✮ Rockstar ✮ || A Lightbrush Fanfiction

Chapter 26 - Gifts

"Painty! Painty, wake up!" Lightbulb whined, shaking Paintbrush's shoulders. They groaned and opened their eyes slowly. "What...?"

"It's Christmas!" She declared, grabbing their cheeks and pulling their face forward in excitement. They chuckled and rested their head in her hands. "Okay, okay! Just give me a minute to wake up," they mumbled while sitting up.

Lightbulb giggled sweetly and turned to the living room behind her. The twinkling Christmas tree shined brightly with presents of various shapes and sizes underneath and spilling out to create a small border around the tree.

She glanced back to Paintbrush. They stared at the gift in awe, observing the bountiful amount. She would admit, this was more than she was used to seeing. They adjusted in their position, then groaned in discomfort. "Dude, my legs are asleep."

They covered their face and sighed loudly. Lightbulb hopped off their thighs and sat next to them. "That help?"

"Kinda," Paintbrush mumbled, letting their hands drop to their sides. "It feels like I'm being pricked with tiny pins all over my legs. I hate it," they whined.

Something stirred beside Lightbulb. She turned to the three other people lying on the couch. Test Tube was rubbing one of her eyes while holding Bot and Fan in her arms. She gave them a soft smile. "Good morning, you two," she greeted.

"Merry Christmas, Test Tube!" Lightbulb cheered, just a little too loud. The noise woke Fan, who had his face buried in the crook of her neck.

"Ugh... what is it?" He grumbled, lifting his head. He turned his attention to the piles of presents to his side. "Gifts!" He gasped, hopping off Test Tube and rushing to them. He cackled and grabbed the biggest box.

"Ah, no," Mr. Bright tsked, stepping out from the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee, "this isn't a 'fend for yourself.' We have a system." He held up a piece of paper with a raised eyebrow. The paper had 5 different small pieces of wrapping paper taped on, each of them being labeled with a person's name.

Lightbulb groaned. "Ugh, you're really gonna make us sort this whole archive of presents? That's gonna take all morning!"

"Exactly! So it'll give your mother time to wake up!" Her father said, walking over to the group. He smiled and took a sip of his drink. "You all woke up early. Well, except for Bug," he flicked one of Bot's antennae, their unconscious body not moving a joint.

"What time is it, anyway?" Paintbrush wondered out loud, looking around the room for a clock.

"It's about a quarter till six," Mr Bright responded, glancing out the kitchen window. Paintbrush stared at him blankly from the couch. "A what?"

"A quarter till six," her father repeated, glancing back at them, "can you hear me or do I need to come closer?" They shook their head. "No, I heard you, but what does 'a quarter to six' mean?"

Lightbulb's face split into a mocking smile. "Ha! Are you still too western to understand us?"

"No, no, they have a point. Sometimes even I can't understand what you're saying," Test Tube added, sitting Bot up and flicking a small switch on their back. A small click was heard, and their metal shell regained life.

Their eyes shimmered brightly as their face lit up with a smile, "Woah! I slept! I actually..." They stopped mid-sentence as they saw all the wrapped boxes on the floor. Their grin widened as they hopped off the couch and sat next to their dad. "Santa came while I was asleep!"

Bot laughed giddily and turned back to Test Tube behind her, "It's just like you told me! I went to sleep and I had a dream and then I woke up and there's as many presents as I could want!" They giggled again as they extended their mechanical arm and dragged Test Tube closer, wrapping her and Fan into a hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"