Chapter Text
The energy had definitely changed in the group. Test Tube and Paintbrush would deny it, but it’s harder to notice change when you caused it. Before there had almost never been silence between the four of them, never a dull moment. They still spent time together constantly, but now the conversations were less frequent and often interrupted by a certain two checking their phones every five seconds and generally seeming distracted. Distracted in a happy way, but annoying nonetheless. And when a specific text notification went off, followed by a smile brighter then a star checking its phone in the middle of the night, good luck getting a word through to them that wasn’t about a former III contestant.
(Establish the setting) (or not ) “Yeah well, soon I’m gonna find whoever hid my Heelys and I’m gonna tell them they have NO right to take them away just because I shattered once while using them. Okay, maybe it was more than once. Maybe it’s for my own good. But still!” Lightbulb was going off on a tangent to Paintbrush. Lightbulb brought up the topic because she was pretty sure they were the one who hid her Heelys. (You know, the wheely shoes? Please tell me you know what I’m talking about.).
But they weren’t giving any indication she caught them. They were just kind of looking out the window and occasionally checking the time. Were they going out with Silver Spoon later? She guessed they probably were. Ugh, he was probably coming to pick them up soon.
“Hey, Earth to Paintbrush.” She said snapping her fingers in front of them.
“Huh.. what?” They said,finally hearing her.
“Do you want to go fill a public fountain with rubber ducks?” Lightbulb asked, trying to shock them.
Paintbrush didn’t seem fazed. “Oh sorry Lightbulb, I’m going somewhere soon, maybe tomorrow?”
Lightbulb hadn’t expected them to agree. She thought they would just sigh and brush off her silly antics. But they HAD been much more fun to hang out with recently. They weren’t so serious anymore, and more willing to do crazy stuff with Lightbulb. She WOULD have been happy with this change, except she knew where it was coming from. And she didn’t like it.
“Are you going somewhere REALLY important?” Lightbulb had to know if her suspicions were right.
“It’s really none of your business Lightbulb.” So she WAS right. They were definitely going on a date, even if it was a casual one.
Paintbrush’s phone beeped. They picked it up excitedly, reading the text. “ Oh, he’s here! ‘Bye Lightbulb! They called, rushing out the door.
Lightbulb watched out the window as Paintbrush crossed the street over to Silver Spoon. She scowls as she sees how their faces light up when they see each other. Paintbrush was just calmly walking over, but starts slowly speeding up as a smile breaks across their face until they’re practically running. They throw their arms around each other after almost crashing, Silver Spoon lifting Paintbrush off the ground a few inches as they embrace. Lightbulb looks away. She doesn’t want to be watching if they kiss.
After about thirty seconds, Lightbulb looks up again and sees them holding hands as they walk off. It’s honestly pretty adorable, but she’s too salty to appreciate it. It’s not like she wanted them to break up or anything, (well maybe a little ) but she just wished Paintbrush was that happy to see HER. What did they see in Silver Spoon anyway? Lightbulb didn’t know him very well, but she had heard from some of her friends at the hotel that he was kind of a jerk. Well, if that was true, their relationship would probably be over soon anyway. BUT STILL she didn’t like him. She didn’t like how Paintbrush blushed and fidgeted with their bristles when they talked about him, she didn’t like how even Fan and Test Tube admitted they weren’t the worst couple ever, and she didn’t like that they were always going on stupid romantic DATES on all the fun nights of the week.
And she was going to do something about it.
Lightbulb tapped around on her phone for a few minutes and waited for the other end to pick up. When it did, she said “Fan, I think we have a code magenta on our hands”.
Fan was writing a page on his blog, wondering if he should use any of the corrections that Cabby suggested. No, probably not. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of admitting she was more knowledgeable than him. It’s not like he ASKED for her advice anyway, she just went off on her little “Actually, I think this would be more accurate if you mentioned…” UGH it was SO annoying. And it didn’t help that Test Tube usually agreed with her “Well Fan, I think Cabby has a pretty valid point, but it would be even better if you added that…” And then Cabby would get all gushy like “I never even CONSIDERED that before! That’s why you’re my genius!” And then they would hold hands and keep excitedly chatting like they forgot he was even in the room. Honestly, Fan hoped that Test Tube just agreed with Cabby because she was her girlfriend and not because they were just so perfectly in sync.
“Hey Test Tube, can you proofread this page for me? I need to make sure it’s really conveying what I want to say.” Fan asked Test Tube, who was sketching up some plans for an invention.
“Oh, sure Fan” she said as he handed her the laptop. She scanned the page, checking for any errors “hmmm… didn’t Cabby say that you should change your word choice on this line? It’s kind of repetitive and not a great choice anyway.”
Because CABBY is just so gosh-darn smart and PERFECT, he thought, annoyed. “Well you see Test Tube, this is MY blog, not hers, and while I APPRECIATE her opinion, I think that this word is just fine.”
“Okay, just saying I think she was right.” Test Tube said, going back to her notebook. She seriously could not take a hint. Fan heard the sound of wheels squeaking nearby. Test Tube looked up from her notebook suddenly.
Cabby glides in. “Cabby!” Test Tube exclaims happily.
“Hello sweetheart!” Cabby smiles as she takes Test Tube’s hands. They just look at each other for a few minutes. Fan coughs. Loudly. Cabby notices him. “Oh um.. hello Fan! I didn’t even notice you!”
“Yeah, you sure didn’t.” Fan mutters to himself. He keeps writing and occasionally looking at them, but every time he does, they’re glaring at him. “What?” I’m perfectly allowed to exist in this room as well!”
“Nobody said you had to leave, Fan.” Test Tube mentions. She definitely wants him to leave. They keep looking at each other and then looking back at him. Fan knows that they won’t get romantic in front of him, but it’s clear how much they want to.
“You know what? Fine. I’m going.” Fan takes his phone and leaves the room. Standing in the hallway nearby, sulking, he gets a call from Lightbulb and picks it up.
“Fan, I think we have have a code magenta on our hands.” Normally he would be shocked at the mere mention of code magenta, but he understood where she was coming from now.
“Yeah Lightbulb, I think we do. And I think we need to do something about it.”
“You wanna meet up and think up our game plan?”
Fan hesitates. But then he remembers Test Tube always agreeing with Cabby’s stupid writing tips. “Let’s do this thing.”