⋮ ⌗ ┆philia ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢

You lock the door behind you and examine the clothes you'd been given, it was nothing crazy. The show on tonight was just your typical run of the mill gameshow. You'd have to complete videogame mini games in order to win points. You begin to change into your chosen clothes.

Your eyes finally look at yourself in the mirror, a dark blue blouse made up of some incredibly soft material and a pair of boot cut dark grey trousers. Your hair was done perfectly, your bangs gently clipped back and your layers curled delicately at the ends.

Your tummy buzzes with nerves. This was the first time that Tenna had actually let you 'perform' he was always cautious that the crowd would react, well...too nicely to you? He just didn't want anyone making you uncomfortable and made it very clear that the moment anyone so much as catcalled, he was gonna drag you off the stage. He can get really possesive sometimes but you find it cute.

You take a deep breath and step out of the changing room, you make a b-line to the green room, hoping to find Tenna or some other workers that you knew. You just needed to talk to someone, it hopefully should help calm your pre show nerves a little.

In your haze you end up bumping into what seems like a wall, you very quickly realise that its just Tenna. Two massive hands wrap around your waist and he pulls you up into the air so as that youre eye level with his screen. It still gives you a bit of a fright everytime he does this, you dont really like heights and with tenna being a little less than 10 feet tall it really freaks you out sometimes.

"Awh!! My star you look gorgeous!!" He says, turning you from side to side and examining your new look, he pulls you even closer to him and you can see the slight glitches in his screen, hes flustered.

You smile and admit softly "I feel really pretty. im so grateful you let me do this Tenna...being on TV has always been my dream, even if its just a gameshow" you say with a shy laugh, feeling a little bashful about admitting that out loud.

"And you were destined for the stage, my beauty. I just hope my audience can contain themselves, I know i certainly find it hard holding back when I see you" he says, accompanied with a tight squeeze around your plush waist

You giggle, blushing "Tenna, I don't think anyone else finds me as attractive as you do. I'll be fine, I hope"

"Youre far to conservative in your abilities, my dear. Remember that one time i had to stop the show because I saw you in the audience and I overheated?" He says, a teasing tone in his voice as he begins to pepper kisses along your neck, just dipping under the collar of your blouse.

You whine and blush, squirming against his huge hands and pushing at his shoulders "not fair- you cant just tease me when I only have a couple of minutes until I have to go on stage" you pout and he finally pulls back "plus, you have to not distract me. I know you're hosting the gameshow, but you cant favor me over the other contestants, I want it to be fair" you say with a heroic grin, as if Tenna would ever listen to that...

"Yeah no, not happening" he says and begins to carry you further backstage "im letting my pretty little lightner win and there's nothing anyone else can do about me rigging it"

You let him carry you into the backstage area before you hop out of his arms and begin psyching yourself up for this, tenna joins some of the production to talk over the logistics. Its starting to dawn on you that youre about to step through those curtains and face atleast 10,000 audience members and then possible millions more at home...watching you "T-Tenna..?" Your legs are starting to shake and you feel sick.

He quickly pulls himself away from the production team and picks you up, cradling you to his chest "you're so pale...are you sure you can do this?" He mumbles, concern clear in his features as he cups your face. Hes seen stage fright many times in his career and he usually just kicks them through the curtain anyway, but not you, he had to be 100% certain that you'd be okay to go through with this.

You feel like you're gonna throw up, you're sweating really bad now and you feel so dizzy "Mmf- Tenna im gonna-" just before you can throw up on him, he grabs a nearby trash can and puts it under your chin. He doesnt cringe away as you puke, just holding you and rubbing your back.

He sighs "thats it...Just let it out, youre gonna be okay..you're gonna be fine, baby" he begins carrying you away from the stage, ordering producers to either cancel the show or find someone else to host because hes gonna be busy. Everyone is running around you in panic. Tenna's just cradling you to his chest

Tears well up in your eyes, you can feel your dreams practically falling apart right infront of you. The further you get from that stage, the further he carries you away, the more your heart shatters in your chest. You'd waited years for this, begging and pleading, asking around dingy bars and sleazy producers just to be shut down everytime. And now, when you had a real chance, a real opportunity to make it. You failed.

You sob in tenna's arms, mumbling and crying about how youve 'failed' or that youre 'so dumb for screwing this up' you keep degrading yourself and crying your eyes out until you eventually pass out from all the exertion, you still have no idea where Tenna is planning on taking you.

---

You wake up in an unfamiliar room. Your bleary eyes look around, trying to figure out where you could possibly be. You're laying in a massive plush bed and it smells faintly of cinnamon and vanilla, all along the walls there's framed awards and trophy's sitting on shelves. You roll over and find a massive collection of pictures. You sit up and squint your eyes, someone must've taken your contacts out before putting you to bed.

Finally focusing in on the pictures you see that its all various images of either: you or you and tenna. You sigh, this must be Tenna's apartment. Tenna always liked to take pictures of you, saying that you looked too pretty for the moment to not be eternalised, you always blushed and shyly agreed.

You'd never actually been over before, he usually liked to stay with you at your place instead. He said that he enjoyed the smell. You glance around, still bleary eyed from the lack of contacts or glasses.

You quietly pad towards the door, opening it gently and revealing a warm lit corridor. You creep down it, trying to find your handsome TV boyfriend "hello..?" You call out into various rooms. Suddenly, youre being pulled flush against someones chest. You sigh contently "hey Tenna...do you have my glasses?" You ask, tilting your head back to look up at his hulking frame.

Hes not dressed in his usual suit and tie, having changed into something much more comfortable. He was clearly just about to join you in bed. Hes wearing a wife beater and some boxers. You turn around to face him and he slips your glasses onto your face "..you really are just so precious" he says before a big love heart appears on his screen. You giggle bashfully and hide your face in his chest

"...I like when your body is visible" you mumble, tracing over the hard metals and wires that make up his form. "Was it a personal choice to make your machine so buff?" you ask, completely innocently, seeing nothing wrong with the question yourself, but it makes him shy none the less.

"Uhm...I actually got my body modified a couple years back..when you started interning" he responds, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing off to the side "I figured you might be more...um..drawn to bigger men"

Your eyes are wide and you're practically stunned "you...you did all this for me?? For me to like you??" Your jaw is completely dropped. You feel so flattered that he'd try and make himself look more appealing for your sake. It makes you feel so wanted, so appreciated, so loved. A warm fuzzy feeling fills your insides.

He nods, his tail swaying behind him. You hardly ever noticed it before but now it makes him look even more like a puppy begging for approval. You practically jump on him, showering his screen with kisses and wrapping your arms as much as you can -which isn't alot- around his massive body. He suddenly blue screens

"Wha- uh!! Are you okay!! Oh gosh did i break you?? Are you overheating?!" You start to begin panicking, tapping at his screen and searching around his body for some kind of switch or anything. He quickly goes back to normal though, gazing down at you as you fumble. He chuckles shyly and mumbles an apology

"Sorry uh...I just needed to reboot...you made my system crash" he rubs the back of his neck and places a gentle kiss on your forehead in return for all your affection.

He scoops you up and mumbles "im sorry about today" it kinda catches you off guard, you had almost forgotten about what happened at work..that you lost your chance at...

"I know that it would've meant alot to you if you got to be on that show but...I just couldn't let you go out there! I mean in that condition? And then you started crying and I just..." he takes a deep breath then continues "i didnt want you to feel like.. like im trying to hold you back, because im not. The last thing I'd want to do is purposefully make you sad...you're still my little star, no matter what, okay?"

You look away, fiddling with one of his huge hands as you mumble nervously "..im..im kinda glad you didnt let me go on. I mean if I broke down and threw up at just the idea of it...maybe im not meant for the stage, no matter how much I want it" you say, sounding a little glum

His body starts shaking "woah- what's going on?" You say, concerned. Is he still malfunctioning from the kisses or is it something else? You cup his TV head and gaze into it, searching for whatever you can find "tenna? You okay..?"

He nods, still shaking though "my...my program wasn't made for this- upsetting my favourite special person messes with the code and i-" he takes a deep breath and the screen goes blank

"Tenna??? Tenna!!" You shake him gently, then roughly "look!! Im okay! You didn't upset me im fine!!"

He comes back after a couple minutes. He looks really guilty, like he cant believe he keeps messing up your intimate moments. He let's out an exasperated sigh and flops down on the couch nearby, tugging you to lay on his chest, his tail slinks around your thigh.

"First i blue screen when you kiss me, now I completely malfunction when youre trying to open up to me!" He complains "..sometimes I wish I was just human like you...or atleast a bit more like the lightners that you're used to" he mumbles and pushes your hair back from where it had flopped in your face.

"Dont say that Tenna.." you say, comforting him and twirling his tail gently in your hand "i like you just the way you are" you say, mumbling against his lips before you kiss him, properly this time. His large tongue invades your mouth, your mind starts feeling like TV static and your pathetic little human tongue works desperately to try and keep up with his. When he finally pulls away you're panting and your eyes are unfocused.

"..do you love me" he asks, seemingly out of nowhere. You can feel your face turning bright red and you nearly try to squirm away from the question

"Uh..where did that come from?" You ask nervously, looking away bashfully

"You said you 'like me just the way i am'. You said like. I've told you that i love you more times than I can count and I just need to hear you say it back" he says, completely serious and even a little desperate. His hands grip your thighs even tighter and his tail slides from your grip and hooks around your wrist.

You take a deep breath before finally saying those fated words "..I...I love you, Tenna" your eyes finally meet his and all you can see is lovehearts exploding across his screen and his tail wagging a million times an hour. He squeezes you as tight as he can to his body and you feel like your ribs might break but you don't really care.

You giggle and hook your legs around his waist "I don't have to be a TV star, if i can be your star"

And with that Tenna pulls you into a kiss, your eyes flutter shut and everything fades away. A perfect bliss