Nine was led to his room by One, past Zero, who stared at him curiously. He set his small bag on the bed, which was covered in a green blanket, and began to unpack. He set his clothes out, and was embarrassed by how little there was. Besides what he had on, he had one other daytime outfit, and then his nightclothes.
"Oh, this will never do!" Two said loudly, making Nine jump and try to hide the state of his wardrobe (or lack thereof). One was there in an instant.
"What happened?"
"The poor boy's clothes, One! He hardly has anything, and what he does have is nearly worn clean through!"
One frowned. "Then we must take him shopping. Tomorrow."
Nine shook his head. ~No, you've done enough for me already. I'll be fine.~
"Nonsense," One said, and Nine was starting to think that that was his favorite word. "We shall buy you anything you like. We need a few things as well. We haven't gone shopping in for clothes in months."
Nine could feel everybody looking at him and he closed the door as soon as they were gone. He stripped down and pulled on his one pair of jeans and a purple t-shirt. He then pulled out the piece of clothing he was most proud of. It was a golden yellow cloak. He swung it over his shoulders, tied it, then pulled the hood up to hide his face. There. That was better. After plugging his headphones into his ears, he silently slipped from his room and hurried into the main room. He curled up under the cloak and played his music at a low volume.
Eight saw him first. He blinked, raising his eyebrows, then shrugged it off and began to play with his keyboard. Five saw him next. He did the same thing that Eight did: after a brief look of surprise, went back to what he was doing. One by one the others saw him, and they all pretty much ignored him. Perfect. At least it was until Two saw him. He looked around then skittered over to sit beside Nine. Nine pulled his hood farther up.
"Hello there."
Nine's eyes were gleaming in the lights, but that was the only thing of his face that Two could see.
"Would you like to talk?"
~No. But you're going to pester me until I tell you what phobia I have.~
Two blushed, glancing around for One.
~I'm only projecting to you.~ Nine sounded amused.
"Good. One doesn't really approve of my therapy skills."
~You're good at it.~ Nine said quietly.
Two beamed proudly. "Thank you! Now, what specifically are you afraid of?"
~What are you afraid of?~
Two blinked. "You know, don't you?" Nine shrugged, so Two snorted. "Of course you do. I have iatrophobia. I'm afraid of going to the doctor. So I am becoming a doctor to negate that fear. It's kind of like Zero's thanatophobia. He's studied it in depth to understand it better so it's not so scary."
~Self diagnosis isn't really smiled upon, you know.~
"But I don't like seeing doctors…" Two pouted, and Nine reached over to pet his hand.
~It's okay. What about the others?~
"Three and Four have slightly different variations of a particular phobia. Three has islophobia, while Four has monophobia. Three doesn't want to be completely isolated, while Four doesn't like being alone."
~I see. And Five?~
"Fear of failure. Atychiphobia. But, with our help, he's started to ease into his own unique projects."
~Interesting. What about Six, Seven, and Eight?~
"Athazagoraphobia, that is forgetting or being forgotten, philophobia, which is falling or being in love, and sedatephobia, the fear of silence. In that order. Now…I am most curious about you."
~What about One's asthenophobia? You forgot that one.~
Two flinched and looked around. "Not even the others know about that one. Keep it quiet or One will have my head. Now, let me look you over…"
Two observed the way Nine kept pulling his hood up to hide his face, the cloak was pulled shut in front of him, and his feet were with the rest of his body underneath it. He was hunched over, and seemed to have trouble meeting his eyes…
"Scopophobia, the fear of being seen," Two said with a smile.
~Correct.~
"Were you made fun of as a boy?"
Two saw a wall go up in Nine's eyes, and he knew he would get nothing more. That was the moment that Seven decided to make an announcement.
"One! Two's psychoanalyzing Nine!"
Two leaped up and dashed away from Nine toward his room, but a zing of energy from One had him hit the floor. He shook hard as One moved to stand in front of him.
"Did he want to talk to you?" One asked dangerously.
"He-he didn't s-seem to m-m-mind," Two moaned as his body quaked.
One blinked at the truth in that statement then looked up at Nine, gesturing him over.
"Was he forcing you to say anything?"
Nine shook his head. ~No.~
"You didn't mind?"
~Not until the last five seconds.~
Two was helped to his feet by Five and Seven, who watched Nine readjust his hood before bowing his head.
"What does he have?" Six asked curiously.
Two looked to Nine, who shrugged without looking up. "He has the phobia of being seen."
"Oh…That would explain his reactions in the restaurant," One said thoughtfully.
"Poor boy," Eight said, patting his head.
"You will not question Nine of this until he is willing to tell you more," One said firmly.
~Only when you're open to discussing your phobia as well.~ Nine said, looking up with gleaming eyes.
"I have no phobia."
Nine snorted. ~Yeah, and I'm going to get into Heaven.~
He walked back to the couch and curled up again, turning up his music until they could hear it through his headphones. One was most troubled by that comment.
"One? You okay?" Two asked.
"Nine did say he was a Christian, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"He just implied he wasn't going to get into Heaven. That doesn't make sense."
"Who cares?" Seven asked. "Three, Four, wanna spar?"
~Sure!~ they exclaimed happily, following her out of the room.
Two and Five went to go work on the former's summer work from college, Zero began tweaking one of the cellphones, and Six went to go draw. Eight stayed by One.
"Something wrong, boss?"
"What Nine said doesn't make sense," One muttered, looking over Nine's huddled form. "If you're a Christian, you know you're going to get into Heaven. Or, at the very least, be pretty sure you're not going to Hell…"
"I don't know, One. I just don't know. You could go talk to him."
"No. Leave him be for now. Two obviously disturbed him with his questions. We'll find out. We will. It'll just take time."