Words in chapter: 2296
Written: April 27 - May 6, 2015
Current characters: Mike, Jeremy, Fritz, Porfirio, Goldie, Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, Mangle, Mr. Fazbear, cook
Warnings: Humanized
A few days later, a Thursday morning, the staff of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza were called in early for a mandatory meeting. These sorts of gatherings happened often enough, every couple of months or so, so Mike had been to a handle of them, but in his past experiences the entertainers usually weren't present at such events. They got their briefings from Freddy before the servers, as they are often consulted before decisions were made, therefore they rarely attended these sorts of things.
But there they were, sitting together in a clump at the back. The servers gave them a wide berth, Mike would have joined them if Fritz hadn't grabbed his arm and literally dragged him over to sit with the rest of the serving crew. Mike scanned the faces for the little pregnant cook he'd met but was disappointed. She must have already taken her leave, then. He found that he was a little disappointed; she was interesting and he felt her light attitude was a nice change of pace.
"Your attention," Freddy called. His strong voice instantly silenced the chatting employees, and they turned hesitantly curious eyes on their boss. Mike figured the impromptu assembly complete with their entertainers had something to do with Fritz's violent reaction to the customer. He was right.
"It's come to my attention that we need to discuss what's expected of you when there's a problem. You are never to start a brawl with a customer. " Freddy's angry blue eyes found Fritz in the crowd. The server didn't shrink back in fear, as Mike and many of those sitting nearby expected, instead simply giving his boss a sheepish smile. "If a guest is acting out, you correct them respectfully, or you find one of the entertainers. If I catch any of you doing something like this in the future, I will have no choice but fire you on the spot. Do I make myself clear?"
There was a murmur of acknowledgement, as seemingly everyone was afraid to speak up. It didn't satisfy him, the fury still raging behind those cool blue eyes. The servers curled in on themselves, putting as much room between themselves and the boss. Unease shifted through the gathered individuals when another voice cut through the air.
"Why didn't you just fire the gentleman responsible?" Goldie called, undaunted by the look her brother immediately shot in her direction. She waved off the nervous calls for her to stop from her coworkers. "Instead of punishing everyone for one person's actions, why don't you take it directly to Mr. Smith?"
"Gold," Freddy growled warningly. She headed over to him. He didn't give her a chance to say another word, instead grabbing her arm hard enough to make her yelp. He dragged her out into the hall, away from the eyes of those under their employment. He pushed her lightly so her back hit the wall.
"Aggressive, aren't you?" she snapped. "Why are you doing this, Freddy? Because Dad's called to tell us he's coming to dinner? Or because I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong? You would never do this to any of them on a good day, so what's eating at you? I'm not letting you treat them like this."
"As if you're better than me, Gold. We wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't-"
"Sleep around?" Her lips pulled up into a sneer as her brother's eyes darted away from her in discomfort. She could see his hand forming a fist at his side and she felt anger building in her veins. "I'm the one who has to deal with the effects of that! You aren't pregnant! If you're mad at me, then take it out on me, not on them!"
"What I do with the business is none of your business; you gave up control when you left!"
"Oh, so that's it, is it? You're sore because I left. And when I came back I brought trouble for you. Well, I'm sorry to inconvenience you. Why don't you just make everything better for yourself and kick me out already?"
"I would never do that!"
"You said it yourself, I'm-"
Someone cleared their throat. Freddy stepped away, the anger that lit his eyes starting to fade. His expression promised further conversation later, but he turned to face the source of the interruption. His eyes widened slightly, and his face seemed to soften at the sight of Mike. The server motioned toward the open room and the rest of the employees. Goldie felt her face flush, and she wasn't sure if she was more embarrassed or angry.
Freddy just sighed, already beginning to move toward the others and away from his sister. Mike stepped aside, letting the bigger man pass, then went to Goldie. She wouldn't meet his eyes. He kept his distance as they listened to Freddy's voice carry from one room to the next. It took her a lot longer than her brother to recover from the incident, and when she did, she forced her wounded expression back so she could wear the smirk she was almost known for, even though Mike could see how upset she was.
She went to step toward the doorway to follow her brother but stopped when Mike got a hold of part of her jacket's sleeve. Her mouth opened, insults already rising in her throat to force him to let go, but she paused when she saw the honest concern in Mike's eyes. The corner of her mouth started to pull up.
"Get out of here, kid. Take the day off. I'll make sure Freddy knows and doesn't dock your pay," she said lightly. He frowned at her, to which she responded with an eye roll and a flippant wave toward the back door. "I know I haven't exactly been kind to you, but I have bigger things to worry about. And I want someone to keep an eye on Foxy for me."
"So he doesn't end up hooking up with someone that isn't you?"
Something flashed in her eyes, her mouth tightened and her fingers curled into something close to fists. She turned on her heel to begin moving again, as if she had suddenly had enough of the younger man and wanted nothing to do with him.
"I'm not blind, Mike. He likes you. I've lost him already. But at least if you're with him, he's not out doing something stupid that could get him killed. Keep an eye on him, you never know when you'll lose him."
Mike didn't get a chance to reply before she rejoined the fray and he was alone. He took the opportunity to leave numbly. He slipped out the back door and caught the first bus that came. He shuffled to the back of the bus, already taking out his cell phone. He slid into a seat just as the vehicle started to move. He dialed before he remembered that Foxy slept during the day, and by the time he went to hang up it was too late, for there was a click and Foxy's groggy voice greeted him.
"Hey, Fox, I'm sorry, I forgot-"
"It's fine, Mike. What so you need?"
"I'm on my way to your house."
For a minute, Mike was sure Foxy had hung up on him. There was silence on his end, or at least if the taller man was making any noise he couldn't tell over the noise of the busy bus, and he hadn't replied. He pulled the phone from his ear, checked the screen to find that no, the call hadn't disconnected on him, then returned to his ear just in time to hear Foxy sigh.
"How far are you?"
"I just caught the bus near Freddy's."
"I've got to get dressed, call me back when you get to my building. You can let yourself in."
Foxy hung up. Mike couldn't help but picture the taller man, under the covers, in nothing but his boxers, sleep still clouding his eye. He shook his head to clear away the thoughts.
He almost missed his stop, daydreaming and a crowd of kids hanging out by the back door being the culprits, but managed to get off on time thanks to the sharp snap of someone's bubble gum near his ear and a bit of uncomfortable squeezing. He stepped back to let the bus take off down the street without risking getting hit. He waited until the coast was clear to jog across the road, coming to a stop on the uneven sidewalk outside the building.
The reflection off a beaten down old car drew his eye, and he felt as though someone was watching him. He took a couple steps toward the car, but he stopped when the driver's door opened. He felt a chill race down his spine and didn't stick around to find out why. He took shelter in the long hallway, striding down it until he reached Foxy's door, unlocking it in one swift move. It didn't stick for once; when he pushed on it, it swung open and stopped just before it hit the wall.
He entered after a moment, closing and locking the door behind himself. He found Foxy curled up on the couch, one long leg pulled up to his chest, the other on the floor to leave room. The man didn't acknowledge him, too focused on the bill he was reading to even notice Mike's presence until he was sitting next to him.
It was then that Foxy tore his gaze from the words that had begun to blur from the headache already developing. He managed a smile as he folded up the latest water bill and tossed it onto the coffee table to give Mike his full attention.
"Any idea who's hanging out in their car outside your building? The old silver car?" Mike asked. His companion glanced away, trying to think, but when his golden eye refocused on the shorter man's face there was panic in it. "Foxy, are you alright?"
"I'm... I'm fine," he muttered, getting up carefully to keep from kicking Mike by accident. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"A beer or something if you've got it."
Foxy left, and Mike tried to make himself comfortable on the rickety old couch which made such a goal seemingly impossible. His wandering eyes landed on the folded sheet of paper, and his curiosity started to eat at him. He didn't want to snoop, it wasn't his business. But as he listened to the rattle of the fridge door, he found himself reaching forward to pick it up. He hoped he wouldn't upset Foxy too much if he ended up getting caught, but he couldn't stop himself from opening it and looking at the amount the redhead owed.
The words 'past due' were a stone in his stomach. He thought back to the blood he'd seen on Foxy's arm beneath the prosthetic, and the conversation in the hall with the landlord. There were more draws on the man's income than money he could bring in, that much was obvious to Mike just from the bill in his hands. It was a wonder that Foxy had managed even this long with the limited amount of money he had access to, but he guessed it explained the need for a part time job on top of his full time employment. He was working hard so Mangle didn't have to, Mike knew. But he'd never realized just how hard it had to be just to keep their heads above the water.
He dropped the bill as he heard Foxy return. He grabbed one of the cans the man had tucked in the fold of his arm and cracked it open with a grin.
"Thanks, Fox."
"You can put something on. We don't have cable or satellite, but we've got tons of movies to choose from."
"You pick."
Foxy knelt by the box of movies, Mike stared unashamed at the curve of the man's backside, and dug through the collection until he found what he'd been looking for. He was about to stand and put on the film when Mike spoke up again without thinking first.
"Go out with me."
It dawned on him what he'd just blurted out at the same time the redhead looked over his shoulder at him, an eyebrow quirked in amusement. They looked at each other for a while in silence, the server's face steadily growing more red with every passing second, but neither backed down.
"Do you mean that?" Foxy asked curiously without the judgment the younger man had expected. He'd assumed he would be shot down, or laughed at, or brushed off. He was embarrassed, he hadn't meant to say that at all, but since he was already facing the situation without any preparation, he might as well go forward with it.
"I do. What about next Friday? I'll get the day off so you won't have to miss work that night since you've got bills to pay, and we can do whatever you want, I'll pay for anything we do for the entire day because I don't think you get to do that enough," he was rambling. He was aware of that fact, just like he was aware of the smile that was gracing Foxy's lips and how attractive the older man was and how much he just needed to stop talking.
Foxy waited patiently until Mike managed to cut himself off to get up, place the vhs in the machine, go back to the couch and say, "What time?"
"You're... You said yes."
"I did. I haven't done anything like this in a long time, though, so I'm a little rusty."
"You like me?"
"I think I do, Mike."