Moon watches through the glass doors as you disappear into a blind spot, only being met with darkness and the occasional relief of streetlights illuminating asphalt.
A click from above, and the shutters begin to automatically lower. He doesn't move. He wants to savor every ounce of darkness with the chance his light may appear again.
After a few seconds of staring into the cold metal of closed gates, he slowly turns around. Looking up to the right, there's a vent. Forward, there's Roxy and Chica.
He groans, stepping forward in the dim darkness towards the bots waiting for him at the giant Freddy statue. He should probably tighten the loose end anyway.
Past the turnstiles, he slowly approaches, and stops a couple meters away.
Roxy's arms are crossed, just observing him as Chica seems just as worried at her silence.
Moon slouches a little, leaning slightly off to the side as his faceplate spins with impatience. He stops, growing frustrated at the quiet tension.
"..Wwwhat?"
Roxy adjusts her hair, and leans up off the statue's base to finally speak.
"Why this one?"
She stares into Moon's white eyes. He doesn't respond.
"They.. seem.. to be okay with you." She pauses. "But you don't usually let them get that far in the first place. What changed?"
Moon takes a small step forward. "Nothing for you to be concerned about, Roxanne, no. None of your business."
Chica stutters to dissolve the tension. "W-we.. are just curious, and.. glad, Moondrop. It's nice seeing you warm up.." She wrings her hands, and looks over at Roxy worriedly.
Roxy scoffs. "And weird. After everything, it's pretty surprising they're still here. Guess they're just a little stronger. Can't break them, hm?"
Moon's head slowly spins to the side. "Quiet."
Roxy rolls her eyes. "..Whatever. I do have to give you credit, I guess. Thanks for Monty. Tell them I said so if I don't get the chance. Dunno how opposed you were to it, but, if you wanted to stop it, you would've."
Moon smirks a little. "Yes."
There's silence for a little longer than it's comfortable for.
Roxy stares off into the darkness besides Moon. "..Would've had a few more workers like them, if you would've given them a chance. Not all of them were horrible, Moondrop. I think you know that."
Moon's smirk dropped quickly. His faceplate slowly spins to another side, and his nightcap follows accordingly. He slouches ever so slightly, arms limp in front of him. "..I did.. What was necessary.."
Chica looks towards Roxy, eyes full of growing distress, she reaches for a hand, but Roxy tucks it deeper into her crossed arms. "Please. At least Sun has a somewhat reasonable excuse. It's not a secret anymore that he's not in control of himself sometimes, despite how much you tried to keep it quiet. You? You knew exactly what you're doing."
Even though he's bent forward a bit, he's still a foot or two taller than Roxy. He has no idea why she's so confident. "..Mmh, you do not understand. Nono.. Be quiet, or I'll show you reason, Roxanne."
She hums, not phased a bit by Moon's vague threats. "Do you regret it? Do you think they deserved it?" She returns to his white pinpricks.
Moon quietly hums, and is motionless. He doesn't respond.
Roxy's arms unfold and rest at her sides. "Do you need a reminder? Does Sun, of his? Do you even remember their names?"
Moon slouches, a low hum devolving into a growl signaling a warning which she ignores. She watches him closely.
She steps the tiniest bit forward, in front of Chica.
"..Kai."
Moon is suddenly silent, the growl cut thin in an instant with a single syllable. She continues.
"..Avery. Allie. Rory. Cillia. Jamar. Parker. Susie. Sarah. Jackson. Luna. Eve. Javier. Riley.."
Moon's fingers curl into his palm, and he takes a single step forward. "..I did not hurt Sarah."
Roxy nods, and stands her ground. "Yeah, she left before you got the chance."
He carelessly didn't block out Sun in time. He growls, but she doesn't acknowledge it whatsoever. "..Do they know? Gosh, of course they don't. They have no idea." She grins, baring sharp teeth, scoffing. "People just like them. Technicians, guards, human attendants. Some innocent, some admittedly, not so nice. Would you regret it then? If they knew? If they saw you like everyone else does?" She stares into Moon's white pinpricks. He's afraid. "Maybe they already did at some point."
Your face full of pure terror when he hurt you those two times a week ago suddenly flashes in his head, helpless with every perfect detail absorbed in seconds. He tenses. Sun pleads with him to calm down. He hasn't seen you afraid of him in a while. He wants to keep it that way.
Moon's fingers slowly retreat out of his hand, and Chica catches a glint of pink and green neon light sparkle briefly off sharp metal claws. Moon's eyes flicker to red, and he detenses, snapping back into a slight slouch, almost like he's going to pounce. His low growl grows louder. His smile slowly reappears. "..Mmh, I will tear you to pieces before you can tell them, Roxanne. You know I will."
Chica suddenly steps forward, her arm blocking Roxy from escalating the situation physically. "H-hey, let's.. calm down, okay? I.. I'm just, happy to see you have a friend now, Moon."
Roxy growls, eyes locked tight with Moon. Chica steps in front of Roxy, between the two bots just meters from conflict. She looks over and up at Moon with gentle purple eyes. "..We're just concerned, we, uhm.. We aren't going to.. tell them anything, we promise! That's.. not our business to discuss."
Chica worriedly clasps Roxy's hand into hers. "..C'mon, hun. Please? It's not worth it."
Roxy hesitantly looks down at Chica, then back to Moon, crimson eyes and claws drawn at his fingertips. She returns to Chica's eyes for a few seconds more.
She relaxes. "..Fine."
They back up. Roxy takes Chica's hand as they begin to depart. Roxy stops, and looks over to Moon one last time.
"..Maybe they want to stay ignorant. But.. it's gonna get hard to ignore. Good luck."
Chica tugs on Roxy's hand, and she guides her quickly up the stairs. Moon doesn't move an inch as he watches them disappear.
Moon stands there for a minute longer, ignoring Sun in his head. He ruminates. Eventually, he backs up, and turns to the vent he should've taken earlier. Crawling up the wall, he squeezes in, and red reflects off the glossy metal inside.
He thought of visiting Monty, just so he could tie up that loose knot as well - make sure he knows the consequences. He'd have to be creative. Monty is straight up suicidal at this point. He doesn't care about himself. Who does he care about? Mmh, their battery is getting low. Another time.
Moon floats up on his wire towards the glowing moon and stars, carrying the slumber party box and your duffle bag of clothes with him. His yellow little shoes adorned with a moon on the sides and a bell that doesn't seem to ring when it's supposed to meets the balcony. He walks past their charging pod in the main room, setting down the slumber party box before continuing towards the tube. He slides the duffle bag through, and squeezes in, reappearing in the secondary room they spend most of their time in. Well, Sun does. Moon has somewhere else he also likes to be. Maybe he'll show you sometime.
Light dim, and eyes returned to white, he sets the bag against the wall and sits criss-cross in the middle of the room.
Past the yellow-orange little table, littered with multicolored hearts, your makeshift bed he made for you is still there. Just above it, are your gifts for him and Sun. The pictures taped up around the gifts only depict you and Sun. He reaches into his pockets, and carefully pulls out the pictures you gave Sun after printing them from the photo booth. Two of each picture, of you and him. Of you and Sun. He sits up, and places them on the table, retrieving some tape from a random cardboard box they have stored. He carefully and meticulously tapes the photos to the wall around the gifts, making sure they're as pretty as possible. He smiles a little at the picture of Sun and you, bruises on your neck very visible. The ones of you and him in Parts and Service after your returned from the hospital and repaired them, again. A place that'd usually only be full of terrible memories now replaced with memories of you.
He's not sure what to do with the extra copies, so along with the tape, he places them onto the table for now.
He sits in the middle of the room, resting for a bit. He sits, and calmly observes the hundreds of kids drawings on the side walls and colorful patterned carpets on the floor. He eventually glances over at a cardboard box, where the books Sarah got him safely reside. A poetry book, a lullaby book, and a story book.
Sun's rambling died a while ago inside their headspace, or he just tuned it out. He speaks up now however, and Moon listens.
"..M-Moon.. was she.. the only one?"
Silence. Moon isn't ignoring him though.
"..What did Roxy mean? What did you.. mean? Y-you didn't hurt the others either, did you..? You.. y-you said they just.. didn't like us.."
He doesn't reply, simply attempting to recall every single page in the books by memory. Moon doesn't want to think about what he would've done if workers before her broke their trust. Was she lucky that she was there before anyone else? Confusing.
Sun pauses to collect his racing thoughts, suddenly connecting dots after all this time. He didn't want to believe Moon would do something like this. "..You.. didn't have to h-hurt them.. nono. O-oh, is.. is that why they left? You.. w-what did you do to Luna? To.. Parker? They.. weren't bad, no.. M-Moon."
Moon slouches, criss-cross in the middle of the room. "Mmh. I kept you in the dark most of the time for a reason. They.. needed to go. Needed to go. Wouldn't let us get hurt again. Wouldn't let them hurt us."
Sun is afraid to know. "..T-they didn't hurt us.."
Moon is silent for a few seconds, racing for the same justification he's used all this time, which suddenly doesn't seem too right. "..Eve, Avery. They seemed nice. They hurt you. Us. It.. would have happened."
Sun is a whisper. "..You don't.. y-you don't know that! You said they left.. J-just.. left. The nice ones.."
Moon dips his head down and buries his faceplate in his hands, the fluffy star on the end brushing against the back of his fingers. "..They did. They left. Didn't.. didn't d̸i̷e̶. Nono.. Don't.. They got help.. They were.. They were okay."
"..You've been doing this all along. M..Moon.. How long?"
He's silent for a full minute. Unmoving with turmoil.
"..I-It is better now.. doesn't.. It doesn't matter.. no.."
He vibrates ever so slightly as fans whir in his chest.
Sun only had suspicions with the few nice ones before you. He could somewhat accept Moon hurting the ones that hurt them first, despite still not approving of it.. besides what Moon did to Monty. Monty hurt you. Is that how Moon felt when they hurt him?
But some didn't hurt them.
He should've known though sooner they weren't the only ones. Maybe he didn't want to connect the dots. Maybe you don't either.
Moon kept Sun in his little bubble for as long as possible, and Sun felt safe there.
He hurt them all. Some of them, he handled after they already hurt them - and deserved it. Some of them he took care of before they had the chance. Sarah and Kai were the only few before Avery all that time ago which Moon didn't feel the incentive to hurt before their trust was crushed to a knot only you somehow miraculously untangled. You only got here by pure luck.
The others, each name suddenly made real again, were proof of how rare this occurrence is.
Kai, one of the victims of Sun's blackouts.
Sarah, who was relatively kind to Moon. She brought him books. Such nice books.
Avery, who promised Sun he wouldn't hurt him, only to break it so he could do his job a little quicker.
Cillia, who only used Moon so he'd complete patrols for her.
Eve, a technician who found Sun being so lifelike absolutely fascinating, especially when he'd react to her unnecessarily experimenting on him during routine maintenance. How authentically he expressed agony, how confused he'd be when she feigned being sorry like she wasn't intentionally hurting him. She'd be so kind to him otherwise.
Jackson, much like Avery, only wanted to get his job done. He ignored Sun's aversion to the Repair Module.
Parker, Jackson's subordinate, who tried his best to find a way for Sun not to be uncomfortable during the maintenance, only for Jack to shut him down. He tried. Moon didn't think he tried hard enough.
Luna, taking the human Daycare Assistant job in the Summer a year ago. She'd always be so very kind with the kids, encouraging their little activities if she wasn't reading from textbooks at the security desk. Her flaw was being too afraid and aversed to Sun and Moon however. Sun respected the boundaries, despite how much he hated the constant glint of unease towards him in her eyes. Moon gave her reason to be afraid.
Rory, the next assistant who wouldn't even get close to the kids. Sun would try and encourage him to be a little more kind with his words when the kids would appeal for Rory's attention behind the desk. Sun eventually just learned to redirect the kids away. Moon decided the job wasn't fit for Rory. He was gone the next day.
Javier was kind, but Sun was too afraid to allow him to look for ways for maintenance to be less painful. He was too afraid to step into the pod as well. Javier allowed Sun not to be strapped down in the chair. He even adjusted the cables and connections to manually link into Sun, sitting up and out of alignment with the restraints. He allowed him to have full range of motion rather than restraining him when he blacked out. Sun thought the door would be enough. It wasn't. Moon wouldn't allow Javier to report Sun's glitch. He had to make sure he'd be quiet.
Susie, who encouraged the children to play games with Sun. Bad games. She found amusement when the kids were finally able to tug at Sun's sensitive rays, or pulled on his little anchor on his back, straining his endoskeleton when he wasn't prepared. It hurt Sun, but she only saw it as harmless entertainment. It took a while for the game to die out, especially with the regular children that'd attend the Daycare. She was the last of the assistants before the position of human Daycare Assistant was removed. Sun had learned by now that Moon was hiding something.
Allie, who helped check in kids at the front desk before they automated it. Sun rarely saw her except for when he'd escort kids up to their parents, but she was kind to him each time they'd meet. He would visit her occasionally, and she wouldn't mind one bit. Sun met her before she left the breakroom on her lunch break one day before Sun could get the snacks for the kids. She mistakenly turned off the light out of reflex on her way out. Moon was quick. Sun had already taped up the Daycare's light switch by now, but he made a mistake. She was gone after Sun finally came out a few minutes later.
Jamar. a security guard who only really had shifts during the daytime. Luckily, he never had to meet Moon, and Moon never got an opportunity. Even when he wasn't on his lunch break, he'd make time to come check in on Sun, simply to greet him. On weekends, they'd have nice conversations. Just a few minutes, but Sun adored rambling on about his plans for activities for the children. Jamar didn't seem to mind. He didn't say goodbye. He just left. Sun looked forward to his visits, holding out hope for a while. It only cemented the inevitability of abandonment from people he adored. Moon didn't have much trouble exploiting this.
Riley, much like you. They hired her to work on Sun and Moon specifically after developing their convoluted system of contracts that would negate them of any consequences if the employee was indisposed suddenly. Her first mistake was refusing to allow Sun complete control over the lights. Her second was assuming it was a general advanced animatronic technician job, despite the many red flags. She learned quickly after ignoring Sun's warning out of curiosity before naptime. She was lucky, despite her injuries being marked up to as negligence in court.
She was lucky. Some of the rest after her, were not. Some of the others, had a chance to get out.
You had that chance too, but you were different. Despite Moon showing Sun what he'd do if you stayed, you were the brightest star he's seen in far too long. Even if you didn't come back, he could stretch his time with you today, right?
There were a couple others before you. In between the names they remember, between the ones that actually had a chance to tell them with how long they lasted. Moon certainly remembers each one, even if he didn't know their name.
They are property. They are assumed unliving. They are things. They are electricity and gold-plated circuits that no one else seemed to see. It was inevitable.
Sun would be bending his rays with his grip if he was out now. He was only shown what Moon needed him to see. Them abandoning him was enough at first, but Moon could only make excuses for blocking out Sun for so long. Moon tried his best to force them away without Sun knowing the truth of why they disappeared. The kind workers that weren't so horrible. The ones Moon couldn't distinguish from those who'd fake it to simply finish their job easier. Eventually, after Avery, after Eve, after everyone who would feign kindness and hurt them afterwards. After Sun kept getting hurt, after Moon had to watch, after Sun's hope just wouldn't die. Moon didn't care to sugarcoat it in abandonment or aversion to them any longer. It obviously wasn't working.
He left Sun in the dark. It was okay for Sun to know that Moon would protect them against those who already hurt them. Moon knew Sun would be sick however with what he did to prevent it from happening in the first place. Sun already grew so upset over the idea of what Moon might've done to Avery, to others like him. He painted Sun a dream a little less bitter of them simply being unlovable. It wasn't far from the truth anyway. Harm always came with the initial appearance of kindness. Was being unlovable and unreachable such a less favorable alternative? Moon kept him in the dark for so long.
Sun learned that Moon would threaten, and at the very worst, maybe hurt anyone who was a little kinder than usual. He didn't know to what extent. He worried, and Moon would lie. Sun didn't press further. Moon made sure of it.
Was he any better than those who manipulated them?
What Moon did to you was the worst Sun had been allowed to see so far. He initially thought you'd be relatively safe during naptime, even if you didn't heed his advice to leave. Moon had the kids to worry about. He wouldn't touch you, right?
No, you were far past that threshold of unusual kindness which set off panic alarms in Moon's systems. He hadn't learned how pure your smile was. The devastating heartbreak or malicious suffering you would inflict might be the greatest yet. Sun was getting attached far too quickly, so Moon finally decided to let him see what would happen if he kept letting workers get close.
Sun watched as Moon swung you into the Daycare wall, not a sound from the impact as he gracefully handled you, meticulously crafting the pain he'dl inflict.
Sun is silent, and Moon feels him sinking deeper into his own little space in their head, somewhat safe from the other. He reaches out.
"Sunny.."
And he's gone.
Moon sits for a little longer, staring at the ground, ruminating on memories in his own little separate headspace that they don't have to share. Despite only feeling slight echos of Sun's presence, he wants to make sure he doesn't have to see all of what he's done, even though he had planned to after he was finished disposing of you a week ago.
He flinches a little recalling a few. His head involuntarily jolts to the side for a split second when the memory becomes too much.
He decides to ignore it all. He wants to charge. He doesn't want to think about any of it.
He regrets it, so much.
He does.
Slowly climbing through the tube, and entering the charging pod, he's shaking every so often. Out of his control.
He ruminates on the fear in your eyes after he initially treated you like all the others. He recalls the bruises around your wrists that he can still faintly notice. He remembers exactly how it felt crushing your original moon earring between his fingers. How your neck felt in his hands as he pressed you against the Daycare wall.
He replays the memory of choking you up against the exterior hallway's brick wall after you came back to them. Full of rage, he was irrationally careless, truly believing you were like the rest. He believed it was your fault, he believed you left them. All he felt from you in that moment was burning anger. He was wrong. He was so wrong. How many times was he wrong before you? How many times had he acted purely out of rage?
Of course, he remembers in great detail all the others, and the sensations haunt him just as much. Every ounce of pain he inflicted, because they hurt them, and so it wouldn't happen in the first place. Objectively deserved, and not.
What would you think of him if you knew?
He'll make sure you never learn, by any means necessary.
He presses into the machinery behind him.
That's not him anymore. That's not him anymore. That's no̶t̴ ̴h̶i̸m̶ ̶a̴n̴y̵m̶o̷r̵e̷.̸ ̵T̵h̷a̸t̸'̶s̵ ̶n̸o̸t̷ ̶h̴i̴m̶ ̷a̶n̸y̷m̷o̶r̴e̷.̶ ̴T̵h̸a̷t̴'̶s̷ ̴n̸o̸t̷ ̴h̵i̸m̸ ̸a̵n̷y̵m̴o̴r̴e̶.̶ ̸T̸h̷a̸t̴'̶s̵ ̶n̷o̸t̴ ̸h̸――
He's forced into rest by the pod as he charges. The sickness he feels suddenly disappears, only to reanimate in vague nightmares.
You texted them as you pulled into your allotted parking spot. You wait for about a minute. They don't text back. It's.. unusual, but hopefully they're just charging. They'll text you back soon, right?
You hum. You pull up your FazWatch, and open up April's DM. She confirmed yesterday night that Sun would be able to attend the meeting this afternoon, a little under 12 hours from now. You open up Wendy's DM after unhooking your watch and pulling out the little keyboard. You text her about potentially using the loading dock. It's more about being subtle than anything, really. You also ask if there's anything unusual in the Daycare. You're glad you feel comfortable enough with her to be honest - you mention being worried if they got to their charging pod safely. Maybe she can assure you. You strap your watch back on.
It's literally only almost 5am, so you don't really expect a response anytime soon. You lean back into your seat, and stretch a little before unbuckling. You grab your backpack, and open your car door. The streetlamp above guides you to your apartment in the pitch dark.
Mimi moves out of the way of the opening door before loudly meowing at you. You barely get time to flick the light switch before you're bombarded. Gosh do you feel bad being so absent recently. You make it up to her by just sitting down onto the hardwood and patting her for a few minutes. Zoomba is silent, likely just charging. Hopefully you'll get to hear him before you leave.
You eventually sit up to Mimi's disapproval, and unhook your watch from your wrist while you walk into the living room. You take off your shoes, and place them against the wall. You stow the FazWatch into your backpack, and put it onto the couch for later. Kitchen.
Oh. Wendy and April left a note on the fridge, hung up by a rainbow magnet.
"Took care of Mimi and got to hear Zoomba! We got you something to eat before we got here tonight so check fridge, hope you're eating okay. - April"
There's a cute little heart next to her signature. You don't think you'll remove the note anytime soon. You open the fridge, and there's a bag of fast food. Probably not the healthiest, but whatever. It's preferable to cereal which you planned to make. You warm everything up in the microwave and sit at the bar area, planning the morning as you eat.
You'll probably hit a couple dozen stores. Hopefully one of them will have cardboard boxes or something too. Mimi hops up onto the stool next to you, hitting her head into your side begging for attention which you do give her. She'll decide when it makes up for your absence.
You finish, dispose of the trash, and head upstairs after grabbing the shirt you took from the duffel bag at the Daycare and brought home in your backpack.
You floss and brush your teeth after setting your keys and phone down, and notice in the mirror the sun and moon earrings you almost forgot about. You smile, removing them and placing them onto the countertop. You grab some other clothes from your room, and hop in the shower after throwing the old ones into a laundry basket. Mimi thinks about jumping onto the bathtub ledge, but the water spraying down from above separated by a shower curtain deters her.
Your ribs still hurt when going over them with soap.
Stepping out of the shower, you dry yourself to the best of your ability. You walk over to the mirror, still attempting to dry your hair with the towel.
You pause, noticing the bruising around your ribs. It's almost yellowish. Hopefully it's healing well. Your neck is doing a little better. Hopefully no one comments on it.
You lay into your bed after retrieving your stuff off the countertop. You put on the earrings after cleaning them, and got dressed, bringing the towel with you to wrap your hair with. You admired the shirt you picked out for a second, pitch black while having a cute little four-point yellow star at the chest. You must've had this shirt for years, it's one you brought from where you used to live. Who knows how long you've had it. It's not too obnoxious or obvious, but Sun and Moon will definitely notice it.
You'll find out where you left your wallet in a bit. For now, you missed your Blahaj and Sun and Moon plushies. Not really the bed, they did a good job of making up for that. Moon is.. really comfy.
Swiping through all the photos you've taken of you and Sun and Moon, you need to get the ones of Moon in the Fazcade printed. You've got a fucked up photo printer at your computer desk. Hopefully it has enough of the weird plastic and paper.
You sigh. You relax a little with Mimi at your left, Blahaj and Sun and Moon plushies on your right. You look at the Sun and Moon plushies, and just. Think. Your situation is fucking absurd. The past week has been more eventful than your entire life, and you're in a relationship with robots. Absolutely any other reality, and you wouldn't be here. You're glad you get to live this one, despite everything that's happened.
You eventually sit up after stretching a bit, and power on your computer to start the process as Mimi brushes against your leg.
As it's doing its thing, you look over at the drawer containing your flash drive. The one full of documents detailing artificial fucking sentience. You open the drawer, and pull it out. You sigh as you inspect it in your hands. You should probably make a backup of it, but. You're admittedly a little paranoid. Manmade creation of sentience. You wonder how many organizations would kill you to get their hands on it. You don't know the origin of it, and if that origin still even exists, but. One day, maybe you'll find out.
You put it back, for now.
You retrieve the photos, and put your phone, keys, and wallet in your pockets. Your wallet was simply on the nightstand next to your bed. You head to the little box of clothes you've yet to entirely unpack into your dresser, and pull out a cute blue hoodie. It's getting a bit cold out, and since it's morning, you definitely missed it. It's oversized, of course. On purpose. You put it on.
You head downstairs, and put the photos in a pocket within your backpack. You're met with Zoomba being powered on, and a few seconds later, a robotic 'Ow' voices its collision with the wall. You're almost ready to leave, but It's only been about an hour, and that means it's only six.
You retrieve your FazWatch, and check your messages.
Nothing. You secure it around your wrist.
You sigh, and pull out your phone.
You take a few videos of Mimi, and a few videos of Zoomba, making sure their meows and Ow's are captured respectively. You wanna show them to Sun and Moon sometime. You think the cat videos you showed Sun in Parts and Service before whole Kieran situation was the first time they've seen an actual cat. You recall them mentioning internet access, but you're not sure to what extent, or how often they're capable of accessing it. The one in P&S doesn't even have a connection, but Moon remade your earring via the 3D printing software somehow. You'll show them all the cat videos in the world, and whatever else they're curious about.
You rest on the soft couch, and open up the banking app on your phone.
Your pay being an absurd $48.77 an hour (for good reason) amounts to almost $4000 as of today. They gave paid time off or whatever for you being in the hospital, and you could've taken a few more days, but. That absolutely wasn't happening.
You have more than enough to spend after utilities and necessities.
You swap over to Amazon, and spend half an hour ordering things. They'll come to your home address, so if everything checks out with the loading dock, you can just get a cart and wheel the stuff after bringing it up there.
You turn off your phone, and put it in your pocket. Your cart is pretty big, and you've got a couple dozen new emails from Amazon confirming purchases. You give Mimi a few more pats before gently guiding her off of you, probably committing a felony by removing her from your lap.
You make it up to her by getting some wet food and making sure her water bowl is cleaned and everything. Wendy, and April last night, seem to be taking good care of her. You'll have to pay them back somehow, gosh.
You grab your backpack, put on your shoes, and walk to the door. You look back one last time, listening to the ambience of Ow's and patting Mimi before exiting and locking the door behind you.
