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"Time well spent"
The air in waterfall was still slightly fresh, despite the general stuffy atmosphere of the underground. Not like Cupid would know how it usually is down here, anyways - he has just appeared there, after all. He wasn't sure how and why he has ended up knee deep in water, surrounded by glowing, whispering flowers and mountains of trash towering over him - the only thing he was sure is he was wet, cold, confused and alone. The water sloshed beneath his feet as he slowly made his way forward, picking a random direction - not like he could go back to where he came from if he doesn't remember where this "back" exactly is. The flowers
echoed whispers, leaving Cupid with the eerie feeling that someone was following him.
But they weren't. He was alone, lost in this strange, watery prison. It was completely foreign to him, nothing at all like Cyber City.
Maybe that was a good thing. Cyber City had been rough. Pink... hadn't had the best life there. Sure, he'd done his best to make it work, but would it really be so bad to have a fresh start? To start over where nobody knew about him. Where nobody would have any preconceived notions about him based upon his past job, and more importantly, a world with no Spamton G. Spamton.
Fuck Spamton. Not literally. More like with fire, not with a dick. Spamton had torn his heart into shreds, AND skipped rent. He was a fucking deadbeat two-timing thief, and Cupid hoped that he rotted on the streets.
He stooped down, bringing a sip of the water to his nose, sniffing it. It didn't seem dangerous. But was it safe to just drink some random mystery water from a strange place? He should focus on finding shelter. If he was going to move in here, he'd need to get a place to live. Did this new location accept Dark Dollars?
He thought he saw movement - was there a darkner up ahead? Maybe he should go and check.
When Cupid got closer, a clear silhouette appeared; it was a taller darkner.
He had clearly seen better days, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he picked at the ground with a single hand.
he sat by one of the patches of echo flowers, humming along to something that sounded like a made-up tune in his head.
the whispers of long-gone days played as a soft but sad memory on the sprouts as he sat watching the water ripple from the waterfalls not far away.
"Uh... Hi?" Cupid spoke, wincing as he startled the oversize... that was weird. This guy actually looked kinda like a damaged Ant Tenna. The guy Spamton had somehow found himself running toward when he skipped out on him in the dead of night without so much as a goodbye. So much as an explanation.
Sure, they'd never been *official* or anything, but did the years they'd spent together mean nothing? Was he just someone to use while he discovered himself until something better came along?!
Not the point. This guy had way too much damage to be *the* Mr. Ant Tenna of Mr. Ant Tenna's T.V. Time. Cracked screen, missing arm, no reason to take his frustrations out on this guy.
"Oh! Sorry, you startled me," Not-Mr. Ant Tenna said, sounding horribly *similar* to Mr. Ant Tenna. Cupid tried not to think about it too much. His temper risked getting the better of him. His broken heart still smarted, even if he didn't want to admit it.
"Right uh... sorry about that. I don't mean to bother you or anything but I'm kinda lost."
"Lost! Ha, that's a good one. getting lost in a place like the underground." The TV snickered like he'd made a joke. Cupid stared blankly at him for an awkward moment of tense silence. "Oh, you're serious?"
Cupid gave the TV a sharp glare. "Of course I am you dumbass-" the words being barked out with a harsher tone than expected. Which caused the other individual to shift back, and for an awkward silence to settle in.
Neither party did anything for what felt like forever. Though a hearty staticky laughter left the TV darkner. "Well, no need to be like that, hm?" Cupid fiddled with his hands as this darkner began to stood up and approach. He was way more gargantuan than expected. Seemingly smaller than the Ant Tenna he knew atleast, yet this TV could very much demand the space if one desired... or maybe there's too much of a meek energy to be able to do such.
"So..." that darkner began to spoke again. "..how did you even get lost?" There was a curious tone to those words, which lead to something in Cupid's gut to twist. Not out of fondness, but a sort of dread. /How does he explain his situation? Of how he was minding his own business and somehow stumbled upon this dark world?/
"Uh...
Well, I don't exactly know myself. I'm ah...not from around here, so--"
"What? You fell from aboveground? From Mount Ebbot?"
"Mount what? No, no--no mountain. I was in the middle of restocking my storefront when--well, nothing really *happened,* I just sorta *showed up here* ((thought I heard the *klick klack* of a keyboard but that was probably just my imagination...))."
The fractured TV cocked his monitor, tapping a single finger off his lower bezel. "Well, that's odd," he murmured, screen turned up to the far-off, sparkling ceiling. "The nearest storefront is quite aways off and I certainly don't remember seeing anyone as *vibrant* as you--I'd certainly remember such lovely plumage!" He chuckled and somehow blushed across his mossy green display.
Cupid looked off in embarrassment, bashfully squeezing the back of his neck. "Yeah, like I said I'm not from around here. So, mister...TV, where's the exit?"
"Ahh, I'm afraid there isn't one! I'm sure that's not great to hear, but you're free to sit with me as you figure things out!"
Cupid took in his form, the bulk of that one, practiced arm and the chest it connected to. "...alrgiht."
Cupid eyed the ground before finding a spot to settle. He bent down in a crouch, not wanting to get any grime on his feathers or clothes.
"You look like you've been here for a while. Did you lose the studio or something?" Cupid asked casually.
Tenna's shoulder shot up to the bottom of his tv head.
"... Something like that."
Tenna let out an awkward chuckle, and while Cupid typically didn't pay attention to body language unless he was trying to make a sale, he noticed that it may have been a sore spot for the hunk of junk.
A more curious man would have pried a little bit more into that, asked questions, maybe gotten to know the TV he was likely stuck with for an indeterminate amount of time. Cupid didn't. He stood up, wiped a little bit of debris from his shirt and pants, and started trudging away from the Tenna through the knee-deep water.
"Well I think that's enough wallowing. I am going to find a way out. Thanks for nothing." It didn't seem like the broken down robot was following him at first, but eventually there was another heavy sloshing of water not far behind him, with much larger strides bringing the TV back to the Addison's side quickly enough.
"... I'm sorry- did you not--"
"No, I heard you alright," Cupid turned on his heel, standing defiantly against the giant with hands placed on his hips, his tail fanned behind him, making him appear a little larger based off of instinct along, not that he thought the TV was much of a threat, "I'm just choosing not to believe you."
That only seemed to confuse the much bigger man, his antennae bobbing as he tilted his monitor to the side like a curious dog. "... Why would I lie about that?"
"I'unno." Cupid turned around once again, continuing his trek.
"Because people lie. Especially famous people."
Cupid leaves off in a final tone. Something was wrong with ALL of this. He felt... Like he didn't belong HERE. Not just the dumpy area, but the 'Underground' as a whole. Despite being under maybe a mountain? It felt too bright. Like he could burn up like a match while he was here. Or some not-sexy vampire.
They ignored anything else the TV had to say and walked beyond the exit, hoping to be left alone.
But the underground was painfully friendly- And painfully curious. An unknown, souless 'monster' was going to cause a news outbreak for certain. They just wanted to go back to their shitty apartment and smoke some not soaked cigs.