Cosmo's oneshots / drabbles

[TIASWL] There's a storm for every spring

[Taking place a bit after the story wraps up. this has been sitting in my drafts for like a month or two lol i should probably get this out before i forget to]

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The rain pattered hard against the roof of the base. Inside, Fan sat in the living room, hugging one of the pillows for comfort against the loud noise of the occasional thunder, as he texted away on his phone, as TestTube and Lightbulb were out running tests on how the electricity in the air would affect her powers during a thunderstorm.

Paintbrush was at the base too, sitting in their room, the lights low as they sat on their bed, back against the corner of the two walls their bed was against as they felt up and down the damage from the shimmer incident a month prior. Despite this all being resolved, and then finally being at peace with their conflict, not wanting to be a hero anymore and all that, they felt sad.

Sure, the weight of being a hero, and risking hurting everyone with their powers was over, but they still just couldn't help but feel their destructive thoughts creeping in.

Despite it having been around five weeks since the incident, the scars still burned at times, which was such a new, frankly scary thing for Paintbrush to feel, them being immune to fire and all, but these scars were not caused by flame.

...

They forgave Lightbulb as soon as they were fully conscious again, and once she was back at the base, because of course they did, they knew she really hadn't meant to, but deep down, Paintbrush knew she hadn't forgiven herself. That she couldn't. She was the one to hurt them after all, so why does she deserve forgiveness? Or at least, they figured that was how she was feeling, because that's how they felt every time one of their friends got hurt because they weren't strong enough. When they just stood by, or their flame was the cause. It was such a scary feeling, really. But Paintbrush got used to it after a while... which never felt like a good thing, but it couldn't be helped now.

A particularly bright, and loud strike of lightning, and booming thunder struck nearby the base, Paintbrush wondering if that was from Lightbulb and TestTube, as the lights upstairs flickering as through the forceful pattering of rain on the roof, they could hear Fan snap himself shut out of panic at the noise.

Paintbrush was festering. They knew that staying shut off in their room was not going to be good for their mental health, so they might as well go out and see if Fan needed any comfort. They let out a sigh, retrieving the cane at the side of their bed, their legs still wobbling a bit every time they got up to walk and move around, that was just something they had to get used to.

The first three weeks after the incident were particularly rough, considering Paintbrush was out for most of it, their wooden body trying to handle the new damage, but when they woke up, it was around another two weeks before they could even walk themself. Testtube's physical therapy was a huge help, of course, but learning how to walk all over again felt so embarrassing. But Paintbrush shook off thinking about this as they slowly made their way out of their room, to go over to Fan, who was still shut, and hugging his handles tight as the rain kept pouring outside.

"Fan..?" They spoke in a soft tone, not wanting to startle him further. There was a muffled response.

"I can't understand you when you're closed, can you open up please?" Paintbrush moved to sit down next to him, still gripping the handle of the cane as if they'd fall over even after sitting down. Fan opened up a little, and mustered out a few words;

"Scared," Was the only word Paintbrush really understood as Fan mumbled.

"H-how about we go down to the lab? Hang out in that main room or s-something to let the storm pass? It's a bit more underground than this, would that help?"