AN: I got EXTREMELY distracted in between last chapter and this one. In fact, the writing process didn't start until ten days after the last one. Loving a new game does that to me.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Gregory finished his small meal in relative peace since Vanessa left the room, though what she said still lingered in the back of his mind. He was able to be around Roxanne because of 'special' circumstances, he had to put his trust in her, otherwise he would not have been able to make the night. The others didn't have such a luxury. He doesn't know what they stand for, what they're like outside of business hours without any outside influences. For all he knows they behave like that on the regular.
'...Okay they probably don't hurt kids in their spare time. But that still doesn't make it any better!'
Regardless, he didn't look forward to the inevitable, resulting in his body becoming more and more tense. Roxanne didn't like how stressed out he so clearly became, so she decided to pick him up and start pacing back and forth in a calming manner. Any protests quickly died in his throat once he processed the relaxing movements. He ended up slowly resting his head on her shoulder, sighing contently.
"I hate it when you're so…scared. It almost hurts." Roxanne sadly whispered to him.
"I don't try to be. I'm sorry." He softly replied.
"No, no. Don't talk down on yourself. You have nothing to apologize for." She subconsciously begins to nuzzle him. Gregory could feel a bit of drowsiness creeping in despite being awake for a short time.
"But it was my fault–"
"Zip it. No, it was not." Roxanne refused to let him dwell on that anymore. "Focus on the now." He tried his best to follow her advice.
"Okay, okay…" He deeply breaths in and out, pushing down any demoralizing thoughts to the incinerator. "What are your other friends like?" Roxanne is caught off guard by his inquiry; she thought this wouldn't have come up until much later.
"Oh–well–um…who do you want to start with?" She places herself on her couch, allowing Gregory to sit comfortably on her lap.
"The one that loves to eat for some reason."
"Heh. Well, she is easily the most approachable of all of us, has that energy to keep up with most children and not scare them away in the process. She even has the largest adult audience too strangely enough–"
"Wait, what? That is kind of weird."
"Maybe to you, but her little exercise program or whatever is very popular among them, she even dabbles in a bit of yoga." She remembers the original intention of that project, to get children to move around more and as a result get hungry. It flopped on that front, but in the process gained the attention of the parents that visited. It was best summed up as a successful failure.
"I would have never thought her hobby would be exercising of all things. It sounds unbelievable."
"Trust me, it is very real." Gregory starts to giggle at the thought of the robot chicken doing a bunch of random routines with a crowd of parents following her lead. "I know it sounds a bit silly, but she ended up loving their attention, so I think it worked out well in the end."
"I'm not saying that it is bad, it's just…unexpected. And other kids want nothing to do with it?"
"Most of them don't. Not that she minds that much, if at all. More attention for me I say." Gregory raises his brow with a small smirk.
'Careful, your ego is showing.'
"What?" He quickly averts his gaze to a random area away from her.
"Nothing." She narrows her eyes suspiciously, but quickly decides to drop it with a shrug.
Gregory mulls over the info, she obviously doesn't have the literal build to be aggressive, unlike one of her counterparts. By Roxys description, she should be the one of the nicer ones of the group with only Freddy overtaking her. So in theory Chica would be the safest option to meet first, provided that they were no longer glitchy messes as Vanessa said.
"Is the other one alright too?" It was bit of a longshot, as Monty would take every opportunity to bulldoze through any fragile doors just to get him. Not even Chica would do that when he was at the cusp of capture by her.
"It depends on one simple factor, whether or not you like mini golf. If you do, you'll have no problem getting him to like you eventually. Just don't expect him to be on board with you until you answer that inevitable question."
"I'll just take a wild guess that he excels at the Gator Golf area?" Roxanne suddenly clenches her teeth, just barely resisting the temptation to grind them to dust.
"Yyyyeeess, his beloved golf course. If you just simply say you enjoy mini golf, you will instantly earn his respect. Quite simple minded but whatever." Gregory is a bit put off by her aggressive tone. He would go as far as to say he is a bit scared.
"Hey Roxy, are you okay?" He is subtly raising his hand as a means to block any potential swipes; however ineffective it may end up being. His slightly frightened expression combined with a matching tone snaps her out of her funk. The wolf brings him in a tight hug and pets his head.
"I'm sorry. We are just at odds when it comes to playing games against each other, but outside of that we get along just fine. Even if it may not seem like it right now." She suddenly looks around the room, particularly at both entrances. She then leans close to his ear then whispers. "Just don't mention the raceway to him." She smirked right after.
"I'll make sure not to. Wouldn't want to drive a rift in between us right away." She laughs at his choice of words, which leaves him a bit confused. Once she calms down enough, the million dollar question is finally brought up.
"Which one would you like to meet first?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A lone figure watches the room from afar like a hawk, waiting for something to happen. She twiddles with the knife in her hand, itching for something to damage with it. She is almost tempted to just barge in and take him to her little hidey hole, but the risk was simply far too great without the influence of her incompetent 'partner'.
'So much for an easy kill. Now I have to actively contend with not just a wolf who is having a bit too much fun playing babysitter, but potentially the rest of the so-called family as well.'
That little accident should have been the end of her hunt, but no. It of course had to awaken maternal instincts that had no reason to exist on the animatronic. Truthfully, she couldn't really blame anyone but herself, her tendency to play with her food never really backfired until yesterday, and even then how it happened was so far out of left field.
Her inner thoughts are suddenly interrupted when the door finally opens, she was barely able to escape line of sight as it opened. Out walks a lone wolf. Where she is going? Doesn't matter, now was her chance! The killer swiftly worms her way to the room once the robot is far enough, making every effort to remain quiet.
'My patience will finally be rewarded! Tonight will be a good night!'
She slowly opens the door, the not so quiet whirring making her cringe a bit. Upon passing through, the first thing she notices is the lack of a child to drag off, with the only evidence of his presence being the leftover food. A bit bothersome, but no reason to be alarmed…yet. She carefully looks around the room, becoming increasingly angry with every second that passes by.
It started off rather tame, looking under tables, behind the couch, etcetera; only to be met with failure. The frustration bubbling up makes the temptation of destroying the room all the more appealing.
Silent chuckles escape her, then it evolves into full blown cackling.
'Of course he isn't here! Why would he?!...Am I already losing my touch? How could I be failing so hard at catching a cripple?! Are they messing with my head?!'
She breathes in deeply in a vain attempt to clear her mind, being careful of the knife still within her vice grip. She exits the room; the wolf and boy are nowhere in sight. The killer doesn't know how the child just upped and disappeared. Does the robot know something she doesn't? Is there some secret compartment that he ended up in? Or is she just plain stupid?
'My hatred for this place and everything in it couldn't be any higher.'
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A tired Vanessa has gone numb from her constant watch over the cameras. She refused any and all signals from her body to get some desperately needed sleep, no matter how much she wanted to listen.
"Nothing in my database indicates that this is healthy behavior. I implore that you take the time to rest up to regain at least some of your strength. The PizzaPlex will still be here when you wake up."
"I'll be fine, I just need to keep the blood flowing and I'll make it to sunrise." She stubbornly responded.
Not even Freddy has managed to convince her to take even a little cat nap, if anything he got the opposite result. With her coffee having ran out some time ago, she has opted to sit as little as possible, doing small stretches every so often to keep herself going, however small of an effect it may bring.
It was during one of these sessions that she noticed some of the feeds suddenly became pixelated messes and cut out completely, being replaced with a 'signal lost' screen.
'What in the name of–'
She presses a few buttons to reboot the respective cameras, only to be met with the same image. She dropped herself on the chair in frustration, her hands covering her face.
"How does this place keep running with all these malfunctions?" She mumbled to no one in particular. A wave of exhaustion hits her immediately after. She laments the fact that it has now been over a day since she last slept, and the dead silence of the place didn't help matters at all.
"Are you sure you want to keep going?" Her companion suddenly spoke.
"I have to. On the off chance something does happen, I need to be there to witness it and put a lid on it if possible. You guys can't do my job for me." A big yawn escapes from her as his ears droop a little bit.
"I understand, just trying to help."
"You're all good. Next night shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as now. I'll actually be ready for it." The bear regained his joyful mood.
"I look forward to your continued visits." A small smile forms on her face, it felt nice to be wanted for once.