Chapter Text
The people at the table noticed you and Tenna approaching quickly.
"Look What The Ant Dragged In!" The woman, who had large shades covering half her face, laughed at her joke in with a snobby laugh. She even put her hand to her mouth in a theatrical fashion. Her shades lit up, spelling the word "LoL".
Tenna chose to ignore it and instead introduced you to the royals. Looking at them, you noticed how different they all looked from each other. Two of them looked a bit similar. Judging by their clothing, you've deduced that they must've been the King and Queen of Diamonds.
Their outfit was lavish, adorned with shiny golden jewellery. In a bit of contrast to Tenna's mostly red with hints of white outfit, theirs was dominantly white with hints of red.
Next to the Queen of Diamond sat the woman who made the joke. She looked a bit like an alien, one that was wearing a blue chest plate with shoulder pads and a cape. A large collar shielded her neck, which made her upper body's outline look like the club. She also wore a tiara on her head. From this, you figured out that she must've been the Queen of Clubs.
The only one missing was the King of Spades. Not even his son was present right now.
"Where's Lancer?" Tenna asked, looking around in confusion. "He was supposed to be here by now."
On cue, from one of the bushes Lancer appeared, riding in on his bike. A small explosion accompanied his arrival as he rode through the branches.
"Hey hey!" He shouted, drifting with the bike a few times. Then he jumped off and slid his way to you and Tenna.
"Right on time, young man!" Tenna greeted him, then introduced you to him.
"Hey! I remember you!" Lancer said, pointing at you. "You were with those weather guys."
You formally greeted the people present, saying how much of an honour it was to meet them. Lancer kept talking.
"Dad doesn't like lightners." That caught you off guard, but it also explained why the spade nobles looked at you like that at the start of the party... and while you were in the crowd. "So that means we are enemies!"
You looked to Tenna in confusion, who fixed his collar nervously.
"Is it okay if I challenge you after the party?" The kid asked. You didn't know if this would be lucky for you or not, but seeing as he was a royal, he could be of aid to you.
"Well, if you-"
But then, Tenna cut in. "Young man, it is rude to challenge others during a party. Especially when you two are guests at someone else's!" A reasonable scolding, but to you, a bit unfortunate. It didn't bring Lancer's mood down.
"That's why I asked them." Lancer straightened his back and began speaking in a mock gentlemanly voice. "I was taught to be a gentleman after all." Then he returned to his normal tone. "Like you, Other Dad."
Tenna's screen flashed in pink. "I told you to call me 'uncle'."
Not paying attention to what Tenna just said, Lancer hopped back onto his bike. "Well, I gotta go back to party. Later lightner!" And he left through the same hole he made with his bike. It was followed by another small explosion, which after clearing up showed the bush... intact?
"Queen, you need to teach that boy some more respect." Tenna grumbled to the Queen of Clubs, who was swirling a wine glass filled with some green liquid in her hand.
"What's Wrong? He Did Ask." Queen objected. "Besides-" She took a sip of her drink. "He Lives With His Father. Not My Problem."
Tenna let out a short huff before offering you to sit down. But another problem arose.
"Didn't we have extra chairs?" Tenna asked. The King of Diamonds scoffed.
"My back was killing me, so I took them. It's quite troubling with a body like this. Isn't that right, dear?" He looked to his wife, who was stirring the tea in her cup.
This is when you noticed the serpentine lower body the king and his wife had. Thinking back, the diamond nobles all had reptile features, some more obvious than others.
"I see." Tenna mumbled under his breath. He looked down at you. "But now, we only have one empty chair..."
You weren't fully sure what he was implying (you had a few ideas), but it didn't matter. You hadn't planned on staying for long anyways, so-
"I Have An Idea!" Queen spoke up and snapped her fingers. Out of you-have-no-idea-where a large dog-like creature appeared. Its face was covered by what looked like a plug. It got onto all fours at the table next to Queen, a spot which was opposite to Tenna's chair. "Good Boy."
The idea weirded you out a bit. You weren't sure if you should object right now. Thankfully, a Zapper appeared with an extra chair before you had to utter another word. They put it down where that creature was before, thus allowing you to comfortable sit down.
Staring right at Tenna, who had a joyous smile running across his screen.
"Ah, what a nice day! Out here, with such company..." Tenna sighed into his teacup. "It's almost romantic."
The King of Diamonds scoffed. "As if you'd know what that is."
Everyone looked at him. "What?" He shrugged. "It kind of looks odd, that the King of 'Hearts' doesn't have a 'Queen' at his side. Especially since the last one was so crazy over his."
You noticed the way Tenna's fingers curled tighter around the cup's handle. Ah, so this is why it was such a touchy subject for him...
"Last one?" You asked, genuinely curious (hey, you might as well get into some juicy royal drama while you were here).
"The last King of Hearts." The Queen spoke, cutting off her husband. "Oh, what a man that was. He and his wife, such a pair." She sighed heavily. "They loved each other to the Moon and back. So much, that they couldn't get their duties properly done." She took a sip of her tea. "So, they decided to resign from their position."
Ah, so Tenna got the throne early from his father. Still wouldn't explain the nobles' behaviour though.
"Problem was, they didn't have an heir." Your breath got stuck in your throat.
"What?" You asked, confused. Tenna cleared his throat.
"It's also rude to talk about others when they're present, Dorothy." He scolded the queen, who just swatted her hand away.
"Oh please, as if this isn't a common fact. If your guest wishes to stay, they should know a thing or two, no?" The queen objected, but that didn't make Tenna any happier.
"I already told them that they can ask me whatever they wish to know about me. Besides, this isn't a 'History Cla-'"
"Tenna Is Some Distant Cousin." Queen cut in. "Not Sure How Though."
This made Tenna's antennas curl around each other in frustration.
"Yeah." The Queen of Diamonds spoke again. "Anyway, to their luck, this man started to come regularly, and they somehow discovered he was related to them. And then they just asked, "Want to be the king?". You didn't say yes at first if I remember correctly, did you?" She turned to Tenna, who was quietly sitting in his chair.
"I didn't. Because I had my 'own' duties elsewhere." He bit back, with composure.
"But you did end up here, in the end." The King of Diamonds chimed in. "And so far, you don't seem to complain."
Tenna didn't answer this time, only drinking his tea.
"Same Thing Happened With Me." Queen spoke up again.
"It doesn't count." The King of Diamonds replied. "You were already the Queen of Spades at some point. And even before that you were some sort of queen."
"I was also another sort of king once..." Tenna mumbled.
Other than this, this little get together, although tense on your part, was nice. However, you knew for a fact that the 24 hours has long passed...
...but the vambraces were still on your arms. You tried to pry them off under the table, but they wouldn't budge.
After some time, Tenna decided to leave, and you decided to go with him.
"See? They liked you!" Tenna said cheerfully once you two were out of the secret part. "And don't listen to Dorothy. Her and her husband's taste in tea have always been skewed." You kept silent.
Were you supposed to talk to him about the vambraces? What if he throws another hissy fit about them?
"Are you tired?" Tenna asked, seeing as you were unresponsive. "I can take you back to the ca-"
Suddenly, a beam of light appeared before you two. And from it, a familiar figure materialized.
"Worm!" Rouxls pointed at you. "Did thou truely thinkst thou could run, cowarde?!"
A scowl appeared on Tenna's screen. "How dare you talk to my guest this way, Duke of Puzzles!?" He even stood before you.
"Mine King..." Rouxls bowed. "Mine deepest apologies, but this-" He pointed at you again. "-scoundrel, hast offended me last dayeth! By noble right-"
Tenna looked down at you, whispering to you. "What is he talking about?"
You briefly told him about yesterday (leaving out the part where you referred to them as uptight and rude of course).
"I see." Tenna turned back to Rouxls. "Well, as the current ruler of this kingdom, I am allowed to-"
"That's not all, Thine Highness!" Rouxls shrieked. "For thou seeth, they hast offended thou too." And so, he told Tenna about you referring to them as uptight and rude at the bakery. You knew in that moment, that you messed up.
In silence, Tenna turned towards you. "That can't be true, right?"
Your silence said more than needed. To your surprise, a small smile cracked on Tenna's screen.
"In that case, I shall be the judge overseeing the challenge!" He announced, at which the other royals also appeared behind you.
"Oh! There's A Fight? Neat" Queen sipped on her drink. Great, but at least you could choose the-
"Andst with the 'Rules Card' in mine hand, I shall make it so thate I can choose the challenge!"
You started to genuinely hate this guy.
"And what would the challengers wish to receive in case of winning?" Tenna asked.
"Thatse easy." Rouxls snickered into his hand. "I wanteh this worm to grovel at mine feet for mine forgiveness!"
You hoped it wasn't some kind of fetish for him.
Seeing as you couldn't ask Rouxls for the exit from Wonderland, you decided to ask some money from him. He looked suspiciously nervous at this but accepted the terms.
"Not like you woulds win, against moi SUPERIOR INTELLECT!" His voice boomed through the garden. "Behold, mine PUZZLE OF DOOM!"
In the blink of an eye, a simple pressure plate and a box appeared.
"Thou hast 1 minute to so-"
A lovely jingle rang after you pushed the box onto the plate.
"AND WE HAVE A WINNER!" Tenna announced cheerfully. The following silence was rather loud.
"Ah..." Rouxls breathed, which soon turned into nervous laughter. "I seest you... hast beaten it..."
"So..." You put your hands onto your hips. "That means I-"
"BUT DONST FORGET!" Rouxls yelled, rudely cutting into your speech. "I, the Duke of Puzzle shall have mine revenge!" And as quickly as he came, he was gone. You didn't even get your money.
"How come King still employs him?" The King of Diamonds asked.
"I'm sure he's secretly the court jester." The queen replied to which the king shook his head.
"Can't be, I already met that man. Lovely company."
After the underwhelming show, the royals returned to the party. All, except Tenna.
"So..." He turned to you, with a wide, threatening smile. "What was it about me being 'rude' and 'uptight'?"
You shot your arms up in defence. "First of all, Rouxls twisted my word. I never actually said you 'are' rude. Though, keeping people somewhere against their will isn't really the best example of courtesy." You mumbled out the last part, but Tenna still heard it.
"Well, it is also rude to appear somewhere, just to say you want to leave instantly!" Tenna bit back.
"I got here on accident! Besides, I was 'arrested' when I got here." You objected. Tenna pouted.
"Okay, but I've been nothing but the best host you could every ask for ever since!" That was kind of the bare minimum for you, but you let him continue. "I just wanted you to enjoy our time the same way I enjoyed our nights... Did you really not like it?"
You cocked an eyebrow at what he just said. "What are you talking about? What do you mean 'our nights'?"
His antennas shot straight up at your question. "You... oh... you don't recognize me..." Though his tone was deflated at first, a cheeky smirk quickly bloomed on his screen and his straightened his back. "That's fair. I'm a lot more handsome here that in the Light World."
You felt the gears in your head turning. You remember back to what the Pippinses told you about the Dark World. How they were living manifestations of your everyday objects in this world... and then, it hit you.
"You.... you are that little TV!?"
Tenna pouted again. "I'm not that small."
In comparison to the height he sported in front of you, in the Light World he looked tiny.
"Then... that means..." The moments of your cringey reactions when you watched those trashy horror movies came back to haunt you.
"Yes, I was well awake and aware." He let out a lovely chuckle. "It was so nice to have an actual audience... other than the bored and tired looks of the children in class, watching those documentaries."
You didn't really know what to say.
"Poor Alphys... I could show her a few tips and tricks with keeping an audience engaged." He sighed. You crossed your arms in front of your chest.
"Well, if your screen wouldn't get bad every 2 minutes, that might help." You said. Tenna's antennas drooped at this.
"Ah... yeah... should've kept my feelings out of this." He scratched the back of his head. "It's just... I got left here so soon... just out of nowhere! And with this "King of Hearts" thing... I guess I felt..." His screen turned off. "...angry."
You started to feel a little bad for him. But then, he let a chuckle escape his lips.
"I messed it up with you too, didn't I?"
You took a deep breath. "Well, wasn't the best first impression, I'll give you that."
Tenna gave you an understanding smile. "But..." He perked up at your voice. "I wouldn't mind coming back. This place is pretty interesting."
Tenna's screen turned back on. "You... you'd come back?" You nodded.
"I mean, as long as I don't get held against my will here again..." You added.
"I can't promise that." Tenna mumbled. "N-not because I want to lock you up so badly or anything... it's the others... like King..."
Oh right. That one royal that you never met but hates you.
"So..." You leaned to him. "Will you tell me where the exit is?"
This earned another pout from Tenna. "You ruined a perfectly good moment."
You shrugged. "I still need to get home. Also, these aren't coming off." You showed him the vambraces.
Tenna scratched the lower part of his screen. "Well, did you tell them it's time to come off?"
You stood there, frozen. You should've expected it, another Wonderlandian thingy. You actually told the vambraces that it's time to get off. With a groan, they woke up, grumbled a bit, then disappeared into the air.
"Alright then!" Tenna slapped his hands together. "Ready to challenge me for the exit?"
You feared he was pulling something shady again. "I-I still have to challenge... Lancer?"
Tenna's face showed his annoyance perfectly. "Ah yes. I forgot. Although..." He put his index finger to his mouth. "Just because he has the title 'Jack of Spades', he doesn't have knowledge about the exit."
You let out a shocked gasp. "Where did you get the assumption that I wanted to know the exit from him?" You both knew this was a rhetorical question.
By the time the party ended, Lancer was already at home.
You and Tenna played a round of croquet together. It wasn't really you challenging him, just a simple friendly match (which you won).
After this, Tenna took you to the exit. You promised him you'd visit in a few days. Until then, you'd continue watch him during your shifts.
Ramb and that Pluey guy was also present when you left. You said your goodbyes, then enveloped by light, you returned home.
It was night in the Light World. The Teddy from the ceiling was laying on the ground, and a small sparkle of light snuffed out above it.
You looked at your phone. It was the weekend, Saturday night to be exact. Thankfully, nobody was looking for you. You quickly did a routine check around the building. Everything seemed to be in order.
You walked back to the playroom and looked at the Tv. You gave it a soft pat onto the top of... his casing.
"Well..." You looked at your backpack, which was fortunately full still. "I guess I am still at work, so..."
As you put your hand to your hips, you noticed something strange.
You couldn't find your wallet.