The Black Infectious Thingy | Inanimate Insanity AU |

(44) Paper.. What the fuck.

\\\CW: SWEARING, ARGUING\\\
///OJ POV///
Phew... This problem with the aid-kits sure took a while, gosh.
Who could've guessed that Yin-Yang and Bomb actually used all of the aid-kits we've got... I should probably go buy even more, just in case, who knows when they'll use the last one again.. we'll need em!
I'll probably keep a few in my office hidden, just in case an emergency happens.
I hope Paper is still where I told him to stay, if not, then he hopefully just went back into the office.
I just really hope he isn't completely gone.. again.
I love him but he needs to sto- ...I like his presence.. but he needs to stop going missing all of the time.
As I started to approach my office I quickly noticed how Paper was nowhere to be seen, oh boy.. starting off good I guess.
Well... no need to jump to conclusions just yet! He probably is inside just as I said earlier.
I mean, he couldn't have completely abandoned me again, right?
Not after he promised not to do so again. He would never...
I took out my backup keys to the office and unlocked the door
"Hey, Paper? Are you.. here?" I said as I slowly opened the door, and... ugh.
He once again wasn't in there.
I sighed in disbelief as I covered my face with my hands, trying my best to keep myself calm.
Godammit.. Is this for real? Again???
I looked around but there was no sign of him in the office nor in the corridor.
Why am I surprised. It was so obvious.
Damnit Paper! Why must you be like this!
Umh.... where could Paper be now-
Fuck. Why has this hotel to be so big?
Gosh. Why am I even looking for him in the first place?
He should be fine, he's intelligent and an adult, he should know perfectly well how to take care of himself.
It's not even the first time he runs away without a previous warning and it certainly won't be the last one, so why am I worried?
Ghhhh... Probably because theres the possibility that Pepper might've told anybody else that Paper was back in here again, and if she told them how he's here they could've to captured him, which could be a good reason as to why hes not here.
No no.. Stop overthinking already OJ! I'm sure he is jussssttt fiiiinneeee...But maybe..
Argghhhhhh.. OKAY. Fine. I'm sure he is alright but just in case im going to go look for him .
I looked around the corridor of the hotel, jeez why is this corridor so long.. umh.. gosh, if I was Paper.. where would I go?
Hm.. If I was Paper.. I would've walked over here, why? I just have a weird hunch, I guess?
For a while I just kept on looking around, wondering and following my Paper-insticts that I apparently developed after hours with Paper, when suddenly I heard the noise of some people chatting in the corridor.
People? Chatting? At 12pm?
Huh.. I wonder who they are...
I should get closer to them.. they might be talking about Paper! Or maybe not.. probably not. But it's always good to check, at least to know why they're out of their rooms at 12am.
"N-Nickel I- I'm. I'm I- i did- I."
Balloon?
"Take your time, calm down first"
..Nickel?!
"S-Sorry I-Im just- I. Im"
Oh. Balloon and Nickel.. Weren't they mad at eachother? Something must've happened, what could make Balloon cry?
Hm.. stupid question. Everything can make him cry..
I need to find out what happened, and after doing so, I will continue looking for Paper.
This shouldn't take too long .
I followed their voices until I found them sitting down in the middle of the main corridor that led to everyones rooms.
I looked down to the floor, Balloon was sobbing and trying to keep his composure as Nickel tried to comfort with a genuinely worried look in his face, huh, first time I see taht coming from Nickel.
I started getting worried for Balloon, if even Nickel is trying to help him out it must be because it's something horrible, umh.. okay, I'll get closer to them and just simply asked.
I decidedly get closer to them and started talking.
"What's going on here?" I asked, accidentally making both Balloon and Nickel jump scaredly in unison.
"DUDE. WHAT THE FUCK." Nickel said, a straight and slightly mad face quickly replaced the once worried one.
Balloon looked up at me, he was sobbing and once he recognized me he turned around and covered his face.
"Oh jeez, Balloon what happened?" I asked Balloon, expecting and answer but he instead murmured something under his breath and Nicke made direct eye contact with me.
"Cant you see that Balloon doesn't want YOU to be here right now?" Said Nickel as he stood up and kept making eye contact with me.
"Wait but what happened?"
"Oh right, let me just explain to you exactly what happened right after I told you to fucking leave"
"What"
"Its sarcasm, you idiot. Just leave already."
"Oh. Yeah sure, sorry" I said as I turned back to where I came from.
I guess I'm just gonna leave them alone, I dont think I was doing anything to help them out by just getting into their conversation without a warning... although I only wanted to help.
I'm not good with emotions, especially other peoples, sometimes I am but I primarily arent.
Awh jeez- um... yeah I.. hmm.
I looked around trying to make myself forget about that encounter.
Gosh, where do I go now?- That's the main corridor to all of the rooms.
Though I dont really think Paper was gonna be in any of those rooms either way.
He probably went to a room in the hotel where he can enjoy himself.. hmmm... What things does Paper like to do?
And then it clicked me... He loves observing the stars!
Of course, it's well over 12pm, he has to be getting ready to watch the stars!
Usually the stars shine the brightest around 2am, but he has always enjoyed being over prepared for whenever that happens, so he usually gets everything ready 2 hours in advance. Which is weird but still in a way kind of cute.
But wait... Isnt everything under lockdown? How could be able to watch the stars?
We've had that conversation in my office countless times, he begged for me to take him outside to watch the stars but I couldn't risk that.
Hm.. Are there any rooms unlocked? I'm sure not.
And I dont really think Pickle wouldve just let him leave, mostly because he would've freaked out and called me first thing after seeing him.
Hmm.. Oh! Of course!!! Why havent I thought about it earlier?
The rooftop, it's not unlocked. But, my keys to the office also open the rooftop.
Paper already knows, this so he probably went up there, he would also be able to hide from everyone in there and watch the stars too!
Gosh, I keep forgetting that Paper is in fact very intelligent, maybe not as incredibly crazy intelligent like Test Tube but very intelligent nonetheless.
Hmm, okay, the access to the rooftop is near the FFF recording room, lets go there already.
I walked around past a few rooms, but I stopped when walked past the entrance to FFF and started at it.
...Huh. weird.
Seems like someone already walked in and past the security tape?
I leaned in and took a closer look at the broken tape that used to be intact.
Only one broken tape... That means that someone probably tried to sneak in but wasn't careful enough.
Hm... should I- Agh, but Paper-
Okey, I'm just gonna go check out whatever happened here and then I'll go back to searching for Paper.
Either way, I already know where he's currently hiding.
I entered carefully, trying my best not to break any more tape.
Woah, it's weird seeing this place all with the lights off and spooky-like.
I walked around and noticed an open door around the back of the studio.
Oh? Wait.. Isn't that the portal room?
But I completely locked it just in case, what the. How did someone unlock it without the-
Without the...
.....
..THE KEY!
Holy shit. Paper...
He- He lied to me?
...But I.. I trusted him, I-
I got out of the room as I sighed.
Godammit... How could I have been fooled that easily!
It was so obvious..
Of course he lied to me, he is fucking evil. GOSH.
I let my emotions get in the way once again. I shouldn't have trusted him...
He isn't my Paper anymore.
My Paper is gone... Gone for good.
And he- he isn't him.
And I need to accept that.
Why must it hurt so much to do so?
Agh.. I hate him.
Im gonna go kick him out of the hotel already. No more nice guy. He is getting out once and for all.
I walked through the corridor, up the stairs, and to the rooftop entrance.
I reached the doorknob to open the door and just as what I expected.. the door was unlocked .
I took a deep breath, okay OJ... kick him out. You can do this.
Remember who he is.
Remember what he did.
I entered and found him sitting down there... he had taken his sunglasses off, I suppose that made sense.
"Paper.." I said as I walked towards him .
"H-Huh?- Oh.. It's you... have a seat OJ" He said as he patted the floor next to him and smiled with his sharp teeth.. Eugh.. So sharp. Too sharp, it's just so.. creepy.
I sat down next to him and he inmediatelly turned his whole body around to be facing me.
"OJ I... I'm sorry for leaving the office without a warning again.. I know you told me not to but I just don't like being locked away in that office! It brings back some awful memories of mine"
Grrr...
"Thank you for not getting mad at me though.. I know I'm such a pain in the ass..! Haha- but umh.. I'm glad you trust me either way"
...
"With everything going on I'm just glad that you still somehow do so, I can't imagine my life without you, haha..."
I...-
"...Umh- OJ, why aren't you saying anything? Is something wrong?" He said as he looked at me with worry in his red eyes.
Shit. He's too sweet, I can't imagine him doing anything bad..
But I need to remind myself that he is just a liar.
A very good, and very convincing liar.
"Paper.. Why do you lie to me?"
"W-What?-"
"What did you do while I was gone?
"What do you mean OJ..? I-I waited for you...?"
"You did not, what did you do?"
"I- umh..."
He isn't gonna tell me.
I knew it.
He is just a liar after all, and caught him. Haha...
He has no more excuses anymore.
"...I helped Evil Tissues and Evil Cheesy to escape the hotel because they both accidentally got themselves locked in here... I'm so sorry"
"WHAT."
He covered his ears as I shouted .
"I-I know I fucked up b-but I...-"
"PAPER? WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME THAT THEY SNEAKED IN?"
"I didn't know! I-I swear! I found them in the corridor a-and I couldn't just let them THERE- I just- I-"
"Godammit Paper. You betrayed my trust again! How can I trust you to do this whole party thing and tell everyone how you're 'safe to be around' when the only thing you do is lie to me and do whatever the hell you want to do? I cant even trust you myself anymore! Do you seriously think that I can tell anyone else to trust you when I can't even do so myself? I can't!"
"I..I understand, I'm sorry... If you just give me another chance, I'm sure I...-"
"Another chance? Paper, you've had plenty of chances already! I can't just- Keep on giving you infinite chances! It literally gets rid of the whole point of chances, they don't ever last forever."
"Please OJ- I couldn't just let them there to die! I'll be better, I promise- Please OJ... A last chance?- The only thing I did was help them not get killed! T-Thats not bad, is it?"
"No, Paper I've had enough of you already. It wouldn't be bad if they weren't literal murderers! And don't play dumb with me, you know exactly what you did.. You'd think I'd never figure out how you sneaked into Test Tube's lab? You tried sneaking in through the FFF recording studio yet you broke the tape. There's proof of that! YOU REALLY THINK IM THAT STUPID TO NOT SEE IT?"
"Wh-What?! I-I never did that! What are you even talking about?"
"Paper.. Quit lying. You're the only one with my keys! Why did you sneak in? What was in there for you?"
"OJ, I really haven't gone there! You need to believe me.. Please- I didn't do it! I swear..!"
"You're literally the only one with the keys to open the portal room. It has to be you."
"The what?? OJ I don't know what you're talking about! Why won't you believe me..."
"Because, as I've said before, I can't make myself trust you anymore."
"I-I'm.." Paper tried to keep defending himself but he was interrupted by his own tears.
"I would feel bad for you if you weren't so evil. You make me sick."
Paper just kept on crying, covering his face with his hands as he sobbed even more, but even if it hurt watching him cry I couldn't just.. Have mercy on him. He's evil after all.. is he not?
But the way he's crying...
Agh.. I'm not sure if I did the right thing.
It feels bad... But it shouldn't..?
And then... A sudden knock on the door made me quickly snap back to reality.
"Huh- Who's there?" I said as I faced towards the door.
I stood up and got in front of Paper, slightly covering him.
As the door opened, Test Tube entered the rooftop, followed by Fan.
"Hello OJ, apologies for being so sudden but I found out something important, you might wanna see thi-"
She stopped talking as she looked down at Paper.
"-is... umh, is it a bad moment?'