18:00

19 : Anniversary

"...And with that, I'd like to announce the third anniversary of Inanimate Insanity's finale!" OJ said into the microphone from his pedestal. The room erupted into cheers, some nervous and others carefree. This made the glass object smile as he stepped off of his platform, making his way into the crowd.

The room was already full of flashing lights of a variety of colors, annoying yet endearing party decorations, music that was just a touch too loud, and the sound of chatter that somehow was louder than the music. Exactly what you could expect from a Hotel OJ party. Of course, the residents had done their best to make sure there were some differences from last year's party, just to avoid any unpleasant memories.

He'd admit, he was more than nervous about this himself. Out of all of the lab victims, he'd say he was the one who had the hardest time moving on mentally from the incident. It didn't help that today marked one year since it started, and close to one year since he had been kidnapped. But he was trying his best to move past everything, not to stay stuck in the past forever.

Everybody else in the hotel seemed to share his same mindset, especially a couple of the objects he'd say were the second most affected by the lab. Speaking of which, one of those two objects ran up to him just seconds after he stepped off his pedestal.

"So..." Lightbulb said rather excitedly, "What do you think? About the decorations and all, that is."

"Hm. Well, they do fit the occasion." OJ said. He had to project his voice in order for Lightbulb to hear him over the sheer noise of the room. "I think I'm gonna choose someone else for the design crew next time though."

"Hey, rude!" Lightbulb said, playfully punching OJ in the shoulder. OJ winced and held his shoulder as Lightbulb had hit him a bit harder than she probably intended, though OJ laughed along after a second of pain.

"Sorry, it's just I was thinking more of an island-y atmosphere? Something to remember the show by, since that's what the party is for and all." OJ said. "This feels more like a kid's birthday party, or the winning celebration rather than some reminiscent anniversary."

"Fair, fair. But if you wanted to give criticism, you should've done it when Painty and I were actually making the decorations." Lightbulb said.

"Fair." OJ responded, lightly laughing at his own word. The laugh was quickly drowned out by the music, but it was the feeling that counted. "Well, I'm on my way to the snack table if you want to come with. I want to have something to eat before Mephone gets here, if you get what I mean."

"Pfft, yeah. So much time put into baking those cookies for nothing, huh?" Lightbulb sneered. "Speaking of who, where even is he? I thought he was supposed to be here when the party started."

"I... actually don't know." OJ said, his voice trailing off at the end of his sentence. Although the words were somewhat lost to the cacophonous sound of the room, Lightbulb was able to make out the meaning with what she heard.

"Should I go check if he's here or not? It's not gonna be any use having him here if he's locked out." Lightbulb suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great." OJ said.

"Alright! Just save me a couple snacks for once the fat slob actually gets here, I don't want to starve to death either." Lightbulb said. She joyfully waved as she ran out of the crowd. OJ waved back in her direction until he couldn't see her anymore, which didn't take long with all things considered.

It didn't take long until his stomach started growling at him. Maybe he should've gotten something to eat before the party, huh? Oh well, at least there were sandwiches prepared at the snack table that he could grab.