AN1: I am now a year older today, go me I guess
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Roxanne patiently waits for Chica to find something her little pup could change into. The deteriorating state of his clothing told so much about what he went through and getting rid of it will probably help him move on from at least some of the trauma he had been subjected to. She still had some questions about his past. What exactly did he do to survive? What made him prefer the streets to an orphanage in the first place?
But was it worth bringing up a horrible past? She thought not. It didn't need to be brought up when the whole point was to help him move away from such trauma to begin with.
She looks upon the resting child, his relaxed breathing telling everything she needed to know about how things were going so far. Even with his inability to reliably move about on his own for now, he still felt safe enough to let himself sleep. It filled her with a warm feeling that was unfamiliar, indescribable. She thinks back to everything that had led to the moment he fell under her care. From Freddy being the first domino to the crash being the last. One thing still stood out to her, which is something she regrets greatly.
'I said so many hurtful things to him.'
In between both events, she has been in one of her lowest points. The show has been ruined, and literally everyone and their mother were complaining about how they wasted their time and money, many even demanding refunds. It wasn't her fault, and neither was the rest of her friends, but they still were unfairly lumped in with being called worthless, scrap, junk, and all sorts of demeaning names. The constant jeering of the crowd became too much for her to handle, and she excused herself to her room to vent and 'cry'. Once night fell, she tried to convince herself that nothing was wrong, she is perfect, she is beautiful, she is the favorite. Her pep talks never really worked.
When the security alarm sounded off the first time, she was already off her rocker with an entire days' worth of pent-up anger and heartache. So off she went, trying to prove to herself that she can be the best at something, hunting down intruders for example. Only to be proven wrong time and time again by the same child she grew attached to. Every time he managed to outrun or outwit her, the fury within just amplified, serving to impair her rational thought.
"I bet you don't even have friends; nobody will miss you." And that is just the surface.
She didn't know how right she was. Honestly, she really didn't want to know. It was all meant to offend him enough for him to yell back at her and thus reveal his location or make him lose concentration and make a mistake somewhere. But not only was he used to such verbal abuse already, she ended up being right in the end. To think that she needed a near fatal accident to literally knock some sense into her.
"I'm so sorry little pup. I'm so sorry Gregory." She muttered to herself.
"Why? Are you okay?" His weary voice startles her out of her self-loathing.
"I-I thought you were napping." She stammered out.
"It's hard to do that when I could hear you trying not to cry, so I wanted to see if I could help." She didn't say anything to the boy, instead looking off to the side to avoid his gaze.
'I don't deserve you, no matter what Freddy says. You deserve better.'
"Did I do something to make you mad?" There is an underlying fear in his voice.
"No. Please don't feel that way. I'm just thinking back to the night we crossed paths. And how I…made things a bit too personal." He sits up, more alert to what this is leading to.
"What do you mean?" She looks him in the eye, shame prominent on her face.
"All the taunts I screamed out at you, the relentless hunting. I was just so upset at…everything. The customers, the staff, my friends…myself. And I took it all out on a child. There is no possible way to excuse my actions against you." She starts to picture herself getting scrapped with her friends watching it unfold, unable to stop the process. "Is there something truly wrong with me? The eggheads said I was good to go, but I can't get rid of the thought that they were wrong somewhere. I normally never lose my self-control." She is on the verge of another meltdown.
"Don't freak out on me here! I'm still alive and kicking–well maybe not literally–but it's the alive part that counts, right?" Roxanne feels marginally better, but still suffers in silence. "I'll be okay, a few harsh words are nothing new to me. And you know what, if I was given the chance, I'll do it all over again." This time he gets his desired result. The wolf visibly relaxes, a smirk forming on her face.
"You certainly are a tough little pup, aren't you?"
"Yeah…I guess I am." The guilt she felt began to alleviate. Roxanne wraps an arm around him to bring him to her, to which he leans on her side. For a while they just remain there, with him relishing in her embrace. Gregory could feel himself dozing off again, so he decides to make one last statement before he goes under.
"I forgive you. The insults, the hunting, the crash. All of it." Despite the increasing softness of his voice, the words still hit her like a truck. Her mouth is agape, opening and closing repeatedly in an attempt to form a coherent sentence. She is about to respond, but stops when she realizes that he has fallen asleep once more.
'Thank you Gregory.'
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The killer has retreated to a more hidden part of the PizzaPlex, angry and defeated. As of now, there is virtually no chance of her achieving her goal tonight, especially with the animatronic wolf looking to join the league of helicopter parents.
'Am I losing my touch?...Don't be ridiculous Vanny, maybe these past two nights were just a fluke. I just need to get my head in the game.
In theory, she could just move on and find another random kid to maim and erase from the census, but that would hit her personal pride. She never admitted defeat to a kid, and she certainly wasn't going to start now.
She racked her mind looking for ideas on how she would be able to get her hands on him, but none of what she came up with seemed to be worth executing. She didn't have effective weapons for the robots unless they were secretly flesh and bone, they couldn't be reliably infected again, if at all, and now she was hopelessly outnumbered. She couldn't take on one animatronic head to head, never mind three or even four of them.
'When life gives you lemons, pour juice on the wound.'
Her view wanders through the window, all the bright lights below dance wildly and serve to give her a migraine. She watches all the appropriately painted and dressed staff bots rolling around looking for something to do. If only they could have been more useful then they are now.
Vanny decides to call it a night, without any leverage she was just wasting her energy doing nothing of value. The killer angrily removes her mask for the first time since she started the hunt. She temporarily forgets her hatred to relish in the feeling of fresh air hitting her face once more.
'That feels so good.'
She backs up to the wall and slides down, she hopes that by giving herself the rest of the night to loosen up, she'll be rejuvenated enough to come up with something to achieve her goal.
'I'll get you runt, maybe not today…maybe not tomorrow. But I'm going to get you.'
She leans her head back against the cold surface and finally drifts off.
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Chica finally returns to her room bearing gifts, almost bursting through her door in excitement. Roxanne hastily puts a finger to her lips, her golden eyes wordlessly promising a world of hurt if she woke up Gregory. Thankfully Chicas mind travels faster then her mouth when it counts. When she saw that the boy was off into the dreamworld, she internally squealed in delight at the sight of them together. The chicken sets down the clothing she picked out and gently sits herself next to Roxanne.
"They're from your section of the gift shop." She quietly said as she pointed to the set of clothes.
"As they should be." She replied with a bit of smugness.
"When did he fall asleep?"
"Not long before you came back." The wolf runs her hand through his hair, being mindful of her claws. Chica droops.
"Aww, that means he won't see what I got him until later."
"Oh don't be such a drama queen, it's just a little cat nap. Once he wakes you'll get your chance to smother him in your usual manner."
"I don't smother." She grumbled to herself whilst crossing her arms, but still managed to crack a smile.
"Keep telling yourself that, one day you'll admit it to yourself." Chica looks towards the boy and decides to reveal her second gift meant for him. She opens her own chest cavity and pulls out a Roxy plush. The real one is a bit surprised that she went the extra mile.
"Look! Twins!" She eagerly hands over the plush to the wolf, who graciously accepts.
"...I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Thank you Chica, what would I do without you."
"Probably arguing with yourself in the mirror." Roxanne stiffens.
"You know about that?!"
"Oh please, it's not like you do it quietly." If robots could blush, that is exactly what Roxy would be doing.
"What I wouldn't do for soundproof walls."
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AN2: Let me just take a moment and say I'm grateful for the attention that all my stories have gotten. To say I didn't expect it would be an understatement.