SkaterCheese's Snapshots Collection (Inanimate Insanity fanfiction)

Portrait of Perfection [Lightbulb x Paintbrush]

Paintbrush needs to stop overthinking it, or this vacation's going to be pointless.

Wrote most of this in March 2018 as part of a collab between me and a friend who has since left Wattpad! Though it was a collab, the way we worked was, I wrote from the beginning, while they wrote some scenes later in the fic — so this writing should be 98% my own. I enjoyed writing in this really chilled-out way. Because this comes from the beginning of the fic, I think that exposition shouldn't be necessary except to clarify that this takes place post-series.

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It was dark, but the flashlight in their hand and at their side told them all they needed to know about the cabin.

It was a lot like Paintbrush themself, really. It stood tall, brown and proud on the landscape, apart from the shadow-enshrouded nature surrounding it. Wooden, but with strength of foundation that it could deal with a tornado if one came along.

Even then Paintbrush knew they'd be filled with the desire to create. It was a lucky thing indeed that they carried no fewer than a dozen canvasses in a bag strapped to their back.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"About as good as a crab!" Lightbulb led the way and pushed the door open with flourish. The door hit the wall so hard that something fell to the ground and shattered. Lightbulb paid it no mind as she strolled into the cabin like she owned the place. "Hope Baxter's doin' OK with Tube n' Flatman. Wonder what he gets to when we aren't around."

'Does she own this place?' Paintbrush wondered, hand running through their bristles. 'She... didn't really specify. We could be breaking and entering right now. That's something she'd do, right?'

"Come on in, Painty! It's cool in here!"

Paintbrush sped up. The cabin had a slightly elevated porch. The beam of their flashlight came to rest on a rocking chair that looked sat in. (It definitely did not alleviate Paintbrush's concerns that they were trespassing.)

They poked their head inside.

'Oh! She picked a fine one to trespass in.'

It was spacious, with a huge, curtainless window on the opposite wall. The ceiling was high, the furniture sparse; Paintbrush could see every room in the cabin from their spot.

There was a simple wooden staircase leading to a loft with a bed on it. Lightbulb was swinging from a railing there, the only light in the room besides their flashlight.

Paintbrush chuckled. "I guess so. I could get used to this!"

Paintbrush set their bag of art supplies down. The whole place had such a rustic air to it. The texture of the floor and smell of wood all around them made them think of the bygone days of summer camp, but with the cleanliness and luxury of a hotel stay.

Not that there seemed to be anything electric anywhere. There was only a lone refrigerator, sitting in front of an outletless wall.

Paintbrush stared at it with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh..."

"That's where we store all the food. Ya can't have camping without sausages!"

"D-does this place have electricity?"

"Well, duh! I'm electricity!"

Lightbulb slid down the railing and pulled a metal box from seemingly out of nowhere. She stabbed the top of it through with the refrigerator's plug and gave it a hard slap.