"WHO SAID I NEEDED A PARTNER!", Sun pouted to the head of Daycare Staff.
Mr Maynard sighed and put a hand on his forehead, shaking in a little before looking up at Sun. "Sun, I told you, you and Moon are getting someone to help you with the Daycare and that is final!"
"But why!", Sun said, pulling at his rays and looking at Mr Maynard with puppy dog eyes (well, as good of puppy dog eyes as he could manage).
"Don't me and Moonie do enough around here. I think we do! We keep everything clean and we keep the kids happy (I have loads of arts and crafts set up and games, and stories to read!). And Moon makes sure everyone goes to bed so they can be well rested and ready to play more games! Isn't that all a kid could want!".
"FIRST off!".Mr Maynard exclaimed, "You two can barely even do that right! EVerything here is so hectic and chaotic that the children usually end up with glitter glue in their hair and bruised knees!"
Sun's rays retracted into his head outta embarrassment. Yes, that was true…they couldn't always keep everyone clean and tidy…but they usually at least tried to clean everything afterwards.
"SECOND off!", Mr Maynard continued. "Since you're not programmed with an option to leave the Daycare during the daytime, numerous children escape during the day. With Moon, that may be a different story, but when it comes to you, we need another animatronic to watch over things while you attend to the kids."
Sun's rays retracted even more, only showing the tiniest of triangles. Yes, it was true that he was not allowed to leave the Daycare, even if a child got loose, but if he just went out and left, who would look after the other kids.
NOT THAT HE AND MOON NEEDED HELP, of course,but sometimes you have to think of the greater majority.
"And lastly.", Mr Maynard said, poison dripping from his voice, holding out a folder and dropping it at the daycare attendant's feet. Sun picked it up and examined it.
"W-what is this, sir?". Sun asked.
"THESE!", Mr Maynard replied. "Are all the complaints that some of the parents sent to me.". He picked one out, cleared his throat, and began to read some out.
"My son stayed the day at the Superstar Daycare, and now he can't sleep at night without wetting the bed."
"Lucy spent the day at The Freddy Fazbear Pizzaplex's Superstar Daycare, and now all she will eat is paste and canned soft drinks.".
"Byron nearly left the premises completely without adult supervision. He nearly left the building if not for Officer Vanessa.".
If you could see Sun at that moment, you would barely even be able to distinguish him from his nighttime counterpart, with only the lack of hat and the red and yellow wardrobe being the things that set the two apart at the moment. That and the trembling.
Mr Maynard sighed and put a hand on his head. "The point I'm trying to make is clearly you can't do all of this sh-...STUFF, on your own. So we've brought in another animatronic to help you. Whether you like it or not. You clearly need supervision.".
Mr Maynard was about to leave, before turning around. "It'll be here by…eleven at night. Right before the Pizzaplex closes. For the love of god, please TRY not to overwhelm it. It's a little older than you and (from what the repair people have told me) a bit more on the quiet side. ". And with that. Mr Maynard walked out of the room.
Sun waited until Mr Maynard was completely gone from the room, before getting up and letting his sun rays pop out again. They sighed and began picking up things from the Daycare, so the new kids wouldn't have to play in a messy room. It wasn't long before he heard something, however.
"He's thinking of replacing us, isn't he.".
A shiver ran down Sun's back before they sighed and replied to the little voice. "No Moon, the new animatronic's not gonna replace us, You're always so quick to jump to conclusions.".
"Am I however.", Moon said. "Remember how Monty was originally going to fill in for Bonnie until he was fixed? He was just going to stay there for…a month, two months at most. But two months turned to four, then eight, and then twelve! And then…"
Moon was silent after that, but Sun knew what he meant simply by that silence alone. He sniffed a bit, before shaking his head and forcing a smile. "Now Moon…don't b-be like that. I'm sure that w-won't be the case. It will take a lot to replace us. The kids l-love us!".
"Love? Us?", Moon said, its voice growling.
"YES!", Sun said. "They love us. And besides, the animatronic that's going to watch over us is an older model than us anyways. If anything, we'll be the one replacing them!".
There was silence for a while, but only for a while, in which something that made Sun's hydraulic fluid run cold. "I give us at least a week until we're out on the streets.".
—-
It was 11:00, precisely, and everyone was getting ready to close. Well, all except for Sun and Moon. They were tasked to wait at the front entrance of the Daycare and wait so they could come and see the newcomer. And frankly, to say the least, none of them were too thrilled about it.
"What will they think of us?" Sun asked Moon mentally.
"Cross our fingers that they're an old codger like Mr Maynard is..", Moon replied. "That way we can maybe run things like normal. They are older than us, afterall.".
"Probably only physically older though.", Sun said. "Remember, an animatronic is only really as "old" as their programming allows it to be. They might be mentally the same age as us.".
"If they are, we're doomed.".
"HUSH!".
Just then, the both of them heard a voice that made them perk up.
"So this is the new animatronic that's coming in.", Mr Maynard said to one of the repair women.
"Yep", She said back. "Though new is a bit of an overstatement. This thing is…over fifty years old. This ain't just any old model…this is the original.".
"From the original 1987 location? You're pulling my leg. This thing is a goddamn relic.".
"Yeah. We found it underground, all burnt up. Luckily the outside of the thing was ok, only a few things that needed to be sewed up, but the inside….damn, we had to replace a lot. The overall AI was…repairable, but the endo had been melted completely. We had to replace it with one from the Daycare Attendant.".
"Damn, well, reel it in then. I want Sun and Moon to meet this thing before the place closes. Hopefully they don't become TOO territorial.".
Sun grimaced at that, before seeing the woman that Mr Maynard was talking to wheel in a faded light blue box, with faded lavender ribbon on it. It looked even older than Mr Maynard, with tiny rips and tears appearing on the wrapping paper. Sun blew on it, and dust ended up flying to his face. They coughed and hacked, hopping away from the gigantic box and trying to get the dust out of his nonexistent lungs.
Mr Maynard lumbered up to the old box and patted the top of it. "Ah! I see you met your new partner then.".
Sun eyed the box up and down. "My new partner is a…box, sir?".
"No, you idiot.", Mr Maynard said, rolling his eyes. "Your new partner is INSIDE the box.".
"Oh…", Sun replied before walking up the box and tilted his head. "When is he coming out?".
"Never seen a Jack in the Box, before?", Mr Maynard groaned. "Just turn the crank and he'll jump out! God, do I have to tell you everything?".
Sun sighed. He was not in the mood for Maynard's usual brand of grumpiness tonight. However, Sun did not verbally complain. Instead, he got up, went over to the box, and felt around until they found a crank. As they turned the crank, a twinkling little tune came from the box.
"Pop Goes the Weasel…", Sun thought, smiling a bit. "The kids love this song.". He began to rock his head back and forth to the music, humming to himself as the twinkly little melody played.
"All around the Mulberry Bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought twas all in fun"
Suddenly, the lid popped open, causing Sun to jump back in surprise. He expected something to pop out, like a toy or doll of a clown. But instead…there was nothing.
"Oh don't act like that!", Mr Maynard said, kicking the box, causing whatever was inside it to yelp in surprise. "Come on out and meet your new friend!".
Sun curiously went over to peer over the box to see whatever was inside, only for (what appeared to be) a pair of thin, striped arms to shoot up and grab the edge of the box.
Sun backed up, looking up to see some sort of…thing come out of the faded gift box it lived in. It was tall, much taller than Sun was, which was an accomplishment, as they were pretty tall. It was…very thin too, unnaturally thin. Sun was pretty sure its waist was less than nine inches in width. Its dark gray fabric-like skin was accented with white stripes going down the arms, and its chest was adorned with three buttons.
The thing that Sun was most drawn to was…the face. The face was…mask-like and pale, made with porcelain or plastic, he could not tell. The eyes of the face were in a sort of almond shape, and pitch black. Down the eyes to the chin were a pair of purple tear streaks, steamingly hand painted. The cheeks of the animatronic were red, with a pair of red lips to match. It looked to Sun that it was some sort of…mime.
Now, Sun and his nighttime counterpart were recluses, that much was true. They didn't see the faces of many people, or many animatronics, at least outside of the DJ that they live near. That being said, a thought raced through Sun's mind as soon as he saw the newcomer. A thought that made his face feel…hot for some reason.
"Gosh, they sure are pretty.".
"This!", Mr Maynard exclaimed, beckoning to the newcomer while making jazz hands. "Is the Marvelous Mr Marionnette! He's going to be watching over the kids for you while you're in daymode Sunny.".
Mr Marionette smiled a warm smile that made Sun's heart flutter a bit. "Hello Mr Sun.", it said.
"Oh gosh!", Sun thought. "Even his voice is pretty. Not too masculine, not to feminine, not too old, not too young, not too quiet, not too loud. Just right, just right, just right! Just like in Goldilocks!:.
"Hello?", the voice called again, causing Sun to snap out of his trance to answer back.
"U-um, HELLO! M-mr M-Marionette!", Sun stuttered.
"Please, no need to be so formal, just call me Puppet. We are going to be co workers after all.".
"Oh! O-of course, uh…", Sun sputtered and looked away. Gosh darn it he was embarrassing himself. He coughed and looked at the Puppet again. "So, uhhh, I heard you're from the 1980s, is that correct? From the 1987 establishment!".
Sun saw a flash of sadness in the mime's eyes…his beautiful pitch black eyes, before it dissipated. "Yes, I was. I was the first of my kind, a Security Puppet model. My job is to watch over children as they run around the phacility, to make sure they don't get taken away by a stranger, or so that they don't leave the premises all together.".
"How do you do that?". Sun asked.
The mime stretched as it slinked back into its box. "I'll have more time to explain later.", He said. "Right now, I'm tired. I need some rest. It's been a long day for me. Plus, I'm still sore from the repairs.".
Puppet looked around. "Didn't you have another friend with you? The Moon? When do I get to meet them?".
"Oh you'll…meet them eventually.", Sun said, rubbing the back of his head. "He just…likes to come out when it's a little bit…darker.".
"Alright. See you later Mr Sun.", Puppet slinked back into their box, and closed the lid.
"Alright, alright!", Mr Maynard said. "It's time for you to rest too, Sun. It's nearly closing time. The last time you slept late, one of the kids drew something…inappropriate on your face with a permanent marker, and we can't have that happen again.".
Sun shuddered, remembering that moment, before holding two thumbs up and shining a big smile. "Don't worry Mr Maynard. Me and Moon will rest up so everything can be prepared for tomorrow. You can count on us.".
"No I can't.", Mr Maynard replied. "I'm leaving. See you later.".
"Bye bye Mr Maynard!". Sun waved. He faked a yawn before hooking up to his cord and lifting his way back up to the messy room that he and Moon shared. Nearly slipping on a loose paper, Sun flopped onto his dusty mattress.
For a second, there was silence. A silence that was music to Moon's ear.
Then, a high pitched squeal, the sound rivaling a dog whistle, fueled the air, causing Moon to metaphorically cover their ears to avoid them from bleeding.
"DID YOU SEE HIM!", Sun exclaimed, kicking his legs vigorously up and down and giggling like a schoolgirl. "He's so PRETTY!".
"Please. He's practically a stick with make-up. He's not that pretty.".
"I'm serious, Moon! He's so pretty, unbelievably pretty. His eyes were like the endless void of space, his face was like a crying widow, desperate for companionship, his arms like fresh peppermint candy!".
"He's thinner than a stick bug and their makeup is garish. How could you find that attractive.".
"I can name, like…over 20 more things about him that's pretty. Like his voice. The way they talk is like honey…or candy! OR HONEY AND CANDY MIXED TOGETHER!".
"We've known that thing for 15 minutes, 20 minutes TOPS!". Moon grimaced. "May I remind you that if they end up being more popular than us, we are going to be replaced. We are going to end up as scrap metal on the street. This thing isn't some pretty boy from those Japanese comic books Vanessa likes to read so much. This thing is a menace! A threat to us! If we end up getting lower ratings than it, it's over for us. We'll be up shit's creak without a paddle! Do you want that for us! Do you want us to DIE, SUN!".
Sun stood there with Moon, the raspy voice he used going through his mind, over and over again. A feeling of horror crept over him as relayed what Moon just said.
"Oh my gosh…Moon.".
"Yes, Sunny?', Moon rasped.
"You said a bad word!", Sun yelled out, pouting. "You know bad words aren't allowed in the daycare!".
Moon simply groaned in response.
So yeah. Hope you enjoy this first chapter of the little crack-ship story. I don't know when I'm going update, mostly when I feel like it. But yeah. Hope you enjoy this. Reviews are appreciated. Thank you :3 (Also both The Daycare Attendent and Puppet use He/They/It pronouns in this story so keep that in mind)