Room 43// An Inanimate Insanity College AU

40- How To Train Your Washing Machine

"Lightbulb, are you sure this is safe?"

Paintbrush said this uneasily, one foot standing on her windowsill. Lightbulb was already out the window, sitting and swinging her legs on the tree branch not too far away. If you were at least a little flexible, that was.

Unluckily, Paintbrush was not flexible.

"It'll be fine, Painty! Come on, grab my hand, I'll pull you over here," Lightbulb said, outstretching a hand as she pushed herself into a standing position. There was no mistaking that Lightbulb had practiced this many a time; her feet were steady on the tree branch, and her eyes flitted to what was presumably the next location they needed to find themselves to.

Instead of listening to Lightbulb's insistence, Paintbrush pulled their hand closer to their chest, taking a step down from the windowsill. They nervously cracked their knuckles, watching the sun begin to set in the distance. "I dunno Lightbulb, this just seems like a really bad idea. Does your mum even know about this?"

"Oh please, It's not like we're going out anywhere," Lightbulb said, waving her extended hand dismissively. "We're just gonna sit on the roof and watch the sun set!"

"Your roof is slanted, and you've fallen off of it before," Paintbrush said, crossing their arms. "I am not going up there with you unless you can guarantee, without a doubt, that it's safe."

Lightbulb stood on the tree trunk, tapping her foot against the hard bark for a few moments. "I'll make sandwiches and bring them up there, and we can have a picnic," she offered, a smile pulling at her lips as she realized that this was an offer that Paintbrush would have to take a second to contemplate.

"...And you won't fall off?" They asked, still hesitant.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Sighing, feeling entirely fed up with themselves, Paintbrush finally took Lightbulb's outstretched hand. They wobblily stood atop the windowsill, taking a big step toward the tree trunk. They near fell into Lightbulb, hitting their head against a stray twig hovering over the branch they were now standing on.

"See? That wasn't too bad," Lightbulb said merrily, already moving to grab onto the start of the roof, only a few paces away. "Come on, the sun's starting to set! We'll miss it!"

Running mostly on the adrenaline of making it this far, they followed shortly after Lightbulb. They'd already gone through the whole spiel of doubt, anyways; they weren't keen on being on this tree branch for any longer than they needed to, either.

Granted, they mostly fumbled their way through the process, but eventually they were seated on a flat part of the roof, sighing from the amount of exertion it took just to get there.

"I just want to take a moment to say something," Paintbrush said, still catching their breath, as Lightbulb plopped down beside them without such issues. "That was bad. Don't tell me it wasn't."

Lightbulb laughed, light and airy. Paintbrush would've laughed alongside her, but they were too busy wheezing in the warmish air. "But wasn't it all worth it for this... uh... stunted view?"

"...Do you mean stunning?"

"Eh, same difference," Lightbulb said dismissively, pushing herself up from her spot beside Paintbrush. "I'm gonna go make those sandwiches I promised! And... maybe find something to put them on... there's probably bird dookie on this roof somewhere, yuck."

Stifling a small laugh, Paintbrush watched Lightbulb easily maneuver herself back onto the tree branch and into her room.

Now left alone on the tall roof, Paintbrush let their head fall onto where the slanted section of the roof began. They were unable to identify what exactly the roof was made of, but it was cool against the side of their head regardless.