Not requested.

Ship: None

Category: Angst

Warnings: Minor fighting, internal homophobia, homophobic slurs

Summary: Virgil learns to stand up for his beliefs.

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"Hey, this could be our opportunity to be friends with Joshua!" Morality exclaimed.

Creativity grinned. "He can be one of our knights! Plus, we have been trying to be friends with him for a while now."

"He's just so kind, and nice, and-" Morality cut off abruptly. A frown creased his face. "He's really cool," he finished.

"Morality," Logic started hesitantly, eyes cast downward. "Do we really want to be friends with him? I mean, Thomas didn't feel this way about his other friends."

Morality shook his head, as if to clear it. "I... Maybe we don't. Maybe..."

"What?" Creativity asked.

"Butterflies," Morality muttered. At the others' confused looks, he repeated, "Butterflies. Thomas' mom said that you get butterflies in your tummy when you like someone."

Logic stiffened. "And... And you think..."

"Oh," Morality whispered. "Thomas likes Joshua. He has a crush."

"That's wonderful!" Creativity exclaimed, a smiling gracing his features. "We should totally be friends with him first, though."

"Yeah!"

¶∆¶∆¶∆¶

Fear sat beneath a large oak tree in the Imagination, eyes closed. He was going over everything they could have done better that week. Middle school was a wreck, and he hated it. So many things to worry about, to focus on.

Then he felt something. A change, a ripple in the stillness of the field. In the distance, Morality and Creativity spun around in circles, laughing and shouting something, while Logic watched. Frowning, Fear got to his feet and headed for them, curious.

At least, until he heard what they were shouting.

"-Thomas has a crush, Thomas has a crush!"

"On Joshua," Creativity added.

Fear froze. Joshua, from their homeroom class. The nice boy that sat across from Thomas, the one that liked to sneak glances at Thomas' sketches. No. This can't be happening. Fear sharply remembered the other kids on the bus, taunting a boy believed to be gay. H-He can't let Thomas get hurt. He can't.

So he ran to them, breaking up their happiness.

"What do you want?" Creativity demanded.

Fear straightened. "Thomas can't have a crush, and he can't tell anyone."

"Why not?" Morality asked, frowning.

"Stop," Fear growled, whirling on the moral side. "Stop giving Thomas those feelings."

"Fear, I can't just-"

Fear cut him off with a harsh retort. "Stop! I can't let him get hurt, and he'll get hurt if you-"

"Hey, quit," Creativity snarled, putting himself between the two. "Morality isn't giving Thomas those feelings, and there's nothing wrong with him liking a boy. Boys like girls all the time! Why is this anything different? You know what, just leave. You're going to ruin Thomas' chances with Joshua."

Something snapped in his chest. Hot, tingly fury rushed through Fear, and the bright blue sky above darkened to an ashy grey. Fear reached up and shoved Creativity, hard, forcing him backwards. The fanciful side tripped and fell, landing on his back.

"THOMAS IS GOING TO GET HURT!" Fear shouted, his voice saturated with distortion and echoing eerily in a way it never had before. "DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE KIDS ON THE BUS? DO YOU WANT TO BE CALLED A FAG? DO YOU WANT TO GET BULLIED!?"

Creativity gaped up at him, eyes wide with something like... terror? Glancing back, Fear saw Logic staring at him fearfully, and Morality's eyes were brimming with tears. A fierce, cold wind whistled in his ears, and storm clouds crowded the sky.

And suddenly Fear understood. They didn't care, they didn't listen when he was scared, but they sure as hell were listening now. They cared when he was scary, when he made their hearts pound as hard as his always did.

"I won't let Thomas get hurt," Fear vowed darkly. "Thomas is not a fag."

Then he felt it. The grass at Fear's feet withered and died, the flowers wilting. The whole Mindscape shuddered, and something settled over the entire place.

Fear knew exactly what it was. It was something he was quite familiar with.

Self hatred. Self loathing.

And something else changed too. The bright purple shirt Fear was wearing faded to a deep grey, and a black hoodie appeared over it. His white skinny jeans turned black, and his face tingled as black eye shadow circled his eyes. Dark thoughts murmured to him, telling him his worst fears. He shook his head.

"Fear...?" Morality whispered.

"No," Anxiety said sharply, and he hated himself for enjoying the way Morality flinched. "Not Fear. Not anymore. Anx... Anxiety." He turned his glare back to Creativity, who sucked in a breath and scooted backwards. "Do you want Thomas to get hurt? Do you?"

Creativity shook his head, but his eyes gleamed with apprehension and hatred. He didn't know it yet, but he would harbor a grudge against Anxiety for many years to come.

"Y-You don't know that Thomas will get hurt," Logic piped up shakily. "Nothing is set in st-stone-"

"We can't risk that," Anxiety growled, and he felt powerful. With the other three traits cowering before him, he knew he could finally do his job the way he was always meant to, because now Thomas was listening to him, and they wouldn't get hurt. Never again.

¶∆¶∆¶∆¶

Thomas crumpled up his paper of an elaborate knight, shredding it to pieces and burying it in the trash can. He didn't like guys. He wasn't gay. And now he could forget about it.

In the Mindscape, with Anxiety at the controls, a yellow eye gleamed in the darkness.

Deceit chuckled.

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