HAUNTING RELAPSE. [Paint Cans 2 & II AU]

19: arbor and his many whys

"Hey... love, are you okay?"

Paper asked, his soft voice slipping out, "You've been very jumpy lately, are you staying up again?"

OJ adjusted and tightened his tie nervously, his eyes darting to the floor reluctantly as the muscles in his throat contracted roughly to make up some sort of response, "No... I'm fine Pap's, just... it's nothing."

"OJ... please" Paper whispered desperately.

"I have a ton of paperwork a-and it's overbearing you know." The manager stated, walking back to his desk while going through some cabinets.

Paper sighed, "OJ."

"I've.. been lazy today, I should just-"

"OJ!" The co-manager yelled out, stopping OJ in his tracks and looking directly at Paper. He let out a sigh and relaxed his face, and spoke with care, "Just... Please tell me what's wrong."

OJ's face turned into a small frown, he slowly closed the cabinet he opened and sat down on his chair, shutting his eyes as he let out a deep exhale.

"Paper, can you schedule..-" The Manager paused for a moment, "..-extra therapy appointments?" OJ quietly asked.

"...Why?" The co-manager asked.

"I... it's getting worse, I saw them outside my nightmares." OJ's voice hesitated, a genuine fear sparking within him.

"I saw them... and heard them talk to me." OJ's voice cracked slightly, "And just, they morphed into this mass of... flesh... calling out my name."

OJ gave a long and quiet stare at his desk, Paper soon realized what happened that night as the cogs in his head turned. OJ's pupils went in untargeted directions as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Goddamnit!" OJ threw his fists on his desk, on the verge of tears letting out his frustration as a nearby glass wobbled, "If I wasn't so stupid I wouldn't be a mess!" OJ let out a sharp breath as he looked at his palms, his hands trembling.

"I could have probably fixed this if I just knew better..." OJ whispered.

The manager threw his face into his hands, covering his face in between them, trying to not cry in front of his lover.

"OJ..." Paper said as he placed a soothing soft hand on OJ's back, "you need to recognize that... none of this is your fault." Paper got closer to him, "You need to see that you're traumatized. Like everyone else here... and that's okay."

"But... It's not!" OJ yelled with tears in his eyes, fear trembling deep in his throat.
"I don't wanna live my life in fear that maybe one day they'll come back to finish the job!" OJ spoke with anger.

"Almost everyones gone.. And i.." OJ sniffled, burying his face into his arms on top of his desk, "i.. I don't want you to be next.."
Paper frowned rubbed his hand around OJ's back. They both looked into eachothers eyes, a blanket of calm washing over them like waves.

"OJ, it's okay to be scared and confused, it's a part of life that's inescapable." Paper said as he looked lovingly at OJ.

"You did nothing wrong, you couldn't control what they did. Living with the grief that you could have done something tears you up from the inside but.." Paper paused for a moment and kissed the Manager's head. " You need to think about what you can do now. . And help not only yourself but others." Paper spoke with sincerity, his voice soft and sorrowful.

Oj looked off into the distance, looking at the wall with a picture of everyone in front of the Hotel when it was first built. He reminisced on how things used to be but paper was right, he only has nothing but the future ahead of him and it was time for him to take back control of his own life.

He was going to do something about it, but OJ's pupils moved to see the part of the portrait crossed out in heavy black marker, someone's face he scribbled out but could never erase ever in his mind.

He just couldn't face them himself, an overwhelming and powerful sense of dread churned in the pit of his stomach, giving him a deep intense sickness.

How could such abhorrent things hide behind such an innocent smile? OJ just couldn't grasp the idea that someone would simply snap and kill the people they grew close with- the people they cared for, the people they... loved.

It just didn't make sense. Like a puzzle with an infinite amount of solutions but none of them were truly right. It all felt wrong.

Something felt... missing, They wouldn't have done this on purpose right? But he could never be so sure about anything anymore. Paper's voice snapped him out of his train of thought.

"I'm proud of you for finally opening up OJ, you'll be okay alright?" The co-manager asked.

"Yeah... I'll try to Pap's." OJ responded, his eyes still focusing on the portrait across from him.

A question suddenly itched within the co-managers bones, something that felt curious and begging to know, it didn't feel like himself but it wanted to know.

"Hey OJ?" Paper asked, the manager turning his head to face paper just enough.

"What was Cabby here for?"
OJ had an expression that couldn't be read, but it spoke a thousand words while simultaneously being quiet, "She wanted my help with... " The manager paused, trying to tell the truth but he didn't want to, the answer being choked up. "With an investigation, since I... helped with it awhile back with... You know who."

"Oh well-" The co-manager got cut off shortly after.

"I said no." OJ, bluntly stated, "I'm not in the headspace or will to do that right now."

Paper's gaze stuck until he spoke to the manager, "Alright, just text me if you need anything." As OJ left him in silence, Standing up as he walked out of the room, his shoes softly tapped on the hard wood below him as he gently shut the door behind him.

Paper walked down the halls as silence took up the air, a faint sense of emptiness filled the atmosphere, the loudest thing being his own feet.

Until someone coughed.

Someone very familiar to Paper, but came out when he felt like it or had a reason.

"Paper." He spoke out, Paper hearing it so clearly and audibly, a voice speaking within himself.

"Evil Paper?" Paper said, recognizing who it was.

The headmate scoffed, "Paper, I have a name." He corrected the co-manager, "Just call me Origami."

"Okay Origami, what do you want?" Paper questioned his headmate.

"We should help Cabby." Origami told the co-manager.

Paper paused, confused on what Origami insisted on. "Origami no, OJ would be upset if I ever did that! He would be worried..."

Origami furrowed his eyebrows if paper could see it, "Don't you wanna help him then?" He asked a tough question to the co-manager, causing Paper to stop walking.

"I do... just not like that Ori..." Paper responded.

"Listen Paper, if you won't I will!" The headmate insisted, "I'd rather do something about it then just sit around and talk about it." Origami stated. "You know Paper, I do care." "I do care about this! And I'm not going to watch from the sidelines and see people get killed." Origami stood up for himself, his voice burning with vengeance and passion.

Paper was stunned, it was like Origami was an entirely new person, less violent from the last time they spoke and actually caring as he stated. Paper knew he wanted to help but was still hesitant for a lot of reasons.

"If you won't, I will do this myself instead." Origami gritted through his teeth.

"Origami, I know you want to help, but as we both know I'm... I'm hesitant to go through with this because-"

"Blah blah blah! We could both die, I get it." Origami cut the co-manager off, entirely predicting what Paper was going to say, "I'm not stupid or weak, Paper."

"Okay fine!" Paper scoffed, "You do this! just... just please be careful okay." His voice shortly became soft again.

"So... will you let me front so I can go talk to her before she leaves?" Origami asked, crossing his arms mentally as he began to become impatient.

"As long as you dont take over my life or get us killed, then... I suppose so." Paper answered, moving a bang out of his face.

Origami shrugged and accepted the offer, "Deal."

Then... a snippet of life faded momentarily like a flash. Until the body regained its consciousness...

Origami at that moment, realized where he was.