Heartsick

He checked the clock…2:12…and then again. 2:20. Vanitas rubbed his eyes, burying his face in his hands for a moment to block everything out. Eight minutes had never felt so long. He’d only been at it for an hour or so and the threat of a headache was thrumming in his temples. 

Looking at anything in this town gave him eyestrain. Everything drenched in blown out, cheery colors…a childish paradise. And speaking of, most of Disney Town’s schools had been dismissed by now, filling the streets with the laughter of school kids, their incessant prattling. How they’d always come up to the counter, asking for samples after samples after samples… He’d already been reprimanded for telling one kid to fuck off earlier in the week. He’d keep his lips sealed, for today. 

Vanitas finished assembling a kid’s order— some special item they had going now to celebrate the Queen, the Double Crunch, ‘a mixed ice cream so full of fruit, you might just go a little bananas’ was what the chalkboard read; ‘might’ was an understatement. His hands were sticky from spilling the syrup, probably stuck somewhere in his hair too from when he adjusted his hat. Still, he relished in the moment of having no customers, finally.  

Who knew working at an ice cream stand could be so exhausting? 

The moment was short-lived as he saw his three little Floods, scampering towards the stand, groceries in hand.

What were they doing? 

“No, you—“ Vanitas refrained on the insult, partially because he knew it would only hurt him in the end— the rush of upset he’d feel through the connection with his Floods— and partially from being under the watchful eyes (and ears) of Scrooge. Through gritted teeth he ushered a Thank you. This time they actually had done what was asked of them. A miracle. “—but you don’t bring this here, okay? You bring it home." 

”…And get off the counter!” Ironic for him to say, being known for leaning on it, draping over it, sitting on it. 

He would try to get through to them (to himself?) as best he could. 

Oh. Home, right. Of course they were supposed to bring it home. That made far more sense in retrospect. this one bring crunchy crunchy home! Those ones eat icy sweet sweet.

One of the three broke away, the bag trailing behind it as it took off, and the remaining two Floods scampered off the counter to crowd his feet and look pitiful. Ice cream for the Floods, Mind? Ice cream for the hungry, hungry Floods?

Ven couldn’t help a laugh as the flood’s expression lit up. “See, I told you. It’s better soaked in sauce. At least, I always thought. Aqua used to tease that I only like them because of the sauce.” Ven moved a little closer. “Is it okay if I have some?”

It gave him a long look, clearly debating before eventually it pushed one over. just one. one these octopus balls. rest this one’s.

“Don’t huff at me.“ Ven lightly poked at the flood. “Try it. It’s just fried octopus. Master Eraqus used to make it for Terra, Aqua, and me. It’s good.”

It gave the Missing One a dubious look, then turned said look onto the plate of snacks. Good, he said. It didn’t look like it would be that tasty. Slowly it inhaled one of them.

“What.” Ven looked down at the flood to see what it was talking about. He crouched, taking a closer look. “Oh, that’s food. Have you tried it?”

Ven was starting to understand, at least. There was a lot that he still had to learn, but if Xehanort tried to force him and Vanitas to do what he wanted, there wasn’t going to be time to learn - and if the two of them merged on their own terms, wouldn’t the Unversed disappear anyways and, therefore, there still wouldn’t be time to learn.

“If Vanitas can feel all of this, why does he keep sending all of you out? If it hurts him, why doesn’t he find a way to stop it?” Ven wasn’t sure, but he thought, maybe, the only way to stop it was for Vanitas to become whole again, merging with him. Ven slumped slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize all of this before. I’m sorry you all hurt because of our Keyblades.”

missing one fix, it replied, giving him a flat look. It was very expressive for a creature with no visible face. only whole fix. old one, blah blah blah. many orders, mind send these ones out, send away. old one want.

It flattened against the ground for a moment, clearly thinking.

tagged by @fledgling--emotions​

repost  &  tag  away !  

BOLD all that applies to your muse.

italicized  -  applicable in some way.

• eyes:   blue | green | brown | hazel | gray | gray-blue | other (red)

• hair:   blonde | sandy | brown | black | auburn | ginger | grey | white | multi-color | other 

• body type:   skinny | slender | slim | built | curvy | athletic | average | muscular | pudgy | overweight (unverse also come in many body types)

• skin:   pale | light | fair | freckled | tan  | olive | medium | dark | discolored | other (blue and so many colors)

• gender:   male | female | trans | cis | agender (feelings don’t have genders) | demigender | genderfluid | other | doesn’t like labels

• sexuality:   heterosexual | homosexual | bisexual | pansexual | asexual | demisexual | other | unsure | doesn’t like labels

• romantic orientation:   homoromantic | heteroromantic | biromantic |  panromantic | aromantic (emotions don’t have romantic intentions???)| demiromantic | unsure | doesn’t like labels

• species:   human | undead | shapeshifter | demon | angel | witch | ghost | incubus / succubus | werewolf | alien | mutant | android | other (dliteral emotions?)

• education:   high school | college | university | master’s degree | PhD | other (whatever Vanitas got i guess)

• i’ve been: in love | hurt | ill | mentally abused | bullied | physically abused  | tortured | brainwashed | shot

• positive traits:  affectionate | adventurous | athletic | brave | careful | charming | confident | creative | cunning | determined | forgiving | generous | honest | humorous | intelligent | loyal | modest | patient | selfless | polite | down-to-earth | diligent | romantic | moral | fun-loving | charismatic | calm

• negative traits:  aggressive | bossy | cynical | envious | shy | fearful | greedy | gullible |jealous | impatient | impulsive | cocky | reckless | insecure | irresponsible | mistrustful | paranoid | possessive | sarcastic | self-conscious | selfish | swears | unstable | clumsy | rebellious | emotional | vengeful | anxious | self-sabotaging | moody | peevish | angry | pessimistic | slacker | thin skinned | overly dramatic | argumentative

• living situation:   lives alone | lives with parent(s) / guardian(s) | lives with significant other | lives with friends | drifter | homeless | lives with children | other (unverse require supervision. they do not have supervision)

• parents/guardian:   mother  | father | adoptive | aunt | uncle | foster | grandmother | grandfather | other (vanitas)

• sibling(s):   sister(s) | brother(s) | none | other

• relationship:   single | crushing | dating | engaged | married | separated | it’s complicated | verse dependent

• i have a(n):   developmental disorder | learning disorder | personality disorder | mental disorder | anxiety disorder | sleep disorder | eating disorder | behavioural disorder | substance-related disorder | PTSD | mental disability | physical disability | other

• things i’ve done before:   had alcohol | smoked | stolen | done drugs | self-harmed | starved | had sex | had a threesome | had a one-night stand | gotten into a fist fight | gone to hospital / infirmary | gone to jail | used a fake ID | played hooky | gone to a rave | killed someone | had someone try to kill them

C   :   CHOCOLATE.   does your muse like chocolate? which one is their favourite?

Yes. These ones love ALL the chocolate. You should give it to them. All of it. Right now.

U   :   UNREQUITED.   has your muse had their heart broken?

Yes and no? No because they don’t have hearts to break, they’re just physical manifestations of Vanitas’ emotions but also yes because they have semi feelings outside of the emotion they were created with on occasion but really no. They don’t quite get the fuzzy warms the way other people do, and have never been “in love” or had any real attachments outside Vanitas and sort of Ventus.

X   :   XOXO.   does your muse use / like pet names?

B   :   BOUQUET.   does your muse like flowers? which ones are their favourite?

Flowers are tasty, so yeah. They like flowers. Their favorite are ones made of candy.

E   :   EMBRACE.   does your muse like hugs? what are their hugs like?

The unversed have mixed feelings about hugs; they’re not entirely sure how they work or what they’re for, but they make Vanitas feel the fuzzy warms sometimes when they do it, so he’s allowed to hug them. As for whether or not they like hugs from other people, they’re on the fence. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they don’t but it depends a lot on the muse whether or not they’ll allow it.

Aqua for example, may manage to hug one of the smaller Unversed if she can convince one she isn’t gonna hurt it and that it’ll feel nice, but a Terra on the other hand, at the current relationship level, will never ever ever get to touch one out of a fight bc they never trust Terra lmao. It’ll require a lot of work on his end to get that interaction.

(Or an AU lmao.)Y   :   YOURS.   does your muse get protective easily?

That… was a lot of information to process, especially with the erratic and repetitive “language” the flood expressed. Ven used the visuals of the rocks to try to keep up, listened, processed, and went over everything in his mind to translate it into something he understood better.

“I think I get it. You’re all just different… pieces of the same being. So even though I’m talking to a Flood now, if I talk to Hareraiser later, I’m still talking to ‘you’.” It made a little bit more sense. “And you all feel it when one of ‘you’ is hurt or…”

Though Ven hated Vanitas and, by extension, the Unversed, for all the trouble since leaving home, he’d never really understood how much it hurt them when he used his Keyblade to destroy them. “Wait, so Vanitas feels it too, when we use our Keyblades? Because he’s part of ‘you’?”

yes! missing one understand. Well, for a given value of understand. The Missing One couldn’t completely comprehend the situation since he was not properly connected to them anymore, but he got the concept enough to put pieces together at least. Excellent.