Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’d be hard to forget the day Mono and Six first met each other. It was almost as if fate had intended for them to become friends. It was in the forest at the edge, at night time. There were no clouds in the sky, uncommon for the area. Mono had snuck out of the group home around the evening. He wasn’t close with any of the kids there. Honestly, he felt quite lonely. No one would really notice he was gone that night and the moon was bright and full and he was quite excited to see it.

The moon was prettier outside than it was through a window. He took off his paper bag so he could see it with an unobstructed view. He never took that bag off around anyone. He never took it off, period, not even when he was alone. He only did that on special occasions. He never had enough confidence to show his face around anyone. A bag was an odd choice to cover his face, but it gave him a sense of identity. It was unique to him only and he felt like it was one of the few things that made him special.

Mono glanced up at a tree and it seemed easy enough to climb. His assumption proved to be right, as he scaled it easily. The moon was, quite frankly, awe inspiring. It was white and gray and glowed softly, lighting up the forest in a gentle glow. He took the moment for himself to smile softly. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree trunk. Maybe he could spend the night out here. Surely no one would notice if he came back to the home in the morning, right? Right. There were so many kids there, not everyone could be watched, so he didn’t blame any of the caretakers for not paying much attention to him. He liked being alone anyhow.

Mono’s calm moment in the tree branch was interrupted by a noise coming from behind him. He whipped his head around to see the source of a noise. His serene feeling of peace was replaced with a jittering nervousness. Maybe there was a wild animal down there? What if it attacked him? No one knew where he was, they wouldn’t find him and he wouldn’t get any help if something happened, what if in his panic, he tripped over a root or fell out of the tree and broke his ankle? Suddenly, the ground seemed a lot further away and his vision seemed to get a lot foggier. He clutched his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

He shook his head and put his hand on his chest and felt his rapid heartbeat and heavy breathing. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down. He normally was in the house when his thoughts started spiraling. But here he was alone, which didn’t help his worry. He tried to rationalize his thoughts. Maybe it was just the wind. It was just a rustle. He was fine. But his moment was ruined. He sighed dejectedly. He might as well go back, there was no use in staying out here when his moment was fleeting and gone.

Before he could climb down from a tree, he noticed something at the base of the trunk and froze. Or rather, he saw someone and froze. It looked like it was a girl. She was wearing an oversized blue-gray sweater and shorts. She wasn’t wearing any shoes, which Mono could understand. He didn’t like wearing shoes either. Too uncomfortable, too cramped. The girl’s hair was black and short, falling slightly above her shoulders, her bangs were so long they almost covered her eyes. Speaking of her eyes, they were a sharp brown color so dark they were almost black. She was looking up at Mono, her black eyes staring at him intently. Mono startled as he realized she was looking at him without his face being covered. He quickly pulled his bag out of his pocket but his hands were shaking so much he accidentally dropped it. It fell down by the girl and Mono internally cringed. He didn’t want to have to go down there and talk to her. She’d probably ask his name or what he was doing out here. He didn’t want to talk. He wasn’t sure if he even could.

He took a deep breath and quelled the nauseousness in his stomach and then internally berated himself for being panicked about talking to someone. That was a silly thing to worry about. No one else worried about that. He shakily climbed down the tree to the base and covered his face with his arms shyly. He was waiting for the girl to ask him something, but oddly enough, she said nothing. After several moments, the girl reached out and tugged on his sleeve. Mono hesitantly lowered his arms and looked at the girl. She was holding out his bag and he yanked it out of her hands and pulled it over his head. He instantly felt better; the girl couldn’t see his face anymore.

He tried to say a simple thank you to her, but he couldn’t even do that. He sighed dejectedly, annoyed at himself that he couldn’t even say thank you to someone. He just nodded, hoping that would convey his thanks to her.

To his surprise, the girl just smirked slightly and signed something with her hands. Mono titled his head confused. He never learned sign language, he didn’t understand what she was saying. No one in the home ever taught him since it was deemed “unimportant.”

Mono looked awkwardly to the ground and the girl seemed to understand that he didn’t know what she was saying. She pulled a notepad out of her back pocket and wrote something on it. She handed it to him. It read:

“What are you doing out here?”

Her handwriting was scrawled and messy; she wrote very quickly but he could make out what was written. The girl handed him the pen she used, gesturing for him to write something on the pad.

Mono nodded in thanks before scribbling, in shaky handwriting:

“Wanted to see the moon.”

He handed the notepad back to the girl and she smiled and nodded. She gestured for the pen back and she wrote,

“Name?”

Mono startled. He hadn’t expected for her to actually strike up a conversation, much less ask for his name. She handed the pad back to him and he wrote,
“Mono.”

The girl nodded and wrote her own name on the notepad.

“Six.”

Mono smiled under his bag and held out his hand and Six took his hand and shook it. Seemingly satisfied with this encounter, smiled at Mono before walking towards the entrance of the forest. She turned and waved at him before disappearing into the trees. Mono waved back, happy that he’d met someone that was so similar to him before feeling disappointed that he most likely wouldn’t see her again. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted, he supposed. He looked back up at the moon. Maybe he would stay out a bit longer. The moment wasn’t ruined anymore.

Chapter Text

The next time Mono met Six was two weeks later.

It was in the middle of the afternoon and Mono was sitting in his room, staring out the window. He couldn’t get that encounter from several weeks ago out of his head. Why was that girl out in the forest in the first place? Was she like him? Who was she? All he knew about her was her name and that she apparently didn’t talk.

He sighed. He’d probably never see her again, it’d already been two weeks since they had met and since then, he’d resumed his boring mundane life. Every day seemed to be the same, nothing ever changing. He couldn’t talk to people; he was too nervous, so making friends was out of the question. Besides, why would anyone really want to be his friend in the first place? It's not like he was a particularly interesting person that someone would love to spend time with. He was, well, average, like every other kid in the home was.

His thoughts wandered to Six. She seemed like a cool person to be friends with, he decided. She didn’t talk, although he wasn’t sure that was because she was mute, she simply chose not to or felt too nervous to do so, like Mono. She seemed completely fine with communicating without speaking, something that Mono wasn’t used to. Almost everyone he’d ever met never cared to acknowledge that he was almost physically incapable of uttering words. Maybe a few noises but it usually begins and ends there. But Six not only respected the fact he couldn’t talk to her, despite only having a brief meeting that lasted less than four minutes, but she too communicated without words. Thinking back on it, Mono remembered she’d used sign language.

Mono wanted to learn sign language, he thought it would be helpful since he had trouble talking. Or at least, he did before he realized very few people knew sign language so even if he knew it, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with others since they wouldn’t know what he was saying. And its not like anyone in the house cared enough about communicating with him properly to learn themselves. But now he kind of wished he’d learned because he wouldn’t have been so awkward around Six. He wondered if she was used to people not understanding her sign language since she carried that notepad around with her.

Mono sighed. He seemed that that night he’d finally met someone who understood him or who at least was like him. Someone who didn’t expect him to talk and have a conversation. He took one last glance back out the window. There was nothing he was doing that day, much like every other day. He could always go back into the forest. He found it to be a special place for him ever since that night, whether it was from the full moon or from meeting Six, he wasn’t sure. He’d already been back to the forest several times since then, so one more time wouldn’t hurt.

Several minutes later, he was back outside the home and in the forest again. He was able to leave with not much trouble. The rules weren’t very strict on coming and going from the house, as long as he was back in time for curfew. He hadn’t explored past the clearing he watched the moon from, he was too worried of getting lost to go further. He sat down on the grass and took a deep breath in. He looked up to the sun, which was shining brightly in the middle of the sky, casting shadows from the trees and grass and he smiled softly. This was why this was his favorite place, no matter the time of day or night, it was calming and pretty. No chaos, no loud voices talking boisterously from down the hall. It was quiet. It was like him.

He noticed movement out of the corner from his eye and he sat up and to his surprise, Six was there and judging from the look on her face, she wasn’t wasn’t expecting to see him there either. For a moment, they just stared at each other before Six gestured for Mono to come closer. He stood up and slowly walked towards her, keeping his head down in shyness. Six held up a finger to tell Mono to wait and she pulled out her notepad again.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again. I haven’t been back here lately.” She wrote.

Mono nodded and wrote, “I’ve been coming back. Its nice here.”

Six smiled at him and she sat down and patted the ground next to her for Mono to sit down. They exchanged the notepad between them, talking in their own way. Six wasn’t used to communicating with someone solely using the notepad but she didn’t mind. Mono was a very easy person to be around, something she didn’t find in most people.

During several minutes of writing to each other, Six learned that Mono lived in a group home near the edge of the forest, he was nervous about speaking with almost everyone (something Six understood) but no one ever taught him sign language, although he was interested in learning and that he covered his face because he was self conscious. Meanwhile, Mono learned that Six, much like him, couldn’t talk to most people and stayed completely silent and that she had a twin brother. When Mono asked where she lived she just smirked mischievously and didn’t respond. He also learned that she has a friend that lives next door to her and according to Six, she understood her perfectly and she sometimes even talked around her friend. Mono felt a bit envious finding this out. He wished he had a friend like that, someone who understood him and didn't judge him. He wished he had a friend he was comfortable enough around to talk freely.

The two sat in the forest exchanging notes as the sun filtered through the leaves, several minutes ticking by. Suddenly, Six made a small noise of surprise, like she remembered something. Mono looked over at her in curiosity, wondering what revelation she had. She scribbled, “I just remembered, I have something to show you,” On the notepad and she stood up and helped Mono to his feet. She pointed to an area deeper in the forest and gestured for him to follow.

Just then, Mono realized how odd this was. He had only met with her once and now he was following her into the forest? Could she be planning something? Mono internally shook those thoughts off. What could she plan? She was just a regular girl, who was just like him. Well, he wasn’t regular. But she was. Though they were the same in many ways, Mono had already taken to viewing Six as a regular person even though that’s not how he viewed himself.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by Six tugging on his hand. Once Six realized Mono was back in the moment, she let go of his hand and started walking into the forest and he walked after her. They walked in silence, as they couldn’t talk nor could they write while they walked, the only noise being made was the crunch of leaves on the ground and the wind whistling through the trees.

After a few moments, they came to a clearing next to a small stream bubbling softly. Six pointed up at one of the trees and sitting in its branches was an old tree house. It wasn’t to the point of rotting but it was clear no one had been using it for a long time. Some of the wood had been warped from humidity and dampness, the rope ladder was fraying and some planks off the roof were falling off. But despite the state of the tree house, Six only smiled at it. She handed him a pre-written note, as though she had prepared it for just this occasion. Like she was waiting to see him again and give him this note.

“I found this while I was out here several days ago. I thought we could hang out here some time. I’m not sure we can fix it up but it seems nice either way. I already looked inside and it's not too bad except for some spider webs. This could be our little spot.”

The note was longer than most of her notes, clearly indicating that she’d had time to write it. It had several spelling errors and crossed out words. She seemed to have struggled with writing a note that was longer than usual. Mono wondered if she had used a dictionary to spell some of the words or if someone helped her.

It took Mono a second to realize he had to respond in some way. He looked at the note and it dawned on him that this was an offer to hang out. To be friends. He smiled at her and nodded. He couldn’t really remember a time when he had friends or if that time existed at all. If it did, he didn’t remember it.

Six, in turn, smiled back at him. She didn’t know why she wanted to be friends with this boy she had only met once. Maybe it was because they were alike. Maybe it was because he seemed interesting. Or maybe it was simply because she liked him. Isn’t that the best reason to be friends with someone? Because you enjoy being around them? What other reason did she need?

Mono tentatively held out a hand and Six took it. They looked at each other and smiled and the two thought about how lucky they were to have met each other.

Chapter Text

Mono wondered if he seemed happier to the others in the home. He certainly felt happier and wondered if that reflected on his outward appearance, despite no one being able to see his face. Maybe they could see it through his actions.

He felt giddy, if he was going to be honest. A friend, he had a friend! He and Six were going to meet up again on the weekend, which couldn’t come soon enough.

A few people around the house commented on his cheerier exterior but, as always, Mono never responded to anything said about him, positive or negative. Speaking of the others in the house, its not that they ever treated him badly, its that they never went out of their way to treat him anything other than the bare minimum and Mono was okay with this. He never liked a lot of attention, but a friend would’ve been nice and now, he no longer had to worry about that.

He pushed all thoughts of doubt and worry out of his mind. He wouldn’t let his negative thinking put him out of his good mood. Six was a nice person. She was a bit snarky and he could tell despite there being no tone of voice of hers to pick up on. He wondered how he came across to her. Nice, he hoped. He hoped he was nice to her.

He wondered a lot of things about Six. What was her brother like? Was her other friend nice? Mono had never been a jealous person before, always admiring the achievements of others but never envying them. Would he be jealous of Six’s other friend? He wouldn’t know. He’d never done this before. He would like to think he wouldn’t be jealous of another person’s friendships. After all, if anyone deserved friends, its Six. He could never feel jealous of someone who deserves what they’ve got.

His thoughts wandered to her brother she mentioned she had. They were apparently twins. Would her brother be similar to her? Does he have the same condition as the two of them? That was unlikely, he thought. It’d be unconventional if both of them had the same issue. Six talked highly of him and if Six likes her brother, Mono would probably like him too. Same with her other friend. He was sure he would like her.

“You’re in a good mood. What’s got you so happy?”

Six looked up from where she was vigorously scribbling into a sketch book on the kitchen counter to look at her brother. She just smiled and shrugged.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” He said light-heartedly before walking up the stairs.

Six thought back to the events of the past few days. That boy-Mono-was interesting. He was nice, she thought. He wasn’t like most kids she’d met. She had other friends of course, but she was excited to have a new one. She was thinking about teaching him sign language. It would be useful since neither of them could talk and the notepad would get tedious after a while. Its not that she didn’t mind using it, it just grows to be a pain after a while. She thought it odd Mono didn’t know sign language in the first place. Perhaps no one else taught him or no one else around him knew it so that made it useless. That made sense.

She never really gave much thought about the paper bag he wore. She’d seen people do odder things and he seemed to really like it. Maybe it helped him in some way? He did seem less anxious after he’d put it back on during their first meeting. She assumed he just didn’t want people to see his face or look at him which is kind of silly, because if you don’t want people to look at you, wearing a paper bag on your face is sure to do the opposite of that. Come to think of it, she never really saw his face. It was dark and he was covering his face. But that didn’t matter and she didn’t mind. Its not like it was all that important.

She’d like him to meet her brother, she decided. He always knew what she was thinking and maybe, Mono would get not one but two friends. The thought made her smile.

And she would like to have him meet her neighbor, the girl who gave her that yellow raincoat but… Well, she doesn’t live there anymore. Maybe that’s why she was so keen on being Mono’s friend; she was lonely and her only other friend had moved away. Her brother was great but its pretty sad if your only friend is your brother.

Six looked down at her drawing in her book. She was pretty good at drawing, if she did say so herself. Maybe she could draw something for him or perhaps she could teach him to draw? She bounced in her seat excitedly. She wondered if he drew. Did he have other hobbies? What were they? Would he show her?

She looked back towards the stairs and thought about her brother’s question. Oh well. She’d tell him eventually. He probably already knew.

Chapter Text

The more Mono learned about Six, the more he realized she was a lot different from him, and yet, similar at the same time. He found her to be a confusing person but this wasn’t a bad thing. It just meant she wouldn’t be boring and he found himself wondering if he was too boring for her. That didn’t seem likely though, seeing how she had been hanging out with him for two weeks now and she wasn’t tired of him yet.

Six had invited him to her house a couple of days ago. He took this to be a good sign that he was a good friend. He’d never been to someone else’s house before. Six’s house looked… Normal. Like how he imagined a house to look. He mentally berated himself. What else would a house look like if not a house?

He looked around her room, which was decorated in yellow. Everything was yellow, the curtains, the bed sheets, the walls, all varying degrees of bright and dark yellows. She looked at him curiously, as if she was expecting him to judge her on how her room looks. He didn’t say anything obviously. He was quite impressed, to be honest. He never had the luxury of decorating his own room, as he shared one at the group home so he thought it was interesting that someone could decorate their room to this extent.

There were also a few posters on the walls, mostly of horror movies, which piqued his interest. Six didn’t seem like the kind of person to like horror movies. But then again, neither did Mono.

There were also several sketchbooks crammed onto a shelf on the left wall, all with bright yellow covers. Six noticed him looking around and she walked over to the wall and pulled out one of the books. Mono looked at her questioningly and she knew what he meant: “Do you draw?”

She nodded and pulled open the book. Inside were several sketches, mostly of cats. Mono smiled. Of course Six would be a cat person. Occasionally, there were drawings of landscapes and flowers. Mono thought that they were especially good for a nine year old. They weren’t perfect, but you could tell what they were supposed to be. They weren’t worthy of an art museum but were worth being immensely proud of.

Six got to the end of the book and showed him the last page. It was a simple drawing. It was the two of them sitting at their newly found treehouse in the middle of the night. Six clearly didn’t have much experience drawing people, but she definitely made an effort here.

Mono glanced up at her from the book and tilted his head to the side. She smiled at him and tore the page from the book and handed it to him and he understood. Six made this for him. She made something herself. For him.

He broke into a grin and although Six couldn’t see him under his bag, she knew that he was happy and she smiled too.

He’d never had anyone make something for him and he felt… Good. He didn’t know how to describe it but he felt as though there was no better feeling in the world than having a friend.

And something told him Six felt the same way.

Chapter Text

Six was a bit worried that Mono wouldn’t like her gift. It wasn’t really her best drawing but it was special and she hoped he appreciated it. Her worries prove to be nothing more when Mono was clearly quite touched by the gift. Her friend had an odd talent for showing his emotions without showing his face.

Mono seemed to be intently looking around her room and she jokingly wondered if the bright interior of her room was hurting his eyes.

She noticed him looking at the posters on her wall. They weren’t anything special really, just some posters of movies she’d seen and liked. Most of them were horror movies but a couple were of what could only be described as a hodge-podge of genres. A few comedies, maybe one mystery and a couple for some obscure dramas. The posters had no particular order and weren’t very organized and she wondered if he was confused by the sheer randomness of her movie selections.

Or maybe he was just put off because they didn’t match the color scheme of the room.

She smiled at him and wrote him a note that said, “You know any of them?” and gestured to the movie posters.

He nodded and wrote his own note back.

“Yeah. I like horror movies. They scare me a lot though. I watched The Ring once and I didn’t sleep for a week.”

Six chuckled a bit. After seeing almost every horror movie in existence, she knew that feeling all too well. It seemed they had even more in common.

She pointed to the drawing that she had given him and he was still holding and questioned whether he did any sort of art.

He shrugged and wrote, “Not really. Always thought it was cool but it wasn’t really for me.”

“So what do you do?”

He shrugged again and gestured vaguely to indicate that he probably did something but no one really knows what that “something” is yet.

Six rolled her eyes and nudged him lightly in the shoulder.

Mono sighed.

“Its not that I don’t do things, they’re just not that interesting. I read and that’s sort of all I do. I’m not that interesting of a person.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Reading seems interesting. I tried it once. Couldn’t sit still long enough though.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. You do art. Is there anything else you like doing?”

Six smiled and started on another note.

You'd think that solely writing notes to talk to each other would get tedious but Six would argue that there's nothing tedious about talking to a friend.

Chapter Text

“You ever think we should fix this place up a little bit? Its cool and all but it still looks like the place someone would die at in a horror movie.”

It was a chilly day out, with the sun hidden behind a thick layer of clouds and the wind whistling through the forest and Mono and Six were back at their tree house. Or, more accurately, a pile of wood in a tree in the vague shape of a tree house.

Six had been teaching Mono sign language and he was pleased that he could understand most of what she said to him. And as much as he liked writing notes to each other like they were handing notes to each other secretly in class and giggling, he had to admit that sign language was a lot more practical and took less time. So, it was an all around improvement.

Honestly, the two hadn’t been to their newfound meeting place in a while. Mostly because it was old and broken down and they just hadn’t had time to fix it. But they thought they would spend there that day. Six was planning on teaching Mono a bit a about drawing since he seemed interested. Not that she was qualified to teach that, nor good enough to but it seemed like a fun idea. And Mono could tell Six about… Whatever it is he did. But they were more caught up on how… Run-down the tree house was.

They were going to fix it. Eventually. But that required work. Long term work. Long term work that two children would need a lot of planning to get through. But that wouldn’t stop them from poking around.

“Are you sure this ladder is safe?” Mono fretted.

Six didn’t respond, as she was using her hands to climb said ladder. She looked over the edge once she was at the top and waved him up. He sighed dejectedly and climbed up after her. It wasn’t as awful as he thought it was going to be climbing up a rickety ladder. But, as always, everything always seems worse in hindsight.
Once he got the top, Six was already poking around the junk that was up there. And there was a lot. Mono couldn’t imagine why someone would just leave their stuff just… Lying here. There were several books lying around, stuffed animals, and various other things lying around. Six had found an odd shaped stuffed animal that had a simplistic body and a cone shaped head. She giggled slightly and signed to Mono, “It kind of reminds me of my brother.” Mono had never met her brother before but he wasn’t sure how a cone shaped stuffed animal would remind her of her brother but he assumed she was joking. She was laughing. That meant she wasn’t serious, right?

Among the other junk that was lying around, there were books scattered across the floor. Most of them were so ripped up that you couldn’t read what was on the pages. One book was opened up to what was just a drawing of a dog. Six looked at it in mock disgust.

“I’m more of a cat person.” she signed.

“Really? I like dogs. I’ve always wanted one. Maybe when I’m older.” Mono responded.

Six scrunched up her face.

“Why though? They slobber everywhere and bark all the time.”

Mono nodded.

“That’s part of their charm,” He joked.

Six rolled her eyes but smiled before digging back through the junk. After digging through it for about five minutes and finding nothing else of interest, she turned back to Mono.

“You should meet my brother some time. He’s nice. I bit him once.”

Mono blinked for a second, wondering if she had meant to sign that last part or if he misunderstood.

“You… Bit him?”

She nodded.

“It wasn’t my fault, he startled me.”

“So you bit him?”

“Yes, and I don’t regret it. He was mostly okay.”

“You worry me sometimes.”
Six chuckled.

“I tend to do that.”

“Its okay, I’ll still be your friend even if you do occasionally bite your family members.”

Six looked at him in mock offense.

“It was one time!”

After several more minutes of poking around the treehouse (and Six also attempting to clean it but immediately getting distracted by something she found) Mono glanced out the window. The sun was setting. Or at least he thought it was. It was still cloudy out but it was definitely getting darker.

After a few more minutes, the two climbed back down the ladder and started walking to their respective homes. They waved goodbye and they both smiled to themselves. They didn’t really accomplish, well, anything they came out to do, but they both left feeling happy.

Maybe next time they would actually get something done. Probably not. But, hey, one could hope.

Chapter Text

Hello, everyone. I know I haven't updated in a while and I want to say how happy I am with how patient you are with me. (My last update was like, 3 months ago, shhhh, we don't need to talk about that.)

I just thought I would finally add an author's note with a bit more detail. Life has been a bit hectic on my end of things, not getting into specifics, but between that and me just not having a lot of motivation to write this, its been a while since I've continued this story.

I'm not gonna abandon the story, don't worry, I really do want to continue writing it, its just going to be a bit longer before another update. I've been wanting to work on some shorter one shots for other fandoms so my attention will mostly be focused on those for the time being.

I imagine that I'll pick this story up sometime late November or early December and if I don't get another chapter out around that time, feel free to bonk me on the head with a carboard tube in the comments.

Again, thank you for your patience, I've had fun writing this story and it will be continued in the near future and I'm excited to continue it soon.

Thank you for reading <3

Chapter Text

Mono would admit, he was a bit nervous, visiting Six’s house even though he’d been there before. She said she wanted him to meet her brother, which he was looking forward to, per se, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t agonizing over it either. He was never good with first impressions.

Six’s house was nothing special. It looked like any other house you would find in the suburbs. The lawn was a bit overgrown and dead in some areas and the fence looked worn down. The house had to be several years old at this point. But, all in all, it looked perfectly normal.

While Mono awkwardly stood on the porch, debating on whether to knock or ring the doorbell or double check one last time that he got the right house, he realized he could hear talking from inside. This was jarring, as they didn’t sound like adult voices, meaning it had to be Six and her brother. Mono felt even more awkward, seeing how he had never heard Six talk before and it felt like an invasion of privacy. What was more surprising was that she was loud. He couldn’t make out any words, but the voices could be heard from outside the door. He never expected Six to speak loudly, he’d always imagined her to be soft spoken, although that was probably because he’d never actually heard her say anything before.

When he finally knocked on the door, the voices got quieter then stopped altogether before the sound of footsteps could be heard. Six opened the door and her face visibly brightened upon seeing him. It made Mono happy, knowing someone was waiting for him and actually wanted to see him. She gestured for him to come inside. Six walked over to someone who was undoubtedly her brother. He was the same height as her and they had the same hair color, although his was a lot messier. He smiled and waved at Mono, which made him feel a little self conscious.

“So, you’re Mono? Six talks a lot about you, you know. All good things, don’t worry.”

Mono was a bit taken aback. He wasn’t expecting him to talk to him right away and so openly too, not to mention he had no idea that Six not only talked about him but she apparently did it a lot?

Despite being related and looking so similar, the differences between Six and her sibling were endless. While she was quiet, he was loud, where she was idle, he was very animated. It was hard to believe they were related at all.

“Did she tell you about the time she bit me? That was a fun weekend.”

“Excuse you, that was one time and you kind of deserved it. You bite your brother once and you never hear the end of it.”

Mono felt a little awkward standing there while the two of them talked. He never had any siblings, the other kids he lived with could hardly be considered such, so it was a bit odd knowing someone who did have a sibling. Mono felt like having a sibling would get annoying but Six clearly did not seem to think so. If anything, she looked like she enjoyed annoying him. Of course she would find that funny. The more Mono knew Six, the more he realized she was certainly a chaotic being. That was definitely not his first impression.

Mono appreciated that he didn’t question his paper bag either. He was frankly quite tired of questions about it. He only really took it off around his friends. In theory that is, as Six was his only friend but he told himself if he had more friends, he would take it off around them too.

“You’re brother’s nice,” he signed to Six once they were upstairs.

Six rolled her eyes.

“He’s annoying. But, yeah, you’re right.”

Mono blinked for a minute, before realizing that Six had said that to him. Not signed, said.

This time, Six rolled her eyes at him.

“Don’t look so shocked. You’re my friend and we’ve known each other for months now. I don’t mind talking around you.”

There must’ve been an unsavory look on Mono’s face because Six added, “Don’t feel like you need to talk to me just because I’m talking to you. Take your time. In fact, you don’t need to talk to me at all. Just because I’m talking, doesn’t mean you have to too.”

Mono didn’t respond. He just smiled.

Chapter Text

“So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the paper bag?” Six asked once they were sitting, once again, in Six’s bedroom.

Mono gave her a deadpan look before signing to her, “Its been months since we met and you just now decided to ask about?”

Six held up her hands defensively.

“Listen, I’ve met some weird people before, my brother being included, and when you know a bunch of weirdos, meeting one more doesn’t make a difference so I guess I just never thought to ask.”

Mono sighed.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ask in the first place.”

Six nodded and smiled.

“Ah, I see, I’m not at a high enough friendship level to unlock your tragic backstory, I get it.”

Mono blinked at Six and she groaned.

“Its a joke, do you have those where you come from?”

“I do, it just wasn’t… Funny.”

“Wow, how rude of you. I’ll have you know that I’m actually hilarious.”

“As your friend, I think differently, but okay.”

“Well, my brother thinks I’m funny.”

“Does he even have a name?”

Six stared at him dumbly.
“Do… Do you think he just doesn’t have a name?”

Mono shrugged.

“You keep calling him ‘my brother.’ I haven’t heard his name yet.”

“Of course he has a name.”

“What is it?”

Six crossed her arms and looked to the side.

“Well, now I’m not going to tell you?”

Mono groaned.

“Why not?” He signed to her.

“Because, its funny. It’d be really fun if you just had to keep referring to him as ‘Six’s brother’ without ever finding out his name.”

Mono narrowed his eyes and signed back, “I think this just proves that you’re not funny. Mean? Yes, but not funny.”

“What? How can I be mean? You should know that I’m the nicest person you’ll ever meet!”

“If I ask your brother, would he say the same thing?”

Six pouted.

“Maybe, but that’s because he’s biased. I only bit him once, I swear, but apparently, that was one time too many for him.”

Mono looked at her confused.

“I think I’d have to agree with that.”

“Well, I can’t imagine why.”

Before the conversation could continue, there was a knock on Six’s bedroom door. Her brother poked his head through the doorway.

“Mind if I join you two?” He asked.

“I mind, actually,” Six said while throwing a pillow at him. “Three’s a crowd and you’re also a loser.

“Okay, okay, I get it, I’m too lame to spend time with you. I was just coming to tell you that mom and dad are gonna be back late. Again.”

Six rolled her eyes.

“Why am I not surprised?”

She glanced over to her brother.

“You can leave now. Go away, shoo, no one likes you.” she said, waving him away.

“Ouch, no need to be so harsh. What would you do if I talked to you like that?” He asked light-heartedly.

“I would simply bite you again.”

“Okay, fine, fine, I’m leaving.” He said, chucking the pillow back to Six, hitting her in the face.

“Ugh, he should know not to throw things at people,” She grumbled.

“Didn’t you throw that at him first?” Mono asked.

“Oh, I don’t need your logic or your facts. Leave me alone.” She said dramatically and flopped onto her bed.

“What do your parents do? Your brother mentioned they wouldn’t be home until later.” Mono asked suddenly.

Six stared at him, processing what he was signing to her. The question threw her slightly off guard.

She shrugged. “Hell if I know, do you think I care about what boring stuff boring adults do?”

Mono just signed back, “Language.”

“Hell isn’t a bad word. If this were a Christian Minecraft server, you would be allowed to say it.”

Before Mono could respond, Six interrupted.

“Wait, I just remembered! Christmas is coming up soon! How I forgot, I don’t know. Are you doing anything?” She prattled off questions while sitting and bouncing on her bed before falling off.

“I never celebrated Christmas before. I’m not religious, so…”

“Psshh, neither are we. We just do it because its fun and there’s also food that isn’t microwaved corn, which is always a plus. You should come over if you’re not doing anything!”

Mono hesitated before signing, “Isn’t Christmas more of a family thing? Would your parents allow it?”

Six just waved him off.

“Knowing them, they won’t even be there.”

Mono didn’t know how to feel about that either but eventually, he gave in.

“Fine, I’ll be there, if I can.”

Six grinned widely.

“Awesome! And as an early Christmas present, I’ll let you know my brother’s name. Maybe it is a bit mean of me not to tell you when I know you’d be too nervous to ask yourself. But, still a little funny, right?”

Mono shook his head.

“No, not really. But you’re really gonna tell me?”

Six hesitated.

“Well, not exactly… But I’ll give you his nickname and that should be enough.”

“Why can’t you just tell me his real name?”

Six mimicked tossing her short hair over her shoulder smugly.

“Because, it gives an air of mystery to him.”

“He is the least mysterious person I’ve ever met.”

Six sighed.

“I know, he’s really boring. But his nickname is R.K. Having a nickname is the only cool thing he has going for him.”

“I don’t know, he seems cool enough to me.”

Six groaned.

“Yeah, that’s ‘cause you don’t live with him.”

“So, I guess I only think you’re cool since I don’t live with you either?”

Six looked at him blankly before shoving him lightly.

“Stop being so nice, it makes me want to punch you.”

“There is something deeply wrong with you.”

“Yeah, you think I don’t know that pal?” Six said, laughing lightly.

The two sat on the floor in silence until Mono signed another question to Six.

“So, what exactly do you do on Christmas?”

Six just shrugged.

“I don’t know how you explain Christmas. Some guy goes down your chimney and leaves stuff in your house or something. Its really cool.”

Mono rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I know that part. I meant what your family specifically did.”

“Oh. We like… Make a turkey, I guess. I don’t really pay attention, as long as we aren’t microwaving any more corn.”

“What do you have against corn?”

“Well, I hate vegetables and also, we have like, seven thousand cans of microwavable corn in the pantry and I will kill myself if I have to eat more corn.”

“Please tell me you aren’t putting cans in the microwave. Cans aren’t microwavable.”

“Actually they are, but only once.”

“You scare me. Also, corn isn’t a vegetable.”

“Shut up, bag boy.”

"I'm not talking, technically." Mono signed, grinning.

Six groaned.

"You're such a pain," She said, before smiling. "Not that that's a bad thing."

Chapter Text

Well, today was the day. Mono had to admit, he was a little excited. He’d never celebrated Christmas before, not that it was something he ever considered wanting to do but Six had insisted he come and it's not like he was doing anything else.

It was also snowing quite hard and it didn’t look like it would be stopping anytime soon. There was already about a foot of snow on the ground. Mono had opted out of wearing his paper bag with all the snow.

Six’s house was decorated with Christmas lights and a plastic light up snowman out in the front yard that looked like it had definitely seen better days. They definitely weren’t there two weeks ago when he was there last. Maybe they waited as soon as possible to put up their decorations so it would minimize the time people had to look at their sad little snowman.

Six was sitting out in the front yard, clearly waiting for him. Although, it was a little funny, considering how much snow was on the ground. With how short she was, she was pretty much covered up to her shoulders in snow.

When she saw him, she stood up and walked over to him.

“I’m sorry you had to see our horrible little man.” She said, gesturing to the snowman. “I keep begging to get rid of him but we still keep him for some reason. I hate him.”

“I don’t know, I kind of like it.”

Six groaned.

“Not you too. My brother doesn’t want to get rid of him either. But he’s horrible, I’m telling you and when I learn how to drive, I’m running it over.”

Mono stifled a laugh.

“What do you have against your snowman?”

“Everything! I hate him so much. He doesn’t even light up anymore and I think he’s an embarrassment, I don’t know why I haven’t lit it on fire yet.”

“You seem pretty worked up over this.”

Six put a hand on his shoulder.

“Listen, I don’t expect you to understand. I can’t explain it but I feel such deep hatred for it and if you’re going to be my friend, this is just the sort of thing you’re going to have to deal with.” She said.

Mono snorted.

“It just seems like such a little thing to get worked up over.”

Six rolled her eyes and kicked the snowman lightly.

“My brother treats it like a sacred object and if we dare get rid of it, we’d anger God or something. It's just a snowman, my guy, it's not that interesting.”

She waved her hand, as though to dispel the unpleasant existence of the snowman.

“But forget about that,” She said, “I have a gift for you.”

Mono felt his heart sink. Was he supposed to give her a gift? He knew that was a very common tradition on Christmas but it's not like he was really in a position to get her one.

“Oh, I… I didn’t get you one so-”

Six punched him in the shoulder lightly.

“Psshh, you really think I care about that? Nah, the fact that I don’t have to eat another can of corn is a Christmas present enough for me. Besides, what I got you isn’t much, it's just some old thing that I don’t use anymore but I thought you might like it.”

“I’ll never understand your aversion to canned corn. It's just corn and I think you need to accept that.”

Six’s face twisted into an overly dramatic look of disgust.

“I will never accept that. It's horrible, along with every other vegetable.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this again but corn isn’t a vegetable.”

Six paused for a moment before declaring, “I refuse to accept that too,” before walking off towards the door and gesturing for Mono to follow.

The inside of her house was a lot warmer than outside. Probably because when you’re standing inside the house, you’re also no longer standing in shin deep snow.

She led him up the stairs to her room.

“I tried wrapping it but…” She waved her arms in a vague gesture, “I realized that I actually don’t know how to wrap things and also tape is difficult.”

She turned to look at him.

“Have you ever tried wrapping something before? Never do it, it’s absolutely not worth it.”

“It’s not that hard, actually. Maybe you’re just bad at it?”

Six gasped in offense.

“Excuse me? Well, if you’re going to be like that, next time I won’t even bother,” she said, crossing her arms. “How dare you imply that I be bad at something.”

Mono couldn’t help but giggle a little at her reaction. She scowled and slapped him on the head lightly.

“You’re so mean. And to think I got you a present, through great and exhausting effort.”

She took a box out from underneath her bed and handed it to him. He took it and opened it up. Inside was a sou'wester in a garish yellow color.

Six looked at the ground and shuffled her feet absentmindedly.

“You seem to like hats and I found that one in my closet. I never wore it so I thought you might like it. And,” She said, walking over to her bed and picking up a yellow raincoat. “It matches my coat. So now we’re basically twins,” she grinned. “Not to mention, it’s probably a much better alternative to your paper bag when it’s raining.”

Mono held the hat in his hands, looking at it for several seconds before putting it on and smiling at Six.

He smiled at her widely before signing, “Thank you.”

Six coughed into her fist awkwardly and looked to the side, clearly not expecting the earnesty in his reaction.

“Yeah, well… It's… You’re welcome.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back.

“It looks good on you. I mean, not as good as it looked on me, but you know, we can’t all be winners.”

Mono rolled his eyes and shoved her playfully.

Six held up her hands and laughed.

“But, seriously, I’m glad you like it,” She said.

Mono nodded enthusiastically. “I do,” He signed.

Christmas was often a bland holiday for the both of them. For Mono, it was simply another day of the year, for Six it was a day that was meant to be exciting but always fell flat. Christmas was a little better this year.

After all, it’d been a long time since either of them had a friend to share it with.