Author's Note: HHNNGNGGHGHH! Okay. I have been working on this fic for almost a year and I was determined to finish it. Litterally I started it July 18th of 2018 and have tried to finish it multiple times. I'm just gonna say this now. I'm not happy with this fic. I'm more proud of myself for actually finishing it. I'm aware that the pacing is off and that it kind of sucks. But not all of it sucks. There's some good stuff in this fic and that's why I wanted to finish it. I'll admit there's not much tickling and that might be the part that's rushed, so I apologize for that in advance. But its done. Its over. I don't ever have to think about it again. And I can now breathe because it's not looming over my head anymore. So I hope you guys enjoy, but I'm not gonna be surprised if you don't. Some words of encouragement would be appreciated if you guys did though, because this fic was HARD. Regardless of anything though, here it is.

Hide in the Mood, Confide in Food

Ships: (None)

Words ~ 1967 ~

Warnings: Deceit mention, regurgitating food, feeling bad for no reason, food mention, and surveillance. (Let me know if there's anything else.)

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The night prior to the morning Thomas woke up all groggy was certainly a crazy one. He had invited all of his friends over for a jam packed evening filled with games, snacks, and other types of frivolities. As custom with big parties, the mess that laid strewn about after the guests had left was quite monumental, but the one thing Thomas was grateful for was all the leftover food.

Approximately only one fourth of the food bought for the party was consumed, and even when Thomas awoke to a large mess around him, the idea of having food for days gave him the satisfaction of not having to worry about grocery shopping that week. Well, that is until it all began to go missing.

He noticed it the day after he had cleaned up from the party. The chicken wings he was hoping to have for dinner seemed to have disappeared when he opened the fridge to retrieve them. Scratching his head in bewilderment, he was sure he'd seen them in there just two hours earlier. Sadly, Thomas just settled on finishing the rest of the macaroni salad instead of the tasty chicken wings.

The next instance of disappearing food happened later that night at 11:39 pm when Thomas was expecting the last piece of cake to be residing in it's container on the bottom shelf, only to find it had also mysteriously vanished. It was at this time, thomas new something was up. The fact that he was alone in his apartment most of the time meant his sides felt the liberty to appear and disappear at will. And with that piece of information, Thomas deduced that one of them had to have nipped the party food from him, even if they didn't need to eat.

Thomas first approached Logan about this, who was in the kitchen making himself his regular peanut butter and Crofter's sandwich for lunch. The logical aspect, once questioned, quickly stated that he hadn't touched any of the unhealthy snacks left over from the party and bid Thomas to look elsewhere. Roman quickly crossed paths with Thomas in the hallway not five minutes later and, like Logan, hadn't eaten anything but the food he conjured up for himself. They both suggested that Patton might be the one who was stealing the food, because like Thomas he too felt comfort in consuming feel-good food.

A few minutes later, Thomas sat on the couch and contemplated how to catch the thief. He didn't want to jump to conclusions and blame Patton exclusively for the vanishing food, but all the evidence he had pointed to him. Patton was the only one who ate from the refrigerator and used ingredients to cook meals for himself, Thomas, and the other sides. He also sometimes stocked it. But, Patton couldn't be the culprit because he had never taken food without asking before, unless it was a new development.

Before he could reason any more with himself, he felt the couch dip next to him. "It's Patton." Virgil had his hood drawn up and arms folded across his chest, giving Thomas an irritated glare.

"Wh-what?"

"Just stop thinking about it. Please. If I tell you that it's Patton, will you stop making me work to find an answer so simple?" Thomas looked back at the refrigerator.

"Is it Patton though?" Virgil pouted.

"Yes! Yes it is!"

"I guess that does make sense. I haven't seen much of him around lately. Maybe he's feeling a little guilty." Thomas tapped his chin gently.

"I don't know! ...You've never had this much food in your fridge before. He's probably too excited and taking more than he needs. Just...confront him about it and I'm sure he'll either give it back or make it up to you." Thomas nodded.

"Alright. Thank you Virge." Virgil took a deep breath and relaxed, sinking into the couch like an apparition.

"Sure. Whatever." So Thomas knew who the culprit was, now he just needed a way of catching Patton in the act. He asked Roman to conjure a camera and viewing station inside the fridge so that Thomas could accurately use surveillance to watch his precious food get stolen. Once he had done so, all he had to do was wait. He wasn't in favor of using more of his food as bait, but it was the only way he could lure Patton to the fridge without him being suspicious.

The hour came when Thomas saw him sneaking into the kitchen from the hallway to quickly raid the refrigerator. But before he could escape with anything, Thomas made himself known to the moral aspect.

"Hey there Pat. Nice to see you again. It's been almost two days since the party and that was the last time I really interacted with you." Thomas raised an eyebrow as Patton's astonished expression faded and the stolen Chipotle bag was quickly hidden behind his back.

"Oh hey there Thomas! Didn't see ya there." Thomas could see Patton nervously gulp.

"Didn't see me? For how long? Two days? You are literally a part of me, so where have you been?" Thomas began to casually advance forward, noticing how Patton began shifting from side to side uncomfortably, as if he wanted to escape.

"N-no I've...I've been around kiddo." Patton's smile faltered slightly, his gaze shifting toward the kitchen's exit to the right.

"Really? Then why haven't I seen you? Also...is that my leftover Chipoltle you have behind your back?" Patton gave the softest squeak before quickly bolting out of the kitchen, not giving Thomas any chance to apprehend him. "HEY! Get back here, Pat!" Patton gave no answer as he disappeared from sight. Unfortunately for the moral aspect however, he must've forgotten that he can be summoned by Thomas at any point in time. So, he was at first confused why he found himself back in the kitchen until he felt someone swipe the bag of Chipoltle out of his hands.

"Why would you take my food without asking Patton?!" There was a frown in Thomas's voice as he reopened the fridge and put the food away. "You never do that...and then lie about it? That's something deceit would do. What's up buddy?" When he turned back to Patton, the moral aspect had hung his head and stood there sulking.

"I'm sorry thomas...I'm feeling...off." Thomas nodded.

"So am I, but you're playing into that feeling off. It's like before. We're stuck in a loop."

"Well...how do you suppose we get out of the loop, Mr. looper?" Patton put on a fake smile, but Thomas set a hand on his shoulder.

"We start by you telling me why you're eating your feelings. That's why you keep stealing my food right? You're trying to drown your feelings through means of repression. By feel-good food." Patton nodded and gently shuffled into Thomas's hold. The viner wrapped his arms around his morality, comforting him by rubbing a hand on his back.

"I'm sorry Thomas. Really I am. I know you said it's ok to feel bad, but it's still hard for me to come to terms that I do sometimes. I know everyone knows that I hide my feelings with jokes, so that wasn't an option...so I thought I'd try food instead. And it worked, until I started feeling guilty about stealing so much of it from your fridge. I know you wanted to eat those chicken wings." Patton took a deep breath. "Do you still want them?"

Thomas shook his head in bewilderment. "You...you ate them, though...right?" Patton pulled the said chicken wings, hot and steamy, out of thin air. They looked as if they had never been eaten.

"Yeah...but I don't technically need to eat." Patton tried to hold out the plate to him, but Thomas pushed it away.

"You can have them Pat. It's ok." He was wary about eating regurgitated food, even if it didn't look like they had ever been swallowed. The idea just sickened him. "I appreciate the thought though." Patton gave a sad chuckle and re-ate the chicken wings.

"I'm not going to lie, that was worse than the stretchy arm thing."

Patton kicked at the carpet beneath his feet. "Sorry Thomas."

"It's okay Pat. Just...please turn to me. Talk to me if you are ever feeling like this again. Coping mechanisms can help sometimes, but if it's something you continually run to, eventually it isn't going to satisfy you anymore." Patton nods.

"You're right Thomas. I promise not to take anymore food without asking." Thomas smiled and hugged Patton tightly in his arms.

"Great. Now, is there anything I can help you with? Are you still feeling sad?" Patton thought about lying, but would rather deceit not show up.

"I...I am..."

"Is there anything I could do to help?"

"Maybe...cuddling would be nice?" Thomas smiled and sat on the nearest couch, patting the cushions next to him. Patton waddled on over and took the seat Thomas had offered him. He instantly threw his arms around Thomas, knocking the human back against the arm of couch a bit.

"Woah. Heheh. Excited a little? My guess is you have been needing this." Patton nodded into his neck. And Thomas gave a little chuckle as an idea popped into his head.

"So...because you stole all that food...you must be feeling pretty bad, huh?" Patton let go of him a little, looking Thomas in the eye in confusion.

"Uhm...yeah? What...what are you...thinking?"

"You need a pick me up then, right?" Patton giggled.

"I'd like to see you try to carry me, but sure!" Thomas shook his head fondly.

"I just meant something that will make sure you won't take food again, but will also lift your spirits." Patton began to giggle a little harder, trying to crawl away from Thomas, but the human held fast.

"What do you mean?" Patton was grinning from ear to ear and so was Thomas.

"What I mean is this!" Thomas dove his fingers quickly towards Patton's sides, squeezing up and down in sporadic motions. Patton's giggles instantly became considerably higher pitched.

"EEEEHEHEheheheheheh! Aaaa Thomas noooo I'm sorry!" Thomas switched tactics and scuttled his fingers towards Patton's lower abdomen.

"Sorry won't bring back my cake Patton. Will it?" The moral aspect shook his head and pushed at his wrists, only to find Thomas was much stronger than him.

"Nohohohoho! Nahahaht there!" Patton stopped in the middle of his tummy.

"Hm...not where? Not here?" He poked his belly and Patton squeaked.

"Oh that's cute." The hands resting on his stomach began to knead and squeeze gently, and the moral side quickly began to flail.

"Nahahahahah Thohohhoohohomas!" Thomas's hands found the hem of Patton's shirt and crawled underneath. This caused him to jump a mile.

"AAHH!! AAAhahahck! Nohohho that's worse!" The hands just kept squeezing, a finger now gently swirling in Patton's belly button. His laughter went considerably higher pitched.

"Oh wow. I think this might be a giggle button instead of a belly button, huh Pat?" Thomas just kept his hold around Patton's middle, watching with fondness as he doubled over in the sweetest giggles he'd ever heard out of a sides mouth. The hand not tickling his umbilicus jetted straight into one of Patton's armpits and tickled into the shirt sleeve. Patton squeaked.

"AHAHAHAHA Nahahaht thahahahttt! Ohohohokay Uhuhuncle! Uhuhuncle!" Thomas slowed his tickles to a stop, but not before uttering a clever line.

"But you aren't an uncle. You're a dad." The dad in question regained his breath, panting after Thomas had relinquished his tickling hands. He patted his arm fondly.

"That I am, kiddo. That I am." It was quiet for a moment, until Patton's breaths deepend and evened out. "So...if I ever steal food again...that's my punishment?" Thomas nodded a little mischievously.

"Yeah...alright. I won't do it again." Thomas clapped his back and stood up.

"Good. Glad to hear it. Now...would you want to share, key word: share, some food with me." Patton smiled and nodded, following Thomas to the fridge. The next couple days went much smoother after that, until Thomas had to make his first grocery run.

~~~~~

Author's Note Part 2: I'm aware of the issues with this fic, I was just done writing it and wanted to get it posted. Again I apologize. *Sigh* I'm just as dissapointed with this fic as Of You and For You. It's over though. And that's all that matters right now. Hopefully I'll have a better fic out either tomorrow or the day after. <3 you all!