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You were in an incredibly perilous situation.
You, a Lightner lost in the Dark World.
A Dark World formed within your very own home, the very objects you once held dear coming to life, especially your old TV. You do not remember how it happened, memories from the past are just a blur now, but you very much remember the result of it. Objects you could once hold in your hand, a remote or a dice... now could hold you.
It was almost a role reversal of sorts, what you soon learned to be known as "Darkners" were utterly massive compared to your now small form. You were rendered completely and utterly helpless, at the mercy of the objects in your former home, just like they were to you, once.
Unfortunately, they were not merciful. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Especially your old TV.
A TV known to you as "Tenna".
As you'd soon figured out upon the Dark World's formation, he was the big boss of this world, and he ruled this world of your former home with an iron fist.
An iron fist that he desperately wanted to hold you in.
And this leads you to where you are now, living in the walls like some sort of rat, some sort of creature. Only by a hair did you avoid Tenna the first time you "met", and you know damn well he's been searching incessantly for you ever since. There's traps set out for you all over the studio, staff will occasionally check the walls for your presence, and sometimes you've even spotted Tenna himself trying to find you. He's come close a few times too, always inches away from discovering your hiding spot.
He's never spotted you, and you intend to keep it that way... But you do not know how much longer you can keep this up.
For one reason or another, food has been starting to get scarce, and your hunger has driven you further and further out of your little hiding spot. Worse, is that the frequency of Tenna nearly discovering you has increased. You can almost see him now, his black pinstripe suit looming above as he finally captures his prize.
You can almost hear him now, as he looms above you.
"You really thought you could escape me, little bug?"
"Tsk tsk, what an idiot."
He'd probably say that. Probably.
That is how he talks to his employees, after all, why would it be any different with you?
You aren't exactly sure what would have made him like this, making him such a big asshole. Were you too cruel to him when he was just a regular TV? How exactly were you cruel to him? Even if you were, how were you supposed to know he was actually alive? Questions have been swimming in your mind ever since the dark fountain opened in your home, many of these questions being variations of, "What did I do to deserve being hunted down by a 50ft television?". These questions, of course, will likely never be answered, especially since quite a handful of them could be answered by Tenna himself and like hell you'd end up in that situation.
Well, you know he won't kill you, at least not yet. You watched as he seemingly brought in a cage to eventually keep your tiny self in. Yes, you remember that day well, and how the fear pounded in your chest as you realized what awaited you if you got caught. You also remember his antenna twitching ever so slightly that day, and him sneering at the cage like he was proud of himself for it. Did he know you were there, hiding in a crack in the wall, and did he smell the fear coming off of you?
Shaking that thought from your mind. Better not to think about it, especially as you feel your cheeks heat up.
You might have a good idea about why Tenna is like this, actually.
Ahem.
So, here you are now.
One of the traps laid out for you has quite the amount of food in it. Food that you want desperately. Now, it's not the first time you've outsmarted these traps. Tenna had initially tried mouse traps, but you aren't an actual mouse after all, so of course they didn't work. Slowly over time, they upgraded to more complex traps.
You're surprised he hasn't put a glue trap out yet.
Actually, that is something to note. These traps that he's been putting out, while complex and somewhat dangerous, he hasn't actually gone out for the real killers. No poisons, as far as you could tell.
Not that these traps won't cause you grievous bodily harm. After all, mouse traps were still in the cards for you.
Now back to the trap in front of you.
A circle lines the ground, a faint glow coming from around it. Clearly it was some sort of magic trap, but not one you were currently familiar with.
It looks like there's a piece of pie inside. A whole slice of pie. You can't remember the last time you had something so delightful, most of the time you've just been feeding on scraps. Of course, this pie will come at a cost. You're trying to figure out how to get around the trap surrounding it, but you can't exactly make sense of it.
It's simple.
Too simple.
You've been playing this game long enough to realize there's a catch. Perhaps this is finally the poison that will take you out?
This whole thing seems off, but you can't quite figure out what it could be. Unfortunately in the Dark World, the laws of physics did not exactly apply as they did to the Light World, and you've come across your fair share of "magic" traps that you have no familiarity with.
Warily, you step towards the slice of pie, yet still outside of the glowing circle around it, its presence seemingly taunting you. You had an awful, awful feeling. You shouldn't be doing this, this will absolutely get you caught. Unfortunately, your hunger takes priority over danger. Your mind feels cloudy already. It's so close, you can nearly taste-
Something binds around you.
Magical bindings have activated from outside the circle, its range larger than it initially appeared. Bindings that contort your body into a painful position, your limbs bundled behind you.
Your arm is in a particularly ugly position, not broken, but twisted in a way that makes you cry out in pain. Any attempt to move only makes it hurt even more, it feels like it's about to pop out of its socket. You scream again in pain, the longer you're like this, the worse it hurts.
You have finally been caught, and you can almost hear the loud, thunderous footsteps nearing your position.
…
No, not "almost" hear. Are hearing.
It was not a Pippins, they are too small and light. Absolutely not a Zapper, those sound more like hopping. A Shadowguy? No, you heard no instrumentals.
If it was that dumb duo, you would have heard another pair of footsteps.
No, these belonged to only one person. The one you feared most.
"Well well well, what do we have here?"
"A little Lightner, finally caught after all this grief?"
"Should've known you would've gone for this, you little shit."
Your heart was thudding against your ribcage, almost as if it were about to grow legs and walk out. You closed your eyes, the brightness of his screen starting to hurt you.
"You would've saved me a lot of trouble if you'd just come out sooner..."
"But now look at you, ha, look at you! All wrapped up for me like a little gift~"
You were suddenly lifted up, causing your form to twist even more, resulting in another yelp of pain. You were filled with so much terror, you just had to get away. You didn't care if you got hurt in the process, you had to run, you had to escape! You writhed helplessly in your constraints, earning a low chuckle from Tenna.
"Aww~ That eager to get into your cage~?"
"You'll serve as a nice pet-"
He was cut off by one of your screams. Your eyes were closed, but flowing full of tears. Then he saw it, your arm twisted unnaturally. In your writhing, you had completely dislocated it, and boy did it look painful. But you didn't stop writhing, only making your injury worse.
"Stop that."
You did not stop.
"I said Stop It."
You continued to writhe, flailing helplessly in pain.
"I SAID STOP IT YOU DUMB FUCK!"
That got you to stop, his loud voice making you flinch. Your eyes were still closed, refusing to look at him.
Unfortunately, he had other plans.
"Look at me."
"Now."
You wanted anything but to look at him. You've seen what he is capable of, how his powers work on his employees. The last thing you wanted was to be on the receiving end of that. You felt like your death was fast approaching, you'd already made him mad.
You kept your eyes shut.
Which only made him angrier.
"I said, Look At Me."
"Do you want me to pry your little eyes open with my claws?"
"Open. Your. Eyes."
You shivered in terror, your heart still pounding. Your eyes were flowing with tears, your body ached, you could not even feel your arm anymore.
Meanwhile, Tenna just rolled his nonexistent eyes. He should have expected you to be non-compliant, after all, most people are until he "assists" them. However, he did not want his prize to be damaged after all he went through to capture you. He pulled on your restraints, causing you to once again yelp in pain.
"Come on little Lightner, I wont scare you~"
"Just open your itty bitty eyes..."
He was hoping that you'd appreciate his attempts to be "sweet", as he was absolutely fuming at how stubborn you were being. He was tempted to shake you some more like a maraca, but he did not exactly want you dead. You, meanwhile, were terrified, and something in your mind was begging you to comply. After all, you did not want to die either. Finally, he saw it, your eyes starting to open but not look his way.
That's okay.
You're far too small to resist him for long.
"Heh, there you go, was that so hard?"
With your vision returned, you look down at just how far he's holding you up. The floor looks hundreds of feet away from your perspective, even though it's likely only 15 feet. You gulped, if he were to drop you now, you'd surely be dead, and yet you still did not want to face him.
Unfortunately, turning you around in your miniature state was quite easy for him.
Whether you liked it or not, your face met his screen, and your eyes met the swirling spiral you'd so feared.
"Just focus on me, my little bug~"
"Just focus..."
Your mind was starting to get even cloudier as you stared into the spiral, your brain was being put into a trance.
In your constraints, your body relaxed, tension seeming to dissolve the longer you stared at it.
Meanwhile, Tenna was sneering. The dumb look on your face as you continued to stare helplessly at him was downright adorable. However, he had more pressing matters at hand, namely your arm.
...Well, he could have a little bit of fun before he fixed that
"Heh, I bet your mind is just mush now, isn't it, little bug?"
"Not that there was much of it anyway, considering how small you are..."
"Relax, my little one~"
You felt like putty, like you could not move a muscle even if you tried.
Slowly, your restraints faded, and your form was encompassed by an awaiting palm. Tenna was being gentle with you, far more gentle than he'd ever been in his life really. He hoped you'd remember and appreciate this, although with how deep you were into the trance, probably not. Whatever, it's fine, it's better for you to get used to him not being as gentle in the future.
"Doesn't that feel better? You should really thank me for being so merciful."
"Poor little thing, you truly injured yourself, didn't you?"
"Tsk tsk, figures, a dumb little bug like yourself shouldn't have been expected to keep yourself safe, right?"
In your trance, you just nodded stupidly. You didn't know what you were even nodding to, really.
Tenna's sneer disappeared when he once again focused on your dislocated arm. An easy, but painful fix. He could just move it back into place with his fingers, but that would run the risk of you breaking out of the trance and injuring yourself more in an attempt to escape him again.
Not that you'd ever really escaped him. He always knew where you were. His antennae were sensitive things, and he always knew when you were in the same room with him. After all, your sweet scent was impossible to ignore.
If anything, he just loved to taunt you.
Treating your current relationship like a game of cat and mouse, always coming close to your location but never properly descending upon it.
However, he’d had enough of that, enough games, enough fooling around. He wanted you, in your entirety now.
…
He glanced around the location he’d caught you in, searching to see if any of his employees had followed him. By the looks of it, none had. Good, those idiots were actually following orders for once.
Carefully, he raised you up to his screen and… nuzzled you. A goofy, not-so-familiar grin appears on his face, a face of perhaps a happier time in his life. You won’t remember this, and no one will ever see this moment of softness. It has been ages since Tenna let himself be vulnerable like this, openly showing true affection. A sweet side he keeps hidden from everyone, and sometimes even himself. The static between you two tickles your skin, causing you to giggle like a dumbass, and your hair stuck to his screen clingingly. This was what he wanted, and he hoped that every day would be like this, you, needing him, clinging to him like the little bug you are-
Then, you yelped again, despite your daze.
Ah. Your arm is still dislocated.
Tenna’s smile turned back into his signature frown. He did not enjoy you being damaged, but despite everything… he didn’t exactly want to hurt you, at least not by his direct hand. Sure he could bully and harass his employees all he wants, shit he enjoys doing that! But you… you were still his Lightner. You’d brought him in, cleaned him up, watched him…
…Gave him some sense of joy again.
You stare at his screen now, with not a thought flickering in your head. You’d get like that sometimes in the Lightworld when watching him, your mind taking a backseat to whatever you were watching. He liked it when you’d get like that, your full attention on him and him only. Now, finally, he had you all to himself.
He knows the coast is clear, and as gently as he could, he pinched your dislocated arm between his fingers.
“Keep focusing on me, little bug, just keep focusing.”
“You will not feel any pain as long as you keep focusing.”
You simply nodded, your eyes dull.
“It will be okay, my sweet thing, it will be okay…”
You were going to nod again only to flinch and scream. He’d moved your arm back to its original position, a painful move but the dull aching in your arm will now heal, at least. Unfortunately for Tenna, and fortunately for you, you’d snapped out of the trance he’d put you under as a result. You scrambled in his hand in panic, only to be put into a tight fist. You screamed and shrieked, begging him to let you go.
Tenna, of course, just smirked at your pitiful attempt to escape him. While he did like you stupid and compliant, that’d be boring all the time. After all, that’s not really you, is it?
“Aww, did you finally break out of my hypnosis?”
“I think I liked you better when you were quieter, perhaps I should put you back under~?”
You shrieked “NO!” and quickly closed your eyes. This only caused him to laugh, a cruel, cruel sound at your suffering. Eventually this ceased however, and you felt a large finger pet your head.
“You should be thanking me, after all, I fixed your arm!”
“Heh, I really don’t think you would have survived much further in my studio if I didn’t.”
Tenna continued to pet you, his finger nuzzling your tiny head.
All you could do is sob. You were doomed, you had to be. You were never getting out of here, you’d finally been caught, and now the only thing left for you was a life in a cage.
Your form trembled in his grip, and now he’d started his stride towards his office. You continued to sob, tears and snot running down your face. Terror was the only thing in your mind right now, terror and dread and fear and-
“Oh hush, it will be over soon.”
That did nothing to lift your confidence.
You sniffled, your face sopping wet. Your throat hurt and your eyes were puffy. You were the Angel’s most miserable little fella.
However, before you realized it, your face was being dabbed with a handkerchief. It was a dark black, or perhaps a deep blue? Regardless, what caught your attention was the silver embroidered TV Time logo, sparkling under the light.
Tenna was trying to clean up your face.
You sniffled again, your sobs quieting, your face feeling cleaned and dried from your tears. The cloth was soft, very soft, more likely meant to be used for wiping down a screen than cleaning your face. However, more importantly, was what Tenna was doing.
He was being nice.
Not only was Tenna being nice, he seemed focused. His antennae were pointed in your direction, and while his face looked stern, it also seemed… caring.
And for the first time, you could finally take in Tenna fully.
The stitches in his pinstripe suit, the surprisingly soft fibers of his glove…
The dark metal of his antennae, and similarly dark color of his plastic casing…
His little “crown” on his head, his…
His face.
You were looking directly at his face, too tired to be afraid. And he was looking at you, no spiral, no cruel smirk, just looking at you, blankly.
He’s a TV with a large, cone nose.
So why in the world is your heart leaping into your throat when you look at him? Is he really that handsome? Really?
You must have said something out loud because his blank expression turned pink, and…
A ROSE CAME OUT OF HIS NOSE??
A rose that he quickly yanked away and stomped into oblivion on the ground.
You were startled, still held in his fist, as he readjusted his tie. Tenna looked incredibly flustered, staring down at your little form. Mumbling out a “goddammit”, he swung the door to his office open and promptly shut it the moment he was inside.
You’d seen his office before, if seeing it from inside the walls counts. Countless awards and pictures lined the walls, a testament to Tenna’s successful career. You had a feeling that these walls were all you were going to see for the rest of your natural life.
He dropped you onto his desk, seemingly convinced you weren’t going to run away. Well, he wasn’t wrong in that assessment, your whole body ached and you could feel yourself running low on energy. Besides, the fall from his desk was far too high for you to survive if you fell.
Tenna, meanwhile, seemed to be looking for something. You assumed it was going to be your cage, but instead he pulled out what appeared to be a very tiny pet bed. He dropped it just as unceremoniously onto his desk, a bit farther from you.
What is this, a bed for ants?
Regardless, you were bewildered.
The TV looked down at you with a smirk.
“What? Did you want the cage instead?”
“Because I can certainly have that arranged.”
You immediately shook your head, if he was being nice you weren’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Or in this case a… TV in the mouth..?
No, no scratch that, that sounds stupid.
In response to your reaction, he just laughed again, that cruel smile filling his screen once more. Your soul felt like it was pounding in your chest, except at this point you can’t really tell if it’s from fear or something else.
Suddenly, Tenna slammed his hands onto his desk, causing it to shake and you to stumble. Then just as suddenly, his hands darted toward you, almost like a spider would. You shrieked and darted away, your body moving towards the only place that looked remotely safe, the tiny bed he’d placed nearby.
You landed into the soft material, and found that it was incredibly comfortable. You hadn’t felt anything this soft ever since the Dark Fountain opened, perhaps even before then. Every muscle in your body felt like it was screaming at you to finally relax, and that this was the perfect place to do so.
But you couldn’t relax, not while Tenna was still here.
Speaking of Tenna…
He’d moved from where he initially was, not that it took him very long to catch up with you. Now, he was completely looming over you, his face high above you like a skylight as you gazed up in horror.
“Well, how is it?”
“I paid good money for that, not to disregard hiding it from my thieving employees as well.”
“Only the best for my little pet~”
A grimace crossed your face, you were still caught by Tenna, despite the comfort of the tiny bed you were currently in. Part of you wanted to stick it to him, but the other part of you knew that, if you did, you’d likely have this taken away.
To fight back or to comply, certainly a fork in the path.
Before you could make up your mind, it looks like Tenna made the decision for you. A smile filled his screen as you stared up at him, before realizing the light of his screen returning to the spiral that had knocked you out earlier. Your mind screamed at you to close your eyes, to look away… but it was too late. You just kept staring, your muscles relaxing further into the soft material, and an equally soft smile coming to Tenna’s face.
Finally, he sat down at his desk and slid your itty bitty bed closer to him. You were completely absorbed in his presence, eyes focused on the spiral. Tenna ran a finger from your head down your back, petting you gently.
“So cute…”
“So small…”
“Oh, my little Lightner, now we can be what we were finally meant to be…”
He cupped your tiny bed in his hand, your miniscule form looked rough, beaten, struggling to survive after days lost in his studio.
An old, hidden part of him panged with pity. You were his Lightner. He was your Darkner.
He looks around his office.
Empty.
No one will see.
Tenna brings his screen closer to you, continuing to stroke your tiny form. However, for the first time, a command is asked of you.
“Now, my little Lightner… say, “I Love TV.”
You repeat after him.
A smile appears on his face, pleased.
“Say it again.”
You, of course, say it again.
His antennae curl into a heart. A rose would be blooming if his nose was out at the moment.
“More, keep saying it, don’t stop.”
In your hypnotized state, you don’t have much choice. You continue to say that you “Love TV.”
Tenna pulls you even closer, both of his arms resting on his desk as he lays his head down upon it. You’re so, so small compared to him. He’s completely in love with you.
“...Alright, stop.”
“You can rest now. Go to sleep.”
His command is stern, cold.
But at the moment, all his heart feels is warmth.
He watches as you close your eyes and drift to sleep. Tenna’s seen this sight before, when you’d fall asleep in front of the TV, too tired to turn it off.
His hands cup around you, surrounded by softness and now warmth. You look so happy and content in your slumber, he can feel another rose starting to bloom.
…But he knows, once you wake up, you’ll go back to crying and fear.
He knows that he’ll have to go back to being “himself”, and that this is a side of him he can’t let you see.
Tenna pets you again, except this time, in your sleep, you reach out to his finger. Your tiny hands grabbing onto it. He can barely feel you, your strength nonexistent compared to his, and yet his petting stops in its tracks. You bring it closer to yourself, clinging onto it, nuzzling into it…
Oh, Angel above, if only this could happen while you're awake, if only it could be real…
He huffs.
It will be real. He’ll make it real.
He must.