Fennekin Lv100: aww, thank you! And yeah, I doubled some of the kids' stories- I felt like I didn't dive deep enough into some of the elements that I wanted to explore.
Jeremy plucked his guitar's strings absent-mindedly, smiling as he mulled over Mike's words.
"I love spending time with you guys!"
But, did he mean all of them in general, or on occasion spending time with just one of them? He was too scared to ask… he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle whatever answer he gave him.
He began strumming random chords, watching where his fingers landed on the frets. He was so used to Bonnie's fingers moving immediately to where they were programmed to go- sometimes, all he could do was watch in awe as his own fingers discovered the right place to go. Was he really the one coaxing these sounds out of the guitar? It felt surreal.
There was a knock on his door, making him jump.
"Come in!" he called. Maybe it was Susie again. She'd been coming inside of his room lately to ask him random questions and borrow things.
He had to fight down a large smile at Mike's face peeking in.
"Hey, Jer," Mike greeted him. Jeremy waved to him, going back to playing his guitar. Mike may have told him that he liked spending time with them, but he was still worried that if he looked too eager to hang out with him, Mike would stop.
Mike walked into the room, closing the door softly behind him, and sat on the bed.
"How's it going?" he asked. Jeremy nodded at him, allowing a little bit of his smile to show on his face.
"Everything's good," he said. "Just practicing."
Mike nodded at him, beginning to play with his fingers.
"Hey, listen… I was thinking…"
Jeremy's heart would have sped up at this. He didn't like those words.
"I was thinking… we don't really have the time to go on vacation this year. Is it alright if we head out next year?"
"Uh… yeah, sure dad."
"Thanks."
And they would leave.
Every.
Single.
Time.
"There's this one song that I could never remember the name of- I was wondering if you'd recognize the tune," Mike said. He looked over and noticed that Jeremy had completely frozen, mind still stuck on the words 'I was thinking'. He frowned and carefully grabbed one of Jeremy's hands. "Jer? Everything alright?"
Jeremy nodded absently, mind trying to find its way back to the present.
"Y-yeah, it's alright," he said. He shook his head slightly.
Mike likes us. He likes spending time with us. He's not Them.
"What was the… thing?" Jeremy asked. "What did you say?"
Mike frowned at him worriedly. He thought about something for a moment before an idea seemed to come to him. He grinned at Jeremy.
"I was hoping you could help me with something," he said. "And you're the only one who can help me with it."
Jeremy frowned slightly to himself, but nodded at Mike.
"What do you need help with?"
Mike turned to face him excitedly.
"Well, there were a bunch of songs that used to play on the radio back w- "
He paused for a second, his eyes flashing purple. Jeremy's own eyes widened at it, but Mike didn't notice.
"...you know, a long time ago," Mike finished. He shook his head slightly, his energy returning. "Anyway, I can never remember the names for most of those songs, and I'd really like to find them again. There's a depressing lack of music down here."
That was true. Jeremy's friends tried to avoid playing and performing for each other, even though they enjoyed it. He suspected that everyone avoided it because they all thought everyone was sick of hearing each other perform, so they were all collectively trying to avoid annoying their friends.
"Could you help me think of the names of those songs?" Mike continued. "You guys don't have to play them, you're probably all tired of performing- "
"Not really," Jeremy interrupted him. Mike's eyes widened in slight shock at him, making his face turn red. "I-I mean, I'm not… I just don't want to annoy anyone by playing."
"I don't think you would," Mike told him. "Take it from the guy who used to watch over a bunch of haunted animatronics- you guys seemed alive when you performed and watched each other. I think they'd like it."
Jeremy frowned down at his guitar.
"...really?"
Mike nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, really," he said. Jeremy gave him a small smile.
"...I wouldn't mind playing for them," he said. He sat up straighter, feeling a rush of excitement in his chest. "And I'm not limited to the songs that Bonnie was programmed with!"
Mike seemed to pick up on some of his energy.
"Yeah! You could teach yourself different songs," he agreed. Jeremy felt himself starting to bounce in place. He'd never really been able to sit still for very long.
"And I can learn fancy tricks and stuff on the guitar!"
Mike nodded.
"Human fingers have more flexibility than animatronic fingers," he agreed. Jeremy gave him a wide grin.
"And I can say bad words!"
"...let's not go that far."
The two laughed at Mike's response. Jeremy felt a little deflated about that, but maybe it was for the best. The day he was given permission to curse would be the day he surpassed Foxy as a true sailor. Fritz had told him once that pirates spoke their own language, and that swearing was the only way to properly speak that language.
Jeremy nodded down at his guitar. Yeah, he liked Mike's idea a lot. And, it meant that he'd get to spend more time with the former guard without him having to ask.
"I know you know I'm lying."
Some of his energy died a little. He looked back up at Mike, feeling unsure once again.
"Will you help me learn the songs?" he asked tentatively. Mike may have told him that he could ask to hang out with the former guard at any time, but he still had the distinct fear that the man would say 'no' or pretend to be busy.
Mike put his hands on his shoulders, his eyes shining. The purple color seemed to have faded back into a more blue shade.
That was… strange.
"Of course!" he said. "Not that I'd be much help- I'm not a guitarist."
Jeremy smiled at him and shook his head slightly.
"Doesn't matter," he said. "You'd be helping by- "
By just being there. By just existing in the same room as me. By making me feel like I'm important to someone.
" -humming the tunes. You know, so I know what to play."
Mike nodded.
"Yeah, that makes sense," he said. He pulled his legs onto the bed and crossed them, thinking of a song. "There's this one that I really liked… one time, it came on the radio, and I caught Evan humming along to it."
Jeremy smiled at him. Mike started humming the melody, Jeremy beginning to strum along when he thought he recognized it. He looked at Mike with excitement in his eyes.
"I know this one!" he said. "I think it's called 'Purple Rain'. I heard Ev humming it the other day!"
Mike's eyes widened at him.
"Really?" he asked. Jeremy nodded.
"Yeah," he said. He started strumming the main chorus, and Mike's eyes closed, listening to him play. Jeremy smiled wide at him, although he couldn't see it. He mouthed 'thank you' at him, closing his own eyes to listen to the music.
He managed to learn the whole melody in a week. After getting a lot of applause and good comments from his friends about the song, he and Mike would spend three days a week in the performance area that Evan created for them, practicing and spending time together.
Jeremy smiled at the very thought of their next practice session. Mike never missed them. He was reluctant at first to trust that he would show up to all of them, but with each attended session, he found himself trusting Mike more and more.
And Mike never disappointed.
