Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

TTM - 2

As soon as I got up from my nap, I looked toward my boarded up window, and got up to peek through the pieces of wood. The sky was dark, littered with stars. Mom always told me that the stars were spirits, like how they said that in the Lion King... I wasn't much for religion, or supernatural things, but I couldn't help my tension easing up as I thought about how the people who'd passed were probably somewhere better.

Maybe Pickle and Knife got to reunite, and be happy again. I saw them talking before Pickle passed, he seemed like he had so many things he'd wanted to say...

Maybe he got to talk to Knife again, and the two were now eternally together. The thought of them being close, getting to hug each other again... it brought me comfort, but it also made me a little upset to remember that I couldn't even recall what Pickle acted like anymore. His picture was on the wall downstairs, but his personality and words completely alluded me.

I tried to ignore that thought, knowing full well it would only serve to worsen the guilt I had. I could hear bass thumping against the floor as music blasted through the building's walls. The party must've started! Hooray.

I opened up my room's door and found who else, but Blueberry in front of it! His eyes shifted back and forth around the hall, and without warning he grabbed my hand and took me downstairs. "Blue!" I yelped. "What's going on?! What's your deal??"

"I was told to bring you to the party. I'm just following orders." As we got downstairs, I could only see flashing neon lights anymore, and my head began to spin instantly. I entirely ignored Blueberry's words and instead held his hand tighter as I tried to orient myself to the party.

With my look around, the party wasn't all that fascinating. Most of the girls opted to dance in the middle of the cafeteria and scream lyrics to whatever pop song they liked (besides Candle, who lingered by the punch table). Trophy and Tissues stood next to a table with a computer on it- probably where the music was coming from- and seemed to be just talking casually. Paper sat by himself, but waved to me, which I waved back... and Baseball was upstairs.

Blueberry clung to my arm a bit as I walked to the snack table and had Candle give me a cup of the weird, purple punch. After a while of staring at it, I handed it off to Blueberry. It looked far too sugary for my tastes, anyway, but Blue drank it no problem.

It was hard to really enjoy the party, given the fact that everything was far too loud and obnoxious, and Trophy had dumped alcohol into the punch because of everyone else's request. People began to drink more and more, other than Tissues, and within twenty minutes, I felt surrounded by a bunch of people stumbling about, speaking in slurred speech and messing with whatever they could.

It got even worse, as Microphone hopped up onto a speaker and began to belt out lyrics to a playlist of Paramore songs I'd vaguely heard before when working at pools back in the day.

Pepper, Apple, Trophy, and even Candle were all watching her do this with varying degrees of awe and excitement, but I just wasn't feeling the party anymore, so I looked for a way out on the ground floor.

I got to the back of the hotel and saw a sign next to a door that just had a picture of a flower on it, so I opened it up, immediately being greeted with a greenhouse that I didn't even realize existed.

It was typical for a greenhouse- shelves and tables covered in assorted flora, small decorations on the walls to make it more inviting, and the weirdly humid air stuffing up my lungs. The party barely made it past the outer walls, and I saw a radio hidden beneath a table that was playing some slow and gentle, but overall plain music.

It was still dark out, but I could see past the pale fairy lights and gaze up at the stars once again. Of course, this was a short lived moment as I heard some footsteps. I prayed for a moment that it wasn't a wasted person, and I suppose my prayers were answered as when I looked to my left, I got completely blind sided as I noticed Oj.

Oj had changed out of his usual beige cardigan and skinny jeans for a black hoodie that was far too large for someone his size, and at first I only saw his back before he turned around to reveal Bomb, who'd also replaced his crimson tank top for a nice flannel with short sleeves. I had no idea what they were doing at first, but I glanced at their intertwined hands, and then their feet as they stepped back and forth, gently spinning around together as they stayed close.

They were dancing, and I had walked in on the moment; not that the pair even seemed to notice me. Oj's gaze was fixated on Bomb's feet, his face bright red as he tried to keep in time with Bomb's effortless, smooth movements. Fan had compared the party to a middle schooler's, and maybe that was true, but watching them made me feel like I was watching a scene from a movie.

As the song that had been playing came to a close, the two stopped and Bomb put his hand on Oj's face to make him look into Bomb's eyes. They glittered with a feeling I couldn't quite place.

"I t-t-told you dancing wwwas easy... you d-did great, Jay."

"Bomb- I-" Oj stammered a bit more, interrupted with a giggle.

"I think this is-is-is a much better wwway to ce-cele-br-brate your birthday, don't you?" It was Oj's birthday? I pulled up my phone and glanced down at the date. Sure enough- June fifth. But why would they make a birthday party for Oj if he didn't even get to be involved in it?

Oj's anxious gaze softened a bit, his blush beginning to fade as his tension did the same. "Yeah. I'm glad they don't know... thank you for distracting them with that party." They stayed quiet after that, a few seconds passing before Bomb tried to break up the silence.

"I kn-know you hhhhate birthday par-p-parties. I wanted today t-to matter for you. And- And mmme." They leaned in even closer to one another, their bodies practically stuck together as Bomb got onto the tips of his toes to get on Oj's level. Oj looked confused for a split second before he realized what Bomb was doing this for, and moving in as well for a kiss. They held onto each other with a gentle, but firm force for the solid ten seconds they held the kiss, but when they pulled away, Oj's eyes opened up and he gasped sharply as I caught his eye from ten feet away.

Instantly, I remembered that I was just some middle aged man watching two guys have a romantic, private moment, and all I could manage was a wave. Bomb didn't notice me immediately, but once he glanced toward me, he didn't seem all that phased.

"We totally w-weren't m-mmmaking out," Bomb said with the cheekiest grin I'd ever seen. Oj's body tensed up even more as he kept his horrified stare locked on me.

"BOMB! Lifering- I'm sorry! I didn't realize that you were here! Did you need me?" Oj practically dropped Bomb to the ground, but Bomb thankfully stumbled upright as he watched Oj hurry toward me. "Is someone hurt? They- Bomb and I just wanted to hang out." Uhuh. Hang out...right.

"It's cool," I muttered through awkward squeaks of discomfort, "I just got overwhelmed by the party... I didn't mean to ruin your...that." Oj fidgeted a bit with his sleeves a bit, probably trying to think of what to say. "Can I ask why you're wearing a hoodie?"

"Hm? Oh. Bomb- Bomb gave it to me because I spilled some syrup on my cardigan this morning. It's temporary- I try to be formal!"

"Formal," Bomb repeated with an amused scoff. "You're ssssssso formal, Oj... sni-n-nipping at anyone for b-being funny in your vvvicin-n-nity." Bomb walked over as well, but he just came to turn off the little radio under the table. "Nobody's d-dead?"

I shook my head, and Oj cleared his throat. "Well- if that's the case... I'm gonna... go back inside and have a drink. Bomb, you wanna come with?"

"N-No thank you. I gotta mmmmake sure e-everything's watered." Bomb pat Oj's shoulder and gently pushed him off to leave the greenhouse, and I didn't know what to do right then, so I stood there. Bomb looked at me for a while his eyes drifted to my stomach. I looked down, but I didn't see anything going on. Was he startled by my tank top being a little loose? It's not like I always had tucked that into my shorts, tonight just happened to be one of those nights. Though, he did say something.

"I've b-b-been there. Talk t-to me if you nnnneed help, ok?" I looked at him, baffled by the implications of that offering, but gave him an awkward little smile anyway.

"Uh- yeah! I'll definitely consider it." I gave him a thumbs up, one he only returned with a concerned look, and went back inside to hope the party had stopped.