Tearing Him Apart

Paper hadn't left his bed once since he woke up.

Most days, he wouldn't mind that. His bed was nothing short of a sanctuary; soft, warm, and it always had the faintest scent of citrus thanks to a certain object that slept there with him.

This was not one of those days.

"I mean- just look at it! Oh, Paper, it must be so painful I'm so so sorry!"

OJ had been pacing around the room for the last 3 hours, absolutely refusing to leave. Paper was so tired of it... he just wanted to do something... anything other than deal with this.

"OJ. For the last time, I'm okay... it's been hours, there's no pain at all-"

"Oh, it's all my fault... if I had just listened when you asked to stay here, you wouldn't have gotten that awful tear!"

"...OJ, LET ME GET UP FOR THE LOVE OF-"

"No! You're staying here and getting rest."

Paper whined in bed again, flopping back onto the bed with an annoyed grumble. It wasn't fair. It was the tiniest tear in his side! Plus, OJ had already bandaged it up. Really, what was the problem?

"But I feel completely fine! I can still move my limbs around and I don't even feel any pain at all! It'll heal on its own."

"But what if it doesn't? God, this has never happened before, what am I meant to do...?"

It was quite rare that OJ ever really panicked over anything. Unless it was related to his financial stability, or someone made an excuse to drag him away from working all day every day. He wasn't the type to be launched into a panic over something minor.

So why was this one of the few things that broke his calm and collected demeanour?

"Here's an idea - how about you let me stand up?"

"No. No, you could get hurt, you could make it worse!-"

"OJ. I can take care of myself! Rotting away in bed all day certainly isn't helping me get better. Did I force you to stay in bed that one time you got a small crack in your glass from walking into the door?"

"...You tried to convince me to rest... isn't this the exact same thing?"

"OJ, it was 2am in the morning, of course you'd need to go back to sleep. It's almost 2 in the afternoon now, and you're fretting over me like I'm a fragile little snowflake."

OJ let out a quiet sigh, shaking his head and sitting on the edge of the bed beside him.

"You know I'm saying this because I care about your safety, right? I don't think you're weak or stupid, Paps..."

Paper looked into his warm, worried gaze, taking in a deep breath as he spoke.

"Yeah... yeah, I know. But c'mon... you have to admit this is a bit much. I'm not gonna collapse the moment I stand up. All I want is for you to actually listen... and trust that I got this. Is that so hard?"

OJ considered Paper's words for another moment or two, before finally caving in.

"...You're right.. yeah, you're right... Paper, I- I'm sorry, I just... I was so worried, and I want nothing more than to protect you..."

His voice shook with sincerity, and Paper nodded along to those sweet, genuine words. He understood where OJ was coming from, he really did. He was already aware that he only wanted what he thought was best for him...

"Hey, it's alright. I appreciate you being concerned for me. But maybe... dial it down a bit?"

"Yeah... yeah, I can do that..."

Paper was then finally able to get out of bed, landing on his own two feet, ready to walk out of the room when OJ called out to him again.

"Wait- wait just a second!"

He got up from the bed as well, standing alongside him and linking their hands together.

"...Do you think I could... at least stay with you today? Just to be sure... and- also cause, y'know, it's been a while and-"

"Relax, honey, it's okay."

Going through all those hours of boredom and listening to OJ's petrified rants was all worth it when he saw every last speck of fear and doubt fade from his lover's face.