You were already dressed in a new set of clothes (your Steven Universe getup), Cheese burger backpack on your shoulder, keys in hand.
You figured it was in your best interest to get today over with as soon as possible.

The shift would be longer than it was before, leaving room for more hijinks to ensue.
You weren't looking forward to it at all, but this demon was one you had to confront eventually.

Besides, how bad could it possibly be compared to yesterday?

While eating breakfast, you found time to talk to yourself;

'I can't let Vincent have any effect on my well-being.
Otherwise it'll defeat the purpose of going to work any more.
It's no longer just about making some extra dough.
He's trying to get under my skin in a gross way, and getting me to quit is one.
That's exactly what he wants.
I need to play it cool and make sure he doesn't bother me.
It'll take some practice, but I've already showed him that I'm not some helpless damsel who can't stand up for herself.
As the wise Grenda once said; LETS GO BUST SOME PERVS CANDY!'

You finished you daily routine just as fast as yesterday's, the only difference was that you spent a little extra time with your kitties.

You reminded yourself that you needed to drop by the pet store to pick up some new toys and food.

After you were done, you were practically throwing yourself into your car.
You didn't know why, but you really wanted to be on time today.
Which wasn't really a problem.

You turned the engine on but the vehicle remained idle as your fingers curled over the grooves of the steering wheel.

For some reason, you could feel your heartbeat becoming more and more rapid, to the point you worried it might combust.

'Well I guess my anxiety is coming back. Ggrrreeeaaaatttt, just what I need on the second day of work. Welp, time to turn on the tunes!'

And so with your favorite music blasting, you maneuvered down the road and shot towards your newest personal hell.

Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where only memories of the worst kind were in store for you.

Or so you exaggerated.

You'd been inside the restaurant for half a second when you were approached by a familiar face; so long as it was devoid of purple, you remained at cool ease.

It was a bit relieving to find the face belonged to Scott.

At least he was cool, not to mention a fellow Gravity Falls fan.

"Yo! What up Whole fry?!" You said as he approached you. Pony Head heehee

He paraded over, hands clasped together while bouncing eagerly in place.

"Haha Star vs the Forces of Evil? That's shows good too, but don't tell anyone or I'll be a laughing stock for you know who! And wow, you're right on time! My shift ends five seconds from now. That's impressive."

His statement was soon accompanied by the sound of a few collective beeps coming from his watch.
Phone-man was not lying.

You smiled broadly, slightly cocking your brow with intrigue.

Did Scott really count down the final seconds of his shift in such an obsessive manner?

Was it that agonizing an experience that he couldn't help but constantly watch the clock?

You shoved away bad thoughts.
He's just probably being the best employee he can be.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting on me, though between you and me there is one person I could totally keep waiting."

You stated, whispering the last part and elbowing him lightly in the arm jokingly.

Scott nodded, laughing slightly, before trudging past you and waving goodbye.

"Haha same here! Thank you so much, (Y/N)! I hate to run off this quickly, but I've been here since midnight so I'm a bit desperate to go home, as you can imagine. I'll see you later! Good luck with today and with...well you know."

"Bye friend you take care of yourself now!" You called back waving.

Suddenly you stood still with wide eyes.

Did he just imply that he worked through the whole night?

Why on earth would he be needed here that long after closing?

Why would anyone?

It was more than just a little odd.

Just thinking about that made you sleepy again.

When Scott had disappeared from sight, you blew a stray piece of hair out of your face, pouting as you turned and ventured off to find something useful to do.

Now that Scott was gone you had no one cool or interesting to talk to.

Oh whale, you had a job to do.

Well... Two jobs.

You never stopped anticipating Vincent's presence.

Every corner you turned and every cranny you encountered, you expected to find him and his Jack-o-lantern smile looking right back at you.
There was no working around running into him; it would happen sooner or later.

Preferably later.

But until then, you would be focused on your number one job; supervising everyone.

Since it was still fairly early, there were only a few customers present.
They were mostly parents setting up for parties, tying ornate balloons to chairs and finding a place to keep giant stacks of cake. There was the odd child here and there, mostly preoccupied with chasing after balloons or even their other friends.

It was tame, so you found yourself taking it easy.

It didn't take very long for your eyes to drift over to the stage, which you happened to be standing right next to, and you started wondering if you were going to have another chance at seeing these mascots again.

And, right on cue, your curiosities were answered.
The curtains broke at the center seam and the animal band was revealed in its place.

Upon seeing these things close up, your expression changed dramatically.

All the characters you'd seen last time from a distance, were jerking left and right, eyelids blinking in a heavy and unnatural way.

"Hi boys and girls!" The bear in front greeted, pulling a microphone to his jaw. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza! I'm Freddy Fazbear!"

The chicken next to him piped up, "I'm Chica the Chicken!" Followed by a neon blue rabbit on the opposite side of the restaurant's titular character, "And I'm Bonnie the Bunny!"

After their introductions, the trio went on talking about the joy of the pizza...or something along those lines, but their conversation was completely lost on you.
Your gaze was distant, their voices muted. Everyone else went about their business while you remained frozen in place, perplexed.
There was something charming about them, but also quite intimidating at the same time.
You assumed it was the effects of uncanny valley, but it seemed to be more than that.

Now that you were up close and personal, they reminded you a bit of monsters, just painted in more friendly colors.

A shiver ran down your spine.

You were broken free of your concentration when they actually began to sing. Chica and Bonnie controlled the instrumentals, while Freddy was at the helm with his vocals. The song itself was borderline off-key, making the whole show that much more nightmarish.

"It's been so fun, with you singing all these songs, we'll always be there, at good ol' Freddy Fazbear's."

"Yesh, these guys need singing lessons," You said to yourself.

And then, another voice caught your attention.

It was somewhere off to the side, not even directed towards you which was mighty surprising.

That dark, raspy voice. It could only belong to one person.

You turned to find Vincent and narrowed your eyebrows.

There he was.

The man who you greatly disliked and wished he was sent to the Fog of Lost Souls, kneeling right in front of you.

Wait...kneeling?

After a bit of processing, you realized it was true.

His back was to you, his stature bent so that he was closer to the floor.
He was talking to a little kid.

With careful steps, you inched closer to see what was going on exactly.

"Remember little boy," Vincent said in a tone that might have been sincere if it wasn't him saying it. Zing!

"No more sneaking into the kitchen. There will be plenty to eat when your party starts. Okay?"

The child, who couldn't have been older than five, gave a few steady nods before beaming,
"Yes sir, Mr. Purple sir!"
And then he trotted off without further interaction.

Vincent rose back to a standing position, though before spinning around, he emitted a low chuckle.
Your defenses shot up.

He must've known you were watching.

"Did you enjoy the show?"
He asked teasingly.

You tilted your head, hands placed on your jutted hips.

"You mean the one with the stiff, lifeless, broken down wreck with the dead eyes or the animatronics on stage? Cause I couldn't tell the difference. Either way, I don't think I would have called it a 'show'."

At this, he finally turned to face you.

He was grinning again. Those white globes he had for eyes were prominent as ever.

"I know you might find this hard to believe, but it's my job to watch over the children, so I play nice when I need to."

"Right right, your job. Almost forgot you had one. Well good performance anyway. Almost fooled me into believing you're a compassionate human being."

You nearly jumped a foot in the air when suddenly he was before you, cupping your chin like you were his darling.

You stepped back hissing like a cat, swatting his hand away.

He snickered to himself.
"I could say the same about you. You're cute when you're trying to pretend you hate me. But I know deep down you care. Otherwise you wouldn't have made a conscious effort to not be late today."

You sputtered is disbelief, whacking the front of your head with a palm.

"Ok first of all, don't call me cute. Second, me being on time had nothing to do with your stupid ominous warning. It was just me trying to be a good employee. I mean come on; Me? Care about you? Be serious please. I'm here to get some extra money, nothin else bruh."

"Oh? But you were ready to walk away forever just a day ago. Now you're worried about work ethics?"

That's when you cracked a smile.

"Well, I didn't want to hurt your feelings at the time- oh wait that that's a lie I was just saying that to see your hilarious reaction I was never actually gonna leave. You've just been ker-pranked!"
You said throwing your hands down radically.

Vincent choose to ignore this and lean down closer, his eyes half-lidded as he spoke.

"Hmm right, of course you were. Well, whatever the reason, it's good to know you care too much about this place to leave."

Vincent accepted this as his own personal victory for the day.

His eyes followed you even after he'd swiveled around to walk away.

"Yea you keep telling yourself that you walking grape!"

You yelled, eye twitching and fists clenched.

Even after he was gone, you felt yourself wanting to murder the space where he once stood.

No human on the planet had ever frustrated you so much.

You growled to yourself and stomped away, ready for the day to last an eternity.

If only you had a measuring time tape.

Reviews and Criticism are always appreciated!