Mable: Mari early Christmas!... And yes, I intend to use that terrible pun at least once or twice over the next couple of posts. You've got to love the season. ^-^ It only seemed appropriate to have a chapter or two dedicated to it. Enough chatter, let us begin! I hope you Enjoy!
Can't Go Home Again
Chapter Eighty-One
After what was yet another 'Ennard Incident', things recovered rather quickly in comparison to the previous times. Mike's few bruises healed, Marionette managed to regain his strength after a few days, and Scott was… Scott had been quiet, but Mike had kept in close enough contact with him to be sure that he was alright. That and for other things that he would stay silent about for a little longer. There hadn't been any appearance from the bear either, so Mike was still unsure whether it was a hallucination or a real event. Although once or twice he had sworn that he felt that same sensation of being watched.
It was unbelievable to think that Marionette had been so exhausted after the shocks and yet had managed to pull himself together so well. Then again, it was just about to be Christmas, and if Marionette pulled himself together for anything it was the holidays. Even now he was currently hand painting Christmas ornaments to put in the prize corner for exchange. Some were pirate themed, some were stripes, some had mini cartoonish faces of Foxy's and his own, but all of them were painted with equal care and precision.
The entire house was drenched in the smell of Christmas cookies. At least three dozen freshly baked cookies were currently waiting in the fridge, sealed in plastic, waiting to be taken in to the Pizzeria. Thankfully Tabby didn't ask questions or Mike would've had to concoct some sort of believable excuse on how he was able to walk in the next day with dozens of cookies. Especially when he was obviously not a baker. There were also plenty stacked up on a plate on the coffee table, which Mike would be indulging in if not stuck on the phone.
On the topic of older women who he was keeping in the dark, Mike had been blindsided by a call from his mother. He wasn't too surprised to get a call this close to Christmas, and he could already predict what she was asking about. It took her less than a few minutes to get into talking about plans for Christmas, leaving Mike stuck in an expected position.
"It's a pretty long drive, Mom," Mike excused and stretched on the couch, still half dressed in uniform and trying to dodge what was quickly leading into him getting stuck in an hour or more car drive. "And with me having to be at work the day after Christmas, it'll have me stuck driving home Christmas night." Yet right as he was about to get out of visiting her, Isabelle invited a new idea onto the table.
"Well, I'll be housing a Christmas party for my book club on Christmas, so I won't have time to drive… But what if I came down tomorrow? We could have an early Christmas!" Isabelle chirped. She had no way of seeing the slight nervousness that briefly passed her son's face. "I already have the gifts and everything! It could be just you, Mari, and I!" That was exactly why Mike dreaded the suggestion, because he knew that his mother had every intention of meeting Marionette face to face. As great as it was that she was supportive, it left them in a tight spot.
"I don't know. That's a long drive for you to take on your own, and I'll probably be at work when you get here." As Mike continued to try and justify his mother not coming, Marionette set aside his supplies. Before Mike even noticed, as he was rubbing over his face as he scrambled for a believable excuse that didn't sound like an excuse, Marionette moved to the back of the couch and offered his hand. Mike glanced between his face and his hand before it clicked what he wanted. "Hold on, Mom. Mari's here."
Mike handed over the phone and Marionette eagerly took the call himself. "Merry early Christmas, Mother Schmidt!" He disappeared into the kitchen and Mike turned over to grab a cookie. They weren't warm from the oven anymore, but they still tasted just as good. Beyond the coffee table, some sitcom that wasn't being watched played onward, but was muted and thus there was little indication of what was happening on it. The Christmas tree was in the usual spot, already decorated, but devoid of any gifts underneath.
"There's something I should be doing tomorrow," Mike reminded himself as he paused to listen in.
"I see no reason not to! I'm not sure when I'll be home- I'm stopping by my brother's after work- but I think it's a wonderful idea! There's nothing better than family sharing Christmas, even if it's not the exact day."
Mike nearly choked on the bite of cookie. Marionette had literally talked him into a visit and only succeeded in getting himself out of obligation. Trying to signal to the animatronic, Mike reached over the back of the couch and waved in a frenzy.
"Oh, you don't have to get me anything!... But I wear a small," Marionette chirped, forcing himself to hide the chime that almost came out. He could hear the moment that Mike's hand dropped and thumped back against the couch. "I'll be sure to tell him! Bye!" The call ended and he hung up the phone in the receiver. "She sends her love.~"
"You know, when I handed the phone over, I assumed you were going to get us both out of the visit," Mike pointed out. He was disgruntled enough to bring it up but not enough to sit up from the couch. "And instead, you talked your way into a sweater and me into a visit. Congratulations."
"Don't be like that," Marionette teased as he leaned over the back of the couch and smiled down at him. "It's just a few hours with your mother, and I'm sure that you will get something nice too." He laced his fingers together and chimed at the thought. "Isabelle really is an amazing woman. It's a shame I won't get to meet her in person."
"Don't get any ideas. Mom's nice enough, but I don't know how she'd react to the truth. She's too deep in the suburban lifestyle," Mike pointed out. This only brought light laughter out of the Puppet.
"Because we wouldn't know anything about living in a suburban area, I almost see your point," the animatronic retorted before returning to his painting. "But no, I think too many people already know about our… Complex situation."
"When Ennard knows there's something going on, you start watching your back a little closer." This was followed by Marionette's complete silence. There wasn't even the sound of moving instruments. "By the way, Ennard knows too, and I don't know what he's told the Phone." There was an off tune gasped out in horror. Mike got a little smirk of amusement, "Yeah, I know. Welcome to my world."
Jokes aside, their fate was sealed.
By the next day, the impending visit's tenseness had eased up a little bit. While Mike couldn't deny that there were some things to worry about, he was becoming more comfortable with the idea of his mother visiting. After all, they were back in good graces, so it seemed worth it. Even if he was probably going to get stuck with some overly warm, horribly festive sweater that his mother used to buy for him. Part of him expected that she did it on purpose and snickered behind his back when he wasn't looking.
But then again, there was one little thing worrying him. One little striped thing.
"Mom's been asking about meeting Mari for months, ever since they started talking on the phone, so it's not like she isn't going to try and stall until he 'gets home'," Mike vented as he made quotations. He was standing outside of the kitchen alongside Jeremy, who had been spending most of the day trying to keep Foxy's Santa-esque hat on his head. It was the best place to watch over the dining room and arcade, but he knew eventually that he would have to move over near the prize corner, considering that the kids were currently flocking to it.
"And Mari… Let's be honest; Mari wants a mother figure. He never had that sort of relationship and now here comes Mom, throwing herself on him. I can't blame her for that, but I am afraid that Mari's going to let his guard down… I don't know if I'd trust my Mom with some of the stuff we know," Mike admitted, not feeling guilty by saying it, but definitely feeling uneasy about it.
"I don't think Mari's going to let his guard down," Jeremy disagreed. "Closeness or not, he did stay hidden- all of the animatronics stayed hidden for years."
"Except that Tabby nearly drove up on him at Chrissy's party," Mike reminded. This being an event that Jeremy and Natalie had been warned about after said party, just in case Tabby started asking questions.
"That's different. That's Tabby," Jeremy insisted, seemingly under the impression that the Puppet had been aware of who was driving up. "And I don't think he'd willingly just let himself get spotted. Especially not by your mother, whose totally out of the loop."
"I hope not," Mike murmured as he glanced towards the stage. "Head's up. Foxy lost his hat again." Out of sheer reflex, Jeremy groaned before he even looked over to concern it. "We have bobby pins somewhere in here."
"I don't want to hurt Foxy…" Jeremy stared at the animatronic on the stage and the red hat laying on the tiled ground once again. "… You don't think it would hurt much, right?" Mike shrugged in response and Jeremy headed back to the stage. He scooped the hat off the ground and easily climbed up beside Foxy. "Let's try this again."
"There ain't any point, Lad. Just wear it yerself," Foxy begrudgingly caved. Though he did tilt his head down a bit complyingly when Jeremy attempted to put the hat back on.
"I could pin it, if it wouldn't hurt too much… Or, uh, I don't know if we could rig a tie clip to hold this…" Like with Mike, Jeremy noticed that Foxy seemed a little distracted. Even as he let the man work with the hat, he had his gaze turned back towards the prize corner, where most of the kids currently were. Jeremy frowned at this less boisterous and subdued side of Foxy, not liking how well it fit in with Foxy's more recent behavior. It was clear that Foxy had went through something that he didn't want to talk about, and now it might be leaking into Christmas.
"Foxy, is something going on? You seem a little… Less… You're not yourself again," Jeremy asked much more bluntly. He kept his voice low, they both did, but with the lack of kids congregating around Foxy there wasn't much of a risk. Almost immediately, the animatronic straightened and snapped his yellow eyes- even with one covered- back to the human alongside him.
"Me? Lad, nothing's wrong! Ol Foxy's right as rain. He just has a wardrobe malfunction 'o some kind," Foxy promptly denied. It was almost funny how now, when being questioned, Foxy could force the upbeat tone so well. He could sound so perfectly together, but only once someone noticed and asked if something was amiss. This time, Jeremy didn't believe it.
"No, you're not. You've been up on this stage all day and you're usually out with the kids." Jeremy went to gesture to some of the nearby children, only to find that there weren't any close enough to justify pointing at. "…They're apparently not here right now." Foxy chuckled at Jeremy's almost desperate scrambling to cover himself.
"Lad, they ain't been here all day. Don't be kiddin' yerself," Foxy pointed out. "At this rate, I oughta start Christmas vacation a couple days early." He turned to glance back at the prize corner where Marionette was passing out cookies to the children. Instead of a hat like Foxy, he was wearing a red and white striped scarf that seemed styled like a candy cane. Between the cookies and the ornaments, and the fact that Marionette was all around more active and bubbly for the holiday, he was currently the more popular animatronic.
"You're not jealous of Mari, are you?"
Foxy wasn't sure if it was the bluntness or the fact that Jeremy whispered the question so peculiarly, but he didn't immediately answer. He could understand why Jeremy would think something like that. Sibling rivalry was basically the backbone of the Afton siblings, or at least that's how Foxy had once seen it. Things changed though, and it had been a long time since he had ever felt anything close to that. After all, the Pizzeria was named after him and he was the one on the stage. Marionette just passed out cookies, ornaments, and the occasional snow globe.
In short, yes, Foxy was at least a little jealous, but he was more than aware enough to identify that there was something else making him less active. Something else had been gnawing at him and it was only showing now because he was expected to be happier, which he wasn't. It was something else plaguing him entirely and he wasn't sure how to handle it.
Finally, Foxy realized that he had never answered Jeremy and looked back to him. He stared at him for a few seconds. "…No, Lad. I'm glad Mari's gettin' attention."
"Oh… Well, I think that's great. He's gone all out with this…" Jeremy then smiled back at the fox. "Besides, you're the lead, right? It's not Freddy's name out on the sign." He then hopped down from the stage smoothly and went to find a pin. "I'll be right back."
Jeremy did have a point. Even if that wasn't his main problem, he couldn't help but be a little concerned about the children's lack of attention. It was nice to see Marionette getting so much love from the children regardless, so that alone was enough to brighten him up. That, and he got to watch Mike try to keep the kids back when they started to swarm, and that battle alone was enough to have him inwardly smirking. Or it would've been, if something didn't follow right after this.
Mike and Marionette were standing in clear view of the children, there was no denying it. No amount of distraction in the world could get all of those sets of eyes away from at least the Puppet, who was under the doorway. Mike stood beside him, outside the doorway, trying to keep back a child carrying a half-melted ice cream cup. Why on Earth a child would want to eat ice cream in December was beyond Foxy, but that wasn't the focus. The focus was when Marionette just happened to notice the mistletoe hanging on the doorframe beside the track.
Of course, he didn't really notice 'it', as he most likely hung it himself. More so, he noticed that Mike was now in arm's reach, just close enough to be counted as being under it too. He reached out and tapped Mike on the shoulder, then pointed up at the mistletoe hanging above them. Foxy watched as Mike got an amused smile, apparently thinking it was a joke. Foxy already knew that it certainly wasn't a joke. Marionette now gave an insistent tap on his cheek as he continued to beam in his usual smile.
Mike raised a brow in a 'are you serious?' type of look. For a moment, Foxy thought that he was going to turn the other down, that he was going to take it as a joke, because there were children watching. Instead, Mike's amusement returned, and he only took a second to glance around before leaning in to kiss Marionette on the cheek. A few of the kids reacted in disturbance, but it was more of them being disgusted by the act of kissing than anything else, and the other kids simply didn't care because they were getting cookies and trinkets.
No parents had been watching; they were either at some of the tables or in the arcade. Jeremy hadn't gotten back yet, Fritz was hunched behind the broken-down racing game, Natalie was knelt beside him, offering him tools as he showed her how to do the repairs, and Tabby was in the kitchen as usual. Foxy was the only one who saw it and would care any amount. He watched Marionette chime in delight, he noticed Mike look flustered, and he watched this obvious display. These two people were breaking the laws of nature.
It wasn't that Marionette was being romantic with a human though… It was that he made it look so easy.
Before Foxy could go any further down that rabbit hole, Jeremy returned with the bobby pin. "This might pinch for a second," he forewarned as tried to pin the hat to Foxy's head. Considering everything Foxy dealt with, the pin was barely more that a poke, and it felt like it would hold the hat on better than relying on balance. "Foxy Clause is ready for the stage!" Jeremy triumphantly proclaimed. "Heh, if I knew it was going to be this easy, I would've done this twenty minutes ago."
Foxy turned and fidgeted his head. The hat slid around a little, but was pinned enough that it wouldn't fall off. With a rumbling chuckle, Foxy turned his head towards the man and perked his ears in appreciation. "Thanks Lad. Yer always good to yer captain."
"No problem, Foxy," Jeremy assured with a warm smile. He then turned to step back down again from the stage. Foxy hummed in thought, getting the beginning of a new idea at the edge of his mind. This thought was briefly pushed aside as he noticed a couple of children coming back from the prize corner. His new focus was to reign in those children for himself.
"Gather round, Lads an' Lasses! Time fer a couple o' carols with the Captain!"
The rest of the day plodded along at a reasonable pace. Once Marionette ran out of cookies, he returned to his box and the children mostly dispersed to the rest of the Pizzeria. This gave Foxy more of the attention that he eagerly wanted, and he seemed to be acting a little more in character because of it. Eventually closing time arrived and the last customers left the pizzeria while the employees started the nightly clean up session. Mike's plan was to finish up quickly, briefly stop by Phone Guy's house, and make it home before his mother appeared. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be the case.
"Your mom's here," Fritz announced as he pushed in a couple of chairs. Mike's head snapped upwards and he turned to look over, then clenched his jaw as he saw his mother come waltzing through the door. There was Isabelle, at least an hour early, after giving no indication that she was coming to the Pizzeria at all. Thankfully, she didn't send any sort of glance into the prize corner and instead made a beeline for him.
"Mom!" Mike greeted, hoping was loud enough to alert any surrounding parties to be on their guard. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Foxy hide behind his curtain. "You, uh… You ambushed me at work… You know, I had my cellphone on me."
"I know, I just wanted to surprise you." Before Mike could even brace himself, Isabelle pulled him to her height and hugged him as tightly as she could. Fritz watched the display with a small smile of amusement. "I missed you so much!" She squeezed him tighter, turning to kiss him on the cheek and all around being obvious in her smothering, motherly affection. Mike was practically blinded by his position, but he could hear Tabby and Natalie coming out of the kitchen together.
"I remember when I used to do that with my kids," Tabby remarked to Natalie. Or Mike assumed to her. "Then they grew up and lost their cuteness." With that remark, Tabby could be heard walking to the back door. "I'm heading home."
"Have a good night!" Natalie called after her. She then also turned her attention on Mike's mother, exchanging an amused smile with Fritz before introducing herself. "It's great to finally meet you, Mrs. Schmidt. I'm Natalie and this is Fritz. Mike might have mentioned us." Thankfully, Natalie's arrival was enough of a distraction that Mike could finally get free of his mother's clinginess. He stood to the side as they shook hands and tried to concoct a plan on how he could get away from the Pizzeria and over to Phone Guy's without looking too suspicious.
"He and Mari both have. It's wonderful to finally put a face to the names," Isabelle said with growing delight. "I'm Isabelle, but you can just call me Izzy. No Mrs. It makes me feel old!"
"And some things never change," Mike murmured under his breath as a small smirk appeared. "So, Mom, I was just-."
He was cut off when his mother's head snapped to the side and her gaze narrowed in on something in the hallway. For a second, Mike thought she had managed to spot something they were trying to hide, but this turned out to not be the case when Jeremy stepped out of the hallway. Isabelle nearly sprinted over to him and grabbed his hand in hers before Jeremy could even react. He still looked about as terrified of the older woman as he was of most animatronics.
"I'm so glad to finally meet you!" Isabelle gushed. "I was afraid that we'd miss each other again!" Only then did it dawn on Mike what his mother was thinking. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and forehead in an attempt to cover his growing embarrassment.
"Mom, that's Jeremy," Mike bluntly corrected before she could continue. Isabelle's eyes briefly widened and she was seemingly taken aback, but she recovered quickly.
"Oh… Well, it's nice to meet you too, Jeremy," Isabelle finished with a pat to his hand. She then released him and turned back to Mike. He couldn't help but feel a growing dread as her focus, and questioning, fell back onto him. "Where is Mari? He hasn't left yet, has he?"
"Just left to head to his brother's. You just missed him," Mike excused. It didn't take his three co-workers even a heartbeat before they knew exactly what was going on. It was obvious enough to put the pieces together. "He left early so that he'd be back by tonight." This got a smile out of his mother. One that was a bit too hopeful for him to feel comfortable. "But he might not be back in time, so I wouldn't get your hopes up. Mari's brother is pretty unstable, so he needs all the attention he can get."
There was a low, static-y, grumbling noise from behind the curtain.
"Sounds like Foxy's on the fritz again," Mike volunteered, not even caring enough to look back. "You know it's been long day when Foxy starts sounding like a broken-down washing machine."
Perhaps inspired by the comment on Foxy, but only now did Isabelle look around at the restaurant, taking in the sights. She seemed positively enthralled by the restaurant, especially considering that her son owned a portion of it. "This place is adorable! I can't believe you all set this up so quickly," Isabelle complimented. "Can I see Foxy?"
This was much less awkward than asking about Marionette, so Mike eagerly agreed, turning and heading over to the curtain. "He's just back here. Let me get the curtains open…" By which he leaned into the curtains and murmured a low, "It's my Mom. Act natural." He swore that he saw Foxy roll his yellow eye, but didn't address it as he pulled open the curtain.
"Yar! Welcome to Foxy's Pirate Ship Pizzeria!" Foxy announced as he rose his arm and waved at the group.
"He's adorable too! He looks just like that doll!" Isabelle gushed further, clearly excited in her son's achievement and the business. "I could see how you'd get so much business. There's restaurants all over, but where else can you see a moving and talking fox? Nowhere!"
"Hey, don't badmouth the food until you taste it," Fritz butted in. "…Then you can badmouth it."
As though a lightbulb flicked on, Mike was suddenly hit with an idea. "You know, Mom, I just had a great idea," he said as he turned to her with a smile that was a tad too sly. "Why don't we all eat a quick dinner or something here? We still have plenty of pizza and it's way cheaper than eating out at a place where we actually have to pay." From Isabelle's smile, it was obvious that she liked this idea. "Foxy could put on a mini show, we could have pizza, we've still got cupcakes left over- what do you guys say?" He looked around at the others for confirmation.
"That's… Actually, a pretty good idea. It saves us having to throw something together when we get home," Natalie offered. She had picked up on Mike's tone and decided to go with it. "Fritz? Jeremy?"
"Sounds good to me," Fritz briefly affirmed. However, Jeremy was less so.
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to take off. I have gifts to wrap up and a few- uh… Pets to check on," Jeremy covered. He then smiled and turned to finish up gathering the trash. "Let me just throw all this out back." Yet as he went to do so, as Natalie led Fritz and Isabelle to a table, Mike was suddenly struck by a hook over his shoulder and yanked back. He half fell against the stage as Foxy knelt behind him and murmured in his ear.
"Get Jer'my to stay an' I don't do me Chipper impression," Foxy suddenly arranged and partially threatened. "Deal?" It wasn't as though Mike had a choice.
"Alright, sure. Whatever," Mike shrugged off as he pulled himself off Foxy's grasp. "Thanks for pulling my shoulder out of socket."
"Anytime, Mike," Foxy merely replied and then straightened again to look like a normal animatronic. Mike hustled after Jeremy and caught up with him at the back door. He opened it for him, let him out back to dump the bag, and only then cornered him with the arrangement.
"Okay, so here's the deal. Foxy's staging a mutiny unless you stick around, and I need Mom distracted long enough that I can swing by Phone Guy's house," Mike quickly laid out. Jeremy was only given a moment to process this before adding in, "It's a Christmas thing, believe me."
Jeremy still seemed rather confused at the request. Sure, Foxy could be clingy at times, but he didn't usually become this clingy. Not clingy enough to demand specific requests or refuse to perform. "Okay?"
"Thanks." Mike reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm heading out to the Phone's in only a couple of minutes, so I won't be too long. Can you wait that long?"
"Yeah, sure," Jeremy agreed. This whole thing still seemed odd, but it wasn't exactly a big request to stay a few minutes longer than he intended. The Minireenas couldn't get that disgruntled from a few extra minutes. The two stepped back inside and Mike went ahead with dismissing himself.
"I need to step out for a second, but I'll be right back," Mike started as he reached out briefly to put an arm around his mother. He didn't want her to think he was dodging her, although he was dodging her the night before. "It's about Mari's Christmas gift. I'll cue you in once I figure out if it's doable or not."
Isabelle understood and after another rather clingy embrace, Mike left the pizzeria and drove to the Phone Guy's home. This left the others to entertain her for the moment. Natalie gave her a quick tour as Fritz heated up the pizza, but this didn't leave Jeremy with enough time to question Foxy. Foxy was watching him and continuing to stay in character, but there was no opening for a real conversation.
Soon, they were all circled around one of the smaller tables towards the front door, specifically to keep away from the humming of the still running arcade machines. Mike had still yet to return, but nobody was concerned as it hadn't been that long. This didn't keep him from popping up in the conversation, as was expected.
"I really am glad to finally see the restaurant. Mike sounded so proud of everything you all accomplished. Starting a business isn't as easy as it used to be; there's so much more risk involved," Isabelle chatted in a good-natured fashion. "And in a sense, it's continuing a family business. He said Mari's father used to own a restaurant as well?"
"He did. A few of them, actually," Fritz answered. "The business goes back a couple of generations, but Mari's the only one directly related to anyone who worked back then… That is, family relation. I worked at one of the old restaurants, but not very long." Slowly, Fritz started to dig himself into a hole. "But I was just working the dayshift mostly as a technician. Not- There wasn't much directness with anything there, I…" He didn't want to end it there because it sounded suspicious, but he couldn't imagine how to continue.
Thankfully, Isabelle had more interest in 'Mari' then she did in his family's business. "I really do hope to meet Mari. I know it's a 'different' situation, and I'm afraid he might be hiding from me considering everything… I would love Michael with whatever lifestyle he chose, but I was a bit surprised when he first told me that Mari was a man and not a girl… Come to think of it, he never did tell me. It was Mari who answered the phone once and told me." She got an amused smile, slightly smirking-like. "But man or woman, I am glad that Mike is dating someone whose so… Ambitious."
The looks around the table were just a bit off. Fritz looked confused, Natalie had a much too 'standard' look, and Jeremy, who was just far enough to the side to be half out of view, got a look of utter shock. His eyes flashed over on Fritz and Natalie and tried to read their reactions. Behind him on the stage, Jeremy could hear a few footsteps and the sound of the curtain as Foxy discreetly disappeared from the room.
Then Natalie spoke, and everything only got more uncoordinated. "I can't believe it took them as long as it did to hook up. They were friends for so long that we were all just pretty much convinced it was coming eventually," Natalie explained with her own partial-smirk. "Mike can be a little stubborn."
"As I've seen in person. If it wasn't for Mari, I doubt he would've agreed to a visit at all! Would you believe that he was trying to talk his way out of a visit?" She seemed more amused than anything. "And after that, who would I be to refuse an invitation?" Now Isabelle was definitely smirking. It was becoming a little more obvious that this small woman was connected to Mike. Though her playfulness turned to concern, "But for all seriousness, I do worry that Mari is staying away because of me. I don't want him to be forced out of the house on my account."
"I'm sure that's not the case," Natalie said with what sounded like complete honesty. "Mike might be the type to talk out of things, but Mari's not. If anything, he's just the shy type. He freezes up when talking face to face." Technically, that wasn't a lie.
"I was hoping it would be easier since we've spoken a few times on the phone... But he really is a sweetheart. Mike is very lucky to have someone to come home to who's so caring."
"He really is. You should see him with the kids; they flock to him. Mike's seemed a lot happier since they got together."
Then there was Fritz, staring at the two women as though they were speaking another language. It didn't take too much convincing to believe that Isabelle only assumed that they were in a relationship and Natalie was going along with it for whatever reason. Mike would be hearing about this, Fritz thought as he tried to suppress what was almost laughter. Almost, but not quite, because something seemed a little off.
It didn't take Fritz long to realize that it was Jeremy. He looked to the man and furrowed his brows as he noticed how shaky the younger looked. Jeremy noticed Fritz's questionable stares and suddenly stood from the table.
"I'm going to… Check… On the animatronics." He took off to the prize corner, all while Fritz followed him with his gaze, unsure about why Jeremy was acting so weird. Unless Jeremy really did suspect that what they were saying was true, but he had to know better than that. Even if Fritz himself was now starting to find everything very curious, he knew that nothing like that could be possibly going on. Someone would've noticed.
Phone Guy already knew Mike was coming, so there was no reason to call before he appeared. Though he had noticed the man's more nervous disposition when they had first made the plans for him to drop by. He wanted to assume that it was just him still reeling from the events in ARI, but Mike couldn't help but dwell on the fact that the man had not been outright about Ennard. The Phone Guy was quite capable of leaving things out of the conversation.
Though Mike's concerns were slightly dashed when the Phone Guy answered the door looking relatively fine. "Right on time," he had greeted and moved to let Mike through the door before shutting it behind him. "Everyone's in the office. I just put out their food, so we have a few minutes before they scatter." Phone Guy led Mike back to the office to where his kittens were all eating a mixture of wet and dry cat food off a plate.
The kittens were a peculiar bunch. The degree of which were more like the mother, the father, or fully mixed was varied. The largest kitten had the thickest fur and one of smaller ones had very thin fur. Most of them had the facial look of the mother, with large ears and yellow eyes, but two of the kittens had a more hazel tone instead. Already from this vantage point, Mike could see that one of the kittens had the extra toes of the father cat. Yet surprisingly enough, it was a rather handsome litter of kittens, with them all looking healthy.
As expected, Phone Guy had plenty to say about the kittens as well. "They're all fully weaned, they all use the litter box, and they've all been handled enough that they're not afraid of being touched. These two on the right are girls, the rest are boys, all are up to date on their shots," he listed out, as though he was advertising the kittens. Mike knelt beside them and one of the kittens paused in eating to look at him.
"I've got to admit, I was expecting them to all be bald with twenty toes on each foot," Mike pointed out and he reached in to offer his hand to the kitten that looked to him. It briefly pulled its head back in surprise, but then smelt his hand and started to relax to his presence. "Did you name any of them?"
"Just the little one, the runt. His name's Houston." Phone Guy slowly knelt and reached to pet the runt kitten. "I didn't want to get too attached, but I think I always knew he was going to stick around. You don't bottle feed a kitten for weeks without getting a little attached." He lightly scratched its fur and watched as the kitten continued to eat. "But I'm going to make sure they get good homes. They'll be happier not being stuck here with their siblings and folks. That one's a girl, by the way." He pointed out as Mike went ahead with petting the kitten.
"How can you tell?" Mike asked. The kitten mewed attentively at the petting and turned its head back to look at him with big, yellow eyes.
"You look at their backsides. Just trust me; I've been sexing cats for thirty plus years," Phone Guy affirmed. "Once you spot the difference, it becomes a lot easier." Mike slowly turned his head to stare at the older man, prepared to say something about the wording, but then decided to ignore it and look towards the kitten. However, it was at this time that the Phone Guy retracted his hand and his voice grew quieter. "I, uh… There's something I should probably warn you about."
"If it's about the spraying, I already know all about that," Mike affirmed, not catching the other's more anxious tone. "But just for future reference, how long do you wait until you get them fixed?"
"I'd wait until about twelve weeks just to be safe," Phone Guy rushed out. Then his tone grew quieter again, "But that's not it. It's… It's about the, uh, the elephant in the room… Or the animatronic in the garage."
It only took a second for the comment to sink in. Mike stilled his hand and snapped his head over to stare at the older man, whom stared back. This led to an uncomfortable silence.
"…Please tell me Ennard's not out in the garage," Mike muttered lowly.
"My keys didn't walk themselves here," the man revealed. When he had been driven to get his car, Phone Guy never said how he had his keys, so it was just assumed that he always had them and was just too upset to notice it. This reveal was exactly what Mike was afraid of.
"Ennard's out in the garage right now?" Mike asked again, suddenly anticipating the worst. What he didn't anticipate was Phone Guy's response.
"Well, uh… I don't know," the Phone Guy admitted. He gave a shaky exhale. "He's… He's been coming in at night and sometimes stays during the day and sometimes doesn't. I don't know where he's been going…" He paused and looked down at the kittens. "Sometimes gets water on the floor, so he wherever he is going has water in it."
"So, let me get this straight…" Mike began as he looked back towards the door. "Ennard's been letting himself into your house, hanging out in your garage, and then going out for a swim at random times of the night?" He couldn't even put emotion into it; the story sounded like absolute nonsense. "And you waited until I was in your house to warn me?"
"I know, I'm sorry… I haven't actually seen him. He's had me blocked out of the garage and- To be honest, even if he did let me in I don't know if I'd go out there… Hold on a second." Phone Guy leaned out and shut the office door. "He could be listening… But, yeah. So, he might be out there, might not, and I'm not really sure what to do." Almost immediately, Mike stood, and Phone Guy knew he was heading to the garage. "Wait. Don't go out there."
"I'm not going out anywhere. I'm just going to go listen and see if he's there," Mike defended as he stepped out of the office and cautiously approached the garage door. His pulse started to quicken as he grabbed ahold of the knob and toyed with the idea if it was worth leaning in to listen first or if he just needed to barge inside. Eventually, he decided just to get it over with and, after giving Phone Guy a nod, went to swing the door open. Wood hit metal, metal stood strong, and the door was stuck ajar. "Of course, this has got to be difficult," Mike muttered as he gave the door a hard shove.
He was rewarded with a crashing noise and promptly slammed the garage door shut before locking it. Then he waited, and Phone Guy waited, and nothing happened.
"I either knocked Ennard on his ass or knocked over a shelf. Whatever it was, it doesn't sound like it's getting up anytime soon," Mike pointed out. He unlocked the door and started to push it open, leaning in even as Phone Guy quietly protested behind him. Once it was obvious that there was no going back, his protesting switched to questioning.
"Is… Is he in there? I'm guessing not. I don't think he'd just fall over like that," Phone Guy half babbled as Mike squeezed through the door. "Do you see anything?"
"Have you been in here since Ennard came back?" Mike asked, not answering the question directly. "I knocked over Baby's-… Baby. I'm not going to try picking her up."
Phone Guy followed suit and slipped through the doorway. "She's much too heavy to pick up alone, so if we even-." He cut off as he caught sight of the garage, and his mouth dropped open.
Boxes and shelves had been dragged over to try and block the garage door, but they didn't do much other than look out of place. It also looked like he had tried to move out the washing machine, but stopped when he realized it was connected to the wall. Wrappers from sticks of butter and egg shells were littered back behind the door, as though Ennard was specifically eating them there. There was also what looked like sugar spilt in the center of the garage, along with a black, syrupy substance pooled underneath where the Baby shell had fallen. In short, it was slightly trashed.
"It's either Ennard or a squatting baker," Mike semi-casually pointed out as he stared down at Baby's shell. "Considering how much it's raiding your fridge, I'd be willing to believe either." As much of a joke as it was and as comical as the scene could have been, this did confirm that Ennard was still an entity in the house. Even if he wasn't there right then. Mike gave a slow sigh and rubbed at his slightly sore shoulder. "What do you want to do? We can lock him in, we can lock him out, we can lock the fridge; it's your choice."
Phone Guy looked down at the floor for a few seconds, scanning over the trash and the shell. He hadn't heard half of what was going on in here, and with Ennard blocking the door he couldn't normally just come in and look, unless he was sure the animatronic was gone. Then, suddenly, his features brightened as a new option appeared.
"I think I know what you can help me do," he instructed and beckoned Mike with him. He then made a quick trip through the house, into his bedroom, and into his closet where he retrieved another cardboard box. He dropped it onto the bed and opened the flaps. "You could help me set this up." Mike watched as Phone Guy started lifting out old security camera equipment from his box. It made sense that he would have a few security cameras; he always seemed a bit paranoid, if his collection of labelled tapes and recordings were any indication of it.
"We mount it in the garage and connect it to my office computer. Then I can keep an eye on when he comes in and when he leaves. It doesn't… It doesn't fix the problem, but it gives me a little more control on the situation," Phone Guy explained as he looked through the wires. "We'll prop Baby back up and go out through the garage door. Ennard will never even know I'm watching him… Uh…" He suddenly paused and sent Mike a slightly uncomfortable look. "…This doesn't seem creepy, does it?"
"There is a clown actively breaking in and out of your house. There's plenty of creepiness already," Mike corrected. He then lifted a handful of wires. "That's going to be a lot of wires."
"Let's hope Ennard's not very observant," Phone Guy suggested with a smile. Without another word, they began. It would be just like old times.
Jeremy had gotten stuck at Foxy's longer than he had expected. Even now that Mike and Isabelle left, giving his own time to leave, he felt mentally wiped from dodging the many questions that the woman presented. Some were about him, some about the business, a few about Mike, and most about Mike and Marionette. It didn't help that Jeremy was actively hiding what he had witnessed before, but now he was expected to lie about something that was truthful. He was almost shocked that he didn't slip.
Though Isabelle's absence didn't mean that Jeremy was out of the woods just yet. With Fritz and Natalie still in the front, and still actively discussing something that Jeremy didn't want to get involved with, he suspected that he would get looped into another conversation. He would have to sneak out of the back to be careful, but couldn't do so without at least saying goodbye to Foxy and hope he didn't get clingy once again. His worry was only somewhat strengthened when Foxy stepped down from the stage to meet him.
"Hey, Captain. I'm… I'm going to shove off now…" Jeremy timidly pointed out. "Think you'll be okay?"
"Aww, Lad, ya sure? I was thinkin'- yer gonna love this," Foxy sounded a bit too excited as he explained his intentions. "I was thinkin' of ya stayin' here tonight, with me!"
"What?" Jeremy got out before Foxy hooked an arm around him, ensuring that he couldn't escape anytime soon.
"I know it ain't be a five-star joint, but we got pizza, we got a couch, and ya got yer Captain here! You'd stay for ol' Foxy, right?" Foxy tried to desperately coax. "See it as me returning the favor fer when I crashed at yer tiny, cramped, brig of an apartment."
"Gee, Foxy. Now that you put it like that…" Jeremy murmured with a slightly less impressed look. Then he glanced to Fritz and Natalie again, noticing that they still hadn't left. Perhaps they were waiting for him to go so that they could finish locking up. "But after earlier… You heard what Isabelle was saying. If I say that I'm willingly choosing to sleep on the office couch, they're both going to think something funny's going on."
"Then don't tell anyone," Foxy coaxed. "Come on, Lad. I don't want to be alone tonight. I could use a lil company." His voice grew lower and he edged out of character. "It's just one night."
"But the Minireenas…" Jeremy gave a defeated sigh. He knew that he was eventually going to submit, eventually with Foxy suddenly sounding so desperate for attention. He supposed he could understand how hard it had to be living alone, especially when it was someone as social as Foxy was. Foxy wanted the attention and was active at night, leading to him being in the pizzeria alone between midnight and six. Jeremy couldn't help but sympathize. "…Alright, I'll stay," Jeremy agreed, "but I have to run home and at least grab some things."
"Fantastic! Ah, this is why yer me first mate, Jer'my," Foxy gave him a thumping pat on the back and drew his arm away. "Run along and be quick. I'll be waitin' fer ya." Jeremy fumbled his way to the back door and slipped out, dodging the possibility of any questioning by Fritz. All the while, Foxy would wait for him to return.
This was going to be a long night, and Foxy had a suspicion that it wouldn't just be for him.
Mable: Because you know it's a long night when you've got a visiting mother, a man crashing on a couch, and questionable camera equipment that will only work if an animatronic covered in eyes doesn't notice it. Mari Christmas to all, and to all a good night. (Hopefully)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! The next chapter will be posted once finished!