Inside Out 2 Oneshots!

You LIKE her! (Sadness x Embarrassment)

Requested by harrypottersis356! I'm so SO sorry about the delay, a whole bunch of stuff came up irl </3 But I hope this came out well :)

These two are so cute but there's a surprising lack of content for them??

---

Embarrassment was... shy, for lack of a better word.

While he was physically quite large, his presence never took up much space at all. He seemed to go out of his way to be practically invisible, melting into the background whenever possible and always doing his best not to trip over anyone else's feet.

He rarely said anything in the beginning, and if he did, it was likely to Anxiety. He would sometimes mumble a word or two to Envy or Ennui. It was easier to talk to those he knew, those he had been with before they all came to Headquarters, those who knew him and could brush off his tendency to be embarrassed about anything and everything.

Over time, he became the slightest bit more comfortable with the others, even speaking up occasionally (before instantly withdrawing again and hiding his face in his hoodie), but that wasn't saying much. 

He couldn't help but freeze anytime anyone tried to speak to him. Joy's boundless enthusiasm could be overwhelming, and he couldn't reciprocate it no matter how hard he tried. Anger and Disgust almost always managed to seem judgemental in some way, even if they weren't trying to be. Fear was either jumpy or sassy, and Embarrassment couldn't help but feel like he and the others were always watching him, wary, waiting for him to grab them again, suppress them again... 

He felt ashamed even thinking about it.

But then there was Sadness.

She was... calming, for lack of a better word. Soothing. She knew the importance of having a good cry, of allowing yourself to feel bad about something before going to fix it.

She wasn't just nice, she was kind. She was considerate, too, and good at comforting people. She was welcoming and easy to relax around.

Just thinking about her made his face warm, but it wasn't the same as the uncomfortable way his face burned when he tripped or made a mistake or spoke too loud. This was softer, like warming your hands by the fireplace rather than sticking them straight in.

He found his thoughts straying this way often, when he saw her across the Headquarters, or when she laid a comforting hand on his arm when everything became too much and he had to hide again. 

But then, he would realize that he was thinking about her an awful lot, that it was probably strange to do so as often as he did, and that comforting warmth started to burn him again, leaving him cringing behind his hoodie, feeling like his skin was sizzling.

Why was he thinking about her so often, anyway? He had to--

"Hey! Embarrassment!"

He jumped, looking over to see Envy standing beside him. Why hadn't he noticed her approaching? Now he was embarrassed for a different reason. At least he was distracted now...

"Why are you still sitting here? We have to go to bed! Why are you staring into space?" Envy prodded, almost speaking too quickly to keep up with. "Were you remembering something again? You looked all red, but also you always look all red, so--"

Nope, never mind, no longer distracted. Oh, jeez, was he that obvious? As she continued to speculate on what he could be thinking about, he grew steadily more... well, embarrassed, beginning to shake his head at her with a pleading expression of please be quiet, making an 'abort' motion with his hands.

Before she could take notice and stop, however, another voice chimed in.

"Is everything alright?" Sadness asked with a hint of concern, looking between the two.

Embarrassment jumped again, his face burning in a way that must have been visible, but he couldn't bring himself to hide for some reason. Instead, he just nodded sheepishly with a wave. Oh, what was that?

Sadness smiled slightly, the expression small but genuine. "Alright," she said, adjusting her glasses on her nose. She returned the wave, already moving to walk off. "I just wanted to say goodnight. Get some rest before tomorrow, okay?" And then she was on her way.

Embarrassment kept the wave up for a little longer, stammering out a timid "g-goodnight" far quieter than he wanted it to be. He winced. That probably wasn't loud enough for her to hear, was it? But he couldn't repeat it louder, in case she actually did hear it, and what if his voice cracked? 

Suddenly, he remembered the presence of Envy, who was being far too quiet right now. Silence from Envy was almost never a good sign. Slowly, he looked over at her.

She had a smile on her face that almost seemed mischievous, a look of realization in her eyes.

Uh oh.

"Ohhh," she said, slightly quieter than before. For some reason, this didn't make Embarrassment feel any better. "I get it!"

She leaned a little closer, the mischief in her expression only becoming more apparent. "You like her."

Embarrassment practically short-circuited.

What?

He wanted to play dumb, to ask what she meant, to say that obviously he liked her, the same way he liked anyone else, but he couldn't. His face was already completely red, and he knew that whatever expression he had was doing himself no favors.

He knew exactly what she meant. There was no way he could deny that. But... like her? Like that? There was no way, right?

He was already shaking his head 'no' frantically, thinking of all the reasons he definitely, absolutely didn't like her, even if she was nice, and kind, and soft, and comforting, and practically the only person he could relax around, even if it was just for a little while...

Oh no.

Envy beamed. "You do! I knew it!" she crowed triumphantly before lowering her voice again. At least she was being quiet about it, he supposed, even though every word she said still felt way too loud in the silence of the empty control room. He pulled his hood closed around his head.

This seemed to get Envy to lay off a bit. "Don't worry, I won't tell," she said in a way that was probably supposed to be comforting but held too much giddiness to be effective. She sounded like the cat that caught the canary, smug about her deduction skills. 

He was not assured in the slightest.

"I'm the only one who knows, right? Well, don't worry, it can be a secret!" She sounded happy about that. Envy was nosy at the best of times and hated not knowing things, so she was always excited to be entrusted with secrets. This, unfortunately, did not make her any better at keeping said secrets. 

"All you need is a wingman, and I know just who can help!"

He pulled his hood closed even tighter, but his nose still stuck out, just as red as the rest of his face. His mind was scrambling, freaking out about the idea that he might actually have a crush on Sadness, especially with the stray thought here or there that such a thing might not be so bad...

Who was he kidding? A crush? It was bad enough that he had one, but now Envy knew. She had figured it out before him just by watching one interaction. If he was that obvious, who else knew? Did Sadness know?

"I'll be your wingman! Don't worry, Embarrassment, I'll help you get the girl," Envy chimed with a grin and a teasing wiggle of her eyebrows.

He couldn't suppress a strangled noise of despair, burying his face in his hands.

He was doomed.

---

This turned out as more of a short feelings realization than anything, I hope that's alright! I struggled with this one a lot for some reason :( 

I really need to stop starting these with introspection,, breaking news in future works no one will ever have thoughts again (/j)

Word count: 1200