Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Thankfully the school doors were still open. Thankfully.

She would really be screwed if she had no way to access the warm interior of the building, Susie thought as she ran with an old CRT TV in her arms.

The object in her arms was freezing cold. Hopefully Tenna was okay.

---

Immediately after the tug that Susie always felt after entering a Dark World, she noticed that the weight in her arms diminished greatly, especially with how heavy the TV was before. Bracing for what she might see, she glanced down.

Tenna laid still in her arms. The TV shrunk significantly from his normal height, now being barely the length of Susie’s forearm. His usually pristine suit was splashed with bitterly cold water, and in-between the stains there was a whole array of mud and oil splatters. Where his arms once connected to his torso, there were now gaping holes in metal tubing.

His screen was pitch black, and after a couple of spasms he went limp, unmoving.

“Shit.” Susie muttered as she nestled him as close to her chest, then sprinted down the main road.

---

Determination mixed with despair, Susie was so deep in her thoughts that she almost ran face first into Elnina and Lanino exiting a café close to the castle entrance.

At first, the pair took it as a personal affront. Curled in on herself because of the prickling pain in her side, taking in long wheezing breaths, Susie also struggled to relay the gravity of the situation to them.

And then the pair noticed the tiny Tenna in her arms, and as fast as the weather can change on a summer day, their anger morphed into dread.

“Wait here, honey.” They basically forced Susie to take a breather. “We’ll help- oh stars, Mr. Tenna- just- wait here.” The pair ran up the stairs to the castle, Susie staying behind.

---

In the middle of that unexpected moment of rest, Susie suddenly felt a tug at her hair. Right where she usually pushed up the Dealmakers. With a puff of smoke, there was a sudden change of weight at the top of her head, and then something small - yet sharp and lanky - was sliding down her arm and jumping downwards.

The figure almost slammed face first into the concrete after landing, their whole body twitching.

“Hi, mister salesman.” Suzie grumbled, repositioning Tenna in her arms. “Thought you ain’t doing this again? Or something?”

Spamton G. Spamton turned around to look into her eyes, his head twitching lightly and the arms that he pressed into his sides basically spasming.

“YOU [Brought him back].” He spoke, a strain in his voice as he glitched. “HIS F4TE WAS [Set in stone], Y3T Y0U- YOU” His big, glossy eyes that reminded Suzie of a doll drilled holes into her face.

“He’s my friend, of course I’m going to do everything that I can to save him.” Suzie spoke plainly. “Now, here’s the deal, mister salesman-” pun not intended, she thought as she cradled Tenna’s freezing body “-he’s not waking up, and I don’t know what to do.” She did everything in her power so that her voice wouldn’t crack. “I NEED to get help. Do you know- anyone-”

---

The feeling of his heart fluttering in his chest wasn’t unfamiliar to Spamton, but he wasn’t sure if he should classify it as positive or negative.

The feeling he had every time Tenna shot a smile exclusively for him. Morbid excitement every phone call brought him-
The wretched spasms he would get after digging something valuable from the trash. The happiness when he sold the aforementioned trash and for a short while wasn’t dirt poor.
It was the sick euphoria that he felt when he got that new body.
And the moment that he almost burst into tears when he realised his room in Castle Town had a bathroom. When he was able to clean years of dust and grime from his body, along discovering scratches and defects that he didn’t know he had, unremovable after all those years.

And now he felt that again. That warmth pooling in his chest and threatening to spill onto his neck and face, that paralysing feeling in his limbs, emotions swirling inside him, not knowing if he should laugh or cry-

Because only a meter before him laid his ex-partner, his body shivering, trembling, cracked and broken, smaller than Spamton has ever remembered to see him- yet still alive.

Cold, cold from the snow, yet alive- cold, discarded, unplugged and thrown away, desperately trying to keep his Dark World alive, but lacking the power to do so; meeting his end full of regrets; the feeling of being a failure eating everything left of Tenna alive; but if he closed his eyes, he only had to close his eyes, that is how it was always going to end-

But then the girl scooped him up, warm arms engulfing the TV, colorful glasses on her head bobbing while she ran for shelter, ran with Tenna in her arms, protecting him, saving him- he was supposed to die there, yet here he was, miraculously still alive-

---

“You [Products You Didn’t Know You Needed!] to heat him up. When he is [What A Hot Body!] 4nd [Big] again, we can [Scoop His Huts] and [Push His Buttons]!” Spamton met Susie’s gaze. “D0N’T LOOK SO [What A Surprise!], 1 know what i’m doing. [This ain’t my first-] [CRT] [-rodeo]. DO WE HAVE A DEAL?”

“...We have a deal.”

And that was the moment in which Lanino and Elnina came back running.

“Susie!” Lanino waved in-between catching his breath. “Come on- darling, lead the way-” he gestured to Elnina, who was similarly disheveled, her pouffy hair in disarray.

“Susie, honey, we know where to go.” Elnina smiled at her. “That weird card kid on a bike showed us a room where we can take Mr. Tenna… wait-” when her gaze barely met Spamton, who was currently climbing Susie’s arm, she stopped in her tracks. “You… ?”

“Introduce yourself, salesman?” Suzie shrugged, which threw Spamton off-balance, and with a yelp he slid down her arm. “Shit- sorry!” She muttered as the puppet caught his balance and nested himself in the crook of her left arm, right next to Tenna’s knees.

The salesman took a long breath, his head twitching as he looked straight at the weathermen pair.

“Hey every . Spamton G. Spamton [At Your Service!].” He bowed his head slightly, his whole body tense.

“WHAT.”

---

Halfway up the stairs Suzie barked at Lanino, Elnina and Spamton that if they didn't stop arguing about distrusting each other, she'd kick them, stomp on them, and then bite them, in no particular order. From that point onwards their squabble died down.

After reaching that specific room in the castle, they were pleasantly surprised to find out that a tanning bed was inside. A note laid atop of it, “Suzie, I heard about your friend and thought that he deserves a WARM welcome! :P Lancer”. After Susie read it, her shoulders looked immediately less tense, and even a small smirk crept up onto her face.

After being set down, Spamton started bossing them around.

“0KAY- WE NEED SCREWDRIVERS [[In all shapes and sizes for just 4.99$]]! AND [Blankies] and clean cloth, NOT [Scraps of fabric pulled out of the garbage]!” He rambled as he climbed the tanning bed. “Only after I [Cut Him Open], we’ll know if we need spare wires.”

Spamton stopped when his gaze reached Tenna’s arms- or the lack thereof. Of course, he noticed it before, but only now was he able to get a closer look.

The cut was terrifyingly clean, the ends of wires flush with where the metal was slashed. Oil and grease stained the edges of Tenna’s oh-so-beautiful suit, and covered the ends of exposed wires.

“0h [Heaven]s.” Spamton gasped. “[Ant-sized], that must h4ve hurt [Like Hell].”

---

The heating bed, along with a couple of blankets that Lanino acquired, worked wonders. Just after a couple of minutes the TV stopped being ice cold, and his shivers greatly subsided. When Suzie returned from Seam’s shop with the tools Spamton required, she helped by gently lifting Tenna’s head and torso up, while Spamton and Elnina removed his wet from snow suit jacket, tie and shirt.

Tenna started growing, too. When Suzie brought him into Castle Town, he was tiny, smaller than Spamton, but now, slowly but surely, he was covering more and more of the tanning bed’s surface.

“We have to wait until he becomes [A Big Boy].” Spamton explained. “So we won’t [Harm] hi s wires.”

Susie used this time to gently clean up Tenna’s torso from the grease stains, and mud that Toriel dropped him onto. Wiping his body cloth after cloth, she prayed that all their effort would be enough. Hell, she didn’t even know if Tenna was getting better or not. Surely, his spasming stopped - if she were to guess, it was caused by him short-circuiting in the cold - but still, there was a prickly, unexplained weight sitting atop her heart.

And then she realised that it was the sound.

Or, to be specific, the lack of it. That was the source of her worries.

Sure, Tenna wasn’t a creature that needed the act of breathing to survive. Still, there was a certain quiet whirring that one could hear while close to him, yet she couldn’t catch it now.

So Susie pressed her ear aggressively into Tenna’s cold chest, and waited with bated breath to hear any sound even slightly echoing in there. And she stayed like that until her neck went sore, her breath hitching every time she heard something, surely there was something!, but she was never 100% free from doubt-

In the end, Spamton had to push her off the TV’s chest to even attempt the repairs.

---

“I think I can [Let’s get it started!].” Spamton muttered, then flinched when he noticed Elnina and Lanino looking at him harshly. “CUT IT 0UT, [Fireboy & Watergirl].” He grumbled, louder than he intended. “I wont harm your [Big Shot]. Me and [Best Girl] m4de [A DEAL!] so don’t worry.”

“We hope.” Elnina grumbled, probably intending to sound threatening. “We’ll be watching.” They added in unison.

Spamton wordlessly gestured to one of the screwdrivers, and Susie immediately stuffed it into his hand.

Spamton repositioned himself over Tenna’s body, and pressed his eyes closed for a moment. This was it. He was now sitting on his ex-partner’s stomach, the aforementioned man unmoving, cold to touch and worryingly quiet. He barely avoided his death just an hour ago. And Spamton was about to unscrew his stomach wide open. Not only that, the last time they did that was decades ago, when the salesman was lacking in the nervous ticks department, so he didn’t have to worry about doing any irreversible damage that was now possible. No biggie.

But Susie was waiting, they made a deal, and every second could prove to be invaluable to the TV’s survival, so Spamton gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and started working on the screws.

After a moment, he was able to slide the metal plate into Susie’s outstretched hands, and she put it gently on the floor. Way back when, Tenna himself would take the panel himself, he recalled.

He clearly remembered how those repairs were made, so that's why he yelped in surprise when Tenna’s chest cavity was revealed.

What he expected was a space filled with metallic bits and bobs, some switches, fans humming in the corners, and various short cables going from plug to plug. What he definitely wasn’t prepared for is that the space would be stuffed with a piece of fraying fabric.

“Dude, what is that?” He heard Susie as she leaned over his shoulder. Spamton just shrugged, carefully removing the unexpected bundle out of Tenna’s body.

Then something shifted in the fabric.

“[$#%@][!!!]” Spamton shrieked. And, after carefully setting the bundle between his knees, unwrapped it.

Nestled between the layers and folds of fabric, there laid a singular Pipis.

Chapter Text

[Trash heap]!!! YOU KEPT IT!!! YOU REALLY DO CARE!!!, Spamton remembered yelling, sappy and mushy feelings stirring inside him.

And then Tenna, THE LORD OF SCREENS-

And then Tenna-

Maybe he didn’t want to think about it, actually.

As he tried to push this vision from the forefront of his mind, another one came.

THE LORD OF SCREENS-

n0-

-CLEAVED RED BY BLADE- Tenna, lying in snow-

Something chirped. Spamton shuddered, the terrifying static leaving his eyes and ears. The Pipis in his hands wobbled as he shook- oh wow, he really was shaking a lot.

“Hi, [Hey! Little guy!]” He muttered, a gentle smile on his face, rather than the puppet-like grin.

---

Susie leaned over Spamton’s shoulder, taking in the sight of the odd blue sphere. She was particularly interested in the faint buzzing she thought it emitted. After all, she registered the sound only after the Pipis was taken out of Tenna’s chest.

Weirdly, no matter how much she swung her head around the unstirring salesman, she couldn’t pinpoint the sound to the… thing.

And then a wave of pure geniusness washed over her. Tenna!

So she glanced into the TV’s chest, and lo and behold, the source of the noise were Tenna’s fans. Finally not muffled by a piece of fabric, they whirred obnoxiously, yet persistently.

She couldn’t help but laugh with relief.

“Hey! Spamton- man, look!” She punched the salesman’s arm, and he must have been unprepared, because he almost fell down. “His fans! Are working!”

That snapped the man out of his trance, and he frantically leaned into Tenna’s stomach cavity to make sure.

At the lower back part of Tenna’s chest, two symmetrically placed fans whirred, regulating the air in-between the electronics. Spamton, with his prior knowledge, knew that the fans were able to spread warm air around, as well as cold, if the opposite was needed.

“[Thanks!] for the [I’m Having A Heart Attack! Help!], [[Trash heap]].” Spamton muttered as he set the Pipis cautiously at the foot of the tanning bed, the creature still carefully wrapped in fabric. “Yeah, let’s stuff [Myself!] like a [A perfect Thanksgiving meal!] with this [RANDOM ATTACK PATTERN].”

---

The Pipis were not only attack patterns, though, and Spamton knew that. The little blue balls, the only thing he could create with his magic, could also function as healing objects. Meant to be edible and low-calorie.

He wasn’t sure if any one of his Pipis ever made a sound, though. That was a revelation.

To be honest, he also never saw any of his little creatures exist this long. Maybe gaining sentience - and bonds, he noted, as the Pipis seemed to chirp with distraught when put too far from Tenna - was just a normal form of evolution for… the thing.

He decided not to dwell on it too much.

---

As the terrifying worry about Tenna’s state was lifted from everyone’s chests, the atmosphere in the room visibly lifted. Even Elnina and Lanino refrained from glaring daggers into Spamton, and rather eyed that suspicious blue orb.

Spamton, on the other hand, got to work. He ditched his jacket long ago, and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Susie, stepping over the discarded garment, analysed his work with concentration.

“Look here.” Spamton began talking under his breath after a while, and stunned Susie followed that command. “I’m dis[CONNECT]ing [[BIG SHOT]]’s arms [Right Now!!!].” In response to her surprised look, he muttered some more. “No more [Let’s Shake On It!!!], so I’m [GET RID OF IT GET RID OF IT GET RID] his [It Hurts! Ow! Stop! Help Me! It Hurts!], you know?”

Analysing the salesman’s speech was akin to decoding a really eccentric cipher, but Susie did her best. She knew that this was a prime occasion to understand how Tenna was built - who knows if she’d ever have such a good learning opportunity.

So she leaned over Tenna’s chest cavity, almost breathing down Spamton’s neck, and admired the skill with which the little man organised the wires, unscrewing and disconnecting the unnecessary.

---

After a detailed explanation on Tenna’s backup energy sources, Susie seriously started to understand the appeal of taking notes, something she never did at school. Beside her, Spamton grabbed a pair of tweezers, and was trying to pluck any and all pieces of thread that made their way out of that fraying fabric into the inner mechanisms of Tenna’s chest.

“D4MN YOU, [Puppet!!!] [Join The Club!!!][Join T-]” He hissed unexpectedly and rather noisily. A loud clang could be heard in Tenna’s chest cavity. “F0R [#@$%]S SAKE!”

Susie nearly jumped in shock, and the salesman sent her a look that could be almost seen as apologetic.

“1t’s my [Joins].” He sighed, then lifted up his right arm. The hand was limp, fingers swaying from side to side. “They do this sometimes. Thankfully I didn't [Crack] the [Smoking Hot!!!], but I need [Time For A Break, Folks!!!].”

And that is how Susie found herself leaning into Tenna’s chest, trying to rescue a pair of tweezers from the metal depths.

---

After switching places with Susie, Spamton tried to guide her through the next steps, but his mind kept wandering. Mostly because of the weathermen pair, who, after the recent turn of events, couldn’t stop themselves from chitchatting.

“I don’t know if this was a good idea, dearest.”

“I… I don’t know, darling.”

“Look at him! This… mailman, he looks like he’s been chewed up and spit out, I don't know if we should’ve even let him get close to Mr. Tenna.”

“Yeah, maybe he looks like… absolute trash, but… Still, he seems to know what he’s doing. I think. I hope.”

“I hope.” The other darkner sneered. “Besides, why does he care now?! After what he did to Mr. Tenna all those years ago-”

“M1ND YOUR 0WN [Business Is Business!], Y0U [Lanky] [Peacock]!” Spamton exclaimed suddenly, seething in anger. “SHUT Y0UR [#@$%]ING M0UTH, OR I’LL [Make] Y0U E4T Y0UR [[Shoese!!!]]!!!” He gasped for air, scowling at the now terrified Lanino. “I H0PE Y0u TR1P AND FALL AND [Ad Break!!!] Y0UR [Long] A$$ CHIN, Y0U-”

“Spamton- man, calm down!” Susie yelped at him. The salesman immediately went silent, his mouth slamming shut with a soft thud. If looks could kill, Lanino would definitely be experiencing health problems after the last glare that Spamton sent him, but then the salesman meekly turned around to Susie.

“What a brute!” Elnina only grumbled, but that was the end of that conversation.

---

“I see it!” Susie gasped with relief, after an exhausting ten minutes that she spent looking for a leak in Tenna’s thermal control system. “Damn you, stupid gasket!”

“Great! Susie, [Do The Thing]-” Spamton then pushed a wrench into her outstretched hand, and she fastened the pipe to a tank with a shit-eating grin.

“I did it!” She sent Spamton a bright smile, one that could be even considered cute if not for the terrifying amount of sharp teeth that it showed. Still, Spamton didn’t really care about things like that. If he was able to discern Tenna’s expressions even though the man lacked eyes, then a couple more teeth here or there wouldn’t change how he saw Susie’s smile.

And it was adorable how proud of herself she was.

“[Well Done!!!], [Superstar].”

“Oh- Uh- thanks, man- by the way, how’s your hand??” Susie scrambled to change the topic. Spamton raised his arm, and tried to move it in a specific way. Only his pinky finger obliged, the rest unresponsive.

“N0t [Well Done].” He sighed. “0nly the [Useless] part works.”

“Uhh.. then I can take over the rest of the repairs… if you think it’s a good idea?”

“Go f0r it.”

---

And so Spamton sat beside her, his legs swinging off the side of the bed, and explained away everything that came to his mind. They started with all of Tenna’s thermal sensors, making sure that the heat regulators wouldn’t overload after the recent temperature shock. Spamton tried to explain the purpose of every cable - “Look [How?] his [Guts!] are [Color-Coded]!” - and though Susie barely kept up, she still retained a significant chunk of the information. By far the most enjoyable part for her was the battery performance check - as, when she adjusted all the cables and knobs to their correct position, Tenna almost awoke.

He stirred in his rest, turning around and almost knocking Spamton off the bed, and when the man yelped, the TV responded with a slurred “...oh! sorry.”.

“Tenna.” Susie gasped with awe.

“...sassy Susie? Wghat…”

“sleep, [Cathode].” Spamton chimed in, his tone hushed. Even his usually grating speech impairment seemed to be nicer to the ear. “you should [Rest].”

“...but… 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨?”

“...it’s [Rest]ing [Time] now.” Spamton took in a shaky breath, then muttered. “[Trust me].”

“Mmmkay… whatever you say…”

Susie looked between the two of them with eyes wide open. When Tenna seemed to doze off once again, she nudged Spamton in the side.

“Our show.” She whispered at him, making quotation marks in the air. The man looked at her with a deadpan expression, but she could see that he wasn’t calm about the topic. Despite how much he tried to hide it, his arms shook and twitched like leaves in the wind.

“Let’s [Finish Him].” He muttered.

---

Spamton assisted as he could with the rest of the work - unscrewing and reattaching parts, using only one hand. He secured Tenna’s beat up head panels, while Susie did the remaining work on the TV’s chest.

After a moment, Spamton broke the silence looming over the two - he started quietly rambling again, but Susie felt that something was off. Between the “Sorry i can’t fix your scr3en, [Cathode].” and “pass me that [I Screwed Up]-driver.”, it was obvious that Spamton wasn’t nearly as energetic as before.

But then they finished their work, and Susie realised she was so tired she could nap on the castle floors if she laid down. This didn’t seem like a brilliant plan, though.

“Spamton?” She called out. The man broke out of his trance (which consisted of staring at Tenna’s face) and turned to her. She continued. “Uhhhhhh… So what do you want?”

He tilted his head at her, dumbfounded.

“Ya know, for… the deal?” His response was a glitched “[Huh]?”, so Susie elaborated. “We made a deal that you’d help me with Tenna, and you did, so… What do you want from me in return?”

“Of course he’ll demand something for his help.” Elnina grumbled in the background, but her words fell on deaf ears. Spamton was too shocked to even register them, staring at Susie with his mouth agape. Then, with a spasm, he grabbed her hand, and started pulling her towards the door.

---

Susie stumbled onto the corridor. Her hand was in a grip that almost hurt. Spamton shut the door behind them, then fiercely looked around, with a motion akin to a seizure.

“They- TheY can’t hear THIS.” He muttered, as if this would explain his obnoxiously abnormal behaviour.

“What’re ya’ doing?”

“They- ha, a deal-” Spamton was currently scrambling atop something akin to a nightstand. When he did so, he was almost at eye level with Susie. He outstretched his palms towards her, and, after a moment of hesitation, she allowed him to grab her hand. This time, his grip was gentle.

“Susie.” He spoke quietly. “He would be [Dead And Gone] [If Not For You].” His arms twitched, and a glint of grey static shone in his eyes. “He was- supposed to.” That sentence slipped out of his mouth before he could control it.

Like that nightmare that plagued him for the last couple of years, his mind jumped to-

---

THE LORD OF SCREENS, CLEAVED RED BY BLADE, Spamton remembers hearing among the garbled noise- Tenna, laying down in snow, broken, cut into pieces, the light dying inside of him- so Spamton ran, ran, ran-

But he was there, he sat atop Susie’s head, he hid in Kris’ pocket, he was there, he saw- Tenna, struck from behind- Spamton couldn’t run, couldn’t escape to [H E A V E N], couldn’t run away from Tenna’s- from-

---

“What do you mean, supposed???” Susie tore Spamton away from his vision, and he blinked away the remnants of static. “Supposed to die???”

“I TRIED TO [run, run, run] AWAY FROM THE [Silly Strings!]-” He gasped. “I TRIED, BUT I C0ULDN’T GET TO [H E A V E N]!” He wheezed out. “I COULDN’T-”

“Spamton, man, calm down!” Susie barked at him. “How- how did you- how did you know that?!?!” She gathered all her wits and did all she could to keep cool. A realization popped into her head. “...do you know this from the Knight.”

“No, no, no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-” Spamton stammered, then slumped down with exhaustion.

Susie used all of her will not to shake the little man around and maybe slam him into a wall in the process.

After a moment, the salesman awoke. Susie realised that even with all that happened, he didn’t let go of her hand.

“Please. Don’t [ask away!].” Spamton pleaded. “I- don’t know anything else. Just- the [cold, cold, cold]- [Ant-sized] laying in [Snow]- [SNOWGRA-]” He took in a shaky breath. It was obvious this topic was painful for him. “And you changed the [Will] of [H E A V E N S].” Susie suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable. Spamton coughed. “I was an idiot.” He mumbled, but then stopped himself from elaborating on that topic. “The point is- you saved him. I did nothing [Specil]. If anything, I am the one who [I Owe You One].”

--

Don’t tell this to anyone, Spamton pleaded with shaking hands. After a moment of consideration, she nodded slowly. That moment still replayed inside her head when they returned to the room.

Elnina and Lanino started cleaning in their absence, stuffing all tools into one box, and collecting all dirty rags into a pile that they eyed with disgust. When Susie and Spamton returned, the Weather Duo were in the process of intensely staring at the Pipis.

“What about… this thing?” Lanino mumbled, to no one in particular.

“KEEP THE [Kids!] WARM” Spamton responded, making the weatherman jump. “PUT IT IN A [Boxing]- [Boxers]- [Box] OR SOMETHING. WITH THE [Blankie].”

“Does it… need to eat?” Elnina gestured at the blue sphere with a confused expression.

“[Nuh-uh]... I THINK. JUST CLEAN IT UP [Once-ler][Once In A While], AND IT WILL BE [A-Okay!]” Spamton shrugged, then put on a serious expression. “And [Don’t You Dare] shame [10/10!] for [He Cares].” He spoke, carefully choosing his next words. “I know you care about [Ant-sized]. So be [Support Group].”

Spamton walked over to his battered jacket, which was still laying on the floor, and picked it up. Nobody noticed that he pocketed Tenna’s spare parts that were also on the ground.

“Yes, we care about Mr. Tenna.” Elnina spoke, regaining her composure. “That’s why we’ll take care of him from now on. Uhhh… Thank you for your help, I guess.” She expressed gratitude with a strain in her voice. ”It won’t be needed anymore.”

She still remembered that day, the one after Spamton’s sudden departure. Tenna tried to play it cool, at first, but it could be seen that something was wrong. “He always comes back!” The TV tried to convince no one in particular, maybe even himself. “He sometimes takes those trips, but he always comes back!”.

But something was wrong, and Elnina learned that when she went to check on Tenna before their afternoon program, and found him curled in the corner, barely the size of her hand. He was trembling, muttering something about the fear in his eyes- the phone, the goddamn phone- The phone was smashed to pieces, the TV couldn’t be consoled, and even though he was wearing his ring at that moment - gloves discarded somewhere in the corner - he spoke something of hate, abandonment, WHAT DID HE HEAR ON THE PHONE, WHY DID HE LOOK LIKE THAT-

And they played reruns that afternoon, and the one after that, and the one after that.

And it took Tenna years to move on.

“So- get out.”

Chapter Text

Tenna spent his first week awake feeling groggy, glooby and gloppy. Apparently, oftentimes TV World’s Darkners tried to visit him, but he had no memories of that - only of laying in bed, shuffling under his covers, trying to forget the dull pain in his shoulders, head, and chest. From what he was told afterwards, he was overheating that entire time.

He did his best to be conscious during Susie’s stays, though. The Lightner stopped by as often as she could, apparently visiting Castle Town during every break between her lessons. She even got another Lightner, a supposedly incredibly annoying bird kid, to go into the unused classroom with her, and fix up the Light World equivalent of Tenna. The effects of it were instantaneous, as Tenna immediately started feeling better, his fever dying down in the matter of minutes. Still, this didn’t fix the fact that his arms were missing, and that he had barely no strength to keep up conversation with his visitors.

To help with that, Ralsei offered Tenna a new bedchamber just beside the one that he previously resided in, and he turned the first room into a sort-of lounge for any Darkners that missed their TV home to visit and chat without bothering the CRT.

He even stayed for a while at the TV’s bedside, monitoring his health while mending the robot’s jacket into a presentable vest. Ralsei decided that Tenna’s white shirt was unsalvageable, but he worked with everything else left to make a wearable garment for the TV.

---

Tenna was glad to be granted a new room. He knew that the TV World’s Darkners loved to meet up in the previous one, but on most days he didn’t have the strength to go up to them and chit-chat. He was in shambles, how could he show himself to them?

There were no shows to make anymore, so he was basically useless. He had no arms, so he needed help with even the most basic of chores. What is more, the last memories that those Darkners had of him was when he had his breakdown. He was so 𝒶𝓌𝒻𝓊𝓁 to them, he fired them all, how could he bring himself to show his face there?

---

Things started to change when Lanino found a package at Tenna’s door, wrapped in a piece of tartan fabric and secured with a frayed twine. There was no note, but it looked like a gift for Tenna, so he cautiously brought it inside.

The TV lit up (literally, his screen brightened) when he heard of the package. He shuffled down from his bed, and ran towards Lanino. The weatherman dully noted that Tenna was still shorter than him.

With Tenna excitedly standing before him, Lanino opened the package. Something clanged inside as he unwrapped the fabric carefully.

Before them lay something that could only be called a trash heap of metal parts, but Lanino noted with surprise that Tenna’s shoulders started to tremble.

It’s an 𝒶𝓇𝓂.” He whispered, excitement barely contained in his voice. “That’s right, folks, someone gifted me an arm.” A grin crept onto his face, and Lanino realised that Tenna grew, grew to be taller than him for the first time in days.

---

Lanino went to fetch his significant other - the most significant of others - and they employed the help of one of the Mikes.

Their attempt at attaching the arm turned out to be easier than expected, as hidden in the package they also found a set of uncomplicated, hand-drawn instructions. They turned out to be enough, because whoever made the arm took their time to properly color-code all the wires and sockets.

It clicked into Tenna’s arm joint surprisingly easily, as if the mechanic knew exactly what they were working with. Elnina and Lanino shared a look of worry, but Tenna was too immersed in his joy to even notice that.

He kept flaring out his fingers and then clenching them into a fist. The way they were created was kind of crude - every one of them operated on a pulley system that could straighten them, and if he loosened the pulley, they returned into a fist. This way, they could only move on one axis, but Tenna was still overjoyed. He even had a working thumb, attached with a ball joint, which allowed Tenna for more flexibility. He would be able to hold a microphone again! Open doors!

“How did they know I’m left handed?” Tenna mused, beaming with happiness. “Are you sure there is no note - 𝓌𝒶𝒾𝓉, 𝒾 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓂𝓎𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻!”

“I’m sure that whoever made this wanted to remain anonymous.” Elnina suggested. Tenna, who was now admiring the unknown mechanic’s technical drawings, sighed with acceptance.

“Guess you’re right.”
---

One could dare to say that Tenna’s new arm was plain ugly, but he would be exposing himself to the danger of being drop-kicked by the TV himself.

Granted, it wasn’t created from the best of materials. The welded pieces of metal varied in shape, size, and color. Not only that, a part of Tenna’s arm was just made straight out of a beat-up pipe. Still, whoever created it paid a great attention to details, and Tenna admired it immensely. All the parts of his arm were thoroughly cleaned and lacquered, and they were measured perfectly. The joints of his shoulder, elbow and wrist, although they varied, all functioned well. Tenna wasn’t sure what was the limit on the weight that the limb could carry and withstand, but he had no issues in daily activities.

What is more, the arm assimilated to his body so much that it grew and shrunk in size alongside him, and that was a 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣.

Tenna sometimes wondered if it was created by the same anonymous mechanic that helped with bringing him to life in Castle Town, but he refrained from prying. Even getting the information from Elnina and Lanino that there was someone experienced who worked on him while he was unconscious was difficult - the weathermen emphasised that he needs to know nothing about this mechanic.

So if that someone wanted to remain incognito, he wouldn’t go against their wish. He brought them up only once to Lanino, asking if that person was paid well, but the weatherman forced him to drop the topic immediately.

---

Even the beat-up-pipe-part of Tenna’s arm turned out to be useful. He started going on walks with a basket hanging from his arm, and among the bumps on his forearm he found a perfect nook in which he could nestle the woven basket’s handle.

The strolls were Ralsei’s idea, and Tenna quickly got used to them. Apparently, they were intended to help his mental state, and Tenna couldn’t even argue with that. Every day, he’d wander somewhere else in Castle Town, meeting new faces along the way. At first, he’d take those walks first thing in the morning, when the streets were usually empty, so he wouldn’t bump into many prying strangers. It took him a short while to realise that those small conversations with peculiar passers-by usually made his day, and that made him gather the strength to go to more crowded places.

Now, it was becoming a common sight to see Tenna wander the main streets once a day, flashing smiles to everyone around. He usually got flocked by nearby Jigsawries and Tasques, who admired the towering yet such a nice stranger.

In the woven basket, which he was gifted by Ralsei, he put his Pipis. He still felt a bit ashamed of being the caretaker of the creature, but the weathermen turned out to be surprisingly supportive, and many other Darkners frankly didn’t give a damn.

So he walked around with his Pipis, taking his time to talk to her gently. She usually stayed unmoving, listening to him patiently, but today, she was different. She swayed in her basket from side to side, no matter how Tenna tried to arrange the plaid fabric that she was set upon. Finally, it felt as if she exhausted herself - but it was just the calm before the storm.

When Tenna almost tripped over a paving stone, the basket hanging from his arm swung from side to side, and she fell out. Before the TV even realised what happened, she was already bouncing and rolling her way into a nearby back alley shrouded in darkness. He twitched with horror as he noticed his beloved Pipis disappear around the corner.

He rushed in her direction, and from the same path that she disappeared onto, Tenna heard a reverberating metal sound. Fear overtaking every piston in his body, he strained his eyesight and looked into the darkness.

---

If his mouth could contort to a shape that would be appropriate for whistling, Spamton would whistle right now. His day was going surprisingly well, after all.

A couple of days ago he fished out a really nice portable lantern from the dump right at the edge of Castle Town. He brought it to his room-turned-workshop in the Castle, and a couple hours of work and some elbow grease turned it into a working piece of equipment. After a cleanup and some spray paints, he would even dare to say that it looked neat.

He brought it to Seam’s shop next, and managed to snag a pretty good deal for it. Spamton was eyeing a couple of metal parts that would be useful in building Tenna’s right arm for a while now, and he was glad to see that Seam hadn't sold them yet. It was fortunate that not many Darkners were interested in buying some metal pipes. Now, with those two pipes and a cable (that he got free of charge!) in a bag that he sewed from salvaged scraps of fabric, Spamton was happily strolling towards the castle - though, out of habit, he moved from shadow to shadow.

Heavens, he even had some KROMER to spare! Maybe, if he stockpiled enough pennies, he would be even able to afford some new clothing in the future?

Spamton was indulging in his daydream of buying and proudly wearing a good quality turtleneck sweater, when something flashed blue on the ground. He stopped in his tracks. On the pavers, a blue sphere rolled towards him, bouncing up if it hit an angled piece of stone. It stopped its movement just before his feet.

“[Pipis].” He mused quietly. “What are you doing [Here, On This Fine Day]?”

Indeed, that was one of his Pipis. Maybe it was suspicious, who knows, but if the world presented him with one of his children, he definitely wasn’t going to abandon it.

So he set down his scrappy bag, metal parts clanging against each other, and bent down to pick up the orb. It seemed to wobble happily in his grasp, nestling itself in the crook of his elbow.

And then Spamton looked up, to see where the Pipis came from, and noticed a towering figure at the end of the alleyway, where it intersected with one of the main roads. The man was robust, taking over almost all of Spamton’s vision, his shadow outstretching far into the alley, and the salesman suddenly felt very, very small.

He knew who he was looking at from the very first second. He recognised the bulky figure, the characteristic tilt of his head - A TV HEAD - and the metal arm that he himself built. He recognised that dim light coming from the CRT’s face. He didn’t get a chance to see it for such a long time.

---

Good news?

Tenna located his Pipis, and she stopped running away.

Bad news?

…

---

---

“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t [Frontal Assault] me with the [Snow]- the [Foam] this time.” The figure before him grumbled before he could gather his shattered composure. “I won’t harm your [Kids!], [[BIG SHOT]].” The little man flinched at his own last words.

Tenna recognised those speech patterns. Those quirks where the speaker would use garbled soundbytes as his voice cracked. He dreamed of this person, after all. He dreamed of him a lot since he woke up in Castle Town, of this man that has appeared close to his daughter once before.

This figure with their pink-and-yellow glasses, slicked back hair, and a suit terrifyingly reminiscent of his former co-host, of-

“Spamton?” He whispered in disbelief. The figure before him jumped back, startled, looking like an animal about to hiss at a predator. Tenna knew the sight from the many nature documentaries that the Dreemur children once binged.

So he was right. Goddamnit, he was right.

He knelt down slowly before the figure, refraining from making any sudden moves. The man before him was tense, his limbs basically trembling from the strain.

So this was their first meeting in decades.

---

Tenna imagined this moment for years. It was supposed to taste like closure, pent up anger, and victory.

He imagined Spamton showing up in TV World again, asking to be taken back. He imagined slamming the door in his face. Or maybe leaving it open for just a moment - so he could have time to yell how pathetic, glooby, and insignificant to him Spamton is.

He was also aware how far-fetched that vision was. After all, their show was so improbably popular; there was no chance that Spamton would ever need help from him again. It was easy to imagine - Spamton would just have to flash his award winning smile, and everyone would buy into whatever scheme or investment he was now planning. He was the star of Cyber City, after all.

So why was he here, scurrying along the wall of some back alley in Castle Town? He was wearing a jacket that was definitely a bit too big on him, and it looked as if it was mended more times then one could count. Was this some kind of disguise?

But then Tenna looked at the man’s face, and he felt as if he got punched right into his wires. Spamton was pale, flashing a terrifying grin. It looked like the man couldn’t change his expression. His cheekbones protruded outwards, amplifying how thin and skinny he truly was. His eyes were sunken into the sockets, pitch black - they looked like a doll’s eyes. Spamton’s skin looked scratched, though, weirdly, there was no inflammation around the wounds (were they wounds?). On the sides of his jaw, there were two dark indents. Thankfully, Tenna didn’t stare at them too much. If he realised that those were hinges, he would probably faint.

And then he gazed at the other man’s hands, those which were cradling the Pipis so gently, even though Spamton himself was so tense.

He remembered those calm, quiet nights, when they could be so tired after a show that the only thing they had strength for was cuddling on a couch. He remembered nestling Spamton’s little hands in his own. His partner’s skin used to be pristinely clean and soft, and now… now, there were joints. There was no skin anymore. There were joints.

Tenna had no idea 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 Spamton’s hands were made out of. The substance was white-ish, yellowing in some spots, and battered, covered in scratches. It looked a little bit like plastic. Or like ceramic. It reminded Tenna of bone.

Parts of Spamton’s fingers scraped against each other at the hinges with a dry sound, and Tenna winced. Spamton shuffled back with a yelp at the sudden movement.

“Spammy, what happened to you?” Tenna whispered, the sound barely audible with the echoes of a bustling city in the background. Spamton met his gaze with those big, glossy, lifeless eyes.

“[No Takesies-Backsies!] your [Kids!], Mr. [Ten Percent Off!!!].” He finally mumbled, and carefully outstretched his hands. “[Heretic]- [Hereditary]- [Hey]- UGH- h e r e you [go, go, go]-” It was obvious that the little figure immensely struggled with forming sentences. He was visibly wincing, and even spasming when he tried to force out a sound that he wasn’t able to form.

Tenna didn’t take the Pipis yet. He was scared that if he would, the only bond between him and Spamton would disappear, and the little figure would scurry to some back alley- as if he was never here.

“Spamton.” He whispered again. The man’s jaw was beginning to tremble, he noticed. His face also wasn’t skin-

“[I know!!!] wh4t [Me, Myself, and I] did, [[BIG SHOT!!!]]” Spamton spat out those words with a strength that wasn’t there before. “[Iran]- I [ran, ran, ran] away. Any amount of [IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY]” He winced at the desperate pleas that forced themselves out of his mouth. “won’t [Fix It!], so [STOP.] lo0king at me [Leave a Like]- that.”

“I want to talk.” Tenna blurted out before he could even think. “Don’t disappear again, Spamton, please, I want to talk to you.” He tensed up. His voice sounded pathetic. “Don’t you think I deserve an explanation?"

Spamton looked as if he was punched right into the gut.

“you do.” He muttered through trembling lips.

---

The alleyway wasn’t the best place to talk, though, so Tenna suggested they’d go to his room in the castle. Spamton agreed with compliance, only muttering something about needing to drop-off his bought goods. He passed the Pipis to Tenna, and his voice being barely a whisper, mumbled “[I’ll Be There For You]. I promise.”

Then he grabbed his bag off the ground, its contents clashing against each other, and made a beeline straight out of the alleyway. And Tenna stood in the shadows alone.

Chapter Text

Spamton kept his promise. Only 10-something minutes after they saw each other in Castle Town, he entered the corridor where Tenna’s room was located. The aforementioned TV stood outside, waiting, his whole posture showing off a feeling of discomposure.

When Spamton’s muffled footsteps could be heard in the corridor, the TV shot up, his screen lighting up.

“You came!”

“I [Promise]d.”

---

Spamton ditched his slipshod jacket, Tenna involuntarily noted. Now, he was just in a plain white t-shirt, a pristinely clean one. After a closer inspection, though, Tenna noticed that its stitch lines were uneven. Spamton probably resized and mended it himself.

The mailman was staring at him, he realized. Oh.

He welcomed him inside the room, and gestured to the armchair. Other than it, the room also held his bed, a wardrobe and a large mirror in the corner. When Tenna’s condition was bad, he asked for the mirror to be turned to the wall. Now, he was starting to enjoy the sight of himself again.

A basket with the Pipis stood at the foot of the bed. Spamton walked beside it, and sat where the TV showed him to. The mailman was tense, Tenna noted. He perched at the very edge of the seat, looking ready to jump to his feet at any given moment.

Tenna himself sat at the bed, facing Spamton head-on, and stared at him for a moment. The salesman broke the silence.

“[Ask away!], [CRT]” Spamton nodded at the TV, though his whole body remained tense. “As you said, you [Dessert] an explanation.”

The TV stayed quiet for a moment, his head turning from the Pipis to Spamton, and back. The salesman braced himself.

“Spamton… are you okay?”

---

Well. That definitely wasn’t a question he was expecting.

“[Just peachy].” He shrugged, the joints of his shoulders croaking with the movement. The sound definitely didn’t sell his point, Spamton noted while judging Tenna’s expression.

“Be honest with me, man.” The TV muttered.

“I got [Sick Moves!] sometime after being [Thrown Out Into The Streets] by [Queen].” He replied hesitantly. “That’s why I’m [Talk The Talk] so weirdly, it’s a [Virus] that I can’t [GET RID OF IT GET RID OF IT GET RID].” He noticed Tenna taking in a breath, possibly to elaborate on the thrown out part, so he beat him to the punch. “[10/10]... do you [Summertime]- [Sometime]s feel controlled by [Silly Strings]? That something is controlling your [Live, Laugh, Love]? Your [ACT]?”

“What?” Tenna was dumbfounded, but then a memory flashed into his head. “Oh… I might know what you mean.” Spamton looked at him with his big, void-black eyes, so he elaborated. “After… you left” He muttered. “I tried to go and find you in Cyber City, once. It wasn’t a good trip.” He chuckled dryly. “I got lost in the Cyber Field, and then someone 𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕 me out of all the money I brought. But the worst part was at the end, when I thought I was close to finding you, but then I felt this… terrifying, empty pit in my stomach hatch.” He sighed, lost in thought. “It hurt. It was as if my body was turning inside out, and somehow, subconsciously, I knew that I had to leave Cyber City. Immediately. The place just felt wrong. Like I couldn’t be there anymore.” He added in a pause for dramatic effect. “That was the day that the Dreemurs took the laptop back to the library.”

“Yes!” Spamton hissed, and Tenna looked at him in bewilderment. “[That’s What I’m Talking About!]” He lowered his voice an octave after seeing Tenna’s reaction. “Well, I felt it too, [When I Was/A Young Boy]. On the [PH0]- [pH]- [Phone]- tH3y- [they/them] told me-” Tenna froze in surprise. He never thought he’d learn anything about Spamton’s mysterious benefactor. “[they/them] told me [they/them] [Could] remove the [Nook]- [Nose]- [Choking Hazard]-” Spamton fumbled with his hands around his neck, eyes full of desperation as he glanced towards Tenna, and suddenly the TV realised that he knew exactly what his mailman was trying to tell him.

“The noose?” He asked quietly.

“Yes. [The noose?]. The [Silly Strings].” Spamton replied, a soundbyte being an exact copy of what Tenna just said. “I just had to [Listen]. And [Did I?]. I’d be [SAVE] in [H E A V E N].” Tenna looked at him with incomprehension written all over his face, so Spamton elaborated. “[H E A V E N] above, [Lighter than Light], [Hometown] to [HEROES]-”

“Oh.” Tenna realised. “You mean the Light World?”

“Yes! [H E A V E N].” Spamton nodded eagerly. “And I [Try As You Might].”

They sat in silence for a moment, Tenna mulling over what Spamton just told him. He couldn’t say that he grasped the little man’s motivations and actions, but on some level, he understood.

Then, the inevitable question came.

“But… did you have to leave?”

A rattling sound made Tenna realise that the mailman was trembling. The frail joints of his body clashed against each other with every spasm that took Spamton over.

“[they/them] told [Me].” He muttered, every word being visibly difficult for him. “[New]- knew ‘bout the [Divide And Conquer]. The laptop and the [LIBRARBY].” His voice cracked and croaked, and for a moment Tenna seriously thought that the mailman was in pain. “I [Had To] [Leaves], I H4D T0-”

“𝓌𝒽𝓎?” Tenna inquired, but immediately regretted it, as Spamton fell into an even worse fit of spasms.

“told- mE- [A Boat]- about- [Boasted]. [Threatened].” Spamton’s voice was barely above a whisper now. “[The Best Deals-] [The-] T H E. [Lord]- LORD. OF. S C R E E N S.” Each word was spat out with incredible exertion. “CLEAVED. RED. B Y. B L A D E.”

After saying that, Spamton swayed in his seat, and Tenna yelped when the mailman slumped onto the ground.

“Spamton!”

---

Spamton woke up in an unfamiliar environment. He didn’t recognize the ceiling he stared at, and the weirdly soft surface he laid upon. So he did the only reasonable thing that came to his mind - shot up with a hiss, and darted to the very first corner that he saw.

“Hey! Hey, buddy! Mailman!” A voice broke through the groggy layer in his brain, and Spamton’s head snapped towards the speaker, and he fiercely grabbed the fabric around him in his fists.

It was Tenna, sitting in the same armchair that Spamton occupied previously. It was clearly too small for him, as the TV’s knees were almost all the way up to his chin. He was resting his head on his hands, watching him closely.

“[STOP] [Star]ING!” Spamton screeched at him in anger. “WHAT- YOU LIKE [The Greatest Show], DON’T YA? [A Star] IN SHAMBLES- MUST BE [Enjoym3nt]ABLE!”

“What- no!” Tenna refuted, an expression of shock written all over his face. He started to shrink, and his shoulders shook. “How could you even 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 that’s-”

Spamton pressed his back into the wall behind him, then slowly slid down. With a heavy sigh, he stared at the ceiling as he gathered his composure.

“[Ant-sized].” He finally opened his mouth. “Here’s [The Thing]. I didn’t [𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀]. I p4nicked.”

“...I understand.” The answer came almost immediately. Spamton was still gazing into the ceiling.

---

He lay unconscious for less than a minute, Tenna informed him. Spamton would feel sheepish about this whole ordeal - if not for the fact that situations like those were semi-common for him. He almost always passed out when forcing himself to talk about certain topics.

They were eager to pick up their previous conversation - anything to forget what just happened between the two. This time, Tenna sat at the foot of the bed, urging Spamton to stay where he was - so the salesman nested himself between the pillows.

“At [First!!!] I had this need to [Runaway].” Spamton started. “Y’know, when I [Herd] about… your fated… [die]. After a [Coup]le of [19XX] I started [Hopes And Dreams] that it was [Fake News!!!][Fake][Bull$hit], but- It was [My Way] [Two] late. I was al[Ready, Set, Go] living in the dumps by then.”

“THE DUMPS????” Tenna twitched. “MAMA MIA- THE WHAT????”

Oh. Right. He didn’t know.

“Well… [HOME] is where the [HeartShapedObject] is?” Spamton attempted to shrug the topic off. Tenna still stared at him with his mouth agape, so he hesitantly continued. “For [Awhile], I lived in [Killer Queen]’s mansion, you k[No]w? That was [The Sh!t].” Spamton reminisced about the past. “BuT- but [they/them] [Stop]ped calling.” He paused. “And I stopped being [A Star]. A [[Big Shot]]. I [Ran Out Of Juice].” Now he was whispering. “And they threw me [out].”

Now it was starting to make sense, Tenna realised. How Spamton looked. The dilapidated clothes he wore. Those sunken cheeks and the bags under his eyes. The little tremors that his mailman couldn’t hide. How he hid in shadows, dark alleyways, and corners. How his eyes darted from anything unknown to another. The panic and the pain in his voice when he spoke of what happened. The dumps.

He slowly outstretched his sole hand towards his mailman, but the man was too deep in thought to notice the subtle movement.

“0kay- maybe I was an obnoxious [Ass][Hat]. I know!” Spamton trembled. “But- they all [Turn Around] on me.” He grumbled. “The stre3ts were cold. I was [hungy]. Lonely. I LIVED IN A [Dump]STER FOR [XX] YEARS, TENN- [10% off]- [Top Ten Scariest Jumpscares]-” His voice croaked, and he swayed from side to side. “And now I can’t even say [Your Name]! TEN- [10/10]- [Ten KROMER]- [Hundreds-and-Thousands]- T E- [Teen]- [No, no, nO, NO, NO]-”

“SPAMTON!” A yell brought him back from the abyss of panic that he stumbled into. Tenna was just before his face. His fingers were brushing against the back of Spamton’s hand. “You’re okay. It’s okay.”

Spamton gripped Tenna’s hand with as much force as he could. He squished his eyelids together. He felt two viscous tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He braced himself, trying not to break.

Tenna slowly pulled his mailman towards himself, quietly muttering. “If you’ll be uncomfortable, just tell me.” He said. “I’m going to hug you now, Spammy.”

And the TV did. Tenna laid Spamton atop his chest, and slowly wrapped his one and only arm around the little figure. The little man shook, his eyes shut. A stray, dark tear slid on his cheek.

For a while, they stayed just like that, in silence. Tenna broke it.

“I never forgave myself for not going after you, that time.” He murmured. “You left the phone hanging, and I-” He hesitated. “I went after it. Not you. And all this time, I was too proud to admit that it was my greatest mistake. And I lost you, that day. Just like that.”

Spamton weakly gripped the lapels of his vest.

Both of them were too scared to admit anything more.

---

After a longer moment, when both of them calmed down, Spamton shuffled atop his chest. Tenna almost jumped.

“Oh- uh- sorry!” He loosened the arm that wrapped around the mailman, and rambled. “Yeah- I’ve been holding you for too long, hahaha, haven’t I? Sorry! Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable-”

“[NUH UH]” was Spamton’s reply. “You [Hug]ged me [No. 1]. You ain’t getting rid of me this [EZ].”

He was always like that, Tenna chuckled to himself. His mailman would rarely initiate moments of physical closeness, but when Tenna would hug him after a tiring day at the studio, Spamton always stubbornly refused to let go.

Concurrently, Spamton was turning around atop his chest. He faced the hand that was previously resting on his shoulder.

“How’s the new [Give Me A Hand], [[Big Shot]]?” he asked out of the blue.

“Lovely!” Tenna exclaimed. “It’s great to, you know, have it! I can open doors now, clean myself, make the bed… take her-” he gestured at the Pipis. “on walks...” When he raised his hand to make the gesture, his ring finger wobbled, and Spamton noticed it immediately.

“[This]?” He pointed to it, and it was as if only then Tenna noticed it.

“Oh, right.” He brushed it off. “Yeah, this finger’s a little loose, no biggie-”

But Spamton was already sliding off his leg onto the ground.

“I can [Still Fix It!]” He grinned at Tenna. “I just need some screw[Diver]s, where’s the [Orange Box]?”

---

The TV pointed Spamton into the direction of the box of tools that sat in the corner. The repairs were quick, Spamton skillfully unscrewed the front panel, and the matter of correcting the tension of a spring was a piece of cake for him. Tenna watched him, intrigued by the process.

“You’re [In Luck Today!] that you [ESCAPE] your [P R O P H E C Y].” Spamton sighed, glancing at the TV’s other shoulder, bare, with an arm joint just awkwardly sticking out of it. “I’m [So Happy] [You Didn’t, Like, Die].” He clenched Tenna’s cobbled together hand. “And maybe I’m aw[Full] for that, but I am a [8-BIT] [Jealousy, Jealousy]. Because you [Broke] your [FATE].”

During a brief moment of silence, a thought was forming inside Tenna’s head.

“Oh, you 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 how jealous I was of you back then.” He shrugged. “You were good at so many things, it felt unfair.” Spamton looked at him with wide eyes, so he elaborated. “Well, for starters, you were so good at talking to people. You had a knack for salesmanship, you had this… TV presence, gods, Spammy, you have no idea how amazing you were.” He mused. “And you were good with technology. And with crafts.” Tenna recalled their posters that his partner meticulously designed, so long ago. Spamton remembered the mural he did in his trashy shop - deliriously hoping that it would bring him closer to [H E A V E N]. “And you are a mechanic now.” He chuckled, flexing his fingers as much as Spamton’s grip let him. “I was always the TV guy, but you were so much more, and it was maddening!” He rambled. “So I had this thought… every Darkner has… a purpose, but you’re so much more than you were intended to be, so… I’d also call that breaking fate.”

“I never thought of it that way.” Spamton uttered, his throat tight. “Thank you.”

---

Mike strutted along the corridor, a stack of papers in his hands. It was something akin to a badly-written petition from a couple of Pippinses to Tenna. They pestered him about delivering it for a couple of days now, and he finally folded. He knew that acquainting Tenna with his worker’s ideas was part of the duties of a Mike, but God, did everyone here forget that they got fired?

Nevertheless, he agreed to deliver this stack of papers (apparently it held a survey about which Darkners would be interested in watching Tenna’s TV show here, in Castle Town). And now he stood before the TV’s bedroom door.

He gave three sharp knocks, then entered.

“Boss?” He muttered out of habit, then stopped in his tracks when he saw the little figure sitting beside Tenna, on the TV’s bed. He pointed an accusatory finger towards the man. “...You!”

---

Small Mike was a young Pippins when the TV World shook with the arrival of a new star. Of a Big Shot, as the man referred to himself.

He remembered the supercilious figure ordering them around, spitting order after order with a smirk on his face. This man flipped their life around the set upside down - twice, firstly when he arrived, and then, when he left.

He remembered how their views plummeted when the co-host disappeared. How Tenna became increasingly unstable, panicking and falling into a meltdown at the mere thought of anyone else also leaving him. Mike spent his whole career - as, well, a Mike - trying to dig the show out of this hole. Monitoring views, supporting the precarious psyche of their boss, and maintaining order between the employees.

And now Spamton G. Spamton sat beside Tenna in his room, chit-chatting without a care in the world. Yes, maybe he looked like shit, but it was definitely him. Spamton G. Spamton.

---

“What are YOU doing here?!” Mike demanded an answer. Spamton only looked at him with surprise written all over his face.

“Mike! He’s my guest!” Tenna interjected, offended. Spamton was bewildered by the name he heard.

“Mike???” He gasped, stared at the newcomer, then composed himself. “[Nuh Uh]. You’re not the [One Ring To Rule Them All].”

Silence fell over the room. Mike glared resentful daggers into Spamton, and Tenna was too proud to say anything more.

“[CRT], I [Thing] this Michael has something to say to [U].” Spamton broke the silence, and descended from the bed by sliding down the fabric. “And I [Take, Took, Taken] enough of your [Time Is Running Out] already, didn’t I?” He smiled at him with fondness in his eyes, then turned his back to the TV, heading for the exit.

Tenna gasped.

“Spammy!” He yelped before he even gathered his thoughts. The mailman turned around, again. “...Visit me again?” He mumbled.

Spamton looked in his eyes, his jaw dropping in surprise.

“You wanna [Meet Me Halfway] again??” He repeated. “Me [???]” He gestured towards himself, flailing his hand up and down, as if to remind Tenna of his sorry state.

“Yeah.” Tenna stated, this time with confidence, though limited. “Tomorrow- maybe? We can go on a walk together, or something…”

“Tomorrow.” Spamton repeated with wonder. He made a small step towards the TV, then gasped breathlessly. “Yes. [Yes, please]. I- uh- my r0om is [On The Ground] floor in the [Nothing Left] [Wings]. [Come Find Me!] there. I’ll be waiting.” Spamton outstretched his hands towards Tenna, gripped his palm, and brought it to his chest. “I promise.”

Then he turned around, and proudly passed by the dumbfounded, and, frankly, embarrassed by the show unfurling before him, Mike. He exited the room calmly, and, when passing by Queen’s door, zipped down the hallway. His pattering footsteps could still be heard from inside Tenna’s room.

Mike cleared his throat.

“So, boss?”

Tenna, stuck in a daydream, jumped up with a yelp.