Chapter Text
The sound of sizzling filled the air as Paper laid a few strips of bacon in the pan. He made toast, plated some scrambled eggs, and poured a glass of orange juice. He prepared a cup of coffee with milk and a dash of sugar, and gathered everything onto a tray to take upstairs.
It was only 5:30 AM, and OJ was already sat at his desk, paging through complaints. Paper set the tray down on the desk.
"Good morning, clementine. I brought you breakfast," Paper cheerfully announced.
"Oh! You know, you really didn't have to do that," OJ said, taking a sip from the coffee. He hummed and nodded; it was made just the way he liked it.
"I know, but I wanted to. You work so hard all the time. In fact," Paper slid the stack of complaints aside and out of OJ's reach, "I've decided that today you're going to take a break."
"I am, am I?" OJ chuckled and grabbed his planner. "And who will be keeping this place afloat while I do? I don’t suppose YOU want to deal with the residents' complaints of squeaky door hinges and leaking faucets?"
"I've stood in for you before when MePhone tricked you into rejoining Inanimate Insanity," Paper replied.
"Uh-huh. And remind me again how many times the kitchen caught fire during that week?"
"That was completely unrelated," Paper said quickly. "Look, I know you worry that something bad will happen if you let your guard down, but you can't keep burning the candle at both ends. You need to take time for yourself, too."
"I do take ti–" OJ started, but he was cut off by a glare from Paper.
"I'm not budging on this, so you can either choose to relax and let me take care of things, or I can tie you to the bed and force you."
"Don’t threaten me with a good time," OJ joked, but he closed his planner and put it away. "I concede, you win. I'll take the day off, but if anything happens, I'm stepping right back in."
Paper let out a squeal of delight and clapped his hands. "You won't regret this! I'll go take care of this stuff now," Paper said, grabbing the planner and complaint list, "And then I'll be back and we can cuddle!" He picked up the empty dishes to take downstairs and left.
OJ sighed and checked his phone. He didn't really have any hobbies, having given them up in order to dedicate his time to running the hotel. He honestly couldn't even remember what he used to do in his freetime before Inanimate Insanity. He fiddled around with the stuff on his desk, arranging and rearranging his pens and papers. He tidied up the rest of his desk, cleaned off his bedside table, made the bed, answered a few emails, and rearranged his bookshelf before checking his phone again. It had only been 5 minutes. Today was going to be a long day.