DISCLAIMER: Women of the Otherworld, its publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of their respective owners. No money is being made for this. No copyright infringement is intended.
TITLE: Paper Clips
AUTHOR: Relala
BETA: lady of scarlet
FANDOM STATUS: Canon
SPOILERS: Extremely minor ones for Personal Demon
You sort your paper clips with fingertips that fumble as they try and pick them up, creating different piles for the dark greens, sunny yellows, apple reds and shiny silvers. You do this because when you leave them in their little box package it annoys you and you begin to obsess over it, the jumble of colours lumped together when they don't belong in the same category.
On some nights your obsession even gets so bad that the paper clips enter your dreams, eye sores of reality reminding you that there are places to go, people to meet, supernaturals to be saved and paper clips to be sorted properly. They won't leave you alone.
You roll out of your bed carefully, trying your best to not wake up Paige as she lies beside you in her silk nightgown, her dreams undisturbed by your demons and phantoms, and you make your way to the office that you share together.
On your desk is the unsorted plastic box of paper clips waiting for you to sort them. Fresh and unopened, jumbled together.
You do away with the plastic and slip open the lid, pouring the paper clips out onto the desk. Separate piles are made for each new colour, each pile having a different category.
A lot of people wouldn't understand this. Savannah mocks you for your obsession, calling you a "neat-freak" and Paige looks at you curiously, a question behind her eyes that you are always too cowardly to answer.
Adam even comes in early some mornings and messes them up, putting the greens in with the yellows and the reds with the silvers. It's meant as a joke, you know, but you don't think it's very funny. Adam just doesn't understand. There has to be separate piles and categories or else everything will get messed up, everything will be wrong.
The green clips are for the new clients and the yellow are for the Council work; red is for current cases and silver clips are used for the Cabal cases that your Papa gives you. You can't get them jumbled up, you can't get them confused, because if you do then nothing has its place. That's not acceptable.
You can sort everything out, you can keep each little part of your life away from each other, as long as they are sorted properly. And once they are sorted, once everything is corrected by being in its proper place, you'll finally be able to get some sleep.
THE END
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