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“Like, uuu… like this?” Aqua asked, moving her arms and legs into the pose Blue had shown her.
“Exactly like that, dear. You’re a natural.” Blue nodded.
“Yay! I did it right! I did it right! I’m a ballerina!” the girl cheered.
Blue chuckled. “Yes you are dear.”
Their ballet lesson was interrupted by a knock on Blue’s door.
“Oh? I wasn’t expecting any visitors other than you today… not that I mind the extra company, of course. A performance for yourself is nice, but an audience never hurts.”
He opened the door, met with the sight of Green standing in the doorway. They looked down at their feet, ringing their hands together, a concerned look on their face.
“Green? Whatever has caused you such distress?” Blue reached out to put a gentle hand on their shoulder.
Green pulled out a sign, “Yellow was helping me in the kitchen, but he started spiraling and I can’t help.” written on it.
“Oh dear, I understand why you came straight here. I’ll get things fixed up to the best of my ability.” Blue stated. “Would you mind taking Aqua while I’m unavailable to watch her? Seth should return soon enough to pick her up from practice.”
Green agreed instantly, holding their arms out for Aqua to jump into, the girl quickly finding her place on their wide shoulders.
“Bye bye blue!” she waved.
“Farewell.” Blue smiled, closing the door behind himself. His smile instantly vanished the moment the child was out of sight, a look of concern taking its place.
He walked quickly and purposefully through the halls. Something bad could happen in only a matter of moments when Yellow’s OCD started to get the best of him, made even worse when not just anyone could break his spiral. He just hoped that in the time between Green leaving the kitchen and Blue arriving Yellow hadn’t left to try and harm himself.
He entered the kitchen both relieved and concerned yellow was still there. It should have just been relieving, but the poor thing looked completely paralysed, just standing there with his arms wrapped around himself, tears on his face, shaking like a leaf. So it was ‘not even a compulsion to do, just freeze and panic’ bad, huh? That definitely wasn’t good…
“Yellow? Darling?” Blue stood in his line of sight, not daring to touch him until he knew it wouldn’t cause another spiral.
“M-’m sorry…” was all he could mutter out before he broke down sobbing.
“No, no, dearest. There is nothing to be sorry for.” Blue gently reassured, offering his boyfriend a hug. Yellow fell into his arms instantly, his full weight falling onto the ballerino. But that wasn’t much of a problem, given that he weighed five pounds soaking wet. He lowered them both to the ground anyway, just for a calmer position.
“Shhh darling. Breathe.” he calmly reminded him. “You must breathe, my love.”
“I-’m so sorry Blue! ‘M so so-sorry!” he sobbed more, his last syllable carrying into his cries.
“Shhh. It's all okay. We can talk later, but right now you need to get some air in those lungs to calm your body. Once your body has calmed, we can very easily find a solution to your problem. But for now, you must take the first step. Breathe with me, please.”
“A-alright! I-I c-can- I can…”
“Good. breathe with me.” Blue guided Yellow through a few rounds of deep breaths, his hand gently carding through his hair to ease him further. Though Yellow’s were shaky, that was to be expected given his state. They eventually evened out to being close enough, as good as he knew Yellow could do in this state.
“Now, could you please tell me what’s gotten you in such a state? I’m certain I can help fix the issue.”
Yellow squeezed Blue tighter, face buried in his neck. Blue responded in turn by rubbing his back. “I- G-Green asked fer help with washin’ up some. N-needed the dishes cleaned. S-so I was doin’ that. A-an earlier today they made up some pancakes for breakfast, so I was cleanin’ the bowl the batter was in. b-but well I was scrubin’, some water splashed on the paper towel roll by the sink. An-an that water had the batter in it, which has raw eggs in it because it wasn’t cooked, an that’s got salmonella in it, so now someone’s gonna grab it a use it as a napkin, an they’re gonna get it on their lips, an-an-” he broke down all over again, body heaving with the force of his sobbing. “I done killed someone Blue! Someone’s gonna get samolilla because of me and die! I’m a murderer!” he continued sobbing, and Blue continued rubbing his back.
“Oh, my love. Shhh. oh my poor darling. It will be okay, just breathe.”
“I killed someone!” he cried, barely eligible when mixed with his sobs.
“No my dear, not at all. Just get some air into your body. Shhh. it will be okay.”
It took a few rounds of deep breathing, but eventually yellow was back to crying instead of sobbing. His body was still shaking, but it was better. And better was all Blue asked for.
“Now, may I offer a solution to your problem?”
“Sh-shoot…”
“Well, as far as I’m aware, no one has actually used the contaminated paper towels yet, correct?”
“N-no. no one’s touched ‘em.”
“Then isn’t it reasonable to assume there is still time to fix things before this problem you’re stressing over comes to pass?”
Yellow was silent for a moment, before groaning as he realised something he wanted to kick himself for not realising sooner. “Oh… yer right, Blue. yer always right…”
“No, not always.” Blue shook his head. “Just most of the time.” he giggled, booping Yellow’s nose. “Especilly when it comes to giving you a dose of reality when your mind refuses to let any in.” he helped Yellow to his shaky feet. “Now, I know just how to fix this.”
Blue knew there was nothing dangerous about the situation at all. Any salmonella or other contagions in the uncooked batter had been watered down in the water. Green let Aqua eat raw cookie dough for goodness sake! And if the chef themself was confident in the lack of health risks that came from straight raw ingredients, there was no way the watered down ones could be a threat.
Unfortunately, Yellow was not Blue. His brain didn’t work the same way. No amount of reasoning could get past the overwhelming anxiety about a tiny possibility Yellow’s OCD had latched onto. It had convinced him a practically non-existent chance was too much to ignore, too large to overlook. Even as there was no chance harm could be caused, Yellow just couldn’t see it that way. His brain twisted reality into a warped reflection where he was at fault for everything, and a minor misstep that could possibly maybe hurt someone was a guarantee. That the burden of keeping people safe was on him and him alone, and that his actions needed to be closely monitored to keep himself from harming others. As long as that was the way Yellow perceived the world, Blue would work within its framework to ease his worries in a way he could understand. In a way that actually worked.
“Here’s what we’ll do.” he stated, leaning down and pulling a different roll of paper towel from under the sink. “We will put this here.” he dropped it on the counter, before picking up the offending roll. “And this,” he walked over to the cleaning supplies cupboard and opened it. “Will go in here.” He placed it on the shelf and closed the door. “Now, once it’s used, it will be paired with chemicals that are sure to kill any diseases or bacteria. Does that sound alright?” Blue had literally no idea what he was saying. The line of logic didn’t make much sense to him, but it’s what he knew made sense to Yellow, so he said it anyway. Oh what he’d give to truly know what happened in his beloved’s head, to truly understand so he could help even better.
“Y-yeah. That sounds right.” Yellow agreed.
“Then the problem has been solved. No one will die, nothing bad will happen. We fixed it.”
“Y-yeah.” Yellow nodded, fidgeting with his hands. “Listen, Blue, ‘m real sorry, gettin’ ya all worried over nothin’, all because I didn’ think’a what to do or how ta fix things…”
“Oh, Yellow, darling, no.” he took the cowboy’s face in his hands softly. “It is not your fault. Your mind is disordered, and that impacts your abilities. I could never hold you to the standard of someone unaffected by your condition. That wouldn’t be fair. You are doing the best you can with the cards fate has dealt, and I am proud of you for keeping on every day.”
“Gosh Blue, yer too nice. Ya deserve better than a burden like me…”
“Oh, my dear! Don’t say anything of the sort! If anyone ever has the gull to call your suffering a burden, as if they are affected more than you are by the torment of your own mind, then they will soon after know the pain of a dancer’s foot to their teeth. You are never, and will never be, a ‘burden’. You are disabled, and anyone that wishes you would hide your pain away instead of wishing you all the help they can give is completely backwards. I want to give you as much help as I can, because I love you too much to see you in pain. You will never be a burden, I swear.”
Yellow started tearing up again, avoiding eye contact. “Tin stars, ya really know how to get to a guy, huh?
“To you, I do indeed.” he wrapped his arms around Yellow, pressing his head against his chest. “It’s rather easy to know everything about someone when they’re so nice to be around, to observe.”
“S-stop flusterin’ me…” he pulled his hat almost completely over his face.
“Never. Integrity is a virtue, and no matter what your own mind decides to torment you with, just know I will never stop saying the truth. I will never let you go a day without knowing how I see you. No matter what spiral tells you you’re awful, I will always be here to let you know that from where I stand, you are the kindest, most wonderful man I’ve ever met, with the biggest heart I’ve ever known.”
“Heh. I can’t win this one, can I?” Yellow chuckled.
“No. so just accept it okay? At least for today, let’s try to ease that mind of yours the best you can, alright?”
“Alrighty. I’ll do my best.”
“And that’s all I could ever ask of you, my love.”