Chapter 1: Terrible Work Environment, Great Work Partner, 10/10 Experience
Chapter Text
The two had been bought at the same time, a Christmas gift to Asriel to add to his collection of action figures.
There wasn't anything too special about them in the lightners’ world, they were like the rest of the shadowmen, bendable black figures that looked like movie background characters.
They weren't always together, a shocker to anyone who now knew them. They were on the same toy shelf, were manufactured at the same factory, but weren't really meant to be bought in a pair. The two knew one another existed and that was it, nothing had ever compelled them to learn about the other nor any of their fellow Shadowmen. But Asgore had picked them both up to buy, a coincidence but a good one.
The first time they were played with was after being bought, Asriel had picked up the cat, Kris picking up the bunny since it was easier than picking another action figure from another window. The two were only extra characters to watch the rest of the children's plot play out, but that was fine. They enjoyed their roles as mafia member one and two.
But the moment they were put away after playtime, the two had suddenly been dropped onto Tenna's front door together instead of the in-between they were so used to. It was a little scary honestly, the bright lights and all the colors, so they immediately huddled up against each other despite not really knowing one another. Of course, that was fine, all shadowmen got along intrinsically so neither minded a little comfort from a familiar stranger in a scary new place.
Thankfully, it wasn't the loud and eccentric Tenna that first greeted them, but rather a normal Pippins who had heard their musical yelps. The Pippins had walked in, holding papers with directions which they currently paused their reading of to look at the two shivering Shadowmen on the floor, holding each other close as they looked up at them.
It took the Pippins a moment to realize what was going on before a smile appeared on their face, “You must be the new recruits! Right on time.” Of course, that helped neither of their confusions, the two shivering less however at the kind attitude displayed by the Pippins.
“The show is about to start, c’mon!” The Pippins simply mentioned before starting to walk away, the two taking their time to stare before getting up, letting go of each other and hurriedly following after them.
Once in the actual show area, everything seemed to be a mess. All the employees were in a fritz whether on or off the stage. The two saw as they walked in a lot of fellow shadowmen in the crowd, assuming that’s where they were supposed to be before the showman himself grabbed them by the collars to hold them back from going any further, “Stop right there you two!”
The two immediately stopped, looking up at the anthropomorphic television who was much taller than them as his voice boomed, “You’re the special guests today! The crowd will not do! And you’re LATE! Go get changed, NOW!” He then pushed the two towards the exit, to where the hallway connecting the stage to the green room was, kicking the two out and slamming the door out of frustration of everything going awry at the last minute.
The two had landed right on their asses, ow, before skittering to a standing position, looking at each other. Guests? For what? They just arrived! Plus, they didn’t know a thing about the layout, but thankfully they went to the right where they saw on the wall a sign pointing to the green room… Though they had no idea what that was.
They walked into said room, seeing a very nicely furnished room that was green (perhaps that’s where the name had come from) and a plugboy (a strange one at that however) running a stand, being the only one in said room other than themselves. They timidly made their way to the man, the bunny being the one to strike up a conversation with, “♫♫♪♪♪♫♫♫?”
Somehow, the man running the stand understood what the bunny had said (or perhaps it only looked like that because he nodded and knew what they must’ve been here for), “You blokes must be the new ones, ey? Your outfits should be in the S-rank room, the one with the S on it luvs. And after the show, why don’t you come back and have a chat?”
The cat whistled out a thanks before the two headed inside the room labeled S, finding a long hallway followed by another hallway before they spotted to their right what looked like changing booths, two of them in fact, perfect! The two entered the booths, closing the curtain only to find themselves some extra accessories, specifically hats, gloves and boots along with a bowtie for the cat and a tie for the bunny. (Though, it had been meant to be the other way around, but how could they know?)
Once they got changed, which was mighty easy, they walked out of their respective booths, admiring each other’s new styles and shaking hands to show they both were happy to work with each other but also they thought the other looked swell. Then they quickly made their way back to where they remembered the stage was, but when they passed the lone man, he called out to them, “Don’t forget to tuck, chums!”
The two had no clue what he had meant however, brushing off the comment as they hurried into the door labeled “GAME” where they were first kicked out, seeing that the show had already started but the TV man in charge was only just now introducing the games’ rules, probably to make up for the two’s absence.
They quickly dodged their way through the crowd, catching whistles, smiles and waves before they made their way behind the curtain right before they opened up, the two skittering to two of the random stands, trying not to look spooked as they took their places right beside another ordinary Shadowguy who looked much less dressed up.
“Well, folks, that’s enough about rules! How about we give a warm welcome to today’s star contestants!?” The star then pointed to the stands, the crowd erupting in cheers. The other shadowguy pulled a pose of just a simple peace sign, so the other two copied, unaware they could pull their own unique poses.
After the cheers died down, the TV then proclaimed, “Contestants! Please input your names for today’s show!”
The two looked at the other shadowguy who got to work on the keyboard on the stand, typing something in with only 3 letters. The two… Didn’t have names however. They had titles, sure, but “mafia member” was too long to type in. So, they just chose what first came to mind; their subspecies. Kat and Bun.
“Today, folks, we have two newcomers to the show, an exciting surprise from yours truly! Introducing the slickest of mobs, the quickest of shots, the fluffiest of buns; Bun!”
More cheering as Bun froze up, unaware of what to do. But, thankfully, it didn’t matter as the host moved on.
“Next up, we have the smartest of geniuses, the fastest of feet, the sharpest of eyes; Kat!”
Unlike Bun who didn’t react to the cheering, Kat immediately bowed to please the audience, kind of enjoying the attention too.
“And, finally, we have good ol’ Bil!”
Bill gave a wave and kiss to the crowd as they cheered, some members seeming to swoon and pass out after the kiss. Must’ve been a fan favorite.
“Don’t forget me, your host, Mr. Ant Tenna!” Tenna then started to spin around, pointing at himself to hype himself up, before he started back on his speech, “But sorry to alarm any of you folks, today we have to take it easy due to our new contestants… But don’t you worry, we’ll still have lots of FUN! DRAMA! MAGIC! DID I SAY FUN ALREADY?! Because we’re going to do everybody’s favorite; QUIZZES!!! Now, say it with me folks… IT’S! T! V! TIMEEE!!!”
The crowd erupted in cheers as suddenly both their visions turned black thanks to bars similar to the ones on a CTV when it was turning off, before the reversal of that happened and suddenly all three of the contestants were in a different room. The two had no clue how they got here, they didn’t even feel themselves move, but just went along with it.
Tenna held out a tiny card, assumedly one with the question written on it, as he asked to anybody who could hear, “What are our contestants’ species?”
The two looked behind them to peer at the screen, seeing a timer quickly ticking down, the question and four answers, those being, in order; “Pippins,” “Shadowmen,” “Zappers” and “Shuttah.” The two then looked at their stands, seeing a joystick they could use to pivot themselves to the right answer. This one was pretty easy however, all three of the contestants landing on the second answer and getting it correct, Tenna looking astounded as he praised them, “COOORRECT! WE HAVE THREE WINNERS!” And clapping could be heard before they moved onto the next question.
…
“Wow, folks! Who would’ve guessed that Bun would overpower Bill right at the end? And poor Kat, sitting alone with the worst rank… Better luck next time! Thank you all for tuning in, folks! Mike, roll the credits!”
Suddenly, a credits screen overlaid the two’s view as the curtains closed, everybody back stage now in a hurry to clean up as the two were pushed out of the way and to the sidelines, confused on if they were supposed to help, bumping into each other before interlocking elbows so they wouldn’t get knocked over or anything else of that sort.
Some shadowguy seemed to spot them, shouting at them, “♫♫♫♫♫♫!!!” Though, it sounded more like an abrupt and slightly ear rupturing horn than a scream. But, it told the two exactly what they needed to know, quickly getting out of the way of everybody else as they continued to hold elbows, making their way back to the green room where there wasn’t nobody this time but less people than the stage at least.
They stood in front of the man running the stand again, both looking a little frazzled from the abrupt ending of the show and everything beyond that. The man chuckled at seeing them again, currently wiping a glass clean as he asked, “How was the show, chums?”
“♫♫♫♫!? ♪♪! ♪♪♪♪!!!” They both answered in sync.
“Very stressful for a first day, innit? Sorry, luvs. I suppose you don’t know what we do around here still, do ya’?”
The two shook their heads in sync as well. They sure didn’t.
“We do TV, of course! Games, quizzes, all the likes. Only the best for the boss. You chums are backstage hands, like the rest of your folk. Dunno why the boss always wants to put you on stage first, but just how the wind blows ‘round ‘ere…! Another show won’t be put on for a couple o’ hours, so please chums, chat with your fellows, ey? Might help you get used to all o’ this.”
The two looked at each other. Well, at least this was better than the void they were so used to, even if it was stressful… They both chirped to show their appreciation for the man’s help, walking away to go to the door right next to the S-rank room to see if they could find any other shadowmen to socialize with, the bartender giving a friendly wave before they were out of his view.
When they entered, they saw a Zapper manning a stand, and without any prompt, the Zapper had told them, “Welcome to the ABC-Rank Rewards room. How may we assist you today?”
Kat hummed before Bun spoke up for the two of them, “♫♪♪♪♪♫♫?”
The Zapper took a few moments to respond, “... Sorry, I don’t know what you’re saying. I’ll just tell you what’s important. You both earned ranks from your quiz, A and C. That means the one with the little tail can go in the C, B and A-door, while the one with the long tail can go in only the C-door. (Please note; the A-door is for Arcade, B-door is for Ball Machine and C-door is for Cooler.) ”
They both were immediately startled by the information. Sure, they didn’t need to go anywhere together, they barely knew each other, but after going through all of that together… Just how could they separate now when things seemed to go a little smoother when sticking to one another? Bun almost said something before realizing the Zapper wouldn’t understand, so he furiously pointed at himself, then at Kat, before pointing at their still connected elbows.
“... You can’t separate?” The Zapper seemed to pick it up.
The two nodded as their answer, seeming to be thinking the same thing.
“... In that case, I suppose I can offer an inter-mediate; you both can enter the C and B-door if (and only if) you’re connected. You are welcome and enjoy.”
Well, if that was the best they were going to get, it was the best they had gotten! Kat sang happily in celebration which Bun found nice before he pulled the other into the C room, both surprised to see there was only a water cooler inside and nobody else. They creeped up to the left side of said watercooler after feeling an intense and powerful aura emanate from it, making sure not to look at it as instead they looked at each other (to be respectful of course).
“♪♪♪~?” Bun had asked, quietly of course as to not disturb the water cooler.
“♫♫!” Kat had replied, a little more reckless with his volume control but the water cooler didn’t seem to mind thankfully.
Back and forth they sang notes, learning deeper about each other than their simple names. Honestly, it was nice to chat to one another peacefully after all of the chaos they had just gone through… Well, that was until two Zappers came in, one exclaiming about his spot being taken.
The Zapper hadn’t meant anything by the exclamation, they were more shocked someone did take their spot and said that shock out loud without meaning to (they were going to politely ask for it back afterwards), but the sudden loud noise had the two immediately running away from the room and to the room next door, the B room, holding hands as they entered and shut the door.
Kat, like the clumsy thing he was, tripped however, sending himself head first into Bun’s back and forcing them both down to the floor. Thankfully, neither of them were too hurt, but they still squeaked out noises like a broken trumpet would. At some point during the fall though, Bun must’ve flipped onto the back, the two realizing the position they were in where Kat’s hands caged Bun underneath himself, their noses mere centimeters away from touching together. They both developed a blush as they just looked at each other before Kat screeched loudly, getting off of Bun before he brokenly emitted many sounds, almost like he was apologizing over and over, his hands going over where his eyes should’ve been had they existed.
Bun took a few moments before he sat up, lightly grabbing onto Kat’s hat to grab his attention before he took the hat off, Kat looking at him and the smile on his face as he said, “🎷🎷🎷! 🎷…🎷🎷🎷!~”
Kat’s blush grew from his cheeks to half his face, pink glowing as he looked flustered at the comment. The two had essentially only just met, and Bun was being this flirty over a genuine mistake? But Kat wouldn’t lie, it did make him cheer up about it… So he responded, “🎷🎷🎷…!”
Bun’s own blush grew too with the response, before he took his own hat off. Both their ears were perked up, their full attention on each other, before Kat embarrassingly leaned over just to put his head on Bun’s lap, getting comfortable just so his pink face wouldn’t have to be looking at him any longer. Bun found it amusing, some high pitched noises coming out of him to sound similar to a chuckle, but he started to pet Kat’s head who was leaning into his touches.
And there they stayed for the rest of their break, nobody coming in to ruin their peace thankfully. Bun petted Kat’s head so much in fact that Kat was soothed to sleep, Bun being able to sing to him during his sleep little compliments and flirts to get all his thoughts out while the poor Shadowguy couldn’t hear it. And it was all just so nice…
Until a Pippins had to run in and yell at them to get to work, they were already late for their second shift!
Chapter 2: Bad Day Takes The Joy Away
Chapter Text
Kat was supposed to be turning off the spotlight after the show had just finished wrapping up, but instead he watched Bun from above who was currently sweeping the floor. Kat’s attention was caught by the hums he could barely hear from Bun over the noises of everybody else, but also his tail swishing around…
Hearts almost swooned from his head at seeing Bun so happy, leaning both his arms on the spotlight to watch Bun better. But Kat accidentally leaned on the spotlight too much and before he knew it, it crashed to the ground, scaring everybody including himself as he yelped in a prolonged high pitch.
He then saw everybody’s eyes on him, including Bun, hearts quickly popping as he was embarrassed, a blush and frown now appearing on his face as he whistled out an apology. Most people looked away after that, still annoyed however from the rare slip-up on Kat’s part, but Bun was still staring at him. Kat tried to give a wave, trying to pick back up his smile, but just as he tried doing so Bun’s back was to him again.
Kat quietly groaned like an instrument to himself, even more embarrassed… He quickly went to turn off the rest of the spotlights, quickly hopping back to the ground once done and rushing to the green room, heading all the way to the right before being stopped by the guard-Zapper, “No one gets inside. Mr. Tenna’s orders, remember?”
Kat looked as furious as he could with only his mouth to communicate, blaring very loud sounds and hurting the guard-Zapper who was just doing his job’s non-existent ears before he poked and prodded at the buttons on his chest. “Alright, alright! I got it, no more, no more! Just be outta there quick, got it?”
The guard-Zapper quickly zoomed out of the way, Kat angrily opening the doors before slamming them shut behind himself as he maneuvered through the dark halls and puzzles, angrily chirping to himself to try to get his anger out from the mistake he made. He was usually so good at his job! But he knew everybody was going to be mad for a few days after only one tiny slip-up…
He made it outside, the snow blowing like it always did, and he slowly slid down the wall right by the door, sitting with his legs to his chest, arms wrapped around said legs to keep a little warmth in the cold. His tail tucked around them too, just for extra measure.
He was only making little squeaks of noise to himself now in a mumble before he finally shut up, tears starting to produce. Really, he almost never cried, but since he was alone and just berated himself about a million times, he thought it was only fair he be allowed to. He was quiet about it however, just letting his tears run down his face and freeze it even further before the drops hit the snow below.
It was quite the few minutes of solitude and peace (the tears disappeared after only about a minute or two of it) before he heard steps nearby, from inside the building, looking at the door only to see Bun appear, looking a little scared before he caught onto Kat, a whistle of a sigh coming out of him as he immediately kneeled to give Kat a hug.
Kat wasn’t expecting it, but leaned into the hug, tail now wrapping around Bun instead. Then, after the hug, Bun held onto Kat’s shoulders, frantically shaking him as he let out short bursts of loud noises, berating Kat for suddenly leaving without telling him and worrying him.
Kat got a bit dizzy from the shaking, having to loudly squeak to get Bun to stop, head still moving slightly from the dizziness before Kat shook his head to try telling Bun he didn’t mean to worry him, just needed a place to reset before they took their break, all in the form of saxophone noises of course.
And despite having no real facial features, Kat could see the concern on Bun, so Kat gave a kiss to his sharp nose to try to convince him he was alright. Bun seemed a little shocked at the affection, Kat never initiated affection first, but Bun smiled as he then gave Kat a smooch on his cheek to pay him back.
Kat let out a shrill yelp out of happiness, face going slightly pink and a smile finally returning to his face. Exactly the kind of sight that made Bun kiss Kat's face even more, wherever he could, holding it in place with his hands now.
Kat felt warmer once the kissing started, both on the inside and out, shrill sounds coming out of him with each kiss from surprised joy. His hands now wrapped around Bun as well, bringing them even closer.
After a minute or two of the kissing, Bun finally stopped, the two humming together in sync now as they cuddled. Kat felt a million times better now, knowing Bun wasn't that angry with him.
Perhaps he could deal with the cold shoulder from the others, so long as he still had his Bun…
Chapter 3: Lost Little Baby And Make-Believe Parents
Chapter Text
The two were going through the quizzes in the quiz hall, making sure they were all working alright just as Tenna had specifically asked of them, before they noticed two unmoving screens on one of the walls of screens… At first they were only going to report that before Kat also noticed in front of them a little bright blue orb with a pink bow on it just sitting on the floor.
Kat picked it up to examine it as Bun came up behind him to also look.
Both had never really seen such a thing before, but if it had a bow on, it must’ve belonged to someone! So, Kat sat down right next to the two seemingly broken screens, holding the strange orb carefully in both hands.
Bun asked, “♪♫♪♪?” Kat just responded with a pat to his left side, Bun taking a moment before he walked a little and plopped right down, the back of his head hitting the wall softly as he looked at the orb as well now.
As Kat held it more however, he started to feel the little rumbles it gave out from the inside, showing something must’ve been alive in there, alerting him to give a little squeak when he realized. Of course, Bun questioned why he had been suddenly spooked, Kat giving an answer of, “♪♫♫♫♪♪!”
Bun looked surprised at the information before one of his hands landed softly on the top of it, keeping them there for a few minutes before he too could feel the little shakes of life inside. His hands were quickly taken off when he felt them, looking just as shocked as Kat had been before he saw that Kat’s face had a slight blush from happiness and a small smile, his shock dropping instead for confusion.
“♫♫♫♫?” He had questioned Kat, Kat looking at him with that soft smile and making his face heat up with his answer of, “♪♪♫♪♪♪♪… 🎷🎷~”
Bun had never even thought of having children before, mostly because it was unheard of for their species seeing that they came to life thanks to their light world objects being manufactured, but had also never really thought of adoptions before… Mostly because there was barely any child darkners around, especially in the TV World, but still.
He didn’t have any kind of instinct to become a father, and really none of the shadowmen should, but here Kat was, cooing over the idea of a child like this one being their own, carefully caressing the tiny thing like a good papa would. Honestly it was such a cute sight that Bun didn’t mind the idea of being parents despite their work schedule which probably would’ve made it impossible.
But their cute moment was cut short by Tenna finding them, screaming out of fear as his hands were on the top of his head. The two were spooked, their attention gotten as he rushed over to them, stealing the orb (which they had figured out was probably an egg) back from them.
“JUST WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOU’RE DOING!?” He yelled at them, obviously upset at whatever they had done (though it confused them greatly), “I TOLD YOU TO CHECK THE QUIZZES, NOT RUMMAGE THROUGH MY BELONGINGS!!!” They noticed he held the egg softly between his hands and as far away from them as possible however…
“♪? ♫♫♪♪♫♫♫. ♪♪♪♫,” Bun tried to explain for the both of them, Tenna looking a tiny bit less angry but it was obvious that his anger was still there even with that new knowledge.
“WELL, NEXT TIME YOU REPORT THIS… THIS PRIZE STRAIGHT TO ME IF YOU SEE IT AGAIN, GOT IT!?”
Both of them nodded in understanding before he yelled at them promptly, “NOW GET BACK TO WORK!!!”
The two immediately got up, walking away, but they caught a glimpse of Tenna caressing and comforting the egg as they left, wondering what that must have been about, not connecting the dots.
Kurubyz_Heartz_Kirby on Chapter 2 Mon 01 Sep 2025 05:43AM UTC
Comment Actions
Kurubyz_Heartz_Kirby on Chapter 2 Mon 01 Sep 2025 06:34AM UTC
Comment Actions
Tomster1274 on Chapter 2 Mon 01 Sep 2025 06:16PM UTC
Comment Actions