"Wait here, I just need to go and hand these in," Fredbear told Bonnie as he finished locking the door of the cafe. From around the corner, on the other side of the building, the sound of the bar was progressively getting louder, and it made conversation much harder. Bonnie nodded, trying not to chatter his teeth together too much.
The problem was that as soon as they'd left the cafe, they'd found what had once been warm sunlight had transformed into a nasty spot of torrential rain. It was haring it down heavily and attacking the buildings with heavy droplets, and Bonnie wasn't looking forward to running back to the apartment through it. He didn't know how far Fredbear had to go to get home but he hoped it wasn't as far. The last thing either of them needed was pneumonia.
His guitar had been put back in the case and swung over his torso again. It was practical to carry it that way and he felt more comfortable with it being carried like that when he wasn't trying to make a good first impression with formal wear. However, his arms were bare thanks to his lack of sleeves, and he felt that despite wearing two shirts he probably would still be soaked through by the end of the dart to cover.
Fredbear reappeared out of the rain a few moments later, his own bag over his shoulder. The night was beginning to set in in typical autumn fashion and it was hard to make out much more than his face in the dark, which seemed to be illuminated by his spectacularly blue eyes. "I'm not looking forward to running through this."
"If it wasn't night time we could have probably stayed inside and waited for it to stop," Bonnie agreed, glancing down the street into the darkness, "How far away do you live?"
"A while away. Usually I get a ride and then walk home but usually the walking home part is more leisurely and with less rain. I did arrange to get a lift home today though." Fredbear pushed his hair out of his face, and thankfully the rain made it stick to the side. "You can camp out at my place if you think that's easier. At least then we could go over the job again."
"I don't have anything but my guitar with me though," Bonnie chattered, squinting as the moon began to come into view in the sky as the clouds shifted along. It was appealing to stay somewhere other than his crappy apartment, and after talking to Fredbear for the past few hours it wasn't like he'd be with a stranger. But he literally had nothing else with him and he didn't want to be a burden.
"We'll figure something out. If you'd rather go to your apartment though, I'd understand," Fredbear replied, though something about him did seem disappointed. Bonnie considered a little more, not wanting to seem in the way but not wanting to take the longer route back to the apartment.
"I just don't want to be a burden to you," He admitted. Fredbear looked a little shocked by the comment, and shook his head, causing droplets to bounce off of his already beginning to soak hair.
"Its not a problem! I'd just feel guilty if I got home warm and dry and then you had to hike through this rain. I already arranged the lift so I can't change that either, though I can make arrangements to take you home as soon as possible if you prefer."
Bonnie glanced at the shorter man and felt a pang of guilt himself, thumbing the strap of his guitar for a moment. He couldn't refuse help, especially since the rain was getting worse and worse.
"Alright," He said finally.
It was another three minute wait before the car pulled up, and Fredbear gestured for Bonnie to get in while he spoke quietly with the driver. Bonnie craned his neck from his seat to see if he could get a glimpse of the driver, but all he could see was dark hair and hunched shoulders, thin fingers clutching the steering wheel tightly. He was just tilting to get a better look when Fredbear climbed in next to him, shutting the car door and fumbling with his seat belt.
"I just had a word with the driver. He said to give him a call when you're ready to head home. But apparently hes not turning out after eleven," Fredbear murmured, eyes still fixed on the driver. Bonnie appreciated that Fredbear had at least tried to talk to the driver about it. He could see why the driver wanted to get home as soon as possible - the rain wasn't letting up and it was cascading in vast rivers down the windshield, which the wipers battled to wipe away. Hopefully it would stop soon.
"My house isn't very fancy," Fredbear stated anxiously after a while, turned away a little to try and look out of the window, "But I do have a room dedicated to music, so I thought it might help. I don't play instruments but I do have a few that I wish I could learn. I just never get time to practice."
"At least you're not in an apartment," Bonnie rolled his eyes, feeling that a house was far more fancy than an apartment in any case. Fredbear glanced at him then, unsure of what to say.
"Its not much of an improvement," He said finally, "Its small enough that most of it could probably squeeze into an apartment. I could only afford it thanks to the-" He cut himself off and turned away again, suddenly interested in a particular droplet of rain running down the window. Bonnie was tempted to ask, but felt as though he'd be intruding in doing so, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the steady friendship with Fredbear.
The rest of the short ride was silent, with nerves ringing between the two. Neither knew what to say at this point, and simply hoped general conversation would surface again. As the car pulled up to the pavement outside the house, Fredbear gave Bonnie a timid glance before he got out of the car, tugging the bag back onto his shoulder and holding the door open for his friend.
Bonnie slid across the backseat to the open door, and from there he got a glimpse of Fredbears house. It seemed like a typical two-story house, made out of bricks and thankfully not ruined with paint. The only paint visible was around the door, making the entrance practically glow in the dark. Unfortunately it was too dark to see much more, but Bonnie could definitely say it was bigger than his apartment, which felt puny in comparison. Sure Fredbear didn't have a huge manor house, but even a little two-story house like this was better than what he had.
He made his way up the path with Fredbear a little way behind him, as the auburn had had to wave the driver off for now. Something told Bonnie that Fredbear was avoiding looking at him purely because of how ashamed he felt of his house, which was unreasonable.
"Let me just get the door-" Fredbear said quickly, brushing past to unlock it. Fortunately the door had a cover to it, so Bonnie felt a little more dry standing under it than he would have had it not been covered. He was ushered inside by the other and stood awkwardly in the hallway as Fredbear closed the door, feeling across the walls to try and find the light switch in the dark.
"Sorry- I don't usually get back this late so I don't usually have to worry about finding the switch in the dark- Okay, here it is." He flicked the light switch on, and the bulbs lit up the dark, revealing a pleasant open hallway. There were no walls separating the hallway and the living room, which had laminate flooring that was only intruded by a medium-sized square cream rug in the center. Upon the rug was a coffee table sporting several books that had been obviously plucked from the shelves of the built-in bookcase across the room. Surrounding the table were two crimson couches - one a three-seater, the other a two-seater. By the bookcase was a matching crimson armchair, and all three seating surfaces sported cream cushions that matched the rug. Against the wall, just underneath the window, was a relatively small television set that sat on a small table, with the remote neatly set beside it.
If this was the first room Bonnie saw, he was definitely preferring Fredbears living accommodations rather than his own. He didn't even realize his jaw was open until Fredbear pushed it closed when he walked past to put his bag down.
"Its not worth that," Fredbear teased, folding his arms and resting on the arm of one of the couches, looking at Bonnie and doing his best to read his expression. Bonnie could only slide the strap of his guitar case off of his shoulder and set it down, putting one foot behind the other and taking off his shoes. He then picked them up and put them next to the door, before turning back to Fredbear.
"Oh- Hang on, sorry. I'm an awful host-" Fredbear vanished into a nearby room for a split second, and returned with a towel in his hand, offering it to Bonnie sheepishly. Bonnie took it gratefully and began drying out his hair, hoping that it wouldn't go fluffy like it normally did. It looked stupid when it did.
Fredbear looked unsure of what to say, glancing around his living room and back to Bonnie. He wasn't used to having company in his house, and most nights he'd be in his music room singing in preparation for the next day. He had to admit he liked being on his own - when on some days when he wasn't working he'd be free to walk around as he pleased, making whatever food he pleased and then doing whatever he pleased. He liked having someone else to talk to, but when he was the host of a home it made it incredibly hard to know what to do and what not to do.
"What do I do with-" Bonnie began to ask, holding out the towel. Fredbear took it and vanished back into the bathroom, dropping it into the wash basket, before briefly giving his own hair a rub down. He had to keep it together and not be independent with a guest around. He was supposed to be working with Bonnie, so he'd have to involve Bonnie around the house. He couldn't vanish off on his own like normal. So, when he came out of the bathroom, he gestured to the stairs.
"I could always show you the music room. If you want to change first you have free pick of my wardrobe," Fredbear suggested. Bonnie looked surprised at the courteous offer, and looked at his feet.
"Usually I'd say I'm okay with what I'm wearing, but then I remembered how much of a pain jeans can be when they're wet," he laughed. Fredbear, who was not wearing jeans, could understand. If he'd been wearing jeans he'd have hated to be walking around with them soaked through.
"My room is the second room on the right. The music room is opposite. Do you want me to take your guitar up for you?"
"Yes please," Bonnie answered, shrugging off the button shirt, which had almost gone transparent. After retrieving the bags, Fredbear beckoned for the other to follow him, and began to ascend the stairs. The upstairs hallway was relatively short and small, but did house four doors along the walls - two on one side, one on the other, and one right at the end. Fredbear stopped before reaching the end door, and decided to simply give Bonnie the upstairs tour for now. He pointed to each door in turn as he labelled them off - first the first door on the right, then the second, then the end door, then the only door on the left.
"Guest room, my room, bathroom, music room," He informed, "Like I said, just pick anything from my room if you want. If you want to clean up, the bathrooms right here. I'll be in the music room setting up."
"Thanks, Freddy," Bonnie said warmly, smiling lightly. Fredbear found himself smiling back.
"No problem."
As Bonnie vanished into Fredbears room, Fredbear found himself staring after him for a split second. The smile remained on his face, and he turned towards the music room, leaving the door open behind him as he carried the bags inside. The music room was relatively bare, and simply held a single couch in the corner along with a display cabinet to the side of it. Across the room was an entirely bare corner, and in the opposite corner a table and chair where he wrote. Fredbear hadn't been sure what else to put in it, as the instruments he had were stacked in their boxes next to the display cabinet where he kept his sheet music and his lyric papers. He'd specifically installed lights that were not switches in this particular room, but rather ones that were rotated so as to make the room dim if needed. Atmosphere was everything when it came to performing, and if he needed it to be darker, he could simply turn the lights down to make it dimmer and darker just like that.
He carefully set the guitar down propped against the couch for Bonnie and turned to the bare corner, setting down the microphone bag. He wished he could have two separate microphones and didn't have to keep setting it up and taking it down, but he really couldn't afford it right now - especially if his pay was docked for being late.
As he fixed the stand, his thoughts drifted to the man in the other room. He'd only known Bonnie for nine hours - give or take - and already he felt like he'd made a close friend. Their discussion back at the cafe had been generic to begin with after the music discussion, but after a while they'd started talking about their interests more, and it felt like they had a lot in common from the get-go. It was a wonder they hadn't met before now, since they'd both been looking for jobs. However, Fredbear felt he couldn't talk to the other about his previous job - at least, not now. He'd be ridiculed for it, surely. He glanced at the cabinet across the room, which locked away the works of his previous job, and bit his lip. He'd have to make sure Bonnie didn't find it. He didn't want to be humiliated by crushed childhood dreams, after all.
He stood up to set the microphone up on top, slotting it into the jaws of the hold, and trailing the wires back to the speakers, making sure everything was in place. There was no guarantee he'd need the microphone tonight but he'd rather have it set up just in case he did.
"Sorry I took so long, I was indecisive about what to pick," Bonnies voice came from the door as the golden blonde stepped into the music room, taking in his surroundings and trying not to drop his jaw again. He'd found a simple black button-up shirt and some dry jeans, which worked pretty nicely together, Fredbear thought. It was only in that brief moment when Bonnie came into the room looking refreshed did Fredbear take the man in entirely, and his heart was fluttering only mildly. Must be nerves.
"Half of your clothes have bears on them, man," Bonnie complained, rolling his eyes with an amused grin. Fredbear chuckled a little at that, taking a brief glance at the bear shirt he was still wearing and shrugging his shoulders lightly.
"What can I say? I love bears. How do you think I got my nickname?" He teased as Bonnie sat down on the couch, unzipping the case to retrieve his guitar.
"You just need the ears to go with your name. Imagine being a worldwide artist famous not only for your voice but for your bear theme," Bonnie laughed.
"Don't tempt me. I would do it. I am personally letting you know now that I would be the worlds most famous bear," Fredbear stated, smiling as he moved to join Bonnie.
"So you're a bear, what does that make me?" Bonnie asked, looking entertained by the thought.
"You're obviously a bunny because you're so twitchy and jumpy," Fredbear replied.
"I'm not jumpy at all!" Bonnie complained, which was in poor timing, because three seconds later Fredbear put his hands on Bonnies shoulders suddenly. "Boo!"
Bonnie jumped, and looked put out as Fredbear laughed hysterically, but eventually he had to start laughing too.