Chapter 19 Withholding

While in the kitchen, Iggy kept his eyes on Foodie more often than he did on the chefs. The trait's eyes glittered and shined while he looked at the people preparing the food, in a way that made Iggy think of himself whenever he worked on a project. Seriously, the unbridled enthusiasm, the pure joy as he observed this line of work that was precisely fitted to his exact element… all of it was a joy to watch. Even though Iggy wasn't too terribly overtaken by the art of cooking, seeing someone who clearly was still turned out to be a neat sight to see.

"Ooh, he decided to add burger and pesto to a baked macaroni and cheese…" Foodie said. "That's genius!" He looked over at Iggy. "I never would've considered that! Isn't that a really smart idea?"

"Well, it is creative, I will give it that much," said Iggy. He watched the chef, blinking when he saw them pour milk into the bottom of the pan. "Huh. What is the purpose of the milk?"

"That's there to ensure that one, the macaroni doesn't burn, two, that it doesn't stick to the pan, and three…" Foodie giggled, the sound completely unhinged. "It adds a sort of creaminess to the dish." He looked back over at the chef, who scooped some of the macaroni and placed it in the pan. "Although, personally, I would add half and half if I were aiming to get the perfect level of creaminess."

Iggy nodded. "That's… interesting." He looked at Foodie, who jumped in place while he had the biggest smile ever plastered to his face. This sight made Iggy smile too, as he couldn't ever remember seeing Morton experiencing such positive emotions. Of course, the reason why this was made Iggy feel disheartened, but he decided that he wasn't going to let it bother him right now. Foodie, and Morton by extension, was feeling good right now. Iggy wanted to keep him in this state, and wanted him to feel heard and appreciated. Wasn't that the best thing Iggy could possibly do for his brother?

It probably was… which was another reason why he was upset over Chattiness not choosing him to talk to. Thinking about that fact now, Iggy's blood started to boil. He grunted, trying his best to not murmur under his breath. Foodie, unfortunately, noticed this display, and it caused all previous excitement to fall from his face.

"You okay?"

There was a pause while Iggy berated himself in his head. That wasn't appropriate, not by a long shot. He sighed before shaking his head. "Everything is fine, Foodie."

"You sure?"

Iggy felt squirmy on the inside. "Yes." He looked back at the chef. "I just…" he shook his head. "Everything is fine."

Foodie hesitated. "O…kay." He looked back at the chef too. As they stuck the macaroni and cheese in the oven, Foodie spoke up once again. "If everything wasn't okay, it's okay if you told me. I will try to help in any way I can."

Iggy blinked. "Well, if that's the case…" he sighed. "I'm just a little miffed about Chattiness talking to Roy and Lemmy but not me."

Foodie actually chuckled. "Yeah, that much was obvious." He looked over at Iggy. "Don't take it personally, Iggster. Chattiness recognized Roy and Lemmy; that's why he chose them."

Iggy sighed. "I…" he stopped. He looked into Foodie's face, noticing something for the first time. Was… was that discomfort? It was very subtle, almost undetectable, but definitely there. Iggy blinked, trying to determine why it was there and what exactly it meant. Unfortunately, each possible answer he thought of made a dark feeling well up within him, one nastier and more insidious than any feeling Iggy felt before. He stopped looking at Foodie, telling himself to calm down. That look didn't mean anything! It meant absolutely nothing! "I can understand that."

Foodie nodded and turned back to the chef. Or, rather, the oven, as the chef had left the room. Foodie's face fell when he saw this. "Oh man, they must be done…" he thought about this before smiling. "Well, maybe we can stick around to watch them make dessert!"

"That is only if they intend to make dessert," Iggy said. He looked down at the floor before he had a thought. A thought that stuck out to him, one that made him worry a little bit. "Hey, Foodie?"

"Yeah?"

Iggy bit his lip. "Am I the only one who finds it weird that one of Morton's core personality traits is a talkative nature?" Foodie seized up when he heard that question, but Iggy continued regardless. "I mean, Morty is not what I would call the talkative type. The fact that he has this trait does not make sense to me, especially on a first glance." He looked Foodie right in the eye. "Would you, by any chance, know why this is?"

"Umm…" Foodie hesitated. The discomfort on his face before was no longer subtle, but rather plain to see and strong as could be. "I, uh…" the way he struggled over what he wanted to say was so odd to Iggy. In his mind at least, it was a reasonable question. Probably not a simple question, but one where Morton's traits should at least have some idea what the answer was. The fact that he hesitated this much didn't make a lot of sense to Iggy.

At least, that was the case until Foodie spoke up. "Well… you see, Morton doesn't really think that a lot of people would be willing to listen to what he has to say." Iggy did a double take as Foodie continued. "So… he didn't talk at all. He always thought that if he were to start blabbing, people would judge him. They would think he was annoying, that he was saying things that were just weird or out of place." He shrunk back a little bit. "So… he figured the best thing to do would be to not talk at all."

To say Iggy was taken aback would be an understatement. "That's awful."

Foodie sighed. "Yeah. But it's the truth. Morton has felt this way for years, and until we traits were separated from each other, I didn't think there would ever be a time where he would think otherwise."

Iggy frowned. "This feeling… is it because of his depression?"

Foodie hesitated again before nodding. "Yeah, it is. Mostly, anyway."

Iggy raised an eyebrow. He was about to say something in response to that, but ultimately decided against it. So, instead, he looked Foodie right in the eye. "Well, I will say with utmost honesty that Morton does not have to feel this way around me. If he ever feels the need to talk with anyone, I am always here and willing to listen."

That statement did not have the effect on Foodie that Iggy expected. Instead of smiling, he seized up even more. He tried to form words with his mouth but was unable to properly speak. He sweated like a pig and refused to make eye contact with Iggy for a little bit. This made Iggy's heart pump; what exactly did that mean?

"Foodie?"

Foodie finally looked Iggy in the eye. "Um… thanks. I… appreciate it."

Iggy frowned. "You sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely positive?"

"Absolutely positive."

"There's nothing that you are hiding from me?"

Foodie hesitated again. "Why would I hide something from you?"

Iggy frowned again, this time more deeply than before. He thought about the encounter he had with Morton before the split, where he had pushed Iggy out of his room and closed the door. He thought about Chattiness, deciding to not talk to him specifically. He thought about the time when Foodie was making the creamy chicken pesto, where he seemed uncomfortable around Iggy and seemed uncertain about what to share and how to share it.

"You have no reason to," he stated, his voice firm.

Foodie gulped. "You're… you're right; I have no reason to." He wiped the sweat off of his brow. "Which is why I'm not doing it right now."

Iggy wanted to scream. Just by looking at Foodie, Iggy could tell that was a falsehood. He didn't want anyone to speak any sort of falsehood right now; if they were to find the root cause of Morton's suffering, then falsehoods were the last thing that any of them needed. This was especially true of Morton's core traits, which made the fact that Foodie was withholding information all the more frustrating to him. Iggy was here to help! He was here to make life easier, better! Why then would Foodie, and Chattiness to an extent, not want to talk with him? Unless…

He shook his head, as soon as he had that thought. No, Morton should be aware that Iggy was only doing this for his greater good. Sure, he had acted irrationally when it came to splitting Morton up, but Iggy had learned from that mistake and everyone had moved on. The Mortons knew Iggy was their brother, and they knew that he didn't want to hurt them. Why then would they be lying to him?

Well, Iggy didn't know the answer to that. And something told him that Foodie wasn't going to tell him why no matter how much he probed, so he decided to let it go for now. "Alright then." He looked at the kitchen pantry before turning back to Foodie. "I believe there are some snack cakes in the cupboard," he said. "Does that sound appealing to you?"

Foodie licked his lips. "That does sound pretty good, actually. Sugar makes everything better."

Iggy snickered. "Except when it comes to managing diabetes of course, but I understand what you're saying."

With that, the two of them got some snack cakes out of the pantry and made their way out of the kitchen. They sat down in the dining hall and began munching on their treats. Iggy took note of Foodie as he did this; the way his face lit up with every bite, the way he talked about the delectable flavor and perfect texture of the little cake… it was unreal. He had never heard someone get this excited about a simple oatmeal cream pie. Iggy even suggested that Foodie try and put down his thoughts and feelings about food into the form of a poem, a suggestion that seemed to excite the trait once he gave it some thought. He talked between chews about how he would approach this poem and what exactly he would put in it. He suggested that he should call the poem "Ode to Snack Cakes," an idea that delighted Iggy in the most charming way possible.

Once the two of them were finished with their snack cakes, they talked some more about the poem. Foodie asked Iggy for pointers, to which Iggy said he wasn't sure he'd be able to help out much considering he knew next to nothing about the arts. He said people like Lemmy and Ludwig would probably be able to help… and immediately felt guilty when he mentioned the latter's name. He tried to wrap his mind around how he would be able to put him and Morton back together. He seriously needed to figure that out for multiple reasons, one of which being that his mission to help Morton would be rendered moot if he didn't. He racked his brain for a way to do it. Maybe he would have to tinker with the Personality Splitter… oh, but then again, the thing was broken. Would be able to repurpose it? Oh, he didn't know! He didn't know, and he absolutely hate that he didn't know. What was he to do? What was he to do…

"Hey, Iggy! Hey, Morton!"

Iggy looked up to see Chattiness, Roy, and Lemmy enter the room. Despite his previous misgivings, he managed to smile when he saw all three of them were in a happy mood. "You guys appear sprightly."

"Oh, well, you know…" Roy shrugged. "Just living life and such."

Iggy nodded. He considered asking them about what they had discussed in the common room but ultimately decided against it when he got a look from Foodie. So, instead, he stood up and walked over to the trait.

"So, Chattiness, I now have a favor to ask you." He stepped closer to the trait, trying his best to not appear too intimidating. "Would you kindly get in touch with one of Morton's other traits so that we can easily locate them?"

Chattiness blinked before smiling. "Sure! Sure, I'll totally do that; I think that would be perfect!" He closed his eyes. The tension in Iggy's heart climbed as he waited for the trait to speak. "Hmm… okay. It's snowy, really snowy. I'm surrounded by pine trees all around, and… oh, there's a town! It's full of these little cottages, covered in snow. It…" Chattiness frowned. "Oh boy, there's a lot of litter on the streets. I'm bending down to pick that up; that is really dangerous to the cooligans and other animals."

Iggy exchanged a look with Roy and Lemmy before looking back at Chattiness. "Can you get the name of the town from a sign or something of that nature?"

"Hmm…" Chattiness squeezed his eyes shut tight. "It… it…" he gasped. "Oh! It's a place called Iceflake!"

"Iceflake? I know where that is!" Iggy beamed. "It's in World 3!"

"World 3?" Lemmy asked, his brow furrowing. "Oh man, that's a really cold region."

"Hmm. Yes, indeed," said Iggy. He got out his phone. "I'll send a text to Determination and Musical Inclination. Hopefully, they get there and will be able to find the Morton without obtaining frostbite…"