Archive of Our Own ^beta

Riley had started having debate classes at school.

She and her class would take turns arguing in favor of or against certain topics, and they would form debate groups. Once a week, the debate class was filled with loud and confident voices, full of persuasion and conviction, each one trying to enlighten and defend their points of view in a fair manner by the law.

Riley took the challenge with open arms.

She soon found out that she loved the debate, the possibilities, the implications, the tension, and the satisfaction of a conclusion.

Truth be told, her group was not always the winning side. That was part of the journey. She was slowly learning how to deal with it.

In the Control Room, her emotions were also learning how to better help her navigate this new moment of her life.

Anxiety would always take charge a couple days earlier, making her feel the urgency to research the debate topics down to the smallest detail so her argumentation would be solid. When the topics were a bit denser, Sadness would assist the research process. They soon discovered that this caused Riley to develop a new and important feeling towards other people - empathy.

On the day before, both Sadness and Anxiety would step away from the panel so Riley could sleep better for the big day.

For those nights right before the debate, Joy and Ennui discovered that their partnership on the panel would cause Riley to feel a very welcome feeling of confidence, which would also help her calm down to sleep.

It was right on the big day that Anger and Joy would take over the panel.

All the emotions would sit down around them to watch.

It was glorious.

Their hands would move together through the buttons and sections of the panel, almost in a dance, a synchronized flow of sensations and convictions that came out of Riley’s lips and which materialized all her efforts and commitment.

Anger didn’t need to look at Joy to know what he had to do, and yet he would look at her. He was impressed with that side of hers that he had never seen before - euphoria. She sparkled, her contours vibrated, and she would stretch and twirl over the panel like water. Right there, for just a moment, he would remember why she was the very first emotion to arise in Riley’s mind.

Amidst her twirls and stretches, Joy would also look at Anger, who was always deeply focused and with frowned eyebrows. She was impressed with this side of him that she had never seen before - focus. She watched the heat waves flowing from the top of his head, moderated, like embers in a bonfire. She watched him lift the corner of his mouth, the way he loosened the collar of his shirt, the firmness of his hands as he pulled the levers on the panel. All those things would lead her to remember the very first memory caused by him that was taken to the Well of Convictions, to become a string of conviction. I will fight for what I believe, it said the voice reverberating from the string.

The emotions celebrated Riley and her group on yet another win in the debate class.

Joy and Anger let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

Anger leaned on the edge of the panel for support, and one of his hands touched something.

His eyes widened as he realized it was one of Joy’s hands right below his. He met her eyes for half a second before pulling his hand back.

She smiled and offered him a handshake.

“Whew!”, she said. “One more victory of ours for the collection. Come on!”

He hesitated for a moment before shaking her hand.

“Yes, one more” he said with a half-smile. “Congratulations”.

Joy turned around to hug Anxiety, Sadness, and Disgust which were the closest ones.

Anger turned once again to the panel and looked at the screen, where he could see Riley celebrating the win with her friends.

...

The emotions went to sleep after Riley.

Joy sent the memories of the day to the Long-Term, as she would always do. She had never used the gadget she had built to get rid of the bad memories again. Now she fully understood their importance in the bigger picture of building Riley’s Sense of Self.

Disgust, already dressed in pajamas and a silk bonnet, spotted Anger sitting alone in front of the glass wall.

That was their observing point, from which they could see the Personality Islands, the Abyss of Oblivion, the labyrinth of the Long-Term Memories, and even have a glance of the Sarcasm Pit in the distance.

“Enjoying the view?” she asked, coming closer.

He immediately frowned and put on a serious face.

“Don’t even start with me”.

“I was only going to say congratulations for the debate”, she said. “I love to see the other group’s faces filled with defeat. I can’t wait for next week.”

Anger kept looking through the glass.

“Yes, it was nice”, he grumbled. “Thank you”.

“I never thought I would see you one day completely head over heels for Joy” she blurted out with a smile.

“SAY WHAT?”

This time he looked directly at her and the heat waves and flames started to grow on his head.

“I don’t care about your temper”, she said. “But I’m not blind. I will never forget your face when you touched her hand earlier today”.

The flames on his head started to fade.

He looked behind them, where Joy was finishing organizing things for the next day.

There it was.

The face that Disgust was so sure she had seen. A vulnerable face, with arched eyebrows, widened eyes and lips slightly parted.

Then, faster than the blink of an eye, his face dropped and got serious again.

“It doesn’t mean anything” he grumbled in a huffy tone.

“Disgust, aren’t you coming to bed?”

They turned to see Envy approaching.

“I’m on my way” she smiled.

“What are you two talking about?” she asked them.

“About Anger having butterflies in his stomach for Joy” she giggled.

“SAY WHAT?”

This time, the heat waves and flames burst faster on the top of his head. He gritted his teeth.

“Are you surprised with this?” asked Envy, looking him in the eyes.

The shock caused by those words made his flames fade once more.

“I wish someone would look at me the same way she looks at you”, said Envy.

He tried to retort, but nothing came out.

Before he could try again, Joy came to them.

“Hey all, give Anger a break” Joy said, smiling. “Today was an incredible and intense experience. I need to go down to the Well of Convictions with a memory, will you come with me?”

She stretched a hand to him, and Anger took it.

Joy led him to the tubelevator before Envy and Disgust could say anything else.

They went down in silence, side by side.

“Wow”. Anger would always feel overwhelmed down there, even though he didn’t go there very often.

That clean, dark-blue water, the floating memories, the bright strings of conviction, the calm atmosphere.

He saw Joy going to the edge of the water and sitting down in a way that her feet were touching it.

That was when he realized she didn’t bring any memories with her.

He removed his shoes and sat by her side, touching the water.

“Thank you”, he said. “For getting me out of there”.

“No worries” she said, with a smile. “It is more peaceful here. I know that sometimes those two can be… A bit much.”

He nodded silently, watching the water ripples.

When he put one of his hands on the ground, he realized that the tip of his fingers were touching hers.

“Anger” she said, softly. “You were not yourself after today’s debate. You did not return to the panel, you stayed away from us, and wouldn't say a word to anyone. However, I feel like you want to say something.”

He sighed, feeling uneasy.

He moved his hand further so his fingertips would intertwine with hers.

“I will never forget”, he said, “the day you lost your temper. We were lost in the Long-Term labyrinth, clueless about where to go. You were being so positive, and all we did was complain about you.”

He felt when she pressed his fingertips between hers.

“Then, out of the sudden, you yelled at us” Anger continued with a half-smile. “You kicked the air, told us to go fork ourselves. I had never seen you so angry before. It was on that day that I realized you were so much more than just endlessly positive, there was more to you. And when I offered you a hand and encouraged you to keep going, I realized that there was more in me as well.”

Her fingers slowly intertwined themselves a bit more between his.

“I see Sadness and Embarrassment together, also Anxiety and Ennui, I see the partnerships between them and the complexity of what they bring to Riley. When the debates started at school, we began to lead them together, and… I wished for this partnership. I knew I wouldn’t want to be anywhere that wasn’t by your side.”

Anger realized that her hand was now fully intertwined with his.

“I want to be important to you, Joy”, he said, at last. “As you are to me.”

“You are important to me” she said, with her eyes contemplating the water. “Our partnership brought good things to Riley. It made her more focused, more euphoric. It’s proof of how we make her better when we are together, and of how we make each other better.”

Anger looked at their hands, now fully intertwined, and then turned his eyes back to the dark water.

“You, in a state of euphoria…” he muttered. “Is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen. I… I love being with you, Joy.”

For the first time, they looked at each other at the same time.

She smiled at him, which made him smile as well. Always a half-smile, as he was not yet used to feeling that way.

Joyful.

She touched his arm with her other hand. She leaned her body onto his, and laid her head onto his. Not one concern about the heat or the bursting of flames, always thinking the best about him. Endlessly positive, tireless, stubborn, sparkling.

“I love being with you, too”, she said.

He brought her hand closer to himself and covered it with his other hand. Anger had no idea of what the future would bring to Riley and her mind, but he wasn’t worried. All he needed was to be by Joy’s side. His partner.

His greatest conviction.