Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Paintbrush was laying in the bed they shared with Lightbulb. They couldn't sleep. The littlest noises bugged them. Their lover [Lightbulb], next to them, was sound-asleep. They lay closer to Lightbulb. The awkward silence was…annoying. Paintbrush wanted to talk to her, to spend time with her, to just love her…But now that she's asleep, they felt lonely. Until… Lightbulb woke up from her slumber, and she played with Paintbrush's “Hair”.

“Hehe, Hiii, Paintyyy!! Good Morning!...Good Night?” She giggled once more.

“Hi, Bulby. Great thing that you're awake right now, I actually wanted to—” They get cut off by Lightbulb kissing them on cheek. Paintbrush gets so flustered, they just lay there, stunned. A few seconds later, they try to repeat themselves. 

“I was trying to say I wanted t—” They get cut off again by Lightbulb kissing them again, but this time on the mouth.

“Hehe, sorry sorry. What were you trying to say?” Lightbulb asks.

“Ah ha.. Uh- I actually wanted t—”

“Painty, can I brush your hair?” She asks, cutting Paintbrush off, …once again.

“I- what..?”

“Can I brush your hair?” Lightbulb asked again, smiling brightly.

“..No I- I heard what you said but..You know what, why not. I..wanted to hang out with you anyway…” They muttered the last part, blushing.

“..Me too- Baxter can watch us too!!” She pulls out Baxter from literally fucking nowhere.

Lightbulb puts Baxter in Paintbrush's hands as she gets out of bed to grab a brush. 

“Soooo, Painty. How did sleeping go? You seem so worn out.”

“That's because I am. I didn't sleep.” Paintbrush replied. Their eye bags are noticeable and a concern. They look away from Lightbulb.

“Awh, it's okay Painty. After this you can sleep and—”

“But I wanted to spend more time with you, Bulby.” They look back at her.

“It's fine, Paintbrush. You need the rest. ..Your eye bags say it all.” Lightbulb replied. 

“Okay, okay, but can we maybe uh…cuddle..?” Paintbrush asked, immediately blushing and regretting it. 

“...THANK YOU FOR ASKING OMGA 😍😍 ..ahem uh YESSS!!” Lightbulb exclaimed excitedly.

“..Oh okay I wasn't expecting that outcome..But I'll take it!! It's better than nothing..” Paintbrush laughed.

“Anyhoo, I've got the brush now! Ya ready??” Lightbulb asked, immediately running to them, smiling. Paintbrush nodded, as Lightbulb sat behind them, starting to brush their hair.

“Sooo, did you dream about anything, Paintbrush?” 

…

Paintbrush loved how stupid Lightbulb was.

It took Lightbulb quite a bit to realize.

“..Oh!! Silly me, how could I forget? You didn't sleep at all!” Lightbulb said, gently brushing Paintbrush's hair.

“Ha-ha. Yeah.” Paintbrush replied.

A few minutes of talking, their hair gets yanked. (like the hair being brushed but it like hurts IDK😭😭) Paintbrush yelped as Lightbulb flinches.

“LIGHTBULB! THAT HURT!!” 

“..I- I'm sorry.” 

…

Lightbulb pats Paintbrush on the head

“It's okayyyy, My Painty.” 

“I- I'm sorry, no I- I yelled at you and I didn't mean to, I'm sorry…” 

“No, No. It's okay, Its not your fault for getting mad. I'll brush your hair more gently from now on.”

After a few more minutes of talking, Lightbulb finishes brushing Paintbrush’s hair. 

“Alright, Painty!! All done!! You look good~” Lightbulb said, winking at them.

“Ha-ha, thanks, Bulby. Do you happen to know what time it is?” 

“...it's 3 in the morni”

“WHAT.”

“Yeah!!” Lightbulb responded, giggling and smiling. 

“WE'VE BEEN UP SINCE LIKE.. MIDNIGHT!?” 

Paper knocks on their door, as Oj kicks the door open.

“Oj!! Why'd you do that!! We could've just SIMPLY ASKED THEM NICELY TO—” Paper said, regretting asking Oj to tell them to shut the fuck up.

“What?? You asked me to—” Oj responded.

Paper and Oj both look at Lightbulb and Paintbrush, in which Paintbrush was holding Lightbulb in bridal carry style.

“...Get the fuck out.” Paintbrush demanded.

“You guys scared me!! Painty, they're scaring me!!” Lightbulb said, hugging Paintbrush tightly.

“We aren't getting out unless you two can quiet down!!” Oj said, holding Paper's hand as Paper blushes. 

“THIS WASN'T WHAT I INTENDED!!” Paper announced, raising his voice.

“GET. THE. FUCK. OUT.” Paintbrush yelled.

“I'm not gonna repeat myself, Paintbru—” Oj gets cut off by Paper dragging him out.

“Sorry, guys!! Really sorry!! You guys can continue whatever you were doing, Sorry again!!” Paper said.

“Why are you apologizing?? DON'T APOLOGIZE TO THE—” Oj gets cut off again as Paper shuts the door.

Paintbrush sighs, “Ugh, Finally they're gone.” 

Lightbulb picks up Baxter and sets him on a small desk. After that, Lightbulb fidgets with her fingers, staying silent. Paintbrush sighs and lays down next to her. 

“...Are you- okay?” She asks.

“A-Okay.” 

“You don't… seem like it.” 

“I'm fine, Lightbulb.” 

“..Okayyyy uh…” Lightbulb trailed off.

“—Can we cuddle now..?” She continued.

“..Please-” Paintbrush responded, already turning to Lightbulb and wrapping their arm around her.

Before easily falling asleep, Paintbrush kisses Lightbulb on the mouth.

And then they go sleepy,, the end!! :3

Chapter Text

Paintbrush was the first to wake up, they notice that Lightbulb had been clinging onto them in her sleep. They’ve been cuddling all morning. Paintbrush tries to move, but Lightbulb clinged onto them more. They give up on trying to move and leaned in to kiss Lightbulb, but then stopped and moved away. Little did they know, Lightbulb was awake the whole time. She “wakes up” (or at least to Paintbrush).

“Do it, kiss me.” She said, directly staring at Paintbrush.

“OH MY GO—“ Paintbrush jumped out of the bed, showing how scared and startled they were.

“Oh. It’s you.” They said, climbing back into bed.

“Who else would it be???” Lightbulb asked, giggling.

“I don’t know– Maybe like Test Tube or Fan, they could’ve snuck in the room at night- Don’t ask, it’s happened before—“ Paintbrush replied, sighing and looking at Lightbulb.

“Ohh, so that explains those footsteps I heard in the hall!!”

“What.”

“Anyway, should we go downstairs and see what everyone is doing?” Lightbulb asked.

“I mean if you want to.” Paintbrush replied.

“YÆY C’MON LETS GO!! 😄😄” Lightbulb jumped out of bed, grabbing them from the wrist and slams the door open, running out and downstairs.

“W-WOAH WAIT NO LIGHTBULB I CAN WALK MYSELF. 😭‼️” Paintbrush yelped while being dragged.

“Awh man 🥺………………tough. 🤗🥰” Lightbulb holds their hand, standing in the center of the room of the last floor in the hotel.

“Anyway, gender nonconformitive fellow—“ She gets cut off by Paintbrush.

“Don’t— call me that—“ They were trying to hold in their laugh.

“What should we do now??”

“I don’t know, you’re the one who suggested it and who grabbed my wrist and ran downstairs with me against my will.”

“Hehe- uh, say, who’s screaming in the kitchen?” Lightbulb asked.

“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW.” Paintbrush asked calmly. (/ref)

“I dunno :P C’mon, let’s go check it out!!” She grabbed their wrist again, running into the kitchen.

“AGAIN WITH RUNNING INTO ROOMS WITHOUT MY CONSENT—“ Paintbrush yelped.

They run into the kitchen to see Apple on fire.

“ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆ” Apple screams, running around the kitchen.

“HOLY SHIT. WHY IS APPLE ON FIRE!?!?!” Paintbrush shouted, tightening their grip on Lightbulb’s hand.

Apple runs out of the room, still screaming.

“A-ARE WE JUST GONNA IGNORE THE FACT THAT APPLE IS IN AGONIZING PAIN?!” Paintbrush yells.

“Yes.” Lightbulb responded. “Anyway, hi Yin and Yang!! Whatcha guys making??” She asked.

“We’re making sea food!!” Yin answered.

Lightbulb smiled brightly, “Ooo, that’s nice!”

Paintbrush looked down at Lightbulb, “Hey, did we bring Baxter along with us?”

“N-No, I thought you had him…”

“I THOUGHT YOU HAD HIM?!?!?!”

“O-OH GOD- THEN- I- I’M GOING TO LOOK AROUND EVERYWHERE FOR BAXTER. UHM, I LOVE YOU PAINTY!! BYE-“ She ran off before they can even say anything.

Yin-Yang looked at Paintbrush, “Did you guys loose Baxter or something?” Yin asked.

“I guess so.”

“Yeah, he could even be in this boiling pot.” Yang said, confidently.

“WHAT.”

“NO. Y-YANG IS JUST JOKING, RIGHT YANG???”

“No. 🤗”

“I swear to GOD Yang, if you’re serious I will make you never see the light of day ever again.” Paintbrush said, glaring at them.

“WHAT.” Both Yin and Yang say.

“I’m leaving, and Baxter better be alive.”

“..Oh shit, Yin, we’re cooked. Just like Baxte—“

“SHUT U—“

Paintbrush walked into that one painting room, sat down, and stared at a blank canvas, not knowing what to paint. They grumbled in annoyance of not knowing what to create. They had art block. Basically an artist’s worst enemy. They tried to think of stuff to draw, but the only thoughts they had were of Lightbulb. They tried looking around for inspiration but… Y’know what?

…Fuck it.

They started painting, focusing deeply and putting a LOT of effort in it.

So much dedication, in fact..

that they couldn’t hear Oj talking to them.

“PAINTBRUSH! Jeez, how focused are you on painting?? What are you even painting in the first place.” Oj tries to look at the painting.

“NO. NO, ITS MY PAINTING AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LOOK, GET AWA—👹” Paintbrush covered it.

Oj backed away a bit, “Damn, okay.”

…

“It’s of Lightbulb, isn’t it.”

“It’s of Lightbulb.” Paintbrush confessed.

“Damn, how many times have you painted this girl-“

“Way too many to count, anyway, what did you even need me for??” They asked.

“Lightbulb is going insane and—“

“So is everyone who competes on this show.” They cut him off.

“—She can’t find Baxter anywhere. She’s looked almost everywhere.” Oj responded.

“What the fuck..?? It’s only been like five minutes or something, how has she already looked almost everywhere???”

“I don’t even know. Pretty much everything is possible for her.”

“…So can she come back and cuddle with m—“

“Oh my god you sim—“ Oj gets cut off by them.

“SHUT UP YOU’RE DATING A PIECE OF PAPER.”

“A HOT ONE.”

“NUH UH.”

“YUH HUH. Speaking of Paper, Imma go see him, maybe even cuddle with hi—“

“OKAY NOW YOU’RE JUST MOCKING ME GET OUT.”

“GOD DAMN OKAY- Uh, have fun painting your wife.”

“I definitely will.”

Oj walked out of the room.

They continued to paint in silence.

   It was peaceful.

      Or at least…

     that’s what they thought.

Lightbulb runs in, crying. “PAINTYYYYY!! I STILL CAN’T FIND BAXTER😭😭😭”

While Lightbulb sobs and rambles, Paintbrush tries their best to comfort her.

“Hey, hey… Shhh, It’s okay. We’ll find him soon.”

Lightbulb hugged them tight. “ARE YOU SURE HE ISN’T IN HERE?! THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE I HAVEN’T CHECKED!”

“I didn’t see him in here. He shouldn’t have gone off that far. It’s fine, Lightbul—“

Something brushed against their leg, as they get scared and jump into Lightbulb’s arms, making them both fall because of how tall Paintbrush is.

“Owwww.. 🙁😔 wait- what’s.. OMGA BAXTER!!” She exclaimed in excitement, immediately picking up Baxter.

“…I wasn’t scared, you were.”

“Why would I be? Who could be scared of this cutie…” She holds up Baxter, showing Paintbrush.

Paintbrush slightly looked jealous. “Oh. Is that.. the only cutie ever?”

“How could I forget about my gender nonconformitive fellow..”

She pulled them close.

“Hey- I told you not to call me th—“ They get cut off by Lightbulb kissing them on the lips.