Pairing(s): Implied Logicality, implied Prinxiety, and platonic PolySanders
Warnings: Severe stress/panic, pain/injury, and arguing (?)
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Something felt off.
Thomas didn't know what, and he didn't know why, but something felt off with him. Luckily, he knew exactly who to call for help with this type of situation. "Logan!"
As the logical facet quickly rose up, Thomas could see that he was feeling reasonably okay; he wasn't acting unusual. Except for the grey beanie he was wearing.
Raising an eyebrow, Thomas seemed to forget his original reason for summoning him. "Nice hat, buddy. Although it does seem a little out of character for you. Is everything alright?"
Logic did not look pleased. At all. And Thomas began to reevaluate his first impression of the trait because now that he could see the bags under Logic's eyes more clearly, it was obvious that he wasn't okay. Not at all.
"No. Everything is not alright!" He spoke rather harshly, pulling at his tie in frustration. "I can not organise my ideas, and therefore, they have been dancing around my brain like a clumsy ballerina! As a result of this, I have not slept in days. That is not good if you expect me to work at a high level of productivity."
In an attempt to lighten the situation, Thomas smiled lopsidedly at him. "That's terrible, but at least you have an excuse to take the role of Sherlock again? We do need to figure out why this is happening, after all."
Folding his arms, Logic shook his head, and Thomas could feel his heart break at the sight of his logical side looking so defeated. "I'd rather not, Thomas."
Immediately, the host answered to the worried pounding of his heart and summoned Morality. "Patton!"
The moral facet popped up and seemed almost out of breath, which was strange, considering all he had done was travel to Thomas's apartment from the mind palace. "Logan! Are you okay?"
Heart melting at the paternal trait's concern, Thomas smiled and looked back over at where Logic was rubbing his temples tiredly. "No, not really. Are you?"
"I'm feeling a little more energised than usual, but other than that I'm reasonably okay." He replied, tugging at the edge of his hood nervously before turning to his host. "We should get Virgil."
Nodding quickly, Thomas turned to the staircase where Anxiety usually stood. "Virgil!"
The anxious trait seemed more fidgety than usual, twisting the ends of his sleeves and pulling them over his hands. Biting his lip, he swallowed nervously and when Thomas tried talking to him, all he could do was hold his hands to his chest and shake his head.
Logic glanced over at him, the concern in his eyes clear. "If the three of us are not to blame, then it must be Roman."
With a sympathetic gaze, Morality attempted to meet Anxiety's eyes and mouthed comforting words to him, not saying anything so he didn't interrupt Logic as he spoke. The youngest's eyes softened, and he nodded once to show Morality that he had acknowledged his silent words.
Thomas suddenly spoke, not directly looking at the darkly dressed trait. "Virgil, do you think you'll be able to get to Roman's room?"
When he didn't get a reply, the host turned to glance at him and noticed Anxiety taking a deep breath, and then holding it for seven seconds. This caused Thomas to frown, sad that his anxious side was going through so much distress.
After a few more repetitions of this, Anxiety looked at him and nodded, still too afraid of the lump in his throat to say anything.
And so, they sunk down.
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Prince's room was... not what they had expected.
Yes, it was covered in pages with written ideas and colourful drawings, but the lighting was dimmer than they would have thought. And the crumpled up pieces of paper on the floor didn't help with the sudden uneasiness that washed over them.
Swallowing nervously, Thomas looked around and found his fanciful side sitting in his corner with a notepad and colouring pens. "Uh-Roman...?"
The creative trait snapped his head up at the unexpected voice, eyes wide and hair a mess. For a split second, the others could swear that they saw his eyes flash with fear, but that was soon replaced with bright enthusiasm. "Greetings!"
Logic's eyes scanned his companions appearance before they settled on a pile of crumpled sheets of paper that was positioned beside him. He stayed silent about this, settling on quietly pondering and deliberating until he had completely figured out what was happening. It was likely very obvious, but his muddled thoughts had slowed down his solving abilities.
For some reason, the lump in Anxiety's throat had disappeared the second he appeared in Prince's room. And although he still felt rather nervous, he decided to speak. "What's with the mess, Princey?"
"Oh, my apologies!" Prince laughed, gesturing to the pile beside him and then to the notepad in his hands. "I've been trying to come up with new ideas for a while, and I suppose the unsatisfactory ones began to build up."
His voice sounded cheery, but for some reason, it had a twinge of something off-putting. Nobody could quite pinpoint what it was, though.
Thomas nodded slowly, as if processing his creative side's words. "Okay, but do you know why the others are feeling so... different?"
With a loose shrug, Prince clumsily wrote a few lines of an idea down on the paper, only to hum uncertainly and rip out the page. He then crumpled it up in his hand and threw it onto the pile beside him.
Suddenly, Logic hissed in pain and forgot whatever it was that he had figured out about the situation, holding the sides of his head as his face twisted in pain.
Morality gasped and turned to his friend, reaching out, but remembering the invisible pillar between them and pulling it back to his chest. "Logan?! Are you alright?"
The anxious side standing at the stairs flinched at the worried cry, and turned to look at the man himself. "Logan, what's wrong?"
"I... I can't remember...!"
Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Thomas pulled at the hem of his shirt, trying to hide how upset he was getting. "What do you mean 'you can't remember'? Did you know what was happening?!"
Anxiety spun to face him and shushed him sharply. "Don't overwhelm him with questions! He obviously can't handle it."
Feeling guilty, the host apologised and nodded in agreement. "I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, Logan."
"It's alright, Thomas..." Logic responded, breathing deeply and standing upright. "It seems that whenever Roman dismisses one of his ideas, my metaphorical train of thought 'derails', causing me to lose track of where I was in my attempt at finding a solution."
Not completely understanding how he could help the group -too many big, complicated words- Morality simply turned too his fanciful friend and crouched down to his height. "Hey, kiddo. Is there something bothering you?"
Prince's answer is instant. "No."
Attempting to offer him a reassuring smile, Morality hummed softly. "Are you sure? We're only here to help you, so you don't need to worry about judgement."
Shoulders tensing up, Prince's gone grew impatient and harsh. "I'm fine, Patton."
"Hey, he's only trying to help." Anxiety defended the father figure, glaring down at the creative side as he chewed on the end of his pencil.
Returning his glare, Prince gritted his teeth together. "I don't need any help. The only thing I need is for all of you to leave; I'm working."
Thomas refused to leave one of his sides to suffer alone, especially if it was someone as reckless as Prince. He decided to join both his fanciful side and his moral side on the floor, sitting down and crossing his legs so that he was comfortable. "Roman, we're not going to leave until we know for a fact that you're okay. And right now... we're not convinced."
Glaring down at his notepad, Prince bit harder into the wood of his pencil, causing his jaw to ache faintly. "I can't see why. I'm on a creative streak, so perhaps that is why the others are feeling unlike themselves."
Then, he wrote down another idea, not even getting halfway through the third word before crumpling up the paper and throwing it behind him.
With another yelp of pain, Logic crumbled, falling to his knees and holding his head in his hands. Thomas jumped and gasped in shock, calling out to his logical side before watching him curl up into a ball.
Unable to handle the pain of merely watching his friend in so much pain, Morality snapped his fingers and shape-shifted to take the appearance of Joan. He knew how fond Logic was of them.
After he had successfully taken the form of Thomas's friend, Morality rushed over to Logic and wrapped a cautious arm around his shoulders. "Hey, it's going to be okay! Just take deep breaths for me."
Logic said nothing in response, only allowing the moral facet to comfort him and leaning closer to him slightly.
A fearful expression was still carved into Morality's features as he rubbed his friend's back gently, muttering words of consolation as the stabbing pains in Logic's head dulled down to an ache.
Moving to sit down with them, Anxiety turned to face his opposite, trying to keep his composure as calm as he could. "Roman! Tell us what's wrong."
"Nothing!" Prince yelled, writing down half of yet another idea before tearing out the page once again, crumpling it up, and throwing it behind him.
This caused yet another stream of stabbing pains to perforate Logic's skull, and another distressed hiss to slip past his lips. Morality continued to demonstrate slow breathing for him, and rubbed his back some more.
Another idea torn out of the notepad, crumpled into a ball, and thrown behind him. Then another. And another. This vicious cycle repeating itself over and over as Prince attempted to ignore them.
However, Morality had soon felt tears welling up in his eyes as he worriedly watched his logical friend tremble, obviously in agony. And even still, the others could see that he was trying to stand. Trying to figure out the problem.
Eventually, the moral side had had enough, and without thinking, he reached over and knocked the notepad out of Prince's fingers.
Anxiety and Thomas felt their jaws drop open as their gazes flickered between the almost sobbing trait, and their distraught princely friend.
This had stopped the ideas from flowing, and had instead raised Prince's head up to look at his companion, shock and befuddlement in his eyes. Morality sniffled loudly, and shook his head. "That's enough!"
Prince was quiet. And nobody else knew what to say, but they had to say something since it was clear that the creative side wasn't going to!
The host glanced over at his moral side, watching with fondness as he nuzzled the top of Logic's head, his arms wormed around his shoulders. Sure, it was strange to see him in Joan's body, but even still, he admired how much Morality cared for even his polar opposite.
His breath hitched, Anxiety watched this entire scene unfold in front of him, not quite knowing what to do. Or what to say. He had so many questions.
Why was Logic in so much pain?
How did Prince's room enable him to speak? And why?
What was wrong with Prince?!
Soon enough, Logic groaned and grunted as he tried to sit up straight, gratefully accepting the help from Morality as he did so. "You... You are distracting yourself from something."
Prince froze up and stammered for a moment, trying to come up with some sort of excuse, or lie. He couldn't.
"You are doing so by brainstorming for ideas, and ignoring this issue. Although I do not know what this issue is, I do know that it is troubling you to such an extent, that you are using your function to repress any feelings you may have about it." He continued, wincing as he massaged the bridge of his nose, and then the top of his head.
Narrowing his eyes, Thomas felt concern delve deep into his heart. "Is that true, Roman?"
In response, Prince covered his face with his hands and leaned forward, mumbling something before inhaling shakily. Anxiety bit his lip. "What did you say?"
"I get in the way!"
This caused each one of the others to freeze. Thomas wanted to dismiss his suggestion immediately, already knowing that it was incorrect, but he had to hear the guy out first. "What.. What do you mean by that?"
Prince swallowed down the lump in his throat. "All of my expectations, my desires, and my goals are unrealistic! And because of this, you are constantly drawn back to the past because your future endeavours seem impossible. I am holding you back, Thomas!"
"...What?" Thomas was truly in disbelief. How could Prince ever think that he was holding him back?
Averting his gaze, the fanciful side continued. "You may not know this, but sometimes I have trouble with..."
He paused, hesitating and seeming to fail in finding the right words to use. "They're insecurities, I suppose."
"What do you have to be insecure about?"
All eyes turned to Anxiety, who looked surprised by his own words. Before he could say anything else however, Thomas stepped in. "Pump the brakes, Virgil!"
Shaking his head speedily, the darker trait placed his hands in his lap. "No, I didn't mean it like that!"
"Then, how did you mean it, kiddo?" Morality asked, his voice softer and much weaker than before.
Anxiety sighed. "Well, I meant-uh-that..."
He couldn't seem to finish his sentence.
As soon as he had entered Prince's room, he had felt much more confident than usual, but now that the truth was coming out, he had begun to feel... less confident. Is that what Prince's room did to them?
Assuming that Anxiety wasn't going to say anything more, Thomas spoke. "Roman, that's not your fault. You're a dreamer! That's what makes you so strong."
"I'm not strong." Prince whispered, gesturing to the ruined sheets of paper laying around him. "If I was then maybe I could separate realistic and unrealistic expectations."
Logic grunted again as he shook his head. "You're wrong. Being strong is not just about understanding your limits, romantic or otherwise. It's also about reaching past those limitations to better goals, and genuinely believing that you can reach them."
Suddenly, a surge of confident swept through them, and Anxiety finally completed his sentence. "You're great, Roman."
Thomas hummed quietly, confused and a little wary of what his anxious side had said. It seemed nice, but...
"That's what I wanted to say." He muttered, taking advantage of the confident while he had it. "I was genuinely confused as to why you had insecurities because you're great, amazing even."
From then, Thomas decided that he could trust Anxiety with whatever he was going to say.
Seemingly trying to process Anxiety's words, Prince closed his eyes and sighed softly, shaking his head. How had he become so unsure of himself? Not too long ago, he was bragging to them about how incredible his abilities were. And now, he was convinced that he had been holding Thomas back.
Logic was still leaning on Morality ever-so-slightly, secretly moved by the fact that he had chosen Joan specifically. Looking back at Prince, he took a deep breath and spoke, also feeling the confidence that was slowly fading away. "Virgil is right. Your insecurities are simply blinding you from your positive attributes."
"What good attributes?" Prince asked, beginning to lose his confidence again.
For some reason, that question felt like a bullet through the stomach for them. This wasn't like Prince at all.
Without warning, Morality's (or Joan's) voice called out to him. "You can conjure up dogs! If that's not amazing, then I don't know what is."
Logic nodded. "That is indeed impressive. Along with your ability to motivate Thomas, and others, so easily by creating such intricate and brilliant things. Such as the mind palace. We may not use it, but it is there, and it is solid proof of how advanced your skills are."
"And as you said in the Valentines Day video, you're handsome!" Anxiety's voice was fast paced, all of the confidence appearing to have a bigger impact on him than the other.
As a result of his compliment, he could feel his cheeks warming up, but he wasn't going to take it back. He couldn't. It was clearly adding to the confidence that Prince needed to function properly.
Thomas breathed out a tiny laugh as he saw how flustered the two sides got, knowing that their newfound positive relationship had just been strengthened.
The logical side furrowed his eyebrows, his expression morphing as he became more puzzled. "We all have the same fa-"
Fortunately, before he could finish his statement, Morality smothered him with his old cardigan, causing their host to chuckle and shake his head. Then, he turned back to his creative trait and smiled. "See, Roman? You haven't been holding me back at all, even Virgil thinks you're great! And you two have only started to get along."
This was supposed to cheer Prince up, make his confident rise up, and hit the metaphorical bell that would get him up on his feet again.
That didn't happen.
Unanticipatedly, the confidence they all fell dropped abruptly, and caused them all to gasp in for air. It was as if the room had just fallen ten feet downwards.
"That's right..." Prince mumbled, gripping the crumpled balls of paper in his hands so tightly, his knuckles faded into an unsettling shade of white.
He then turned to his opposite, his eyes full of regret and genuine confusion. "Why are you helping me?"
Dread pulled at Anxiety's expression for a second before it settled on being baffled, a small frown tugging at his lips. "What- Well, you helped me, didn't you?"
Prince's head dropped and he stared at the floor as his thoughts grabbed ahold of him, clawing at his arms, his legs, and his chest. Anywhere they could.
"You have been trying to help me this whole time..."
Just as they began to think that he was getting better, he continued.
"...and yet I was the last one to help you!"
Anxiety's body stiffened, and the lump in his throats returned when he heard Prince's voice crack. Was he crying? He couldn't be. There was no way.
And yet, when he looked up at him, he saw those beautiful hickory eyes shimmer with unshed tears. His breathing was shaky, and he sporadically sniffled, shoulders jumping as he did so.
"Not only have I caused Thomas to run back to the past out of fear, but I have held onto it myself with an iron grip, causing you pain in the process." Prince stated, his eyes closing at he desperately tried to keep the tears threatening to fall at bay. "I refused to help you because I was stubborn and afraid of trying to understand you, and-"
His main point had been lost in the river of regret he had created for himself, and Anxiety struggled to think of a way to prove him wrong. That he was amazing. That he did have good attributes.
Frantically, Prince was still ranting about how terrible he was. "I needed to distract myself or I would have become useless! Now that I am focusing all of my energy on these damned feelings, I am not filling my role. These ridiculous, unneeded, stubborn feelings won't leave me alone!"
Thomas tried to make some sort of retort. "No, Roman that's not-"
"All of these harmful feelings that cling onto what once was- 'you loved him'! 'He was the one'! 'Nobody else you develop feelings for will amount to how much you still love him'!" He cried out, clutching his fringe and covering his face with his hands. "And, 'accepting your Anxiety will only lead to more heartbreak'."
Gulping down the lump in his throat, the anxious trait was suddenly unable to speak. Prince sniffled and furiously wiped at his eyes. "I'm a hypocrite. I tell you that changes are crucial for dream-chasing, and yet I fear making any to my own life. I continue to crawl back to the past because I'm afraid of what can and will change in the future."
Morality attempted to brush the tears in his eyes away as he spoke. "I felt that way too, Roman. Running back to the past seemed perfect to me, and I do still have feelings for him. I want Thomas to win him back as much as you do."
"Yes," Prince whimpered, "but at least you have accepted the fact that he can't! You no longer want to run back to the past. You understand that running back to the past would be a mistake. However, my stupid feelings are begging me to just throw Thomas at his feet! Even though I know that he deserves more than that!"
Shifting slightly, Anxiety snapped his fingers to try and get the distraught man's attention, as he still couldn't speak. When he finally did have his attention, the anxious trait bit his lip and desperately tried to come up with a method of communication that did not involve speech.
He pointed at his head, causing Prince's face to screw up in confusion and slight irritation. "Face?"
Anxiety shook his head and pointed again, then at Logic. Sighing frustratedly, Prince shrugged. "I don't know! Brain? Mind?"
The youngest tapped his nose and nodded, pointed at Prince with his free hand. Soon enough, the royal understood what he was trying to say. "Mindfulness?"
This one correct answer gave him enough confidence for Anxiety to speak again. "Is this about what I said about mindfulness, and not being judgemental towards your feelings?"
One glance at Prince's face screamed the answer. "Yes..."
"Roman, you can't blame yourself. Just like Thomas's, your feelings are valid too. And it's perfectly normal to hold onto the past, honestly." Anxiety explained, feeling the confidence of the room slowly creep back up like a cautious spider.
He still wasn't completely convinced however, and Anxiety sucked in a nervous breath. "Someone pretty smart once taught me about this cognitive distortion called 'mental filtering'."
Out of the corner of his eye, Thomas could see Logic wearing a tiny proud smile.
"You filter out the bad times that Thomas had with him, and concentrate on the good, but you know what? All of us have done that at some point. You aren't alone in this, Roman. I promise."
Due to Anxiety's words, Prince felt the tears slowly slide down his cheeks, but the confidence didn't decrease. No, it didn't increase either, but they could handle that.
A wistful smile playing at his lips, Prince shuddered, breathing in shakily. "I'm just so ashamed... I am supposed to be the strong knight, the one who protects his loved ones from harm. And yet, I continue to torment myself by clinging onto the past."
Anxiety sighed softly. "It's okay to cherish a few memories of him, Princey. Just don't let them blind you from the bad times, and from the reason for their breakup. You're feelings aren't stupid. And your opinions aren't ridiculous and unrealistic. I, for one, actually value your opinions more than you think."
It was clear that the confidence of the room caused him to say that, the embarrassed flush on his cheeks and semi-annoyed expression on his face were enough for the others to deduce that.
"And you know, some people would actually send him a basket of his favourite things out of the blue."
Chuckling weakly, Prince nodded and shrugged. "I know. That was a... That was a rather creepy idea."
"You didn't go through with it though, which just proves that you can get through this." The darkly dressed trait's voice was soothing and warm, causing Prince to smile hopefully at him.
He scratched the back of his neck. "Do you really think so?"
Anxiety nodded with a smile. "Yeah."
For a few seconds, it was silent, but soon enough that beaming grin was back. And the others had never been happier to see it. "Let's go."
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As soon as they arrived back at Thomas's apartment, Logic felt the pain in his head fade away and leave not even a remainder of a headache behind.
Morality sighed in relief and helped him to his feet, continuously asking him if he was alright, the concern from before not shrinking much at all. Offering his opposite a reassuring smile, the logical facet thanked him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I appreciate your help and concern, Patton, but I am feeling much better now."
With an uncertain nod, the eldest skipped back to his corner and transformed himself back to himself. He then smiled over at the royal and clasped his hands in front of his stomach. "Are you feeling any better, champ?"
Nodding curtly, Prince smiled and brushed a hand through his hair to try and fix it. "Indeed I am, Patton!"
Logic nodded to him and then turned to Thomas. "Good to hear. Now Thomas, how are you feeling?"
"Better. I think he's telling the truth."
As he sighed in relief, Logic went to say to goodbyes and sink down, but Prince quickly stopped him. The fanciful side then very much shocked Logic by bowing respectfully. "I am deeply sorry for causing you harm, Logan."
Adjusting his glasses, the logical side shrugged. "You are forgiven. I'm just glad that you're feeling somewhat optimistic about the future."
Prince smiled gratefully and nodded, feeling a smirk grow on his face as the serious trait glanced bashfully over at Morality. "Patton? Could I speak to you in private for a minute?"
With an enthusiastic nod, Morality grinned at them. "Sure! I just want to say a few things. One, Roman I will always be here to talk if you need to vent your emotions to someone. Two, Virgil I'm so proud that you were so much help, you're amazing. And Thomas, I'm still rooting for ya'."
And with that, both he and Logic sank down.
For a few moments, it was silent, but Prince broke it soon enough. "Virgil, thank you very much for giving me such wonderful advice. I don't think I could have risen up and into my throne if you hadn't of been there."
Shrugging nonchalantly, the shy facet scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Don't swear it. I'm just... glad you were able to, you know, 'sit in your throne' again."
Both Prince and Thomas chuckled, and just before the host could speak, Anxiety did. "Oh, and Roman?"
The royal glanced over at him and held his hands behind his back, his eyes wide and expectant. Anxiety felt his face heat up in embarrassment once again, holding his right forearm with his left hand tightly. "Try not to beat yourself up about what happened between us. That's in the past, and if it helps, I've forgiven you for all of that."
Prince's eyes gleamed with hope. "Really?"
"Yeah." The anxious facet smirked and shrugged again. "I'm the literal embodiment of anxiety, I know a thing or two of fearing the unknown. And to you, I was pretty much an unknown entity, and you didn't know what would happen if Thomas accepted me as part of himself. It's not like I treated you like royalty either."
With a fond smile, Prince shook his head. "Don't worry about that, it's all in the past."
Anxiety's smile grew and Thomas couldn't help but silently coo at how pure their conversation was. However, he did have something to say himself. "Guys?"
Both traits turned to look at him and he grinned at them both. "I'm really proud of the two of you. I hope you know that. It has taken a lot of work, but you're both making such great progress with your relationship."
Prince hummed in acknowledgment. "Yes, well, it's comforting to know that I have him around to confide in if I need to. He's a pretty good guy, after all."
The lump in Anxiety's throat returned for an encore as his smile trembled, his voice sounded fairly choked as he spoke. "Thanks, Princey. You're pretty cool too."
"I thought I was amazing." Prince smirked, taking pleasure in watching his opposite flush crimson and shake his head in regret as he sunk down.
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End Card:
Morality and Logic popped up again and we're glad to see the two sides getting along. The paternal trait grinned at them both. "Hey, you two!"
Waving enthusiastically at them, Prince asked them about their conversation, but was only given a few bashful murmurs in response. At this, he chuckled, and with a smug grin, placed his hands on his hips confidently. "Was it a romantic conversation?"
His eyebrows wiggled suggestively, causing both traits to avert their gazes in embarrassment. Anxiety rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Ew, stop doing that. You look weird when you do that."
Instead of stopping his teasing completely however, Prince simply turned to his opposite and grinned. "Oh? Didn't you say that I was handsome, earlier?"
"Handsomely gross."
Prince raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't make sense."
Face warming up, the anxious side turned away and huffed out an embarrassed sigh. As he did so, Prince rolled his eyes and came up with an idea. "What's wrong, Hot-Topic?"
Immediately, Anxiety remembered their last conversation that started with that nickname. And in this situation, it could save him his pride, his dignity, and it could save the world from crumbling around him in his embarrassment. "Aww, you still think I'm hot."
The response he got was not what he had been expecting.
"Guess I can't deny it anymore." And with a wink, Prince managed to set his stomach and chest on fire with only a few words.
Shooting him a bashful smirk, Anxiety rolled his eyes. "Shut up, moron."