Chapter 20 - Pizza Dinner
Bonnie carries the now empty water bottle to the garbage can and tosses it in, then drops the towel into the laundry bin next to it to be washed later before turning around and heading over to the table. Chica is already seated. She made herself useful by laying each plate out onto the table where they will be sitting down. The aroma of the pizza almost makes her want to jump up onto the table and tear up the pie all by herself, but she keeps herself in check after what happened to keep Freddy from getting upset with her…
Freddy holds out the pizza cutter to Foxy and watches him take it before cutting the pizza into equal slices. Kitten makes her way over to the table with Foxy after they are finished talking. Her ears are still down, but she does try to, at least, pick her attitude up a bit. The feline slowly sits down with her attention on the delectable pizza ready to be eaten. "It smells really good," she starts with a slight smile.
After Foxy finishes cutting the pizza, he places the cutter down beside the pie and takes a seat himself at the table next to his first mate, "Ye t'ink the chef's pizza were good, wait till ya get a taste a this. We make th' best out'a all t'em slackers out there."
Bonnie sits down next to the two girls. "We usually make it better by adding more dough and lots of ingredients. Sometimes these cooks scam the customers..." he points out.
Chica is the first one to grab a slice before sitting down, eagerly awaiting this moment to start eating her food. "Mmm… I'm trying to learn how to make a stuffed crust!" she says after chomping off a big bite from the pizza tip.
The bear turns to her with a frustrated look. "Chica, what did I say about eating bigger bites?" he asks her in a parental fashion.
The blonde swallows the food in her mouth, then smiles cutely up at him. "That… big bites make you bigger?" she answers semi-innocently; Freddy simply sighs and shakes his head at this.
Looking at the hot pizza pie, the pirate girl smiles with a look of excitement and awe. "You guys all work together to make this?"
Freddy nods to her with a proud smile. It is nice to hear someone compliment the work he and his friends put in together, especially with how rare it is to have someone new in their family. "Yep. This is our weekend meal together since we're busy every hour of the night, every weekday."
Sitting in his chair Foxy picks up a slice of the pizza. "Sometimes, we all talk about what we all saw; the worst, the funniest, sometimes even th' scariest stuff that 'appens durin' work hours," the redhead chuckles.
"We try not to joke too much since they're only kids, but we can't help but laugh at some of the things they do," Bonnie explains as he grabs his own slice and bites off the tip, cheese stretching and breaking between his pizza slice and mouth.
Looking around at all four of them, Kitten smiles. "Like one big family."
The bear smiles back at her after hearing the comment. "Precisely. We'd do anything for each other." Looking back at Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy, his mind wanders back into the past a bit… back to not-so-nice times. "Ever since the day we first met, we've stuck together," he explains as the smile on his face fades away at the thoughts and memories running through his mind. "Even when the situations were at their darkest…"
Seeing Freddy get so somber isn't the best thing she could have seen considering he's the leader that helps keep them all together and safe. Wanting to help a bit, Kitten tries to make a nice comment to turn the mood around. "But you're still together, right?"
The younger girl sighs. "Yeah... but sometimes we have it hard," she says quietly as she nibbles on one of the pieces she ripped off the pizza pie. Kitten's smile fades hearing even Chica sad over this.
The rabbit's ears droop as well as he recalls the events of their past. "Mr. Fazbear has done things to us that are hard on us. He had me away for repair, but I think he really wanted my parts for something else."
The pirate captain waves his hand at the conversation. "Let's not get too into it. She hasn't been 'ere that long, so we shouldn' scare the poor lass."
'Not like I haven't been scared already…' the pirate girl thinks with a slight chuckle before she looks up at the fox. "I'm fine, cap'ian."
"Though, I agree," Freddy starts while grabbing a slice of pizza, I smile now coming back onto his face knowing the cheesy pizza pie slice is about to hit his taste buds. "We shouldn't discuss this at a time like dinner." That being said, he takes a bite.
Feeling embarrassed, Bonnie looks down at his pizza slice. "Right…" he says softly before taking another bite.
"I did hear that Fazbear is thinkin' of doin' somethin' around 'ere ta help bring in more folks," Foxy chimes in to try and change the topic.
Chica looks over at Foxy with some more information to add to the conversation. "I heard about that, too. Yet, he's so secretive, he doesn't even talk about it with the employees."
Taking a moment to think, Kitten decides to ask what's on her mind. "What do you think he has in mind?" she asks before taking a bite of her pizza slice.
The fox captain sighs. "Don' know really…" he says before crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair, now in thought. "But I have 'eard from one of them workers that they might bring in another animatronic."
Bonnie, shocked by this news, ends up choking on his bite of pizza. His choking catches Kitten off-guard, and she is quick to turn to him and pat his back as he smacks his chest twice to help push the food down or back up. Once the purple male recovers, he takes a moment to cough and catch his breath before looking at Foxy. "They're... getting another?" Bonnie asks between coughs.
Foxy just shrugs, unable to give them the answers that they're wanting. "Like I said, I don' know. But if they do, it'll be a long while anyway."
A sudden thought crosses her face as Kitten's eyes widen before they turn scared. "Do... Do you think they're wanting to replace me...?" she asks very nervously with her cat ears folding down. Sure, she caused a bit of a kerfuffle on the stage once, but no one knew she was the one who did it. Now that she's getting used to the place and her new friends, Kitten doesn't want to leave.
The bear can instantly see and hear the worry in Kitten's tone and decides to try and comfort her a bit. "I see no reason for them to want to replace you," he says and crosses his arms after setting his pizza down on his paper plate.
"Yeah! Besides, the kids come out laughing and smiling more than ever from Pirate's Cove!" Chica happily chimes in with a giggle.
Hearing that comment, the pirate male turns to slightly glare at the younger girl. "Hey...!"
Looking back at Foxy with a playful smile plastered on her face, she says, "No offense," before sticking her tongue out at him like the child she is.
Bonnie, now halfway through his slice of pizza, continues to think about the topic at hand. "But if they do bring in another, what'll happen to us? Kitten is very new, so won't he be more likely to replace one of us...?"
Kitten freaks out a bit hearing Bonnie's thought. She didn't want to be the reason any of them would leave either…! "I don't want to see any of you leave!"
"Calm down, Kitten," Freddy says in a very level tone and with full confidence. "Mr. Fazbear knows us to be a family and the originals of the pizzeria. If he were to replace one of us, people would notice and complain."
"You know who I wanna replace if I had a chance…?" Chica asks as her smile fades and she starts feeling a bit unnerved. "I'd replace that purple shirt guy…" she says and looks away, crossing her arms.
The purple bunny boy slightly shivers at the mention of the security guard who works in the pizzeria. "I don't know why, but every time he's in the room, I just… get this shiver up my spine…" he says with a shudder and a roll of his shoulders.
"Yeah... I don't like him either…" the bear says as he crosses his arms in thought. "He knows the nights too well and it pisses me off that we can't get close enough to see his face." With a sigh, Freddy shuts his eyes. "I can't even get off the stage with him in that office…"
"Oh, you mean Vincent?" Kitten asks nonchalantly. "Yeah, he's weird. A bit of a creep too." The pirate takes a bite of her pizza and swallows before continuing her thought as the others stare at her. "He's been here for years, Alyssa told me. 'Best night guard Mr. Fazbear has had,' she quoted, and he trains the new guards."
"That bloody bildrat will get me hook if I get th' chance at 'im…" Foxy says with a menacing wave of his hooked hand.
Chica huffs with a slightly angry look on her face. "He's been here so long yet the way he looks at the kids and flirts with the mothers and staff members... I'm surprised he hasn't been fired, jailed, or even gotten a restraining order from this place."
"It's like she quoted, he's known Mr. Fazbear might've been good friends with him way before this place was made," Bonnie sadly points out.
Taking this moment as an opportunity, Kitten decides to bring up the elephant in the room. "You know, being friends with a guard has its perks," she says with a small, but hopeful, smile. "I could find out about things that could be going on in the restaurant."
And this is the topic that the leader was dreading bringing up again, although, there isn't really a way of getting out of it. "Alright, listen here, Kitten," Freddy says as he sits up, then leans forward as he rests his arms on the table, looking at her with a very serious expression. "I don't like the idea of you walking around during the day." He pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. "However... if you can figure out some things we need to know during the weekdays... you may roam AS LONG AS you and Foxy aren't scheduled for a party and Pirate's Cove is off-limits during the day. Understood?" He's not the happiest camper making this kind of agreement with the cat girl, but this is the only way he can feel she's being safe and Kitten can have her friend and a small bit of freedom.
This deal actually surprises Kitten, but a large smile stretches across her mouth and her tail begins swaying back and forth happily. "Y-yes, sir! Thank you so much!" she nods, finding it hard to hold in her excitement.
Freddy takes a moment to breathe and relax in his seat again as he returns her joy with a small smile of his own. "You're welcome."
"Glad we got th' situation sorted out," the captain says to his first mate, proud of her for stepping up for herself.
Bonnie turns to look at Freddy. He doesn't want to rain on their parade, but there is a question bothering him that he has to ask. "Wait, what about the night guard?"
The blonde's smile fades a bit as she realizes what might happen to Kitten's new friend. "She's coming back on Monday... so that Monday night... she might not be able to make it…" she says sadly.
Taking another deep breath, and feeling pretty good about her position with Freddy, Kitten decides to bring up this situation as well. "Actually…" she starts, but her ears go down nervously realizing that speaking up may not be the smartest move right now. With all eyes on her now, the redhead takes a deep breath and just says what's on her mind. "I'd like you guys to meet her."
Every fiber of Freddy's being stands on end hearing her request, and he can't stop himself from half blowing up at her. "What?!" he nearly shouts back in utter shock and bewilderment.
"Seriously?! She might be our- Mmf!" Bonnie reaches his arm to his side and covers Chica's mouth in time to stop her from blurting out a dark secret that they've been keeping from Kitten. It's not that they want to hide it, they just don't want to scare her away from the only friend she's got or make her stress about them.
Looking at all of the other's reactions, the captain looks at Kitten. He wants to be on her side, but he knows how Freddy will respond. "Lass... I'm not sure if it be a good time ta meet her yet."
Kitten's ears fall but she decides that asking is still better than nothing. The worst thing she can be told is 'no.' "M-Maybe at the end of the week?" she asks, looking slightly hopeful.
"No way!" Freddy says as he brings his arm up and swings it out to his side. "There is no way we're exposing ourselves, especially to a guard!" the leader says to her with a serious look on his face.
Not wanting to take the defeat that she obviously can't avoid, the pirate girl slumps in her seat and looks down. She knows how cautious Freddy is because he's only trying to protect them... "B-But…"
Releasing his hold on Chica's mouth and putting some room between them again, Bonnie sits back in his seat and looks at Kitten. "I'm sorry, Kitten... We… We just can't trust them," he says, unfortunately having to agree with Freddy on this matter.
"They might all be bad!" the blonde says as she crosses her arms and looks away with an angry and pouty expression. "I won't ever forgive them…" she huffs.
Foxy looks at all three of his friends again before returning his gaze back to his first mate sadly. He hates seeing her so sad and upset when she just wants to be around her new friend… but she is still a guard. The fox's ears lower halfway as an apology to her for not being able to say anything to aid her in her endeavors.
"But she's really nice!" she says while looking around at all of them now looking at her. Kitten isn't about to give up on this without a fight. "This place was her childhood! She loved coming here to see all of you!" The girl can't help but tear up as she continues. "But ever since she took this job... she feels like all of you have just... betrayed her... That you used to make her so happy, but now... you all just want to kill her...!" Now feeling angry and hurt, she expresses her full emotions for her friend. "I want her to feel comfortable here, so she can stay and make the money she needs for her sister…!" Kitten explains as a few tears fall down her cheeks from her emotions getting the best of her.
Freddy is a bit taken aback by this new information. "...Sister?"
Kitten sniffles as she wipes her eyes and looks away from his gaze, not wanting to seem too weak in front of her new friends. "Yeah... Her sister, who can't use the lower half of her body... She has medical needs, but no way to get the money to pay for it...! That's why Alyssa took this job…"
The bear sighs and crosses his arms again. "Sister or not, we can't just expose ourselves on your say-so. It's not that easy…" he explains strictly. Though he is sad to hear about her situation, this is still his family he would be exposing to a nightguard.
Chica looks up in thought before speaking up again. "We have seen her time and time again. Maybe we can observe her more?" she suggests.
Seeing that she's willing to toss her opinion into the mix, one of his rabbit ears droops halfway as he looks at both Freddy and Kitten. He wants to help Kitten smile as much as he possibly can. "We can have Kitten talk to her more… See if she's okay to even meet...?" he suggests a bit more shyly.
Hearing his stage partners stand up for Kitten, Freddy looks to the side as he tries to consider their suggestions. "Mmm... Guys, I just don't feel comfortable with this…" he says with a sigh, his ears lowering a bit from them not wanting to just agree with him.
Knowing that her friends are by her side, Kitten looks at their leader with pleading eyes. "Please Freddy...? I promise you won't regret it."
He knows when he's defeated. So, Freddy sighs and looks down at his lap, regretting what he's about to agree to, then looks up at Kitten again. "Alright, fine. We'll watch her a bit more and if, and I said IF... I feel more comfortable about her... we might introduce ourselves."
The pirate's eyes shine with new hope as a smile returns to her face. "Thank you, Freddy…!" she says happily, her tail swaying back and forth quickly behind her, out of his immediate sight.
There is one more concern that runs through the younger girl's head as she looks at Freddy nervously. "But... what if she doesn't make it through the night 'till we do know her well?" she asks with a bit of sadness. "We can't control ourselves, remember?"
Foxy chuckles at her question. "Well, I think she can…" he says as he turns and smiles at his first mate. "That is, if Kitten can stay wit' her till 6."
This is not something he wanted to hear come from one of the only other people his group listens to, and Freddy turns his attention to Foxy with a slight glare. "I'd rather not make that a nightly thing…" he says sternly, his opposition towards the idea extremely evident in his tone.
Kitten looks away, feeling bad for being the subject of another argument, but Foxy just glares back at him. This is his stage partner, and he trusts her judgment a lot more than Freddy's. "Then how'd ye expect ta learn 'bout her if she's dead? If Kitten helps th' girl, she can possibly tell us more 'bout her than we can by jus' watchin'."
Bonnie clears his throat nervously. "H-He's got a point there," the bunny boy stutters before clearing his throat to avoid stuttering again. "We can't move from the stage, and if we do, it's at night... when we try to kill her."
The bear turns his gaze away from them, not budging in his opinion in the slightest as he crosses his arms. "I've stated my opinion. Do with it as you will." This comment makes Kitten's ears fold back; she really doesn't like being the cause of a problem between their family. Bonnie also shrinks down in his seat, looking away nervously since he doesn't want to get in trouble for speaking up against Freddy.
"You know, Freddy…" Chica says, now getting sick of his attitude. "You really need to lighten up. You've been so stressed and stuff for a long time."
His stiff expression starts to falter hearing Chica say those words to him. She's always the one to remain so carefree and upbeat. Sternness turns to sorrow as Freddy sighs. "I just don't want to see anyone else hurt like we were before…" he explains sadly, tilting his head downward to avoid looking at any of them.
The rabbit's eyes brighten a little, having something positive to share as a rebuttal. "But... so far, nothing's happened to us, or any other kids for that matter. So…" Bonnie says, his voice trailing off a bit hearing Foxy sigh.
"Might as well leave it as it is…" the captain says as he picks up his pizza and takes another bite. He could feel that their talking has taken a toll on the pizza since it is now nearly cooled off and slightly cold.
"Thank you for the opportunity, Freddy," Kitten says politely with a small smile. She does want to stay on his good side, even when he's not the happiest with her decisions.
The brunette bear nods. "Mhmm," he hums before turning his head to look at her once more. "Just don't make me regret my decision..."
Chica rips another piece off of her pizza slice with her mouth and eats it silently, not minding the chilled bite.
Bonnie looks around the table at each person sitting there, then stops at Freddy. "What'll we do now?" he asks gently. "Do we continue as normal, or...?"
"As far as I know," he starts, then turns his gaze to the guitarist. "Yes."
This isn't what Kitten was hoping to hear. She doesn't even know if Alyssa will be back on Monday. This girl is the only real friend she's really made being here at the pizzeria, and she isn't planning on losing her now. As Kitten contemplates her plan of action, she stares down at her now cold pizza slice.
