Warnings: Cursing. Mentions of death. Dark thoughts

Virgil wasn't surprised the welcoming party when he first came over to the dubbed 'light sides' wasn't so...welcoming. In all honestly, it was exactly like he'd been worried about.

Roman attempting to shoo him away, claim he's a villain, and villains aren't allowed where heroes reside. Logan stared at him silently, looking as if he was mentally tearing the former dark side apart. And Patton...

Well, Patton was actually a lot better than he expected. He actually had been extremely worried over the fact he'd get automatically stomped to death by the morality side, considering he's the size of a spider. The black hoodie certainly didn't assist with the want to not look like a 'creepy crawly death dealer'.

Now that he hadn't been expecting, being the size of an insect. Despite being the literal embodiment of anxiety, never in his wildest dreams did he imagine himself getting shrunk to about three inches tall due to being somewhere he's not really compatible with. A place that clearly isn't meant for sides like him.

It had been utterly terrifying first transporting to the conscious side of the mind and ending up in the land of the giants. It became so much worse when Roman came stomping into the living room, singing as loudly as possible to effectively make the now minuscule side's ears bleed from the sheer volume.

It wasn't worth it to see Creativity panic at finally seeing the newest addition to the sides Thomas is knowledgeable of, that face being absolutely priceless. Not when a hand as big as a car attempted to sweep him up.

He doesn't want to know what Princey wanted to do if he did manage to grab the inch tall side. Crush him, send him right back to Remus and Deceit without protection, hand him over to Logan to dissect, keep him as a pet. So much could've happened. Luckily Anxiety managed to dart under the couch he appeared beside. That earned more ear bleeding, a panic attack, and then three giants who hate his guts crowding around his hiding place, which made yet another panic attack occur.

So that's how he introduced himself to now be a known side to Thomas. In which Roman ranted profusely about while Patton attempted to coax Virgil completely from his hiding place instead of hovering so close to the darkness, where it seemed as if he wasn't out in the open at all.

Clearly Anxiety was not doing anything that put him at the center of attention and completely vulnerable to three idiots, one that will kill him without a second thought in the name of honor, another that he has no idea would do but it'd certainly be a painful death, and another who would kill him with hugs he'd rather not have ever, especially with someone as tall as a skyscraper.

It took a while, but he was finally left alone as they went to investigate the rest of the mind palace, making sure no other uninvited guests were able to get inside. And that only happened because Logan pointed out there was a certain down-sized sized door on the wall next to the stair case. After that, no matter how much Creativity stated the creepy cookie should not be allowed to stay for even a second, Logic and Morality knew it wasn't their choice. Thomas knew. Anxiety is now a light side.

After they stomped off, Virgil sprinted as fast as possible before throwing himself into his new room. Where he might've had yet a third panic attack.

And now? Now he stays locked up tight in his room, among normal sized objects for a normal sized person who is definitely not regretting wanting to join the conscious side of the mind in order to help Thomas more.

He's not missing Deceit. He's not missing Remus. He's not missing their debates about which light side is the worse, or if Deceit really can do a great impression of Logan's robotic tone and Patton's adoring voice, and why exactly Remus is...Remus.

They never really did come up with a satisfying answer. And now they never will.

Virgil scowls at himself at the thought of really missing the other dark sides. He left for a reason. Their ways of helping Thomas work best in the...dark. And no, he'll never admit Roman's nickname for the conscious and subconscious sides is actually pretty accurate and should be appreciated.

Anxiety just, he never could do everything he wanted to do. He's glad their host fears him, it makes sure he listens and doesn't end up doing stupid things to embarrass himself. But too much fear not only makes his job harder, but a bit counter productive. Why can't anyone see that Thomas is in fact doing better knowing his anxiety? Because Virgil can't be lying to himself about the subtle yet substantial change in his behavior.

...right?

BANG BANG BANG!

"HOLY-!"

"Anxiety?"

Heart pounding its way up his throat from fear at what sounds to be Patton 'knocking' on his door, Virgil forces himself to put on an annoyed expression despite having no desire to open the goddamn door, to actually face the towering side most likely huddled as close to the ground as possible in the attempt to seem much smaller than he really is. There will never be a day he'll associate of any the other sides as 'small'. Not with this development. The one that hasn't changed even the tiniest of tiny things after the month he's been here.

"What do you want?"

There's the clearing of the throat. He can only imagine puppy-eyes being made. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner, kiddo."

So Morality is still keeping up with inviting him to dine with the others.

He severely underestimated just how determined and dedicated Patton can be when he really wants something. And by 'wants' he means wants to help. Every single time his ask for the newest and least wanted light side to join a meal, it's been a borderline pissed off 'no'. Not that he is really angry for being asked to attend something with everyone else.

That's something he's really missed. They didn't really get along, and the three dark sides always got on each other's nerves until a fight finally broke out, but anxiety is a lot better when around others.

Not while engaging in conversation or anything of the like. Hell no. He means just having a presence around. Movement to tell him he's not alone. Everyday sounds filtering past his headphones as a reminder there's a world around him. That others might be going through the same thing.

Okay, clearly not the sides. They embodiment core personalities, and anxiety is for Anxiety only. But that's what therapists say all the time. For people who aren't literally named Anxiety.

He's just going to shut up, now.

The point is that Patton never gave up. Most likely will never give up. And Virgil has been weighing the pros and the cons more and more lately.

Cons: he can fall into someone else's food. Roman pinning him down with a single finger for the hell of it. Logan suddenly picking him up for the hell of it. Something dropping on top of him. And those are only things concerning his size, not even all the problems that only concern interactions.

Pros: let's be honest, there are none.

He's hated. End of story. He's especially confused as to why Morality asks he joins them. The heart is the heart, but anxiety is anxiety.

The small side sighs. "No, I would not like to join you for dinner."

Patton emits a sigh of his own, one that could've knocked Virgil over if he'd walked out of his room and put himself at the mercy of a giant despite how heartbreaking it seems. This is why he stays in his room. Too many possible 'what if's'.

"Well, you know where to find your plate!"

Earthquakes announce the much larger side walking away. And Anxiety waits patiently for two hours before so much as thinking about opening his bedroom door.

He learned quickly how the schedule of the light side's day goes.

Breakfast is always at 7:00 am, despite if Thomas is actually awake by then or not. Patton comes down at six to get it started. At 6:50 on the dot, Logan comes down stairs to assist with setting the table if he didn't bring a book or notepad down with him. Roman would show up anywhere from 7:00 until 7:20. By then if he's not 'awake' and downstairs, Patton takes the time to go upstairs and wake the creative side so he can eat before everything gets cold.

It always without fail is then their time to talk, or gossip in Roman's case, until 8:00 am sharp. After that, everyone leaves to completely disappear for exactly one hour. Between 8:00 and 9:00 is when Virgil silently claims the kitchen, able to have full rein without any possible interruptions. That means he has enough time to cross the living room, grab the plate Patton always leaves cling wrapped and somehow with some miracle with food in perfect proportions for him to eat as if he was never shrunk in the first place underneath the cabinet's ledge, snag food to put in his stock he uses for lunch, and return to his room with ten minutes to spare, guaranteed no interactions with any giant of any kind.

After 9:00 am, it's unsafe for Virgil to leave again until 8:00 pm.

Dinner goes the same way as breakfast with Patton appearing in the kitchen at 5:00 pm, an hour to cook until Logan comes down from his room or just from the living room at 5:50, and Roman somewhere in between, though he's usually at the table previous to 6:00. Then they hang out at the table for about an hour until migrating to the living room to do miscellaneous things until 8:00 pm.

Logan leaves at 7:40 up to his room. And no matter what, Roman and Patton disappear completely at 8:00. Although on rare occasions on having a movie night they all stay down stairs usually no later than midnight. Those are always announced clearly thanks to the moral side proclaiming they should spend the night together.

Virgil will admit the precise keeping of the other side's schedule of being out of their rooms and roaming is something he should leave to Logic, but this is for his safety. If he doesn't know when every last giant is guaranteed completely away from where he'll be walking exposed, then he might as well walk directly up to them and yell 'HEY! HURRY UP AND STEP ON ME ALREADY!'.

No thank you. He'll copy Logan's tactics instead.

Anxiety glances at his clock to see 8:10 pm blinking at him to state he's perfectly safe to go into the kitchen and snag his plate. And despite knowing without a single doubt that no one else will possibly be around while he's out of his room, the hand hovers over the door-knob, stomach twisting with doubt.

What if something comes up? Thomas has a nightmare and calls one of the three, or maybe even all of them? What if they sink back into the mind palace in the living room instead of their rooms? What if Roman finally decides that it's not worth keeping him around and is waiting for the small side to pounce on him? What if Patton left out a pan that will fall and crush him? What if they're all waiting for him? What if everything?

He shouldn't leave this room. He has food stored away. But that will run out if he holes himself up. And if he doesn't go out tonight, he'll stop following the schedule and stay in his room. That means his storage really would go out. By then he'll be much too afraid to so much as look at the door to leave.

He has to do this. Just like every night. He can do this.

Virgil shrugs his hoodie to hike it up just a bit more. Then he finally turns the knob, slipping out of the comforting space into the cold chill of an empty room. And empty room with towering furniture.

Just don't think about it. Hands in his pocket, eyes glued to the floor, step after step slowly but surely taking him toward the kitchen.

At least it's nice and dark. He's peeked out of his room during the afternoon to see what the others like to do. Logan is always completely silent as he sits in what seems to be his favorite chair, book in hand and side table lamp on. Roman of course can't sit still or stay quiet for the life of him, humming as he draws or writes. Patton likes to read as well at times, always giggling at whatever it's about, though his time is mainly in the kitchen to torture Anxiety with delicious smells of various treats.

What they do in their rooms, however, is a complete mystery. What the rooms look like is as well.

...actually, the entire upstairs is a complete unknown. He's never been allowed up there. Nor will he ever be allowed from Roman's proclamation he doesn't want tiny evil villains anywhere near him or his safe place! Because-!

"-he can't be trusted!"

...wait.

Virgil goes completely still at hearing the real voice of Roman. The voice that shouldn't be possible, nor coming from the kitchen at this hour. Because this wasn't a movie night, and even if it was, movies are held in the living room not two feet away.

"Roman!"

...that's Patton.

"What!" the creative side exclaims. "He can't be! Come on, Padre, he's been here for a month and not once has he tried to speak to any of us! He's always holed up in his room. Who's to say Hot Topic isn't and hasn't been planning something! Something big!"

"While I don't agree with the source of Roman's points being 'because he's Anxiety'-"

That's Logan.

"-I do agree it's a bit odd he hasn't attempted to at least interact with us in some way. We still don't know the reason or cause to him coming over to the conscious side of Thomas' mind. We certain don't have any information of why he's currently at such a reduced size."

"See! A ploy to make you fall in love with him so there's no way you can say no to anything he asks for!"

Logic sighs a Roman's need to be overdramatic about the circumstances. Not to mention how annoy it is for his stated facts to be used so incor-

"Ah, Anxiety. Just the person we've been wanting to see."

Patton whirls around to see the side Logan apparently spotted, Creativity peering around the heart to spot the figure staring up at them. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that's a look of terror.

Which it actually is. Because not only has he been spotted and addressed, but he has no couch to dart underneath. No chair to provide him much needed cover. He's vulnerable. Completely vulnerable. And after appearing right as the three are discussing how he is not to be trusted.

"Oh my goodness! You're finally out of your room, kiddo! What a pleasant surprise!" Patton gushes.

No, this isn't a pleasant surprise. Not one bit.

And Roman only seals the deal with a glare that makes Virgil want to disappear. Truly wish for the first time since he's been here to have never left the dark sides. "We demand answers, Anxiety. No more hiding."

Immediately the heart is scowling his fellow light side. A true light side who deserves to be here. "Roman, stop being rude."

"I'm sorry Patton but I can no longer stand around just waiting for him to hurt Thomas. Hurt you!"

The look on Morality's face states the want to tell Roman that he'll always keep him safe. Especially, Thomas. But Anxiety should be saved as well if he needs it! And they don't need to be saved currently! There's nothing to fear from the minuscule side. He's much too adorable to be able to pull such a thing. Not to mention, and he really means this in the best of ways, but he's just so...small.

"Spill it, Emo Nightmare. Why exactly are you here, and why for Thomas' sake have you holed yourself up! Of course unless you're planning something. Just admit it because we all know."

"What Roman means to say is we'd like to better understand why you haven't been acting in a positive way toward Patton's numerous invites to join us for various things, though mostly meals."

Gee, he doesn't know. How about this being an outcome?

Virgil wants to snap back. To tell them all to leave him alone. He's his own person. He protects Thomas and that's all that matters. He doesn't care if they hate him. Everyone hates him. Patton does even if he's sweet and nice because Patton's always sweet and nice. He's always hindering Logan's plans because he keeps Thomas up all night with worries about having forgotten to do something or what might happen. At least Roman's open about his hatred and despise for him always holding Thomas back from his numerous hopes and dreams that are clearly delusional and can never be accomplished.

But he can't.

His chest is too tight. His limbs feel numb. He feels trapped. He can picture what's going to happen, with someone snatching him up, stepping on him, everything and anything. He can't breathe, he can't see, and this will only end in his death. That means Thomas will be left without the voice that keeps him from dying from embarrassment or crashing back down to Earth in horrible ways from being too high in the sky. And when he comes back, finally restores himself...

It would be too late.

"...that's not supposed to happen."

"Patton, quick, grab the first-aid kit."

"Is he okay!"

"We might not even require it. However, I would rather be prepared than under prepared. Roman, I need water. From a functional glass for someone of his stature."

Anxiety can feel the tremors as giants run directly pass him. He can't jerk away to keep himself from keeping hurt or killed. He knows he can't fight, but he can't move a single muscle to run, either.

"Breathe, Anxiety, I need you to breathe."

Anxiety. That's him. Who's talking? What is he supposed to do?

"Count with me. In-"

Too late. He already became too lightheaded and passed out, completely at the mercy of three giants he wouldn't even trust a full grown adult who isn't shrunk with.