Chapter Text
Paper laid in his and OJ’s bed, staring at the ceiling blankly
He listened as the voice in his head screamed out at him.
Things like, “I was only trying to protect you!” Or, “I was looking out for you!”
He continued to stare at the ceiling while the voice, Evil Paper’s voice, continued to yell echoing through their shared mindspace.
He began another rant, “And you know wha-” Paper sighed loudly.
“Why are you still here?!” he groaned, slowly dragging his hands down his face.
Evil Paper scoffed, “Why am I still- ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Paper flinched.
“You really thought dropping a FAKE PIANO on me would ACTUALLY GET RID OF ME???”
Evil Paper began to laugh, to which Paper loudly sighed again.
“I don’t know, it’s been, what, a decade since then?”
Paper sat up. “I thought if you were still around, you’d… make it obvious.”
Evil Paper went quiet.
“That’s because I wasn’t.”
“WHAT?” Now Paper was completely lost.
“After that whole incident, I realized…” Evil Paper sighed.
“You didn’t need me anymore. And worse, you hated me.”
He… never thought about it that way. Paper had always reduced Evil Paper to just an annoying voice in his head, ruining his life. But, he was more than that, wasn’t he?
He was a person, which was now clearly apparent.
“I’m sorry.” He curled up his legs, feeling ashamed.
Evil Paper went quiet again.
“...it’s okay. I know you were just scared. I was scared too.”
“Are… we like Yin and Yang?” Paper asked.
“Who???” Evil Paper responded, confused.
“Oh right, they’re, uhm, other contestants that I competed with on Season 2.”
“They made a Season 2 of that shitty reality show?”
Paper swallowed. He had a lot to catch him up on.
—-----------------------------
“So…. we’re not real?” Evil Paper asked.
“No no! We’re real,” Paper clarified, “but we were made by MePhone4. Kinda like a computer program or something.”
Evil Paper sat with that idea. He already didn’t feel very real, his very identity based on someone else, but now there was a whole ‘nother layer to it.
“But… what does that make me?”
“Uh, I’m not actually sure?”
“Well that’s real nice.” Evil Paper sighed, pacing around in the dark void of Paper’s mind.
“I’m sorry, I wish I had more answers for you. For both of us.”
Evil Paper thought to himself for a moment.
“Maybe it doesn’t really matter. I mean, I’m definitely not gonna go anywhere anytime soon, so,” Evil Paper crossed his arms, “we’re just gonna have to learn to live with each other, I guess.”
Ugh. He wished that he had ended up in the mind of anyone else, someone other than this loser.
“Hey! I heard that.”
“Oh shit, my bad.”
“Just like you said, we’re gonna have to get along if we’re really going to…” He trailed off.
“Share the same body?” Evil Paper said, finishing his other half’s thought.
“Yeah.”
“Well, can we start by changing my name?” Evil Paper really didn’t like just being called “Evil Paper”. He wasn’t evil, and while he was a piece of paper, he wasn’t Paper.
“OH! Of course!” Paper sweat a bit.
“Wha-what would you like to be called?”
The other piece of paper thought for a bit. What did he want to be called? Obviously not Paper, that would get confusing real fast. Maybe something related to paper…
Oh! Now there’s an idea.
“Looseleaf,” he finally said, voice beaming with pride. “You can call me Looseleaf.”
“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Looseleaf.” He smiled. It felt good to have a real name. One that was his, and only his. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad.
“Paper! I’m home.” OJ called out from the front door.
“Oh no,” they said in unison.