Chapter Text
You wake up suddenly to the sound of your phone ringing. It's 2am. You sit up and see it's your current boyfriend, Derek.
He's a cat monster, and a huge asshole. He's really controlling and toxic so you've been avoiding him for the past four days hoping he'll take the hint. But knowing him, he won't. So, you pick up the phone and answer.
Immediately he's screaming at the phone " Where the fuck have you been? Are you fucking other guys or something? God, you are such a slut. You're only with me because you know I fuck good." You let him ramble on and on for a good five minutes. Of course you haven't done anything, other than the past two days but that's really nothing.
You were always loyal to Derek, even if he would call you such horrible names and accuse you of anything out of his ass. You stayed for the brief but bittersweet moments with him that you loved so much.
But once Kris and Susie took you to the Dark World, you found an escape. From life, work and him. Eventually you get fed up and speak up, rubbing your eyes, slouched over with the phone to your ear. "Derek, I'm breaking up with you..."
He pauses.
"No you're not I'm coming over right now. I don't know what the fuck is up with you so now I gotta waste my time knocking the nonsense out of you." You hang up. Fuck. If he comes over he'll beat your ass, last time you almost died. You can't have that again, trying to convince others it's fine, all for nothing. You can't keep the cycle.
You can't help but cry, you have nowhere to run to, you just have to calm him down somehow. You wait on your bed after calming youself down, planning to make this situation less shitty.
°~☆
You hear a knock at your door, you don't get up, then banging. You open the door and see Derek. You open the door, fearing for you life, it's like stepping on a landmine in your throat. He storms in, clearly mad, and rants unintelligible words.You start crying trying to calm him down, as he's calling you horrendous names. But he's relentless. You follow him to your room as he starts throwing things. He's grabbing at your hair, throwing you around to the point your brain fogs through tthe rest of the argument.
He's yelling, screaming, throwing whatever is within reach at other objects. Then, he throws a plate at the TV screen... The screen cracks. You beg and plead for him to just let it go. You start yelling at him as well.
°~☆
After a bit more arguing he storms out, officially ending your relationship. Luckily. It's finally over. You lock your door and slouch to your room. You sit on your bed facing the now cracked TV. You just sob, taking hard quick breaths inbetween sobs, almost choking on air. Your face is red, your hair is a mess, your face looks a bit beat up with red marks on it from a slap.
After a while of sobbing you remember you still have work later, so you get yourself together. For the most part.. Wiping your tears, fixing your hair, and changing into a fairly nice work outfit. You look in the mirror as you put your makeup on, attempting to hide any red marks or bruises.
°~☆
You make your way through the school. Through Ralsei's kingdom. And Finally to the studio. You clutch your purse and open the doors. It's...quiet?? People are still around but it's eerily quiet. You walk over to the Green Room and see Ramb. "What's going on today?" You ask. "Oh.. Mr. Tenna had an issue with his screen so the show is off today. They're just playing reruns as of right now." He replies calmly, cleaning a glass. As if this is a fairly normal thing, but something feels off about it. "Oh shit.. is he alright?" You ask softly with concern. "I dunno, he's been in his office the whole time." He continues. "Probably, attempting to fix whatever already perfect."
After that conversation you decide to see what's up with him. You walk out the door and walk to Mr. Tenna's office. You knock, gently but loud enough.
"Come in.."
You open the door wider to see Mr. Tenna on the couch, laying his head on the arm rest and curled towards the back of the couch so his face isn't visible. His jacket lays in the corner, like it was tossed there abruptly. The lights are dim and there's a faint glow from his screen.
"Mr. Tenna..." You softly say, placing your purse beside his jacket. His antennas twitch slightly, as he turns his head over to see you. His screen brightens a bit. "Is that you _____?" He grumbles. "Yes, Mr. Tenna, it's me." You walk even closer and are right next to the arm rest. "Are you okay?" You softly say, now crouched down near his head.
He finally looks over, there's a huge crack across his screen. "Guess we've both had a rough day.." You say, sighing. He looks happy to see you, but worried at the same time. He reaches over at lightly grazes your chin, it stings from the bruising. You wince slightly, inhaling sharply. He now slides his hand to cup the side of your face. You don't move, you don't mind it personally, as long at it makes him feel better. "I'm glad you're okay.." He softly says, contrast to his normal tone. "I-I'm fine, really." You say, trying to keep the attention from you. "You don't look like it, you have bruises." He says, gently grazing a bruise on your cheek with his gloved thumb
You look up at his screen as a tear rolls down your cheek, you can't help it as much as you want to. He feels comforting, a familiar comfort, one you clinged to for so long. More tears start rolling, but you're fairly calm, just processing. He slides off the couch and sits on his legs in front of you. He leans in and just simply hugs you. The warmth of his body consumes you. All you can hear is the faint hum of his fans whirring in his chest. You reach your arms up, around his shoulders hugging him as well.
Tears waterfall down your face as you hide your face in his collarbone. Creating a dark spot on his white shirt with your tears. "I finally broke up with my boyfriend.." You say after calming down a bit in Tenna's arms. "But when I told him he came to my house and destroyed my shit.. even my irreplaceable TV.." Tenna holds you tighter, "I'm okay.." He softly says..
°~☆
Why would he say that? You look up at him a bit puzzled. You look closer at the cracks, now more visible from his bright screen. They're really similar to the ones on your screen. It starts clicking in your mind. He feels so familiar, and you're not crazy. You remember Ralsei telling you that darkners were objects in the Light World or something similar. But maybe Tenna has a stronger connection between the two worlds. Holy shit. It all connects.
The crack, the flusteredness, the familiarity. It all connects. You're unsure of what to do. You just enjoy the moment while plotting in the back of your mind. Maybe you can tease him that way. That's for future you to worry about. Right now he's being especially vulnerable.
"I'm glad you're alright." You reach up and hold the sides of his head, looking at him with a warm smile. He smiles back, not huge, not awkwardly, genuinely. You hug him one more time. Admiring the smell of faint cigarettes, and an elegant cologne as you rest on his shoulder.
"I must go." He softly says, lifting you from his shoulder, and rests you on the ground. You sit there, a little bewildered as he puts on his jacket with faint pink hue on his screen. He opens the door, looks behind him, and walks out, shutting the door behind him. You collect your things and walk out of the studio to the fountain.
°~☆
After making it home, you set your purse down, looking at the wreck you house was. You don't have motivation so you just slouch over to your room once again. You sit in front of the TV. "I'm so sorry Tenna. I shouldn't have let him come over." You look at the TV, grabbing the remote and turning it on. Leaving it on a blank white screen. You do downstairs and grab supplies to fix up the screen.
°~☆
After a bit of tinkering the TV looks fairly good. It looks a bit patchy but not noticeable unless you look really hard. "Thanks for being there today." You hug the TV, it glows pink. You chuckle a bit, saying nothing. You change into simple pajamas and climb into bed, drifting into sleep.