Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

OFDH- FTE 1

This is what free time events will look like in chapter names- and there will be five at most per chapter. If you don't care to read them, you can skip, but there might be evidence in some, so I'd advise against it!

Since I'm prewriting the entire first chapter, the characters chosen for the free time events here will be a mix of my own choosing, and my friends'.

I wasn't entirely sure on who I wanted to talk to, but Knife seemed out of the question for now. As I went to go upstairs though, I heard a soft sniffling sound, and I glanced over my shoulder towards the complaint desk.

The complaint desk was pretty self explanatory, and the one thing Oj trusted Paper to run all by himself. You'd go there, offer your complaints, and Paper would basically tell you that he can't do anything because Oj fucking sucks and hates paying attention to anything besides lining his own pockets.

I was so busy thinking about how much I hate Oj, that I almost didn't notice that Paper was sitting at the desk, shaking and trying to wipe away the tears that streamed down his cheeks. His sobs were quiet and held back, but the pain in his eyes was clear as day, at least to me. So, I walked over and sat by the desk, making him jump with surprise.

"Pickle! I- I'm so sorry I didn't mean for anyone to see me like this! Gimme a second, I just need to-"

"Are you ok?"

Paper paused once he heard my question, and then laughed nervously. "This desk is for complaints, not-"

"Are you ok?" I repeated myself, with a more firm tone as I tried to sit up straight. Paper again seemed to stop thinking at something so simple. Eventually, he shook his head, trying to hide his face from me with his hand. "Paper, is this about the announcement?"

"...I don't want to talk about it." He hiccuped, but I reached over and pulled his hand away from his face, holding onto it as I lowered it to the desk. He looked directly at me for the first time, and I tried to give as comforting a smile as I could.

"It's ok. You're allowed to talk about things, too. What Oj said was bullshit. You shouldn't have to put up with that- cause it's not like he can fire you. What would he do? Find a replacement??"

"That's exactly what he'd do," Paper mumbled, his eyes squinting as he fought back a whole new wave of tears. I scoffed, trying to hold in a laugh.

"You think you're someone he can just replace?! Hell no! You are one of the most professional people here, and you take your job seriously! You do a damn good job, and Fan even said so by making you the ultimate of your field. If Oj got rid of you for standing up for yourself, then this hotel would be absolutely doomed." My grip on his hand tightened as Paper kept trying to clean himself up. I kept going. "That guy doesn't know what he has anymore- he's completely lost sight of why he built this thing in the first place. It wasn't about business, it was about us- it was about you."

I didn't know what else to say as Paper stood up. I stood up as well, fully prepared to try and repeat myself until he understood me, but instead... he came around the desk and gave me a hug, face buried into my shoulder as he sobbed. As my face began to flush, I could hear him trying to speak, but it was muffled and barely understandable. Though I think I heard one particular thing that made me feel a lot better.

"Thank you..." I wrapped my arms around him to keep him close, sighing with relief as I smiled.

"Hey, it's no problem. You needed to hear it."

Eventually, Paper decided to let me go, and he pat my now wet shoulder, putting on his customer service smile.

"Well- I guess I owe ya one, Pickle! If you're ever in one, holler for me, k?" Paper giggled, but I didn't know what "in one" meant. After about five seconds of just staring, I then got the joke and groaned, which made Paper actually laugh out loud. I've never heard him laugh outwardly before... it's kinda cute. But- it was getting a little late- I couldn't stay down here and admire all that right now.

"Are you gonna go to bed?"

"Go to bed? It's five o'clock, Pickle."

"Excuse me?" That interaction felt like it took as least five hours. But it's barely been two since I woke up. God- I guess I should find something better to do then. "Never mind- you keep working! I'm gonna go upstairs and find some time to kill."

Paper nodded, already sat back at his desk. "You have fun then! Tell whoever you see next that I said hi!"

"Will do. See ya Paper." I waved at him, and finally went back upstairs. I'm not gonna do that, but I'll just lie to Paper later about it. The question is- who will I find first?