Chapter Text
Battat was nobody's favorite. He wasn't disliked; he just happened to be nobody's favorite. He was too manic, too obsessive, too nosy, too much. It wasn't just him being green that differentiated him from the other red Pippins—it was himself. Most Pippins were mischievous and liked to play with chance. Not Battat. Instead of seeing the odds as something to play with, he used them as a tool to keep everything orderly. If he can't predict what happens next, then he can't act accordingly. If Battat doesn't act according to his internal script, then he becomes… well, too much.
He tries to know everything. Call him nosy, but he just says he's prepared. He has to be prepared, especially under his erratic boss. Mr. Tenna was… spontaneous. Not unpredictable, there was a sort of pattern to his impulsive decisions, but impulsive nonetheless. For example, whether or not "Mike" was there. Without a Mike, he got angry. Really angry. And he took it out on everybody else, such as Battat and his co-workers. They were the ones in charge of the Mike room. Battat can't quite remember how they came to be in charge of the room, but he can recall a distinct lack of whoever Mike was. So, he made a decision.
At first, not knowing anything about Mike bothered Battat. Now, however, it really bothered him. He tried his best to fill the role with a carefully crafted costume and character, but in the end, he knew nothing about the guy. All his clues came from overheard gossip and offhand comments from Tenna. None of it seemed to add up! He has a damn corkboard with red string! And the weirdest part was that Tenna seemed to completely believe his act! At some point, Battat even included his two co-workers—Jongler and Pluey—in the scheme. Not "scheme," that sounded bad… operation? Sure, that worked. Whatever, point is, there was only one thing that Battat was confident in when it came to Mike. Whoever Mike was, he was Tenna's favorite person.
Tenna called for Mike often. Constantly, it was, "Mike, the board," or "Mike, the lights," or "Mike, is this thing on?" Even when they were off the air and everybody wasn't running around the studio like worker ants, he called for Mike.
Those were usually the more personal jobs. On set, the most personal thing Mike had to do was get him some coffee. Off set, Mike was comforting Tenna after another breakdown, dealing with his laundry, and helping him with his night routine. Smoothing out Tenna's comforter had Battat feeling like a butler more than a right hand arm—man. But, he repeatedly thought to himself, it's worth it.
After Mike fluffed Tenna's pillows and climbed down Tenna's bed, the boss himself sulked into his room.
It was gonna be one of those nights.
Tenna was shrunk with his hands behind his back. He hung his TV head low and his screen was dark. He sat down on his bed and immediately undid Battat's work on making it. Battat didn't mind, there were more pressing matters at hand.
He knew, of course, what Tenna was upset about. Knowing these things came with being Mike, along with knowing what Tenna needed. Battat rested a gloved hand on Tenna's knee. His boss turned slightly to look at him, and Mike looked back with an awkward grin. "Today was a good day, boss," he said softly. "You're still a natural. I dunno how anyone could look away from you." Tenna shrunk a little bit more.
Battat scrambled to climb the bed and stand beside Tenna. "What I mean is, you were great out there! I'm sure Toriel didn't mean anything bad when she turned you off, she just needed… some quiet! Yeah, that's it, she just wanted some alone time while the kids played outside. It's not you, really!" He rambled insistently. Tenna picked up his head to stare forward blankly.
He wasn't listening to Mike. "Am I getting old?" Tenna wondered out loud, "Is that why everyone leaves?" Mike squeezed Tenna's shoulder in assurance.
"That's not true," he said, "I'm still here. And I'll always be here! Never not here! That's a promise from Mike." Tenna looked at Mike and his screen finally lit up.
"You..?" He grew to his full height and raised Mike into the air. Battat yelped in surprise. "You're right! You haven't left me! Oh Mike, what would I ever do without you?" Tenna pulled Mike into a tight embrace, and Battat was grateful that the costume's padding saved him from the squeeze.
Making Tenna happy was easy. All a guy had to do was butter him up a bit and show him some support, which Battat could do like it was second nature. It made no sense to him how anybody could leave Tenna, especially whoever Mike was. Sure, he had some… flaws. Battat knew that. How could he not know that? Being Mike had him learning more about Tenna than Mike, and the more he learned the more he understood about him. He wasn't just some big bad boss, he was desperate. Back in his prime, Tenna had a business partner. Battat knew a bit about him, meaning he'd seen the guy just before he bailed, but it was hardly anything. The guy left some time after Mike did, which was around when the guy and Tenna started growing apart. Still, he left without a word, like it was nothing. Like Tenna was nothing.
Battat might hate them, Mike and Tenna's ex-partner. Being held by Tenna, close enough to just barely make out the soft wurring of a VHS in Tenna's chest, made him hate them even more. Tenna was so happy here, with someone so close to him.
Tenna sat back down on the bed while keeping Mike in his arms. While holding Mike like a stuffed animal, he started blabbing about scheduling. Battat strained to listen. He found it pretty hard to focus with Tenna's hands wrapped entirely around his waist. Not in a weird way! He was just flustered that Tenna was so affectionate with his employees, or at the very least, with Mike.
A part of Battat wanted to believe he was special, but being Mike wasn't a one-person gig. In fact, sometimes three people barely felt like enough. Battat, Pluey, and Jongler each had their own personally customized Mike costumes, and each took turns being Mike when one of them was tuckered out or needed to do their non-Mike duties. If anything, Battat could probably blame Pluey for Tenna feeling this comfortable with physical affection. The guy was pretty cuddly. But Battat wanted so badly to be the one getting the special treatment.
The praise, the embraces, the appreciation, the love. Sometimes, Battat would close his eyes and pretend that Tenna said his name instead of Mike's.
But maybe that was selfish of him.