Despair's Insanity - an II x DR fic

TTM - FTE 5

Characters Selected: Tissues and Trophy

"Good morning Horseplay~" Tissues made a little hum as he entered the room, gesturing for me to come in, so I did. Trophy was lying in his bed in a position that made it look like he'd broken half his bones. He groaned when Tissues stood in front of him and ran a hand through his hair. "C'mon. It's time to get up and check your infection."

"No..." he grumbled something, and Tissues opened up a drawer in Trophy's nightstand, grabbing a little packet and shaking it.

"You gotta take your T at the very least, hon."

"I'm tired..."

"I know, babe. You put the alcohol in the punch." Tissues opened up the packet, yanked Trophy's blanket off of him, and got out some weird goop from the packet, rubbing it into Trophy's shoulder. "C'mon honey."

I sat down on the other bed next to theirs- I'm guessing Tissues'. "Is he like this every morning?" I asked with a brow raised. Tissues looked at me for a moment, then chuckled.

"No. He's just not in great shape. I've been taking care of him from a distance, but now he's got the flu."

"...The flu?" I asked. "Fan said he would go blind."

"He probably lied to you- Trophy definitely just has the flu. And an infection from getting stabbed, but we've covered that well enough." An infection sounded right- lord knows what Balloon had touched with that knife before he thought to plunge it into somebody.

"Well, since I'm here... why don't I get to know Trophy a little bit? Could you tell me about him?"

Tissues glanced at his sleeping...friend(?) and then at me, a hand on his hip as he stared blankly at me. "Uh- what do you want to know?"

"His card... does he have a closer past with Fan or something? Exes?" That seemed to wake Trophy up, given he sat upright almost immediately, giving Tissues a kiss on the back of the head before he glared right at me.

"That's none of your business, quite frankly! He just writes the way he does about me because he thinks I'll want to date him or something. Or- maybe he's just a creep. Either way, I hate it when he even gets near me nowadays!" That sentiment was something I completely understood. Unfortunately, Fan loved targeting me, so I didn't get the luxury of being somewhat ignored like Trophy seemed to be.

As I thought on what to ask next, the words sort of spilled out of my mouth before they could even begin to register. "Why are you so sensitive about people mentioning how you look anyway?"

Uh-oh. Tissues and Trophy went eerily silent, with Trophy's anger slowly turning to discomfort as he nudged for Tissues to say it, which he did. He slowed his words a bit, treading cautiously and looking up at Trophy every so often to check on his reaction.

"Well... Trophy is what we'd call a... child star. He always had this innate knack for all things athletic, so his mom would sign him up for tournaments outside of school in just about every sport... for money. And- when he came out... she told him that he would ruin his entire family if he...transitioned..."

Trophy huffed. "She only cared about my talent for money. She didn't care that I wanted to do something else- nobody bothered to stop her when she signed me up for a fucking reality show when I was FIFTEEN."

"...yeah," Tissues mumbled. "A lot of us were young, but we were also either willing or... orphans. Trophy was thrown into Inanimate Insanity, and his mom told the producer to make him do whatever. And when they eliminated him, left him in a closet for a full year... nobody ever looked for him." I could feel my mouth hanging open as I just stared at them. There was no way that a mother could be so innately... cruel! He couldn't transition, and then he was sold off like some kind of commodity?

"She must've been so angry when she saw me lose," Trophy said. "So angry that...she gave up. She left me here to essentially figure it out by myself. Hated by the internet, beefing with an adult that scared the shit out of me, and stuck in a closet. I never got my money for all I won when she forced me to play sports. But- some viewers would send me money in the mail, and that's actually how I got into photography. Once I got out of the literal closet, I went outside as much as I could and took photos, just in case I never got to go out again." Tissues' hand had tightly gripped Trophy's, their fingers locked together as Tissues leaned against his shoulder.

"My parents were good. They told me I couldn't go, but we were so tight on money that I promised I'd win the million. Whatever didn't go to help my recovery, I'd give to them. They signed the contract, and then I got eliminated first. And during the show... I had just cut off my medication, so I was horribly ill. I got donations, and Trophy started selling photos online to help me-"

"-I was annoyed because he would choke on his own mucus at night."

"...Yeah." Tissues rolled his eyes with a little smirk. "I think he cared about me all along, he just has a hard time expressing himself."

"I do not."

"You so do." The two turned to face each other, Tissues' cocky little face making Trophy look away first with embarrassment- most likely because I was there. "Mister Horseplay here's been living it rough, but I think he's better off here! Where he and I can be together, because I love him, and he...?"

Trophy grumbled something, until Tissues softly punched his shoulder, making him laugh. "Ok! Jeez- And I love him back. God, you're so shameless!"

"I sure am! Now, Lifering, ask about ME maybe? Like how I have a whole seashell collection in my dresser! Or- how I somehow got my only guiding stick eaten by Lightbulb!"

"I'm sorry- she WHAT?" I said with a raised voice. The two of them started laughing hysterically, but I was mortified. How in god's name do you eat a stick designed for blind people?! They took a second to calm down, and Tissues twirled a bit of his hair in his finger.

"I think it was like- one of the first times she had come to the hotel after the season two hiatus. I had just gotten it thanks to Oj's kind purchase, and she thought it was a candy cane. You should've seen it- I don't know how she managed to break it, and then eat it raw, but she has a serious fucking problem. It was disgusting." Trophy wrapped an arm around his shoulder with an overdramatic nod. "Man- but that's not as interesting as your tragic backstory. No fair- I had a good childhood until this show! Though- I guess you did too, Lifering! Until they died. Sorry."

Was that supposed to be a genuine apology? Was that comment meant to make me upset...? Maybe, but I really didn't care about it too much. "It's fine. They died well over half my lifetime ago now, when I was an adult with a job. I just don't think about it a lot anymore. They were good- helped me to be who I am now! And- I'm sure somewhere they're watching me. Maybe with a bit of horror at the moment." I chuckled to myself, and Tissues gave me a little nod.

"Well... hey, I think Trophy doesn't want you dead anymore. Right hon?" Trophy said nothing. "Er- he's a little angry at you still. But that's fine! Why don't you go downstairs for a minute or two? You look tired as shit, and Bomb and Microphone are probably taking care of the others anyway."

I looked at him blankly for a while. Why should I get to leave them with all the work? I did that yesterday, no? But- Tissues seemed genuine as he got onto his feet to pull me up on my own.

"Not forever. Just a little bit, ok? I don't think anyone's going to be able to look at you normally if you have vibes this soulless. We can handle a couple sick people."

"Tissues, I... I'm sorry for what happened."

"...Jesus, you're really in bad shape if you're apologizing. Off you go! C'mon! Down!" He essentially pushed me out of their room, and as soon as he closed the door, I could hear Tissues jump into his bed. That explained a lot... but I listened to him.