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You internally groaned, following the fluorescent red-carpeted maze of this dark world with the blinking lights of the surrounding TV that portrayed certain imageries besides you. A buzzing noise filled the air from the CRT screens whining, as well as the bright light blinding your vision slightly. Why did you have to be the one to distract him? Sure, it seemed as if he gave you slightly more lenience and ease throughout the challenges, and his mannerism towards you was way less brash as he did with the rest, but surely that’s not all the reasons to send you over to that heaping statue of a show host? I mean- you don’t even know if he’ll listen to you, or even bother indulging in your presence and instead seize the desperate chance to at least catch one of the lightners to use as a gambling pawn. Even with your retaliation, it was decided 3 to 1, the rest agreeing that if you wouldn’t come back in time they’d come after you. I mean, come on! You’re an adult, you should be the one protecting them- but instead those kids are saying they’re going to protect your back! You gulped, placing all of your hope into their capabilities of backing you up.
Growing up, you’ve always enjoyed older, more vintage appliances and items that gave you that warm, buzzy feeling in your heart. You were never really sure why you had such an appreciation for older things, the things that any regular person would toss away in place for a newer version. Maybe it was because the thought of those items seeing through life more than you, maybe it was the charm that they all had and the little bits and bobs that had defined them (rather than the current minimalistic design choice that most people with a good salary choose), or maybe it’s just because of your background you had always had to rely on things that were either hand-me-downs from family or already used and pre-loved. Either way, it gave you the keen eye of appreciating the little things in older appliances. It also gave you a weird sense of anemoia, imagining how much better life was when it was ‘simpler’.
When you first saw Mr. (Ant) Tenna, you immediately recognised him to be Toriel’s old CRT TV. Well, not recognise- more like notice the details that resembled the TV greatly. You had spent a good deal of your time helping Toriel fix that old artifact, occasionally joining her family for special runs during the holidays as well as accompanying Kris and sometimes even Susie when you offered to babysat Kris for the goat mom. Later into the Dark world, it wasn’t hard to piece the clues together for you to realise that he was, in fact, her TV. Additionally, during your whole adventure you had hoped internally as well that he did not remember the times that you had praised his internal wirings and his model, realising now how embarrassing it’d be if he DID remember. Besides all of that, you quite liked the show host! I mean, who can’t resist his charms? Clearly not you. All of the others found him obnoxious, as well as in many instances desperate and insecure. But who doesn’t get insecure, and hell – sometimes desperate! You were always a sucker for watching reruns of old game shows with TV hosts long retired, further supporting your belief that you have an older soul. Additionally, his usage of neon flashing garments as an outfit was surely a questionable choice! One could mistake it as a satire prop costume that was made as a poke to the people out there who try to become big shots. Finally, the thing that stood out to you the most is his expressiveness in not only his face, but his voice as well. His voice was… indeed obnoxious, you can agree with that. You can also agree that he is absolutely horrendous at reading the room, making you question how fast it’d take (if he was a real show host) until he’d get cancelled on the internet for his insensitivity at times. Despite his voice sounding irritating occasionally, it had heavily reminded you of the same way that old TV show hosts would speak, in that exaggerated over-expressive tone that would grip the attention of the viewers (you also quite liked the old speaker-like effect on his voice that he had, even if it did ring your ears sometimes.)
Your point is that you could appreciate the guy and his efforts. However, what you can’t appreciate is the way he had been acting the moment Susie had given him a piece of her mind. Not only by entrapping you temporarily in big gotchy ball containers that had your claustrophobia at an all times high, but also by basically sending his whole company of workers to find you guys. He even referred to you all as “cheaters”. How rude! Also, the thought of a big/tall, TV – headed, unpredictable and desperate man on the loose trying to catch you all does unnerve you to quite a scale. Anyways, you had a job to do, and you were going to do this job damn right well. As you were prepared to turn the corner, your ears catch onto the familiar noise of that obnoxious charming static voice, not close by but still close enough to be able to hear clearly. Crap, you found him, but the room’s a dead end – it’s either all or nothing.
“What do you MEAN you don’t want to capture the cheaters? Have you forgotten who you work for?”
His filtered voice commanded, the majority of the zappers, pippins and shadowguys below him frozen in fear. As he continued rambling, one of the shadowguys perked up mentioning how he didn’t really want to fight the lightners. The others chimed in, before briefly being shut down by the TV host.
“Hmm… well, from what I remember – you guys are all abided to work with me as per says on THESE contracts! So, unless you want to get fired, you better find those lovely little lightners before they get away- “However, as he continues to talk, his speaking slows down slightly, the rambling coming to a small halt with his hands shuffling documents together.
“…These aren’t your contracts.”
Before he could react, he lifts his head up from the paper and witnesses the massive group of employed enemies leave quickly, and Tenna couldn’t help but drop to his knees and reach out to them.
“W-wait! Come back, don’t go!” before then proceeding to stand up and fix his golden tie, an annoyed expression on his face with fake confidence shining. “Fine, FINE!! I don’t need you anyways! I still have others… like, like mike!! Yeah, he’d never leave!”
You could feel yourself starting to get nervous despite the pumping up you did just a few seconds ago. This is going to be the end of me, you thought. Well, it was now or never. His form slightly shrunk as the others left, staring off in space with his screen dimmer than usual as if he was thinking. You clear your throat, a nervous smile present along with your nervous tone evident in your voice.
“Uhm- Hey man, you alrigh-“ His CRT never whipped around so fast, staring in shock. That speechless shock washed away pretty quickly though, as he took a few steps towards you instantly and attempted to put on his regular TVsona in front of you, smiling with an evident faux-brightness. It was one of those fake smiles you saw on celebrities, who try to maintain their usual persona around fans even outside of cameras.
“[Y/N]!! It surely is a wonderful surprise to see you here. Oh, I knew my favourite contestant would come back and play more rounds! Listen, why not bring over your other slippery lightners and we can go back to how things usually ar-“
“You can cut the act, you know.” Your voice hits harder than it should to Tenna, his smile faltering a smidge with his (you think??) eyebrows furrowing to the response. He stays quiet for a moment as [Y/N] continues speaking, maintaining a defensive stance towards the CRT. The gut inside of you churns at the nervous energy of the room, knowing he could at any moment summon one of those fluorescent gotchy balls and just ruin your plan of interrogation. Nonetheless, persistence was high in you.
“I… I’m not here to play more games Tenna, or indulge in your show. I just-“ Your expression turns to a slightly more worried look, taking a small step forward with your head high up and your eyes landing directly onto his screen. “Tenna, why are you doing this?? There- ugh, there must be a reason. Nobody just does this just because. I’d like to believe that you aren’t being this uh, no offense – desperate, just for the laughs and giggles. Is there something wrong?” The clenching of your jaw did not help the feeling of unsureness in you, not knowing how he’d react to your words. Carefulness is key here. One bad word, one wrong move and this interaction could go majorly against you. You’ve already witnessed some of his mood swings, the way he can easily switch from moping and wallowing to energised and bright. One wrong move, and you’d have to get literal children to save you. Fuck no.
He stands there for a moment, the faltering smile evident on his face. It was clear his circuitry was buzzing with thought. Suddenly, he turns his back towards you, shaking just a little bit before standing still once again. Finally, he speaks, and you swear he shrunk slightly just now??
“… I.. I really don’t want to hurt anybody… I just- I just want to be watched you know…” He pauses before continuing, with his hands going behind his back and fidgeting together as a comfort. “I…I’ve been lonely for a very long time [Y/N]. Nobody wants to watch TV anymore – it’s all about streaming services and apps and social media. No matter if I have an audience or not, it seems as if it’s growing… smaller and smaller by the day. I mean-“ He turns around to face you, scaring you slightly yet your footing returns back to where it was again. He wasn’t planning to attack, or do anything. His body language was enough to get your guard down slightly.
“Look at me [Y/N]!! I’m a CRT! My purpose is to entertain, and if I can’t do that… well, I’ll just be thrown away...” His shoulder slumps, his stature shrinking as he looks down with his dimmer screen. “…forgotten, washed up… I don’t want to be thrown out…” You hesitantly approach him, wanting to comfort him but the lingering reminder that he was kind of the guy you were supposed to be running away from stayed on your mind. Seeing as he doesn’t move from his wallowing, you approach him a bit more before getting close enough to nervously pat his back as a way to comfort him. Thoughts were buzzing in the mind, and you swallowed your nervous energy as you softly spoke to him.
“W-well… um, listen dude. I know how it feels to want to be noticed, and not abandoned. But, let me tell you… you’re a CRT! I mean- there will always be people out there who appreciate you. Even if we have new things like email, or apps, or streaming services, nostalgia is a huge driving force. Even if… if your audience isn’t as big as it used to be, you’ll always have an audience no matter what. And those fans are the real fans who, you know, stick around for you.” A small chuckle escapes your lips, smiling at him a little despite him facing away from you as you continued. “I mean- look at me! I’m a great example. I love old things, they’ve all got this… charm, especially technology. In the reflection of those screens - all I see is a piece of history that was at the time well loved and appreciated for the little knicks and knacks that came with it. And well, I think you’re a great TV host, a great entertainer. You sure have made me laugh and smile a lot whilst I’ve been in this dark world, despite all of the… um, other stuff that happened.”
“…You really think so?” he muttered, looking up at you from his shrunken frame. Your head nodded, patting his shoulder additionally. “TV’s not dead, nobody’s STOPPED loving TV, it’s just… not as popular anymore. And that’s okay!! Not everything lasts forever. Doesn’t mean you’ll get forgotten and thrown out though.”
After a moment of speaking, you were worried that you said something wrong… before your gut flipping from the sudden hug he gives you, his stature having grown slightly larger but still only just a bit bigger than you. Your body visibly flinched, before staying at your position and returning the hug hesitantly. The insides in your body were yelling at you to just get out of there, and that he was just going to guilt-trip you into walking yourself into a trap. However, with the way that he hadn’t made anymore hasty movements, and the small buzz of his screen next to your ear was calming in an odd, nostalgic way. You just patted his back awkwardly, surprised at how heavy he felt despite being much smaller than he usually is. Well, it’s not that surprising considering he’s made primarily out of metal. A couple awkward minutes go by as you just provide him silent comfort to prevent him from losing it, before his droopy antenna’s suddenly perked up, a gasp leaving his mouth and he places his hands on your shoulder in order to bring himself up again. In an instance he grew much bigger, the weight throwing you off slightly but you kept your balance.
“HAHA [Y/N] I GOT IT!!” He barked out happily, looking at you with a big bright smile. Well, that was a switch in mood alright. You looked at him confused and surprised, eyebrows raised and a nervous smile on your agape lips. “…Huh???”
“[Y/N]… My lovely lovely [Y/N]!! You’re a real charmer you know that? A real smooth talker! You and your attention and your charms are the main reason why you’re my STAR contestant!” His antenna’s twitched slightly as his famous smile was on brand. “How about we make a deal together?” You look at him slightly suspicious, raising one of your eyebrows as you replied hesitantly. “Uh, what exac-“
“Alright alright, I won’t take this opportunity to capture you, but in return I need you to at least convince your lightner friends into going back to the game show! Does that sound good? I trust you and your skills to turn their minds around.” He pats your shoulder confidently, fixing his tie with a small smile and patting his suit to flatten out the creases. With fidgety hands and your eyes avoiding his screen, you think for a moment, the CRT’s playful humming filtering out of your mind as he waits for your response. It couldn’t hurt for you right? You could just give a feeble attempt or tell your friends about what the deal is and ask them to pretend as if you DID try to convince them… Well, you never liked lying. It wouldn’t be good if you lied, especially if it meant hurting his feelings. A sigh left your mouth, your hands going to the pockets of your outfit as you gazed on him again with a small smile. “Yeah, alright. I’ll try.”
The TV host lifted his arms up into the air, beaming happily. He was finally back to his usual self, the bright and charismatic Mr. (Ant) Tenna that you knew. “Splendid! Oh I knew I could agree with somebody like you [Y/N]!” Suddenly, you felt his gloved hand usher you, pushing you lightly against your back towards where you first came from, hurryingly urging you to go. “Now hurry! We mustn’t waste anymore time, the watch is ticking!”
“Okay okay I’m going.” You claim, chuckling at his attituded before speed walking quickly to the point of the hallway that made a turn. Before you disappear out of his sight, you look back at him, seeing the TV man looking at you and ushering you to go by waving his hands, before waving back at him and simply telling him : “Take care Tenna.” Your figure disappears from Tenna’s vision, and his figure stands there on the spot for a moment with his hands behind his back. His expression turns to a worry, as one of his gloved hands come up to fidget with his antennae with the lingering thought in his mind being “… Did I make a mistake?”