Room 43// An Inanimate Insanity College AU

12- Okay Roadtrip Shenanigans Over, We're Here Guys

It was the crack of dawn, the sky still stained pink from the sunrise, when they arrived in Lightbulb's hometown. Lightbulb woke all of them up, shaking them from their beds and announcing that they'd made it to their destination.

Paintbrush drowsily rubbed the sleep out of their eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. Lightbulb was beaming down at them, babbling on about how they'd arrived, any and all plans for the day, etcetera.

Paintbrush laughed, pushing themselves up into a sitting position. "Take a breath, Lightbulb," they instructed. "You're going way too fast."

Lightbulb did as she was asked, taking a deep breath before resuming. "We're here," she said, motioning with both hands towards the campervan door, which was opened. "and we're gonna go see my family and do some other stuff!"

"Okay," Paintbrush said, pulling themselves out of bed and grabbing their jacket which was cast-off over the passenger seat.

"Fan and Tube! Wakey wakey!" Lightbulb yelled, and blew an airhorn, its prolonged honk bringing everyone in the campervan and possibly in a five-mine radius back to the world of the living.

"HUH?" Fan yelled, almost falling off his mattress in alarm. Test Tube peeled off the eye mask she was wearing, glaring at Lightbulb for waking her up.

"Sorry about that," Lightbulb said, suddenly embarrassed. "But we're here!"

"Where, exactly, are we?" Fan asked, looking to the suburban town with electric wires poking out from all directions and hanging above the houses. All the walls were either neat, white and tidy or rustic red and orange bricks.

"We're in my hometown!" Lightbulb said happily, taking a step out of the campervan and into the fresh air, the stained pink sky making her seem warmer.

"Oh, alright," Fan said with a shrug, dusting himself off and walking outside along with Lightbulb. Paintbrush brushed any hair that got into their eyes whilst sleeping away, walking out with Test Tube in an attempt to not lose Fan and Lightbulb in the new area.

Once they caught up, Lightbulb was already bolting toward a white-brick home with a lantern hanging on the front porch. A big golden retriever was sleeping on a swing chair, rocking back and forth gently as it snoozed. Lightbulb ran up to it and started rubbing behind its ear, a grin splitting her face in two.

"What is she doing?" Paintbrush asked Fan, watching her mutter to the dog excitedly from a distance away.

"I think this is her house," Fan said as Lightbulb went to go knock on the door. "That's her dog, clearly. I didn't even know she had a dog."

"Me neither," Paintbrush said. Test Tube caught up with them as the door opened and a little girl, perhaps nine or ten, opened the door.

The girl gasped, hugging Lightbulb tightly. Right, her house then. "Hi LB!" The girl exclaimed, loud enough that Paintbrush could hear her even from their sizable distance.

They felt very out of place, all of a sudden; the girl had her hair tied up behind her in a ponytail and looked almost the same as Lightbulb. The same rosy cheeks, vibrant blue eyes, brassy golden-blonde hair.

Well, it made sense. They were related, after all. But Paintbrush didn't know if they should approach or not, and clearly Test Tube and Fan felt the same way, making no move to go forward and introduce themselves to the young girl.

"These are my friends!" Paintbrush heard Lightbulb say, gesturing to all of them. They gave a wave for the sake of politeness, then Lightbulb waved the group over. Paintbrush made their way to the entrance, the now awake golden retriever sniffing at their heels curiously.