Today was a bright sunny day at Hotel OJ – but no one had any plans to go out.

"Places everyone! We need to get these auditions up and running as soon as possible!"

OJ ordered the hotel's inhabitants about, while Trophy could only groan at the commotion as he descended the stairs.

"Whu's goin' on?" he grumbled.

A practically vibrating Cheesy bounced over, looking more cheerful than a child on Christmas Day.

"We have the auditions for Heathers, don't you remember?"

Trophy straightened his posture slightly, nervously looking to the side. Cheesy gasped loudly.

"Don't tell me you actually forgot! It should be fine though. Our audition times are later today."

"I-I did practice", Trophy rebutted. "I just forgot the audition was today."

"Really? I could barely sleep last night!"

Cheesy threw his hands about as he spoke. Trophy scoffed fondly.

"Still not gonna tell me who you're auditioning for?"

"Nope! It has to be a surprise."

"Fine, you're still getting nothing out of me then!"

The jock playfully shoved the comedian, who reciprocated the action.

"Heheh, I'm gonna go practice in my room. You'd best be getting yourself cleaned up."

Trophy looked at himself. He was in a baggy t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of mismatched socks.

"Yeah, I probably should."

With a wave and a short hug, the two split ways.

—

Paintbrush sat outside the hotel, absentmindedly scribbling the landscape in their notebook.

Art had been coming to them more easily since their little realisation. Everything they saw was something they could illustrate, and they couldn't have been happier. Coming to terms with their feelings for Lightbulb had lifted a huge weight off Paintbrush's back. So they were outside scribbling – namely due to all the preparations for the musical production taking place within Hotel OJ. They were in charge of the music, so they didn't have to attend till the actual rehearsals began. Those were in a couple days.

Baxter waddled onto their sketchbook, his empty eyes looking straight into the artist's soul.

"Er, do you need something, Baxter?"

He clicked his little claws rhythmically, waving his arms in a manner that mimicked Lightbulb.

"You wanna go on a walk?"

The crab jumped. Paintbrush raised an eyebrow.

"Crabs don't need to take... Whatever, where do you wanna go?"

Baxter pointed to the contestant grounds.

"We can't really do that, but what the hell, why not."

They placed the crustacean in their hair, tucking their sketchbook under their arm. With a hefty sigh, Paintbrush began their trek to the contestant grounds.

—

"So who are you gouise, (sniff) auditioning for?"

" I was hoping to play Duke, but I doubt we'll even get in. "

Tissues smiled wearily as he blew his reddened nose.

"That's cool."

The sickly boy sneezed, prompting Yin-Yang to run to his side.

"Ar-Are you alright?"

"Yeah, (sniff) I'm fine."

The dual-toned brothers stepped back, a look of concern still lingering on their faces.

""

Tissues smiled at Yang's worry.

"Yeah gouise, I promise."

They grinned, with Yin smiling more brightly than Yang.

"Anyway," Tissues sat on their bed. "Do you wanna show me your audition?"

Yin nodded their head eagerly, skipping to the door.

"Ready?"

"Mhm!"

—

"OJ?"

"Yes, Paper?"

"Are you sure I-I can't do anything to help?"

The hotel manager smiled, glancing at a clipboard on his desk sheepishly.

"Uhh, do you think you could handle auditions? I think you'd be far better at selecting the right people than me."

Paper raised an eyebrow. OJ only grew more nervous.

"Yo-You're giving me a lot of roles that have to do with selecting how this pr-production turns out..."

"Well, I dunno what you mean-"

"You wanted to watch the show with me – since I told you I haven't watched it – but there were no ongoing shows nearby. So you decided to force everyone in the hotel to help set up a production so we could watch it together. Am I right?"

"...Yeah."

Paper passed OJ's desk as he approached him, swiping up the clipboard and gently kissing his cheek.

"I appreciate it OJ, but you d-don't have to do grand things like this for me all the time. I love you for you."

The manager felt a wave of deja vu hit him, but he decided it was nothing worth worrying about.

"I know, I know, but the other hotel inhabitants will be happy about it too. A lot of people are auditioning! It's incredible!"

The assistant rolled his eyes, then skimmed through the blank pages, waiting to reach the audition notes.

"Box?"

"He wanted to be the casting director. I have no idea why."

"Hmm. Doesn't seem like something he'd do, but whatever. I'll start those auditions for you!"

Paper gave OJ another kiss, waving goodbye as he left the room. The manager sighed dreamily, then looked at the documents regarding the production on his desk.

"It'll be worth it to see the excitement on his face", OJ decided, sitting down on his desk chair and returning to work.

—

"I wanna be the creepy guy in the ensemble who desperately wants to enact his weird fantasies on the Heathers."

"Oddly specific, but okay. I thought you'd wanna be JD or something", Pickle commented.

"Nope, I'd be way too attractive for that role."

Pickle snickered at Knife's words, his gaze still set on the game he played.

"Okay Mr. Handsome, why not Kurt or Ram?"

"They're bullies. A lot of people suit the role more."

"Their dads?"

"Nah, I don't condone underage drinking."

Pickle raised an eyebrow.

"A Heather."

"Again, too attractive for the role."

"I've got a good one. Veronica's mom."

"Not too shabby, actually."

Pickle made a little noise of joy, causing Knife to chuckle as he felt the movement of Pickle's shoulder against his head.

"So, are you going to audition then?"

Knife pondered the idea for a moment, but finally came to a decision.

"I'll audition for Kurt's dad... if you audition for Ram's."

"I thought you said-"

The jerk put a finger to Pickle's lips, smiling as the gamer blushed profusely.

"My Dead Gay Son is a really funny song. I'm not missing out on that just to be a morally decent character. Plus, I'm not kissing anyone but you."

Pickle rolled his eyes, gently lifting Knife's head from his shoulder while still expertly manoeuvring the controls for his game.

"Alright, alright, but aren't auditions today?"

"They're going on till late. We have plenty of time."

"If you say so."

With that, Pickle completed the level, and allowed himself to be led to their room by Knife.

—

"I steal a few breaths from the world for a minute, and then I'll be nothing forever. How was that?"

"Great, really great!"

Microphone grinned brightly, scrolling through her phone and hitting another song to play.

"Ooh, this one's Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart!"

She hummed along to the intro, while Soap sighed endearingly at the sight.

"There's nobody better than you. It took me a while till I knew, but you knew from the start it was us didn't you? It just took me a while till I knew~."

"I think that's the one!"

Microphone was overjoyed by the prospect, flapping her arms around.

"Yay! I like that one a lot." She paused the song with a smile.

Her eyes suddenly shifted to her desk. Soap raised an eyebrow. A sole sheet of paper sat there, blank. Soap's eyes brightened; remembering something.

"Oh, how's that writing thing going?"

"Uhm..."

Blank. There was nothing on the page. Inspiration came and went.

"It's... going."

'Dang it Mic, you really did gain something from Taco didn't you. She taught you how to lie.'

'Shut up. I'll tell her another time.'

"That's good, I can't wait to see your writing!"

Mic could only breathe out, scrolling through the songs in her phone again.

—

"Lighting fixtures?"

"Check!"

"Props?"

"Uh, only a couple left."

"Printed scripts?"

"All done!"

"Great, that's all we need for now."

Test Tube hopped off the stage in the event hall, gently placing a kiss on Fan's cheek.

"Golly, thanks for the help with that."

()

"Never an issue!"

The blogger happily kissed the scientist's cheek in return, prompting her to laugh.

"What do you wanna do now?" Fan asked sweetly.

A smile with clear intent creeped onto Test Tube's face. She placed a hand on Fan's back and led him to a corner.

"I was thinking we could get more auditionees."

"From where?"

She looked to the door of the hall, grabbing Fan's arm and dragging them with her.

"From the contestant's grounds, silly!"

"Wh-What? Test Tube, we can't just do that!"

"If Knife can visit Pickle, then I wanna visit Lightbulb. Is that such a bad thing?"

"Uh- Yes?"

Test Tube paused just short of the front door.

"Oh well, not my problem."

With a skip in her step, the scientist was out the door, while the blogger followed with hesitance. The grassy plains stretched out for what seemed like miles, but it was relatively easy to find the other still-competing contestants.

"Lightbulb!"

The remaining Bright Light looked up from where she was picking at the grass, her dreary expression immediately replaced by the biggest smile the couple had ever seen.

"Testy, Fan!"

She stumbled up from where she sat, rushing to envelop the two in a tight hug.

"I missed you two!"

"We missed you as well", Fan reassured.

"Golly, how long has it been?" Test tube questioned with a grin.

"Too long pally, too long."

As if on cue, Baseball and Suitcase wandered into the area, seemingly chatting about something.

"Oh, hey!" spoke the leader of the Grand Slams, rubbing his neck.

Suitcase watched in silence; still smiling slightly, but clearly nervous.

"Ah, everyone's here! That's just perfect!" Test Tube remarked.

The three contestants glanced at one another.

"What do you mean?" Suitcase queried, tucking a loose strand of hair behind their ear.

()

The scientist looked to Fan – who could only shrug – before turning back to the contestants.

"Well, you see..."

—

"Nickel."

"What?"

"Put them down."

The grey-haired boy rolled his eyes, grumbling as he placed his pack of beers on the counter.

"Fine. Happy, mister happy-pants?"

Ballon scoffed, nodding as he began making himself a hot chocolate.

"Geez, is it such a big deal that I'm worried about your health? Drinking that much can't be good for you."

"Yeah, it is. I still don't like you."

"Oh, whatever."

Balloon finished mixing his drink, then took a small sip and sighed blissfully.

"I'm going to Bomb's room."

Nickel smirked, his hand inching closer to the alcohol.

"And you'd better not drink all of that."

"I won't." Nickel remarked with sarcasm.

Balloon only sighed before giving up and heading into the hall. After a couple moments of silence, Nickel exclaimed in joy before running off with the pack.

—

"Hi, my name is Trophy, and I'm auditioning for the role of Jason Dean."

"Great! You c-can start whenever you'd like."

The jock took a deep breath. It wasn't like he was just about to take the next step towards his childhood dream of playing JD, nope! This was completely stress free for him, and nothing was going to-

"Whoop, sorry for being late!"

Cheesy burst through the doors of the event hall, causing Paper to quietly shriek. The comedian donned a new dress – one Trophy had bought for him. It was still relatively puffy, but was laced with cheese-like patterns, which was something the comedian adored.

"I'm- I'm late right?"

Paper finally relaxed, heaving a rather deep breath.

"N-No, OJ sh-shifted some of the audition times around, he m-might've forgotten to tell you."

Cheesy blinked before shrugging nonchalantly and sitting in a discarded seat.

"I'll just wait till after Trophs' audition then! Is that alright?"

Trophy nodded, feeling his face flush.

'Great, just fantastic! Now I have Cheesy to worry about too.'

Trophy took a deep breath.

'Okay, we need to calm down here buddy. This'll be fine, and we'll do great.'

Trophy nodded to himself, readjusting his posture and clearing his throat.

"Hey, my name is Trophy and I'll be auditioning for Jason Dean."

Paper nodded. Cheesy watched curiously.

'Just like we practised, no big deal!'

"I-I'll be singing Freeze Your Brain, thank you."

Another breath. Paper watched with a smile. Cheesy was grinning uncontrollably, still maintaining its usually goofy undertone. The opening chords from the song rang out, echoing throughout the hall. Trophy mentally counted himself in.

"I've been through ten highschools, they start to get blurry. No point planting roots, 'cause you're gone in a hurry. My dad keeps two suitcases packed in the den, so it's only a matter of when."

Cheesy watched in awe, amazed by Trophy's voice control. The jock, noticing this, loosened up a little, allowing himself to move his hands about since he wore a lapel microphone.

"I don't learn the names, don't bother with faces. All I can trust is this concrete oasis. Seems every time I'm about to despair, there's a 7/11 right there~."

The rest of the audition went by without a hitch. Trophy nailed every single note that got thrown his way. Cheesy was quietly giggling the whole time, his face flushed and his mouth covered by his hands. Trophy finally finished, unhooking his microphone and placing it on a small table that sat near the edge of the stage.

"Th-That was wonderful Trophy! Thank you for auditioning."

Trophy almost curtsied, before quickly bowing and running towards where Cheesy sat.

()

"How was that?" Trophy whispered.

"Amazing! I loved it so much!"

Trophy felt his face flush, stumbling back when Cheesy stood.

"It's my turn! Wish me luck!"

Trophy smiled, then gently took Cheesy's hand and kissed it.

"Best of luck."

Cheesy grinned – his tooth gap showing – before skipping up onto the stage. He easily slipped the microphone onto his collar, and slid to where Trophy had previously stood. The jock was now seated where Cheesy once sat, watching with intrigue.

"Hi there! My name is Cheesy,"

Cheesy looked over to Trophy with a sly smirk, confusing the latter thoroughly.

"And I'm auditioning for the role of Veronica Sawyer."

—

"Anymore~, and step into my candy store."

Baxter smacked Paintbrush's head when they messed up a note, the artist groaning in response.

"Okay, I get it, I get it. It's not like I'm auditioning anyways, so it doesn't matter."

The crab smacked them again, a bit harder than last time.

"Ow-! Okay geez-"

"Painty!"

The artist shrieked as they were tackled to the ground, Baxter crawling onto their face to avoid any injuries.

"Guh- wh-at?"

Lightbulb was hugging them tightly around the waist, sobbing loudly.

"Woah, Light- are you okay?"

The contestant didn't respond, only nuzzling her head further into Paintbrush's apron. Test Tube walked over with Fan in tow as she chuckled at the sight before her. The blogger leaned down, carefully scooping up Baxter so he wouldn't crawl all over the two.

"It's nice to see you too?"

"I missed you Painty." Lightbulb admitted with the biggest smile she could muster, and the artist chuckled.

"I missed you too, Lightbulb."

They were still relaxing from the sudden shock, but managed to properly catch their breath when Lightbulb hopped off them.

"Sheesh, why have you got all the Season 2 contestants?" Paintbrush questioned, only just noticing the other two contestants behind Test Tube.

"Simple! For the auditions."

Paintbrush scratched their head in thought before shrugging.

"I suppose that works. OJ said they had some extra audition times available."

"Delightful! You three better get to practising if you want a chance at a good role."

Lightbulb nodded frantically, helping up Paintbrush and hugging them once again before dragging them inside the hotel.

—

"I always liked Fight For Me a lot, but I dunno gouise..."

"It's a nice song! I like how romantic it is. I've seen you cry about romance books, Yang. "

Tissues giggled quietly, carefully intertwining his hand with Yin-Yang's.

"Tissues, if you could play any character in Heathers, who would you play?"

The sickly boy thought for a moment.

"Uh, I guess I'd wanna play Martha, achoo!"

" If you don't mind telling us."

"Well, 'What can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy ending,' ahah." Tissues quoted diligently.

Yin-Yang snickered at the reference, both brothers smiling happily.

"Then why don't you audition? "

"Awh gouise, I'd just sneeze most of the time... I'm not fit for Broadway."

Yin's hand squeezed Tissues'.

""

"I know."

The sickly boy leaned on Yin's shoulder, closing his eyes and softly humming. The brothers relaxed, smiling as they pet his mop of white hair.

—

"Wow, Box, you hold a lot of qualifications! I never knew you casted for so many movies."

"..."

Paper chuckled nervously, darting his gaze back down to Box's resume. It was incredibly well worded, and he had all the skills that the position was looking for.

"Uhm, well, you have a l-lot of wonderful talent, so I suppose you can get the job!"

"..."

"Ah, of course! I-I'll narrow down the auditionees and you can, uhm, choose which roles they get!"

"..."

Paper sunk into his seat. He didn't think Box would be one to think like that.

"W-Well, I think that, uh, appearance and the such sh-should be second priority-"

"..."

Box held a scarily strong stance, Paper gulped.

"We'll d-deliberate. OJ said I-I was in charge of au-auditioning after all."

Silence lingered momentarily before Box finally agreed.

"..."

"Y-Yes, I can work with that. Uhm, do tell whoever's outside that they can come in now."

"..."

"Yep, th-thank you."

With that, Box was gone, and... Bomb entered?

"B-Bomb?"

The man shrugged. He leisurely walked in, which juxtaposed Paper's frantic flipping through the audition forms.