Work Text:
Paintbrush stared at their canvas with growing frustration, the painting probably seemed finished to anyone else but something Paintbrush’s mind was telling them that something was missing, and the painting just seemed incomplete. They just stared and stared until their eyes hurt, and they were forced to blink, and the cycle started again. What was missing? Art was supposed to be the one thing they were good at, yet here they were, starring at a canvas that looked all too blank while one part of their mind was trying to pull them to bed while the other part of their mind was urging them to continue; they felt as if they weren’t allowed to rest until they finished their painting but how could they do that if they didn’t know what was wrong with it? It was a field that overlooked a lake with an orange tree off to the side, Paintbrush thought about another tree but then it’d probably look too crowded. Maybe make the background from a sunset into a forest? No, that changes the vibe they were going for (and it would be difficult to change the reflection in the lake). Maybe more clouds? No, the sky was fine how it was. Paintbrush almost cried in frustration, why was this so hard? They were supposed to be good at art! Painting was their reputation! They are a paintbrush for fucks sake!
They didn’t even notice what they were doing until the headache hit, they looked down at their hand and saw a handful of long bristles sitting innocently as if they had not just been ripped out of Paintbrush's head by their own hands. They pushed back the urge to sob and simply threw the bristles away and then decided to just take out the rubbish all together, there was a steadily growing pile of bristles within it, and they didn’t really want anyone to know. They grabbed the rubbish bag, tied it up, and walked out of the room and to the end of the hallway where OJ had recently added a Rubbish shoot for convenience, it was very convenient when it came to avoiding people, but they wouldn’t mind a longer trip if it meant an excuse to stay away from their painting longer. They knew that if they were to give it to OJ now he would be happy with it, he hadn’t even asked for it, Paintbrush had just decided that he seemed to be a bit stressed lately and maybe needed something to get his spirits up. Paintbrush walked back to their room but could not find any willingness within them to walk inside, they didn’t want to see the painting again.
“Paintbrush?” Suddenly Paintbrush's headache caught up with them and they quickly walked into the room, pretending they didn’t hear the familiar voice, to get some painkillers. They walked into the kitchen and looked around a bit, but they only found some empty packets, maybe there were some in the bathroom, they walked across the room into the bathroom and looked through the cupboard underneath the sink. They found a fresh packet of Panadol and stood back up to walk back to the kitchen, but they caught a glance of their reflection and froze. Their bristles were ruined. They could see the gaps where they had been pulling them out and small trickles of blood were now falling down their face, Paintbrush just stared in horror. When had it gotten this bad? They remembered the first time they had out some bristles, it had only been a few! One strand at a time! How- Paintbrush would have never imagined it would get this bad. A knock sounded at the door. “Painty?” They panicked, trying to think of a way out of talking with the Lightbulb.
“Not right now, I’m in the shower!” They ran over and turned on the shower and then locked the bathroom door just in case.
“Uh… okay? I just wanted to tell you that OJ is hosting a hotel party tonight! His phone is broken so he couldn’t text us, I tried to tell you while you were out in the hallway, but you ran off when I called your name” Paintbrush held their hands over their mouth to try and prevent crying before deciding to answer.
“Okay! I might not be able to come though!” Please go away, please go away, please go away.
“Oh, how come?” Lightbulb sounded worried and that panicked Paintbrush even more, what if she came in? What would she think? Would she be disappointed?
“I have a headache!” A half-truth, they didn’t need to tell Lightbulb what caused the headache.
“Are you sick?” Lightbulb sounded panicked; Paintbrush almost laughed at that “Should I get Test Tube? I think she has medical training.”
“NO! I’m fine. Leave me alone!” Paintbrush gasped and covered their mouth, they hadn’t meant to say that, well that’s fine as long as Lightbulb didn’t tell anyone what they said then no one would get suspicious. Paintbrush slapped themselves “You’re overthinking, no one is going to get suspicious” Paintbrush waited another ten minutes before turning the shower off and walking out into the main room, then kicked over the easel that held the painting and sat on their bed. They didn’t know what to do, Fan would come back at some point, and he would definitely see. Paintbrush sighed and grabbed their phone; they could hardly think as they clicked on one of their contacts in the favorite section and waited for the other person to pick up.
Lightbulb was helping set up some decorations when her phone (which she left on a table) began to ring, she walked over to check who it was and almost forgot to breathe when she saw the work “Painty” on the screen. She smiled and answered the phone but was shocked when she was greeted was crying, her smile dropped, and she felt panic block out the excitement she was feeling.
“Are you okay, Painty?”
“No” Lightbulb felt her stomach drop at that response, she looked over to OJ and then covered the speaker on her phone as she quietly called out to him.
“OJ! I have to check on Paintbrush.”
“Headache?”
“I don’t know” Lightbulb felt herself begin to shake from worry, OJ’s eyes widened slightly before he nodded to her to go which she gladly did. She ran to the Elevator and rapidly pressed the button, when the elevator doors finally opened, she ran inside and began to press the button faster and more aggressively than the button on the outside. She waited impatiently as the elevator slowly took her up, she realized she was still on the call with Paintbrush. “I’ll be there in a sec, okay?”
“Okay,” Paintbrush's voice was barely above a whisper, and it broke Lightbulb's heart. When the elevator doors opened again, she ran as fast as she could down the hallway and burst into the room; Paintbrush was sitting facing away from her, she could see patches of bristles that were missing and some blood dripping down from the metal that kept them in place. Lightbulb walked around the bed and sat next to her friend.
“Painty-”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to, it- I-” Paintbrush broke down crying and held on tightly to Lightbulb who was left stunned, she didn’t really know how to comfort others, most of her emotions or ‘outbursts’ had been ignored or even punished during her childhood, so she had never really learned how she shook the memories away; this was about Painty, not Lightbulb.
“I’m not mad” Lightbulb felt like that might not have been the right thing to say, especially after she felt Paintbrush flinch, but it was too late now.
“You’re not?” Paintbrush’s voice was so quiet, and it really broke Lightbulb's heart to see them in such a state (while not the most emotionally stable) Paintbrush was not one to cry, they were more of a shouter and their outbursts tended to be more fiery than watery.
“Of course, not” Lightbulb tried to give them a reassuring smile “But if you wouldn’t mind me asking, what happened?” Paintbrush just pointed to a broken easel with a canvas on top, Lightbulb walked over and gasped.
“OMGA!? Wow! This painting is so good!” Lightbulb smiled as she picked it up and admired it, it was so detailed, and it managed to look both like a photo and a painting at the same time.
“It’s not.” Paintbrush walked over “It’s not finished.”
“Oh? What do you need to add?” Lightbulb looked over the painting, but she couldn’t see anything wrong with it, it seemed perfectly finished to her.
“I don’t know” Paintbrush spoke angrily, and it was obvious they were holding back tears “Every time I look at it, it looks wrong, but I don’t know why.”
“It looks finished to me!” Lightbulb turned the painting to show Paintbrush and smiled and pointed at different things “I mean, you have a sky with clouds and birds, and the lake even has ripples and look at the orange tree! You made the oranges so simple and realistic at the same time” Paintbrush didn’t look convinced; Lightbulb needed some backup, so she walked over to the tank that sat against the wall “What do you think Baxter?” the crab clicked his claws happily, and Lightbulb turned to look at Paintbrush again “See? Baxter likes it.”
“But OJ won’t.”
“It’s for OJ?” Paintbrush sighed and made a small noise of confirmation “Why wouldn’t OJ like it?”
“Because it looks like shit” Tears began to fall from Paintbrush's eyes and Lightbulb momentarily let go of the painting to hug Paintbrush.
“It doesn’t look like shit, Painty!” Lightbulb let go of the hug after a few seconds “I love you… IT!” Lightbulb corrected herself quickly “I love the painting! And I’m sure OJ will too!” Paintbrush’s eyes widened and they just stared at Lightbulb for what felt like hours but was probably only a few seconds.
“You love me?” Paintbrush stared at her in awe.
“I… yes. I love you so much! And I love your art! Your so talented Painty!” Lightbulb looked at Paintbrush who was beginning to smile “Hey, what if I go with you to give OJ the painting? And if he doesn’t like it, I’ll attack him with my ninja skills!” Lightbulb tried to give Paintbrush an example of her ‘ninja skills’ but ended up falling over and quickly stood back up, slightly embarrassed “And then we can go see Test Tube and she can replace your bristles!”
“I love you, Lightbulb” Paintbrush smiled at Lightbulb, it was bigger than any smile Lightbulb had ever seen on the taller object’s face “Thank you” Paintbrush hugged Lightbulb and Lightbulb hugged them back, she really loved them so much.