CASTAWAY || Inanimate Insanity AU

CHAPTER 5

Paintbrush was just walking by a neighborhood not so far away from the stadium. The neighborhood was surrounded by beautiful trees with leafy grass all over the place. Flowers matched with the grass, and there were a few mountains nearby. The mountains were leaking water falling through the lake followed by some caves. The neighborhood is what brought Paintbrush here: It feels less lonely. Unfortunately, Paintbrush was walking around and they ended up coming across Bow.

Bow was a weird pink bow tie species that was shorter than most people in this neighborhood. She was in a small alley between her wooden house, and another house made out of smooth concrete. Bow was in front of a camera, and talking to it as she was recording something. Paintbrush would normally ignore their surroundings, but they heard something from Bow that they couldn't ignore.
"So, like, the copycat is gone, you guys! I think we should celebrate! Who's in? Because if you're not then you're a loser. Boo!" Bow was doing some poses until she saw a shadow, and turned around. It was Paintbrush who was looking at her fearlessly, but also emotionless. This startled Bow, she jumped, and almost hit her camera. Paintbrush harshly pushed Bow to the ground and kicked the camera out of anger.
"Hey! That thing cost me a lot!" yelled Bow, she got up from the grassy ground.
"Well, my dead friend cost my entire life! You don't know anything don't you?!" This didn't sit well with Bow, so she continued to insult Paintbrush.
"The only thing I know is that your friend is better off dead." With that, Paintbrush pushed Bow back to the ground and started kicking her. It wasn't long for Bow who grabbed Paintbrush by the leg and dragged them to the ground. She got up, kicked Paintbrush in the eye, and they screamed. Bow tries to back away, but is held back by them reaching her leg and dragging her. Back to the ground again, Bow started throwing fists at Paintbrush, but they kept dodging them. Paintbrush started doing the same thing until Bow stretched her leg since it was flexible and kicked them between their legs. The paintbrush screamed, and Bow went back to kicking them.
"Know your fighting skills first before you, like, mess with the wrong person!" laughed Bow, she stopped kicking. Paintbrush was slowly getting up, and Bow just stood there looking at them. By the time Paintbrush got up, they were covered in bruises, and could barely walk properly because of their bent injured legs. As they were exiting the small alley, Bow was mocking Paintbrush from behind.
"Dumb little, little, little dummy! Dumb little, little, little dummy!..." She goes on and on singing while Paintbrush tries to walk faster.

It was in the afternoon by the time Paintbrush got home. They closed the door hard, and it was loud enough for the sound to echo. As they sat on the floor still next to the door, they started crying softly. Tears came down, they were covering their face, and even pulling their hair. The house is emptier than before as if Paintbrush started removing stuff in the house. The couches were gone, and all the lightbulbs were missing.
"Why?!... Why do I even bother to...the only real person is Lightbulb right now..." said Paintbrush, they slowly stopped crying. They were now thinking about Lightbulb and the memories they had together. The times when things were different, where things were peaceful, and where it never happened. The paintbrush was smiling at the thought of it, and couldn't help, but laugh at the funnier memories. As the memories were fading away, they noticed that Lightbulb was standing in front of them. She had a straight face but smiled when Paintbrush looked at her. Lightbulb smiled back, she was happy to see them.
"Come on, Painty! Let's go to the underground mines!" Paintbrush smiled and stood up to follow Lightbulb through the house.

"So, why were you crying earlier?" said the lightbulb looking at Paintbrush with a concerned face. They were sitting in the basement in the same spot as before. The basement looked a bit more organized ever since Lightbulb was here.
"Stupid Bow caused drama like always, but this time she went too far." Paintbrush kicked something out of anger before Lightbulb could back away.
"How far?" said Lightbulb, she got closer to Paintbrush and hugged them.
"Oh, how far?! She insulted my dead friend! She tried to hurt me! She's insane!" Lightbulb was saddened by this and just stared at Paintbrush.
"Painty" Lightbulb then pat Paintbrush on the head, "That bow doesn't know any better, and don't let her drag you down like that. She is just naive." They rolled their eyes as if Bow is more than naive.
"Naive and stupid more like it." Paintbrush goes on about how Bow is selfish and only cares about her selected group. Despite that though, Paintbrush thought of something and decided to tell it.
"I don't want any trouble. I'm not the type of person. I don't want to hurt anyone just like I did before..." Lightbulb was still hugging onto Paintbrush.
"But Painty. You didn't mean to." Paintbrush stood up and looked at Lightbulb who was still holding onto them.
"Oh, Lightbulb. It doesn't matter...I'm not going to do the same thing, but worse." Lightbulb lets go of Paintbrush and holds their hand.
"Maybe. We should stay inside. Probably for the best." Lightbulb tries to keep Paintbrush inside so they won't get hurt.
Unfortunately, Paintbrush leaves for a reason.
"But..." Paintbrush takes a deep breath, "I feel less lonely." As Lightbulb was getting closer to their face, Paintbrush blushed.
"It's okay...because I have something to show you."

They followed Lightbulb to the dark corners of the basement. It was gloomy and had nothing, but dusty boxes around the area. It was getting quieter, and Paintbrush started looking around while still holding her hand. All of a sudden, the two of them heard something, but Lightbulb was calm towards the sound.
"Hello, Lightbulb and Paintbrush. I'm so happy to eat you all-I MEAN- meet you all again!" It was Test Tube but in good condition. She was smiling at Lightbulb and Paintbrush. Paintbrush then looked at Lightbulb, "Wait, you wanted to show me-'' Before they could continue, Lightbulb nodded yes, and Paintbrush looked back to Test Tube. They didn't know what to say, so they just said the first thing that came to their mind as they smiled.

"Let's celebrate!"

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Summary:

Paintbrush goes to a neighborhood not away from the stadium and accidentally comes across Bow. They fight after Bow insults Bot, Paintbrush loses the fight and goes back home crying. They vent about it with their hallucinations and only visit the neighborhood because they feel alone at home. That's when the hallucination, Lightbulb, introduced them to Test Tube and they were happy about it.

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Word Count: 1,093