ringing true - a mini ii story

chapter 2

It was 30 minutes since Lightbulb told us to wait, and neither me nor Fan knew what to do. I twiddled my thumbs, occasionally looking over at what Fan was doing. He was on his phone, reading something. Every once in a while he would comment, flailing the arm holding his empty Dr. Fizz can while yelling out things like "The hell you mean, she just choked her on the spot, I mean fair enough she's really thin- but still! How do you just- not notice the only other person there trying to kill you!?"

I poked his arm, saying "What are you reading?"
"Oh it's uh- I think it's called 'Kyoufu Gaaden'? Pretty fun read, to be honest."
"What's it about?"
"So there's this like, pin, right? And she gets these weird dreams, and they tell her to get the hands of her friends to put in her garden, and-" I zoned out of what he was saying. Watching him rattle his head off so passionately was always entertaining, what with how he always moves his arms so much when he talks.

I spotted Lightbulb rushing over to us, who said, "Heyo again, former Bright Lights-" The smile on her face dipped away for a little bit upon referencing that name, her eyes drifting off to somewhere else. I put my hand on her shoulder, and she snapped out of it, her glowing smile returning once again. "Yah, so I finished my little gifty-gift, how does it look?"

She lifted up a portrait the size of her round head. It featured Lightbulb putting some flowers in Painty's bristles. Painty looked a little peeved, but was letting Lightbulb mess with their hair anyways. From behind the painting she said, muffled, "This is based off a true story, hehe! They always look so mad when I'm doing that, but I think they actually kinda like it..."

Fan and I gave our thumbs up, and Lightbulb jumped with joy. She put the painting on the ground, propping it up with one of the desks. Turning to me, she said, "So what kind of wrapping were you thinking, Tubester?"

I tapped my chin a few times, before saying, "Maybe a black wedding ring kind of box, and..." I took out the green ribbon, examining it a while, then continued, "...probably something that fits this?", holding up the ribbon.

"Yes can do, 'Tube!" She bounced around the room, looking through every box with an indescribable swiftness, sometimes yelling out "Catch!" before throwing something like a roll of wrapping paper, or two halves of a palm-sized box.

She slid back in front of me and Fan, triumphantly propping her fists against her waist with the goofiest grin on her face. I looked over at Fan, then at the wrapping paper in my hand. It was a darker shade of green than the ribbon, with a repeating "Inanimate Insanity" logo on it. Fan took the wrapping paper out of my hands, and was about to rip some of it with his hands before Lightbulb hastily stopped him. "Nonono, Fan, you'll ruin it like that! Lemme get some scissors."

I tried fitting the ring inside the box Lightbulb had given me, finding it was a perfect match! The ring slotted in with barely any resistance, displaying itself proudly to anyone who saw it. I put the lid on, just in time for Lightbulb to come back with the scissors."Alrighty, Fan, lemme show you how we do it!" With a few confident swipes through the wrapping paper, she cut out part of it, then put it over the box, adjusting the wrapping to fit over as needed. Didn't take long for it to be fully wrapped, and Lightbulb gave me the honors of putting the ribbon on it. I only knew one way to tie it, but it fit the aesthetic I was going for.

"Well, I think it's done!" I inspected this pretty little box, gently dragging my finger along the frilled edges of the ribbon. I looked at the others, who nodded in approval, and I put the gift away. "Thanks, you two. I really couldn't have done this without you two."
"I mean, you were the one who made the gift itself, so I think most of the work was still done by you, haha!" Lightbulb playfully tapped my glass a few times, and I blushed a little in return.

"Um... hey, Lightbulb?" Fan was tugging at Lightbulb's arm. "C-can you help me with my gift? I sorta forgot to do it earlier... a-and it feels a little late now, but I still wanna do at least something for them!"
"Oh! Yah, certainly I could help ya maybe draw a silly little doodle for them, if ya want!" Lightbulb and Fan got up, Lightbulb taking her portrait, and the two of them walked over to where Lightbulb had made her gift.

I watched them, before silently waving goodbye to them. They both waved back, and so I got up to leave the art class room, satisfied with how well that all worked out.

I was about to head towards my room, but I remembered that I would need to prepare some kind of outfit for the occasion, so instead I headed towards the exit, trying- and failing- to hide the gift box I held in my hands from everyone else's prying eyes.

Stepping outside into the fresh air, I noticed it was much darker than before. I'd probably spent a few hours in there, and now it was somewhat hard to see. I knew the way to my lab though, and I wasn't in much of a rush, so I walked slowly, breathing in the cool, nightly air.

I passed many a tree along the way, every once in a while brushing my hand along the barks. I would look behind me every few minutes, watching as the lights of the hotel got smaller and smaller, the chatter from inside getting quieter and quieter, until I was surrounded only by the gentle swaying of the trees, the chirps of the crickets, and the faint flickers of the fireflies, with the soft grass shifting beneath my feet. I'd stay here for longer, but I remembered why I'd went outside in the first place.

It was only a few minutes of walking until I reached the Dr. Fizz machine marking the entrance to my laboratory. Tapping in the code, Dr. Fizz, Dr. Fizz, water, Dr. Fizz, water, water, water, opened the hatch on the side of the machine, and I slid down inside.

Flicking the lights on, I hissed, covering my eyes from the sudden brightness I was enveloped in. After my eyes adjusted, I looked around the room, searching for anything I could wear. I wasn't much into fashion, but I was sure my lab would have something at least decent, moreso than anything I have back at the hotel.

My eyes eventually landed on the set of Invisi-Bows on the shelf. I'd made a few more versions since Microphone had so kindly "taken" them. Only real good she ever did for me was showing me what areas of the bows I might want to improve. The newest version now didn't have a button on the front, instead it would sense when the wearer wanted to go invisible and would do it then. The bow itself was now able to go partially invisible itself, though I still haven't figured out how to make them fully invisible.

The specific version of the Invisi-Bow I was eyeing was colored very... green, with both colors used being just different shades of green. I put the gift next to it, seeing just how close the color scheme of both were. I took the bow off the shelf and tried it on, noting just how soft it felt to the touch. I've decided that I'll take this one to the party.

Since the party would only start in the second half of the day, I let myself pass out on the floor of my lab, hoping that I'd wake up before then. Today has really tired me out, and I didn't want to come to Painty's birthday party with eyes half-open the entire time.