Chapter Text
"WELL AT LEAST HE ACTUALLY NEEDS ME!", yelled a tall man with glasses slipping off his face the more he yelled.
"I'M THE REASON HE HAS A JOB!", a man in a prince outfit gestured wildly while ignoring the protests of two other men in the room.
"HE COULD FIND A JOB WITHOUT YOU!", the taller man retaliated. "ANYONE COULD! HE DOESN'T NEED YOU! YOUR ONLY PURPOSE IS TO BE A DISTRACTION!"
The room grew uneasily silent as a thick layer of subtle regret fell over the two men. A faint pop could be heard from the stairs causing a rift in tension as now all eyes laid on the new entity. He looked up at all the people staring examining the situation carefully as if he was with a wild animal. The princely dressed man rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh while the other two looked at him expectantly.
"Good morning, Anxiety.", the taller man said whilst adjusting his glasses. "Why have you decided- what brought you here?"
"Your fighting.", Anxiety said shortly.
"Well we're done now, you can leave now.", the prince huffed.
"Now now guys, he came in the best interest of Thomas. Take it as a warning that maybe we should all take a step back.", a man in a light blue polo chimed in, eyes flickering between the two assailants.
They both sighed and mumbled half-hearted apologizes. He could feel the tug, tug of him not being needed there anymore. He went to say goodbye and realized they had already resumed their previous conversation. Although all attention was on Thomas he could feel them staring, judging. They morphed into silhouettes of who they were, eyes sprouting like roses from each of their shadowy figures. His eyes grew wide and his breath hitched, he disappeared from the room as quickly as he could with the thought that no one noticed his growing unease. The princely figures eyes stayed locked in where Anxiety had stood, noticing.
---⏱️---
Anxiety sprawled out on the violet carpet he received from Remy. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing. In. Out. In and out. He slowly opened his eyes as he heard the familiar sound of paws on hardwood flooring. He looked to his left and was met with the big blue eyes of a small black kitten. She meowed him catching her claws in his patchy jacket.
"What's wrong Nova?" she meowed again in response.
"Are you hungry?" she took off towards the door of the darkly lit room. "Okay, okay. We'll go get some food." He slowly rose to his feet and followed the kitten to the door where he then gently lifted her. He walked with her in his arms to the kitchen where he had hid her food so she couldn't access it. Anxiety set the cat on the counter top. He lifted down a small bowl from a shelf and steadily poured in a portion of the bag. He then placed the bowl next to the hungry kitten. As he was putting away the bag he heard the familiar pop! of someone entering the mind palace. He glanced over towards the living room to be met with Morality's gaze.
"Anxiety?", he asked watching him carefully. "What are you doing?"
"Um I was, I'm just getting some food.", he laughed. He slowly picked Nova up from the counter next to him and held her close so he wouldn't see she even existed. "But I'm done now, I'm putting away my dishes now."
"Oh ok.. Well, thanks for the help earlier." he sighed.
"Oh yeah anytime, just panic and I'll show up.", Anxiety joked. He received a genuine laugh from the other side before returning to his room.
Anxiety's room really wasn't anything special. He had a small closet, a desk, his carpet from Remy, his bed and Nova's cat stand plus bed. In his bathroom was her litter box. His bed was covered in black fluffy blankets and white pillows. He walked over to his bed and let Nova down on it. She pawed the spot into a comfortable nap spot and laid down. Anxiety dug around under his bed until he found what he was looking for. His old guitar. He grabbed it by the neck and walked over to the carpet where the floor meets the wall under the window. He examined the body carefully, his hand ran over where his name had been etched into it. His eyes caught on the three other names etched into it as well. He sat down and his hands auto-piloted to play that tune he knew to well.
"Hey there, D̶e̶l̶i̶l̶a̶h̶ Janus
What's it like like i̶n̶ ̶N̶e̶w̶ ̶Y̶o̶r̶k̶ ̶c̶i̶t̶y̶?̶ down there in hell?
I'm a thousand miles away
But, g̶i̶r̶l̶ boy, tonight you look so p̶r̶e̶t̶t̶y̶ lonely
Yes, you do
T̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶s̶q̶u̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ The mind palace doesn't shine as bright a̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ without you
I swear, it's true
Hey there, D̶e̶l̶i̶l̶a̶h̶ Remus
Don't you worry about the distance
I̶'̶m̶ We're right t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ here if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice, it's my disguise
I̶'̶m̶ We're by your side
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
Oh, it's what you do to me
What you do to me..."
As Anxiety's voice faded he heard a gasp outside his door followed by compliments on his singing. The person who the voice belonged to opened the door and stepped into the room revealing the fatherly side from earlier.
"That was great kiddo!" he commented
"Oh thanks Morality."
He laughed lightly. "Call me Patton, that's my name after all."
"Ok then... Patton.", he said with a slight smile. Patton smiled in response and asked if he took requests and with the affirmative answer he spewed a few songs listening with pure glee as the darker side choose one and started playing "Pompeii" by Bastille.