Chapter Text
Paintbrush was exhausted, to put it lightly. They'd been overthinking everything lately, stressed and frustrated at the world for a reason they couldn't ever answer. Their mind felt like a train belonging to an infinite loop of thoughts and fear, which was annoying.
Thinking about it was just furthering the stress deep inside them.
They then sat up, reveling in the familiar movement of their legs crossing against each other, and leaned back on their hands, tracing the familiar quilted pattern of their bedsheets with their fingers. Glancing at their roommate's bed, they noted that he wasn't there. When had he left?
Paintbrush shoved that thought to the back of their too-busy head with the rest of their anxiety.
If Fan was out, they might as well leave, too— nothing to do here except overthink further or go on social media.
They huffed and pushed off of the mattress, exiting their room and padding slowly down the hallway. Fluorescent lights illuminated the bright orange walls, only worsening the headache that was slowly creeping in.
Lightbulb's room. Paintbrush wasn't sure why she hadn't moved in with them, but it was probably a personal space thing. They knocked, sure that somebody would be there, but no response came. No excited shriek, no footsteps thundering over the floor, no door thrown open to greet them, and most importantly, no Lightbulb.
They paused for a moment, looking down at the stairs, which glared back at them with that awful flickering. After what felt like an eternity, Paintbrush painstakingly crept down the stairs, flinching at any possible creak the stairs might produce.
When they entered the lobby it felt like heaven—even though the stained hardwood floors clashed terribly with the decor. Letting out a soft, exhausted sigh. Paintbrush began to look around for anyone else who seemed to plopped themselves in the lobby as well, maybe starting up a conversation or two.
Nada.
It was empty. Not uncommon for a Tuesday afternoon. Everyone had their things.
Oj was probably sitting in his office pouring over overdue paperwork, lord knew what Test Tube and Fan were getting geeking over under the vending machine, Salt was either slung over Oj's shoulder like the world's most annoying handbag or out shopping with Pepper, and Lightbulb was dead asleep this time of day.
With nothing else to do, they took a sharp left turn and pushed open the heavy double doors with a sign on them labeled in scratchy handwriting that stated "STAFF ONLY." It was Oj's handwriting, from the week the hotel opened and the printer hadn't yet arrived. The paper was worn, and the pencil had faded with age, but nobody had even thought of deciding if they should've replaced it by now.
Oj's office was at the end, and Paper's was next to his. There was no real reason for a hallway, now that they thought of it. A little corridor would do fine, but ever the showman, Oj had built an entire fucking hallway for no reason.
Their fingers curled around the doorknob to Oj's office, pushing it open gently, they were unsurprised, to say the least, finding their partner hunched over a large amount of paperwork was incredibly common.
"Hey," Their voice was soft due to lack of talking after a long bit,
yet it was loud enough to grab their attention, "you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm. I'm just not sure how to go about this. " Oj had replied with a soft mutter, clearly overworking herself from paperwork. "Mephone wants me on air for another season even though there's no reason for me to go. I have to run the hotel. Paper can't do it all himself, I can't abandon him like that." Paintbrush stood there silently for a few seconds before approaching their partner and gently giving a peck on the cheek, "Sweetheart, you're overworking yourself on something you can easily say no to, or just maybe.. bail on it and take me and Lightbulb to a romantic dinner. " They murmured that last part with a soft chuckle.
"See, that's the problem! I would love to take you both out—that sounds amazing—but he's so pushy, and I'm not even sure if he'll let me! The blackmail he has on all of us could completely tank the hotel's ratings. I wouldn't be able to feed everyone; it would be a disaster." Oj's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke.
Paintbrush gave Oj a soft smile before hugging them from behind, their tail curling around with their partners. " My love, I understand that it's overwhelming for you but trust me, we'll get through this.. how about you try to keep this out of your mind for a bit and go get some fresh air.. " Paintbrush said gently, kissing Oj's cheek again.
"I–," she hesitated, "Alright. I love you." he stood up, paws brushing theirs as she swept out of the room. They turned to watch them exit, face riddled with worry, unsure if they should do something about the new season thing or just let her go.
Now she was gone, and there was no following her in this state. She would be impossible to find.
Just another thing to worry about later. They weren't sure how to help her in this state.
Paintbrush paused for a moment, simply enjoying being in his office. It wasn't often that they visited. After taking in the soft, tangy scent OJ left behind, they decided it was time to leave, maybe to find Lightbulb. It was strange that she had been so quiet, especially now. They hadn't seen her in over eight hours.
With a soft sigh, Paintbrush turned to exit the office. It was time to find Lightbulb and figure out where the hell she'd been all day. They made their way down the hallway, the fluorescent lights buzzed above them like a cloud of locusts.
They pushed open the double doors, enjoying the sensation of cool, fresh air filling their lungs.
Alright, now they just had to find Lightbulb.