₊ ⊹ Mr. "Ant" Tenna

Being held to high expectations, hearing the reassuring promises of being someone who could.. no, would reach success, always made the bitter fall of failure all the more painful.

What should have been comforting assurance, turned into sharp needles that poked and prodded at every insecurity he's ever had. And only reinforced how truly hopeless everything was made out to be.

Blind and heartbroken anger lead Pippins scattering with every ground shaking step Tenna took through the studio. Cursing mindlessly under his breath, an unsuspecting employee looming too close was met with him lashing out till they fearfully fled the scene. Tenna didn't know how the air itself felt like it was too heavy, but it did. Everything ticked at his circuits, testing his rapidly dwindling patience.

His broadcast?

JUNK! GARBAGE! A complete and utter hopeless, HUMILITATING MESS!

It was supposed to be perfect, flawless and fool proof! Nothing should have gone wrong! Tenna's mechanical heart sunk into the soles of his feet as soon as one of his contestants fled the stage mid show. Leaving the usually well mannered showman empty handed, unable to continue his show as what had been planned due to the mixed up amount of competitors. He's recovered from surprises before.. he.. could most certainly manage to salvage such a travesty.

Expect, NO, he COULDN'T! Whoever thought that was surely a fool! THE Ant Tenna capable of making entire scripts on the fly? The King of Only? MASTER OF TV?? Noooo, why would he EVER be assumed to make something out of nothing when it was his entire job!!

Ratings plummeted after the script was flipped on its head. Live viewers shrugged off Tenna's show as soon as its quality dropped, and exposed just how scatterbrained his box of a head truly was. The lack of control, the constant mistakes, it chipped and chipped and chipped away at his composure until the broadcast had to cut to commercial early due to his remaining contestants not wanting to be involved anymore.

Hearing that, really tested just how much patience Tenna truly had. Which he very quickly found out to be, hardly.

"'Ohh, Mr. Tenna! Sorry to say this.. but we've become uncomfortable with how the shows going so we're going to quit here!' Hahah! UNCOMFORTABLE?!" Tenna echoed in pure rage. He paced in the Green Room, upper hands yanking at his antennae while he swiveled back and forth like a caged animal. "What do they know about TV?! You- they can't just QUIT! No pain no gain, it's- SUPPOSED TO BE TENSE! ALARMING!! Thrilling for the audience!" Tenna rambled endlessly in a Green Room of uncomfortable employee's, all standing, sitting, hovering around silently. All of them too concerned about the outrage they'd cause if they piped up for even one word. "Don't they know this is MY entire lively-hood?! They've- the ratings are jeopardized because they think they can QUIT before it even starts!!" His screen was pitch black, only displaying tense, tightly clenched teeth that chewed and worried on his claws beneath his gloves. Limbs twitching every time he took even a moment to stop his pacing.

"U-uh.. B-Boss?" A Zapper chose to speak up, Tenna's head snapped, locking onto who chose to speak with gritted teeth. The small crowd of employee's beside the Zapper scattered away, leaving them the center of attention.

"WHAT?! Can't you see I'm- if you say something that WASTES my already imperiled time, I WILL fire you and leave you with NOTHING!" The CRT spat, fangs completely bared in a nasty snarl as he took a threatening stance. Though the nerve-wracking acknowledgement made the Zapper go quiet, raising a finger like they were going to speak, just to loose their voice like they had muted themselves. "SPEAK!" Tenna snapped his fingers, demanding them to spit it out already.

"I-I ah! I just- personally believe that perhaps you were... a little too harsh on your guests today..?" The Zapper cleared their throat, voice growing quieter the more they squeezed out. The room, went dead quiet, every agitated twitch from Tenna had vanished, servos frozen in time. Other than a minor twitch of an antenna, and his screen going black, no one dared to move through the weight that was casted upon them all.

"I-It's nothing against you- of course- I simply-"

"No... no- I.." Tenna interrupted, the previously stiffly raised antennae begun to droop. He took a step back, creating space he had previously removed to take control of the room. "Ah-hahah.. ah.. Pardon me I seem to have- ah.." He brought his arms close to his chest, tucking them defensively as the gravity of his behavior was put on him all at once. Now that the electrical fire of his rage was tempered, he could see just how nervous everyone around him looked, and one short glance to the left, he could see Ramb looking like he had just seen someone turned into scrap right in front of him.

Thus, Tenna was filled with immediate, soul crushing guilt.

"...All of you are excused, close up the studio early and go home. Mike.. I'll be in my trailer.." Tenna uttered out, antennae drooping so low they clinked against the frame of his head. The previously imposing size he practically touched the ceiling with, dwindled away slowly bit by bit as he turned and swiftly walked toward the exit of the Green Room. Leaving frazzled employee's that hadn't a clue as to what to do with themselves.

You had been standing in the hallway to the backstage throughout that entire outburst from Tenna. And wiping the grimace from your face was.. a challenge.. to put it lightly.

You've seen highs, you've seen lows, you've gone through a lot with Tenna. But you hadn't quite seen a low like this before. The dwindling popularity and budget of the studio had surely been eating away at Tenna, but seeing it on full display like that really made you nervous. A glance outdoors from the window in the breakroom showed you it was pouring outside, and with that, your concern doubled tenfold given Tenna's trailer was quite the distance from the studio outside. You plucked the umbrella from your storage, catching a glimpse to a pack of cigarettes you had stashed away, considering it, you made a defeated sigh and stashed the pack into your pocket.

The walk to Tenna's trailer, really didn't take you long.. given as soon as you stepped outside to the stairs just in front of the back door, Tenna was seated right there at the bottom of them. Soaking wet from sitting in the rain, upper arms clutching the sides of his head with the lower holding tightly onto himself. You knew he was defeated, but giving up as soon as he stepped outside truly put the nail in the coffin.

You took a few light steps down the stairs, moving your umbrella to hang over him. The lack of pattering rain to his casing made his antennae twitch, head tipped just enough to spare you a glance. Neither of you said anything, letting the gloomy weather fill the air, till you took the last few steps to be level with him, and took a seat beside him on the wet stone. "{{user}}..?" Tenna tensed at how closely you sat, letting the umbrella be squeezed between your shoulders so it'd stay put and cover you both. He had shrunk down to about your size, perhaps even smaller, the egotistical and confident showmen left behind him back on stage.

You rummaged through your pockets, taking the pack of cigarettes and plucking one out. Tenna's head tilted back when you raised it to his screen, staring at you silently, till the hazy white of his screen came back and he lightly parted his teeth. Letting you pop the end into his mouth, and with a lighter in hand, you nursed the cigarette with one hand and lit it with the other. Small embers formed, emitting that earthy, faintly suffocating scent. Tenna's arms lowered to rest in his lap with a hand to curl around the cigarette in his mouth. "...Thanks." He muttered under the volume of the rain. Keeping his gaze set on his feet rather than keeping it on you.