Picky Eater [INANIMATE INSANITY AU]

Prologue - 1

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Today was a normal day for Lightbulb, despite waking up a bit later than she'd like to. But of course, Lightbulb didn't mind too much. With a much needed stretch, the bright bulb quietly climbed out of bed, as to avoid waking her still resting roommate, Test Tube, and went to their shared bathroom to freshen up for the day!

After brushing her teeth and washing her hands, she splashed her face with cold water to help herself wake up a bit more. She wasn't totally sure why she was a bit more tired than usual, but she figured it was probably because she'd stayed up longer than usual last night without noticing.. Anyway, Lightbulb left the bathroom, and made her way to the room's door; she gently turned the knob, making sure to close it slowly after she was out. Now that the bubbly lightbulb was in the hallway, she could make her way to the kitchen for breakfast! Wait.. what time is it?

Suddenly, Lightbulb picked up the pace and hurriedly made her way to the elevator; she was going to be late for breakfast! She quickly tapped the button and waited, staring into her blurry reflection on the doors. Eventually, the doors opened and Lightbulb hopped in with excitement. On the way down, she silently hoped there'd still be something left for her to eat, otherwise she'd have to throw something in the microwave.. Then, the ding of the elevator was heard as it shook a bit, signifying that she had made it to the bottom floor. While staring into her reflection once more, Lightbulb eagerly awaited the opening of the automated doors in front of her with a large grin. Once they finally opened wide enough for her to fit, she bounded towards the kitchen whilst trying not to seem overdramatic at the same time.

As Lightbulb cut the final corner and entered the kitchen, she was greeted by Fan and Paintbrush, who had saved a plate for her! It was easy to assume that it was Fan's idea of course, based on the twos comparable expressions, but she was grateful nonetheless! "I was feeling nice today." Paintbrush smirked a bit, before letting their expression fall flat once more. Painty was usually like this, so Lightbulb didn't assume anything negative from it, in fact, she was quite happy with their remark, giggling a bit in response. After the small interaction, Lightbulb finally sat down and began to eat. Obviously, her food wasn't fresh or anything, but despite it's dropping temperature, she still scarfed it down!

Lightbulb almost immediately finished her food; she was pretty hungry anyway! Meanwhile, Paintbrush and Fan were only halfway through, talking about Fan's blog. Though.. the conversation was mostly one sided. Finally, she lifted her plate and stood, turning toward the sink to clean up. Then, as she was washing the dishes, she noticed a couple of other dirty plates that the less considerate members of the hotel had left.. Lightbulb scoffed quietly, and decided to clean the rest of the dishes after hers. Wait.. Soap usually did this- where was she?

As if on cue: the one and only Soap slowly emerged from around the corner. She was sluggish and very obviously tired.. Maybe she had stayed up last night as well? "Hi Soap!" Lightbulb was happy to see her, but kept her voice low in hopes of not disturbing the obviously groggier object. "Hi Lightbulb.. I can do the dishes now." Soap yawned, walking toward the sink with tired eyes. "Oh! Don't worry, I already did them! You should probably work on waking yourself up before you get to any cleaning." Lightbulb chuckled a bit as Soap's eyes widened a little. Then, she smiled and thanked Lightbulb, turning around to take herself back to bed. Usually though, Soap would be pretty persistent in attempting to clean, but maybe today just wasn't it for her.

Lightbulb put the now clean dishes away and dried her hands, then turned to face Fan and Paintbrush once more. Though, once she did, she found that they had already left. Hm. Well, She guessed she had been here for a while. With a shrug, the bulb turned toward the living room and decided to sit down and watch some TV; she loved television! After sitting for a good while, she finally found something interesting to watch with quite a few clicks of the remote: A documentary? This intruiged Lightbulb.. to the slightest of course. She'd definitely rather watch something else, but at least this wasn't as boring as everything else.

The documentary was about a sickle that got himself into some trouble. He was a murderer, and had kidnapped another object, keeping her for almost a year! Lightbulb obviously grew a bit unnerved by this, but couldn't stop watching! Eventually though, the imagery began to get graphic as the film went on, and Lightbulb was forced to turn off the TV. Now Lightbulb was hugging her knees sobbing on the couch; she felt so bad for these victims! She couldn't help it. What followed was a bit of nausea too.. seeing all that blood and such. Despite it not being much, Lightbulb was a bit sensitive, so she hadn't made it far enough into the film to see the real gore.

Suddenly, Lightbulb whipped her head around in response to the sound of footsteps approaching. She quickly wiped her face and sniffled a bit before making eye contact with a confused Test Tube. "Woah, Lightbulb-" Test Tube suddenly hurried to Lightbulb's side and sat. "Are you alright??" Poor Test Tube was quite worried; it was very unusual for any object to see Lightbulb in this state, so Test Tube thought it must've been something bad. "Oh no, I'm okay Testy! I was just watching something on TV!" Lightbulb chuckled a bit through her sniffles, earning a relieved smirk from Test Tube. It was easy to tell Lightbulb wasn't lying, for she had a habit of watching certain shows or films that made her cry.. some being especially corny.. but tear jerkers nonetheless. "Oh! That's a relief.. I was afraid something bad had happened!" Test Tube sighed, patting Lightbulb's back a bit to offer her some comfort. "What were you watching?" The scientist asked with genuine curiosity. Usually, she wasn't interested in Lightbulb's corny romance movies and whatnot, but she had a feeling this wasn't one of those movies; she figured it was something new, given Lightbulb's much more dramatic reaction.. With films like those, Lightbulb may sniffle or even let a tear fall on occasion, but she was crying more than usual this time.

"Well, I wasn't planning on watching it! It was just something I came across since everything else was so boring." Lightbulb nervously lifted the remote to turn on the TV, expecting another gory sight, but instead, what appeared was an interview of the victim. "I just feel so bad for them!" Lightbulb's eyes watered once more as she pointed at the screen and continued to explain what the documentary was about. "Okay Lightbulb.. I don't think you should be watching this. Your heart is too soft!" Test Tube playfully poked at Lightbulb's side, giggling a bit in hopes of easing the other's tension. Lightbulb smiled and returned a warm smile, standing up with Test Tube and letting her lead her back to their room. "Let's get that film off your mind.. Perhaps you'd like to see what I'm working on in the lab?" Test Tube so graciously offered Lightbulb a view of her most recent project, which was unusual for her. Obviously, Lightbulb had to agree! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity! (Sort of). "Really!? I'd love to!!" Lightbulb just about immediately forgot about the disgusting documentary, and was now bouncing up and down in excitement. "Now," Test Tube turned to face Lightbulb, raising her finger as she started. "-You have to be veryy careful, Okay? It's fragile." Her voice fell a bit stern, but Lightbulb clearly understood why! To this, the optimist quickly nodded her head, her smile widening by the second.

"Alright! Let's go then!"

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1359 words 😩

It's me La6stt I'm finally making this freaking story jeez;; my writing's improved so I'm more motivated this time haha :3