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It was late at night, most of the house was asleep, or at least trying. The quiet, echoing sound of pixelated guns and explosions rang throughout the house. While it was tedious most have gotten used to the occurrence every few nights.
Connie is sitting right in front of Telly. Eyes glued to his ‘screen’ while her controller was connected to a socket in his back. She’s been playing for a few hours, determined to beat the boss she kept dying on. Telly was attempting to keep his head up cause if not he knew Connie was gonna get mad at him for making her get hit or miss a shot.
“This STUPID BOSS!” She yelled through gritted teeth as she threw the controller onto the ground, making a loud clacking noise.
Telly sighed. Was it a sigh of relief or frustration? Could be either. He slowly picked up the controller and unplugged it from his back. Connie raises an eyebrow.
“H-hey-! Wait I’m not done-! I was this close to winning!” Connie says, grabbing the controller from Telly’s hands, trying to find the outlet she used again before Telly’s hand stopped her.
“C-Connie- Listen! It’s late, 2am. Everyone is trying to sleep and- I myself is starting to doze off… Can’t we take this tomorrow…?” He asked. The tiredness evident in his voice and eyes, way less enthusiastic, even stopped rhyming.
Connie seemed a bit hesitant to answer, while on one hand she really wanted to continue playing, she knew she was just burning out herself and Telly.
With a hesitant sigh she nodded and pulled away, putting the controller down. Telly smiled and sat up, stretching a bit before heading over to his table stand, taking a seat and closing his eyes.
“Well goodnight, Connie… We’ll pick this back up tomorrow, k?” He muttered tiredly as his shoulders slumped.
Connie looked over Telly before sighing to herself.
“Goodnight, Telly…”
She stood up herself and walked to stand next to him, as Telly’s form started shifting back into a regular TV. She sat beside him while she tried to get her mind rested but just couldn’t. All that playing and anger should’ve tuckered her out but it just didn’t. Without Telly, she didn’t really know what to do.
The next morning rolls around and Telly wakes up. His screen flickering on before he stretches out into his humanized form. A wide grin on his face as for he’s gotten a good night's rest.
“Goooood Mornin’!!” He yelps out as his screen flickers on, turning on the weather channel.
“Gonna be rainy all day it seems!” He says enthusiastically as MC walks into the living room.
Once Telly spotted MC he flickered the channels into something a little more interesting, seeing that MC had the dateviators on.
“Good morning my favorite viewer!” He chuckled as he stood up at his full height.
“Morning Telly…” MC grumbles, still a little tired.
“So, what are ya gonna do today in such a drowsy dismay??” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Umm… Stay inside like usual? Isn’t much I want to do, especially when it’s raining out… Might spend some time with Wyndolyn…” MC spoke as he took a seat on the couch, leaning back.
Telly nodded before looking down at his table stand, noticing something missing.
“Hey, have you seen Connie this morning?” Telly asked, realizing Connie wasn’t in her usual spot.
“Uhh, I think I saw her in the kitchen this morning… Why?” MC replied, raising an eyebrow.
Telly looked a little confused before shrugging it off, getting up and heading over to the kitchen, tossing MC the remote before leaving.
Upon entering the kitchen he sees Connie up in front of Kopi, filling up a cup of coffee.
“Yo Connie!” He calls out, raising an eyebrow.
Connie’s attention was shot to Telly, almost dropping the cup in the moment.
“T-Telly-! You’re awake-!” She seemed very happy and eager to see Telly, but also a little exhausted?
“Yeah, I’m awake? It’s morning. Wasn’t aware you liked coffee…” He chuckled, pointing to the coffee Connie was holding in her hands.
“Uh? Oh-! Umm- Y-yeah we just ran out of energy drinks so-“
“Energy drinks? You shouldn’t be having that kinda stuff for breakfast y’know.” He told her, looking a little concerned.
“I-I know but I was tired and needed something to wake me up-!” She smiled, putting the half drunken coffee down before walking up to Telly, grabbing his hands with hers and starting to drag him to the living room.
“Oh? Did you not get any sleep last night?” He asked, following Connie as she dragged him.
“Y-yes I did! But you know how I am in the mornings!” Connie sighed as she took out the controller, shoving Telly down onto the floor and sitting down in front of him.
Telly looked a little concerned but didn’t think much of it because it could’ve just been another off day. He took the end of the controller and plugged it into his back, having the game boot up on his ‘screen’. Connies eyes were glued to the screen as she played, putting all her focus into it.
Two hours had gone by already. The rain was pouring aggressively outside as everyone around the house was getting comfortable. It was a day to relax. A soft, cozy atmosphere, the rain gently hitting against the window. But Connie was over here spending all her time on a single boss.
Telly had made a promise to let Connie play today, but still, he felt out of it. It’s been weeks of just him letting Connie use him for her games, but it’s starting to feel tiresome, and he could tell she was feeling that too.
With a deep sigh he reached forward and grabbed Connie’s wrists.
“Hey Connie-“
“Wha-! Let go-!” She quickly snatched her wrists back as she continued, Telly could see the frustration building up inside her.
“Connie- You’ve been playing non-stop for weeks now. Isn’t it time for a break?” He asked, looking down at her.
“But I’m so close-! I can’t stop now-!” She complains and gets killed for the millionth time. A loud frustrated groan came from her as she tossed the controller again.
Telly himself looked irritated now, but not at the game.
“Connie! Your time spent on this game is over 100 hours! And look! You’ve made no progress these past few days cause you’ve just been angry and frustrated the entire time playing!” Telly shouted, his voice ringing out throughout the house.
“It’s not my fault this boss is so fucking hard!!” She yelled back with equally as much anger, rolling her eyes.
“I’m just saying-! Maybe if you took a break you could get your shit together and you’d actually be able to beat the boss!!”
As the two argued, more dateables in the house started getting drawn to the drama, looking curious. While some wanted the tea, others were just annoyed and/or concerned. It wasn’t often they’ve seen Connie and Telly lash out at each other like that, and it was pretty obvious the two were both very exhausted.
“And if you could just realize that for one fucking second-“
“Yo, yo! What’s goin’ on here…?” Bodhi asked in confusion as he heard the two argue.
The two quickly went quiet before Connie looked even angrier.
“You see! Now you’re getting everyone else involved!!” She yelled, looking pissed.
“Me-?! You’re the one yelling so much!”
“It’s you who can’t control your volume!” She says, shoving Telly.
“Woah now!” Bodhi said, stepping in between the two as he saw things started getting physical.
“Let’s all try and calm down, we don’t needa fight…” He said in a calm tone, trying to bring down the tension in everyone.
“Connie, I think you should go take a break for a few minutes, just think…” He said, putting a hand on her shoulder which quickly got swiped away as she stormed off.
With a loud sigh, Telly’s shoulders slumped, looking defeated.
“Was what I said really that bad…?” He asked Bodhi, looking unsure in himself.
“Nah dude, of course not! She’s just tired and upset, it’s normal to have those kinda outbursts and reactions…” He responds with a soft smile, patting Telly on the back.
As Telly sat down on his table stand he looked utterly exhausted.
“I thought I had gotten a good night's rest…” They grumbled as he rubbed their eyes. Bodhi looked sympathetic.
“Even with a good night’s rest, a burn out still remains without a proper break.” He smiled, looking at his TV friend.
“Yeah well guess what? I just had to raise my voice like usual and get her riled up. And now she’s mad, and who knows how long it’ll take before she forgives me!” They leaned back, their head hitting the wall.
“My guy, just give it some time! Friends argue all the time, and you’re both tired, you both need a break away from each other anyways…”
Telly thought about that for a few seconds before nodding his head.
“Y-yeah, I think I just need a break…” He nods while rubbing the back of his neck.
Meanwhile Connie was in the kitchen, grumbling curses under her breath as she stomped around. Luke and Stefan watched in mild concern.
“And what’s got you stomping around in my kitchen?” Stefan asked, pointing his spatula at her.
“Telly! It’s Telly! He’s yelling at me again and being loud-!! I just- UGH!! Why am I so mad-?!!” She says, swinging her hand to hit a vase off the table before Luke stopped her.
“Woah there!! Don’t do that! Daisuke will get mad!” Luke said as she held Connie’s wrist, swinging her around to face them.
“And hey! I can’t really blame Telly for getting mad! You’ve been using him non-stop! They’re probably exhausted! Trust me I would know…” Stefan says as he looks down at Connie, his eyebrows knitted together.
“Yeah, and don’t you think you’re burning out yourself?” Luke asked Connie which only got a confused look from her as a response.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, from what I’ve seen, you’re not even enjoying yourself while you play the game anymore, and isn’t that the point of the game?” Luke asked Connie.
Connie thought for a few seconds before sighing.
“Yes… Yes it is…” She confirmed. Her anger melted away to tiredness.
“See! The both of you aren’t enjoying this! So maybe you should take a break! It’d also not keep the rest of the house up at night!!” Stefan said, his voice raising a bit at the end, but a reassuring hand on his shoulder by Luke grounded him.
“We’re just saying, maybe you two need some time apart, just to get your bearings…”
Connie thought about this for a bit before nodding her head.
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best…”
A few days had gone by since the two had separated and it started to get tougher everyday. Not because they wanted to continue playing, but because they missed each other. They knew it was for the best, and not interacting was helping the two calm down and recover from their burn out, but they just needed to see each other so badly.
Miranda had offered Connie a spot next to her on the counter while Connie took time off from the living room. One night though was the final straw.
It was raining harshly outside, just like the day the two had separated. Connie couldn’t sleep. She was exhausted but also had the urge to see them. She sat up from the counter, trying to be quiet as she slowly made her way into the living room.
She took a pause just before stepping in. She was a bit hesitant upon seeing Telly, even though he was only in their TV form. Connie walked over, crouched down and looked over Telly before reaching out, her hand gently running against the smooth screen.
With a few hesitant seconds she sighed and shook the TV.
“Telly…? You up…?” She asked in a hushed tone, trying not to be too much of a bother.
As the TV flickered on and his humanized form took shape, he looked a little confused before his eyes widened at the sight of Connie.
“C-Connie-! Uh… W-what are you doing here…?” They asked, looking confused.
Connie was a bit embarrassed to respond, not wanting to admit that she had missed them.
“I just- … I just wanted to apologize!” She blurted out.
Telly looked confused for a few seconds before a soft flush spread across his face. It was just a simple apology? Why was he reacting like this?
“I- I know what I did was wrong! I shouldn’t have pushed you or myself… I’m… I’m really sorry…” Her voice softened at the end, her hands moving awkwardly to her sides as she refused to look at Telly.
Telly was a bit dumbfounded for a few seconds before he sighed.
“I’m… Sorry too… I shouldn’t have yelled at you, especially when knowing the kinda state you were in, and how it’d only make things worse…” He grunted, looking embarrassed as he messed with his arm warmers.
The two stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Connie spoke up.
“You- uhh… Wanna watch TV with me for a bit…? Can’t really sleep…” She asked, rubbing her arm awkwardly.
Telly was surprised by the offer but beamed.
“I-uhh-! Y-yes-! Definitely! Yeah umm- What do you wanna watch…?” He shut himself up, realizing how excited he sounded at the moment.
“Uhh… Anything works really, just need something to tire me…” She shrugged nonchalantly as she walked over to the coach, taking a seat. Telly was quick to follow her, taking a seat next to her and grabbing the remote before flicking through channels, offering options to Connie as they looked through them.
At some point the two had settled on some random anime they had never heard of. It wasn’t like they were gonna get invested in it or nothing, but just to pass the time.
As they watched Telly noticed how Connie was leaning closer and closer to him, soon realizing she was starting to doze off.
“You tired?” He asked, opening his arm for Connie.
Connie didn’t hesitate for a second in her tired state and leaned over, snuggling into Telly’s side and resting her head against his shoulder. Telly stiffened as his wires curled up a bit, getting flustered at the contact by trying to stay cool. Connie was surprisingly soft, and fit perfectly against his side, it almost made him light headed.
Connie had mumbled out a small response to his question, but Telly had no clue what she was trying to say. Oh well, it didn’t matter anyways. Connie’s tail curled up onto Telly’s lap, acting sorta like a blanket over the two which almost had Telly lose his mind. Telly reached over the couch and grabbed a blanket, trying to be gentle as he threw it over the two. Connie’s breathing was soft and even, she had definitely dozed off now.
As that happened, Telly turned off the TV, the only sound being in the room was the rain coming from outside now. Telly enjoyed the feeling of Connie snuggled up against him before he himself started to get tired.
With a final sigh he leaned over, pressing a soft kiss against Connie’s forehead and closing his eyes.
“Good night, Connie…” He mumbled as they drifted off to sleep.
Both of them slept well that night.