Chapter 19 - Balancing Bottled Water
Bonnie and Kitten enter the kitchen and notice the little blonde-haired girl standing next to an island with a metal countertop, and she's spreading a good amount of cheese over an uncooked pepperoni pizza. The kitchen is large enough to accommodate at least two or three chefs at once. There are two ovens, two regular-sized refrigerators, as well as a freezer, a door towards the back of the room that leads to a small closet full of ingredients and extra dry food, and plenty of room on the counters for prepping food to be served to the guests. In the back corner of the kitchen is a small sitting area, the same one Kat and Alyssa sat at a few days ago. A pink princess cup is already sitting at one spot, most likely being Chica's special cup.
The rabbit smiles and calls out to his shorter friend. "Hey, Chica. What are you making this time?" he asks as he walks over to her with Kitten following closely behind him. Bonnie looks down at the pizza, then back at her with a puzzled expression. "No olives?"
Before Chica can reply, the door to the food closet opens as Freddy steps out of the small storage room holding an empty sack. "Nope, no olives," he says with a disappointed tone. "You'd think the owner would keep up with the inventory a bit better. I swear, these people…"
Kitten freezes in place at the sight of Freddy Fazbear himself. He's honestly the last person she wants to see right now. He probably doesn't want to see her either after what had happened between him and her captain. She takes a few steps towards Bonnie, now slightly hiding behind him as she watches him walk over to the three while Chica begins to complain.
"No fair...! We always have those on our pizza! Those are the yummiest part!" she whines out childishly.
Bonnie can feel a small nudge from behind him when Kitten tries to hide herself. Looking behind him, he can see her terrified expression. Turning to look in the direction she's facing to find that she's nervously staring at Freddy. It wasn't hard for him to recall how scared she was when they talked about the incident between Freddy and Foxy. She must have been worried about what he would do to her. With that in mind, the bun remains where he stands, hoping that he can make her feel a bit more secure by being a shield for her. "At least we have pepperoni. What else do we have? Do we still have hamburger or sausage meat for the meat lovers?" he asks the head bear.
Freddy tosses the empty bag into the closest trash can. "Let me look." he walks over to one of the fridges and opens it. He looked around from bottom to top till he found what he was looking for, "Found some hamburger." the bear announces excitedly as he reaches in and grabs a half-cut, nicely wrapped, hamburger roll.
Bonnie sighs. "Good. Just pepperoni is not good for me." Chica smiles back at her purple friend.
"You and me both! We don't have olives though... but we can still use that!"
The leader of the Fazbear crew closes the door to the pantry before walking back over to the counter and standing next to Chica. "A good chef always knows what to do," he says proudly. After opening up the hamburger meat, the bear reaches down to the bottom shelf and pulls a large frying pan from its seat before bringing it back up and placing it on top of the stove beside him. Freddy pulls the meat from the bag and places it in the pan before twisting the knob on the stove to ignite it. "Don't worry, I did wash my hands," he says with a small chuckle.
The pirate girl can't help but giggle at the humor she didn't realize Freddy had. She's always been told how harsh he can be when disciplining someone, but even with that kind of a reputation, he's still able to find time to crack a few jokes to lighten the tension. Without realizing her actions, Kitten slowly moves out from behind Bonnie to watch the leader a bit more closely.
Noticing the redhead behind Bonnie from the corner of his eye, Freddy turns to look at his guitarist and the pirate. Almost immediately, his smile fades and, in turn, so does hers, but he quickly turns it around to give her a much smaller smile. "Hello, Kitten. Good to see you up and around," he greets before turning his attention back to the ground beef as it begins to cook, shifting the meat with a spatula to keep it from burning.
Kitten swallows her fear for a moment to finally face their leader. "H-Hello Freddy," she squeaks, mentally slapping herself when she hears her voice stutter.
"You don't have to be afraid of me, Kitten. I may look mean, but I am gentle," he tries explaining to her. The younger girl nudges him with her elbow.
"Gentle as a teddy bear!" Chica laughs, making both Kitten and Bonnie chuckle along with her.
Freddy ends up chuckling with them, now taking the pan of ground beef and carefully tipping it to help drain the grease from the meat. "I keep telling them to buy a better strainer…" he mumbles to himself.
All three of the other cast members watch him move the cooked ground beef to the now cheese-decorated pizza and start spreading the beef all around the middle and a couple inches from the edges of the dish. Chica steps a little closer to watch him spread the yummy ingredient over the surface of the pie while she licks her lips hungrily. "Mmmmm~ I can't wait to try it out!"
Bonnie snickers at her childish behavior. He really does enjoy seeing his friends happy, especially Chica with her childish ways. "This is gonna be good. It's sad that every night and weekend we gorge ourselves on pizza. Wish we could try something different…" Freddy nods in agreement at his comment.
"Well, at least we have this to enjoy. Chica, did you remember to preheat the oven?" The bear turns to the younger girl to see a shocked expression cross her face.
"Eek! No! I forgot!" In a flash, she zips off towards the oven, then slides to a stop and reaches for the handle. After twisting the knob to the right temperature, Chica turns around and gives him a cute smile with a small blush of embarrassment. "Now it's preheating~!"
"Thanks, Chica," Freddy chuckles, then turns his attention back to the pizza. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is everything we want on it."
Bonnie takes a few steps toward the counter to look at the dish a bit more closely. The cheese is good, the hamburger is good, the pepperonis are good... "Hmmm... We've got cheese, pepperoni, hamburger… We're not missing anything else, are we?" he asks anyone who wants to speak up.
Chica pouts and crosses her arms. "Just the olives…"
"Then... I think we're good. Oh yeah!" The bunny boy turns around and smiles at Kitten. "Are you okay with this kind of pizza?" Not wanting to speak up against their normal routine, the redhead only nods her head at him. One, she doesn't want to say no, and two, she is still afraid of Freddy. The poor girl is afraid to really say much of anything around the bear, nervous that she'll set him off again.
Freddy nods in satisfaction. "Alrighty then!" he says as he picks up the pizza from the underside with the wooden platter it's laying on, then moves the pie to the oven, sliding it in like a real Sicilian pizza maker; it's obvious from his handling that he's become very skilled at handling a pizza properly. Closing the oven door, the brunette male sets the timer. "Now, we just wait till the pizza is ready."
The younger girl leans back against the counter on her heels with a sigh. "Hardest part about cooking…" she mumbles, then turns to the other two bystanders. "So... whatcha been talking about since I left, hmm?~" she grins at the two.
Both Bonnie's and Kitten's faces immediately flush red with a blush, the rabbit's body suddenly freezing up. "Uhhh…" the boy stutters, but can't think of any words to respond with. To aid in his rescue, Kitten clears her throat and looks at Chica with a sweet smile, finally speaking up for the first time since they entered the kitchen.
"We were just talking about the kids that come in and out of the restaurant and past illnesses."
Bonnie quickly nods with her comment. "That's right! We were talking about that! B-But our pizza is a lot better! Hehehe…"
That not being the answer she was expecting to hear, nor the reaction she wanted, Chica puffs out her cheeks and pouts. "Hmmm… Fooey..!"
In the background, while listening to their small conversation, Freddy watches as both Bonnie and Kitten finally notice that she is now much closer to the rabbit boy. Bonnie's face turns a deeper shade of red to the point it could rival the tomato sauce on the pizza. The leader crosses his arms and looks down at the floor for a moment in thought. Bonnie is a very timid guy, but he doesn't usually get flustered like this. Kitten seems to be flustered as well being around his friend. Is something going on between the two that they're keeping from him? Bonnie wouldn't hold any secrets from him, but he'll look into it later.
Looking back up, Freddy smiles. "Alright. If that was all, I guess there's nothing for me to be concerned with," he says even though he wants to ask them a few questions, the male decides to keep his curiosities tucked away for later.
The cat girl's smile slowly fades seeing how Freddy is acting. "Y-Yeah," she mumbles as she looks down at her feet, thinking about how Freddy might be concerned that she's getting a little too close to Bonnie.
Chica looks over at Freddy and, feeling the slight tension that's building in the room, she wants to change the subject and decides to ask, "Hey, should we get Foxy out here? He might be hungry after all… that." the brunette nods at her as both a thank you and a good idea.
"Yeah, I'll go see if he's hungry. I'll also check to see if sleeping beauty wants to have some as well." Freddy says simply before walking past both Kitten and Bonnie and leaving the kitchen.
Kitten watches him leave, then turns to look back to the two still in the kitchen. "What did he mean by 'sleeping beauty?'" she asks them curiously.
"Uhh… No one you should know quite yet," the smaller girl quickly answers with a smile. Even though Kitten had just met her new friends, she could tell just by looking at her that Chica is likely hiding something from her. The blonde isn't quite good at hiding it.
Kitten stares at her for a second then lowers her head again. Honestly, she is still feeling upset with herself for causing so much trouble. Bonnie almost instantly notices this in the pirate girl and his ears droop a bit. He can't help but feel like he did something to upset her, which is something he'd never want to do.
"Kitten? Are you okay? D-Did I make you unhappy?" he asks her sheepishly.
She sighs, then looks at the two with obvious fear showing in her eyes. "No… Freddy just makes me really nervous," she answers quite honestly. "I feel like he'll never forgive me for the things I've done. Especially the night shift… and Aly-... the night guard." Kitten does give them a small smile, though it does fade after a moment. "But I'm really happy, though. I'm around you guys. Yet, even if I wasn't… They can't just shut me down… At least, I don't think they can..."
The purple rabbit hates watching his new friend talk and act like this… so Bonnie places his hand gently on her shoulder and explains, "I'm sorry if you feel scared to be around him, but we all know how Freddy can be, sometimes he might be angry, but he wouldn't hold it for long."
Chica nods in agreement. "I did something stupid, like busting up the kitchen light and it was out for a few days, and he was angry at me." she points out while moving her hands behind her and continuing. "But after a couple of days, he calmed down and was happy again!"
The redhead looks over at Chica, showing a bit of a smile. "But I didn't break a simple kitchen light…" Her feline ears fall flat against her head as she continues her self-sorrow story. "I broke the rules. A rule that is more important than any other rule he's made, apparently." Pausing for a moment, Kitten contemplates a thought that crosses her mind and decides to share it. "And... please don't tell Foxy or Freddy… but I heard the entire argument earlier…" Immediately, the girl buries her face in her hands to hide from their gazes.
Bonnie's eyes widen hearing this news. "W-What?" he asks nervously, hoping he misheard her.
The blonde suddenly rushes over to the two and practically bulldozes Bonnie to the ground so she can get between them. With a surprised yelp from the male, Chica grabs Kitten by her shoulders, now looking up at the pirate girl in shock. "Where were you to begin with?!" she orders to know more than asks.
After stepping back a pace and regaining his balance, Bonnie grips the edge of the counter beside him while slightly glaring at the blonde. "Chica! Warn someone before you pop out like that! I'm not a bowling pin!" he shouts at her even though she's ignoring him.
"I-I… I was h-hiding..." Kitten answers softly, almost ready to start crying. "I was scared because... I-I thought Freddy and you guys would yell at me. A-And Foxy told me to stay... b-but I hid instead. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry…!" she sobs, unable to keep her emotions bottled up.
Chica quickly pulls her into a tight hug after her tears begin to fall. "I'm sorry… I got carried away again." she apologizes, tightening her grip around her new friend to try and offer her some comfort.
Kitten is more than happy to accept her embrace and hides her flushed face and tear-filled eyes against the girl's shoulder. She grips the fabric of her frilly top and continues to let out her stress. Chica feels bad for making the pirate girl breakdown like this. She doesn't know what to do, but hugging her shorter friend tightly seems to be helping a bit.
Wanting to help out in any way he can, Bonnie stands up straight again and begins to rub the cat's back gently while trying to calm her down with soothing words. "It's okay. You don't have to be sad." He looks up at the other girl and notices her hurt expression. Maybe Chica thought she just made it worse. "You and Kitten did nothing bad."
Pulling herself off of Chica's shoulder, the redhead wipes her cheeks dry with the side of her hand, now trying to pull herself together. "I'm not mad, Chica… Thank you for the hug." Kitten sniffles while trying to reassure her friend. The younger girl smiles a bit, but still feels slightly bad for acting out like that.
Looking at both of his friends in thought, Bonnie's eyes sparkle as an idea springs into his head. "Hang on." With that said, he rushes over to one of the fridges, leaving the two girls behind with confused faces. The rabbit boy opens the fridge and snags a bottle of water from off the shelf. While they watch, he closes the door and places the bottle on his head before turning around to face them again. "I tried this before so let's see how long I can keep it u-u-uhhh...!" He starts moving his head around comedically while trying to keep the bottle balanced on the top of his head.
Chica quickly moves her hand off Kitten to cover her mouth to help muffle her giggles. Kitten does the same as she watches the boy make a fool of himself just to make them laugh. "B-Bonnie? What are you doing?" the pirate giggles behind her hand. Bonnie tries to answer her, now feeling the bottle ready to fall.
"I learned thi-i-is…from- Wa-whoa! ... Watching a child h-hold a cup over-ver-" He turns around while holding his arms out for added balance as he talks. "-his he-e- Ah!" Suddenly, the male's foot gets caught behind his ankle after a quick sidestep, which causes him to stumble forward as the bottle tumbles off of his head. Before he can hit the floor, Bonnie quickly catches himself before hitting the hard kitchen tiles. The bottle hits the floor next to him with enough force from its descent to break the bottle, water now pouring out onto the tiled floor and soaking his pant legs.
Both girls watch on with wide eyes as this all happens, not sure what to do at the moment. "Uh oh... Freddy is not gonna be happy now…" Chica mumbles.
As he stands back up, the purple-haired male dusts himself off before looking down at his mess, and he chuckles a bit nervously and in embarrassment. "Whoops… Hehe… I'll get the- Yipe!" Once again, as he goes to take a step towards the supply closet, his clumsy foot slips on the busted bottle causing him to fall backward and land on his back pretty hard.
"Bonnie!" Kitten shouts before running over to his side while minding the puddle. She kneels down next to the boy and gently lifts his upper body up against hers so he can sit up. "Bonnie, are you okay...?! Come on, focus!" the girl instructs him while patting his cheek carefully to help wake him up, her voice now showing more concern for him.
Bonnie slowly opens his eyes as he looks up at her with a dopey smile. "Hi, pretty lady. I wan' mo' cookies~" the male says in an almost drunken fashion that makes Kat smile and slightly giggles. "Chocolate rain, chocolate rain~"
The blonde walks quietly over to the other side of her fallen friend, all the while giggling every now and then. Carefully stepping over the puddle, she kneels down beside him and lets out a sigh. "Bonnie… you went a little too far," she snickers.
After both shaking his head and slowly coming back to reality, he closes, then opens his eyes a few times before finally seeing both of them there at his aid. The rabbit boy gives them both a weak, yet silly smile, "At least I made both of you laugh," he playfully jokes.
Kitten smiles back at him, happy to see that he's good enough to make a joke. "Yeah, you did. Thank you, Bonnie." Still holding him up, she leans down and gently kisses the top of his head as a thank you.
The male's face immediately becomes red, once more, on contact. However, instead of stiffening up, Bonnie smiles happily but still in a funny fashion. Chica rolls her eyes playfully at him and grins. "I can practically see his heart thumping out of his chest." She says a bit sarcastically as Kitten nods her head with a genuine smile.
"I can feel it!" she informs her friend before carefully pulling the boy into a hug, nuzzling her face against his hair while blushing a bit herself. While Bonnie is still in a daze, both Kitten and Chica are sitting on the kitchen floor, giggling at their clumsy friend... until they both hear the door creak as it swings open for Freddy and Foxy as they walk in.
"So, how's the pizza lookin' g-!" Freddy immediately stops his sentence when his eyes land on the three sitting on the floor, more specifically… at the two hugging on the floor. This is definitely not what he was expecting to walk back in to see.
Chica jumps up off the ground and turns her head to the two people in the room. "Uh oh… again," she gulps.
The captain's eye becomes glued onto his little prodigy with shock and amusement. "Kitten…?"
Immediately, said young lady blushes in embarrassment. She holds out one hand to make gestures and motions to help recreate what had happened as she talks. "I-I- … Bonnie fell while trying to make us, well me, laugh!" Kitten tries to explain while also helping Bonnie up off the floor, who is finally back to reality and staring at Freddy nervously.
Freddy crosses his arms and continues to stare at them with an unhappy attitude directed at the three of them, but his gaze soon lands on the rabbit boy. Bonnie can feel his body shrink back from embarrassment. At this point, he's just wishing he could disappear. "Uhh… She-She's right. I b-balanced a bottle on my head and it spilled and..." Bonnie couldn't help but trail off from his explanation from the nerves. Chica, now fed up with all the stuttering, quickly steps in and helps finish the story for both of them.
"Kitten was feeling down, so me and Bun Bun tried to help her feel better and the only way to do that was for him to spill some water and slip on his joke, then he slipped again and fell."
All of them stare at the blonde for a few seconds in slight surprise. Kitten is impressed at how calm she stayed to explain what had happened. Bonnie is too, but he's a little more thankful since he couldn't finish his own thought. With that said, the purple-haired male points at her while looking at Freddy. "What she said."
The band leader opens his mouth to say something only for him to be interrupted by the oven timer going off. With a sigh escaping his lips in place of words, he closes his eyes and pinches his brow with two fingers. "Just clean up the mess you made…" he instructs them before walking over to the oven to turn the beeping timer off.
The pirate girl hangs her head low, not daring to look Foxy in the eyes. She slowly walks over to him while the two behind her start rummaging through the drawers for a towel or go to find a mop sitting around. Kitten can feel his strong stare almost piercing through her head and it's making her anxiety rise. "Hello cap'n," she quietly greets her superior with ears flat against her head.
Foxy, too, has his arms crossed. His gaze never leaves her as he speaks. "Did evert'ing dat Chica said happen? Nothin' bad at all?" he asks his first mate with a father's firmness, and she nods in response.
"Yes, nothing bad, cap'n. He was just tryin' ta cheer me up because… Well, he did cheer me up, but he got hurt in th' process." Her glances towards the rabbit are frequent as she speaks before her gaze returns to the floor again. "Me an' Chica were helpin' him."
As they talk, Chica and Bonnie finish cleaning the water puddle while Freddy carefully pulls the hot and saucy pie out of the oven with the pizza paddle. The smell of freshly baked pizza fills the air as he shifts the dish off the paddle and onto a proper pizza platter. After laying the paddle back down on the counter, Freddy takes out five plates, then looks over at Foxy and asks, "Hey Foxy, wanna cut the pizza?" He then walks over towards the sitting area with the plates in one hand and the pizza in the other.
The male pirate looks up at Freddy with a side smile. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," he replies before looking down at Kitten. "Look, I'm not angry, lass. But the sight did startle me." Foxy moves his hand down and he pats her head playfully causing her to look up at him. "It was nice of ye t' care fer yer mate. Now, let's get to them mouth waterin' cardboard pizzas," he smiles playfully, then moves his hand off her head and lightly brushes past her to help Freddy prep the pizza.
