So Much To Lose

Ch. 8 Connection

Lightbulb trudged through the Perilous Forest diligently, letter in hand, towards Hotel OJ, and while it certainly wasn't what she had expected to be doing that night, she found some solace in the distraction it gave her from the recent events in the game.

TestTube leaving had hurt her a lot. Months ago Lightbulb would have thought she would be ecstatic at having made it to the final four, but now she just felt lonely. It especially hurt that she could see why the other contestants had felt the need to kick her off.

As much as it hurt her to admit, Lightbulb felt leaving might have been the best thing for TestTube, every day since fan left she had become more on edge, every challenge more unhinged in her plans. Lightbulb hoped she was getting along alright at Hotel OJ.

That wasn't Lightbulb's mission now however, as her warm glow illuminated the trees before her, eventually giving way to the field before Hotel OJ, her job now was to help a different lost soul.

Being a friend to all, Lightbulb made sure to be especially nice to Taco when she first bumped into her. She was partly expecting a violent outburst, and then for the other girl to disappear into the brush, but was surprised to just see Taco standing there, dumbfounded.

Maybe all those months of avoiding ever mentioning Taco, and putting her down whenever she was brought up at the Hotel had made Lightbulb stop actually wondering about who she was, or why exactly she did what she did.

In any case if Taco felt half as lost as she had in that moment, she wasn't going to leave her alone, and Lightbulb was glad she didn't.

Taco said she wanted to change, and after her time talking to her, butting heads about writing her letters, joking about absurd moments throughout the game, Lightbulb believed her. Lightbulb could see why Mic had believed her.

Lightbulb hoped Mic hadn't lost that belief.

Lightbulb was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost didn't stop herself from bumping right into Hotel OJ.

It was late, the sky was dark and rumbled with the promise of coming rain, nearly all of the lights at the Hotel were off, save for a few rooms and the neon sign proclaiming the Hotel's name on the side. OJ had been so proud when it was built he joked that he would never turn it off, and so far it hadn't been a lie.

Before Lightbulb can go to open the doors herself however, they swing open.

The two objects beyond the door frame immediately squint from how bright she is compared to the dark of the late night Hotel.

"Augh! Lightbulb can you turn it down, it's late. Also what in the world are you doing here? Everyone else is asleep," a gruff voice complained.

Lightbulb lowered her glow and stepped in, Knife had definitely been the one to answer the door, and the other object lingering behind him was Pickle, obviously drowsy.

Uh oh, the bubbly object thought, not so subtly hiding the letter she was holding behind her back.

"Heyyyyyy gang! Just popping in to see Painty like usual. Uh, how'd you know I was coming?"

"You glow like a beacon, Lightbulb, also they're asleep." Pickle replied, coming up to Knife's side.

"I'm serious! I'm just gonna go wake them up, it'll be fine, have a nice night!" Lightbulb rambled out quickly, before trying to dash past Knife.

"Oh no you don't! What do you have?" Knife grabbed Lightbulb's arm, trying to yank her around and see what she was holding.

Lightbulb immediately resisted, she made a promise to deliver a letter and it was going to happen by any means necessary. She kicked at knife prompting him to let go of her before attempting to make a dash for the stairs again.