IT KIT TIME

Tenna ficlets/headcanons:

Valentine's Day

eepy

Ad-libbing the Skit

Squeesh

Null ficlets/headcanons:

Valentine's Day

Don't Leave Me

Kitty!

Bloom

Licc ⚠️Deltaruined⚠️

Stress Relief

Maus!

Tease ☆ Flirt ☆ Break ☆ Behind the Scenes

Tailcoat ☆ Try It On

Conspiracy

Busted!

One ☆ Two ☆ Three ☆ Four ☆ Five

Disability

Joint ficlets/headcanons:

Touch-starved

Antenna

Plush, Plush

Cleaved

Feelings

Gacha gacha boom!

Short-form Video

Sick Time

Injury

Pride!

Triangle ❗️minorly suggestive❗️

Rejection?

QPR

smol ⚠️Deltaruined for Null⚠️

Blackout!

Crispy

Shock and Awe

Named character ficlets:

Hide and Seek arcadekarpett's yume of Null and K

Tortall stuff (note that these are untitled, but under the writing tag):

Kel is culturally Yamani

What did Joren do?

Wyldon admits to messing up

Tenna:

When you come to, the first thing you notice is that the meter is gone. The second is that the Weather Duo are looking you over, checking you for harm. Both have a hand of yours clasped, giving you warmth on one side and coolness on the other. Somehow, it's refreshing.

"Tenna?" You intend to ask. Instead, his name comes out as a garbled mess, complete with stuttering.

Elnina smiles at you. "You blew a couple of his fuses. Not the worst damage he's taken, and that's excluding his cleaving. Ramb's fixing him right now, don't you worry."

You raise your eyebrows and tilt your head slightly, hoping she can explain without your verbally asking.

"Before you get the story, it's quite hilarious, let's get you on a couch, so you're more comfortable." Lanino says. You nod. Now that you're waking up, the floor is rather uncomfortable. At least you're in the green room, so getting to one is quick and easy. The two carry you, despite your wriggling to try and protest that you can walk, and set you down.

"Much better, yes?" Elnina asks.

You nod again, still not trusting your voice. The couch gives you a better view of Tenna, splayed on his back. Ramb's sitting atop his chest, the access points open as he rummages through them. He's got some sort of toolbox on hand, with a Pippins nearby for anything he doesn't have. The Weather Duo let you watch for a moment.

When Ramb realizes you're staring, he pulls himself up. "Don't worry, luv, you only popped a few fuses. Why don't you two tell [name] about the time he managed to disconnect his nervous system?" He then gives a quiet instruction to the Pippins nearby, who trots off.

"Hyaaan?" You let out, startled, as others around start laughing.

"Oh, that was hilarious! You start the tale, since you were there when it happened, my sunbeam."

"Of course, my dewdrop!" Lanino then starts off, telling the story.

You're laughing at the end of it as well. How your poor TV managed to do it was so strange, yet somehow something only he could have pulled off, and on himself, no less!

"Fortunately, after he recovered, Tenna found it to be funny as well." Elnina finishes the tale. "It's one that comes up for newcomers, and considering how long you've been coming around, it's surprising that you never heard it."

"To be-e fair," you start, before scowling and shaking your head. Hopefully the stutter is a temporary side effect. "I didn't s-start as an emp-employee."

"That's true." Battat had popped up to listen to the tale. "Also, record for the stutter is about five hours. You're not the first one to be electrocuted by Tenna. Or to electrocute him."

"Oh."

Ramb shuts the access points he'd been working through with a snap and buttons Tenna's shirt back up. "All right, he's rebooting. Give him a few minutes."

"O-okay." You watch as slowly, you swear you can see the minute movements of his inner mechanisms come to life. You can definitely see his hand twitch, and his screen light up with a test pattern. Finally, he groans, and his screen flips to his usual one.

"Sweetheart, when I say that I'm part of the show, I don't mean as fireworks!" He teases.

You start laughing again. "Tenna!"

Some Zappers help him to sit up. They're careful as they help him rise, and it's clear that he's lost use of his arms. His grin when he sees your worried look is sheepish. "Don't worry, they're not in pain. We will be on reruns for a few days, though, until I can feel them again."

"Bu-ut I saw yo-your hand twitch-" You cut yourself off as Ramb shakes his head.

"Part of his rebooting process, luv." the Plugboy says. "It's an unconscious action."

"Oh."

"Can you walk, at least? You gave both of us quite the shock." Tenna doesn't seem to notice or care that his tailcoat and shirt are still unbuttoned.

You're wobbly at first, but your movements quickly steady. You follow Tenna to his office with a Shadowman trailing, Tenna telling you other stories of ways he had gotten himself hurt, stuck, or at one point, snarled in pool noodles somehow. Tenna's set on making sure your mood it better, and you're determined that he doesn't make his disability worse.

Null:

You don't know how long you've been lying on the floor. Long enough for the cold tiles to warm up some, that's for certain. Slowly, you sit up, feeling some aftershocks ripple through you. At least the meter is gone.

"Tenna?" Your voice is small. Null, crashed on the ground a bit ahead of you, is unresponsive, which prompts you to scramble up and run over to him. You stumble, your movements unsteady, as you end up by his side.

"Tenna?" You rest your hand on his side. Silence again. Under your hand, all is still.

"Why you worried about him?" A voice asks behind you. You turn, to see Battat. "Not like anyone would care if he's dead."

"You better hope he's not." You growl out.

"Probably not, unfortunately, but as long as no one reboots him, we can shove him somewhere and have fun again. Who cares about him anyway?"

You're not one for violence. Your general aversion to it was one of the reasons Null liked you in the first place. So, you're surprised when you lash out, smashing the Pippins' dice head hard enough to send it flying. "I do! How do I get him back?! Tell me, or I'll make what he does to you seem like a love tap!"

The rest of his body chases down his head, picking it up and plopping it back where it normally sits. "Fine, fine. You'll have to restart his heart." He comes back over to you, though he carefully stays out of arm's reach. "Come on, you need to get inside him for that."

The two of you climb up onto Null's chest. The utter stillness and silence from him terrifies you, and you can feel your heart racing. You really don't want to lose him...

Battat starts unbuttoning Null's shirt, and you join him, getting his suitcoat, shirt, tie, and harness out of the way of where you two need to work.

"You'll have a better angle than me." He says, pulling out a flashlight. He clicks it on and aims it down into Null's chest cavity. "Way down there, you see that small black box? On the back, there's a switch. Off and on."

You nod, not trusting your voice right now. You're careful as you learn forward and down. Every previous time had been with the lower points, the upper half on his chest containing the vital machines that made Null work, had him be alive. He had always refused to let you even open those points up just to look. Too dangerous, considering your curiosity.

It takes a moment to find the black box. It's well-protected, and your hand just fits to reach the switch. You flick it off and on, and are rewarded with the sound of movement. As carefully as you had gotten in, you pull yourself up. With the mechanisms coming back to life, it feels dangerous.

Once you're back out and the access point closed, Battat turns off the light, stows it away, and hops off. "Well, I'm disappointed. Was hoping it was too late for him." He says, shrugging.

"Sometimes you're useful, and sometimes you're a massive pain in the ass." You retort, busy redressing Null.

"I've been trying to kill him for years, and something always goes wrong. You really think I care?"

You can tell Null heard that by how his arm shifts, quickly grabbing the green Pippins in a full-body chokehold. He starts to rise, slowly, and you lean forward, grabbing on tightly. You're not sure if Null realizes that you're still on his chest, but you don't want to fall off on accident anyway.

"Chair." Null snaps out. His screen is still dark, but you know that doesn't hinder his voice. "Now." He flings Battat away, who scrambles to get out of the room. Now free, his hand cradles you gently.

"I thought I lost you." You whisper with a sniffle. Now that you know he's not gone, your heart calms down, and your tears flood out.

"Take more than some shock and awe to take me out." He easily replies. "And that was very shocking."

Your snort is blubbery. "Dork."

Null's thumb starts gently rubbing the back of your head. "Don't call me that. Not in front of the others, at least."

"Is just us at the moment." You retort. "Also, I didn't know that a Pippins could have their head detached and be fine."

"You know why?"

You feel your face heat up. "I...kinda slapped his off."

"Impressive. They're normally very hard to knock off like that, usually their heads spin to a number and they shake off the damage." Null lets go of you and begins to maneuver himself to the nearest chair.

You grip his shirt tightly. "Your legs?"

"Dead. They'll be back in a couple of days, usually have a bit of a lag whenever I'm shut down like that."

"Oh." Now you feel guilty. You don't say anything as he gets himself into the chair, his legs sticking out somewhat awkwardly.

"Not your fault." He says once he's settled.

"You'd be fine right now if I hadn't done that." You insist.

"I may have ended up with a flare-up regardless. At least they're not in pain."

"Mmn." You bury your face into his shirt again, and he holds you closely.

Neither of you move until Battat returns with Null's wheelchair, setting it up next to the chair. You grip hard again, and Null switches chairs quickly. He's careful to not make you uncomfortable as he sets his feet on the footrest, and returns to holding you once he's settled.

"Three days at most." Null murmurs.

"You don't get to decide that." You point out, your voice muffled.

He places you on a high shelf, one with some comforts for you, with the order to stay. You nod, showing you understand the order, before reaching up to him. He only has to lean down slightly for you to touch his screen, the shelf is so high. He accepts the contact for a few scant seconds before leaving. As he does, you realize he put his black gloves on.

It's not the first time others have tried to attack his studio. You don't know why. You don't care to learn. Or maybe you have, but it slips away, like many other things. You do know what the black gloves mean, though. That stuck around.

The shelf is far too high for most to see, with some snacks, drinks, a few books, and a cushion for you. He puts you up there when he has reason to wear the black gloves, but he always ensures you never get touched by said gloves. They always go on after you're on the shelf.

You settle in on the cushion. Sometimes what causes your high hiding spot to be used is done quickly, other times all day. One of the longer days he had returned in a rage over his suit being ruined. His rage had turned to amusement after he realized you were awake, and staring at him with your palms together in front of up, held up to your lips, eyes wide as you took him in. You clearly had not disapproved of his being disheveled in the slightest.

You fall asleep, comfortable on the cushion. The original cushion, grabbed quickly, had been rough and uncomfortable, and had left you with brush burns somehow, as well as extreme itchiness from how bad it was. This one is soft and cozy. If you're still asleep when he returns, prior experience tells you that he'll change back to his white gloves before gently nudging you awake with a single gentle claw, poking you gently enough to get your attention, but not enough to leave a mark or hurt you.

This time, you're roused by being roughly shaken. Others are on the shelf with you. Smoke is in the air, dark and billowing, and getting worse by the second. You don't recognize the others, but you do. They all definitely know you, though. You can see it in their eyes, the way they glance at each other.

One grabs your arm and insists that there's no time to explain, you're getting rescued now and talked to later. Barely awake, it's easy for them to haul you down, out of the lowering smoke. You can also see how they had gotten up in the first place. You do not know how they found you.

On the floor, some sort of sleeper agent activates within you. They keep trying to take you away, and you become violent, attacking them. Your order was to stay, and you intend to obey! They fight back, but without attacking you. Using their superior numbers, they get you tied up, with a gag to keep you from shrieking, and leave. You still fight, of course, slowing them down.

One eventually rolls their eyes and knocks you out. Some sort of spell, forcing you into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When you wake, you're in a hospital bed. The group is surrounding you, and you can better identify them now: your old group of friends. They're relieved that you're awake, that you're free from his grasp, that you're alive. One of them had seen you from reports over the Cyber City trip, and that was what had banded them together to rescue you.

You'd been missing for five years.