Heeeey everyone!
Sooo…while I was writing this chapter…things ended up happening that I did not expect…
So surprise! This is indeed chapter 64…and is in fact canon.
It's loose canon, but what happens here does affect things going forward. Important conversations ended up happening, and it felt like it would be a waste to not count it. But it is still a bit less serious then a normal chapter. So if circumstances don't entirely make sense, or such, it is still a looser chapter.
Sorry for saying it wasn't before. I got ahead of myself before I wrote the chapter. But I hope you enjoy it anyways! I had fun writing some of these scenes.
Also. The next chapter is going to be heading into fnaf 6, so be ready for that!
Now onto reviews…
nightspark69: I'm so glad you did!
TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3: I'm glad you liked the Puppet, and yes, he does raise some very good points. As for chip? Well that's actually addressed in this chapter. As for Fox and William, I'm glad you liked it! And yes, Fox actually doesn't really have a problem with Piper…William? Well, he does. And yes, Henry has…no idea what's happening. Poor guy. And well no worries! It is canon so…yeah!
Silverleone: You are very correct! Just because someone may appear weak…adrenaline can do a lot. And actually yeah! You gave me the idea of them having a break and hey! It is canon so yay!
Davie Wilson: Thank you! And I hope you enjoy the canon version!
Chapter 64
Some Time Off…
The sun was bright, there were sparse clouds in the sky, and the temperature was just right for going swimming.
And Leo hated it.
Well, maybe hated is a strong word.
He strongly disliked it.
As he stood on the shore of the lake and stared out at the water, he couldn't help but fold his arms around himself.
The guard honest to goodness wasn't sure how Piper and Enix had convinced him of this. Who goes swimming in lakes?
Who goes swimming at all?
In the shorts and sleeveless shirt, Leo felt rather exposed and he did not like it. He couldn't remember the last time he had worn shorts. Let alone swim trunks.
Ones that had to be bought of course…from the children's section.
Leo wasn't about to risk letting Enix's fall off him here.
Glancing around he caught sight of the bots, he wasn't entirely sure why they had brought them along.
Luckily Colt had swung around, and fiddled with their hardware enough to allow the original bodies to come out here. And after Enix had brought back the chips and they had managed the switch.
Finally Leo could hold a few sentences with them without feeling like his heart would burst from his chest. Enix however couldn't seem to get the chip from the Puppet's head.
…so looking at him wasn't fun.
Especially since the bot kept watching him, Leo felt like he needed to hide or put on a suit of armor…
"You doing alright there?" Piper asked from next to him. Leo jumped and looked at her before swallowing and glancing briefly at the Puppet only to find nothing had changed.
He turned back to Piper and paused for a moment to take in her swimsuit. She was in a two piece, it was olive green, and it played off her tawny skin.
Leo…wasn't sure why he took notice of that.
"Leo?" She questioned, with a tilt of her head, her sepia tinted hair swishing behind her.
"Huh? Oh uh…yeah, sorry." He paused looking over his shoulder at the Puppet who just continued to stare. "He's just…kinda freaking me out." That was muttered, but she heard it, and taking Leo by surprise she hooked her arm with his and smiled when he looked at her. She had maybe two inches on him, so he did have to look up ever so slightly to meet her gaze.
"Well, then we shall ignore him." Then moved to walk the shore and he had little choice but to follow.
Though he found he didn't mind it terribly.
"Y…yeah" he stammered out. She smiled and then stopped a bit a ways from where they had last been.
Her gaze shifted to the lake and Leo gazed at her a moment before following suit. "It's beautiful." She breathed, and Leo let out a breath of his own. It was aesthetically pleasing, he just wasn't sure it was worth the two hour drive and the u-haul rental to get the bots here.
"Yeah…" he trailed instead of voicing his opinion.
"You ever been to a lake? Or any body of water for that matter?" She inquired simply, turning to look at him, he caught her gaze briefly before he had to look away.
"Well...I don't know…maybe Fox did? I…I don't remember." He muttered the last part and Piper released his arm before taking a seat on the ground, the water lapping at her feet.
After a moment of hesitation he followed suit.
"Ma used to take me and some of my siblings here on weekends." Piper smiled and oddly enough, Leo found himself gazing at the smile with more interest than the glittering lake.
"Really?" He asked softly, not sure why the question spilled from his lips…why would he care?
He wasn't sure.
But he wanted to hear more.
"Yeah!" She smiled at him before letting out a breath and letting her gaze return to the lake. "We would get hotdogs and burgers, one of my brothers would grill them, and we'd be in and out of the water all day." She smiled fondly at the memories she was probably reliving.
Some part of Leo twisted in envy at the easy smile on her face.
Were any of his locked away memories able to earn a smile like that?
He'd…like to imagine that there were at least some.
"That sounds like a lot of fun." He finally said, she glanced at him and smiled.
"Yeah." She then laid back on the cream colored sand. And Leo soon followed suit letting his eyes lift to the sky.
"…you said it in past tense…you guys don't do that anymore?" He asked softly, looking at her again. She hummed and gave a little shrug, her hands folded on her stomach. His much the same.
"Too many kiddos. Ma has a habit of taking in whomever her heart goes out to." Leo nodded, letting his eyes go to the partially cloudy sky. More of the fluffy white things had drifted over as he spoke to Piper.
Leo wasn't sure why, but laying here with her was rather nice, and oddly enough William wasn't bothering him.
"They've been hanging out a lot lately haven't they?" Jamie muttered drinking from a Pepsi can. Eyeing the two laying on the shore.
"Yeah." Enix agreed, drinking from his water. Jamie turned to look at him before back at the pair.
"What do you think of it? Of them hanging out. I mean…Leo does have William in him." He muttered the last part into his drink.
Enix hummed, "honestly? I think it's good for him." He drank some gazing at the scene as Piper spoke. Motioning to the sky, and Leo let out a chuckle. "I think Piper is good for him. He seems…dare I say, more relaxed with her around." He claimed taking another sip from his water.
However before Jamie could respond, Ashford came over sitting down next to them.
Enix sat up and raised an eyebrow at him, "well, long time no see."
Ashford swallowed and took a breath, "sorry, I just…had to get away." He glanced around, "I heard that Remington had found Lucy…and I got scared."
"I wouldn't worry too much about Alder. He seems to have a level head on his shoulders." Enix reassured, but Ashford shook his head with a breath.
"No…no, not when it comes to kids. When you're kid is in trouble Enix, a parent will move mountains to help them…and crush anyone who caused them harm." He explained quietly, and Enix hummed softly, before letting out a breath.
"Yeah, I can see that. Ma is much the same."
"…you ever really think about that?" Jamie suddenly asked, causing both men to look at him. He flushed before taking a breath. "I mean…well I mean the future. You ever think about that? Like…are we going to work here forever? What if one of us gets married? Ya know, family and all that stuff." That made Ashford go real quiet, and Enix let out a breath.
"Family? Yeah, I'm not so sure about that. I don't know how that would even work." His eyes drifted to the animatronics. Foxy was sneaking up behind Chica, trying and failing to hold the sand in his endoskeleton hand.
"That's gonna be a pain in the butt to clean." Jamie muttered changing subjects, and also watching the bots play in the sand.
"Yeah, but so long as they stay away from the water we should be fine." The blue haired man reassured.
"…you think the kids inside them are having fun too?" Ashford whispered, and Enix let out a breath.
"I never know with them. Sometimes I think I have them figured out…but then they surprise me all over again." He paused, "and not always in a good way."
"Hm, well I hope they are." The older man muttered, before bringing up his legs to his chest and hugging them. Enix's eyes flickered over him briefly before his eyes landed on his disfigured ear.
He swallowed slightly at the sight of it.
Sometimes it was easy to forget how the bots could really mess a person up.
The Puppet's words rang in his ears and he swallowed a moment, but couldn't help his eyes from drifting over to Leo momentarily.
Piper was good for him.
And Enix really hoped she would prove to be helpful when William decided he was tired of backseat driving.
And of course Enix felt horrible for subconsciously putting pressure on a woman they just met, but what else was he to do? Was Leo just a ticking time bomb?
He didn't find anything in that basement that could possibly help. And he of course had to watch as a bit of hope died in Leo's eyes when he told him that.
He didn't want to look at his friend as a potential threat. But the fact of the matter was…he was.
Internally part of him cursed the Puppet. For bringing such thoughts to life. To give his doubts a voice. Because now they wouldn't shut up.
Also, finally convincing him that Leo was able to hold his own against William hadn't be easy.
Taking a breath the man stretched out, trying to be rid of the lingering doubts that lurked closer to the forefront of his mind then before. Idle chatter filled his ears as Ashford and Jamie chatted about things that Enix couldn't find himself engaging with.
Deciding he needed to take a walk and get a bit of a breather before his mind spiraled. Enix got to his feet, muttered about wanting to walk the shore and took off without another word.
What he didn't notice was Freddy catching sight of him and following.
Leo blinked as a shadow passed over him, turning to look he caught sight of Enix's retreating form. Shoulders tensed and hands shoved into his pockets.
What had happened?
Before he could ponder on it much more, Freddy followed after him and Leo decided that the bear would probably be more help then him anyways.
"Leo? Everything okay?" Piper asked, causing him to pause and turn back to her. He blinked but nodded with a breath, but not before glancing at Enix's retreating form and wondering if his mood was somehow Leo's fault.
But, the man shook his head to dismiss the worries. Knowing himself, Leo knew he would probably only make things worse by getting involved.
…now.
He'd check up on him later.
"Yeah. It's fine." He let out a breath and sat up, brushing his hand over the sand quietly.
"…you know. We should do something." Piper said suddenly, Leo looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Do something? Like what?"
"Ever heard of volleyball?"
"…so I told him, 'hey, the raccoons have got to have some food too. And if the garbage keeps them outside rather then breaking inside. I say it's a win.'" Jamie gave a shrug taking another drink of his soda.
Ashford raised an amused eyebrow, "and what'd he do then?" That made Jamie light up with a grin.
"Well, you know that spray whipped cream from the store? Well he-"
"Guys!" Piper's voice cut him off, and both men looked up to find the eagerly grinning woman before them.
"Yeah?" Jamie asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow at her enthusiasm.
But she wordlessly grabbed both their arms hauling both men up with surprising strength.
"C'mon! We're gonna play volleyball. We need to split everyone into teams." Without allowing excuses, she hauled the two men over to the gathering of animatronics who looked equally bewildered and amused.
Leo stood a bit away from the bots and gave them a bit of a sympathetic smile. But the lack of genuineness made Jamie doubt his sincerity.
"Volleyball? W…well I'm not sure that's a g…great idea…" Ashford stammered out, looking more fidgety as he was brought over to the bots. However Piper did seem to have the foresight in keeping a good distance between them and the animatronics.
"Hush now. It'll be fine." She insisted and Ashford looked doubtful but didn't protest anymore.
"Piper…not to stamp on your parade, but I doubt any of the bots know how to play…plus we don't have a net or ball." Jamie cut in, and the woman paused looking up at him before then humming whilst holding a hand to her chin.
"All very good points…okay, so maybe not volleyball. But we gotta do something!" She claimed lifting her head and glancing at everyone. "For goodness sake we work together everyday-"
"-which is why we probably need a break from each other…" Bonnie muttered with a cross of his arms.
"-so we need to get along! Or at least have some semblance of getting along." She continued as if he hadn't spoken. The woman glanced around at everyone before spotting Leo and going over to him.
Almost standing slightly in front of him, which Jamie then noted was likely because the man was gazing at the originals and had his hands clasped before him tightly.
How much had that time ***ked him up…?
"Well….we would! But some people avoid us all like the plague! And we didn't even do anything!" Fred suddenly spoke with a frown, Piper blinked at his statement.
"What?"
"We want to get along, we want to have good relationships. But that's not exactly easy to do." Steven continued for the toy bear, and Jamie raised an eyebrow at his proclamation.
"Well…then think of this as that opportunity." Piper explained, "we are all off of work for the day. At the lake, let's have fun together." Wordlessly she reached back and grasped one of Leo's hands. Startling both Leo and Jamie who had caught sight of it.
The shortest guard blinked up at her and it took Jamie a moment to realize Leo had been wringing his hands together.
How she had managed to notice that as she spoke Jamie did not know.
But what the waiter did know was that he did catch sight of Leo's slightly redder face as a result.
And no. He did not believe it was from embarrassment.
"Okay." The waiter chimed in, catching everyone's attention. "Let's have some fun, what do you have in mind?"
Elsewhere, and deep within the mind of Leo, William gazed coldly at the persona who sat across from him. The two of them were locked in tense silence. As they both stared each other down, as if daring the other one to make the first move.
William caught sight of Fox's left eye twitching, and a slow grin spread over his face. Fox's however morphed into a scowl at William's obvious glee.
"You aren't going to win old man." Snarled the man, teeth bared, William however chuckled.
"You don't know what you are dealing with, boy. I will win. I always do." He taunted back, the shorter man's mouth twitched and he rumbled a soft growl but remained steadfast in his stare.
That was, until a decaying mechanical hand slammed down onto the table between them.
Fox jumped and shut his eyes before snapping them open to look up at the offender.
William however stood up so fast he knocked back the chair he had been in. "Ha! I won!" He claimed, and grinned broadly. "You may be a druggie but I have spent many nights pouring over blueprints and plans little man. There is no way I would ever lose a staring contest."
Fox snarled and got up pointing at the animatronic rabbit next to them. "You cheated. That doesn't count as a fair win. Or at least it doesn't in this century grandpa." He snapped, but William just scoffed.
"You were already going to lose. I just helped it along." He answered with a shrug. Fox huffed a breath and kicked his chair away moodily.
"I'm half debating going back into the ***king nightmare room." He muttered crossly, and William snorted.
"Gee, didn't know you were such a cross loser." That earned him a glare and William let out a short laugh before snapping his fingers and prompting his chair back into place.
Without looking back he took a seat and landed perfectly on his chair.
"And be my guest. Your screams are very…invigorating." He finished with a big toothy grin.
Fox snarled in response, "yeah I'm sure they are." He huffed and crossed his arms.
William, however, hummed and gazed at him coolly. "So what other games do you know?" He prompted, and Fox looked over at him with narrowed eyes.
"What has spurred this on?" He inquired, and William sighed leaning back in his chair and gazing up at the lack of ceiling above them. It was really just fog.
"Leo's conscious thoughts are vexing me." At the eyebrow raise from Fox, William continued. "He is thinking a lot about his new companion. And it's annoying." William huffed like a moody child. And glared at Fox as the persona smirked.
"Feeling neglected?" That earned him a scowl that the fox only smirked at, leaning in and tilting his head. "You just can't stand the fact that you are not the center of his attention. Can you?" He prompted and William let out a growl.
"Well I am a twice dead spirit haunting him. You'd think that'd earn some ***king acknowledgment." He snapped out, and Fox let out a barking laugh.
"Oh that's rich! ****n Willy! I didn't know you were a self centered and a *****ed all at once!" He leaned his head on his hand with a infuriating smirk. "Though it really isn't that surprising."
"Would you shut up? You know this is one of the main reasons why I lock you up." He huffed, leaning back and crossing his arms. "You are so ****king annoying."
"Aw! My mother said the same!" Fox leaned back tilting his head with a grin. "So. Getting real lonely without his every thought being about you huh?" William didn't answer, just scowled and snapped his fingers as a deck of cards appeared. He held it up and glared at the persona.
"Either you shut up and play cards, or I will send you back to that hell. Your choice boy."
At that Fox raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. I give." He took a breath and folded his arms on the table. "What're we playin'?"
William hummed as he shuffled through the cards, a action more prompted by habit then actual need.
"Slap jack." That earned him a slight frown from the man across from him.
"Is that just an excuse to slap me?" He asked flatly.
William smirked as he thrummed through the cards. "Maybe."
Fox rolled his eyes with a huff, "and you say I'm the childish one." That was muttered, before he adjusted in his seat, "fine. But no whining when I win."
"If you win." William corrected, but met eyes with Fox who gazed at him coolly.
"No old man. WHEN I win." But that just made the undead man smirk.
"We shall see." He slapped the first card down, and both their eyes darted down to it. Only for it to be a four.
Both men looked at each other before William flipped over another card.
It was a nine, but the way both of them flinched to slap it, one might imagine lives were at stake.
The tension in the air caused the foggy space above them to rumble with thunder.
And so the game went on, a light fwip sound as the card landed on the table, to the occasional slap and accompanying swears when the Jack finally made it's appearance.
William didn't even realize he had crafted an infinite stack of cards. So, as the others in the outside word spent time on the Salty lake shore, the troublesome apparitions kept themselves busy with a simple game of slap jack.
And played with far too much enthusiasm to be normal.
The strangest thing was, for the first time in a long while. William actually enjoyed himself.
He especially enjoyed it when Fox would recoil in pain and shout out a succession of swears that no child should hear.
Maybe William slapped a little harder than needed.
Enix stared out at the water, a frown on his face when he heard rocks crunching under heavy feet.
It was that alone that made him realize it was one of the bots and look up, only to find original Freddy.
Letting out a breath the blue haired guard turned back to gaze at the lake.
"I'll return to the others in a minute." He informed, but all he heard was a light chuckle from the bot. That caused the young man to look at him again as the bear took a seat next to him.
"You don't have to always be around everyone you know." He informed lightly, and Enix let out a breath hugging his knees close and crossing his ankles.
"No…it's not that. I'm just…I'm just being stupid is all." He muttered, gazing down at the shore.
Freddy hummed, "you are a nightshift worker at a haunted pizzeria, and you double as a babysitter for quite a few animatronics. I doubt your feelings are stupid Enix." He lightly countered and it only caused Enix to sigh.
"But they are!" He sat up and threw out his hands for emphasis, "I'm Leo's friend. But he has a murderer inside him, and everyone around me keeps saying that something is going to happen! I want to believe that the guy can handle it, but…"
"You aren't sure." The animatronic finished.
Enix let out a sigh shoulders slumping, he motioned to where the others were. "I was, until I spoke to Puppet." He motioned to his own head, "he got all up in my head about it." With a hard breath he rested his chin on his knees, hugging his legs close. "…I was hoping I'd find something at the house…something to help him."
A large hand landed on his back and Enix lifted his eyes to the bear next to him.
Freddy however was gazing out at the water.
"….ever since the beginning, William has always been a problem. A problem that has caused so many others. But…I don't think we give Leo enough credit. For all he has done I mean." The bot still gazed out at the water as he spoke. "Yes. William is in him, and that's a risk to everyone's safety. And no, I don't know what we would do if the worst were to happen. I worry about it as well. But, one thing I have always found unhelpful is fretting over something that hasn't even happened yet. Fretting over the future will only cause problems for the present. One day, we might finally have to deal with the situation. But that's not today. Today, Leo is in charge, William is locked away, and it seems he is currently kept at bay by our guard." He finally turned to look at Enix, "so…today we just have fun. Worry about the future when it comes. Whatever happens, I swear we will all get through it. We have dealt with William before. We will again." He lightly squeezed the man's shoulder flashing him a almost cheesy grin. "Take heart superstar, the war hasn't been won yet."
At the odd nickname, Enix couldn't help but snort slightly, "superstar? Where'd that come from?" The bear released his shoulder and gave a shrug.
"I heard a father call his kid that, it seemed to cheer them up." He looked to Enix again, "did it help you?"
Enix couldn't help but let out a slight laugh, "yeah, a bit. Thanks Freddy." The bear inclined his head slightly, and the guard got up, standing with a stretch. The bot followed suit.
"We should get back to the others. Before a fight breaks out between the bots." Enix muttered, and got a nod of agreement from Freddy.
"Yes, we should."
When they returned to the others, there they found a odd scene.
Somehow, Foxy and Bonnie had been buried up to their necks in sand, and atop their heads were sandcastles being built by Chica and the toys. The Puppet seemed to be some kind of moderator and Piper was helping team Foxy, which seemed to consist of Mangle, Chia, and Chica. While Jamie aided in team Bonnie which consisted of Fred, Steven and Ashford.
Leo was sitting on the beach watching them amused.
Enix came to stand next to him and raised an eyebrow at the scene.
"Um…what happened here?" His question caused the older guard to look up at him.
"Oh…uh, well Piper wanted to play volleyball but we didn't have what we needed to do that, so instead they decided to bury Foxy and Bonnie and make sandcastles on their heads." Leo paused, "which in retrospect is going to be a pain in the butt to clean."
"Yeah no kidding." Muttered Enix as he sat down next to his companion. Freddy went to join the Puppet.
"Where'd you run off too?" Leo asked suddenly, causing Enix to turn to him and raise an eyebrow.
"Well, I do need some space sometimes too ya know." He countered, and Leo only raised an eyebrow in return.
"I never said you didn't. But it looked like something was bothering you." That last part was said quieter as Leo gazed at him.
Enix let out a breath, eyes turned to the animatronics before them.
"…why aren't you participating?" He asked instead, and Leo gave a small frown but realized that he wasn't going to get any further.
"I…" he started, only to falter and take a breath, eyes shifting over to the bots. The guard swallowed and wet his lips. "…it's still hard…being around them." That was whispered, this time causing Enix looked at him. Leo had his eyes on his lap as he fidgeted with the hem of his swim trunks. "…it's stupid I know." However he jumped slightly when Enix put a hand on his shoulder.
Leo blinked and looked up at him questioningly, only to be met with a kind smile.
"No. It isn't stupid." Then the kind smile turned into a cheesy grin. "You're doing great superstar." But that only earned an eyebrow raise from Leo.
"Uh…what now?" That made Enix chuckle and release his shoulder turning and gazing at the bots again.
"Just something Freddy said. It amused me." He looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "I thought it'd amuse you too."
Leo let out a snort. "That's one ***L of a cheesy nickname. Do me a favor and don't use it again." But all he got was a cheeky smile in return.
"I make no promises." That made Leo shake his head amused.
"Yeah, whatever."
They both looked over at the…interesting castles that sat upon the heads of their animatronic coworkers.
It was clear that the girl's team had one. As the boys seemed to have been more fascinated with tossing sand into the defenseless Bonnie's face.
"We…should probably get involved before sworn enemies are declared…" Enix muttered, watching as Chia and Fred shouted at each other about whose castle was better.
"That and find a way to get Foxy and Bonnie out of the sand…" Leo muttered, they share a look before getting up and heading over.
I hope you guys enjoyed it! I had a bit of a struggle with the chapter, as it's not usually something I write, but I hope it turned out well!
Also, for summary of what happened between chapters.
Enix managed to convince Puppet to chill, and looked around the basement some more. He found the blueprints and brought them back to the pizzeria. There they managed the switch, and it just so happens, Colt was swinging by to catch up, he managed to make it so the originals bodies could leave the pizzeria, there Piper managed to convince everyone to visit the Great Salt Lake, she and Leo briefly went to the store and picked out swim suits as Enix and Jamie rented a u-haul for the bots.
What do you think of Piper and Leo? What of the boy trio, Enix, Jamie and Ashford? What of Freddy's words to Enix? Or William and Fox's interaction?
I'd love to hear what you think!
Next chapter is back to more serious things I hope you're ready for 6!