(A/N: For stories sake, Deceit is going to have the name James. I can't just keep calling him Deceit; it'll drive me insane-er.)

*Deceit POV*

I hate lying.

Not that I can admit that to anyone.

All Sketchy personas have to lie. It's part of our nature. Not to mention, it's one of the rules.

But that doesn't mean I like doing it.

Today, I was with a couple of other Sketchys, playing Cards Against Humanity (it's a good game, don't judge!), when the rest of the personas ran up.

Immediately, I recognized resentment in their eyes (except for Patton) at having to associate with me, but I also saw... concern?
Even on Logan, which was definitely rare.

"What?" I asked, which was all I could say without lying.

"Some new Personas arrived today," Patton said, chipper as always despite his concern.

"And?" I asked, another neutral thing to say.

"And," Logan said curtly, "we wished to see whether or not you would be coming to meet the new Sketchy persona."

I thought about it for a moment, then decided that it might be worth it.

"Of course I won't go to meet the new Personas," I told them, standing up from the table.

"What about the game we weren't playing?" asked Rachel, one of the other Sketchys.

"We won't continue it later," I replied as calmly as I could.

And with that, I followed my brothers to go meet the new Personas.

¤¤¤¤¤¤

When we got there, I was surprised to see the patchwork group of girls, but I easily recognized the Sketchy Persona out of the group.

She was a tall, black-haired girl with scales on her face (most Sketchys had scales), and she wore a short green dress.
But what I noticed the most was the snake tattoo on her arm.

I walked up to the girls carefully. I wasn't sure what to say, but I felt like I had to say something. At the same time, however, I felt like I was approaching a pride of lions.

Behind me, Logan cleared his throat, but I ignored him; I didn't want to talk to him. Besides, it was probably an insult, as usual.

The Sketchy girl, however, just looked at me.
I couldn't tell if her look was one of interest or boredom, or some confusing mixture of the two.

"Hello," I said carefully, not wanting to lie at all in this greeting. I'd made a lot of enemies just by simply trying to greet a person.

Unsurprisingly, the other Personas in the group backed up, except for the Sketchy.
"Hi," she said, but her tone seemed to contain a dozen things at once, though I couldn't tell what they were.

"My name is not James," I said, "Who might you be?"

"Call me Selena," the Sketchy girl said, but that was all she said.

I was debating on how to ask what she represented for her Host, but before I could, one of the other girls said "Don't bother asking her any more questions. She represents Distrust."

Ah, that explains it, I thought to myself.

"So, anything you wouldn't be willing to share with us, Selina?" I asked, trying to smile politely.
However, judging by Logan's scowl and Roman's "Shut up, Jack the Fibber", the smile looked like an insincere smirk.

Selina, however, didn't seem bothered by it.
"There is plenty I could share," she said, her tone giving away no emotions, "But why should I tell you anything? Why should I tell anyone anything?"

Surprised, I backed up, unsure of what to say.
However, one of her sisters, a girl with a moon jacket, put her hand on Selina's shoulder.

"Calm down," she said, "They're just trying to be friendly."

"How do we know that?" Selina replied, her eyes and voice full of bitterness.

"Have we not tried to help you find your dwellings?" Logan asked, sounding more than a little exasperated.

"And I brought cookies!" Patton said kindly.

Selina opened her mouth to reply, but the Logical persona in their group put a hand on her shoulder.

"Fighting will get us nowhere, sis," she said softly, and Selina reluctantly nodded, shutting her mouth.

That, I thought to myself, was definitely odd...