It was just the miniscule aspects he found in her, it made him feel a passive satisfaction of just noticing the little things about her.
They stood in silence in the shaft, having the door closed. The Boy held onto her hand still, a gentle grip he unconsciously did. She only shuffled her hand and looked at him, which made the Kid only release his grip from her hand. Blood flushed to his cheeks, making him try and tilt his head down so his hair would get in his face.
She only let out a small chuckle, ignoring the way his face grew a pale pink. If it would make him more comfortable to be unnoticed, she would pretend like she didn’t see.
As the elevator reached its destination, the hatch opened. Nine slid from the Boy and took a nome with her, guiding its hand. He watched her, hand curled on their little hand, something swelled inside of his chest.
And for the first time, it wasn’t fear.
He eagerly hopped from the serving shaft, trailing along after her with the two other nomes by his feet. Natalia was already lifting the nome to a lever to open the door that was blocking their exit.
She gently lifted the nome down after the door opened, leaving back towards the unwavering heat of the boiler, passing the piles of coals on the way. He gave a small whimper of a chuckle as the Boy held one arm of his, looking at her;
“Wow, it sure is boiling in here..”
“And I thought you were always serious,” She snickered, jutting her elbow into his side. “That was very punny of you.”
“I’m sorry, it’s the best I can do right now.”
“It’s the best one I’ve heard yet.”
Natalia gave a small and short “hmm” that seemed more of acknowledgement. They both watched the nomes they had recruited dart over to the coal pile, they instantly went to work dispatching coals into the fiery mouth.
A few seconds later, a rumble tore through the floor; making the two stumble and grip the other for a moment to balance the other. A chuff of smoke billowed as the fire began to rage harder.
A roar of fury left the lips of the metal creature, its eyes alight with flames as the turn of energy as the coals were burnt into fuel. The conveyor was rising for a moment一!.. Then died. There weren't enough nomes to sufficiently fuel the conveyor..
The metallic beast continued its meal of coal, gnawing on the black pellets as the two looked at the conveyor with a hint of displeasement.
“There weren’t enough?.. Well-.. Why- we have enough right?” The Boy scowled, pouting as he frowned.
“Don’t stress it, I’m sure we can find more of them to help. It can’t be that much of a task to find more of them. If I’m correct, there's two other levels we haven’t explored.” Nine gently soothed, pointing up towards the ladders on the left of the boiler.
He paused, and nodded. Agreeing with her on this one. She seemed to be very much more calculating of the surroundings they were in. The boy only sighed, “I’m getting impatient, sorry.”
“It’s fine, we’ll just be back in a few minutes. It's better than us doing the manual labor.”
The boy made a “hmm” sound, nodding as he trot off to the first ladder, having Natalia trail along with him. They ascended the ladder rungs, meeting the 2nd floor. Him in front and her trailing along with. He seemed accepting of her help now..
Walking towards the 3rd ladder, they continued their climb. Meeting on the 3rd floor, they both saw a set of steps into a room..
TO BE CONTINUED..