I found my headcanon curious.
What if Eight took responsibility for controlling Fourteen and his actions on others, trying to fix him for the benefit of the algebralien group? Eight is tired of Fourteen antics but wants to help him out of his pure altruism. And in the process of "fixing" Fourteen, Eight directly or indirectly exerts some influence on this cannibal.
However, Fourteen does not seek control as such, but he moves his desire to devour the skin of numbers in another direction: for example, he makes a figure out of papier-mache and gnaws it when aggression pops up. Eight admitted to himself that he was doing it half-casually, choosing between being tired of his antics and tired of controlling him himself.
Nevertheless, he feels stupidly sorry for Forteen, because he is engaged in such a frivolous lifestyle as eating the skin of numbers and sitting in prison, then escaping and repeating this cycle of stupidity.
The desire to fix Fourteen is done on personal initiative and Eight is already breaking down from fatigue due to Fourteen's behavior, due to the fact that such a pile of trouble was given to him, but continues to help him based on altruism.
Fourteen likes to be looked after, as if he has a "babysitter", so sometimes he feels himself in control, but breaks down again. The only thing he doesn't like is that he actually gets punished for his actions. He rarely learns from his mistakes.
Eight sometimes thinks "why do I need him at all", "why am I trying to fix him", but quickly remembers that maybe he has some chance of getting better. He feels sorry for him. The rest depends on Fourteen, whether he understands the problem and it's consequences, and whether he is ready to change.
