Chapter Text
Being a pippins sucked. Battat would like to say he was used to it, but ever since he was ripped out of the Card Kingdom and thrown into TV World, things had become weird and overall difficult.
Battat wasn't a stranger to being the smallest type of darkner in the room. As a pippins, he was a tiny darkner compared to the rest. Dice aren't exactly known for being large (Battat is forever jealous of the larger pippins who have bigger than normal light world counterparts). In the Card Kingdom, he would often find himself being a third of the height of most of the others. Many game pieces however would be around his own height, if only a tad taller.
It was nice having more than just pippins to talk to on your own level. He was still often the smallest in the room, but at least it was easy to get used to.
TV World however was a different story. Everyone here was massive.
He has been here for a day and is already fearing for his own safety and well being. He and the rest of the pippins that were removed from the school playroom and brought to the Dreemurr household were struggling to adapt, as if they were given much time to. Most of the other darkners didn't quite realize that there was a new type of darkner introduced to the scene.
The shadowguys were Battat's favorite so far, but who knows how long that will last. Some of the shadowy darkners had taken notice of the pippins darting around and were quick to either let out weird panicked sounding music notes and sweep them off of the floor and take them to a counter or were quick to scream in terror and run. Battat does not understand why some of them are scared of the pippins, the dice darkners only came up to their knees! But that was also most likely the reason they were aware of the pippins existence.
The zappers were turning out to be a hassle. Most of them towered over the pippins at a tall 8 feet in height and were honestly an intimidating sight to behold. Most of the zappers hadn't even realized there was a new type of darkner in the studio as they were too tall and too focused on their jobs.
Key word: most.
Much to Battat's luck, he had nearly been smacked halfway across the hall and then scooped up by not a shadowguy, but a particularly large zapper. This one was a good head or more taller than all of the other zappers he's seen. Battat had come to the quick realization that he fit all too easily in their hands and was now being ogled at. Despite the lack of eyes. Or any facial features really. Battat did not like not being able to easily read this darkner's emotions.
"Lil' buddy? Youse alright dere?" They had a rather thick accent as they spoke. Battat wasn't quite sure on what it was, but it was interesting. Too bad he was in their hands and two seconds from having a panic attack.
He opened his mouth to speak, to tell the towering darkner to put him down and go about their day, but the words stuck in his throat and left him looking like a fish trying to breath out of water. Eventually, he just shut his mouth and gave the zapper a curt nod.
To his dismay, the zapper didn't quite seem to buy that and hummed curiously at him. Battat felt a bead of sweat drip down his face. Curiosity by a darkner this much larger than him could not spell anything good, especially since the pippins easily fit into their cupped hands. He needed an out and fast.
Battat glanced around, chest heaving slightly as the realization that there was not a good way to easily escape the zapper's hold. His claws curled slightly and dug into one of the gloves under him. A slight noise of surprise escaped the zapper and before Battat could question it, the towering darkner began moving.
Battat clutched harder onto the gloves, even unconsciously moving to tightly grip one of the fingers beside him. The appendage seemed to curl into him as he grabbed it and despite his screaming mind telling him he was in danger, the small gesture nearly felt comforting.
Before he knew it, the zapper had slithered the two of them into a dim side room. The pippins glanced around, eyes widening slightly as he realized it was now just him and the massive darkner in this room.
It felt like his heart was going to rip free from his chest at any moment. His vision blurred at the edges as his mind reeled with all the possibilities of what could happen.
All at once, the thoughts came to a screeching halt as a finger gingerly landed on top of his head, rubbing it ever so softly. His heart seemed to stutter and his breath caught, all as if his body was trying to decide whether to continue panicking or if it was safe to calm down.
"Hey, lil' guy. I gonna set youse down now."
Battat's voice still caught in his throat but that didn't seem to deter the zapper. As promised, they lowered their hands to a table and gently slid Battat off. The pippins claws stayed latched on the glove, earning a quiet chuckle from the zapper. Battat seemed to realize what he was holding onto and quickly let go, face turning green in embarrassment.
The two of them stood there in silence for a moment. All Battat could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his ears and the sounds of his own breaths leaving his mouth. What in the Angel's name is he supposed to do in a situation like this? He's now alone in this dim and secluded room with a massive darkner. Anything could happen and that sent spikes of cold anxiety down his body.
"Whys are youse green?"
Battat blinked once. Twice. Three times.
He slowly adjusted his gaze to tilt his head up to face the remote, eyes wide.
"What."
There's no way that is what the zapper chose to ask. Not possible. He couldn't possibly have heard them correctly. They didn't possibly ask why he was green of all things they could have asked. Absolutely no way.
To the zapper's credit, their face, or lack thereof, seemed to radiate some heat and a faint pink blush lined the upper portion of their head. They brought one of those massive hands up and rubbed behind their head, swaying slightly in place.
"Oh, sorrys. Dat was incense- uh, in the sense- intense… uhm, not nice to say, was it?"
Battat paused before hesitantly speaking, "…Insensitive?"
The zapper perked up, their head wiggling back and forth in what Battat could only interpret at happiness. Interesting, this is the most physically expressive zapper the pippins has ever seen.
"Yeas! That word! Thanks, lil' buddy!"
Battat mutely nodded, partially in shock. There was no way that this zapper had any bad intentions with him. And if they did, then they were the best actor Battat has ever seen. But he's good at deducing a situation's severity and searching for hidden facts. He's fairly certain this zapper means no ill will.
That thought did weird things to his insides. A darkner who had the potential to have the upper hand on him who wasn't going to take advantage of their clear advantage of strength and size? The concept was foreign to the pippins.
"Oh, I guess to answer your question, I was born like this. I just… am. Green, I mean."
The zapper nodded sagely as if Battat had just imparted ancient wisdom on them. He had to muffle a quiet snort from escaping him at the taller darkner's reaction.
"Makes sense, I was born like dis too. Super tall. I ams taller than all tha other zaps' as well…" They suddenly lowered their voice sheepishly, a sad tone sneaking into their voice, "Theys don' like me very much. Theys think I waste my size and strain- shrin- uhm-"
"Strength?" Battat interjected, earning a thankful nod from the zapper.
"Yea, that. They think I waste that and that I's too nice to others. I think theys need to learn to care for tha other darkners instead a' bein' mean and uptight all tha time."
Battat hummed idly. "Nah, they're just jealous that you got good qualities and they didn't. After all, not every day a pippins comes across a tall darkner like you that's chill with us… hey, why are you chill with me?"
The zapper seemed to flinch and deflate slightly at the question. They settled their hands onto the table, clearly taking care to be as gentle as possible. The table barely wavered despite their massive size as they sunk down slightly. They almost seemed to look apologetic as they glanced away.
"I dunno… I guess youse just looked like youse needed a friend…"
Any response Battat had died in his throat. He clenched his claws a few times, trying to process that. Eventually, he risked a glance up at the zapper and noted that they still weren't looking at him.
He muttered silent profanities under his breath. Damn, he better not regret this.
"Well… I think you look like you need a friend too." The zapper swung their head around, gaze clearly locked onto Battat in shock despite the lack of facial features required to actually convey that emotion. He wondered how he even knew they were looking at him. Must be some darkner magic.
"Really? Youse wanna be… my friend?"
The pippins scoffed, a pale green hue dusting his cheeks as he rolled his eyes. "I don't see any other odd darkners around here."
The zapper wiggled their head happily and Battat had no time to react as their hands darted out and lifted him off of the table. He yelped as his head was rolled slightly, the jostle being just enough to make him land on a four. Whoa, been a while since he's rolled over a two.
A red gloved finger quickly rested against his head as if helping to still it. "Sorry, lil' buddy. Didn't means to roll ya. Or pick youse up like that."
Battat waved a hand towards the zapper, trying to shake off the high of his head spinning. "A-all good. You already owe me for nearly smacking me across the hall with your tail anyways."
Their face gained a pink flush. "R-right! So sorrys! I didn' mean ta!"
Battat waved them off, not looking at them as his face turned another shade greener.
"How about this? Make it up to me for now by giving me your name. Else I'm gonna start calling you oaf."
The zapper straightened out, jostling Battat again slightly. Thankfully, their finger was still resting against his head so he wasn't sent spinning again.
"Of course! Name's Jongler!"
Battat nodded curtly. "Battat."
The newly named Jongler wiggled in place, finger gently petting one of his faces. Their finger was warm, as was the rest of their hand. It felt like a mini heater, Battat fought the urge to try burrowing into the warmth, though it felt more difficult by the minute.
Looking at the happy zapper holding him, Battat was sure he made a good ally… a good friend. He definitely needed one of those, and maybe having such a large darkner on his side would be a good thing in the end. If he couldn't trust the other pippins, then hopefully this zapper could be someone reliable.
Only time will tell.