Saphira took a seat on the couch, she moved the toys so there was room and pats the space beside her, looking up at the bot who smiled and takes the opportunity to sit beside Saphira. A week ago, Saphira would not have gotten this close to Freddy willingly without feeling like she would have a heart attack. Now, she was sitting beside Freddy and any fear she originally had of the animatronic was practically gone. There was still some fear regarding the endos inside their casing, but Saphira was getting used to that too with the maintenance she has done with them.
"Are you feeling better now Saphira?" Freddy asked, looking at her curiously with a slightly worried expression. "Nothing else dropped down in front of you?"
"Thankfully not. I feel okay now." She smiled at him to reassure him that she was okay. She might not be completely fine, but okay was good for now. "I suppose me being here more than five nights is a cause for celebration. Especially since I will be here for longer than two weeks hopefully."
"It surely is. But we sadly won't get to have a party for that. I think just being here with us is more than enough." Saphira couldn't agree more, she shuffled herself closer to Freddy and he lifts his arm slightly to place around her waist. "It didn't take long for you to not be afraid of me either."
"Your personality helps. And you have been helping since the start, so I don't have any reason to be afraid of you. I smile everytime I see that plush you left in my office, it is like a piece of you there with me." She leaned forward slightly, the big Freddy plush sitting on the other end would definitely be something she would like to take home with her. "I would like that one at some point though."
Freddy looked at it and smiled before he grabbed it and moved it to her. "You can have it Saphira. The merchandise all around the room is mine, so I am free to give it to you. That other plush once was on the couch too."
Saphira took the toy, she felt how soft it was and smiled, she moved it beside her and leaned closer to hug him, resting her cheek on his chest. "You are way too sweet. I've never had anyone give me a gift before…well…a nice gift anyway…"
"You deserve it super star. Especially since you should enjoy being an adult despite having a terrible childhood." He moved his hand up along her hips slightly, and Saphira tensed a little in surprise, the action from him was not something she was used to. "Sorry, did I scare you?"
"No…no…it just feels sort of nice." Saphira felt herself blushing again. She turned her head so her chin was resting on his chest as she gazed up at his blue eyes. "Can I ask you something Freddy?" He nodded at her silently. "When you told me that you had an infatuation for someone, is that person me?" Freddy widened his eyes slightly and gazed away from her, seemingly embarrassed by it. But that was an answer in itself. "Freddy…you can be honest with me."
"I do not…I do not understand what I even feel…" Freddy responded in an uncertain tone. "Monty already asked me about it…" She blinked in surprise, Monty picked up Freddy's feelings somehow? Was it from Freddy's actions towards her earlier that made him think that? Perhaps it did. "Monty has a better understanding about it than I do. Especially since I've never felt it before."
"Is it possible to describe it?" Saphira asked him curiously, she herself had not felt the feeling of love before. But her own feelings towards him have started to change recently too, and she was still trying to work that out.
"I don't know. I…" He moved his hand to his head to rub for a moment and looked at her, his gaze turning sad which surprised her. "Why would it matter? It is the first time I have ever looked at a human and realize how beautiful they are. It is the first time I have looked at a human and want to know everything about them. It is the first time I have felt the need to be with a human as much as possible. But it doesn't matter does it?" Saphira leaned away from him, unsure of what he was trying to say. "Even if I feel this way for you Saphira, you probably don't feel the same for me. I don't wish to hurt you…and I understand my feelings a little more thanks to Monty. But…you might have said it wouldn't be horrible, but…I care about you Saphira, more than any other human I have ever known. I don't want to push you away because of how I feel. Please don't be mad at me."
Hearing Freddy's confession made her feel butterflies in her stomach again. But she did not know why she was the only one he's felt this way for. "But…is it truly my appearance that just interest you?"
"No, it is not just that. It is your personality." She felt herself blushing again and turned away from him shyly. Freddy tilts his head slightly and smiled, seeing her blush again made him feel warm again and being this close to her like this was such a privilege. "You are kind, you are humble and you are brave super star. You have opened your heart to us and allowed us to be your friends. Even if you were afraid at the start. I think your resilience for being here is admirable. You being beautiful is just a part of it. I feel it is a great privilege to meet someone like you. For that, I am grateful and I thank you for it."
Saphira felt like she could cry. She lifts her hands together, rubbing them together anxiously as she too was feeling something for him. But she didn't know if she wanted to confess to them just yet. She wanted to. But…she was scared on where it would lead to. She was just threatened about getting too close. What would happen to Freddy if she got closer to him?
Freddy's ears twitch and he watched her cover her face, he heard sniffling and he was shocked. "Did I say something wrong?"
She shakes her head, he realized she was trembling again and she turned to look at him. "Sorry…you made a confession, and I ruined it." She smiled at him weakly and clenched her eyes shut for a moment. "But…something…d-d-did happen."
"Another clown?"
She shakes her head. "N-N-No…I-I think the clowns are a cover." She sniffled and wiped her cheeks with her hands. "My computer…something…uh…someone communicated through the computer. But…but I have no proof…I couldn't get it."
Freddy was shocked, someone had communicated to Saphira directly through her office computer. "What did they say?"
"Well…the first thing I saw from them was 'Are you having fun yet?' That implies they know what has been happening regarding the clowns. But…I was able to talk with them for only a short time." He moved his arm around her some more in a protective manner like someone was about to attack her. She felt comforted by that gesture. "I asked them who they were, of course they didn't tell me. They just said 'You will know who I am.' I…I worry if it is someone I know…or, we know already."
"Maybe, but I know of nobody who says stuff like that. Plus, as far as I know, no one can access the computer systems to the pizzaplex unless you are an employee. So…that is the only thing we can narrow it down to…unless it is someone else."
"Oh yeah, the cameras had static over them just before I spoke to this person. I don't think that has ever happened either." He shakes his head slightly, although Freddy's never really looked at the camera system, but as far as he knew it was a system that was well maintained. "Anyway…I asked what they want from me. And…well…they threatened me. They said 'You don't belong here. You are getting too close. Leave or die. See you soon.' And now…" She grimaced at what she was about to say. "You…you just confessed some serious feelings for me Freddy. I appreciate it…but…even if I do…have feelings for you too…I am sorry…it is not you."
"I see…" Freddy was saddened that Saphira may not have feelings for him, but she didn't deny it either. So she could, she just was scared. "What was Dave doing when you were talking to this person?"
"Oh, I checked. He and Cliff were talking in Parts and Service, they couldn't have sent those messages. I want to find someone to blame, but I have no proof Freddy. Dave's a creep, so he was an easy pick. Buuut…you know I know about the disappearances…" The bot widened his eyes slightly when she spoke about them. "Do you think their could be a connection? Did you know some of those previous employees?"
"I do remember those people clearly, and the next I knew they had been listed as disappeared. I am unsure of what happened to them. Now that this is happening…there must be a connection."
"Yes. And the fact is, I looked at Dave's profile. His time being a technician coincides with the first five disappearances. I don't know…it might just be someone setting him up to look like the culprit, but…he could also be a puppet and there is someone else pulling the strings." She leaned in again to rest her cheek on Freddy's chest, sighing deeply. "I wish this was just a normal job…"
Freddy chuckled a little. "Normal without me?"
She smiled a little and rolled her eyes. "Of course not! I mean as in I could be sitting here talking about something else other than someone wanting to get rid of me. I am still mad that they tried to make Monty look like he scared me with the doll earlier."
"Yes, Monty is angry about that. He said if he would scare you, it would on his own terms. And using other things would not be one of them." She looked at Freddy in surprise. "What? At least he admitted to what he would do. Now, he is not so sure. He does not want to unintentionally become someone elses puppet. He still doesn't trust you…he's admitted that…"
"But he came down with us…"
"Yes, but Monty is willing to give you being a friend a shot. Or, he is okay with being cordial with you. It is a step in the right direction at least."
I suppose that is good. Monty seemed like he would be her friend from what he said earlier. But he must have said it to make her not feel worse than she already was. In a way, he was already being a friend to her so that was a sign he was starting to care at the very least. But there was a lot of work to do with Monty, and Saphira hoped she would be here long enough to be a good friend to him.
"I at least am willing to be patient with him." Saphira smiled and wiped her cheeks. "Sorry for crying…I hope it won't cause any issues that need to be dealt with at maintenance."
"Nah, we get water and other liquid spilt on us regularly. The casings are designed to withstand that. Although, I had lemon juice spilt on my chest once, the blue lightning faded within a few minutes. It was a bit upsetting. I usually don't need something like that fixed." She glanced at the lightning bolt on his chest, it definitely would be strange to not see it. Almost like he would be naked without it. "Huh, Cliff just sent me a message."
"He did?" Saphira looked at the bot in surprise. "What did he say?"
"He's letting me know we can come out of the rooms early and that Roxy, Chica and Monty are already on their way to the raceway. He said because the pizzaplex is very empty we should go early. Though I think one more sweep wouldn't hurt would it?" Saphira made a face that she didn't want to, but it was her job. She would rather remain beside Freddy. "I should do my recharge anyway." He pats Saphira's side as his hand had not left her waist before gently slipping it over her and he stood up. He turned to face her with a smile. "I am glad you do not hate me for what I said."
Saphira blushed again and flutters her eyelids at him. "Of course not. I am not used to anyone having those kind of feelings for me…so it is new for me and I don't hate you for it. But please don't be mad if I don't feel the same…"
Even though Saphira knew she felt the same towards Freddy, she was just scared on where it would lead. Especially as she did not know if they could get physically intimate. She was just scared about taking it further now with the threat looming over her.
Freddy was thrilled to know he was the first person to feel this way for Saphira. It made it extra special in his eyes. "I won't be mad. But I am unsure if you really don't have the same feelings. When we deal with this issue, maybe it will come out."
Yes, it probably will. Saphira smiled and rests her hands on the seat for a moment, she noticed that the lounge was warm where Freddy had sat. She was surprised by how warm it felt, and she almost wanted that warmth to envelope her and keep her there forever. But she quickly shakes those thoughts from her mind.
"You better go for your recharge Freddy. I'll do a quick round around the building, but I will let you know if something happens." She gestures for him to get into the backroom and watched the automatic door open as Freddy turned to walk in.
When the door closed, she glanced at the big Freddy beside her and considered taking it with her now. But decided against it. She stood up and walked over to the mirror to fix her outfit briefly and walked out of the room to go through the facility. She did glance towards the utility tunnel doors, but she looked away from them quickly to leave Rockstar Row. She did glance at the windows, she saw that Roxy, Chica and Monty had indeed left. Bonnie and Foxy were still in their rooms for now. Foxy was playing on his piano while she saw Bonnie walking to the back of his room, probably to recharge as well. She smiled and kept walking into the atrium to go around to each attraction. Of course, she knew she would be quick with that as it was pretty much empty throughout the whole building with only the staff bots cleaning and doing their guard duty. It was not a hard sweep of the place, there was no human activity that she could find and that was good. At least, until she got to the lobby.
She walked down the stairs to check the lobby area, she was humming to herself and glanced up to see Dave at the door. She widened her eyes, he was carrying a large cardboard box through the door and he had a smirk on his face that seemed to be sinister. She shuddered a little as she approached the barriers. Dave glanced at her and was surprised to see her.
"Is that a present Dave?" Saphira asked him curiously, she didn't go through the barriers as she wanted to keep a good distance between him and herself. "Is it just something Cliff ordered?"
"Oh no, this is something I ordered," Dave responded with a grin. "It's just a few things I need."
"Like what?"
"I have a friend whose kid's party is coming up. And I have been like their uncle their entire life, so I had something sent here for me to get it ready to take to the party with. It is a surprise, so I can't really show anyone." He giggled a little, she blinked as the laugh sounded a bit like a clown laugh, but it might just be his laugh. "Why would you care anyway?"
"I was just curious that is all. No harm done. Just doing my round. So long as there no weapon in that box, you are free to go."
His grin widened slightly. "Nah…no weapon in here. Just something fun I have in mind. The party is on next Monday. I suspect it will be so grand!" He breathed in deeply and walked towards a staff door. "It will be a shock for everyone."
Saphira watched him leave the lobby through the staff door to take the box to wherever in the building. She did not know what was in the box, but she did not know if she believed him doing something for a kid. Maybe it was his kid and didn't want to admit it. She shrugged. Maybe she was wrong about him. But she was still weary of him. She decided to glance at her Fazwatch to follow him on the cameras, but to her surprise there was static over the screens, worse than before so she could not see him properly. She hits the watch thinking it was doing it on purpose, but it was not. She shakes her head and turned to head back upstairs, she glanced at the daycare doors as the only one who seemed to be aware of what is happening was Sun. She did not know if she could get an answer from him though. Plus, she did not want to go there and the lights go out, she knew they could go out in any area of the building without the entire place turning off the lights. So…it was risky as Moon could come out anytime. Going there alone was not going to happen.
Saphira returned to the atrium and glanced at her Fazwatch to see there was ten minutes left until it was midnight. She smiled, spending time with Freddy definitely was a good choice. That helped to pass the time even more quickly. She walked to the railing over the balcony and leaned on it, she needed time to think of what Freddy had confessed to her tonight. While Freddy has not been able to truly understand the feelings, it definitely seemed like he loved her. His actions with her has been nothing but good, and looking back at it, it really did come across that he was in love with her. And as she had seen him staring at her while he was in the chair in the protective cylinder, him gazing at her body was just him admiring her beauty. But there could also be another feeling he had, she did not know if he has been told how to explore that yet or not. Saphira was not sure about her own feelings towards Freddy anyway, so admitting to them might be premature for her right now. Plus, they had only known each other for a week. So…she did not know if jumping into a closer relationship than they already were now was a good idea. She's never been in a relationship, but she knew they take time to build. Some quicker than others, but taking time was often part of it. She knew Freddy probably does not know that, but she did. He didn't want to hurt her, so at least being patient was a strong point of his. There was also the other point, what if she leaves? She could leave at anytime and their relationship would end. Saphira felt like she would break Freddy's heart by doing that. So remaining would literally be to stay with him. She rubbed her hands together as she thought about it. Was it really a bad thing? No, she did not think so. She was just scared about what could happen to him given the threat she has received tonight.
The time clicks over to the twelve and Saphira made her way towards Roxy Raceway, but not before she picked up a soda on the way. She glanced around her for anything unusual as she entered the attraction. She loved this attraction with the fake canyon that had been built as a theme for the raceway. It made it seem like it was not part of the pizzaplex, but it was. She smiled when she saw Freddy waiting for her with Monty, Chica and Roxy.
"There's my super star!" Freddy exclaimed with a smile. "Are you ready to fill the rest of the night with fun?"
"Of course!" Saphira glanced around and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Cliff?"
"He is over checking the karts, that loser Dave went off to do something else for some reason. He never avoids testing night." Roxy huffed before stepping closer and leaning forward, making Saphira step back from her slightly. "Hmm…looks like you will definitely be eating my dust tonight. I am the best driver here! So be prepared to lose!"
Saphira chuckled at her. "Yeah, even though we just testing…" She teased the bot, walking around her with a slightly smug look. "We are not racing for a prize or anything. So there's no need to be competitive." She looked at Freddy curiously. "Are you racing too?"
"No. I am here to just spectate and support everyone. I do that most of the time. But I will definitely be participating in the bowling. I enjoy that a lot." That was a shame, Saphira would like to race against him, but she understood he might not enjoy it. "Besides, there are already three animatronics who are racing, we don't need four."
"You're a wimp Freddy!" Roxy chuckled, elbowing Freddy gently with a grin. "But that is okay, there is only room for one winner here. And that is me! I am the best!" She than gasped loudly. "And we are wasting time talking. Let's go losers!"
Roxy turned her body, running her hand through her hair to toss it slightly dramatically and walked away to get to the raceway. She was not entirely wrong though, they were wasting time just talking so they did need to get started.
"Let's make tonight the funnest night you have had!" Chica declared, winking at Saphira with a grin and stepped closer to hug her suddenly. "No one is going to make your night miserable while I am here! That just is not right!"
Saphira winced slightly as her cheek was pressing against Chica's shoulder from the hug. "You got that right. Now we should make sure the wolf isn't distracting Cliff." She chuckled, pushing herself away from Chica. "Otherwise the rest of the night won't be good."
"You are right. Alright team! Let's march!" Chica turned suddenly and walked away briskly and excitedly.
Saphira shakes her head with a grin, following the animatronic towards the raceway. She was curious to see what the maintenance for the karts was like. Though she was not good with vehicles, go-karts would be interesting to maintain.
"Well punk, ready to race?" Monty asked as he walked behind Saphira with Freddy. "Adrenaline will be good to get any fear out of your system hey?"
"Yeah, it will be. But…I did see Dave earlier, I thought he would be here helping Cliff honestly." She shrugged a little. "Do staff get packages sent here from time to time?"
"The technicians do, but they have not for a while. I assume you saw him with a package right?" Freddy did not think it was unusual, but he also wanted to reassure Saphira that it was perfectly normal for that to happen.
"Yeah, he said it was for some party next week that he's attending. That would explain why he is not here, but I would assume he'd just put it down and come here. So I don't know where he is now." She figured she would ask Cliff about it since they both had been working here for a long time. She spotted Cliff by a red go-kart, he seemed to have just finished and Roxy was standing over him with her hands on her hips. "Hey Cliff!"
Cliff waved at her and looked at Roxy. "Be patient Roxy! We can get on the track very shortly! You don't need to be snappy at me!"
"Hmmph! It is taking too long!" Roxy growled, folding her arms and glancing back at Saphira. "Can you tell Cliffton to hurry up? I want to race!"
"Umm…I can't…he's kind of my boss, so that would be bad," Saphira responded with a grin. "Be patient Roxy."
"Yeah, he said we will race shortly," Chica said, she was standing next to Roxy trying to calm her down. "It is like this every single Sunday, you know it my friend. Dave isn't here to help him tonight, so we just have to wait."
"Where is the loser anyway?" Roxy tapped her foot loudly, signalling how impatient she was while she waited for everyone to be ready. "He's always here!"
"He got some package delivered and he wanted to store it in his office." Saphira was surprised to hear Dave had an office. She wondered where that was. "I think he might be unpacking it. Don't worry. We can test the karts without him." Cliff walked over to Saphira with a smile. "Now, it is time for the fun part of the week."
"Oh? Maintenance is pretty fun too," Saphira responded sarcastically.
"Of course, but we do that a lot here. It is nice to be able to let loose. So, let's get to the track. The karts are ready to go, so we can do a few laps around it to make sure they are running smoothly." Roxy smiled and was already walking away briskly to the track to get in. "And ignore Roxy, this is just a test. It's not an actual race, she loves racing though and takes it seriously."
"Hmmph! Well if I beat her tonight, it will be a big deal!" Monty declared confidently, walking past Cliff and Saphira to follow Roxy to the track. "Don't think this isn't competitive Cliff, because it always will be."
"Of course. Well, at least we can have a spectator watching everything. But you are free to join Freddy if you wish."
"Thanks for the offer Cliff, but I will just be watching." Freddy smiled at the man and glanced at Saphira. "I know she is really excited to try it out though. So you should go before Roxy gets angrier."
Cliff nodded and turned to head to the racetrack. Saphira smiled at Freddy, she was okay he just wanted to watch. She assumed he does that all the time anyway, so it probably was not unusual. But the idea of him watching definitely was a reason to be motivated to try and beat the other animatronics and Cliff. She didn't need to impress anyone, but still, the motivation was there now. And when she saw the karts, she was a little unnerved by the bots in the karts. She knew they were there for young kids to enjoy the go-karts who couldn't drive them, but it was still unsettling. She gets into the bright purple kart that was behind Monty and beside Cliff. She smiled as she felt the rumble of the kart underneath her. She was nervous as she placed her hands on her steering, she's never done this before. So it was both exciting and scary at the same time.
