Mable: Here we are with the new chapter! I've also been working on a second FNAF project for Halloween that I intend to post very soon, so I wanted to mention it prior to release so that it wouldn't seem so random. ^-^ But let us continue with the chapter for now. Enjoy!
Almost Feels Like Home
Chapter Fifteen
Marionette was used to Mike getting up before him. So, he wasn't too surprised when he came out into the kitchen to find Mike awake, eating breakfast and looking just the slightest bit distant. The smell of coffee was strong, and he was nursing a mug of it, so the Puppet could only assume that he had woken up earlier than he would've liked. "Good morning," he greeted affectionately. He patted his shoulder before continuing into the kitchen to fill the sink. "Have a rough night?" He didn't notice Mike's distant look returning, nor was he concerned when Mike cleared his throat in uneasiness.
"Actually, yeah. I woke up around five or six and started poking around the basement. By time I was done I was awake enough to just get up," Mike explained. Marionette raised a brow briefly but didn't look back. He instead poured some dish soap into the sink before dropping the frying pan inside, deciding not to physically touch the pan.
"I don't mean to disappoint, Love, but we don't have a basement," Marionette playfully quipped. Behind him, Mike rose from the table and approached him. Without a word, he rested his hands on the striped one's shoulders, and the Puppet was almost confused until Mike leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek. He trilled in response but was still in the process of waking up himself, otherwise he would've recognized that the security guard was leading to rough news.
"Actually, we do. It's under the pantry," Mike quipped. He patted the animatronics' shoulders and then drew back. Then he sat back down to continue eating. His appetite was still only barely there, but he knew if he didn't finish that his stomach would be gnawing at him within hours. He only glanced over for a moment as the Puppet approached the pantry, as he wanted him to see it for himself. It wouldn't be something too emotionally traumatizing, but it was certainly shocking enough that one would have to see it to believe it. Though Marionette was not down in the basement as long as Mike was before he returned.
"Did you find anything?" the Puppet asked. There was the slightest tinge of dread in his voice.
"Did you go into that third drawer?" Mike asked. Marionette shook his head; he had yet to see the drawer of replacement parts. "Yeah, I found something. You're not going to believe this. This has to be the most screwed up thing to stagger out of Freddy's," he continued as he stood and guided into the living room. He turned the television back on and rewound the video tape inside. "I also found notes on Baby's programming that I'll pass over to Fritz."
"I saw blueprints out… But I didn't keep looking. I'm not sure if I want to," Marionette murmured. It was clear that he was uncomfortable about the entire thing. "…Was it about me?"
"No. There was a blueprint and some notes, but no secrets… Other than the basement itself, I mean. No, this thing I found, this is seriously disturbing." He pressed play and stepped back to let Marionette see it. After the original minutes where nothing happened, the footage of the staggering corpse began to play again. Mike couldn't help but grimace at it as he watched it lurch down the hallway once more. He couldn't understand why William would label this to him. Unless it was to his oldest son, but if they were not speaking then that also seemed far-fetched. Maybe it was him saying he intended to return as a zombie.
"Now I'm not exactly sure who this is, but I can guarantee that it didn't touch a drop of embalming fluid," Mike quipped. He looked to Marionette, who was staring blankly at the television, pinpricks lights in his eyes and making a very low dial tone noise. "…Mari?" Still no response. He waved his hand in front of his face, but the Puppet seemed to be in a trance. "…Well, I can't say it's an inappropriate reaction. I squeezed the cat myself."
It was incredible timing that at this moment the door down the hallway started to open. Perhaps Charlie had been coaxed out by them talking. In an instant, Marionette sprung to the VCR, ejected the tape and dropped down to shove it under the television and hide it away. Mike raised a brow at this but then noticed how Marionette was clenching and ringing his hands. It was a bold, red flag. "Wait, what was that thing? You know what it is?"
"No," Marionette denied, even if it seemed like he was hiding a suspicion. "…But it was very, very purple." He shuddered, and the human was about to question more but decided not to when Charlie started down the hall.
"Morning," Charlie greeted with some strain as she maneuvered herself. She looked at the scene, then Marionette on the floor, and asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Mari was cleaning out under the TV and found some things that should've been forgotten. Like Fredbear and Friends the movie," Mike quipped. It seemed believable enough and Charlie continued into the kitchen, lured in by the smell of coffee. Once she was out of sight, Mike crouched down beside the Puppet and laid a hand on his back. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Just… Spooked…" He looked to the human and got a small smile. "I can see why you didn't want to sleep right away."
"I'll say. That's scarier than any horror movie we've rented… and it's shot better than them too, which is kind of sad now that I say it out loud," Mike scoffed lightly and gave the Puppet a one-armed hug. "You want to come with me to meet up with Fritz? We'll bail before Baby gets involved." The striped animatronic considered it but then shook his head.
"I only just got up and I already feel traumatized. I'm just going to call the day a loss and stay home, using what's left of it to nurse myself back to health." This seemed to make enough sense and they both rose from the floor. Mike finished eating before he tried to leave, so by time he was heading out the door Charlie was also aware of where he was going. Though while he had said he intended to stay stress free, Marionette was waiting for Mike to go so that he could return to poking around the basement. His curiosity was piqued, but he didn't want to worry Mike by forewarning of his plan.
Though Mike must have realized Marionette intended to go downstairs as he left his flashlight in the pantry, and recently he had started keeping that constantly within arm's length. The Puppet opened the pantry door and retrieved the flashlight, all while being watched by Charlie. She was currently holding a half full mug of coffee. Not to drink, she didn't think it was even worth any stains dumping it on herself, but to take in the familiar scent and warmth.
"I'm going into the basement for a bit, but I shouldn't be down there too long," Marionette said as he started to head inside the pantry.
"Basement? I thought that was a pantry," Charlie remarked. She leaned over and caught a glimpse of the stairwell. Her interest was piqued. "Can I come with you?" She started standing even before he answered.
"Of course, but be warned that there may be some disturbing things related to Freddy's hidden down here," Marionette forewarned cryptically as she hobbled her way over. "You may be scarred for life."
"I'm pretty sure I'm already scarred for life." Charlie didn't say this thought out loud and instead gave a dismissive, "I'll be fine. Don't worry."
He started down the stairs and looked wearily at the door. He really didn't need the flashlight to see, but its light was comforting, and he needed as much comfort as he could get going through his father's things.
"Hold on," Charlie mumbled. He paused to look back up, watching her slide in at the top steps. "I only just realized that I haven't attempted stairs yet. This is going to be tricky…" She clutched onto the thin railing, which was more just a thin piece of wood somehow bolted into the cement wall. She tentatively lowered her leg, testing it on the next step, patiently tapping and testing her leg as though she was a cautious spider checking her web. "Here I go." She slowly took a few more steps, balancing herself as she did so. So far so good.
Yet halfway down that balance shifted. Charlie started to lean too far forward and couldn't right herself on legs without feet. She clutched to the railing, but only managed in swinging herself around, and then falling backwards down the steps. Marionette managed to catch her from behind once she reached the bottom of the stairs. She was relieved not to hit the floor but terribly embarrassed.
"Are you okay?" Marionette asked as he smiled down at her. Charlie struggled to nod in the awkward position, as her bell and prong was stuck between her head and his chest. He chimed affectionately and helped her back onto her legs. "Well, you did better than I would've. Congratulations!"
"Thanks…" Charlie mumbled. She fixed her jacket as he opened the basement door for them.
"Now, I should warn you again that I don't know what's in here. It's liable to be… If it gets too intense then we will leave immediately," Marionette promised as he floated inside. Though just seeing the small office was moderately upsetting. He couldn't believe that he had lived here for years without knowing it was down here. His eyes landed on the dresser and he moved in and rested his hand on the handle. He vaguely remembered Mike mentioning it.
"What exactly are you expecting to find down here?" Charlie asked with a tinge of amusement.
It was at that moment that Marionette opened the third drawer and found himself staring directly at another mask sitting on a bed of black and white fabric and music box pieces. There was a long silence that was interrupted by the Puppet.
"Alright, back upstairs."
"I wouldn't be surprised if there's more of these sealed rooms we don't know about," Mike remarked offhandedly. It had been easier just to drive together, so he picked up Fritz from his house and was now driving him to the warehouse. Fritz was looking other the papers that had come from the basement and taking in everything he could. "There was already that sealed closet with Golden Freddy in it. Who knows if there's a secret basement under the warehouse."
"There is a basement under the warehouse," Fritz quipped in amusement. "But it's not secret so I guess it doesn't count."
"…Really? Why don't we ever go down there?" Mike questioned. He then sent Fritz a disbelieving look. "I've seen every door in the warehouse and I don't remember a basement door."
"It's around back. For some reason you can only get in from outside. There isn't even a sealed second door or anything. There's just only one way in and it's outside," Fritz explained. He set the papers in his lap as he focused his full attention on the conversation at hand. "But there's nothing down there… I mean literally. There is nothing down there. We can go look after I check with Baby."
"So, we have an entire basement stretched out under a warehouse and there aren't any stacks of garbage or even a single killer animatronic," Mike said. "That's so depressing."
"Maybe if Jeremy can't find a place he can move down there." Fritz paused a moment before looking to Mike. "Actually, that would be a great idea. If we had a bathroom and a kitchen down there, it could make a decent apartment. It's about the size of the warehouse itself, and there's a few rooms down there. He'd just have to worry about it flooding and learn to live without windows. He pretty much already does with all of the animatronics with him."
"Once again, that's so depressing," Mike remarked with an amused smirk. Fritz dismissed him with a wave, assured that his idea was a good one, and then returned to the papers until they pulled up to the warehouse. They then got out of the car and headed inside. "So, what's the plan?"
"I'm probably not going to change anything right now. The goal is just to make sure all of this is accurate, and if it is… If it is…" Fritz broke into a beaming smile. "I don't want to plan before it's a concrete thing, but if this is the real deal then you better believe that this is all going to be so much easier. For example, I could fix her ice cream maker, reroute her programming into that, and then instead of possibly killing children she'd put all her energy in the reflex to making ice cream. It would be the least intrusive way of doing this!"
"Sounds a little like brainwash but considering that Will put it in it's not a new thing," Mike remarked.
"In the long run, Baby's going to be happy. Unless she gets to the point where she's safe around kids, I can't really see her leaving this warehouse anytime soon." He unlocked the door and let them inside. He wasn't too surprised that Baby didn't rush to greet him, as she certainly wasn't the type, but the quietness was almost unsettling. "Baby? It's me! I'm back!" Fritz called as he stepped in. There was still no response. "Maybe she's back in the office," he suggested and beckoned Mike.
Once in the office, this revealed itself to be the case. Baby was sitting against the back wall and from her slumped appearance it seemed that she was asleep. From the lights missing from her eyes and her head tilted forward, it gave her the illusion of having her eyes closed. This was peculiar, but neither was too surprised by it, as both Foxy and Marionette slept normally.
"Baby?... She's pretty out of it. Maybe I can check this without waking her up. She shouldn't notice unless I was actually changing something," Fritz said as he got the Handunit ready and knelt beside her. "Just a quick check, Baby." With that, he plugged in the Handunit and began to search and tap. While he did that, Mike stood nearby and watched with vague interest. He started trying to talk again after a few moments to keep conversation going.
"So, I'm taking off with Mari this weekend to hide out in Zion. Do you mind keeping an eye on the house? Charlie's going to be there, and I don't want her to think we don't trust her, but she's also going to be stuck with the house that spontaneously expands," Mike remarked. Playfulness aside, he did want to make sure she was taken care of. "I'm going to leave yours, Jeremy's, and Scott's numbers in case anything happens. Like if that detective comes back- he was poking around Foxy's the other day… He was asking about you too."
"No kidding…?" Fritz looked back slowly in surprise. There was obvious dread in his gaze, but he managed to reign it in and cover it back up. "That's not a good sign. Maybe we should all consider running off to the desert… How exactly do you plan to hide a human-sized Puppet?"
"I'll manage. Trust me; after Foxy jogged through the middle of town at twilight, I'm convinced nobody sees anything that happens in this town," Mike scoffed. He removed his hat to fix his hair. "So, we're leaving Saturday morning and should be back Sunday. It won't be too long, but if you could just call or something then that would be great." Fritz agreed to this. Before Mike could continue, the technician broke into an eager chuckle.
"You got it. This is it. This all fits!" Fritz unplugged and shut down the Handunit. "Now all I need is to figure out how to reroute all of this, but this pretty much cracked the code. It even shows me everything else I can fix to get Baby's body back in order." As the technician continued to beam, the security guard's focus changed to the claw on Baby's arm. He thought to something on the blueprint.
"Do you think this came out of the chest?" Mike asked. Fritz looked to him questioningly and Mike nodded down at the claw. "Do you think this is the 'ice cream delivery crane' that was supposed to be inside of her chest?" Fritz looked to the claw thoughtfully.
"If it is… Ugh." He visibly shuddered. "That is not a claw for delivering ice cream. I think we can both agree on that. Unless Baby dolled it up-." Mike just sighed at the half-hearted pun. "-Then we can say for certain that this was used for malicious means… I'd have to ask her first and it would take a lot of supplies, but maybe I could work at getting Baby a real second hand."
"But then what would she use to crush our throats with?" Mike asked with a smirk.
"If she gets mad enough? Probably just her hands," Fritz answered.
"Good enough. After this, you want to go do something? I don't have to get home right away." Fritz agreed and with that the two got ready to leave, and soon headed out of the office and left Baby to sleep while they went to talk further about their plans elsewhere. They didn't notice how quickly it was after they left that Baby began to stir.
Her head raised almost immediately, and her eyes glowed thoughtfully. She took in what Mike had said more than what Fritz had, and she already had a budding idea starting to spread.
Perhaps she had found a solution to her problem.
Friday was supposed to be their day of packing and planning. After discovering the basement Marionette was eager to get away from the house. Even if he would be stuck hiding, he relished in the idea of escaping for even a couple of days. By now Mike had managed to find Foxy's old tent, but anything else they were stuck getting elsewhere, including a sleeping bag. Marionette had found it left on the couch as Mike headed into the master bedroom to 'change'. Naturally, the striped one was interested in the new supplies, and looked over the sleeping bag with intrigue. Just like when he was a boy, watching his brother living in a tent in the backyard, he felt that childlike curiosity.
He also noticed with amusement that Mike had only bought one sleeping bag. He hadn't even discussed if they needed a second or not, he just naturally assumed they would share. This was a good assumption, but he was still prepared to tease the man about it. That and ask him whether they needed a backup flashlight. He set the sleeping bag aside, headed down the hall towards the master bedroom, and knocked on the door with an eager smile.
"I'm dressed, come in," Mike called back. Marionette let himself in and went to speak but was immediately taken aback when he noticed what the man was wearing. Instead of his uniform or casualwear, Mike was wearing a dark suit, with his hair tussled a bit more neatly and him currently securing a tie. The Puppet gave a wispy gasp.
"I didn't even know you had a suit," Marionette remarked. He moved in quickly and eagerly looked over the man's ensemble. Just watching him tying his tie caused him to trill in delight. "I'm impressed. You clean up very nice," he murmured. His delicate hands reached forward to take the tie from Mike's hand, silently offering to do it himself.
"It's just something I had stuck in the back of the closet, collecting dust and waiting to actually be used for something." Mike got a slyer smile as he listened to another low warble. "If I knew you'd get this excited I would've put it on before now."
Marionette liked the sound of Mike being willing to wear it more and smoothed down the fabric. "Perhaps some night when we feel like exerting our status as a real couple… What's the occasion?" It was an innocent question and he curiously wanted to know. Yet when Mike hesitated Marionette flipped from his piqued interest to sudden horror. "Please don't say a funeral."
"Sorry, Stripes, but you hit the nail on the coffin," Mike remarked. He gave Marionette a more strained smile, showing his discomfort. "The funeral is today, so I should go pay my respects… Even if it's not necessary with- you know." He cut off and gestured at the wall they shared with the pink bedroom, which had currently become Charlie's. The Puppet nodded and, to Mike's surprise, pushed back any discomfort and hugged the human warmly. "Mari?"
"Thank you for doing this. I know you don't want to be there." His fingers knitted into Mike's dark locks and pet him reassuringly. Nobody would want to willingly go to the funeral of a friend, especially when it involved uncomfortable questions and probably a few stares. The Puppet was sympathetic and would've gone with if he could, but this was something Mike needed to do on his own, and something that Marionette needed to stay with Charlie during. He hugged Mike closer, pressing his porcelain cheek against Mike's own. "You're doing the right thing, Mike."
"Yeah, I know. I figured if I did it now then I could get out of doing it later," Mike lightly cracked. He gave a tired sigh, betraying his actual feelings, and hugged the animatronic back. "I'm going to be glad when all of this is behind us, Mari. We had an easier time getting over the fire at Freddy's." Marionette drew back to finish with his tie. "I'm coming back right after, but I'm still expecting to be gone for a couple of hours. I didn't get any details on the service, but I'm not risking leaving early." That was what he needed; angry family members confronting him about why he was dealing with Dave while someone was suffering.
Mike honestly didn't want to go, but he knew he had to. He slipped on his dress shoes, stepped out of the bedroom, and wanted more than anything to have the chance to say, "Forget it," and take the entire suit back off. This time he didn't have that luxury. At least Marionette was still supportive; patting his back and brushing down his shoulders, and occasionally fixing his hair. Then again this might've just been because he was entranced in the new look and couldn't pull away from it. Mike wasn't sure why, but it was something he would certainly make notes about for the next time he was obligated to wear it.
Charlie was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and a textbook in her lap. She was hunched over reading and studying the material as though she intended to be tested on it. As though she would be returning to university when she wouldn't. Still, it was good to see her interested in something. For the first couple of days she had been so lethargic, so to see her actively doing something was a positive sign. Thus, Mike didn't want to have to mention the funeral, and tried to briskly walk past the back of the couch.
Unfortunately, this didn't work. Charlie's head rose, and she looked to him and over his outfit. "What are you-?" Then she abruptly cut off. He wasn't sure how, but she figured it out that quickly. Apparently, Marionette suspected this too, as he was tapping his fingers together almost anxiously as he waited on the other side of her. This was a conversation that Mike decided to quickly skirt away from.
"Well, if all goes well, I'll be back before sunset. I'll bring back a movie or something," Mike said. He then disappeared as quickly as he could before the situation could get anymore awkward.
Marionette didn't know whether to be impressed or not. He instantly went into distraction mode, looking for something new to focus on, and finally affixed his gaze on the book in Charlie's lap. "What are you reading?" he asked pleasantly, as though nothing was amiss. Charlie did not respond right a way and simply stared vacantly towards the front door. "Charlie?"
She snapped out of the trance and looked back. "What?... Oh, right, this." Her gaze fell back to the book in her lap. "It's one of the textbooks from school, an introduction to robotics. I know there's not really much use even reading it now…" She noticed that the Puppet was still looking at her and forced a quick recovery. "You want to take a look?" Marionette nodded and reached for the book. He then scanned over the page that she had it opened on and started to speed read through what was written. This gave her a few seconds to fall back into the creeping thoughts.
Of course Charlie knew where Mike was going. It wasn't hard to tell when someone was dressed for a funeral, especially since this- while being a few days late- would be timing perfect timing for her funeral. She could only assume that it took this long to do a proper autopsy. Just imagining her human body cut open and being buried, now forever beyond her reach, was a strange one. She had accepted it, but it still hurt. Part of her wanted to rush to the funeral home and try to take it back, but the other half knew that she couldn't, and that even if she did it would do nothing at all.
All her friends would probably be there, and probably her aunt would too. Maybe even her mother had decided to come by and see. Charlie could wonder but she doubted that she would ask Mike when he returned home. Jessica would be crying so hard that her makeup would run- and she would be wearing makeup. That was Jessica; always looking her best even in the direst of times. Charlie couldn't help but respect that about her. It was a somber wakeup call to think that their friendship had forcibly come to an undignified end. All they had was one last lunch. She had been so quick to rush out…
"This is fascinating," Marionette remarked as he looked through the pages. "I'm sure we have more books like this in the house, but this one is very well detailed. I could look for the others if you're interested in them." A normal person wouldn't have even the slightest idea what any of this meant. It took many years before he started to learn what the parts were that made up his inner endoskeleton, so he couldn't help but be impressed. Perhaps this would also help her adjust quicker as well. He sat down on the couch alongside her and continued reading and flipping through the book.
"Maybe, if I can get through this one," Charlie said pleasantly. She absent-mindedly fidgeted with her jacket. "You know… Mike reminds me of a friend of mine. They look a little similar and they both have that dry sort of humor. I was just thinking of that." She went to lightly laugh and was only a little surprised when her laughter came out like the jingling of a bell.
"It's an admirable trait. Or at least, I admire it. Mike's humor is part of the reason we get along so well," Marionette remarked with his own chime. "You and he were close?"
"Pretty close. We were almost closer than that too," Charlie admitted. Marionette looked to her with more interest and she used this as enough of an excuse to continue. "We went on a few dates together. We saw a movie once or twice, we went bowling, we were going to go hiking, we just… I really liked him. I still do. It's strange to think that I won't ever see him again."
"That's… Not necessarily true," Marionette admitted in defeat. "If you think he could keep a secret then perhaps eventually, if you were comfortable enough, you could… Just don't think that your chances are gone because you're an animatronic now. Mike is a human and him and I get along!" Charlie jingled in amusement with real giggling. Marionette thought it was relief, oblivious to the actual humor from his comment. "Tell me about your school! Please, I'm dying to know of your eccentric teachers and the shenanigans that you got into with your friends."
Charlie got the impression that Marionette had never been anywhere near a real college, so she decided to indulge him in memories. It felt better than thinking of Mike and her friends, and where they currently were.
For a moment, she nearly forgot she wasn't human.
It was about an hour and a half when Mike returned. By now, Marionette was dipping into one of Charlie's other textbooks while she was off cleaning some of the last amounts of dirt and dust from her legs. He could only assume that the conversation had made her feel better as earlier she could've cared less about the residue. It was fortunate timing as she was still in the other room wiping herself down when Mike returned.
The Puppet looked up to see the man wearily collapse against the door. "How did it go?"
"Nobody we know better die anytime soon, because I am never doing that again," Mike vented. He immediately kicked off his shoes at the door, as though his normal pair, and shed his suit jacket before tossing it on the back of the couch. He looked over the back of the couch as he loosened his tie. "So, the plan was to be at the wake and the burial and forego the reception, right? Well, that's not what happened. I get there, and Charlie's aunt had a total meltdown about halfway through the service, and nobody helped her. That detective was there, Charlie's friends were there, some other people were there; nobody helped this woman."
"That's… Terrible," Marionette sympathized. He checked the page number and then closed the book and set it on the coffee table. He had a hunch that Mike stepped in. "But… You helped her?"
"Bingo." Mike tossed the tie onto the back of the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. It was a stress response, but he managed to instantly and unintentionally tussle his hair back into its normal look. Marionette smiled a little. "So, I become a one man support group for this woman, and she goes through the whole thing. She comes into the funeral home fine, she goes through an angry tangent because Charlie's mom didn't show, she starts pleading with God, she cries, and by time we reach the reception she manages to pull herself together enough that I can leave."
"Poor woman… Best not tell Charlie," Marionette said. Then he retracted that. "No, wait… I don't want Charlie thinking that nobody was upset about her loss…"
"Including the detective, who was there with his entire family. Including his son- you might remember him as the boy who broke into Foxy's," Mike pointed out. "And yes, both he and his father recognized me, because of course they did. As did the twenty people who each came up to me and asked about what happened at Magictime Theater, while I was with Charlie's aunt. Finally, I just gave up and started saying that I was too broken up to talk about it. It worked, but me, the idiot I am, didn't do it until almost two minutes before I walked out. It was a nightmare."
"It sounds like quite an ordeal." Mike hesitated at the back of the couch, so Marionette slid upwards, folding his arms on the back of the couch- over the discarded jacket- and looked up at the man with a soft smile. "But still, I'm proud of you. Just what you did for that woman alone was worth going." He rested a hand on his arm and squeezed it affectionately. "And now we really can put this behind us!"
Mike only wished that he could. All of this: Charlie, the funeral, Dave, was weighing on him still. He couldn't understand how Marionette was so collected when he had killed Dave. Yet here he was keeping it together and-.
And it was only then that the human realized his thoughts betrayed. For a moment, for a split second, that belief returned where he believed that the animatronic had killed the man. This time, Mike was fed up with these racing thoughts. This time, he would have to deal with it, even if it hurt.
"Not yet." Marionette cocked his head in confusion, but when Mike looked at him with such a stoic look in his blue eyes, he knew that what was coming was direly important. "Mari, there's been something bothering me for a few days now and after going through that… I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest." The animatronic nodded eagerly and the human inhaled to steady himself. "Did you know Dave was going to die?"
Marionette's eyes widened, and he straightened. "What?" his soft voice asked in alarm.
"The way you talked about Dave made it seem like you knew he was going to die. The fact that you just let him go… Or did you?" Mike looked more questioning. Not judgmental, certainly not fearful, but it was evident that he suspected something was amiss. "Mari, be honest with me. Did you kill Dave? I'm not going to freak out and run off if you did. I just want you to tell me the whole truth."
"I don't- I would have, but I- I didn't think he was going to die, but I assumed he- I was afraid for us and the pizzeria-…" Finally, Marionette caved and caught his head in his hand, hunched over in shame. "…No, Mike. I didn't kill Dave. Or I don't think I killed Dave… But I was going to." The man raised a brow questioningly. "I held myself back because I didn't want to be the monster Goldie and my father had become…" The glowing returned in his gaze, along with a low static in his chest. "But I don't know how long that would've lasted."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked, furrowing his brows.
"How long would Dave have gotten for what he did? Ten years? Twenty? I could've been satisfied with him waiting in jail, but would I have been able to hold back when he was finally released? I don't believe much in spontaneous changes, Mike. My father proved that people can pretend to change and can convince the entire world." Marionette's hands tightened as the dialing rose in his chest. "And I know it's vile and hypocritical for me to say this when I swear that I'm not a murderer, but I wouldn't be able to trust myself… But it seems as though I won't be faced with making that selfish decision."
A look of shame crossed his mask and Marionette looked away. He couldn't bear to look at Mike after what he had admitted to. "It sounds so callous. These words coming out of my mouth aren't my own, but a product of my creation. It is the Afton under my fabric that would plot someone else's murder without remorse… I've never felt so unclean."
What he wasn't expecting was how quickly Mike leaned forward and scooped him up into a hug. He didn't even pause to take it in; he instantly drew the Puppet in for comfort. It was a nice relief, but the guilt was still there. Marionette tried to talk him down, assuring him that he didn't need to do it, but his voice had reverted to chimes and off tune sounds. Apparently, he really did need it. He stopped fighting it and embraced back, trilling against him.
"Mari, you didn't have to go through it alone," Mike said. It seemed like he meant that Marionette could've vented these worries to him. "I would've driven you to the jail myself." Or was intending to be an accomplice.
This got a chime out of Marionette, who warbled lightly in thanking and pressed further against the human. He didn't know what he would do without Mike. Somehow, he always managed to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground and even in the roughest situation, even when at a funeral, he managed to be the strong one. He welcomed that strength; he loved that strength.
"I didn't expect Aunt Jen to take it so badly," Charlie remarked. Charlie who neither knew was there.
Mike pulled back enough to look to the hallway. The Security Puppet was leaning on the wall while reaching back to adjust her bell and point. "…Exactly how long have you been standing there?"
"A few minutes. Not too long," Charlie assured. As she released the prong it jingled lightly, followed by her own slight ringing of amusement. "But don't stop cuddling on my account."
Mike and Marionette had never yanked apart so quickly.
Mable: You know when life starts to get stable it's time to begin keeping an eye out. These quiet times are a gift, but it's vital not to let distractions cloud your vision… But for now, the next chapter will be posted next week!
If only she would wait that long.