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Something was definitely up with Embarrassment.
Being what he was, Embarrassment had learned to hide things pretty well, he could be very subtle and sneaky when he wanted to be.
But Anxiety knew him, and though it had taken a while for her to be certain she was now.
She’d get to the bottom of it, but when it came to the pink emotion it was important to remember he was sensitive, so she’d have to be careful lest he shut down and hide even more than he was now.
Anxiety just had to find the right time, and she got it faster than expected.
It would be Embarrassment’s turn on dream duty tonight, all she had to do was wait.
As Riley laid in bed browsing her phone, courtesy of Ennui, the other emotions slowly made their way to the bedroom to prepare for bed after a long day.
Eventually, Riley fell asleep and Ennui slumped off her couch, bidding her two siblings a tired goodnight before heading off as well.
Anxiety sat on her chair, finishing up some work on her console while waiting for a chance to question Embarrassment.
Once she was sure no one would bother them, she got off her chair and walked over to the larger emotion.
Embarrassment glanced down at her, but quickly focused back on the dream on screen.
Anxiety took a quick breath and looked up at him.
“Hey big guy, I want to talk to you, if that’s okay?”
The pink emotion looked back down at her, looking confused as he nodded.
“Sooo…I noticed you’ve been acting kinda weird the last couple days, or longer?”
Embarrassment blushed and quickly looked away, whimpering something that Anxiety couldn’t really make out.
“It’s okay! I just wanted to check in and see if I could help.
You know you can tell me anything.”
After a moment of no response, Anxiety worried she may have overstepped and prepared to apologize, but Embarrassment mumbled something, still facing the other way.
“Sorry, I didn’t get that.”
Another soft whine, and slowly Embarrassment turned to face her, but still kept his gaze down to the floor.
“I…It’s Sadness…” He mumbled.
Anxiety blinked and tilted her head, not having expected that.
“What about her? Is she bothering you somehow? She didn’t seem the type to me but if she’s giving you trouble I ca-”
“No! I-I mean..no, nothing like that..” Embarrassment said, blushing more at his sudden outburst.
“Then what’s the issue?” Anxiety asked.
The larger emotion hesitated, unsure how to put it into words.
“Mmh..feel..warm a-and tingly when she’s near.
I blush more than usual looking or just th-thinking about her.” he admitted, covering his face with his hands as it turned a brighter shade of pink.
Anxiety opened her mouth to speak, but was startled by a sudden squeal right behind her and jumped from the spook.
Both her and Embarrassment yelped in surprise, the larger emotion ended up catching her and they looked down at the source of the sound.
Envy stood there in her pajamas, staring at them with sparkling eyes.
“Oh this is so exciting!You’re crushing on Sadness!” She squealed out.
Embarrassment’s whole face changed color and he nearly dropped Anxiety trying to hide from the situation.
Once safely down on the floor again, Anxiety looked down at Envy.
“A crush? That’s what it is?”
Envy nodded.
“Duh, what else could it be?”
Anxiety decided not to answer that question, fully aware now how silly the ideas she’d first gotten were.
The two turned to look at Embarrassment, who had pulled his hood closed to hide his face.
“So what should we do about this?” Anxiety asked, she wasn’t exactly prepared for this situation.
“He’s got to confess his feelings to her!” Envy exclaimed like it was obvious.
Embarrassment whined in response to that, not that the other two were surprised.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ll help you.” Anxiety told him as she gently patted his back.
“Yeah! I know you’re nervous but we’ll figure this out!” Envy chimped in.
The pink emotion slowly peeked out at his siblings.
“...Okay..”he muttered.
“Okay, after thorough research we’ve got a list of steps that will guarantee your success in wooing Sadness!” Anxiety explained as she rolled over a whiteboard.
Embarrassment sat on the floor of Nostalgia’s room, it was the one place where no one would bother them.
Envy picked up the pointer and pointed at the top of the board.
“Point one! Good hygiene is important!
Take these.” Envy pushed a basket over to Embarrassment, who looked through the contents.
“Breath mints, strong deodorant and nice clean clothes, I’ll also do your hair for you.” Envy said proudly.
“Point two! Be cool and confident.
Try to initiate eye contact with her, but don’t stare.” Anxiety explained.
“Point three! Gifts and compliments are a must! Get her flowers, sweets, stuff like that and compliment her!
Just try not to go too far with it, no one likes a kiss ass.” Envy said.
“Language.” Anxiety scolded.
“And last point, ask her out with a grand gesture! Like a musical number, a speech about love or a bunch of giant flashcards!”
Envy explained excitedly.
Embarrassment whined and pulled his hood closed.
“I-I can’t do that. I can barely say hi to her…”
Anxiety frowned, tapping her foot as she tried to think of a solution.
She snapped her fingers as she had an idea.
“If you can’t speak the words, do you think you can write them?”
Embarrassment looked down in thought.
“I..I can try?”
“Mm, not as grand as a musical number, but I guess a romantic letter does the trick too.” Envy said, digging through the basket to pull out a comb and scissors.
Embarrassment yelped as she climbed onto his back and started messing with his hair.
“Are you sure you’ve got this part?” Anxiety asked her.
“Trust me! I’ve learned everything about style from Disgust, I’m gonna make him look amazing.”
The orange emotion nodded and turned to the basket, pulling out some clothes.
“Change into these once she’s done, we got the best outfit available for this.”
Embarrassment gave a small nod as he checked the clothes.
“Done!” Envy said and jumped down beside Anxiety so the two could look over her handy work.
“..Isn’t that Lance Slashblade’s haircut?”
“Mmm! Isn’t it great?”
“I don’t think that’s what we’re going for Envy.”
The smaller emotion huffed, but went back to working on the hair.
Once she was done, they ushered Embarrassment to another room to change.
He hesitantly stepped out, feeling exposed without his large hoodie.
“You look great!” Envy encouraged, taking his hand and pulling him over to a mirror.
The pink emotion glanced up at his reflection, relieved to see he didn’t look ridiculous or anything..but he still felt incredibly silly and vulnerable without his hoodie to hide most of his figure.
“I-I don’t know about this…” He muttered, tugging on the hem of his shirt.
“Don’t worry, I’ve gone through every possible scenario where this goes wrong and as long as you follow the plan there’s only a fraction of a chance of this failing.”
Anxiety told him.
“Yup! I helped make sure she didn’t add anything too far fetched in there, like scenario 82.” Envy added.
“I still think we should’ve prepared for it, just in case…” Anxiety muttered, looking over her clipboard that she'd suddenly pulled out.
“Point is, we are confident in the plan and in you big guy!” Envy said, hugging her brother’s leg.
Embarrassment smiled slightly.
“..Okay, thanks.”
“That’s the spirit! Now you just gotta write that letter.” Anxiety told him.
He nodded.
“I think I have an idea…”
“Okay, final check just in case.
Hair and outfit?”
“Check!”
“Breath?”
Envy took a quick sniff.
“Check!”
“Flowers?”
“Check!”
“The letter?”
“C-Check.”
Anxiety smiled and nodded, crossing off everything on her list.
“Now you just gotta go to her,say hi, give a complement and give her the gifts.”
“And remember to stay cool!” Envy added.
Embarrassment nodded and looked over his shoulder.
Sadness was in the corner, sorting the manuals after someone (Envy) had messed with them and left them all over the place.
Knowing there was no packing away now, he turned and headed her way.
Envy and Anxiety stayed by the bedroom door, far enough to give privacy but close enough to see and give moral support.
As he approached Sadness, Embarrassment felt his face heating up and his hands getting sweaty.
He gulped, focused entirely on the blue emotion and the feelings she stirred up within him.
He was so focused in fact, that he failed to notice a wire that was left over from recent renovations.
“H-Hi Sa-” He spoke, but his foot got tangled in the wire and he lost his footing.
Envy gasped and covered her mouth in shock, Anxiety gripped her hair and whispered ‘Scenario 82!’, avoiding screaming it outright.
Sadness turned just in time to see Embarrassment fall down in front of her, the thud as he hit the ground was loud and caused everyone to look over as well.
The flowers scattered, one falling on top of his nose.
There was a moment of tense silence.
With speed none knew him capable of, Embarrassment freed himself from the wire and ran out the room.
Sadness watched him go, trying to call out to him.
She stopped when she stepped on something and looked down.
She picked up the folded piece of paper Embarrassment had dropped during his escape.
Seeing her name on top, she unfolded the paper and started reading.
“Embarrassment, please come out? I-It really wasn’t that bad!” Anxiety said, trying to coax her brother out of the bathroom he’d locked himself in.
“Y-Yeah, no one really even noticed.” Envy said, hoping a little lie might make him feel better.
There was no response, not even a whine.
“Oh, this is a disaster…” Anxiety whimpered, leaning her head against the door.
Envy sat on the floor, unsure how to help Embarrassment
“Excuse me.”
The two looked towards the voice, seeing Sadness standing only a few feet away from them.
“Can I try talking to him?” She asked, looking between them.
The sister’s glanced at each other, then back to Sadness.
“Yeah, good luck.” Envy said as she stood up and stepped back from the door.
Sadness walked over, lifting her hand to knock when Anxiety stopped her.
“Wait. Just…be gentle with him please, he’s in a really..delicate condition right now.” The orange emotion pleaded.
Sadness nodded in understanding and softly knocked on the door while the other two moved back to give her space.
“Embarrassment? It’s me, can I come in?”
She heard a soft shuffle inside, but nothing else.
“I..I read your poem.” She said, pulling the piece of paper out of her pocket.
She heard a squeak from the bathroom, confirming he could hear her.
“I think it’s beautiful..melancholy, but hopeful and warm.
I didn’t know you had such a way with words.” There was a soft ‘thump’ inside the bathroom as the other emotion moved next to the door.
“..You..You like it?” Embarrassment asked, voice soft and hesitant.
“I do, and I’m really flattered..I didn’t think anyone would think that way about me.” She admitted.
The door opened a crack and a pink eye peeked out at her.
“...I-I think you’re amazing Sadness..so kind, smart a-and beautiful.”
The blue emotion blushed and cracked a small shy smile at his words.
“I think you’re amazing too, can I come in? So we can talk more?”
Embarrassment opened the door enough for her to fit through, then closed it again.
A while later, the two came out of the bathroom.
No one said anything, not wanting to make Embarrassment feel bad again.
Envy and Anxiety sat on the couch with Ennui, all three were relieved to see their brother out of the bathroom.
Embarrassment looked over at them, giving a small nod to let them know he was okay before turning his attention to Sadness.
She showed him the flowers she had picked up from the ground and placed into a vase, thanking him for them before taking them up to the bedroom.
His siblings silently cheered for him while Embarrassment blushed.