Oh, the joys of animatronics! What was that? Karens? Ah, shoot.

And oh no, you've seen me when I'm low, will you leave me now?

Maddie had so far avoided coming in at the same time as the coworker that she tended to loathe.

She felt a bit guilty about it, now that she had thought things through. Jamilla... from what she heard from the others, she wasn't stuck up. She was just socially awkward. Oh, and she took anxiety meds.

Still, there was that remaining layer of anger that she couldn't seem to break.

However, her perfect streak of avoiding said coworker was now broken, with them having literally run face-first into each other.

Jamilla's forehead knocked painfully off her chin, and she heard a pained noise come from the younger woman. Maddie stumbled backward, yelling wordlessly, as she held her now-sore chin.

Jamilla fell backwards, momentum sending her into a partial sprawl. Her legs and bottom smacked painfully off the metal floor, the noise drawing a sympathy wince from Maddie. She blinked away the slight blurriness of her vision, looking down at the brunette scrambling to her feet.

She was a mess.

Jamilla's hair was awry, a variety of cowlicks sticking straight up or out. Her gray-blue eyes had deep bags beneath them. And sure, Monty had made jokes, but she didn't actually expect Jamilla to look nearly as pale as a corpse. It was a far cry from Maddie's own naturally tan skin.

"Ohhh my lord— I am so, so sorry! I really need to get to Monty, I have some questions I need answered, and then Mr. Smith asked me to grab something to keep in my love for him, and Michael asked me to check into a security office so he could have my account, and—"

"Woah!" Maddie interrupted, holding her hands out placatingly. She genuinely felt a little bad for the woman. "It's fine. Besides, you're looking pretty rough. You need any help?" Maddie didn't think Jamilla could pale any more.

"No! No, sorry, I don't need help, I just— I need to do these, and then I need to figure out what to do for Monty, and— Ballora mentioned maybe needing help with something earlier, and I just—" She cut herself off with a frustrated noise. Maddie nodded slowly, getting out her phone and sending Monty a text, thankful that she had been given their numbers.

Maddog:Jamilla looks like shes gon have a panic attack

Ignoring the responding ping, she focused on keeping Jamilla calm enough and where she was.

"It will be fine, Jamilla—"

"Jay. Please." Maddie nodded.

"Jay. It'll be alright. Mr.Smith will understand, and so will Mike. And I'm sure the questions for Monty can wait." Jamilla— Jay— made a distressed noise, and Maddie knew that wasn't working.

"Besides!" She cut in quickly, before Jay could object. "You fly through all your writing. You can fix anything with Monty, that way you can at least have a rough draft, maybe multiple! More choices than one is better, right?" Maddie questioned, praying that was the right thing to say.

Evidently, it was not.

"No!" Jay exploded. "It has to be right! Otherwise I need to rewrite it completely! And I hate options! Options suck! Why do I need to choose!? Why can't you just tell me what to do!?" The woman's voice cracked, and suddenly Maddie had the feeling this wasn't about the story.

"Yeah? They do kinda suck. But, what if you got told to do something you didn't like?" Jay gave her an odd look.

"Do I have a choice?" She asked. Maddie blinked.

"What?"

"A choice," Jay clarified, eyes getting more crazed again. "I may not have a choice. If I do, no, not doing that, but what if I don't!? Do I— I have a choice? Do I!?" Jay began to sound hysterical, hands reaching for her hair.

Maddie caught them before she could think better of it. She froze, grip loose and gentle but firm enough to stop her.

But the normally touch-adverse brunette didn't even seem to mind. Instead she just tilted her head back, a noise of deep distress coming from her throat.

I am not prepared for this. Maddie thought. This was clearly some sort of anxiety-induced mental breakdown. Jay squeezed her eyes shut, head falling back forward into her and Maddie's hands.

"You do have a choice. You should always have a choice." Maddie hesitated. "...was there a time when you didn't?" Jay shuddered in response. Maddie frowned. She looked to the door Jay had come out of, seeing her office.

"Let's get into your office, alright?" She said carefully. Jay suckked in a breath, a small nod being her response. Maddie let go of her wrists.

She opened the door, gently grabbing Jay's hand to bring her in. For a second, Maddie marveled at the comfy space, icicle lights hung up around the room, a desk with various gems and rocks, and a small beanbag with a squishmallow atop it surprising her.

Maddie led Jay to the beanbag, giving her the squishmallow. She almost laughed when she saw it— a Monty squishmallow. Of course. The big lizard himself probably gave it to her.

/

Jay sank backwards, her eyes locked on her shoes as she gripped the mini-Monty in a death grip. Maddie took the opportunity to check Monty's texts

PrehistoricLizard:what???? where?????

PrehistoricLizard:MADDIE!?!?!?

PrehistoricLizard:is she alright?????

PrehistoricLizard:C'mon MADDIE!!!!!!!!! ANSWER ME!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!???

Maddog:Yeah, she's.... Alright-ish, now. Is she autistic, perchance? Or is it just really bad anxiety? First it was about needing to do multiple things at once, but the moment I mentioned choices and writing multiple things she looked ready to cry–

Maddie looked back at Jay curled around the plush, eyes squeezed tight.

PrehistoricLizard:no???? shes not as far as I know? its not on her medical file. where are you?

Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. Monty responded.

Maddog:Her office. I think she needs an actual familiar face right now. This seems like a breakdown or a meltdown of some sort.

Maddie clicked her phone off, watching Jay. Aside from her muscles tensing to painful degrees, on seemingly random, Jay was... alright, the mental breakdown aside. Whatever this was, it was definitely some kind of triggered anxiety response. A pretty bad one at that.

Monty arrived, and Maddie left. She gave him a nod, and he tended to the ball on the beanbag.

Maddie ignored the worry prickling in her gut.