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Battat could barely keep his eyes open, and his head felt stuffy and clouded over, but he was determined to press on. It was his own fault that he didn't sleep last night, and he couldn't let TV Time suffer because of it. And he was Tenna's favorite! He just couldn't let him down.
His distraction caused him to trip over his own shoes. He knew he was about to smash his poor face into the ground, but he couldn't bring himself to stop it. Maybe the padding of the costume would prevent it from hurting too much? He closed his eyes and accepted his fate; if he was lucky, he might knock himself out, and then he would have an excuse to sleep without disappointing anyone. Instead, he felt a pressure around his waist before he was suddenly being lifted into the air.
"Wow, that was close, Mike! Are you alright there?"
Battat forced his eyes open to see Tenna's concerned face. He blinked tiredly.
"Hm?" he mumbled.
Tenna frowned. "You seem pretty tired. You should go lie down," he said.
"Nn... Can't," Battat managed, stifling a yawn.
He closed his eyes again. Just a few seconds of shut-eye should recharge him a bit. He'd worked three full days with no sleep before (granted that was in the middle of a manic episode), so he could totally do two. He just needed a second. Opening his eyes felt nearly impossible, but he managed, ready to explain to Tenna that he was totally capable of continuing to work. But to his surprise, he was instead facing a nearly empty hall, a pleasant warmth at his back. Something was... petting him?
A subtle glance to the side revealed the bright red of Tenna's suit coat. He blearily worked through the situation. He must have actually dozed off, because he was now sitting on Tenna's arm and being pet with another. He faintly registered Tenna and Elnina talking quietly and the rustling of papers. He clenched his hands nervously, and the thing he was holding twitched. Wait.
He looked down. He had been fiddling with Tenna's tail. He choked and dropped it, shoving it off his lap for good measure. It immediately swung back up. He stared in bewilderment. What was he even supposed to do? Tenna hadn't stopped his conversation, but they were now approaching the main green room. He debated getting Tenna's attention and demanding to be let down. If everyone else saw him like this, it would be so embarrassing. He wasn't a pet or a toy! But at the same time, he was still so tired, and Tenna was warm, and the hand stroking over his head was surprisingly soothing. And he had to admit that a not insignificant part of him puffed up with pride at the knowledge that this was special treatment reserved for him. Tenna's tail thwapped against his hand insistently. He considered it for a moment longer before relenting and grabbing it again. Leaning back into Tenna, he closed his eyes again. Getting up just wasn't worth it.
Battat rushed to the set, haphazardly pulling his costume on as he ran. Pluey had come to frantically tag him in, but he didn't really have time to explain the situation. As Battat approached the door, he heard Tenna shout,
"Stop questioning me and just do what I say!"
Ah. He took a deep breath, straightened his bowtie, and opened the door.
"Heya, boss," he called, "What seems to be the problem?"
Hopefully, Tenna wouldn't remember that "Mike" had supposedly been here for the start of the incident.
Tenna whirled around, his antennae bent up and tail lashing furiously. His stance relaxed, and he ran a hand over his antennae. Battat watched as they bounced back into place.
"Oh... Mike..." he muttered.
Battat subtly gestured for everyone to leave. He could handle this. He hummed and nodded while Tenna ranted about the usual: inconsistent ratings, desperate new ideas, unruly employees, particularly those damn Pippins... Battat patted Tenna's leg sympathetically.
Tenna yanked his antennae and growled in frustration. "It's like none of them even care! I'm out here trying to keep us afloat all by myself!" he finished.
"Nah, not by yourself! You got us! " Battat reassured.
"Us?" Tenna asked.
Shit.
"Yeah, uh, me and Lanino and Elnina, right?"
Okay, that was true enough. Battat could feel the sweat rolling down his face under the costume head. His whole body felt stiff with tension. A couple moments of silence passed with Tenna looking at him, his expression indecipherable.
"I... I guess that's true," he finally agreed.
Battat relaxed. "Look, just uh... take it easy, okay? Nobody's tryin' to make ya fail. And maybe things'd go a little smoother if..." he trailed off uncertainly.
"If...?" Tenna prompted.
"If ya didn't yell so much?" Battat ventured.
Tenna straightened up and frowned down at him. "I don't— I'm not—" he sighed and ran a hand down his screen. "I don't mean to," he muttered, shrinking slightly.
"Hey, I'm not mad at ya! It's stressful; I get it, but..." Battat trailed off as Tenna shrunk even more.
"I'm a horrible boss. They must all hate me," he whimpered.
"Whoa, okay, no one said that. An apology goes a long way, ya know? Maybe just call a time-out if ya get too worked up," Battat suggested.
He was under no illusions that this would immediately resolve everything, but small victories are still victories.
"If... If you think so, then... Okay, I'll try," Tenna agreed.
Battat nearly cheered.
"And if I notice you're too upset, I'll try to get ya outta there," he promised. "But. You gotta agree to listen to me."
Tenna wiped the tears off his screen and nodded, before reaching down to pet Battat's head. "Thanks, Mike."
He'd been having a relaxing day off before he suddenly got a call from a frantic Tenna. He hadn't even hesitated; he'd immediately begun throwing his things in the car while attempting to console him.
"I just didn't know who else to call," Tenna said. "I haven't made a mistake like this in years, but I was just so excited to get the offer that I honestly didn't really listen to the details."
"Don't worry so much," Battat said. "I'm already in—"
"And I must have been too distracted to realize I wrote the wrong time, so now I only have an hour to prepare," Tenna rambled.
"Boss," Battat attempted.
"But I don't have anything, and I messed everything up," Tenna continued breathlessly. "They're gonna take me off the air for this!"
"Tenna," Battat tried again.
"And I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I just feel like such a failure, a—"
"Ant!" Battat shouted.
"Huh?" Tenna sniffled.
"Breathe, okay?" Battat instructed. "I'm on the way, so don't short-circuit while I'm driving. Mistakes happen; we'll figure this out. I promise. "
Tenna was quiet for a moment, and Battat checked to make sure the call hadn't dropped.
"...So does that mean I can short-circuit once you get here?" Tenna joked weakly.
Battat huffed out a relieved laugh. "Nobody's gonna be doin' any short-circuiting if I can help it. Now I gotta let ya go to call some backup. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah. I'll just be waiting then," Tenna answered, thankfully sounding a little more put together.
"Alright then. I'll see ya in a bit. Love you," Battat said.
The other end was silent. Suddenly, the words that had left his mouth suddenly registered in his head. He hung up as fast as possible, contemplating ramming the car in front of him as hard as he could. Had he seriously just said that? And now he was going to have to face Tenna in a few minutes...
"'Mistakes happen,'" he grumbled, gripping the steering wheel as he imagined slamming his head against it repeatedly.
Battat rushed to Tenna's room as quickly as he could. Tenna had called him over for some unspecified emergency, and Battat was dreading whatever that could mean. Was Tenna hurt? Had Battat (or Pluey or Jongler) done something wrong? He skidded to a stop in front of the door and wheezed for air. Should he knock or just burst in?
He decided to knock.
"Is that you, Mike? Come on in!" Tenna called.
He didn't sound upset or anything. What could this "emergency" be?
Battat nervously opened the door. Tenna had moved all of the furniture to the side to place a table in the center of the room. One of Tenna's records played softly in the background. The fairy lights lit up most of the room, and one of Tenna's novelty lamps sat on the table, surrounded by flowers and two piping hot meals. Tenna sat at the table smiling at him.
Battat stared in bewilderment. "W-what?"
"Hello, Mike!" Tenna greeted cheerfully.
"What is all this?" Battat asked.
Tenna looked away bashfully, his screen tinted pink. "You're always doing so much for me that I thought... Maybe... Maybe I should do something nice for you," he explained. "I made the food, and Shuttah helped me with the room. I would have taken you out, but I wanted it to be a surprise..."
Battat's mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
"...Do you like it?" Tenna asked.
"Oh, um. It's very nice," Battat said. "But you really gave me a scare there."
Tenna's antennae and tail drooped. "Sorry, I should have— I didn't think about that. Sorry."
"It's fine! Really, it's fine!" Battat reassured frantically. "I'm happy to have dinner with you. Really."
Tenna perked up again, his tail swishing happily. "So I can just ask you next time then?"
Next time?
Battat nodded. "Yeah. Next time..."
He approached the empty chair, which looked intimidatingly tall, as it was sized for someone about ten feet taller than him. There were a number of beams on the side that helpfully made decent ladder rungs, so he scrambled up them, trying to be quick but also not wanting to fall back on his ass.
Concerned, Tenna moved to stand and asked, "Do you want any help?"
"No," Battat said stubbornly. "I got it."
He heaved himself up and smoothed out his suit, taking a moment to catch his breath. He could feel Tenna's gaze, and when he looked up, Tenna had his head propped up on his hand, a soft smile gracing his screen.
"What?" Battat snapped.
"You're just so small," Tenna said adoringly.
Battat's flush was so instantaneous he feared he would pass out. "I'm not that small; you're just huge! "
He looked down at the lamp. It was microphone shaped. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or to feel jealous of the real Mike.
The next hour felt like something out of a dream to Battat. They spent the time discussing work and the other employees, joking and laughing. The food was actually really good, and the drinks were even better. At some point, the record stopped, and Tenna got up to switch it with another one. Battat hummed along before switching to singing under his breath. He petered out, Tenna's stare making him self-conscious.
He blushed and mumbled, "Sorr—"
Tenna reached out and rested a hand over his. "Please keep going," he pleaded.
Battat couldn't refuse a request like that. He cleared his throat and continued, gaining confidence as the song continued. When it ended, Tenna smiled and applauded.
"That was beautiful," he praised. "I'd sing you something too, but I'm afraid I just don't have the tone for it," he laughed.
"I like your voice," Battat blurted.
Tenna looked at him in surprise. "Really?"
Battat nodded enthusiastically. He already said it; might as well double down.
"Well thanks, but you might be the first," Tenna said ruefully.
"That's a shame," Battat said. "I'd love if you sang sometime."
Tenna's screen lit up a bright pink, and he leaned in closer. "You know, Mike, I really do love you. I'm sorry if I do a bad job showing it."
Battat wanted to fall to the ground and curse the real Mike. He was the one doing all of this for Tenna. Of course, Pluey and Jongler were a big help, but he was the one who always had to go above and beyond. And where was the real Mike anyway? He couldn't even be here to hear Tenna's confession. Tenna's love was wasted on that guy!
"I wouldn't turn down any other dinners like this. I like spending time with you," Battat answered honestly.
Tenna's smile lit up the room. It was absolutely stunning, and it was all for him.
The door to Mike's dressing room slammed open, causing Battat to jump and whirl around. Lanino and Elnina stood in the doorway, catching their breath.
"Tenna... He's... hurting himself again," Lanino said worriedly.
"We didn't know what to do, so we told him we'd get you," Elnina added.
Battat's heart nearly jumped out of his chest.
"You left him alone?!" he shrieked.
Elnina flinched back. "S-sorry—"
Battat ignored whatever she was about to say, focusing on getting to Tenna as fast as possible. He bolted down the halls, nearly running over several Pippins and a couple Shadowguys .
The moment he pushed the door open, Tenna's blank screen turned to look at him, one of the wires in his hand snapping around his claws, and the others slipping from his fingers to hang loosely from his arm. Battat winced.
"Mike?" Tenna asked, his screen still dark, and his wounded arm hanging loosely.
"D-don't do that," Battat stammered, approaching Tenna slowly, like he was afraid he would bolt if Battat moved too suddenly.
In a way, he almost was.
Gesturing to Tenna's arm, he asked, "Do ya mind if I take a look at that?"
Tenna jerked away from him, hiding the arm behind his back. "It's nothing," he insisted.
"Please, Tenna?" he pressed. "I just want to look."
Tenna's tail flicked nervously, and his screen remained dark.
"Tenna..." Battat trailed off.
If Tenna didn't want to trust him, there was nothing he could really do, but that arm definitely need attention. They stared at each other for a few long moments, before Tenna reluctantly grabbed his arm and held it out for Battat to inspect. He must have severed the wires that moved it. He sunk to the floor to allow Battat better access.
Battat hissed at the damage. Tenna's right arm had deep gouges destroying the main panel, and scratches lined the interior skeleton. Several wires were sliced and sparking, and others were nearly ripped out of their connections. His hand hovered over the damage, unsure if it was okay to touch.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
Tenna said nothing.
"What, uh... What brought this on?"
He gently placed his hand on the undamaged side of Tenna's arm, carefully turning it back and forth to assess the damage. This was pretty severe. He could fix it, but...
"I don't remember," Tenna finally said.
"Hm?" Battat looked up at him.
"I don't remember why... I just felt so... so—" Static flooded Tenna's screen, and he raised his other hand to smack his fist against his head.
Battat jumped. "Whoa! No! Don't—"
He caught Tenna's shirtsleeve and tugged his arm down. Thankfully, he didn't resist. With a start, Battat realized he had completely forgotten to grab any supplies to fix Tenna. Keeping Tenna in his field of vision, he put on one of Tenna's favorite records and turned a couple of his lamps on. He slowly inched his way toward the door and flicked off the overhead light.
"I'm gonna go get my tools, and then I'll be right back," he said. "Will you be okay?"
Tenna slowly nodded, so Battat quickly slipped out the door. He noticed a Zapper lingering in the hall and snapped in the direction of Tenna's door, shouting, "Hey, you! Keep an eye on him!"
The Zapper seemed confused, but they willingly went into the room, and that was good enough for Battat. He hurriedly assembled what was probably an excessive amount of materials from the maintenance closet and grabbed his favorite toolbox. Every second that passed was another second that Tenna was left without someone he trusted, but he couldn't risk having to go back for more.
He bolted back into the room and shooed the Zapper away, mentally making a note to find and thank him later. Tenna was in the same position he'd left him in, so he carefully took Tenna's arm and began removing the damages wires. He worked in silence, the record providing soothing background noise. Battat wasn't sure how much time passed when Tenna finally stirred.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "Do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you," Battat answered, focusing on removing the destroyed panel. "I just don't like when you hurt yourself."
But he would be lying if he said he wasn't mad. Part of him wanted to throttle Tenna for making him worry like this. For making him go to such lengths to help him when he did this to himself. But he knew that getting mad at Tenna would only make things worse for both of them, and he didn't actually want to make Tenna sad.
"I'm sorry," Tenna repeated. "I really don't remember why I did it."
Battat wasn't sure if he believed that, but he supposed it didn't matter right now. There was no point in trying to force Tenna to talk; he usually opened up when he was ready.
Battat sighed. "Just... Come and get me if you do, so I can fix it."
"Okay," Tenna whispered. "You're too good to me, Mike. I don't deserve it."
Battat wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just finished screwing in the new panel, saying nothing at all.
A thin red present was thrust in front of Battat's face, and he nearly jumped back in surprise. He took it warily and looked up into Tenna's excited face.
"What's this about?" he asked.
"It's just a thank you gift," Tenna said. "Go on and open it!"
Battat carefully removed the bright yellow ribbon and popped the top of the box off. Inside lay a large bowtie made of rich green fabric. Gold stars were embroidered along the edges. It looked like high quality material. He looked up at Tenna questioningly.
"I wasn't sure what you'd like for fun, so I thought I'd get you something useful. And you know, the inside of your mouth is green, so..." Tenna trailed off, blushing. "Um. What do you think?"
Battat felt weirdly embarrassed that Tenna had noticed that. He looked down at the bowtie. It was pretty; it almost seemed too nice for him to wear.
"I could use a new corkboard," he said. "And I like plushies and board games. And sometimes I draw too." He looked up at Tenna. "This is beautiful though. I'll take good care of it."
Tenna's tail wagged. "Good! I'm happy to hear it!" He paused, tapping his nose thoughtfully. "Drawing, hm? Maybe sometime you could draw me," he joked.
"I could if ya want me to," Battat offered seriously.
"Seriously?" Tenna asked.
"Sure," Battat said easily. "It'd be good practice. Plus, ya look pretty easy to draw. Thanks for the gift!"
He began walking back to his room as casually as he could manage.
"Wait, what does that mean?" Tenna called. "'Easy to draw'? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
When Battat didn't respond, Tenna quickly caught up to him. Battat schooled his expression into a neutral one.
"Mike?" Tenna prompted.
"Don't worry about it. I think you're cute," Battat said, holding back a laugh.
"Mike!" Tenna whined. "It doesn't sound like a compliment when you say it like that."
They continued walking in silence, before Tenna asked, "Did you mean it though?"
Battat huffed a laugh. "Yeah, boss. You're plenty cute."
Tenna hummed happily, his tail rhythmically tapping against Battat's side.
The door to Mike's room flew open, with an enthusiastic, "Oh, Mike~!"
Battat exchanged panicked looks with Jongler and Pluey. They were both in full costume, but Battat was only half-dressed in his. There was no time or place for them to hide. It was over, just like that. He slowly turned to the door, frantically trying to think of anything to say. Tenna stared at them wordlessly. Before any of them could speak, he turned on his heel and sped out of the room.
Battat hurriedly ran after him, desperate to salvage the situation, but Tenna's long strides made it difficult to catch up. His tail dragged along the ground, and Battat had to jump over it to avoid trampling it in his haste.
"Wait, Tenna!" he called. "This doesn't have to change anything. I—"
Tenna abruptly stopped walking, and Battat nearly smacked into his legs. He whirled around, his tail whipping out and antennae crooked and bent.
"How could this not change anything?!" he yelled, fangs flashing dangerously. "You've been lying to me from the start! And it's not even just you! The other two— I don't even know their names!"
Battat couldn't help but feel indignant. He was only ever trying to help.
"Well, you only wanted Mike! You don't care about any of us. I didn't really have a choice here," he defended.
"'Didn't have a—' Nobody was making you be Mike! " Tenna said, gesturing wildly.
"You don't have to sound so appalled," Battat grumbled. "What was I supposed to do then? You were going off the rails! Everyone was miserable! I never wanted to be Mike, but I—"
Tenna waved his hand, interrupting him. "Who else is lying to me? Did everyone else know about this? How much did you lie?" Some of his anger seemed to dissipate as he whispered, "Did you even mean any of it? Or was it all just an obligation to you?"
Part of Battat wanted to assure him that of course he meant all of it; of course he truly cared about Tenna. But his pride refused to allow him to back down, and Tenna deserved to be knocked down a peg.
"What, you mean running around trying to do whatever you want and babysitting you so you don't do anything dumb?" Battat complained. "You're so high maintenance and clingy. Who would enjoy any of that? I did what I had to. And it's not like lying to you is even hard."
Tenna's body language closed off, and he straightened up.
"Get out," he said.
He should have been expecting that, but Battat was still taken aback.
"H-huh?" he said stupidly.
"If that's how you feel," Tenna hissed. "Then you can just get out! "
He pointed out to the hallway. Battat hadn't even realized they'd made it all the way to Tenna's room. He looked back at the shocked faces of everyone in the hallway, Pluey and Jongler among them. He looked back into Tenna's angry expression, marred by static bars. The weight of his own words suddenly landed on his shoulders, and a pit grew in his stomach.
"Wait, Tenna, I didn't— I shouldn't have said that," he backpedaled. "I really do ca—"
Tenna growled. "Get out! I don't want to see you again!" he yelled, slamming the door in Battat's face and locking it.
Battat banged on the door uselessly. "Shit! Tenna, I'm sorry! Please..."
He sank to the floor and buried his head in his arms. He could faintly hear Jongler ushering everyone away, while Pluey put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes. Just on the other side of the door, he could make out the sounds of glass shattering and Tenna's shouts give way to ugly sobs. He wanted so badly to run in and comfort him.
"I fucked up, Pluey," he whispered.
Pluey rubbed his back and hummed soothingly.
"I fucked up so bad."
Battat wallowed at home for a few days, but when none of them were officially fired, Jongler came to drag him back to work. He was going through the motions, listlessly fulfilling his orders. Tenna still called for Mike, but he was subdued. He didn't put on a bad show, but the energy he usually had was missing. He didn't linger around the set waiting for Battat or stop him in the green room or summon him to his dressing room. He just bolted back to his office or dressing room like he was afraid to even catch a glimpse of Battat.
Battat felt horrible. Being in the same room as Tenna but not being allowed to speak to him was pure torture. He felt guilty for even looking at him. And to make matters worse, whenever he went into the green room, he could hear everyone whispering behind his back and casting his pitying or judgmental looks. Being at the studio was miserable, but going days without seeing Tenna felt even worse, so he kept coming. Plus Pluey and Jongler still needed his help, and he'd already missed his goal of not letting Tenna down; he couldn't let them down too.
A couple weeks passed like this, with both of them miserable, and everyone else walking on eggshells around them. Finally, Battat decided he couldn't take it anymore. He had to apologize. He had to explain himself. He had to at least try, even if it didn't go well.
He steeled his nerves, took a deep breath, and knocked on Tenna's dressing room door. Nothing happened. He waited a few more seconds. Still nothing. He knocked again. This time, he could hear a small "Yes?", but the sound was wobbly, like Tenna was in the middle of crying. Battat's stomach twisted up.
"Can I speak to you?" he asked.
"...Go away," Tenna answered.
"You don't even have to open the door," Battat said. "Please just listen for a minute, and then I'll never speak to you again, if that's what you really want."
Tenna was silent for a minute, but just when Battat was beginning to think he had decided to just ignore him, he finally responded.
"Go ahead and talk."
Battat rested his head against the door, willing the correct words to find their way out of his mouth. He only had one shot at this. He closed his eyes, imagining Tenna on the other side of the door, and began to speak.
"I've always been different from the other Pippins. Not that there's anything wrong with them; I just didn't fit in. I wasn't really enjoying my time working here at first. I didn't have any friends, and I wasn't able to make my own fun like the other Pippins were. And then Mike left. Even though none of us knew who he was, we knew he was important to you. I kinda became obsessed with figuring out who he was, partially to stop you from getting upset with all of us and partially to satisfy my own curiosity. But then I got the idea to pretend to be Mike, because that way, I could learn more about Mike and calm you down at the same time. I got Pluey and Jongler , the Shadowguy and Zapper, to help me when I realized just how much you relied on Mike for. And at first, it was just another part of my job. I didn't really intend on getting any closer to you than I had to. I thought you were a pain to deal with, and I was constantly annoyed," Battat took a breath, batting his eyes furiously to will the tears away.
"But slowly, I started to care a lot. I told myself I was only going out of my way to help because making you happy would make my own life easier, but that was just a coverup. The truth was that I genuinely wanted to make you happy. I liked when you smiled at me and praised me. I liked when you'd spend time with just me. I liked that I was able to help you in ways that no one else could. You said I was your favorite, and I had never been so important to anyone before. I started to hate Mike, because even if you were saying the words to Mike, your emotions were for him. I know I should never have lied to you, and I definitely should have told you instead of letting you find out for yourself. But I selfishly wanted to keep you for myself. I shouldn't have said those things to you, and even if I felt there was some truth to them, I should have said it nicer. I really am sorry for that. I wanted to take it back right away. And these past few weeks have been completely miserable without you. I un—" his voice cracked.
He cleared his throat and continued, "I understand if you never forgive me or even if you ha—" he choked as a couple tears slid down his cheeks. "If you hate me, but I had to say this. I really do love you, Tenna, and I'm sorry I made you think otherwise," he finished, rubbing his hands over his cheeks.
The door opened, and Tenna crouched in front of him, pulling him into a hug. His tail curled around Battat's legs.
"I believe you," he whispered. "I'm sorry too, for being such a pain."
Battat closed his eyes and bunched his hands into Tenna's suit.
Battat skipped down the catwalk stairs, eager to reach Tenna, who was waiting at the door for him.
"Can I just ask one thing about Mike?" he blurted.
He hadn't really meant to ask that, but he'd been thinking about Mike all day, and now he had the opportunity to ask a straightforward question. Tenna frowned. Right. Sore subject.
"Just one! And then I'll never bring him up again!" Battat assured.
Tenna crossed his arms and looked away, his finger tapping against his arm. "Alright," he relented. "What's your question?"
Battat's mind went blank. He honestly hadn't expected Tenna to agree. What could he ask? He had so many questions. Tenna tapped his foot impatiently.
" W -why didn't you notice there were three of us?"
Oh well. He could have asked something dumber, he supposed.
"Oh, is that it?" Tenna asked. "That's easy. Mike is a shapeshifter."
He turned and began casually walking away. Battat rushed to catch up to him.
"Wait, wait ! A shapeshifter? What?!"
"Hm, I thought you said only one question," Tenna teased.
"That was a bad question. Give me a do-over!" Battat played along.
"I don't know... You might have to earn it..." Tenna mused.
"Anything!" Battat said enthusiastically.
Tenna grinned. "You're that desperate? Then treat me to dinner."
Battat stopped in his tracks. "Really? Like seriously?"
"Well, you said you liked having dinner together, didn't you?" Tenna said, slowing to a stop too. "I want to spend time together, with no lies or disguises. And you still owe me a drawing. After that, maybe I'll answer your question."
Battat hummed. "I don't know... that's a high price. You're an expensive date."
"Oh, a date?" Tenna asked.
Battat blushed. "I— It's just a turn of phrase!"
"Really? It could have been a date if you wanted it to be," Tenna said, resuming his walk.
Battat jogged after him. "Are you being serious right now?" he demanded.
"Of course!" Tenna laughed. "You are my favorite, after all."