Eggs was flipping through a booklet with a few stockholders; a raise moment of peace for him. The truly despicable ones were finally gone, leaving only fairly greedy businessmen in their wakes. But now they were trying to find new ways of getting customers into the restaurants, like adding new robots. Eggs knew he could likely build them himself but he was so busy lately. Perhaps a project for Jeremy once Kyle trained?
"And these were ideas from my father?" He asked carefully.
"Some of them, yes. Partially mine as well." Henry piqued up.
Eggs nodded. "We could do some testing and research…Maybe have some of the orphans come and give their thoughts on some of these."
Henry nodded. "We've also gone over the idea of a pay raise for more guards…"
"We need something. If we were to be inspected in such a state, we'd be shut down." Simon pointed out as he pulled out some papers from a file. "The Toy Chest only has Mr. Smith, we're relying completely on Mr. Fitzgerald for repairs in all three locations, and we can't keep making Mr. Schmidt pull double shifts. He's gone well over his overtime."
The young CEO sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What of the interviews?"
"Ms. Nasen has passed her interview despite having no experience, and Mr. Smith currently has three more interviews lined up for the coming week."
"Good. We might have to hire them just out of necessity. They can learn as they go." Eggs mused. He then leaned back in his seat, thinking. "Jaeger, you had new ideas for toys didn't you?"
"Yes, sir. Especially since Baby's has exceeded her popularity with her own location. Ballora and Toy Chica are raising in numbers with how much little girls like them, and of course, nothing sells better then merch with Freddy on it. We should broaden from just little toys and plushies."
"I'll let you put some samples together then. Bring them to me in two weeks." Eggs told them.
He then tried to mentally tick down what else he wanted to discuss. That was the most serious of the discussions. He noticed some of the guys shifting, clearly having something to say, and he mentally rolled his eyes. They always complained about minimal things that he honestly didn't care about. He wondered if he could get out of it somehow.
"Mr. Afton, you have an urgent call on line two."
Eggs paused, blinking, before he glanced over at his phone on his desk. "Can it wait?"
Ballora's music box laugh came over the speaker. "If it could, I would have waited until you were free."
Fair enough. He motioned towards his office door. "Gentleman, if you would excuse me."
They quickly left. He tried not to look too relieved. "Okay, Ballora. Who is it?"
"Mr. Pliers, he said it was urgent."
Eggs frowned at that. Mark? What was so urgent he'd call in the middle of the day? Confused, he quickly switched over to the appropriate line. "Mark?"
"You KNEW didn't you?! How could you not have told me? Do you have any idea what I've been going through the past five hours from these assholes?!" Mark snarled at him.
He took a deep breath before responding. "Mark, what are you talking about?"
"Mike and Jeremy! Don't play innocent with me! You could have given me some kind of warning. Bonnie and Chica have been insufferable and don't get me started on Freddy!"
"Pliers if you keep screaming at me like that you won't have a job to worry about." Eggs hissed back at him. He gave the other man a moment to calm down before continuing. "What about Mike and Jeremy?"
Mark made a noise. "You…really didn't know?"
"Know what?!"
"Mike and Jeremy…apparently they're together now? Mike came in just, beaming, and was telling Chica all about it. Now the robots are just losing their shit because no one's good enough for Mike."
Eggs stared down at his desk, frozen. Together? What did that mean? It took him a moment before he realized what Mark meant. They were…together. When did that happen? He'd just seen them the other night. They hadn't mentioned anything, hadn't seemed overly affectionate. He felt his heart thumping painfully in his chest as he leaned back in his chair.
"Eggs? Hey, Omelet, what's wrong?" Mark asked.
"They didn't tell me." He finally managed to say.
"Y-yeah, me either…not too surprised, right? They always seemed oddly close…" Mark chuckled at that. His previous anger long forgotten. "I assumed you knew though since you live with them."
"No. Not a thing…"
Eggs swallowed roughly. Part of him wasn't surprised. He knew Jeremy and Mike had a close connection as friends. They told each other everything. The fact that Mike hadn't told Jeremy about his dad was surprising enough. He was lucky enough to be part of that at all. But he was hurt too. Why didn't they tell him? That had to be happy news, why not share it with their roommate and friend?
"Eggs? Seriously, what's up? Did I call in the middle of something?" Mark asked him in a rush.
"No, you just caught me off guard. Really. I guess I'll have to ask them tonight when I get home."
Mark chuckled. "Get as many details as you can. Freddy's driving me up the wall. I almost asked Kyle to turn him off."
"Right. Details. I'll see you later."
He hung up the phone before the other could argue. Staring at it blankly as he rubbed his forehead. Why hadn't they told him? Did they not trust him? Or did it just slip their mind? They were likely celebrating their newfound affection. Maybe too busy making out to consider their roommate. He sighed, feeling a sudden overwhelming feeling of annoyance and anger.
"I'm an idiot…"
Xxxxxx
"Mike, you getting ready to leave? You want any coffee?"
Mike glanced over at Jeremy, grinning as he continued putting dinner leftovers away. "I wouldn't mind some, yeah. Since when do you make me coffee before work?"
"Since we started wildly fucking in our pastime." He shot back.
He laughed at that. "When did that happen, cuz I think I was asleep for it."
"Oh sorry. You looked pretty tired, so I just did my thing and crept back to my room."
The guard rolled his eyes playfully as Jeremy smirked at him. He felt his heart racing in his chest when the blond Engineer limped over and gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek. He felt his face getting warm. He was still getting used to the small, random bursts of affection that they were sharing. Jeremy was more comfortable initiating, he got tense when Mike snuck up on him. They were learning as they went.
"When's Eggs gonna get home? He seems pretty late." Jeremy suddenly asked.
Mike shrugged, untangling himself from the other man. "You know he's been working late. He's dealing with a lot of bull."
Jeremy hummed, watching his back as he closed the fridge. He began pouring the coffee into a thermos as Mike reached for where his hat was hung up near the door. Peeking at the blond, he noticed he put the exact amount of sugar and cream into it that he always did and hid a smile. How had he even noticed such a thing?
"Want me to pick up anything on my way home?" He asked instead.
Jeremy shrugged as he stirred the coffee and creamer. "We could use more milk and between me and McMuffin, we're out of painkillers. Could definitely use more."
"I'll stop by the dollar store then. Can get a gallon of milk. Might pick up something else. We haven't had any ice cream in this household in weeks." Mike said.
"What a goddamn fucking outrage." Jeremy teased.
The blond gave him a kiss on the mouth, chuckling, and Mike felt like he was floating. He couldn't help grinning into it. He kissed back and hugged him tightly. Jeremy stiffened under his hold. He tended to do be odd about physical affection. But he relaxed when Mike pressed a kiss against the circular scars on his forehead, grumbling under his breath.
"I gotta go before I'm late. If you see Eggs, make sure you tell him okay?"
He made for the door the same moment it opened. Eggs stared up at him a moment, glancing between him and Jeremy. He looked exhausted, more so than usual, but he looked…off. Seeing the two of them, Eggs scowled and made a noise in his throat as he stepped around him.
"About to get to work, huh?"
"Yeah. Woke up late so I should…"
Mike trailed off at the oddly hostile tone. He glanced back at Jeremy and noticed the blond was staring at them as well.
"What's crawled up your ass this fine night, Eggs?" Jeremy asked casually.
"Is this seriously going to interfere with your jobs already?" Eggs snapped at them, arms crossed. "Because forgive me if I'm pissed that I get screamed at during a board meeting by Mark creaming his pants over you two fucking."
"We haven't fucked yet." Jeremy pointed out.
Mike sheepishly rubbed his neck. "Sorry about that…I didn't think he'd know, I didn't tell him yet."
"And now you're leaving late? While I walk in from another night of overtime and find you two flirting in the kitchen? This is ridiculous already!" The youngest hissed at them.
"Okay seriously kid, you're going to give yourself an aneurism. Stop." Jeremy cut in.
Eggs gritted his teeth, swallowing back something before he stomped his foot, slammed a hand against the counter, and shoved past the two for his room. Jeremy made a face as Mike watched him go. He wanted to go after him. Whatever was bothering him, it was clearing getting to him. But he was already almost late, so he just sent Jeremy a pleading look and hurried off for his car.
Eggs sat on his bed. He didn't bother with the lights or the TV. Why did it bother him so much? Why was he so upset? He felt ridiculous. Growing up, he always thought himself as rational and unemotional. Slowly, that had been undone because of Baby's. He had been pushed to the edge, and then learning of his childhood trauma, he'd been broken down. But he always thought at least he'd never lashed out without reason.
And yet here he was.
"What's wrong with me?"
"There's nothin' wrong. You're acting like any kid would."
He swallowed. "But I'm not a kid anymore…and the first thing I did was call you."
He heard the other man chuckle at that. There was a clinking of metal on metal and he could easily picture him at his workbench, working on something as he held the phone between his shoulder and ear. Or with the many tentacles he now had crawling through his body.
"Course ya did. Why wouldn't ya call me when your upset?"
Eggs sighed at that, leaning back against the headboard. "Seriously though, why am I acting like this? I'm…throwing a tantrum…"
"You've always been good at recognizing this stuff. That's why ya were such a good kid. But I'm not surprised. They didn't bother tellin' ya. Feels like they betrayed your trust, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Kiddo, I was heartbroken when Scotty introduced me to his girlfriend. I get it. Ya just need to give it some time, maybe they'll come to you." William went on.
The technician nodded even though his dad couldn't see it. "Why didn't they tell me though, Dad?"
"Because to a couple of new lovebirds, ya weren't even a thought in their brain. They'll never understand why ya are hurt. But that just proves to ya where their priorities lay, Alex."
He winced at that. He wanted reassurance when he called him, which was ridiculous of course. But he didn't want to hear about how Mike and Jeremy would turn on him and how he needed to return home with them. He shook his head, rubbing his eyes.
"Dad, please…"
"Okay, okay. I'll stop. But ya know if you need help…" William said.
Eggs managed to laugh at that. "I know, okay? But…but, thanks for…this."
He heard the clinking stop at that. William sighed. "Alex, ya know you're the most important thing in the world to me. I'd stop everything if ya needed me. Okay?"
"Okay. Thanks, Dad…I, uh, I'll call again when I can." He promised.
He hung up then, staring out the window. They hadn't thought of him, huh? Too busy celebrating their newfound relationship with each other. That…made sense. He sometimes did so when he remembered that he now had Mike and Jeremy in his life, had the robots that would literally kill for him. He guessed he could understand them being too invested in each other.
They hadn't even told Mark. Mike had only told the animatronics.
"Maybe being an asshole runs in the family too…" He grumbled.
Xxxxx
"His name is The Storyteller Cadet. He was where kids would gather round, with their tokens, and get special stories. Mostly for the more…curious types. We stopped production however when Foxy got popular since there was no need for another storyteller."
Eggs circled around the large robot. It was covered in dust, parts were rusted, and the colors had long since faded away. Next to him, Henry was looking over notes. He only partially listened to him. Functions could change. He didn't care about what the thing was designed to do, he only cared about what he could make it into.
"His head looks like a giant wrapper…" Eggs mused.
Henry gave him a curious look. "I guess."
"Let's change him. Give him vibrant colors and…" He paused, staring at the claw-like hands it had. "Make it dispense candy. Couple tokens, randomize the amount of candy each time. Kids like that kind shit."
"Any idea for names?" His partner asked.
The younger man hummed. "Call him the Candy Cadet. Merge the two uses. Easy enough. We'll put him in Baby's or the Toy Chest, Freddy's is too crowded for something this big. Look at the books and see who needs the boost."
"Michael." Henry stopped him, brushing his slowly greying blond hair from his face. "You've been sneaking into the old rental below, haven't you? I may have given you all rights to the place, but I still get some notifications."
Eggs eyed him warily. "And?"
"What is it your looking for? Whatever it is, please…let me help. You can't keep taking everything on yourself like this. You're too young."
He huffed at that, managing a noise like a laugh. "Now you think so, huh? You were more than happy to heave this shit off on to me before! Let me clean up his mess, your mess, and you get to keep your cushiony job making money!"
Henry hesitated. "I lost so much, Michael-"
"I did too! I lost everything to this fucking place!" Eggs yelled at him, shoving his hand off him. "Don't you sit there and act like that justifies anything. How many years did you sit back, hoping that this shit worked, wanting to bring your kids back? Who cared how many died, so long as you got your family back? You're no better than him."
Silence rang out in the empty, dusty warehouse. Eggs was breathing hard. He wanted so badly to wrap his hands around Henry's throat, blame him for everything. He had been holding back his feeling on Henry's involvement in thing because he needed him, and he was sick of it.
"I want him stopped." Henry finally admitted.
"Fucking late to the party then aren't you?" Eggs sneered at him. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the other huge, hulking figures in the room. "I've got this."
Henry turned away at that. He ran his hands along what had once been a workbench. Eggs found one massive figure with symbols and was trying to think if such a thing could be used at the restaurants. They really didn't have any instruments anymore. Bonnie and Spring were the only real exceptions. Even Bonblu had long since stopped using his guitar.
"You need him to stop coming back." Henry finally said in the silence.
Eggs stopped. "What's the point in killing him if he just keeps returning, stronger than before?"
There was a noise. Eggs stiffened, turning towards him, ready for some kind of weapon. But instead, Henry was holding a small cassette tape. It was old, outdated. He held it out, offering it, but made no move towards the younger man.
"Then let's put an end to that." Henry begged him, brown eyes shining.
Xxxxxx