18:00

65 : Talking

Lightbulb sat quietly in the middle of the floor, eyes bolted on the ground. Her fingers picked at the seams on the carpet, the fabrics gently coming apart beneath her.

The room was quiet, aside from the whirring of the vents and the scratching of graphite against paper. And as much as she wanted someone to talk to, or something to talk about, she didn't know if she could handle talking either. Her heart still felt the gravity of the situation pulling it down.

It was a grounding feeling, but it still wasn't one she particularly liked.

She glanced up for a moment, if only to see what the others were doing. Soap still sat in bed- Lightbulb wasn't sure when the other object had last moved from there. Of course, she understood why, but it didn't make it any less concerning.

Knife and Trophy seemed to be growing bored, which was understandable. But they stayed quiet and patient, which she silently thanked them for.

Microphone was... a different case. She sat restlessly, going from stretching to scribbling to muttering things under her breath. Lightbulb also understood her situation, though it didn't make the noise any less insensitive.

Still, nobody could find it in themselves to blame the girl. Even if nobody understood just what was happening with her, they knew it wasn't her fault. So they did their best to ignore her as they grieved.

Pulling out another strand of string from the carpet's stitching, Lightbulb sighed to herself. She glanced up, watching Mic scribble something into the journal. The action was almost frantic, yet she hardly seemed distressed.

Before Lightbulb could think about it too much though, another sound took her attention. Distant footsteps approached the door. She locked her eyes on the door, and the silence tensed around her.

And, predictably enough, the door opened. Test Tube didn't step in, only tapping her foot on the floor. "E-1, please come with me."

Lightbulb stared blankly for a second before the words caught up to her. She stood up, trying to ignore the shaking in her legs as she walked forward. The floor beneath her changed from padding to tile, and she heard the door shut behind herself.

Test Tube felt different as well. Nothing was visually different, at least as far as Lightbulb could tell, yet something was still off. Perhaps she was also disgruntled by Bow's passing.

If there was anything left to put the final nail in the coffin, the morose expression she wore and the slight bags under her eyes confirmed that. It wasn't surprising in the slightest, but Lightbulb still felt something shrivel up inside her.

The two wordlessly left the door, Test Tube starting off down the hall and Lightbulb trailing behind her. Although the walls muffled the noise, Lightbulb swore she heard faint chattering from the room she just left.

At the very least, there wouldn't be silence to greet her once she was back. She mentally clung to that thought as she heard another door open, following Test Tube into the room.

-

"And this is everything you're going to need?" OJ asked for the umpteenth time. With an exasperated sigh, Taco nodded.

"As I said the last fifteen times, yes, I won't need any more than what we've packed," she replied. Although the other object's worry was understandable, it didn't keep it from getting on her nerves. Meeting his gaze, her face furrowed. "Don't make me go through it again."

"Fine, fine," he huffed, reluctantly handing her the backpack he held. "Just... you know how long this will take, right?"

"Of course I do. Trust me, I'm not fond of this idea either, but it's what will work best. Besides, most of the things packed are just for the bluff."