Sitting outside a dead mans room (at night)

Ellis, the Jr. Researcher that Director Solace called Damien to his office to warn him about, creaked the door of the office that was definitely not theirs open and began to walk towards the cafeteria.

“They’re a little weird. They befriended *Thatcher* in a heartbeat and the second week after they got here Mullen *died* and–” Solace had cut himself off, clenching his jaw with a click, “Be careful, Caddel.”

All because the Director thought Damien had made a little bit of small talk while they fixed up the Gamzee fucking Makara costume he’d had to wear to get the interview with some dumb fucking anomaly. It wasn’t like Ellis had been the reason for Mullen’s death. The suspected killer right now was SCP-996. And Thatcher had died last Friday. That was his fault.

Now, watching Ellis slink down the hallway, Damien wondered if Solace was right. As soon as they turned the corner, Damien stepped forward, making his way to the office door.

Oh.

On the plaque underneath the office door window was the name “Clayton Thatcher”.

At the same time Damien physically recoiled at reading the name, Ellis turned the corner again.

“Oh, Damien.”

“That’s Dr. Caddel or Senior Researcher Caddel to you, Ellis.” Damien said, almost automatically.

Ellis nodded and hummed in reply indifferently and came to stand next to him.

“Usually, you’re not here so late.”

Damien ground his teeth, “Solace’s got me working on the 8696 file.”

Ellis nodded, then did a double take. They turned to face Damien.

“Wait, seriously? That’s fucked.”

Damien frowned, “Is it?”

“Yeah. I mean, you probably..” Ellis stopped, their frown matching Damiens. They turned to face the door, “Sorry.”

“Sorry? Sorry I killed a man? I work at the foundation, for fucks sake, I shouldn’t— I’ve never really hurt a coworker before.” Damien brought his hands to his face, “Now I’m fucking rambling.”

Ellis sighed, “It really isn’t your fault. Not like you stuck the claws into him. He shouldn’t have taken up that job. They should’ve made a D-Class do it. Clayton was a little dumb.”

“You barely knew him for 3 weeks, Ellis. The fuck do you know.” He dropped his hands and turned to lean against the wall. Ellis mimicked him, leaning against the door.

“Yeah, but I was actually his *friend*. I mean, it’s fair everyone else didn’t want to be his friend, he is a little dumb, but I did actually talk to him.”

Damien considered their words.

“Whatever. He’s still fucking demon food.”

“You say fuck a lot, Damien.”

“Dr. Caddel.”

“Uh-huh. So, did you even know his first name?”

Damien tensed, “I..” He sighed, “No. ”

Ellis laughed halfheartedly, “Thought so.”

Damien slid to the floor. Ellis followed.

“I can finish the 8696 file.”

“It’s level 3. You won’t have access.”

Ellis giggled, “Check my file.”

“…” Damien slid his phone out of his pocket and opened the handy dandy Foundation Database Mobile Edition. He typed something in and his eyes widened, “What the fuck?”

Ellis giggled harder. Damien looked from the phone to them, “How?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” They grinned. Damien decided his best course of action was to ignore it. He’d bring it up with Solace later or something.

“Your name’s Vinnie.”

“Yeah.” Vinnie Ellis settled against the wall, turned to face Damien more comfortably, “I reiterate: I can finish the 8696 file.”

Damien tapped his thumb on the edge of his phone case, “You sure? You were his friend.”

“You think you killed him.”

He scoffed. Vinnie adjusted how they leaned against the wall to face the other side of the hallway again.

“Okay, Vin, you can finish the dumb fucking file. I’m going to head home.” Damien stood up.

“M’kay. See you tomorrow, potentially, if you decide to show up.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there. Probably.”