Chapter Text
As someone who had seen the discreet zipper in the back of Mikes suit, this little green pippins leaving the Mike room when they thought nobody would see, and many other factors leading to his knowledge,
Mike was fake.
It was so obvious if you would really pay attention. All the factors of him just being a costume could be easily brushed aside as coincidence. If only Pluey hadn't seen Mike's head literally be separated from his body, replaced by a pippins head that'd been hiding inside. The sight wasn't pleasant, but thats what they get for sneaking into peoples rooms; unwanted sights.
He rarely ever saw this green pippins that plays the role of 'Mike' in the green room, or anywhere in TV world for that matter. Its like their entire life is just role-playing, to spare their co-workers from the wrath of Tenna when he gets 'ignored'.
He questioned why they did this, theres no way they do it just to keep Tenna happy. He didn't see them much out of costume, but they looked terribly malnourished, all for this little act. They had eye bags, bruises and scratches due to causes unknown to Pluey, and they were unhealthily skinny. He saw them suffering, and did nothing but watch, not knowing how to approach the situation because he wasn't supposed to know all this.
Mike had left his room almost an hour earlier than he usually did, and Pluey needed fake fur for one of his own little projects. Considering almost their entire life revolved around this costume, surely they have some spare material. He had stolen from them before, never anything major or enough for them to notice, just unimportant unused things that he could recycle. Stealing was the first reason he'd even started bothering them.
They'd left the door unlocked, they probably just forgot to lock it with how early it is in the morning. He turns the knob and lets himself in casually, then goes to their closet where they probably keep spare supplies out of the way, or something.
Almost immediately after he spreads the folding doors of the closet open, he hears footsteps coming towards the entrance of the room. He must've forgotten to fully close the door, otherwise he wouldn't have heard them coming. He quickly crams himself into the closet, closes the doors, and turns the closet light off. After about a minute of Mike just standing in the middle of the room with paranoia, he spoke.
"Listen, I know someone is in here, just make this easy for both of us. If there's something you need, I can give it to you myself." Either they are just really paranoid, or they know someone is in their room, and is trying to lure him out the easy way. Luckily he has played hide and seek enough to not fall for this trick, as well as just having common sense.
"...Okay." They murmured after a long pause, and Pluey silently released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, relieved that he can go another day undiscovered. Unfortunately, their luck seems to have been used up already on past close calls, as he hears them stepping closer to the closet.
His mind went wild with fear and panic, careful not to make a single noise or movement. This is easy, he's a shadowguy, so he's mostly hidden as long as they don't turn the light on. They open one of the folding doors, and kneel to search through the pile of stuff, barely seeing with the little amount of light coming in from their room.
Then he notices that they just so happen to not only be out of costume, but also in nothing but boxers. Out of shock, they accidentally let a small whimper slip. The pippins freezes, and glances up at the source of the sound.
"ACK-!" They quickly jump back like a frazzled cat, and slam the closet door shut. He'd been caught.
"Who-..." They stuttered, "WHY are you in my closet?!
Pluey struggled to explain, sputtering jagged saxophone notes. He didn't even care that they probably couldn't understand anything he was saying because they're a pippins, not a shadowguy.
"Yeah I caught none of that." They sighed from outside the closet, and Pluey completely discarded the message. He continued rambling, now just to maybe give them the impression that he had a good explanation, and they just couldn't understand it. He sat and pressed himself into a corner of the closet, hoping the wall would just swallow him up.
The pippins opened the door infront of Pluey, and just stared, looking him up and down as if they couldn't believe it. They still didn't seem to have put on any clothes, only holding a blanket wrapped around them. Pluey just stared into their fearful eyes, hoping they would say something, or do anything. Kick him out, fight him, anything but their eyes piercing into him.
They didn't say anything, but they turned the closet light on and grabbed a few items from the pile of stuff with their hand that wasn't holding the blanket in place. They flipped through the sketchbook they'd grabbed to a blank page and held it out to him, along with a sparkly pink gel pen. He kinda wanted to steal this pen more than he wanted the craft material.
"I get its not ideal, just explain why you're here. I'm not letting you out of my sight until I get atleast something." They murmur, probably not trusting that Pluey could keep a secret. He basically had their life in his hands by knowing Mike was just a costume, and would never dare tell anyone. Anyone except his harmless close friend, obviously.
Battat murmured something about name and pronouns that Pluey mostly drowned out while he wrote, but one thing caught his attention. "—what I can do so you wont tell anyone about...the thing." He could ask for anything right now and they'd just...do it? He was at a huge advantage, this pippins was desperate.
He'd explained most of the important details of himself on the page, and decided to make a small doodle on the bottom of the page, discreetly glancing up at them a few times so he could draw them accurately.
"Why do you keep looking at me?"
Maybe not as discreet as he thought. He just smiled apologetically, and finished the sketch of them as accurately as possible without peeking at them. He drew his 'mikesona' next to them, like a cat version of Mike. Then he went back to writing, to answer the question of what they had to do so Pluey wouldn't tell anyone about their costume.
He sighed, and decided not to request anything, not wanting to come off as greedy. He really just wanted to be on good terms with them, and maybe even be friends. He also admitted that he was stealing from them, and that's why he was here. They probably wouldn't be happy about it, but its better than trying to explain that he was interested in their way of life without sounding like a stalker.
He skimmed over his words once, before holding the sketchbook out to the pippins. They flinched a little, as if they'd been zoned out for a bit, probably stressing about how much Pluey could really affect their life. They took the sketchbook from his hands, and 'accidentally' forgot to take the pen from him.
Pluey watched their expression as they read, their brows furrowed seeing how much he really knew about them. "Yeah, you got my name right...somehow." They murmured, and continued reading. Pluey had heard them talking to themself before, seemingly reffering to themself as Battat, but he wasn't completely sure if it was really their name.
Battat's expression softened slightly as they read lower, relieved that Pluey didn't want much, but they were still tense. They didn't even seem to care that he'd intended to steal from them, too caught up in the anxiety Pluey caused them. Their expression tensed again, seeing the doodles at the bottom of the page. Did he draw them wrong? Did they think his mikesona was weird?
"No I dont have any uh.. fur. Sorry." They murmured, not saying anything more about the note. He considered asking them what they thought of the art, but then he'd just be fishing for compliments. Still, he stressed that they didn't like it.
"I do know a bit of sign language though. I'm not good at doing it myself, but I can understand most signals." Okay, that was good. That could make communicating alot easier. Pluey sat a little straighter, and signed 'can we be friends?'
"Um..yes, yeah we can be friends. That is what you said right?" Pluey nodded in response.
"For now though, can you like...leave?" Battat requested, and Pluey quickly complied. He carefully stepped over the small mess infront of him to exit the closet, and headed for the door. He really just had his first face-to-face conversation with the guy he's had an eye on almost ever since they first showed up. He glanced once more at Battat, who was picking at a loose stitch on their blanket, and exited the room.