Mischievous Function

On the Dot

Meanwhile...

"Oh! Hold the door!" Dot called out as she held onto her shopping bag with one hand and reached out to the elevator with her other one. Paintbrush looked up from their phone and held their arm out in front of the elevator door as she speed-walked in. "Thanks," she said. Paintbrush nodded back and looked down at their phone again.

"Just up to your room?" Yin asked, his finger hovering near the buttons.

"Actually, I'm just going to Lightbulb's floor," she replied with a shake of her head. Yin shrugged and went back to leaning on the wall.

Paintbrush glanced up at hearing Lightbulb's name and spotted the shopping bag Dot was carrying. "What's that?" they asked out of curiosity.

"Hm? Oh, this?" Dot peeked into her shopping bag before shrugging and opening it up for Paintbrush and Yin to look inside. "Just a bunch of food, snacks, the like. I got it for the girls."

"Oh...yeah, I heard," Paintbrush sighed with an apologetic frown. "That sucks, doesn't it?"

Dot sighed as well and nodded, but shrugged it off as she placed her hands on her hips. "I mean...I don't really have to go back to work until Monday anyway, so I figured I'd get some stuff to cheer them up. Have you checked on them at all?"

"Lightbulb's not doing so well," they replied, shaking their head. "She thinks it's her fault the group broke up because she killed Pin for touching her food, which she thinks made Microphone think that everything was getting out of hand and all that. And as much as I want to help her out, I doubt she'll listen to me try to rationalize with her because...well, it's that time of the month again for her, and I really don't want to go back home with a broken nose. Suitcase and Test Tube aren't taking it so well, either. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you trying to help them out."

"Here's hoping," Dot muttered as she looked inside the shopping bag again. As she idly counted all the snacks, her eyebrows started to furrow as she tilted her head. "Huh...oh, crap."

"What?" Yin asked.

"I...I think I got a bit too many snacks," she chuckled nervously. "I don't know if we'll be able to finish all of these."

Paintbrush scoffed and crossed their arms. "Nah, don't worry. Lightbulb will be glad to take care of any leftovers."

"You sure?" Dot asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Positive."

"...Okay."

Dot glanced uneasily into her shopping bag again for a few seconds before looking up at the others. "Hey, you guys want some?" she asked, pulling out a candy bar and offering it to Paintbrush. "I got plenty to share."

Paintbrush and Yin looked at each other for a bit before shrugging as Paintbrush took the candy bar. Dot walked over to Yin and held the bag open for him, waiting patiently as he thought carefully about which snack he wanted. He was certainly taking several more seconds to choose than she was expecting. Just as she was about to pick randomly for him on account of how long he was taking, Yin finally reached into the bag and pulled out a granola bar. As he ripped the wrapper open, Dot internally sighed in relief and nodded.

Then, she stepped in front of Yang and held the bag open for him, too. Yang raised his eyebrows as he stared at Dot in confusion. The other two were also looking at her with wide eyes, chancing a few glances at each other. Dot, on the other hand, tilted her head to the side and nonchalantly held the bag up a few inches higher. "You want one?" she asked.

"Uh...yeah," Yang said as he cautiously reached into the bag and pulled out a bag of chips. "...Thanks."

Dot let out a light scoff and shook her head with a grin. "Bet you're fun at parties."

"A blast," Yang muttered as he ripped the bag of chips open and popped one into his mouth, keeping his eyes trained on Dot the entire time.

She walked back to where she had been leaning on the wall and was about to check her phone when she noticed the other three still staring at her. "What?"

Yin coughed into his arm and went back to idly reading some text on the elevator while Paintbrush cleared their throat. "Ah, it—it's nothing," they replied, looking back down at their phone. Dot shrugged and went back to staring down at her own phone.

——————————

Knock-knock-knock.

CRASH!

"WHAT DO YOU WANT—"

Paintbrush shoved a chocolate bar in Lightbulb's mouth and patted the top of her head for a few seconds as they walked past her. Dot came in after Paintbrush and found Test Tube sitting at the desk reading a book and Suitcase lying on her bed watching some weird TV show. "Hey, guys," she waved as she held up the bag. "I, uh...I got you guys some snacks."

Test Tube spared a glance her way, nodded, and went right back to reading her book. Suitcase, on the other hand, gasped in delight and got up to look inside the bag. She reached inside and rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a few sticks of beef jerky and ripping one open with her teeth. "So, uh...where's Mic?" Dot tried to ask as casually as she could.

"Don't know," Suitcase answered with a shrug as she went back to the bed. "I haven't seen her since lunch."

Dot nodded before taking a deep breath, setting the snack bag on the TV dresser, and sitting down on the other bed. "How are you holding up?"

"Me? Personally, I'm fine." Suitcase shook her head and let out a sad sigh. "But I'm sad for Mic, though. She, uh...well, something happened a while before this, and...basically, this is probably the last opportunity she'll get to perform on a stage for an audience."

"Really?" Dot asked with a frown. "What happened?"

Suitcase paused for a second as her face darkened. She swallowed the bite of beef jerky she was chewing and sighed. "I..." she started. "Well, she...um..."

"That's for her to tell you, not us," Test Tube cut in with a flat tone. She looked back at the two and nodded upon seeing Suitcase's grateful smile. "You can try to ask Mic when she gets back, but I doubt she'll be comfortable enough with you to tell you."

Dot nodded in understanding and idly looked up at the ceiling, propping herself up with her hands as she leaned back. The door swung shut as Lightbulb came trudging into the room, hopping up onto Suitcase's bed and lying down next to her as she continued eating her chocolate bar. Paintbrush walked over to the wall near the bed where Dot was sitting and crossed their arms as they leaned on it.

"Where is she?" Dot asked after a while, sitting up straight. "Can you guys text her?"

Suitcase arched a brow and turned to Test Tube questioningly, who hesitated at first but shrugged. "Last time I checked, she was at the café," Test Tube answered. "But I think she wants to be alone right now."

"I'm gonna go check on her." Dot stood up and checked her phone for a second before walking over to the door, nodding to Paintbrush on her way out. "You wanna come with?"

Paintbrush waved their hand and shook their head. "I'll just stay here. I don't think I'd be much help, anyway."

Dot shrugged and waved goodbye to Paintbrush and the girls before heading out the door and toward the elevator. She pressed the button to go down and shoved her hands in her pockets with a low, drawn-out sigh, wondering about the words she would say to Mic.