18:00

4 : Cold

Fan finally reached the front doors of the hotel, panting as he did. His lungs hurt from ruggedly breathing in the freezing air, but he didn't have time to worry about it. He knocked his fist on the door three times, then waited for a response.

After a couple of seconds, OJ opened the door. He stood in the doorway, and upon realizing it was Fan who knocked, his face turned to an expression which could only be described as both relief and anger combined.

"Fan, where were you?" OJ asked firmly, his voice cutting through the bitter air like a knife.

"Okay- I'm sorry I was out for so long, but I was just... walking around?" Fan said, rubbing his arms. "Just- could you let me in? It's freezing out here."

OJ sighed, but stepped aside regardless. Fan smiled, kicking the snow off his boots on the front mat before walking inside.

"Okay... we can go to my office and talk about this, alright?" OJ suggested. Fan gulped, already knowing he was going to be in trouble.

He was just waiting to see how much trouble he'd be in.

-

"That was a really stupid decision, you know." Paintbrush pointed out. Fan huffed, crossing his arms.

"I know, I know, but I needed a breath of fresh air!" Fan complained. "Urgh... just a moment."

He grabbed a tissue from the tissue box beside himself, putting it up to his nose and blowing into it. He had been stuck with a cold for the last couple of days since he went out.

Thus was his punishment; OJ had decided Fan couldn't leave the hotel until his cold died down. It was only fair after how long Fan had disappeared, but it was still annoying.

"Fan, leaving the hotel for six hours in the freezing snow isn't 'a breath of fresh air'! Do you know how panicked everybody was?" Paintbrush said, raising their voice slightly. Fan nodded, feeling slightly guilty.

He knew why everybody had been panicking as well. The last time anybody went missing for any amount of time it had been the lab incident, and that certainly didn't end well.

"Paintbrush, you don't understand. It was one of the only times I felt at peace in the last few months! I know it was stupid, but if you had been there feeling the same way I was..." Fan trailed off, not having the words. Even if he wasn't going to tell anybody about Purgatory Mansion, that didn't mean he was necessarily lying about the feeling though. Seeing Test Tube again had been a relief.

"Fan, you were out there long enough to get sick." Paintbrush said. "I don't care what you think, I and the rest of the hotel say that you need to take better care of yourself."

"Fine, I'll admit I was being stupid. But it was stupidity with reason, alright?" Fan argued, crossing his arms.

"Whatever you say." Paintbrush said. They walked over to their bed, lying down on it. Fan opened his mouth, wanting to get the last word in the argument, but decided against it. What was there to say without revealing where he had been anyway?

He thought for a second. Then another idea hit him, and this one wasn't quite as stupid as his previous ones. He reached underneath his bed, pulling it out while Paintbrush wasn't looking.

Despite Fan's best attempts to open the laptop without making noise, his plan was ultimately foiled by the laptop making a startup noise as soon as its screen touched the air.

"Wh- Fan, seriously?" They shouted out, turning straight towards him again. "Does someone have to keep their eyes on you constantly for you to not do something?"

"H-hey! I was just going to... add to my blog? Gotta tell them I'm sick, you know?" Fan tried his best to play it off. Paintbrush looked at him suspiciously for a second, but eventually shrugged it off.