"What was that?! That wasn't anything like Joy!"

"Uh, because I'm not Joy?"

"Yeah, no kidding!"

Disgust couldn't quite pinpoint what it was she felt at those words, but it most certainly wasn't joy.

It'd been hours since dinner and their subsequent disaster of an argument with Dad. Riley had, with many a frustrated grumble, gone to bed without dinner like she'd been told.

Fear, surging to the forefront as he usually did in a crisis, had begrudgingly offered to take the night watch now that Joy was no longer around to give Riley good dreams like usual.

Disgust was more than happy to saddle him with the duty after what he'd said earlier – what? She had a right to be petty if she wanted to be! – but for some reason as she settled down in her room in the sleeping quarters, she couldn't get the niggling memory of Fear's jab out of her head.

It wasn't like it was the first time they'd argued – anyone living in close quarters with such diverse personalities would find something to yell at someone about at any time of day – but for whatever reason this one was… bothering her.

Far more than it should.

Crossing her arms, Disgust glared up at the dark ceiling of her room, trying not to squirm under her blanket. It had been a long day, she was tired; she should be sleeping, not fretting over the Terror Wonder's pathetic excuse for an insult.

But… it was bothering her.

And she didn't know why.

Groaning with exasperation she sat up, throwing the covers off with a flourish and planting her feet firmly into her slippers. She stood, glanced at her mirror to make sure her hair wasn't sticking up noticeably, then took a few steps forward toward the door, intent on letting Fear know exactly what she thought about Joy and her work at the console.

She turned around before she even reached the door, throwing her hands up in the air; it wasn't Joy's fault, dang it! She wasn't even here to be her annoying cheerful self and that was the entire problem!

Riley's head was completely out of whack without their commander in chief (as Joy enthusiastically dubbed herself) there to direct and control every little moment of their girl's day, and apparently that meant Disgust was out of whack too; she'd felt more anger and fear in the past five hours than she'd ever felt in her/Riley's life before, and it was incredibly weird.

It's not like there was anything to really freak out about; Joy and Sadness were gone, sure, but they would be back soon enough – heck, if Disgust knew anything about Joy, the maniac would probably be back by late morning – and things would continue like they usually would, no problem…

And once things were back the way they were supposed to be, things would get better… right?

"Oh brilliant," she muttered, resisting the urge to twiddle her thumbs like Fear or throw a tantrum like Anger; worry was not in her forte. This shouldn't be happening. What was the matter with her?

She was Disgust; she shouldn't be feeling bizarre mood swings such as these!

But Fear's words from earlier were still bothering her, dang it!

All she could feel was disgust at herself for being such a Negative Nancy; worry and concern about Joy and Sadness was just ridiculous. They were both fine, probably on their way back to Headquarters at this very moment. And Fear… well, who the heck cared what that nincompoop said?

Joy was the most positive (literally and figuratively) Emotion in Headquarters; it was only natural he'd be concerned if she weren't around to make Riley happy.

It was no big deal.

And yet, as she stomped her way back to bed and resolutely lay down, determined to get at least get some sleep tonight, she couldn't help a small niggling of doubt.

'Is that really all it is? Is he really just worried about Riley?'

"Of course he is," she muttered to herself, absolutely certain she looked crazy, "That's all he ever does."

But she still went to sleep with a dark frown on her face and a bothersome uncertainty lurking just beneath the surface.

A/N: I am Disear trash. Destroy me while you still can. This movie was super cute and actually really helped me understand my own head a lot better than psychology class ever did. In other words, I loved it and I'm probably going to babble about it a lot. I might continue this bit, might not, we'll see about that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
~Persephone