#self-doubt warning

"Just what is it that you are doing?" A voice spoke from behind the thief that narrowly startled them enough to knock them off of their balance. They'd whip behind to see what had caught them so off-guard, but... It was just a mirror with their reflection. The thief would scan everywhere they could see, attempting to spot whoever spoke to them, but... There wasn't exactly a direction that they could tell the voice was coming from- and there was no movement or bodies here aside from their own. It was just an abandoned jewelry shop... Lit up by the moon's gentle and deceptive embrace.

Giving a huff, the phantom would simply return to their plundering, hoping that they wouldn't hear anything else aside from their footsteps and their voice if they were to speak. Which... Unfortunately would be the case, for better or worse. Gently picking up a gem they knew to be fragile, they'd look it over for any imperfections. Any gem was perfect, but some were made more expensive with some. Selling these off would make great money for those that they saw roam the streets without a goal. Without a home.

"Do you believe you are in the right for defiling this place?" The voice spoke again, and Roguefort nearly dropped the gem they were holding. Even gripping it as tight as they did crack it. Great... Well, it would still be worth something. It would always be worth something. Taking a deep breath, the thief of gems and hearts would observe their surroundings once more. Nothing but their reflection in the mirror of the spinning bracelet holder, that of which held jewelry coated in expensive stones. Some things were meant to be left alone, for one reason or another. Perhaps a spirit would like to wear one of those? Ah, as ridiculous of a notion it was, it was something that gave them comfort.

A spirit wearing regalia would make it happy... Hah. Maybe their family would appreciate receiving and wearing such things. Could they wear such? In their spiritual forms? Gemstones were typically regarded as something spiritual, were they not? Maybe Roguefort is just getting too swept up in their thoughts again... Setting the cracked gemstone into a hidden pocket of their dress shirt, they'd continue on with their thievery.

Now that they thought about it... Why did that voice sound familiar? It was so close to their own. Perhaps they should think less about it and simply continue getting whatever they could... Harder gemstones first, then the softer ones. And this one cracked stone could be the exception. There was always some little exception, even in the perfect heists, that made them more interesting to experience.

"...I hope you know that this is the time you will not be getting out of this freely." And though they were still surprised, the voice that couldn't be placed as anyone but their own would speak to them. It didn't stop there, either. The statement wracked fear through the thief, though they knew it to be true. There was no way a place that lacked any guard wouldn't have some other form of defense.

"You let yourself come in here, knowing there was some form of magic security. You didn't know what it was, yet you still did it anyway. How much of an idiot could you be? Devout follower of the Moon, the one that can't ever be anything close to a believer... You've fallen, haven't you? Look at yourself. A thief without a home, without friends or family, wandering through these buildings and letting yourself get caught like this. Don't you know what will happen when the department catches someone like you? You saw how they treated you last time, so how will this time be any different? You can't just expect to-"

"I don't have time to listen to her 'highness' and her illusions."

"You have all you could ever ask for. Money, fame, safety, family..." The inquisitor never meant any harm in asking such things, especially not in the private light, but... Sometimes the words could be construed that way. Mint never saw that side of these words spoken, though he knew others would. The violinist would give a gentle sigh, setting his head into his hand as a means to support it whilst leaning forward.

"Have you ever thought of what it is like to lose yourself? To look at yourself in the mirror and see nothing that looks remotely like you within it?" Rhetorical questions that wouldn't be given a pause for an answer. "Or, perhaps, you look at the world around you and it is simply some farce? Your mind knows that it must be real, yet it also rings thoughts in your mind that there is something falsified. Some may see things whilst being stuck within their own mind, and others... Well, some are just stuck in the static."

It was... Odd to discuss such things. Sure, this was a private space, but there was still something strange about finally being able to express something that he felt to be a misconception on his part. Even when set in some ways, other ways will never be entirely solved. Not now, at least. "There is some deeply festering fear in me as of late..." Mint would only sigh seeing the look of concern his dear loyal listener would give him. He really needed to give this fellow a raise for dealing with him so often...

"Late nights being kept up by thoughts of 'if you wake up tomorrow, what if you aren't you'? Start spacing out one moment in a stressful situation, and all of a sudden you aren't acting as yourself. A different name shows itself and exists for who knows how long until you return... Without a single memory as to what had just occurred. No one knows if that name will return, if it even had one in the first place, but the prospect of it is... Scary to me. Terrifying, even. What if I am not me? What if I am just some falsified narrative to myself? It seems like imposter syndrome, yet I know there is something else here... Or so I think."

A moment of silence. Spouting so much at once could have been a mistake. He... He sounds like a madman, doesn’t he? Ah, but if he were tell anyone of this, it would likely be the one and only that is listening now. And yet, when the violinist could spark enough to look at the other, there was no disgust or anything of the sort. It was simply... Curiosity, if not just a smidge of worry laced within it.

"Do you have any possible idea on what that 'something else' is...?"

Croissant:

- Siblings with Hero, and best friends with Sandwich! Creating things that they love or are proud of runs in the family/friend group. - Very self-conscious and often believes in others too much, especially when others talk about her. - Thinks that others are talking behind her back in the TBD, but tries to brush it off. - Her role to become Timekeeper is almost always pre-destined, but the methods of becoming them are different between timelines. Though the first turned over out of boredom, most came from Croissant wanting to help others even better than she was already. - She often has bouts of ‘if I’m not helping people, am I really worth it’ and other things of the like. - Her favorite food is waffles with butter only, no syrup or sugar. - Croissant can’t actually handle that much praise, and too much of such will overwhelm her. - More often than not she’ll lose her goggles by forgetting that they’re on her head!

Raspberry:

For someone as young as Grapefruit, education was important. Sure, learning was important at any age, yet it was shoved down her throat again and again how important it was how she needed to grow up with great grades to be someone great. Otherwise... She's just some dumb as rocks cookie. That's all.

Gripping her pencil in hand, staring at the page before her with a calculator by her side, the words melded into nothing but garbage. The skater whined, trying to squint and read the words over. Yes, those were words, but what they meant was a total loss to her. It frustrated her to no end- Unable to come up with a single answer or even process anything that she was supposed to do. Her grades were plumiting, and she knew this was exactly why.

'This is how things must be then, huh.' Grapefruit's mind spoke to her, prodding her whilst the paper only gained incoherent scribbles of what she thought was answers. 'That's not right. That's too small of a number. Idiot.' She knew that! She knew that very well. It was at least something she knew, since she was 'too dumb' to know anything else.

In frustration, Grapefruit set her pencil down, pulling her chair back to awknowledge her thoughts. It was true. She was an idiot. All this school business- being a smart cookie- she wasn't meant for any of this. Older sis Orange was so smart, and yet here she was floundering around like a useless pile of dough.

'Useless.' Her own mind came again, shaking her breath and dampening her eyes. 'What a waste. What good are you if you can't do the one thing your parents praised you for? Some golden child you are.'

Whimpering, the infuriated skater put her head in her hands, tears beginning to break their stagnant flow. She's a failure. Not good enough. Nothing she did was enough. That's all dhe wanted to be- she just wanted to be enough.

And yet, she never will be.