[REQUESTS OPEN] Knickle One-Shots

coming out (part 1)

Knife fiddled with his hands, showing a kind of nervousness people didn't really get to see. "Pan."

"Yesssss." Lightbulb said, hugging Knife at his waist. "Lightbulb's pan too. So is Fan, with an ace up his sleeve, if you're familiar with what I mean." Test Tube said, Fan making a noise in declaration of this statement.

"Heeey, don't forget you and Painty! Can't spell Bright Lights without the B and I!" Lightbulb replied.

Paintbrush snickered. "You already know I'm nonbinary. And just so you don't have to hear a really shitty joke, Lightbulb is trans."

"Painty, I'm not just trans, I've 'trans'cended gender in time and space." Lightbulb said.

Knife could've swore he heard a slapping noise, but maybe his brain was just playing tricks on him.

Test Tube cleared her throat as she shuffled next to Fan on the bed. "Based on your facial expressions and the clear frustration you're displaying, I'm assuming you've known this fact about yourself for a while."

"I dated someone once. Didn't work out with them though." Knife replied, to which Lightbulb made a dramatic noise.

"Aww, why not?" Lightbulb said, still sprawled on the floor next to Knife. "Were they like a douche-canoe or something?"

Knife's expression became stern. "No, not that. They were pretty nice, actually...we just got caught, that's all." The room became silent in an instant, Paintbrush mouthing an 'oh,' knowing exactly what he meant by that phrase.

"Their name was Acrylic. We liked each other, so we kept it on the downlow since we were both, well, not out. We only told certain people, but we lived in a small town..."

"...And in small towns, word goes around fast." Paintbrush said, seemingly familiar with what Knife was explaining. He could feel his throat start to close up. "Eventually, word got out to some pretty shitty people. We became a target for a lot of people at our high school, but we still had each other, y'know? Eventually our parents found out, and they...we–I–" As soon as he could feel his eyes begin to well up, Paintbrush gave the sharp guy the tightest hug they could. Knife wasn't crying, but they could definitely feel the shakiness of his figure in their grasp.

Paintbrush's tone became as sincere as they could get. "Look, we aren't exactly the closest, but I'm so fucking happy that you're alive right now, okay? No one deserves to be harassed for who they are. Heh, I've experienced it back home. It's hell."

Lightbulb decided to chip in. "I wasn't able to be myself until I came here. As soon as my parents realized I did the ol gender switcheroo in between seasons, they haven't spoken to me since. Test Tube's parents thought that anything other than being straight or cis was some unscientific hullabaloo."

"My family thinks that I can just 'change' being ace like it's a phase. Not that I don't want to be a parent, but they keep pushing it as if I have to have sex to keep our family alive! They don't know I'm pan yet, though.." Fan ranted. Paintbrush stood, sitting next to their partner and Knife. Soon, the entire polycule of Bright Lights also joined Paintbrush.

"There's a lot of pain that comes with being something that people think is abnormal. No matter how far we go to be accepted, there's always going to be those people that believe otherwise. But it makes it even more liberating when you're surrounded by people who don't judge you, accept you for being, well, you!" Paintbrush said.

"You get to choose when you come out, not the shitty people in your life who forced you to believe you're some sort of immoral abomination. I was always so in my head, afraid that the people here wouldn't understand. With a little help, I came to realize that maybe that wasn't the case."

"Well, you definitely seem far happier compared to how you were in the first season." Fan replied. Test Tube chipped in. "I also stand in agreement! Not to mention you're far more in control of your emotions these days."

"How could Painty not? They have usssss!" Lightbulb said, kissing Paintbrush on the cheek, to which the blatant PDA warranted their other partner to smother Paintbrush in all sorts of affection, their face turning beet red.

For the first time since arriving in their room, Knife smiled, letting out a small chuckle.

-

God, these bosses are getting out of hand.

Pickle toyed with the controller, equipping his shield against the Radagon with ease. But despite all his strategies and tactics, he couldn't stop dying. As soon as the screen reminded him of another demise, he paused the game, letting out a huge sigh.

Was he grinding through games to get his mind off of Knife? Maybe. He couldn't help but worry, given that ever since breakfast, Knife was nowhere to be found. He wasn't even in his room when he asked OJ where he was. It was eating away at him, his mind clouded with worries, thoughts of bad things happening to Knife–that is, until the doorbell rang. Curious, Pickle opened the door to find a face he didn't expect–someone who hadn't stared him in the eyes in a while.

"Hey, Pickle. Is it okay if we...talk?"