hi

——

" Are you sure this is going to be ok, OJ? "

Two people sat in a cramped room. That room reeked of an old basement, With the smell of a putrid mildewy stench filling one of the two's lungs. The terrible tension would crawl up the back up of one of them, the person being named Balloon. And the other across from Balloon is presumably named OJ.

" It's fine, Balloon. Besides, the anniversary of the show is in a month and I want everyone to be present. Would be a shame if we had people missing. "

OJ held a packet of papers, shuffling through them before slipping out a sheet of paper and sliding it over to Balloon, lending them a pen. Balloon frowned, still unsure, and seemed rather hesitant to continue forward with their actions. OJ although, gave Balloon a faint smile, awaiting for Balloon to write their signature. Balloon glanced up at OJ and returned the smile, a crooked, nervous one at that. Their smile dropped as they wrote their name onto the thin line of the paper. OJ stood up and slid the paper back over to him, putting it on top of the papers he had piled up and holding out his hand to Balloon. Balloon gave him an unsteady stare before shaking his hand with a weak grip.

" Welcome back Balloon, you can gather your stuff, I'll wait for you in the car. "

OJ spoke up, grabbed his belongings, and stepped out of the dimly lit room. Balloon took a moment to take in what was happening. It hadn't seemed real, the whole thing felt like a dream. They didn't want to waste time, so snapping out of their trance they stood up and began to pack their bags, not much to collect and gather anyways. They were just glad to leave this shit-hole and to live in an actual place.

——

The radio would static through different stations before settling on a song that was slow and drained. The static is still faintly over the music. Balloon stared out the window as their bag was on their lap, hugging it closely to their chest.

" .. What about the others? Do you think they're ok with this? "

Balloon looked over to OJ for an answer. Although OJ took his time to respond. He cleared his throat.

" It's going to be fine. "

He answered bluntly. Balloon didn't like that response very much.

" .. Is.. Mephone4 gonna be at the party? "

" We don't know where he is. "

OJ answered quickly, This catching Balloon off guard.

" Wait— you mean- he's gone? Like nowhere? you haven't even called him or-? "

" Nope, no clue where he is. Almost like he ran away. We tried to call him, but his contact was just— gone. Just like that. It's like he disappeared from the surface of the earth. "



Balloon stared at OJ with worried eyes, but OJ had a straight expression, hand slightly out the window of the car whilst his other hand rested on top of the steering wheel. Balloon slowly nodded, looking back out the window. After a long, awkward car ride, Balloon could see the bright orange hotel in the distance. Feeling anxiety crawl up their back once again, seeing that building made their stomach turn in a sickly way. They pulled in front of the hotel, OJ stepping out of the car along side Balloon. Balloon holding their bag tightly against their chest before putting the backpack over their shoulders, holding the straps tightly until their knuckles turned white. The two made their way over to the front doors of the building.

Balloon held in their breath. The tight air being lodged down their throat while standing next to orange beverage. Suddenly all those repressed memories of what had happened during Inanimate Insanity came flooding back like a tsunami. The crashing waves stirring back and forth in their head. It didn't sit well with them. It made their stomach turn and tighten, but had no choice but to ignore that feeling and replace it with the excuse of it being excited to see their friend, Suitcase again. They could hear the chattering from the inside that just lied behind the doors, seeing the doors open ajar. The two stepped in, the crashing sounds of silence was drowning Balloon. With all eyes on the two, no, them. They felt so out of place, they felt so dirty returning back at this place, they felt ashamed and embarrassed. Everyone had looked at Balloon with uneasy faces, some whispering to another as the rest just watched in awe. Balloon finally swallowed the air that was stuck in their throat, waving awkwardly at everyone and gave a crooked smile. OJ placed a hand onto Balloon's shoulder and guided them to the stair way.

" I spoke to them already about you staying with us for a bit. " OJ cleared the silence with his voice echoing the hallway while they made their ways up the steps.

" And.. how did they react? " Balloon asked with curiosity, although they knew his response wouldn't be how they had wanted, they were still curious. OJ paused, his expression bitter.

" Not — Uhm, terrible. " OJ finally said. Balloon just looked down at the floor, not responding to this. They were now more distracted on the patterns on the carpet, with the red and orange colors that were sprinkled on it, of course it was dirty, making the color more dull. Their attention was grabbed as OJ had stopped walking and stood in-front of a room. Balloon stared at the door as it opened, revealing a cold, dark, empty room. What only to be in there was a singular bed and a nightstand. The wallpaper looked like it was pealing almost.

" Hope you don't mind the breeze, that window just won't budge and we can't close it. Not even Trophy can slam it shut. " OJ coughed, turning to Balloon and held a pair of golden keys with his fingers, handing it to Balloon. " Don't. Lose these. Understand? " He spoke in a stern manner, Balloon uncomfortably nodded as OJ's grim expression turned into a pleasant smile. " Good! Now dinner is gonna be prepared soon, you can head on down when you're ready. "

" .. Thanks. "

Balloon now stood alone, staring back at their room and let out a heavy sigh.

" I guess it's better than a homeless shelter. " Balloon muttered under their breath. Walking into their room, they grazed their hand across the wallpaper. Messing with a piece of wallpaper that was slightly ripped off the wall, trying to press it back up into its place, it just draped back down. Balloon's hand then moved to the light switch and flicked it on, yet the light didn't budge. Actually, there wasn't even a lightbulb in the first place. Looking up at the ceiling of their room, they noticed that there wasn't a lightbulb in the ceiling fan. " Great. " Balloon tossed their bag onto their bed and groaned in frustration, rubbing their face and ran their fingers through their ratted hair.

" Balloon? " A soft Australian voice piped up behind them. They turned around and felt warmth crawl up their back, suddenly a giant grin appeared across their face.

" Suitcase! Oh my goodness it's been forever! " Balloon waltzed over and opened their arms wide, as if asking permission for a hug, She returned them the smile and hugged them tightly, wrapping her arms underneath their own.

" Oh I missed you so much! And- did you grow out your hair? " Suitcase pulled away, chuckling slightly as she looked at their long salmon hair that rested on their shoulders. Balloon played with their hair bashfully, a bit embarrassed. They hadn't realize how long it had really gotten. They guess they had let themself go and didn't care for their looks after their mental health started to deteriorate. The was a bit shameful in their eyes, they felt gross compared to Suitcase. How she looked so pretty and settle, while they just looked —

disgusting.

" Oh uhm- yeah, I did.. I need to try and cut it soon. " Balloon hummed, letting their hand fall to their side and slid into their hoodie pocket. " You look.. wonderful as always. " They let out a soft laugh.

" Oh please.. I just brushed my hair and put on what I could find.. I got too excited when OJ mentioned you were coming back. "

" Is that so? " Balloon grinned slightly, cocking their head to the side with amusement and flattered by how excited that anyone, actually, would be to see them.

Balloon would always find Suitcase to be so perfect, how she would always find the right words at the perfect time when they needed them the most. How her smile would always be so infectious. To how her hair would glow even in the moonlight. Everything about her was so much better than how they could ever be. She was everything they wanted to be. She could be able to stand up for herself whenever she was wronged, and Balloon craved to be just like that.

Suitcase waved her prosthetic hand in-front of their careful eyes, a worried face plastered onto hers.

" Balloon? Are you ok?.. " Her gentle voice echoed in the room. This causing Balloon to snap back into reality. Shaking their head and nodded.

" Yes — I'm sorry. "

Suitcase looked worriedly at her friend, her hand slowly moving to their face but refrained from touching them. Her hand moving back to her side.

" It's good to have you back Balloon.. " Her smiled slowly returned.

" .. It's good to be back. " Balloon chuckled slightly. As they stood there in silence, a voice had rung from down stairs.

" Suitcase! Come on already Baseball already made you a plate! " A raspy voice spoke out.

Balloon felt themself recoil from the source of the voice, shaking their head and waved off Suitcase. " You should go, I'll come down in a minute.. " Suitcase frowned at their sudden dismissal, but nodded in understanding. Moving to the exit of the room and paused. Turning to Balloon.

" Welcome Home Balloon. "

Suitcase smiled before retreating out into the hall. Her footsteps fading away as well as Balloon's comfort. Balloon stared at the door that opened wide with entry. Thinking back on all that had happened so far.

Balloon stood and noticed a mirror that was leaning against the bare wall, seeing themself standing so small. They felt repulsed by how they had looked. Looking at their bag, they took off their black hoodie and unzipped their bag, pulling out a pair of scissors. They chewed on their lip, slightly hesitant before moving to the cracked mirror and lifted a part of their thick hair out, carefully steadying the scissors correctly. Taking a sharp breath, they snipped off the piece of hair. Letting it fall onto the carpet. Balloon blinked, That wasn't so bad. They shipped a piece off again. Then another. And then another. The weight of their hair slowly lessening more and more until it was completely off their shoulders and now rested onto the back of their neck. Balloon paused, admiring their new hair, it was just like how it was at the start of season 1. But something was missing. Balloon moved back to their bag and dug through it and grabbed a small ziplock bag of random items. To bandaids, to lotion, to hair ties. They grabbed a pony tail and came back to the mirror, putting a small section of their hair up into a pony tail. Staring at themselves. It was better than before, definitely. But something about it just wasn't making them feel comfortable with how they appeared. They rather not focus on that.

Their stomach growled, turning and twisting. They could go down stairs and finally eat an actual meal. They grew excited. Dusting off the pieces of hair that was stuck on their tank top. They put on a white baggy shirt over it.

Rushing down the stairs, they had a smile plastered across their face. Growing closer to the kitchen before knocking into a table and dropped a small book that now laid open, sprawled onto the floor. Balloon sighed and knelt down, picking it up before their ears had caught onto the conversation of the others that were filled in the dining area. Being hard to make out, yet they could still hear the faintness of it.

" .. can't believe you would still let them into here. " A voice spoke.

" I still can't believe that they even allow themselves to still look like that. I honestly say they had gotten worse since the last time we saw them. " A snarky voice piped up.

Balloon winced, it was pretty obvious who they were all talking about. And it hurt. A pain in their chest tightening.

" Guys I'm only allowing them to stay for a short while, ok? It's not that bad. Plus I want everyone — "

" to be included, we know. But would it hurt so bad if you had let THEM out. Only them? "

" .. I Said What I Said. And that's Final you guys, can we please change the subject. "

" Hey listen. I'm just saying what we're all thinking — we don't want them here OJ. "

" Nickel. " Suitcase's voice snapped at Nickel's rude comments. The room growing silent.

" Can you guys please give them a chance? Please? At least try! It's not that hard! "

" .. kind of is when that parasite is walking around. "

There was a loud slam, played clinking before a chair squealed loudly and footsteps approached the outside of the dining room. Suitcase turning the corner with a sour face and noticed Balloon who stood there, book in hand.

" Oh, Balloon — "

" Thank you. "

" Huh?— " Suitcase blinked, confused.

" For.. standing up for me.. I really appreciate it, Suitcase.. " Balloon set the book back onto the table.

" It's.. fine, I just can't stand when people talk so wrongly about others. Bugs me in the wrong way.. " Suitcase frowned.

" At least we have people like you to help.. " Balloon chuckled slightly.

" Heh — Yeah.. " Suitcase laughed as well, "... don't let them get to you, ok? "

" .. I'll try. "

" Good.. "

" Ugh— Suitcase come back. Baseball is gonna get on my ass if I don't get y— oh. " And just like that, the comfort between the two was broken in an instant. Nickel stared at the two. Glaring at Balloon. Suitcase just rolled her eyes and dragged Balloon away.

" Come on Balloon, "

" Oh— ok? Uh— Bye.. Nickel—? "

" .. Whatever. " Nickel scoffed, turning away.

The two made their way up the stairs and to the front of Balloon's room.

" You should go get some rest ok? Try and settle in for the night.. the others are gonna be grumpy for a bit so it's best to try and ignore them till they're use to it.. "

Balloon folded their arms, not really enjoying the fact Suitcase was treating them like a child, but they understood where she was coming from. Nodding slowly.

" Ok.. " They sighed, moving over to their room.

" Goodnight suitcase.. "

" Goodnight Balloon, sleep well ok? "

" yeah.. " Balloon grumbled. Closing the door behind them.

Jesus fucking Christ.