sunny

Currently, you're preoccupied with a gaming console that'd been set up in the green room not too long ago, given that you're waiting in between shows to guest-star once more on Null's. Speaking of of the show host, he's also preoccupied with the gaming console – if you can call "watching you play in dead silence" as preoccupied – since he claims he also needs a break now and then. You're not one to question this, so you let yourself get immersed in the old-school style of gameplay, ignorant to the way Null sits beside you with a leg crossed over the other and his arms folded, his height closer to yours for once.

It's a bit awkward, all things considered. He's not exactly super friendly, but at least he doesn't yell at you like you've seen him do with his employees.

Speaking of which... Some of them are gawking at the two of you again, as you've noticed in between levels. They're not subtle about it, openly pointing and talking amongst each other in hushed whispers, and after their chatting distracts you one too many times, you glance over your shoulder during a lapse in the gameplay, before looking over at Null. "Any idea what their deal is?"

You watch the way Null angles his screen toward you slightly, then sighs and turns it away again. "Don't mind them. They're not worth the energy."

"I'd love to, but I can't really focus with all their gossiping."

The top of his frame twitches slightly, and he sighs again. "Fine."

He stands, and you watch confusedly as he proceeds to verbally tear into the nearby employees that'd been distracting you. Initially, you want to tell him to stop, but given that they hardly cower under his yelling and even begin giggling, which only pisses him off more, you're left even more perplexed than before.

This place is so weird...

Later on, following the last show for the night, Null instructs you to come with him to his office. You can't help feeling nervous, even more so when the employees nearby that hear this begin gossiping to each other again, but you decide to keep quiet and go along, lest you upset him too. Hopefully he's not planning to reprimand or scold you too harshly, as you can only assume that's what's going to happen.

Upon arriving, he has you sit at the couch while he grabs something from his desk. Then, you're startled when he sits himself absurdly close to you, causing you to instinctively scoot away some, laughing nervously. "Woah, uh, sorry, I didn't think you would—"

Null's sigh cuts you off, and when you look up at him, he's faintly shaking his head. "Forget it," He murmurs, before turning his focus to the papers he hands over to you.

While you do take them when prompted, you're confused again. "No, what is it?"

"It's none of your concern. Now, look here at this chart."

Null points to a certain graph on the paper and starts explaining the latest ratings to you, completely disregarding what had happened a moment ago. You decide to brush it off, assuming that it likely was an accident that he sat himself so close to you.

You try your best to disregard the way your heart fluttered in response to the initial proximity, however.

As he explains the various numbers to you, you suddenly jolt at the sensation of something slipping across your backside. Your head whips back, and just as Null questions what the hell you're doing, you reach back and grab at what you're feeling. You grip hard onto what feels like some kind of cord, and when you pull it out, you're briefly whacked against the arm by the end of the cord, which resembles the usual plug-in for an electronic.

"What is—"

"Don't mind that." Null stops you. The cord swiftly yanks itself from your hold, and it then occurs to you that it's...moving around on its own? Your eyes trail down the length of the cord, though you pause when it looks to slip behind Null too.

"...Is that yours?"

Another sigh. "...Technically, yes."

"Ooh, really?" You perk up at this admission. Carefully, you reach back out to touch it again, however the cord jerks away from you this time, slipping itself over Null's lap. You relent, chuckling, "Sorry, sorry. But— I mean, how come I'm only just now seeing it if this is yours? It's been attached to you this whole time?"

"You try having what's essentially a tail out around these guys. They'll grab and pull it, just like you did."

The emphasis followed by Null turning his head to you in what feels like a sharp glare causes you to swiftly tilt your head down to the papers in your hands. Guiltily, you murmur, "...Sorry..."

...Another sigh. "Just don't do it again."

Honestly, you were fully expecting him to lash out at you for that one, but you're not about to complain that he's being weirdly lax with you. Not only that, but as he goes back to going over the papers with you, his cord inexplicably slips off from his lap and around your backside again. While you do visibly take notice of this again, enough to make Null pause, you don't try to grab for it again.

Still, you can't help wondering what brought this on. You've been in his office before, and as far as you know, there's no special occasion going on...

As the two of you continue talking, you can't help noticing just how much Null sighs. When there's a lapse in the conversation or you say something that seems to give him pause again, there's another sigh. You can't help asking after losing count, "...Is something wrong?"

"No." He answers too quickly.

"You seem upset."

"I'm not."

You don't really believe that, especially since when you look to Null, he's pointedly angling his screen away. "Is it about the ratings? I-I mean, from what I understand, they seem fine... Are you trying to tell me something with this?"

Null finally turns his head to you, and after what feels like another stern glare, he sighs again, seemingly agitated now, as he turns away again. "You're really not getting it, huh..."

Your heart starts to race in your chest, a cold sweat developing in your palms. "...Apparently not. Tenna, just tell me if I'm ruining your show or something, you don't have to be subtle about it like what you're doing right—"

"Doll, I'm going to list off a few things to you, and it's your job to figure it out from there." Null leans back into the couch, lifting one of his legs to rest the ankle on his lower leg's knee. "First off, you're not ruining the show – I would've kicked you off ages ago if that were the case."

While the fear of your initial suspicions dissipates, you're still left with uncomfortable jitters in both your stomach and your hands. He continues, "Second off, I didn't keep any entertainment in my green room until you showed up."

"...Because I asked for something to pass the time?"

Null clicks his tongue with a short chuckle, turning his head away further but unable to suppress the way he murmurs, "Good fucking god..." Then, he quickly clears his throat and turns back to you. "Alright then. Third off, I consider breaks a waste of my time."

"...But I thought you said you needed them?"

"Have you ever heard of lying?"

"Wh— Oh shut up!" You swiftly smack Null in the chest with the papers in your hand. Instead of catching an attitude with you like you expected, he actually snorts a little in response, snatching the papers from you just as you try to pull back. It's your turn to sigh now. "Yes, I've heard of lying. But— I just— Why?"

"Why do you think?" Using his arm furthest from you, Null leans his elbow against the arm of the couch. Judging by the smirk he gives you, he's really getting a kick out of...whatever's happening now. Teasing? Belittling? Mocking?

"Here's another hint: I could've been all kinds of livid with you for what you did to my cord earlier, but I wasn't. Why is that?"

...You're confused again. Apparently, the furrow of your brow gives this away, as he begins to chuckle again. "Yea, of course you don't get it."

"Well— Yea, because I don't know what you're talking about, Tenna. I—"

"Did I mention I don't have this thing out around my employees? Or anyone else, for that matter?" As he says this, you instantly tense up at the feeling of the cord in question nudging against your side furthest from Null. You glance down at it, startling when you suddenly feel it practically pulling you closer to his side. Your head whips back up to him, your heart beginning to race again, yet he doesn't seem to acknowledge this and continues, "Don't make me feel like I took it out of its tie for once for no reason now, doll."

Even as your face burns, you still don't really understand what he's getting at here, aside from taking amusement in your confusion. Timidly, you shake your head. "I— I don't—"

"C'mon, _____, I know you're smarter than this." Null sits up, only to lean closer to you specifically, huffing with another smirk when you quickly lean back to try and keep a bit of space between the two of you. "What would you think is happening if you saw me treating anyone else like this?"

Your brows furrow again, followed by a strange twisting in your stomach. Before you can think of what that means though, Null seems to catch your shift regardless and huffs, "It's just a hypothetical. Don't get jealous now."

"Jealous?"

"Keep thinking. If you saw me treating anyone else the way I do with you, including now, what would you think is happening?"

"...That you care about them?"

"More. Try again."

"More?"

"Correct." Using the papers in his hold now, Null grips one end of them whilst using the other end to nudge your chin up and angle your head to come face-to-face with his screen now. You quietly swallow when he leans close again. "I don't treat anyone else with the amount of patience that I apparently have to give you. But I've been getting real tired of this game of cat and mouse we're playing, doll, unintentional or not. So either figure it out now, or I'm making you figure it out."

...

Whether the realization dawns on you or not, you can't help asking in a near whisper, "...What do you plan to do to make me—"

The cord around your waist pulls you closer again, enough for your thigh to press into his now, and just as you faintly gasp at this, Null closes what little space is left between you and his screen. His lips are warm and tingly against yours, and the kiss is so firm yet prolonged that you inhale sharply through your nose when the situation completely dawns on you.

You quickly pull away, your hand flying up to partially cover your still tingling mouth. Your heart's threatening to implode at this point. "W-Wait, what?! You just—!"

Something in Null's expression makes you pause. Gone is the cheeky smirk he's been giving you this whole time, replaced with something closer to his usual frown, but less...angry? He slowly leans back into the couch again, settling the papers back on his lap.

Thankfully, it's easy for you to sense this time around that he feels rejected after that kiss. You scramble to grab for his hands, latching onto the fact that he's not shoving you off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean— I liked it— The kiss, I mean. I like you, Tenna, I-I just wasn't sure if you—"

During your rambling, you notice how Null's frown relaxes, until he cuts you off with a click of his tongue. He chuckles almost warmly as the end of his cord thumps against your leg, commenting, "Yea, no shit you weren't sure."

You pout. "Well you're a little too subtle about liking me, if that's the case."

"If? If?" Despite still laughing, Null furrows the top of his frame, seemingly unamused to a degree. "You're still not sure? Doll, what else do you need to make sure? You're running me ragged here."

Thoroughly embarrassed, but emboldened by his gesture, you swallow before asking, "...Well... How about another kiss?"

That gets him to tilt his head back against the backside of the couch, murmuring between chuckles, "Fucking hell..." After a long moment, he straightens up again and looks to you, a strange dusting of what looks like faint colored bars across his screen now. "You want another one, huh? In that case, you come and get it this time. Maybe I need some convincing too."

Without another word, you shift from where you sit to settle yourself on your knees beside him. The cord around your waist tightens slightly, and Null's hand closest to you plants itself on your back to tug you closer as you lean up to kiss him this time, your own hands resting on his shoulders. His screen is much warmer now, or perhaps that's your own face...or even both. The idea that you've elicited as much from Null makes you subconsciously grip onto him a little tighter, prompting his cord to squeeze you in response. You gasp into his mouth, which only makes him chuckle against yours, before the hand at your back slides up to hold the back of your head.

You're sure he's going to hold this over your head for ages, considering all the guiding it took to get here, but if this is what you get as a result, then...you think you can handle the inevitable endless teasing.