Chapter Text
The streaks of warm sunlight creeping through the curtains caught Fan's eyes, causing the object to slightly stir in his bed. Promptly he flipped right over to face away from the intruding light, wanting just another moment or two under the warm covers. Light shuffling noises eventually reached his ears, similar to that of a mouse. Although Fan knew it wasn't any sort of rodent, just his roommate Paintbrush, up early as per usual.
"hmf." Fan grumbled, hoping the other would get the quiet hint to perhaps quit their insistent shuffling, alas.
"Sorry Fan, got plans with Lightbulb later," Paintbrush muttered a quick apology, their movements quick between their bed and the bathroom.
They seemed to be packing their bags for something. With a sigh of defeat Fan pulled himself upwards into a sitting position, staring blankly at the wall before rubbing his eyes. A quick stretch spared his back of the mild discomfort that had grown overnight, so there was that.
"Again?" Muttered Fan as he scooted towards the edge of the bed, hopping off.
He swore he caught a glare from Paintbrush but couldn't tell, they were in quite the rush between the bathroom to fix up their bristles, and then back to the bed to check their phone. Fan watched them run repeatedly between the two rooms before eventually waving them down, signaling his want for a verbal response. "Yes, again." Paintbrush said, before a stressful sound escaped them. "D-do you know where I left my wide tooth comb?" They asked with a quick shuffle through their bed sheets, hoping the item was lost in the array of bedding.
"Yeah the uhh red one? It should be in the bathroom," Fan said in a know-it-all voice as he turned towards the bathroom and pushed the door open.
The counters were slightly messy, an obvious sign that Paintbrush had been rushing to get ready for a while now. The only time Fan had seen Paintbrush worry about aspects of their appearance that wasn’t just their bristles was whenever they hung out with Lightbulb. It was a little funny, the way they seemed to clean up just for her. Reminded him of his friendship with Test Tube in a way.
Fan dug around the piles of hair products on the white countertops, sifting until eventually pulling the comb out of the mess. "Ah ha!" He said, the comb quickly being snatched from his hand, earning Paintbrush a small 'hey!' from Fan.
"Thanks Fan! I'm off to Lightbulb's place for the next couple of nights, she wants to do some sort of movie marathon together," Paintbrush explained with a growing smile as they shoved the comb into their bag, attempting to compress everything until eventually forcing it closed. Fan watched with mild disappointment.
"You know if you organized those it might fit better-" He started.
Paintbrush shushed him quickly.
"I don't have time for a whole theory on how organized traveling bags can lead to an overall happier lifestyle, Fan." They said with a sarcastic tone, although the two shared a quick snort.
That was fair enough, Fan knew somebody who would enjoy his theories though, she always did. Fan spent most of his time with Test Tube, whenever it was in her room or in her lab, the two were practically glued at the hip. Not that he ever wanted to change that, he hated change and he loved Test Tube, why have it any other way?
"Earth to Fan," Paintbrush waved their hand in front of him, causing him to sputter a couple blinks and hold back a cough. "h-huh?" He looked up at them.
"You zoned out there," Paintbrush chuckled as they threw the bag over their shoulder, already walking to the door.
"Say hi to Test Tube for me!" They shot him a knowing look before popping down the hall. Of course they already knew Fan's plans and thoughts, he was predictable like that with his comforting routines. Fan rolled his eyes, although his companion had been long gone down the hallway. None the less, Fan had a rather interesting day of watching Test Tube work while discussing their mutual theories and future plans for the competition. Hosting had been a challenge at first, and more of a challenge to get everyone on board for such an idea. But now it was his daily routine, such an important part of his life!
It was like his purpose.
Fan stepped back into the bathroom and brushed the counter space clear enough for him to rest his hands on it. Did he look.. worse than usual? Now he wasn't a major fan of his appearance but surely he didn't always look this drained. Dark bags were formed under his eyes and his normally bright red tint had almost gone paler.. just by the tiniest bit, you had to be leaned in quite close to the mirror to begin to notice it. Which he now was.
A tired hand lifted and gently dragged across the side of his face. Maybe the toll of hosting these challenges, worrying about the safety of others and such forth was finally taking a toll on his appearance on top of his mental health. It made sense, ever since.. the Test Tube incident Fan was having mild issues sleeping; it wasn't something he was secretive about after all. He told nearly everything to Test Tube nowadays.
How he was feeling, his late night thoughts, sleeping patterns, theories... the two shared everything back and forth in a comforting manner. At least Fan found it comforting, he hoped Test Tube did too. Otherwise it might come off as annoying if anything-
Geez, he'd barely been awake for ten minutes and Test Tube must've crossed his mind a billion times!
Fan splashed cold water onto his face, something Test Tube told him to do when he was having difficulty waking up.
At the next repeating thought of Test Tube, Fan felt an odd lump form in the back of his thought. It felt thick, similar to the unsettling lead up that one would get before a rough crying session; Fan lightly coughed into his elbow, assuming the issue would go away as it should.
Instead it lingered, causing the object to cough once, twice more in hopes to dislodge whatever theoretical source was stuck in the back of his throat. Eventually he managed to cough something up, presumably mucus of some sort.
Although when Fan opened his eyes he was met with the nicest, softest flower he'd ever seen.
A paper flower, to be specific. It had a gradient of blue to a lighter baby blue, ironically a similar color scheme to that of a familiar object.
Fan stared silently at the paper flower before wiping his mouth slowly, jolting at the sight of blood smudging onto it. Did he cough that up? Both of those things? He quickly leaned forward against the counter to peer into the mirrors, hands pressed against the cool bathroom countertop.
The blood was mild, barely noticeable if anything; he must've wiped the majority of it onto his hand.. which was now right against the clean white sink.
"O-oh damn it!" Fan muttered with annoyed tone as he reached and bundled up a small amount of toilet paper, attempting to clean the blood up before it stained. He threw the toilet paper away with a sigh, turning back to the paper flower resting peacefully on the countertop.
What could this possibly have been? Him coughing up a paper flower? That wasn't scientifically possible!.. was it? Goodness no, not at all. No amount of research had ever led him to hearing of such thing. Fan barely registered his next moves of snatching up the flower and nearly bolting out the door. If one person knew anything about weird phenomenons and science it was Test Tube! Plus she might actually crash out if something this fascinating happened to him, and he didn't tell her!
-
Test Tube watched with wide eyes and glowing interesting as the tube of strange liquid she’d mixed together boiled slowly, bubbling lifting through the blue liquid and popping once they reached the top. She was trying to see if she could edit the recipe of the blue-ray, just some light tweaks to ensure its life expectancy!
She didn’t want it wearing off too quickly now, especially if it was going to be such a limited resource. They needed to ration out here, the safety of everyone was her responsibility after all. She couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt.
Especially not somebody close to her.
The Bot situation already put stress onto her already heavy shoulders, but she tried her best not to show it around them. Fan could see right through her, he somehow always tended to do that nowadays. I mean logically of course he could see through her, she was a clear glass tube after all!
Still. Fan always seemed to know when she was pushing herself a bit too hard, urging her to spend a break and sometimes even tricking her into taking one! He just the right things to ask to get her rambling on an hour long session that would eventually tire her out, usually ending with the two crashing on her lab couch.
Test Tube enjoyed those nights.
A soft smile formed over her face as she thought over the fond memories of such a simpler time, gently turning off the burner to the hot liquid and watching it cool slightly.
Of course her wonderfully peaceful time was interrupted by rapid, loud pounding on her lab door. Golly she couldn’t even have an hour to herself anymore! She knew everyone was a little scared and always had questions nowadays but goodness! Test Tube grumbled and started to walk towards the door, but it flung right open. How rude-
“Fan!” Test Tube exclaimed with excitement at her friend.
Oh this was perfect! Maybe he could help her talk over theories on what would be a good move to improve the blue ray. Or perhaps he had theories to discuss? The future of the next challenge was in their hands after all. She could settle to listening to him talk about his plans for the future of the show, it was a passion project of his at this point.
“I’m glad to see you! I was just starting to tweak the recipe for the blue-ray and I could use your help! With the recent changes to the forums it’s almost coming out a light teal! Fascinating I know!”
Before Test Tube could get very far into her rambling, Fan was right in front of her, shoving something right into her hand. She blinked a couple times and quickly looked down, now holding a soft paper flower.
”uh” She said, gently rubbing her thumb over the flower. Was this a gift?
”Golly, thank you Fan- this is uh,” She smiled, but looked up to meet his mildly horrified look.
”T-Test Tube I coughed THIS up earlier! I-I don’t know how or why or what but surely you know!” Fan quickly stumbled over his words as he grabbed her hand that was holding the delicate flower, holding it up closer to her face as he muttered on. ”-it wasn’t pretty either. Oh ho no, there was blood! Not a lot- but still!” He added on. Test Tube looked rapidly between him and the flower. He huh? What?
”Blood?!” Test Tube suddenly sputtered with a worried tone, quickly prying a hand against his mouth to open it. “Why?? Are you okay?” She asked, trying to see if she could spot any sort of injury inside his mouth.
”I-I don’t know that’s why I came to you, I was hoping you’d know?” A small awkward grin formed, and Test Tube returned it without a second thought. She was going to try her best to not absolutely freak out, it could be something mild. They didn't know. She let her hand slip and looked down at the flower.
”You said you- coughed this up? Did Lightbulb make you eat paper or something?” Test Tube said with a light tease, but Fan still had a small nervous expression that told her this was serious.
He actually did just.. cough this up with blood. Blood was the concerning bit, that means it was painful, and could possibly be dangerous.
or fatal.
Test Tube grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him deeper into her lab, urging him to sit down as she grabbed her laptop. Fan just stumbled along willingly, hoping she knew what was going on. She sat down and set the flower next to her. She’d heard of something in the past similar to such, but the flowers weren’t.. paper. They were usually real. Or from what she could remember. She opened the laptop and started rapidly typing, Fan’s nervous fidgeting reminding her that she should verbally explain her process to at least help ease his nerves.
”I’ve heard of something like that, but I’m not sure exactly what it was- or if it was even supposed to be possible! This could be a first!” Test Tube exclaimed as she started looking through search results.Fan simply nodded, scooting closer to peer over her search results curiously. Almost right away the same mention was all over her screen.
Hanahaki disease.
It seemed.. rare, beyond rare. Test Tube gasped lightly as she quickly read through the first link she clicked on. Fan was grateful for his quick reading skills managing to keep up with hers.
”This has to be it!” Test Tube said, grabbing the paper flower. “although, it says real flowers. I wonder why this one is paper..” She trailed off, looking over at him. The two shared a small moment of silence before Test Tube gasped.
”Fan! You’re made of paper!”
“W-well of course I am Test Tube- I’m a fan,” He chuckled a bit, Test Tube lightly shaking his shoulders.
”That must be why it was made of paper! This has to be it!” Test Tube said, excitement glistening in her eyes as she quickly went to read further into the article.
Fascinating! A super rare disease, this was a once in a lifetime chance to get a close look at something such. She needed as many samples as she could possibly get! Test Tube was soaking up as much information as she could with growing excitement, ideas already flooding her mind. The causes, the reasoning, everything! Fan didn’t seem to share quite the heavy excitement, mostly because it was happening to him. And of course, the reasoning. The moment his eyes gilded over the words his breath caught in his throat.
It started from a unrequited love? Fan felt sick, like he might pass out.
Quickly he covered his mouth as he fought back to muffle a few coughs. Test Tube looked over with her smile, but it quickly dropped once she actually soaked in what was really happening. This super rare, possibly fatal disease was possibly in her friend. Her friend. Her Fan.
”Fan!” Test Tube gasped as she slipped aside the laptop and quickly started to pat his back, Fan coughing violently for a moment before another few flowers came up, light blood colored amongst them. Oh no.
”ow,” Fan muttered with a hoarse voice, Test Tube’s expression was pure worry as she quickly looked over him, before reaching behind her and grabbing a paper napkin. She gently wiped the blood off his mouth as she took the new flowers into her other hand. ”oh golly..” Test Tube muttered, before quickly turning back to her laptop.
“I-it’s not all bad! It can be cured! It uh-“ Test Tube wasn’t sure just how much information he’d read on the disease, but better safe to repeat the points just in case.
”It forms from love, specifically says unrequited- but it can be cured if the love is reciprocated! Or the flowers are surgically removed, or well.. uh…” Test Tube trailed off. She didn't exactly want to tell him one of the ways the disease was gotten rid of was just death.
Fan still felt light headed at everything being thrown at him. Test Tube was desperately trying to figure out solutions but he was still stuck on., unrequited love. In fact he didn’t even know he really was in love! Sure love was something he thought about quite often, but he was sure he would recognize when he felt it. That's how everyone was, no? The more he mentally shuffled through his friends, the more people he crossed off. Paintbrush? Surely not, the two were quite close yes but romance was a whole different step! Plus everyone knew Paintbrush had.. something going on with a certain enthusiastic bulb.
Lightbulb? No., Fan loved her, but certainly not like that. He was sure he would've known if a crush had suddenly popped up for her. Fan continued to mentally cycle through his friends as fast as he could before Test Tube suddenly shook him lightly.
"Fan focus!" Her voice snapped him back to reality, a worried look on her face. "If this is really what it is, it's important that we cure it pronto! Who's the person? Surely we can arrange some sort of confession, or date, or something!"
Fan stared back for a moment before the pieces of the puzzle slowly slid into place. A mental click went off in his head as he realized.
It was Test Tube
Of course it was her! He spent all morning alone letting her slip into his every action and move, his first thought upon seeing a weird phenomenon was to go to her of all people! Even Paintbrush predicted that regardless of what happened that day, he was going to be at Test Tube's place, or around her. Fan felt his heart twist strangely and a weird uncomfortable feeling ran through his veins, through his brain. Suddenly he felt like Test Tube was too close, her hands still lingering on his shoulders, one bunched up holding the flowers. Her soft eyes looking into his own, reflecting years worth of care and affection. Suddenly her words caught up mentally in his brain and he panicked.
"C-confession?! Test Tube I don't think- surely- surgery! We can do the surgery!" Fan fumbled his words as he spoke desperately, Test Tube quickly being caught off guard. He wanted the surgery? Not the confession? But surgery was such a dangerous option when he could just- confess!
"Surgery-? Fan that's such an extreme step-" Test Tube said with worry. Who would even do the surgery, Salt? She wasn't sure she trusted Salt with something that big. "W-why are you so-" Test Tube looked over his now slightly red face, flushed with panic and embarrassment.
"Who's the person Fan?" Test Tube asked with a softer tone, but hints of curiosity and prying leaked into her voice. Fan rapidly shook his head.
"N-nobody! Well- uh-. I don't.. know?" Sputtered words flew from his mouth before he tried an awkward grin. Test Tube blinked a couple times, tilting her head. "You don't.. know?" She said, the smallest smile of affection spreading before the two softly laughed. The familiar shared laughter eased the tension in the room just a bit, but Test Tube didn't seem like she wanted to let it go just yet.
"Fan uh-," Test Tube desperately wanted to know who it was, especially if it clearly affected Fan to this degree. She'd never seem him so panicked at the thought of romance, it would've be cute if it weren't for the circumstances. She knew that he did have an idea of who it was, she knew him too well to recognize when he was lying straight through his teeth. Which honestly only made her more curious, she almost wished she could just open his head up and figure out what was going on, pick apart and analyze everything until she could understand everything he wouldn't tell her.
"..you really have no clue who it is?" She asked with a slightly tilted head, watching his expression carefully. Fan could tell she was looking heavily into his soul, waiting for his lip even to twitch upwards or downwards to hint at the possibility of something. He already wasn't the best at lying, but to Test Tube it was an impossible challenge.
A sharp breath was inhaled before he sighed in defeat. "well."
"I-Is it bad if I'm not ready?" A small smile played on his face, his nerves nearly through the roof. Everyone knew how he handled change, Fan absolutely hated anything that included a change of routine or drastic measures on the line. Test Tube pressed her lips into a thin line, trying desperately to keep the smile on her face.
"Well- regularly I would encourage you to take your time, but we're dealing with a disease here Fan!" Test Tube said with a nervous tone, a small chuckle escaping her speech at the end. Fan frowned slightly in response.
Damn it.
"But." Test Tube sighed. "If you're not ready to tell me I won't force you.. but you need to tell whoever it is soon. Don't be a.." Test Tube stuttered over her words for a moment.
"Jeebweezer?" Fan finished her sentence affectionately, Test Tube's snicker sounding like music to his ears. Her laugh was always so stupidly unique and just.. her. It was one of his favorite pieces about her, along with well- everything else. "Yes. That." She nodded. Silence overtook for a small moment as the two softly stared into each other's gaze, Fan felt his heart twist and flip a couple times as she just seemed so soft with him. He glanced down as Test Tube let her hand slip from his shoulder and gently take one of his into his own. Oh.
Fan laughed nervously before opting to cough into his elbow, no there weren't any flowers coming up he was just desperately trying to ease the growing tension in the room. Test Tube gave him a couple pats before gently pulling her laptop back over. "No surgery, I don't think you want Salt or Pepper operating on you. You may end up in worse condition afterwards," She chuckled a bit, Fan returning the giggle.
Fan couldn't deny that she had a point there, he doubted Salt or Pepper's surgery skills were even half as good as their makeup skills. But that meant the only other options left were confessing or dying. To him, the two were practically the same option. He couldn't fathom being able to confess his feelings to Test Tube, much less the possibility of her even liking him back! What would he do? What kind of confession would she like? Would flowers be a good choice for her or would they be painfully ironic considering the circumstances? Surely it had to have something to do with science to even secure him a quarter of a shot.
Test Tube's attention was more focused on reading through as many articles on the disease as she could. Fan watched her eyes dart over the lines of text as she hummed under her breath. "It's such a fascinating disease! Golly if only it wasn't life threatening," She said, Fan snorted a little in a response. Of course she'd be obsessed with something like this.
"So, what're you going to do for a confession?" Test Tube asked curiously. "Me personally I'm more of a cliché kind of gal, but, who knows!" A light laugh escaped her afterwards, leaving Fan unsure of whenever she was serious on that or not. Fan laughed a bit awkwardly, sighing.
"I-I'm not sure, I don't- know exactly what they might like? I-I mean I know them well! But this.. this is a whole new thing." Fan explained in rambled words as he tried to not stress about it too much, don't want to trigger another coughing fit.
"Of course! Something this serious should be looked into. What are their hobbies? Interests?" Test Tube leaned forward slightly, a little excited to help Fan with a possible set up. Fan swallowed tightly.
If he told Test Tube any of her own hobbies he was pretty sure she would figure it out quickly, he had to be vague. A couple ideas ran through his head but he knew he had to be fast, or she would definitely get suspicious! "Uh- reading." He said quickly, Test Tube blinked a couple times.
"..okayyy interesting, anything specific?"
Fan felt a lump form in his throat, and in an attempt to not cough anything up he simply shook his head. Although Test Tube could probably see the way he was lightly shaking before suddenly reeling back and coughing away from her. She jumped slightly and frowned, again resting her hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him.
Test Tube desperately wanted him to confess as soon as possible- today was ideal! But it was already later in the afternoon, she didn't want to force him to do it within the next couple of hours. Fan didn't cough up anymore flowers, it seemed to just be an uncomfortably dry throat. She offered him a small smile.
"Maybe you should get some rest? I can plan out some potential confession routes- with steps! And pictures." An excited grin painted her face as she clasped her hands together. The other object chuckled a little and nodded, wiping his mouth as he sighed.
"Probably," Exhausted, Fan simply gave in. He could go for a nap. It was tempting to just crash here with Test Tube, but he worried being around her would make the coughing worse, he needed to clear his head. He pushed himself to the edge of the couch and hopped off, and bit back any emotion at the sight of Test Tube's small frown. He knew she wanted him to stay, and probably had no idea why he was suddenly needing space, it hurt him a bit. The duo always did everything together, so suddenly pulling away was not only painful but was probably suspicious.
"I-I'm gonna go get cleaned up and clear my head- I'll see you later? Or text you!" Fan added on, hoping to see the smile return to his friend's face. Thankfully, it did as she nodded a bit.
"Yeah sure! I'll be here," Test Tube turning back to her computer with a smile, already excited to see what more she could learn about this disease. And maybe mentally look into how many people Fan knew and the probability of them being his crush. She wasn't even sure why she cared so much, maybe it was just curiosity or something else but she couldn't stand knowing Fan was keeping something so big from her, even if it was reasonable!
Fan waved goodbye to his dear friend as he walked towards the lab door, leaving into the afternoon breeze. It was a nice day outside, maybe a picnic was a good option? Or would that remind them too much of Season 3? The grass below crunched lightly as he walked his way back to the hotel.
Thank goodness he was going to have the room alone for the next couple of days, he didn't want Paintbrush getting roped into his worries and romance issues.