Work Text:
The two objects were sitting in Hotel OJ in the afternoon, only a while earlier, Mephone4S had called all of the contestants over to get registered in Mepads Melife so they could be regenerated. And so they did, Lightbulb and Paintbrush went over to the house where Taco, Mic, and Mepad were staying to get registered and after that they went back to their hotel room to play mario cart. After a few hours of driving around in the new mario cart game, they went to lay down. Lightbulb lied down on the bed and patted the spot next to her for Paintbrush to follow, and so they did. Paintbrush laid down as well and wrapped their arms around the shorter object. Lightbulb returned the favor and the two started cuddling.
After a few hours of sleep Paintbrush heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it, causing Lightbulb to whine for them to stay. Paintbrush opened the door and looked to see Fan holding a bag of miscellaneous soda cans. “Hey.” Paintbrush said as they took the bag from him. Fan responded with a “hi” and walked away. Paintbrush sat the bag on the counter and looked inside. . . the bag was filled with white monster, coffee, and watermelon monster, their favorite and their partners favorite. They let out a breath and laid back down on the bed next to Lightbulb, causing her to let out a purr and snuggle closer to them.
After another few hours, Lightbulb woke up, due to the morning light fluttering through the bottom of the window blinds and onto her face. She got up to make a pot of coffee and get ready for work, leaving Paintbrush still asleep on the bed. After Lightbulb made coffee and poured herself a cup, she noticed the bag on the counter. She went to look through it and almost screamed in surprise as she saw her favorite drink, white monster. She quickly composed herself and calmed down, slipping a can into her green backpack before she walked out into the hall. She walked through the halls of the building, waving to Test Tube as she walked out of her room. When Lightbulb finally got to the elevator, she saw Trophy in it, waiting for the doors to close. She stepped in and stood in the corner, her furred leg up on the handrail to stretch it. When the elevator stopped, Trophy adjusted his varsity jacket and ran out of the hotel, presumably to the mansion where his boyfriend Knife lives. Lightbulb brushed it off and went to grab a few pancakes from the breakfast area in the lobby. She got about 10 small pancakes and headed out, waving to OJ as she did.
Meanwhile, Paintbrush woke up and went to grab the rest of the coffee, they noticed Lightbulb was nowhere to be found and assumed that she was on her way to work. They got ready to go work as well, in Test Tubes lab. So they put their clothes on– since they sleep half naked –and grabbed their bag. They slung the pack over their shoulder and began to head out. They went through the halls, the elevator, and the lobby, grabbing an omelet and a sausage patty before they went back to the elevator. They pressed the combination for the lab, which was 1142563, and waited. After a few minutes they arrived and got to work, analyzing an egg that someone had laid a few weeks ago.
Lightbulb and Paintbrush got home at similar times, lightbulb getting home about 5 minutes earlier. Just as Lightbulb was getting out pots to cook mac n cheese in, Paintbrush got home. “Painty! Hi!” Lightbulb called out, waving her tail to her partner. “Hey Lighty.” they replied as they sat down on the bed and began to undress into just their shirt and boxers to get more comfortable. Lightbulb put the now water filled pot onto the hotplate and went to the bathroom to get toilet paper to clean up the water she spilled. After everything was clean, Lightbulb pulled up a chair and watched the pot. After it finally came to a boil she poured in the macaroni and began cooking it.
She talked about various nerdy things while dinner cooked and Paintbrush listened intently. Lightbulb plated up the food and sat a bowl down on Paintbrush’s lap and sat down next to them. “ so, how was the lab?” she questioned. “Alright. Wasn't that interesting, we did get to study an egg though. I’m pretty sure it's Taco and Mics, so congrats to them.” paintbrush– to put it plainly –sucked at small talk. They didn't know squat when it came to ‘just chatting’. Though, their girlfriend didn't care a bit. She was just happy to have her partner with her as much as possible.
The two ate mostly in silence, other than the various questions about work and research. Once the two objects finished up their meals, Paintbrush put the paper bowls in the trash and went to take a shower, to which Lightbulb followed. They both got undressed and sat around for a bit, staring at each other, before Paintbrush got clean clothes and turned on the hotel shower. Lightbulb got in first, and let the water soak through her fur, and Paintbrush got in soon after and felt the now warm water wash over their skin. Lightbulb sat down on the porcelain floor and Paintbrush washed her glass and arm fur. And Lightbulb washed her partners back, slowly massaging the soap into their wooden skin.
Once the two were cleaned up, Lightbulb gave Paintbrush a quick peck on the cheek and got out to dry off. Paintbrush got out after she was done shaking the water out of her fur and they grabbed a towel to dry off. Lightbulb put clothes on and walked out, leaving Paintbrush in the bathroom alone. They admired themself in the mirror and put clothes on as well. When they walked out of the bathroom they saw a sight that made them smile. Lightbulb was on the bed, in her pajamas, and holding a small box. Paintbrush walked over and Lightbulb handed the box to them, they opened it and let out a squeak of surprise. It was a necklace, with a topaz gem in the middle and a lightbulb and paintbrush charm on either side. Paintbrush almost just jumped onto the bed and hugged her right there, but they controlled themself and coughed a few times to get control of their emotions. “Thank you, love. This is beautiful.” They leaned down and gave Lightbulb a kiss on the lips and laid down next to her.
“Im glad you like it! I made it myself!” Lightbulb exclaimed as she went to hug her partner. Paintbrush readily accepted it and hugged her back. The two stayed like that for a while, before yet another knock on the door woke Lightbulb up, she got up and went to the door. As soon as they opened it, Fan rushed in and went straight to the bathroom. A few seconds later he came back out with a towel in his hand and ran off. “Weird. . .”Lightbulb mostly brushed off the encounter and went to lie back down next to Paintbrush.
They cuddled for a while and fell asleep. When Lightbulb awoke, she got up to get ready but she stopped, remembering it was a Saturday, so she went back to bed and laid next to Paintbrush for a while, until they woke up. And went to get ready, before realizing the same thing as Lightbulb and went to lay back down, but Lightbulb had already splayed out upon the sheets, leaving them with no room. So they sat down at the wooden table and pulled out their laptop. They played games and read webcomics while their girlfriend slept soundly behind them.
Suddenly, they felt a pair of paws on their shoulder and looked behind them to see Lightbulb staring at them with a smile. “Guess what we're doing~” their face flushed at the words and they looked back at the screen. “What?” they responded without looking. “We’re goin’ to the new coffee shop on the other island! They have really good breakfast sandwiches. Or so I'm told. . .”
Paintbrush put clothes on and so did Lightbulb, and they set out for the dock to the other island. Once they got there they got on the boat, which was mostly empty, other than Test Tube driving and Mephone3GS sitting in a corner. His screen isn't cracked anymore, and he looks less scared, which is good. The boat set off and they soon arrived at the other island. The three got off and Mephone3GS walked over to the tech shop being run by Box and a few others. Lightbulb and Paintbrush began walking to the ‘new coffee shop’ and soon got there.
They walked in and the bell above the door jingled, which caused the cashier, Suitcase, to look over at them. “Oh, hey guys! How're you doing?” Suitcase said as Paintbrush sat down and lightbulb walked over. “Pretty good, how ‘bout you?” Paintbrush softly said. “Alright, I'm kinda down about the lack of customers though. . .” the short object replied as she got up to take the order. Lightbulb explained the order, which was quite simple. Just a hot cocoa and a triple shot macchiato.
Their orders got there quite quickly and the two left with a friendly wave to Suitcase. They went back to the boat and got on. The boat was now completely empty, save for the two and the driver. When they got back to Inanimate Island they immediately went to hotel OJ and back to their rooms. Lightbulb and Paintbrush sat down on their shared bed and drank their coffee in peaceful silence.
When they finally finished their coffee, Paintbrush got up and tossed the trash into the bin. “I'm gonna go get Soap, our room is kinda dirty.” Lightbulb pouted in response to them leaving and stubbornly lied back in the bed. “Fine.” Paintbrush walked out and went to go get the resident janitor, leaving Lightbulb alone in now uncomfortable silence. She got up and padded silently about the room for a while, before grabbing her phone and doomscrolling until her partner got back.
When Paintbrush– with Soap in tow –got back, she immediately perked up and stood up. “Hi Painty! Hi Soap!” She then walked out of the room and waited for Soap to do her work. Paintbrush and Lightbulb sat down, leaning against the wall as they waited. Lightbulb tried to think of questions but none came to mind, which was a godsend for Paintbrush.
Soap walked out of the room and to the elevator, and the two stepped back into their now clean room and laid down on the bed. “Hey Painty?” Lightbulb said all of a sudden. “Yes?” her partner responded. “I love you. So much. . . I love you.” Paintbrush's face flushed and they suddenly leaned into a kiss on the lips. Lightbulb was surprised, and soon melted into it and put her paw on the back of their head. As she finally broke apart for air, panting and fur ruffled slightly, she fell back on the bed, her face flushed completely yellow from love. “Wow.” she said before a long bout of silence. Paintbrush broke the silence and said “did you. . . like that?”. Lightbulb hurriedly nodded her head and curled up into a flustered ball.
Not long after, a knock came at the door, and Paintbrush went to answer it. As they opened the door, they saw Mic, holding a box of cookies. “Hey. . . whatcha got there?” Paintbrush said before Mic tossed the cookies at them and ran off. “Weird.” they muttered as they walked back in and sat back down next to Lightbulb. “We got cookies!” they announced as they handed her the box of Thin Mints. Lightbulb muttered something unintelligible in response and took the cookies with a smile. “Ooo, my favorite!” she said as she grabbed a sleeve of the cookies and started happily munching on it. “Well I'm glad.” Paintbrush simply said before grabbing the other sleeve and beginning to eat as well.
After they were both covered in crumbs and chocolate, Lightbulb curled up into a ball and went to sleep, even though it was only 7PM. Paintbrush sighed and got up to wash themself off. So, they walked into the bathroom and splashed their face with water, washing the chocolate and cookie crumbs off their mouth. They brushed the rest of the crumbs off their shirt and went to lay back down. They got in the bed and quickly fell asleep next to Lightbulb.
As they woke up, they saw that Lightbulb was not in bed. They panicked at first but quickly calmed down and got up to shower. When they got to the bathroom they took their clothes off and turned on the shower. While they waited they leaned against the sink and looked at themself in the mirror with a smile. As the shower finally warmed up they got in and started washing their bristles and arms, not bothering much to wash their actual object since its made of wood. The lights suddenly shut off and the room was plunged into darkness. They hurried their washing and got out to investigate, when they put clean clothes on, they spotted a warm light coming from under the door, probably Lightbulb. When they stepped out they saw Lightbulb sitting on the bed reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid with her light on. They rushed over and sat down next to her. "What're ya readin’?” they spoke, lightbulb jumped at the sudden noise, but quickly settled down and said “Diary of a Wimpy Kid. . . sorry for being gone for a while, I was downstairs eating.” Paintbrush nodded and grabbed a book of their own off the bedside table, 1984 by George Orwell, and started reading, with the light of their girlfriend lighting up the room.
After a while, the power turned back on and the two put their books away and Lightbulb turned her light off. The two got off the bed and Paintbrush went to get on their laptop and Lightbulb went to take a shower. After a while, Lightbulb walked out of the bathroom, her fur still slightly wet, and she sat down at the table next to her partner. The two sat like that for a while, in silence, and then yet another knock at the door echoed throughout the room. Lightbulb got up to get it and when she did, she saw Nickel, passing out flyers for a game of spin the bottle with a few other objects. She politely declined and shut the door.